WHY Tepig, Totodile, and Chikorita in Pokemon Legends ZA?

Thanks to the Pokemon Presents on 2/27/2025 we now know that Pokemon Legends ZA will feature Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile, as the three starters or first partner Pokemon! But why? and can we predict what Kalosian Feraligatr, Kalosian Emboar, and Kalosian Meganium will be like?

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Chapters:
00:00 Pokemon Legends ZA Predictions
01:10 Totodile - Kalosian Feraligatr
04:12 Chikorita - Kalosian Meganium
06:37 Tepig - Kalosian Emboar

Gnoggin, hosted by its creator Lockstin, is a show delving into the mysteries of Pokemon! (and other games sometimes too). Explaining everything there is to explain! Why is each Pokemon given the type it has? What are their origins? What is the lore of the Pokemon world and the design inspirations? And what does it all have to do with alchemy? Let's Go find out!

[grunkleg.]

Another theory I've heard is that it'll be a play on fairy tale tropes. Meganium becomes the fair maiden, Emboar becomes the gallant knight in shining armor, and Feraligatr becomes the mythical beast that may or may not be evil. So Grass/Fairy, Fire/Steel, Water/Dragon. Would be a neat callback to how Kalos's starters are plays on fantasy RPG tropes, also so many fairy tales come from France like Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Beauty and the Beast, and Sleeping Beauty.

[dinorexx]

Not my boy oshawott being replaced 0:33

[DrPokemon]

Chikorita and Tododile: Friendship ended with Cyndaquil. Now Tepig is now our best friend.

[Alonzo]

Why is everyone asking for cyndaquil back when he just got a rerun in the first legends... like let other starters get a shine

[michaelpembroke]

So! My theory for a possible Feraligator typing is Water/Rock type basing it off a Gargoyle. Besides it being a classic in French architecture, they were mainly used as decorations for gutter systems, the water coming out of there mouths. I also like the idea of Kalosian Feraligator acting as a fountain statue to lure in prey to ambush like a crocodile would do at a watering hole!

[TheSpektrum]

I believe ppl said it on the reaction video, but I'll say it here: congrats to Lockstin for guessing two of the three Legends ZA starters back when he did his prediction video _11 months ago!_

[ClashniCola]

Chikorita and Totodile: Well Cyndaquil is stuck in the past so we need a new member
Tepig: Yo was good

[dracone]

Well, I recently found out a possible reason for Chikorita, Meganium is a bit Sauropod coded, and France was home to a titanosaur called Ampelosaurus, whose name literally translates to "vine lizard"

[oldmanjesus]

Tepig is not about pork. It's about boars. Boars are big in France. Check Asterix for reference

[raymondburrell]

Theme: Specific career choices & French culture

Feraligatr: fashion model/designer sewer gator (water/dark or ghost)

Emboar: fire cauldron chef (fire/steel or strangely enough, psychic because what i just learned about cauldron magical history and the fact that it also means intense emotions apparently and also it comes from the French term that means basin and its latin root word means warm)

Meganium: fairytale author/writer (grass/fairy) thats all i could think of for meganium and idk how that would be made into a disgn.

Edit: second theme
Meganium: princess/fair maiden
Emboar: knight
Farligatr: dragon

Others brought this up and I think it's good

[Spookwurm]

7:23 this is kinda funny cause in the Detective Pikachu Switch game there's this guy and his Pignite that you can do a side quest for and they're both *really* into cooking— so the Tepig evolution line has actually been linked to cuisine before in previous titles—

[CarlosDiaz-wpsp]

0:32 Ahhh yes, my favorite Sea Otter Starter Pokémon... *PIPLUP*

[CylentNite]

Something neat about the themes of the three choices described here is they can each be attributed to the sense of smell: Feraligatr with the sewer dwelling, Meganium with aroma therapy, and Emboar with the smell of cooking. It'd be a pretty cool thematic connection if going this route. Great video!

[PokeTom-yr]

It's also because Gamefreak is specifically choosing starters that aren't good in either singles or doubles. Which means that we already know what the starters for the third Legends game will be: Turtwig, Fennekin, and Sobble.

[anthonydiecidue]

A regional feraligatr that’s more like a crocodile and keeps his green color from the original gold/silver would be great. It is interesting anyway how Croconaw (supposedly a crocodile by its name) evolves into an Alligator. Maybe a water/poison type and having a more sinister looking Feraligatr that sneaks in the sewers would be a cool concept.

[Bobzilla]

I utterly LOVE how you mentioned the fact that Feraligatr could be based off of a sewer gator.

However I am surprised you forgot to mention Eleonore the Crocodile. She was a Nile crocodile that was found in the sewers of Paris! And after she was captured she lived in an enclosure that was made to look like the city’s sewers. Really cool.

[BowNow]

Ever heard of Astérix and Obélix? A French comicbook series about the last Gaul village left fighting against the Roman empire. One of the main characters called Obélix is super strong due to drinking a magic potion as a kid, he is also the same body type as Emboar and is famous for his love of eating wildboars. I'd be shocked if they based Kalosian Emboar on him, but it'd definitely make for an amazing French reference

[azukidere]

0:25 Typhlosion beat the allegations actually! It was a case of bad machine learning, and it the actual translation was something closer to Eros and Psyche where Typhlosion is a monster that rescues a young woman, not kidnaps a child

[getsouped]

as a fan of les mis (own way too many translations of the book, ive read most of the ones i own), as soon as you mentioned the parisian sewers i was PRAYING youd mention the sewer part in les mis. that and the battle of waterloo are victor hugos sections of testing your commitment to the book (joke)

[koruyamashimada]

I think a very fun (and maybe even plausible) approach to the Meganium line would be that it leans into the whole aromatherapy thing, but specifically with *perfume*.

France is known for fashion, as said in the video, and perfumes go hand in hand with that. It wouldn't be impossible that we could end up getting a final evolution where it's modeled after those old-timey perfume bottles with the air puff ball thing, mixed in with some flower motifs