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User:SuperSaiyan2Link/Pokémon Protagonist Canon
The Pokémon series is incredibly expansive, and with that comes a lot of things that fans don’t agree on. This subject is one of the most hotly debated topics.
In the series, each protagonist is given the choice between three Starter Pokémon, which the player can then freely choose between. The rival character then picks that Starter strong against (or weak against, in Hau and Hop’s case) the player’s. And sometimes there will be a third Trainer to take the one left over.
However, it is interesting to note that, removing the player from the equation, each Pokémon protagonist is their own established character. We see this with Red, the player character of Pokémon Red/Green/Blue/Yellow and Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen, who has appeared as an NPC several times after his initial playable appearances.
Because of this, it is widely up for debate which Trainer took which Starter Pokémon. For this, I’m going to go through every single main Trainer that obtains a Starter Pokémon, and individually explain why they are given the Starters that they are given.
Furthermore, once I establish which Starter they will be presented with on this wiki, I will be able to also establish which characters are the main protagonists, and which are the rivals. In cases such as with Calem/Serena, the one not chosen by the player will become the rival, and so it is important to note which one canonically fills what role. Why is this important? Well, to put it simply, it drastically changes what team they will be given on the wiki.
Hopefully I made this as comprehensive as possible. And even if you disagree with the picks in some fashion, hopefully you can understand them, and thus understand why they will be handled this way on the wiki.
If you heavily disagree, of course, simply leave a comment. I will do my best to defend my list, but if I cannot, then I will promptly change it. That’s how the cookie crumbles.
Please note that there are several instances of Trainers being shown with multiple different Starters. I will tackle each of these as they come, and do my best to decide what should be accounted for and what shouldn’t. A final important note is that the main games, including Pokémon Masters EX, will be taken above all other sources, as the end-all be-all.
As I'm sure it will be brought up, here is proof that Masters EX is a canonical source of information.
Terms
These will be the terms I use to label each Trainer. To understand what each label means, I will briefly give you a run-down.
Main Protagonist: The main hero of the story. Although this character might not be the one that you chose to play as through the main story, this is the character who canonically lived it out. This is the character who canonically foiled the evil team and won the Pokémon League of their region (ex. Although Brendan and May can both be chosen by the player to lead the campaign, Brendan is canonically the one who did it)
Rival: The main rival of the game. The main rival will pick the Starter Pokémon strong against the main protagonist's Starter Pokémon, which is how their status as Rival will be decided. The only two exceptions to this rule are Hau and Hop, who are your main Rival, yet pick the Starter weak to yours.
Secondary Protagonist: A protagonist who serves a part in the story, but isn't extremely major. The secondary protagonist will always be one of the two of the characters who the player has the option to play as at the beginning of the game. Usually, they serve as the main protagonist's best friend, or assistant to the Pokémon Professor (ex. Dawn can be chosen to be the playable character, though if Lucas is chosen instead of her, she will serve as Professor Rowan's assistant). The secondary protagonist will almost always choose the Starter weak to the main protagonist's, again with the exception of Hau and Hop who are main rivals.
Other: A character who exists within the story, but not as any of the three listed above. This term only applies to Kris, who is noted to exist within the same universe as everyone else (according to Masters EX), but does not fill the role of main protagonist, rival, or secondary protagonist. She simply has a Starter Pokémon, and is a playable character.
Kanto
Red
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Red
In his appearance as a secret boss in Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal and Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver, Red is actually shown owning all three Starter Pokémon. So, to an extent, answering this question for him would be moot. However, it is good to see who his ace would be nonetheless.
This one, along with the next two, is incredibly easy. Befitting of his name, Masters EX shows that Red’s ace is Charizard:
This is only ever contradicted by a piece of artwork that implies Red chose Bulbasaur, along with Let’s Go and the Adventures Manga which had Red choose Bulbasaur. The artwork is not nearly substantial enough to overwrite Masters Ex, however, and both Let’s Go and the Adventures Manga are a different continuity entirely.
