I'm already mourning my Pokemon Legends: ZA Starter Choice

Pokemon Legends: ZA was just released today for most of the world, and many fans are now starting their journey in Lumiose City or taking the time to do so over the weekend. Like a massive Pokémon geek, I have been up to date with all things related Pokemon Legends: ZA before launch, from the new battle system to Megas, because I always like to invest in building optimal teams. This is something I always do because I love theorizing and “earning” my way to success in games. After doing something like five or six possible teams for each starter in a back-and-forth moment, all optimized as much as possible, I settled on Tepig, and I deeply regret my choice.

If you are wondering which one Pokemon Legends: ZA Starter to choose, stop for a second and ask yourself which one you will love the most and which one will bring you the most joy. This is probably true of any game where you have to choose a character or critter, and I always find the hard way that my first playthrough is the worst anyway. That said, there are advantages to each of the starters in PLZA, so I'm not saying Tepig is inherently bad. In fact, I love the little pig, and it was my first starter in Gen 5.

However, Pokemon Legends: ZA has no new Pokemon, and is all about Mega Evolutions and an exciting new fighting style. Personally, I've never liked Emboar aesthetically, but I know Meganium is still pretty bad even after some buffs, and Feraligatr just never clicked with me. So I went and took the cute pig for a walk, started leveling it up, developed it, and then it hit me – I would have liked either of the other two starters more when it comes to team building and aesthetics.

My Pokemon Legends: ZA Starter is suddenly the worst choice for me

One of the reasons I don't love Emboar is that it's inherently aggressive with its looks, but the reason I was so hesitant to start in Pokemon Legends: ZA is that Mega Emboar is still Fire/Fighting, while Mega Meganium becomes Grass/Fairy and Mega Feraligatr is Water/Dragon. I like novelty, and that's Exhibit A as to why I would have been happier with either Chikorita or Totodile.

Additionally, both Fire and Fighting have some great new Mega Evolutions in them Pokemon Legends: ZAsuch as Chandelure and Pyroar for the former and Barbaracle, Falinks and Hawlucha for the latter. To be honest, I like them all more than Emboar. Tepig is a different beast, but unfortunately the game isn't built for you to keep your starters as cute little babies forever. Appendix B to why I hate my starting pick is that I desperately want to use either Chandelure or Pyroar for Fire, and likely Falinks for Fighting, but overlapping those types with Emboars is a bad choice.

Here is My Current Pokemon Legends: ZA Team

Originally, my plan was to not have any other Fire or Fighting type Pokemon on the team with Emboar, but ever since looking at all the Megas in the game, I don't feel like it's right for me. Mega Falinks is probably one of the single best concepts for a development within Pokémon game ever, and Mega Pyroar reminds me of one of my three cats. I can technically still use Emboar, Pyroar, and Falinks on a team, but that means my coverage is poor and my weaknesses are shared between different animals. My current team is:

• Emboar (fire/fighting)

• Froslass (Ice/Ghost)

• Victreebel (grass/poison)

• Skarmory (Steel/Flying)

• Eelectross (electric)

• Starmie (Water/Psychic)

By picking Chikorita or Totodile as starters, I could have easily swapped them out for Victreebel and Starmie respectively, and then swapped out Emboar and Eelektross for both Pyroar and Falinks, who are possibly my new favorite Megas. Mega Starmie might be the best new Mega Evolution in Pokemon Legends: ZAand while Mega Meganium's movepool is terrible, picking Chikorita might have been the best option for me so I could keep Starmie on the team as well.

I Am Officially Putting My Pokemon Legends: ZA Starter in a Box

Instead, I now find myself struggling with what to keep and what to do, to the point where I'm considering drastically changing my team and committing to the ultimate Pokémon its – to remove my starter from the team. Although you can catch the other newbies in the game, I haven't found them yet, and it's not exactly the same. So my plan would be to use a completely different team that doesn't include Mega Emboar Pokemon Legends: ZA. It would be as follows:

• Mega Pyroar (Fire/Normal, Special Attacker)

• Mega Falinks (Fighting, physical attacker)

• Mega Skarmory (Steel/Flying, Physical Attacker)

• Mega Starmie (Water/Psychic Hybrid Attacker)

• Mega Victreebel (Grass/Poison, Special Attacker)

• Mega Excadrill (ground/steel, physical attacker)

At that point, my comprehensive defense would look like this:

I know all of this might be a huge rant for me, but between disliking both base Emboar and Mega Emboar and liking two Pokemon with overlapping types a lot more, I feel like cutting my starter from the team is simply the most sensible option. After all, the game is supposed to be fun, even if it means leaving your first partner Pokémon behind. I think it's very sad, and that's why I'm struggling, but at the same time I think it's for the best.

System

Released

16 October 2025

ESRB

All 10+ / Fantasy violence, in-game purchase

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