# 725 - Litten
Fire
The Fire Starter of Generation VII, Litten lacks the uniqueness of Rowlet. It doesn't have a secondary Type from the get-go, even though it could've begun as a Dark-type without much fuss since that isn't a particularly powerful Type nor does it mess with the initial Type Triangle. I think fans would've been relieved to have had solid confirmation from the very beginning the Fire-type wouldn't evolve into a Fighting-type, though I guess Decidueye changing Types means that could theoretically still be on the table, and would've saved months of people debating over the exact nature of Incineroar.
Litten was my first Starter Pokemon in Alola, and a departure from my usual trend of picking Grass-type Pokemon. The reasoning behind this was two-fold: I really, REALLY liked Incineroar when he was officially confirmed to be legit, and I was dead-set on my Grass Pokemon being the amazing Lurantis. I was half-right in my decision because Litten proved to be a valuable teammate, but unfortunately whatever Game Freak was on when they decided upon Lurantis' stat spread I'll never know. Litten is probably the best Starter to go with because it has a focus on offense and speed (for now), which is typically the funnest way to experience the scenario of a Pokemon adventure even if it isn't the most rewarding. Before evolving it even picks up Fire Fang, which is quite powerful early on, and has an interesting move in Lick allowing it to either burn or paralyze Pokemon. Also as of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon it learns a Fighting-type attack in Double Kick right before it evolves, which would've been an effective troll had Litten learned this in the initial games to scare Fighting-type fearfuls.
So, Litten is a cat Pokemon. I'm a cat person, but I've never liked any of the cat Pokemon much bar Meowth. And that's not because he's a cat, but rather because of his personality in the show. Skitty's cute enough, Glameow and Purrloin are forgettable, and I find Espurr to be overrated, and there might be some other cat Pokemon I forgot about but that's the ones people think of when it comes to the mandatory cat Pokemon. I like Litten though. The reason being is that it reminds me of my deceased cat, Sega, and because re-contextualizing a "Com Mon" trope into a Starter gives it an odd sense of freshness. Like we have a glut of butterfly/moth Pokemon, but I'd be pretty hyped to see one of those appear as a Starter. It's implied to be based on the feral cat population of Hawaii, less domesticated than say Skitty or Glameow, which is a big ecological problem in the real world as they're responsible for threatening native life. There's no wild Litten in the games though due to Starters having to be rare, so that connection is a bit loss when you only see one the entire adventure.
See that mark on its head? That's the alchemical symbol for sulfur. Okay, seriously, Game Freak has clearly referenced alchemy elsewhere and Japanese folks love referencing that as much as Alice in Wonderland and Lovecraft, but I think fans are going a bit overboard here. Litten draws inspiration from a tabby cat, which is any breed of cat known for having stripes along their body. Usually they have an "M" pattern, but Litten trades it out for a double-lined "T". This simply seems to be a reference to that stripe shape often seen on the heads of tigers, hinting at its evolution, and a quick google search shows that other anime cats have the same pattern appearing on their head. Unless Game Freak says otherwise, I'm chalking this up to coincidence. Folks expanded on this and claimed Rowlet and Popplio reference alchemical symbols as well, which feel even more forced than this example. I mean I'm deep into Pokemon and some of my theories are a bit out there, but yeah this seems too much for me.
As a Fire-type Pokemon, I enjoy Litten for ditching the usual design philosophy as it's a cool black-and-red as opposed to the bright orange or yellow we usually see, and there's no visual flames anywhere---instead it coughs up fiery hairballs and sheds its fur through self-immolation, which I find pretty hilarious. Likely why they're not good pets either, considering how dangerous that would be. Its design is a bit emblematic of the big head, small body philosophy of a lot of modern Pokemon designs, but I think its cooler and mischievous personality helps it stand out when so many of the other Pokemon with that design type have a big grin. Like, imagine Litten with the Ohmura "chipmunk" face, and that would be horrible. I like that of all the Starter Pokemon it just doesn't seem to care. It's not even smug like Snivy, it just looks like it's looking for a way to get out of here and go mind its own business.