Starter Pokémon: Charizard
Next up will be deciding who the main protagonist is, and who’s simply the secondary rival. This will be harder to decipher later on, but for now it's really cut and dry. His only competition here is Leaf, who didn’t even exist until Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen. Furthermore, she uses the Starter that’s weak to his, which solidifies it.
Status: Main Protagonist
Blue Oak
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Blue Oak
The first rival of the Pokémon games, Blue (called Green in the Japanese version) is also hotly debated on who his starter is. Once he becomes a Gym Leader, he doesn’t even use his Starter on his team, so nothing can be answered there.
This one is really easy too, however. Befitting of his name (at least in English), Masters EX shows that Blue’s ace is Blastoise:
This is only ever contradicted, once again, by the artwork, Let’s Go, and the Adventures Manga, which both had him choose Charmander. Again, the artwork does not take precedence over Masters Ex, and both Let’s Go and the Adventures Manga are a separate continuity.
Starter Pokémon: Blastoise
This one goes without saying, Blue is the only possible rival in the games. Red nor Leaf can take this position, as Blue is basically set in stone here.
Status: Rival
Leaf
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Leaf
I have to fight the temptation to call her Green, because that’s only her name in Let’s Go and the Adventure Manga, even though it makes way more sense for this to be her name. But I digress.
Two characters down already, Leaf only has one Starter that she could possibly even have, which is backed up yet again by Masters Ex. Leaf’s ace is Venusaur:
Nothing contradicts this. The only things that possibly could (Red/Green concept art, Let’s Go, Adventures Manga) aren’t actually Leaf, they’re Green. For all intents and purposes, that’s not even a character who exists in the main continuity, nor would they overwrite Masters EX regardless.
Starter Pokémon: Venusaur
With Leaf being the third member between Red and Blue, she isn’t the main protagonist or the main rival. Especially since the rival, Blue, does not have the Starter strong against her, which he would if she was the main protagonist. Naturally, this would make her the secondary protagonist of the group.
Status: Secondary Protagonist
Johto
Gold
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Gold
Gold, also sometimes called Ethan (though Gold is perfectly viable as a name) is the male protagonist of Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal and Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver. Johto games are confusing for this list so I’ll try to explain it the best that I can.
First off, Masters EX already confirms what his Starter Pokémon is. His ace is Typhlosion:
The Adventures Manga actually supports this. The only thing going against this would be this piece of art, although it doesn’t mean much, and Masters EX should take precedence over it.
Starter Pokémon: Typhlosion
This question is a bit harder to answer, unfortunately. Although, due to Lyra having the Starter weak to his, you can safely say he is the main protagonist instead of her. You may be asking how Kris fits into this, as she seems to have the Starter strong to his, but that’s where it gets complicated. More on that later.
Status: Main Protagonist
Lyra
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Lyra
Lyra is the female counterpart to Gold/Ethan, and can be chosen as the player character instead of him. She replaced Kris, who was originally the female protagonist of the Johto games. This is important, so please keep that in mind when I cover Crystal.
Masters EX confirms that Lyra’s Starter Pokémon is Meganium:
Nothing contradicts this.
Starter Pokémon: Meganium
Due to possessing the Starter that’s weak to Gold/Ethan’s, this would mean that Lyra cannot be the main protagonist. Instead, she canonically takes the role of the best friend, which you see her assume when she isn’t chosen as the player character in-game.
Status: Secondary Protagonist
Silver
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Silver
Silver, son of the incredibly important boss of Team Rocket, Giovanni. As crazy as it sounds, Silver is one of the hardest to decipher on what his Starter Pokémon really is.
Masters EX doesn’t give him a Starter, it only shows him with Sneasel and Ho-Oh. This means that I cannot link anything concrete, and I’m not gonna use the Adventures Manga this time because that would make me a hypocrite.
Thus, an assumption has to be made. Since Gold has Typhlosion, and Lyra has Meganium, the only Pokémon left would be Feraligatr. This works well enough, since Feraligatr is strong against Typhlosion, which fits perfectly fine with the rival/protagonist dynamic.
