RIP Smugleaf, Firepig and Wotter. The English-language names of the Black and White starters were revealed yesterday (via official sitepokemonblackwhite.com)- are you sitting down? In English language territories, the Grass starter shall henceforth be known as Snivy, along with Tepig (Fire) and Oshawott (Water). Erm...
So, it seems like even the people most closely involved with the Pokemon franchise are hating on firepig. Tepig's name clearly comes from Tepid + pig, which is clearly rather insulting.
Snivy is an OK name, probably based on snide + ivy, but "ivy" has already been used in a starter name with Ivysaur, so it's been done. Plus Snivy sort of reminds me of words like "snivelly" and "iffy" which is kind of bleh. He'll always be Smugleaf to me.
At first, Oshawott just seems like a really lame name, especially since it almost looks like it's partially ripping off the fan-given starter name, Wotter. Seriously, I would have been happy if the Pokemon Companyhad just named him Wotter, but whatever. The name Oshawottis actually pretty cool though, since it appears to be based on a combination of "Oshawa" and "otter" - Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, and the origin of the name refers to a river crossing.
Also worth mentioning, the Isshu region has been renamed to the Unova region in the English-language versions of B&W, marking the first time that a region has been renamed in the main Pokemon series. Unova sounds like a Pokemon Ranger region name to me. After four generations of keeping the region name the same as the Japanese version, why rename Isshu? Hmph.
In semi-related news, it was announced today that Zekrom and Reshiram will accompany the giant Pikachu balloon, along with all of Pikachu's other festive handlers, at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this Thursday. Reshiram and Zekrom will each stand at an impressive14 feet tall, and no further details were revealed on their appearance, so we'll have to wait and see. Will they be statues on a float, or people in costume? Inquiring minds want to know.
So what do you think about the starters' names? Any predictions on the names of the second and third stage starter names? Letyour fellow Pokemon fans know in the commentsbelow.
Nov 23, 2010