Ash's Litten in the show rules. Like a lot of Fire-type Pokemon Ash has had in the past it was introduced as suffering in some form. In this case it's a mischievous street cat that steals to help its friend Stoutland, who is basically dying. And, yeah, Stoutland eventually unambiguously passes away. But hey, now Litten can join up with Ash without abandoning its friend so that's cool. Litten's pretty much Ash's cat, in that it acts like a cat in a lot of scenes as it's a bit more relaxed than the other Pokemon and sometimes looks down on their sillier antics. It's no slouch when it comes to battling, however, and eventually evolved into Torracat in order to take on Masked Royal's Incineroar. Another cute touch is fellow cat Pokemon Meowth has respect for Litten despite being on opposing sides, referring to it as "honcho" and cheering for it whenever it isn't conflicting with the goals of Team Rocket.
# 726 - Torracat
Fire
At Level 17 Litten evolves into Torracat. Like Dartrix its natural moveset in this stage is a bit disappointing with Bite being the only real standout, though Fire Fang is good enough still to keep carrying it forward. Furthermore the line has a great selection of TMs at their disposal which can give it a surprising amount of versatility, and as TMs begin to appear more frequently around the point you get Torracat it can stay relevant quite easily. It's one of the quicker Pokemon of Alola as well, and with good attack it can take things down handily without much fuss. If you LOVE using quick Pokemon and find 85/80 base offense to be good enough for the in-game, you might want to invest in an Eviolite.
Torracat is a pretty bulky looking cat, with an oddly muscular body---originally I thought it looked a bit uneven in terms of weight distribution when I saw the official art, but the anime has helped it grow on me and now I think it's easily the best mid-form of the Alola Starters. It's less of a tabby cat though and more of a large cat now, a tiger cub you could say, though it actually becomes more domesticated at this point. Considering that the only way to obtain a Torracat (in-game at the very least) is to raise a Litten, there's the idea that it eventually warms up to its Trainer, and this can be seen in its PokeDex entries. Though one must be careful, as it can become too spoiled if not careful. The fiery bell on its neck is a neat way to represent its domestication and growing bond with its Trainer as bells are typically given to cats as a symbol of domestication. It's a nice touch. It also no longer has a "I'm bored" look, now it looks like it's ready for a fight fitting a Trainer's Pokemon.
But what you're probably here for is the sinking feeling that looking at Torracat, you begin to notice certain "signs". Wow, it sure looks a bit muscular, doesn't it? And with the change in the distribution of its fur, doesn't it look like it's wearing some sort of mask? And you know, bells aren't just used to represent pets, they're also used in professional fighting. And what's that in its PokeDex Entry---IT CAN PUNCH? But thankfully as we know now, no, it didn't become a Fighting-type technically, although it is a Fighting-type in spirit. It actually didn't learn a single damaging Fighting-type attack without breeding till USUM gave the line Double Kick---instead of the more lore sensible punching attack---so that's kind of odd. Of course I recall by the time we saw Torracat, we knew Incineroar was a Dark-type (or at least suspected it, we definitely saw Incineroar's design months beforehand) so unless you went into Sun and Moon blind you didn't experience that panic but, damn, Game Freak really wanted to make this line Fighting-type Pokemon aesthetically.
Ash's Litten evolved into Torracat in order to attempt to overcome Masked Royal's Incineroar, which is one of the neater rivalries in Pokemon history. We've seen similar "pre-evolution vs evolution" rivalries before, notably Pikachu vs. Raichu, but the dynamic of this rivalry is a bit nicer since not only is Torracat a fleshed out character, Incineroar is as well. Incineroar isn't merely a "jerk" like Raichu is usually depicted as when paired against Pikachu, it explicitly wants to see Torracat get stronger and knows the best way to do so isn't to go easy on the Pokemon and hurt its pride, but hold nothing back. It's unknown if Torracat will evolve eventually, though I don't think it will. For one, there's no visual difference between two Incineroar, so I think it'd be a bit odd to see them fight when neither one is distinct. Second, Sun and Moon seems to like to have Ash's Pokemon be his "pets", and I think pulling off that dynamic with Incineroar would be a bit odd. Considering Ash's mom is shown to be fond of Litten, I imagine it'll stay as a Torracat and in the end go to Pallet Town and hang out alongside her and Mr. Mime at Ash's house as opposed to being sent to Oak's Lab.