Starter Pokémon: Feraligatr
Silver is the only rival in the games he appears in, no matter who you choose to play as. Gold, Lyra, it doesn’t matter, Silver will be the pre-set rival.
Status: Rival
Kris
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Kris
Kris is the original female protagonist from the eponymous Pokémon Crystal, who was later replaced by Lyra in the remakes. She’s one of the hardest to explain, because of the nature of things. Before I say anything else, I want you to note: Kris cannot coexist with Gold/Ethan OR Lyra.
Masters EX shows that Kris’s Starter Pokémon is Totodile, later evolving into Feraligatr:
So now I know you must be asking, “But doesn’t Silver have Totodile? How does that work?”
It’s sorta confusing, but simple at the same time? As Kris cannot exist alongside Gold or Lyra within the games, she’s essentially an alternate counterpart to them, within a separate universe of sorts. She doesn’t fit in with the trio of Gold/Lyra/Silver whatsoever.
So essentially, she could have any of the three Johto Starters that she wants, as her choice does nothing to affect the other three. Her having Feraligatr contradicts nothing, even though her whole inclusion in this is a bit strange.
Starter Pokémon: Feraligatr
As for Kris's status as a protagonist or rival... Well, she's not really either? Again, due to her disconnect to Gold and Lyra, she doesn't fit into any trio of characters the way that all others do. Nor does she have a Starter Pokémon that compliments Silver's, since they literally have the same one. So she's a special case.
Status: Other
Hoenn
Brendan
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Brendan
Brendan is the male protagonist of the Hoenn games, Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald and Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. In the case of these games, the primary rival is actually the character who you don’t decide to play as (Brendan is the rival if you choose May, and vice versa), and so a little more explanation needs to be had.
In terms of what Pokémon Brendan chose as his Starter, there are actually two confirmed sources for this. In Masters EX, we see that Brendan’s ace is Sceptile:
Then, in Pokémon Generations (which, while animated, are simply animations for the game continuity), we see Brendan have a Sceptile there too. Basically setting in stone who he chose.
So, without a shadow of a doubt, Brendan chose the Treecko line.
Starter Pokémon: Sceptile
This next part is a bit harder, we have to decide whether Brendan is the protagonist or the rival. There is one clear person who will make that decision for us, however, and his name is Norman. In the games, Norman is the father of the protagonist and not the rival; so whoever Norman is the father of, is the main protagonist.
Masters EX shows here that Brendan refers to Norman as his father, establishing that connection. This would thus naturally make Brendan the main protagonist of the games, and May later would be the rival.
Status: Main Protagonist
May
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May
May is the female protagonist of the Hoenn games, and friend of Brendan’s. Due to having been established as the rival, we would assume that May chose Torchic, right? Well, Masters EX presents a weird reality.
May actually chose Mudkip, which makes very little sense. According to the games themselves, if May has Mudkip and Brendan has Treecko, then that would automatically make Brendan the rival, and May the daughter of Norman.
But Masters EX itself also established that Brendan was the son of Norman, and so it raised a discrepancy within itself. Unfortunately, since this is a problem raised within the same game, there’s not much to do aside from accept that it's a strange predicament. And so, as a result...
Starter Pokémon: Swampert
Since we’ve accepted that weird scenario, and just looked past it, we can once again say that May is the rival. Yes, her having Mudkip is weird, but there’s literally no way around that with what Masters EX has done. I don’t like it either.
Status: Rival
Sinnoh
Dawn
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Dawn
Here’s where we can actually start explaining the decisions made for not only Dawn herself, but also Lucas. Dawn, as the female protagonist, will either be the main character or Professor Rowan’s assistant, depending on who you choose to play as.
