Geno (♥♪!?): Return of the Starsend Savior

[Deleted member]

Don't worry friends. I'll go all in so you don't have to. I'll take the plunge. Geno is coming. If he doesn't, you can quote my post and laugh at me as long as your name doesn't start with a W.

Be careful what you say about wynn728 He may take it as trolling and report you. But regardless yeah Hoping and praying for Geno. Don’t have faith in this current pass. If Ryu and Dante or in that’ll change!

 

[Franco Geno]

Don't worry friends. I'll go all in so you don't have to. I'll take the plunge. Geno is coming. If he doesn't, you can quote my post and laugh at me as long as your name doesn't start with a W.

If we go by Fatmanonice statements, Indies are basically dead in the water and the only reason why these premium Mii Costumes even exist is just to satisfy those fans, so with that being said i'm confident enough to say that Geno is coming.

 

[Polarthief]

I’m with polar on this one, even then I feel Feb might be too soon, least the start of it.

TBH I'm less sure now, given that tweet from Sakurai, but I don't know when else they would announce characters, unless Sakurai was planning to make DLC 6 and 7 revealed at E3 (like last year), release them around July and August, then continue the rough schedule I had outlined. This would just delay DLC 6 if they needed more time for it, and that would both make sense and still fit with what Sakurai is now saying.

Otherwise, he meant that he's sorry he couldn't give us DLC 6 right away to see a sneak peek of what the next FP will have, whereas we saw Joker just hours before the game officially launched.

Edit: Nintendo is obviously Nintendo, but it would be extra weird to squish a bunch of releases/reveals together when they have a neat-and-tidy 4 month gap per character to take advantage of. 6 (characters) fits perfectly into 24 (months), unlike FP 1's 5 trying to be smushed into 14.

If we go by Fatmanonice's statements, Indies are basically dead in the water and the only reason why these premium Mii Costumes even exist is just to satisfy those fans, so with that being said i'm confident enough to say that Geno is coming.

If true, I feel extra bad for Shantae fans. I was really hoping she'd make it just for them (even though I've never played a Shantae game and know very little of her).


PS: I'd also like to go all-in purely because WHERE IS GENO'S MII COSTUME??? He dodged all of FP1, including the costumes that came with the Hero/Square DLC pack and the Byleth/"general characters" pack. It makes no sense unless he's already been planned well in advance (and was being saved for Wave 2 since Hero was also planned for Wave 1), or his costume simply isn't coming back and a spirit is "good enough". Either way, I would honestly be blown away if we actually get the costume back at this point because that would be quite a massive slap in the face.

 

[Spatulo]

I WANT to believe this but...well... have we EVER had any smash reveals that close together? Or a smash direct and general one that soon? We also just had a Pokémon Direct. So that’d technically be 3 Nintendo directs in very close succession...

I’m with polar on this one, even then I feel Feb might be too soon, least the start of it.

Believe me I’d love for them to announce season 2 character 1 at the end of the month, but I just can’t see them doing 3 directs in 1 month, two of which have a smash reveal.

This might be me overthinking semantics, but we’ve only had one direct so far this month. Sakurai’s presentations aren’t billed as Directs. Now I don’t know if that makes a difference in this case, but I thought it was worth noting.

 

[EricTheGamerman]

On the topic of Sakurai's ominous "soon, muda****ers, soon", I think he was being literal. Joker was announced December 6th, Fighter's Pass was available to purchase December 7th. In my opinion, Fighter 6 is going to be revealed before the 28th, which is a Tuesday, oddly enough. 22nd or 23rd's looking good. SKU number **** would be about two weeks old at that point. It's high time for that General Direct.

Didn't we figure out that some of those SKUs have been in the system for some time? Honestly, with how they went all in on Pokemon, Smash, and Fire Emblem news outside of a Direct as well as things like Metro Redux and Devil May Cry 3 popping up with their own announcements, I think we're waiting until later in February if not outright March for our 1st quarter Direct. And that's the only place I see a new Smash Bros. character being announced tbh.

There is literally no evidence to suggest 6 is coming soon and actually a ton of evidence that it’s going to be a long time until it is revealed. I’m not sure how anyone is coming to that conclusion.

"Am I really doing this...? Yeah, I got it!

We are still preparing things, so it might take some time before the 6th Fighter is revealed. Thank you for your understanding." https://t.co/owuEU6aRcn

— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) January 16, 2020

Also, just like I thought, the second Fighter pass comes with stages and music, which is another heavy hit against Geno’s chances. Be realistic here, how actually likely is a Super Mario RPG stage? Not likely at all. Same goes for Waluigi.

People keep asking me for a source on where Nintendo said the new Fighter Pass will include stages and music.

It's right in their press release.https://t.co/4oCkmhjkn6

I also checked directly on the press website for Nintendo, and it says the same thing. pic.twitter.com/krRygSNOX8

— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) January 17, 2020

I think at this point Smash’s DLC just really isn’t meant for me. Tired of holding out hope and clinging to “theories” and “rumors” only for a big bang like Byleth to not only spiral the fanbase out of control but confirm that the second Fighter Pass is just as ill-suited for Geno as the first one was.

My confidence is going down with each passing day.