# 727 - Incineroar
Fire/Dark
At Level 34, Torracat stands up and becomes Incineroar. Against all odds it is NOT a Fire/Fighting Pokemon, but rather Fire/Dark. Not only is that unique among Starter Pokemon, it's a fairly unique Type in general since it hasn't been used since Generation II's Houndour and Houndoom, though I guess technically it was used last Generation with Mega Houndoom. In a way, Incineroar taunting fans by basically being a Fire/Fighting Pokemon, but not really, is pretty true to its character. That's probably giving Game Freak too much credit, but you can't deny that Incineroar pissed off a lot of fans by playing into fan expectations only to subvert it in the end, but in a way that might be even more aggravating. But besides being almost a Fire/Fighting Pokemon, could they piss of folks more?
It gets slower. Pokemon losing stats upon evolution is an oddity, except for gimmicky Pokemon. Of all the stats to get weaker upon evolution, however, Speed makes the most sense but this is usually averted for Pokemon for gameplay sake. Torterra is faster than Turtwig, for instance, even though Turtwig would logically be nimbler due to having less weight it has to lug around. But for Incineroar they dropped its Speed lower than Litten's, and it's the only Starter Pokemon to see a decrease in stats. On the other hand it has solid bulk, with a nice Typing that gives it a decent amount of defenses, and can deal some heavy damage. It also has a surprisingly diverse movepool that makes it quite fun to use in the main game, with access to Outrage, Shadow Claw, and the newly buffed Leech Life. The low Speed is a shame, but found it fun enough to use thanks to the variety of coverage options.
Other than Bite, it won't learn any other Dark-type attacks naturally other than its signature move Darkest Lariat. It's a solid move that ignores changes to the opponent's Defense and Accuracy, but loses points for the hilariously awkward t-pose animation. It can be upgraded with the Incinium Z into Malicious Moonsault, which loses the additional effect but is super strong and, more importantly, far more badass. Canonically this move seems to suggest Incineroar can cause an entire wrestling ring to appear at will. It also has a second signature move in Throat Chop, which it can only learn via the Move Relearner. This was made widely available in USUM as a tutor move, but prior to that this was the only way to get it, and the only Pokemon who could get it otherwise would be a bred Sneasel. It's almost as powerful as Darkest Lariat and prevents the opponent from using sound-based moves, which are seen frequently enough to make it useful in places but not frequently enough to make it worth the trade in power from Darkest Lariat. It seems to be designed as a counter to Primarina, however, who uses such moves.
While Decidueye and Primarina got brand new Hidden Abilities, Incineroar sticks to Intimidate. This is for the best, though I would've liked to see something a bit more interesting, as Intimidate is a good Ability and one of the reasons why Incineroar is popular in the Doubles Format. Its main weaknesses are Ground, Fighting, Rock, and Water, so decreasing the Attack of the opponent is useful as the first three are typically Physical moves. Like you'd expect from a heel wrestler, it works best when teaming up with an ally due to useful support moves such as Fake Out, Taunt, and Knock-Off, allowing it to weaken the opponent while a faster partner cleans them up. As mentioned above it's popular in the VGC-format, but its slow Speed keeps it lower when it comes to Singles.
Tiger Mask is a popular manga series in Japan that centers on a tiger-themed wrestler known as Naoto Date who began his career as a "heel"---a bad guy---before turning into a hero in order to set a positive example for an orphanage. This series isn't that well known outside of Japan, but is a cultural icon in Japan with real-life wrestlers adopting the persona over the years as well as being homaged in popular media with Incineroar being Pokemon's example. Incineroar never quite made the jump to being a heroic wrestler, he's still a heel, and thus could draw inspiration from the various dark Tiger characters that Tiger Mask deals with. Much like how Tiger Mask became a role model for the orphaned children of Japan, Incineroar could be seen as a role model for the homeless Litten of Alola. As far as Dark-type Pokemon go, it's implied its more malicious aspects are probably played up for the crowd and may be a big softy inside.