Masters EX thankfully confirmed who she chose as her Starter Pokémon. This is never contradicted by anything except the anime, which has her choose Piplup, though this is a separate continuity and thus shouldn’t be accounted for. According to Masters EX, Dawn has Torterra:
Starter Pokémon: Torterra
In order to prove why she is the main protagonist, please read Lucas's section. You'll notice that Dawn has the starter strong to the rival, Barry, but that's explained there too. Masters EX makes strange decisions but this is what it went with, and so that's what is canon. Furthermore, since Dawn is the main protagonist, that means she is the one who goes on to be sent by in time by Arceus and wind up in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
Status: Main Protagonist
Barry
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Barry
Barry is the rival of the Sinnoh games, no matter who you pick as the protagonist. Lucas or Dawn, no matter who you choose, Barry will always be the rival that picks the Pokémon strong against yours.
Fortunately, we do know canonically which Starter Pokémon is the one that Barry chose, thanks to Masters EX. He chose Empoleon:
Starter Pokémon: Empoleon
Unfortunately, with this information alone, I still cannot back up why I gave Lucas what I did. Though, coupled with Dawn’s information below, you’ll soon see why.
As stated earlier, Barry is the rival of the games no matter what you do.
Status: Rival
Lucas
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Lucas
Lucas is the male protagonist of Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. In these games, the character who isn’t chosen becomes a supporting protagonist, but not the main rival. The main rival is reserved for Barry, although Lucas or Dawn will act as Professor Rowan’s assistant depending on which one you didn’t choose to play as.
Lucas has recently been added to Masters EX, although he doesn't come with his starter, he came with Dialga. So instead, we’ll have to base Lucas’s Starter on Barry and Dawn’s, so go and read their sections in order to understand why I picked what I picked.
Starter Pokémon: Infernape
Masters EX actually shows us an important piece of information that solidifies what Lucas's place in the story is. It's confusing, but bear with me here.
Lucas claims to be Professor Rowan's assistant. He also later confirms he comes from Sandgem Town and not Twinleaf, so this sets it in stone. Dawn is the main protagonist and Lucas is the assistant. Naturally, you'll be asking to yourself why Lucas has the starter weak to Barry if he isn't the main protagonist, but this is another May/Brendan situation. You just have to go with it.
Status: Secondary Protagonist
Unova
Hilbert
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Hilbert
Hilbert is the male protagonist of Pokémon Black/White. In these games, the character who isn’t chosen simply does not appear at all. The main rival and supporting character roles are reserved for two separate characters, Cheren and Bianca who remain the same regardless of whether you play as Hilbert or Hilda.
As confirmed directly by Masters EX, the Starter Pokémon that Hilbert chose was Samurott:
This is contradicted by the Adventures Manga, which has him choose Emboar, although that is an entirely separate continuity and doesn’t mean anything to the main continuity.
Starter Pokémon: Samurott
Hilbert is the hardest to decide on whether he is the main protagonist, or his female counterpart, Hilda. This is because, In Masters EX, both Cheren and Bianca do not use their Starter Pokémon as their partners, meaning you cannot determine the main protagonist based on type advantage (Cheren chooses the Starter strong to yours, Bianca chooses the one weaker).
However, there is confirmation given in Masters EX through other means. During the conversations between Trainers that occur throughout the game, you learn that only Hilbert has interacted with N, and that Hilda doesn’t even know him.
Since the main games have you directly involve N, as he is the main antagonist of them, this would mean that Hilbert has to be the main protagonist. If Hilda doesn’t even know who N is, then she cannot possibly take on this role.
Status: Main Protagonist
Cheren
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Cheren
Cheren is the male rival of the Unova games, acting in basically the same role as people like Blue and Silver. Although Bianca is also seen as a rival, Cheren is universally accepted to be the main rival, as he is fought the most amount of times, and (as per tradition) he picks the Starter Pokémon that is strong against the main protagonist’s Starter.
Cheren’s partner in Masters EX is not his Starter, but this is only a minor roadblock. Since we’ve established that Hilbert is the main protagonist of the games, it is easy to determine what Cheren’s Starter would be, as Cheren’s Starter would be the one strong against Hilbert’s.
Starter Pokémon: Serperior
As established above, since he picks the Starter strong against Hilbert’s, Cheren would be the traditional rival of Pokémon Black/White.
