The most celebrated Pokémon of almost every generation are the Starter Pokémon, which are typically the first ‘mons of a new game to be revealed to the public. This generation’s starters are, of course, Grookey, Sobble, and Scorbunny, who were revealed in February 2019, several months before Sword & Shield’s release.
Since then, many have fallen even more in love with these small critters. No matter which one you select as your buddy for your Galar adventure, you’ll probably want to evolve it to its final form. Here’s how to do that, and a few other things about these starters that you might not have known.
10 How to Evolve
Unlike many other generations’ starters, Galar’s all evolve at the same levels, making it nice and easy to remember for those who are trying to complete a Pokédex or write a guide explaining how to evolve them.
The three base stages, Grookey, Sobble, and Scorbunny, all evolve into their middle stages at level 16. From there, those three evolve into the final forms at level 35. Each of the three final evolutions also has a Gigantamax form that is pretty fun and powerful.
9 Grookey
The Grass-type starter choice and first Pokémon in the Galar Pokédex is Grookey, a small monkey with a twig in its hair that it uses to beat on things like a drum.
Like many Grass-type Pokémon, Grookey has some sway over plant life. According to the Pokédex, Grookey is actually able to make plants grow. By smacking its stick on things, it creates sound waves that are capable of revitalizing surrounding plants and making them grow.
8 Thwackey
Grookey’s first evolution, Thwackey, also loves to use its drumming abilities as a powerful tool. Thwackey is said to drum out beats like a war drummer when it’s in battle, getting caught up in the rhythm of the fight and the sound.
Unfortunately, it seems to get a bit carried away. Apparently, Thwackey can get so focused on and caught up in the drumming, that it continues fighting and drumming on and on, not realizing it has already knocked out its foe.
7 Rillaboom
Every final evolution of a starter line has relatively similar stats across the eight generations of Pokémon that have been introduced, with the stats often being distributed very differently. Who, then, might one assume has the single highest attack stat?
It would be reasonable to assume a Pokémon like Charizard, Emboar, or even Empoleon would be the strongest attacker. However, it’s actually Rillaboom, the final evolution of Grookey, clocking in with a base attack stat of 125.
6 Scorbunny
Moving through the Pokédex brings the next starter line, starting with the Fire-type Scorbunny. This small white Pokémon very closely resembles a rabbit, although a very hyperactive upright rabbit. Scorbunny’s design clearly revolves around its feet, legs, and soccer- (or football-) inspired motif.
Like real-life rabbits, some consider Scorbunny’s feet to be lucky, like a rabbit’s foot. However, you won’t want to try cutting these ones off, as the soles of Scorbunny’s feet get very hot. If you try to take this rabbit’s foot, you’ll be burned — literally.
5 Raboot
Continuing with the football- or soccer-themed design brings Scorbunny’s first evolution, the angsty, hoodie-wearing Raboot. Like real-life soccer players, this Pokémon loves practicing its footwork by playing “keep-up.”
This is a game that soccer players play with themselves where they attempt to keep the ball off the ground only by using their legs, feet, chest, and head. However, instead of using a ball, Raboot likes to kick the berries off of trees and juggle them with its feet.
4 Cinderace
After evolving into Cinderace, this Pokémon goes from being a soccer enthusiast to being a full-blown association football star. Cinderace is basically a famous footballer with rabbit ears.
As such, Cinderace is equipped with a signature move called Pyro Ball, which consists of it taking a pebble, surrounding it in flame to make a large ball, and kicking it at an opponent.
This ball grows so large in Cinderace’s Gigantamax form that it can measure up to 300 feet (90 meters) in diameter.
3 Sobble
The final choice of starter Pokémon for trainers starting their journey in the Galar region is the Water-type Sobble. This sad lizard is known for being very shy and crying a lot, which is, frankly, the 2020 vibe.
Both of Sobble’s Pokédex entries are very interesting. In Sword, players learn that Sobble’s tears have the “chemical punch of 100 onions” and that the sensation caused makes its attackers rendered useless by their own sobbing. In Shield, players learn that Sobble is capable of changing its skin color like a chameleon when it gets wet, making itself invisible.
2 Drizzile
Drizzile is Sobble’s first evolution, and it’s grown from being sad and crying to being an angsty emo kid. Drizzile’s design is heavily focused around the water balloons that it throws in battle.
If you wonder where it gets this seemingly endless supply of balloons, look no further than the Pokédex, which explains that these are produced with water via glands in its hands. What a fun superpower that could be!
1 Inteleon
The final evolution in the Sobble family line is Inteleon, the strange lizard spy that wields a gun. It’s both concerning that it is capable of just shooting other Pokémon, but it does provide for some interesting trivia about Inteleon.
Inteleon’s gun is actually just an ability to shoot water out of its fingertips at high speeds — up to Mach 3. That speed increases to Mach 7 when Inteleon Gigantamaxes. Furthermore, in this form, it can shoot a moving target over nine miles away (almost 15 kilometers).
NEXT: Pokémon: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Eevee-lutions