Some people dislike how Incineroar looks due to its humanoid appearance, but as far as humanoid Pokemon go it doesn't bother me---don't google it though. There's a popular edit of it I've seen that redraws it as a regular bearded dude, and it works. My favorite part of its design has to be how it looks like its wearing a shirt with the sleeves ripped off. The fiery bell it had as a Torracat morphs into a flaming belt, which I think is a decent progression of that element of its design, but leads to the awkwardness of it firing fire from its crotch. The character model sheet for it also shows it using its crotch as a stovetop too which, is, uh, certainly something. In case you couldn't tell I'm a fan of its design, it's perhaps my favorite Starter Pokemon next to Torterra to the point I dumped using Rowlet first partially for it.
I don't think it's controversial to say Incineroar is the most popular of the Alolan Pokemon and this was cemented when it was added to Smash Bros. Ultimate. While his reveal pissed a lot of folks off mainly due because it was one of the final reveals alongside Ken and the oddball Piranha Plant---true to form once more---there's no denying his style of fighting is extremely fresh for Smash Bros. Well, almost. I always thought King K. Rool and Incineroar had a bit of crossover as big, heavy dudes, with K. Rool showing off some wrestling moves in his reveal trailer and also running on all fours, reminding me of the infamously awkward way they had Incineroar run in the I Choose You! movie. Thankfully they ditched this run animation for Incineroar, and K. Rool's looks far cooler, but when I first saw the King K. Rool trailer I thought to myself, y'know, this could easily be reworked into Incineroar's reveal trailer. At the very least, the Classic Mode banner seems to imply they're rivals of sorts which I've adopted into head canon. Yeah, I ship it.
Much like in the main games Smash Incineroar is slow, but hits hard with moves that can K.O. at low percentages. His Side B, the unique to Smash Alolan Whip, is easily his funnest move and has a lot of interesting uses due to how it works depending on your timing. On the other hand I forget Darkest Lariat is a move at times because it just lacks a punch and feels awkward due to how slow it is, which fits how bad the move looks in Sun and Moon I guess. But then you activate his Final Smash, Max Malicious Moonsault, and I got to say that's probably one of the coolest Final Smashes in the series. He also has a Big the Cat alt color which earns him extra points. I remember being a bit mixed on Incineroar getting in Smash originally when he was rumored, thinking Decidueye or Mimikyu might be cooler, but the execution won me over. He's easily one of my favorite Smash characters and I hope he sticks around in future titles if there are roster cuts.
So Incineroar was one of the newest Pokemon to be featured in the I Choose You! film, a retelling of Ash's Kanto adventure. Incineroar had a fairly prominent role in the film as the main Pokemon of Cross, Ash's edgy rival introduced in the film who is Damien + Paul. The original owner of Ash's Charmander in this timeline, him and Ash compete multiple times throughout the film with Incineroar beating Charmleon before later evolving into Charizard and returning the favor. It's pretty notable to its popularity that it was put up against Charizard, and alongside popular mascot Pokemon Lucario and Piplup,, as well as plot relevant Legendaries Ho-Oh and Marshadow, gets the most focus of a non-Kanto Pokemon in the film. This was the first impression I got that The Pokemon Company wanted to push Incineroar.
And then came the anime. So, for those of you who don't know, Professor Kukui is the Masked Royal. So far in the show, only Molayne and Faba are aware of this, though Ash's Torracat seems to suspect it, with Kukui going so far as to never show off his Incineroar to anyone when he's not in his Masked Royal persona. The one exception is Faba, and he only did so because he was losing to Team Rocket and needed to use his trump card. Considering Professor Kukui is basically Ash's dad in Sun and Moon, he appears quite a bit as the Masked Royal, and likewise so does Incineroar. It's almost a main character at this point as it had a decent amount of appearances under its literal belt, and pretty well developed. As mentioned before it has a mentorship towards Ash's Torracat, and an upcoming episode is going to showcase how it first met Professor Kukui as a Litten. Will this be the point that Ash pieces the connection between Kukui and Masked Royal together? Probably not. It's also implied that Kukui's Incineroar may be the final challenge to Ash in the Alola League, though like in USUM this might be subverted since that's what fans are expecting. I'd like to end this by saying Incineroar's focus episodes in the show are really fun because of the wrestling aesthetic. One episode has a dude driving his limo into the ring which is pretty much perfect.