Status: Rival
Bianca
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Bianca
Bianca is the female rival of the Unova games, serving as the second rival next to Cheren. Unlike Cheren, Bianca is not very frequently fought, and she chooses the Starter that is weak to the main protagonist’s.
Once again, Bianca’s partner in Masters EX is not her Starter Pokémon, but we can easily decipher who her Starter would be. As per how the game works, Bianca chooses the Pokémon that is weak to the one Hilbert picks.
Starter Pokémon: Emboar
Since she is not fought very often and has the Pokémon weak to Hilbert’s, Bianca slots right into the same role as Green and Dawn.
Status: Secondary Protagonist
Hilda
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Hilda
Hilbert is the female protagonist of Pokémon Black/White. She is possible to be chosen as the player character, taking over the role that Hilbert usually fills if so. However, as established above, Hilbert is canonically the main protagonist.
Masters EX confirms who her Starter Pokémon is, showing that she went with the Tepig line:
This is a case exactly like with Kris, where she and the male protagonist cannot coexist. As such, while Hilda does have the same Starter as Bianca, this discrepancy does not matter, as she is not part of the protagonist/rival/secondary protagonist trio.
Starter Pokémon: Emboar
If you look back to Hilbert’s section, you see that Hilda does not even know who N is, showing clearly that she did not go through the events of the Unova games the way that the other three above did. She would thus fit into the exact same role as Kris.
Status: Other
Nate
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Nate
Nate is the male protagonist of Pokémon Black 2/White 2. Once again, the main rival role is reserved for Hugh, who remains the same regardless of whether you play as Nate or Rosa.
Masters EX does not give Nate a confirmed Starter Pokémon, and so there will need to be some loops to go through in order to decide. Instead, I’ll turn to the Black 2/White 2 animated trailer; note that this isn’t a separate continuity, as it is a trailer for the games themselves.
This trailer will be used for the next two characters as well. In it, it confirms that Nate chose Emboar:
Starter Pokémon: Emboar
Since I will later show that Hugh has the Starter that is strong against Nate’s, and Hugh is the pre-set rival of the game, that would mean that Nate has to be the main protagonist of the game.
Status: Main Protagonist
Hugh
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Hugh
Hugh is the rival of Pokémon Black 2/White 2. Although he doesn’t appear in Masters EX (yet,) he does have a confirmed starter coming from the animated trailer. This shows that Hugh chose Samurott:
Starter Pokémon: Samurott
Now that we know that Hugh chose Samurott, we are able to fully decide whether Nate is the main protagonist, or Rosa. As Samurott is strong against Emboar, who is Nate’s Pokémon, this decision is clear. Nonetheless, Hugh is the rivals of these games no matter what.
Status: Rival
Rosa
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Rosa
Rosa is the female protagonist of Pokémon Black 2/White 2. According to the animated trailer, we know that she Serperior:
This is actually backed up by Masters EX, finally, since Rosa has her Starter Pokémon in it. Once again, she has the Snivy line:
Starter Pokémon: Serperior
Rosa has the Starter that is strong against Hugh’s, which breaks the way that the game works, meaning she cannot be the main protagonist. As a result, her position in the story is clear.
Status: Secondary Protagonist
Kalos
Calem
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Calem
Calem is the male protagonist of Pokémon X/Y. The character who you don’t choose becomes your main rival, while the secondary protagonist (who chooses the Starter weak to yours), is set in stone as Shauna no matter who you choose.
Masters EX does not give Calem his Starter Pokémon, so I can’t turn to that. However, Pokémon Generations, the animated shorts following game continuity, prove exactly what we need to find. Calem chose the Chespin line:
Starter Pokémon: Chesnaught
The Starter is not the only Pokémon I can use this image to prove something for, however. In X/Y, the protagonist is given the choice by Professor Sycamore, to choose between yet another set of three starters. Based on the image above, we know which of these Calem chose as well.
Starter Pokémon (from Sycamore): Charizard
And even further than that, we need to decide something beyond that. Since Charizard has two Mega Forms based on which game version the player owns (Mega Charizard X for X, Mega Charizard Y for Y), we’d then need to decide which game is the canonical version, to know which Mega Stone Calem has for his Charizard.
Based on Generations yet again, we see here that Lysandre canonically had Yveltal in his possession, which would mean that this is the Pokémon Y version. Masters EX backs this up even further, since Lysandre yet again has Yveltal in his possession:
Because of this, we know that Pokémon Y is most likely the canonical game version. Meaning Calem would have received a Charizardite Y, and thus owns a Mega Charizard Y.
Mega Stone: Charizardite Y
We also need to decide which Starter is given to Calem by Shauna, since she ends up giving you the unevolved form of her Starter at the end of the game. We know exactly what Starter Shauna has, but if you want a further explanation, just scroll to her section below.
Starter Pokémon (from Shauna): Froakie
Since we see in Generations (the first image posted in this section) that Calem is the one who defeated Diantha, became Pokémon League Champion, and fought AZ, we know that he is the main protagonist as well.
Status: Main Protagonist
Serena
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Serena
Serena is the female protagonist of Pokémon X/Y. Deciding things for her is much easier than Calem, for a great number of reasons. For one, we know her Starter Pokémon immediately, since she has it in Masters EX. She picked the Fennekin line:
Starter Pokémon: Delphox
We also thus know that Serena is the rival of the games, mainly because we’ve already established Calem as the main character, but also because she possesses the Starter that is strong against Calem’s. The rivals of Pokémon X/Y also don’t receive a second Starter from Professor Sycamore, so we don’t need to do any further investigation.
Status: Rival
Shauna
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Shauna
Shauna is one of the many rivals present in Pokémon X/Y, though alongside Serena, she is the only one to receive a Starter Pokémon.
Since Shauna picks the Starter who is weak to the main protagonist’s, and we already know who both Calem and Serena chose, we know exactly what Shauna has. She would be in possession of the Froakie line.
Starter Pokémon: Greninja
Since Shauna is given the Starter that is weak to the main protagonist’s, and isn’t as much of a prevalent rival as Serena, we know her position in the story as well. She’s basically identical to Leaf, Dawn, and Rosa.
Status: Secondary Protagonist
Alola
Elio
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Elio
Elio is the male protagonist of Pokémon Sun/Moon, and Pokémon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon. Right off the bat, we know which Starter than Elio chose, since Masters EX directly confirms it. He went with the Popplio line:
Starter Pokémon: Primarina
Deciding on whether he or Selene is the main protagonist, however, is much more difficult. We can’t base this choice off of Hau or Professor Kukui (the set-in-stone rival and secondary protagonist respectively), since their partners in Masters EX are not Starter Pokémon.
So it would seem that we reach a massive roadblock, since we know both Elio and Selene’s Starters, but no way to decipher who the protagonist is from that. So I searched, and searched and searched, until finally I came across one line of dialogue that pointed it in Elio’s favor, from Masters EX.
Elio states that he had a Meowth (not Alolan Meowth, regular Meowth) back home, which directly confirms that he is the main protagonist. We know this, because the main protagonist in Pokémon Sun/Moon has a pet Meowth that they brought when they moved to Alola.
Status: Main Protagonist
Hau
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Hau
Hau is the main rival of the Alola games, no matter who you choose to play as. He will always choose the Starter weak to yours, and so if we base him off of Elio’s choice, we know that Hau went for the Litten line:
Starter Pokémon: Incineroar
Hau is a special case, since he is the first ever rival to pick a Starter weak against yours. Normally, that would make me chalk him off as the Secondary Protagonist instead, but Hau was clearly intended to be the Rival, since Professor Kukui (who has the Starter strong to yours) only ever fights you once. Hau is a consistent rival throughout the game, so this is simply a change in the usual trend.
Status: Rival
Professor Kukui
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Kukui
Professor Kukui is the main Professor of the Alola region, and the first and only Pokémon Professor on this entire list. Since he serves as the League Champion, he was given a team, which just so happens to include the Starter that neither the player or Hau chose.
So, since he chose the Starter strong against Elio’s, and he has the only one remaining, we know that he went with the Rowlet line.
Starter Pokémon: Decidueye
Yes, he chooses the starter strong against Elio, but he’s not the rival. Hau is the rival, and Professor Kukui only really fights you once. This should fit right in line with Dawn, Bianca, etc. Although it admittedly is a bit strange calling the Professor the Secondary Protagonist.
Status: Secondary Protagonist
Selene
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Selene
Selene is the female protagonist of Pokémon Sun/Moon, and Pokémon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon. As Elio and Selene cannot coexist as protagonists within the story, she does not fit into the main protagonist/rival/secondary protagonist trio.
As a result, her Starter conflicting with others doesn’t really matter, much the same as with Kris and Hilda. And we know which Starter than Selene chose, since Masters EX directly confirms it. She went with the Rowlet line, same as Hau:
This doesn’t conflict with anything, as we know she does not fit into the main trio, same as with Kris and Hilda.
Starter Pokémon: Decidueye
And since we know she’s just like Kris and Hilda, we can determine her role in the story as well.
Status: Other
Galar
Gloria
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Gloria
Gloria is the female protagonist of Pokémon Sword/Shield. She is the female counterpart to Victor, and the only one who actually appears in Masters EX.
Gloria is the only person in all of Sword/Shield to have a confirmed Starter, which makes every other pick... extremely hard to decipher. For now though, we at least concretely know that she went with the Sobble line:
Starter Pokémon: Inteleon
Now as to the explanation on why I have her as the main protagonist. Since she is literally the only character with a confirmed Starter, including Victor and Hop, I figured I would just have to leave the Galar section blank for now, since it would boil down to assumptions at that point.
Thankfully, there is one statement that can lean it towards an answer, coming from Gloria’s introduction quote in Masters EX.
Gloria states that she comes from Postwick, which is the small town that serves as the starting town in Sword/Shield. Since Gloria is said to live there, and there’s only a select amount of houses in the town, it can be assumed that she is the main protagonist. This is backed up by Hop in Masters EX as well, as the two of them know each other.
Gloria even mentions that her rivals are Hop, Bede, and Marnie, which are only the rivals of the main protagonist. This, thankfully, confirms her position in the story, and allows for me to decide things for the next two characters as well.
Status: Main Protagonist
Hop
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Hop
Hop is the main rival of the Galar games. Although Bede and Marnie also serve as rivals in the game, Hop is the only one of them that actually uses a Starter Pokémon. Much like with Hau, Hop chooses the Starter that is weak to yours.
Starter Pokémon: Cinderace
Again, just like with Hau, despite picking the Starter weak to Gloria’s, Hau is still the main rival. Unlike Leon, who picks the Starter strong to yours but only fights you once, Hop constantly fights you throughout the game.
Status: Rival
Leon
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Leon
Leon is the older brother of Hop, and the Champion of the Galar Region. He serves the same purpose in the story as Professor Kukui, since you only fight him at the end of the game, and he owns the Starter that is strong against yours.
Since we know concretely who Gloria has as her Starter, we know for sure that Leon thus has the Grookey line.
Starter Pokémon: Rillaboom
Since he has the final Starter and is fought less often than the main Rival, Leon’s placement in the story (aside from being the Champion) is concrete as well.
Status: Secondary Protagonist
Victor
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Victor
Victor is the male protagonist of Pokémon Sword/Shield. He is the male counterpart to Gloria. Fortunately, since the main three Starters have been chosen, and Victor can have virtually any of the three starters without contradicting anything. As seen in a recent Masters EX addition, he has Rillaboom, just like Leon.
Starter Pokémon: Rillaboom
His position in the story is the only thing that is known, since he fills the same role as Kris, Hilda, and Selene. He’s not the main protagonist, rival, or secondary protagonist.
Status: Other