The one thing I'll say is that Super Mario RPG kind of occupies a similar space to Three Houses in largely being a new "world" that they can draw from. The characters might not exactly make for the most broadly reaching Spirit Board

Imagine in 2020 thinking that Square-Enix, the stingy-ass company that only gave Cloud 2 songs and 2 songs for each Hero alt, would agree to a redone Geno costume with 2 pieces of music for only $0.75 on top of the 2 pieces of music they'd give to whatever character came as a full character.

Square Enix being stingy really isn't much of a thing tbh (Hero blew apart the stingy narrative tbh, just Sugiyama is a ****ing asshole when it comes to music and they still managed to get an even split for all the alts to represent them equally). Smash 4 basically had a roll of quarters for the DLC fighters (Ryu came with only 6 songs even) and Cloud/Final Fantasy VII in particular had more issues with music licensing as well. As far as we know, Super Mario RPG doesn't have those issues with licensing and Shimomura is less protective of her stuff.

 

[AugustusB]

Ya know what? Dynamic Worlok , you're not alone! I believe I already joined the Geno is coming train with YsDisciple , but incase I didn't I'll do it again.

I am going all in.

 

[Polarthief]

I WANT to believe this but...well... have we EVER had any smash reveals that close together? Or a smash direct and general one that soon? We also just had a Pokémon Direct. So that’d technically be 3 Nintendo directs in very close succession...

Also forgot this part of the quote: Technically we've had 1 direct, that being Pokemon. They had to announce PMD DX, as well as announce-and-explain the SwSh DLC. It took them 35m; way too much info for a general Direct.

Sakurai's reveal isn't a Direct, that's usually a post-reveal trailer on the character (like he's done with all 4 in the past, this is the only one where he also revealed the character), usually the day before/of release, but after they've already been revealed.

TL;DR: Pokemon had too much info for a Direct and Sakurai's video isn't a Direct. Regardless if they announce DLC 6 or not, expect a Direct before Animal Crossing. I'd bet a decent amount of money on it.

 

[SoupCanMafia]

Also forgot this part of the quote: Technically we've had 1 direct, that being Pokemon. They had to announce PMD DX, as well as announce-and-explain the SwSh DLC. It took them 35m; way too much info for a general Direct.

Sakurai's reveal isn't a Direct, that's usually a post-reveal trailer on the character (like he's done with all 4 in the past, this is the only one where he also revealed the character), usually the day before/of release, but after they've already been revealed.

TL;DR: Pokemon had too much info for a Direct and Sakurai's video isn't a Direct. Regardless if they announce DLC 6 or not, expect a Direct before Animal Crossing. I'd bet a decent amount of money on it.

If there is a general Nintendo Direct in January as some of us say, I expect more Animal Crossing information over anything else.

 

[Melonsismyusername]

I just Realised why geno is so requested,

https://youtu.be/v1tMMwRNXdM
Hold up

eh, Mallows better

 

[Datboigeno]

Square Enix being stingy really isn't much of a thing tbh (Hero blew apart the stingy narrative tbh, just Sugiyama is a ****ing asshole when it comes to music and they still managed to get an even split for all the alts to represent them equally). Smash 4 basically had a roll of quarters for the DLC fighters (Ryu came with only 6 songs even) and Cloud/Final Fantasy VII in particular had more issues with music licensing as well. As far as we know, Super Mario RPG doesn't have those issues with licensing and Shimomura is less protective of her stuff.

Ok now do why they didn't add any FF songs into SSBU whereas Capcom comparatively allowed an ass-ton of Mega Man and Street Fighter music not to mention spirits.

 

[Spatulo]

Ok now do why they didn't add any FF songs into SSBU whereas Capcom comparatively allowed an ass-ton of Mega Man and Street Fighter music.

Square doesn’t own the music, the composers do I believe

 

[Franco Geno]

Ya know what? Dynamic Worlok , you're not alone! I believe I already joined the Geno is coming train with YsDisciple , but incase I didn't I'll do it again.

I am going all in.

Gentlemen, i would like to join this train too

 

[Polarthief]

If there is a general Nintendo Direct in January as some of us say, I expect more Animal Crossing information over anything else.

For sure, but we still don't know what the holiday 2020 title will be, unless it's BOTW 2 (which I doubt; feels more like a 2021 game).

I really don't think the Direct will be in January now. Pushed to Feb/early March so they can squeeze in AC info and it'll be enough time for another fighter reveal.

 

[Datboigeno]

Square doesn’t own the music, the composers do I believe

I don't believe that no FF composers were willing to have their music appear in and be remixed in one of the biggest games of the decade. Also how does that account for all of the (2) SE spirits?

 

[Deleted member]

I wish Geno would just be in the base roster then Hero comes as DLC...

 

[Mastadoom88]

As someone who wasn't wearing a good look after Hero was revealed and had a meltdown I'm somewhat ashamed of to this day, I can understand people's reactions and empathize. Particularly Papa's.

However, people like Ovaltine and Kite and others woke me up and made me realize how **** I was being. Not only that, but they forgave me, and I grew and learned through this thread.

Talking with all of you, makes my desire for Geno even stronger. What I mean to say is, people react differently, particularly in moment. And everyones relation to things is different. For instance:

I was ultimately disappointed by Byleth on one hand. Even though I enjoy FE a lot, I just find the choice lackluster. I'm glad he doesnt play like the others, but I wouldve liked to see Zelda or Mother get something new (My third most wanted is Porky next to Geno and Doomguy). So if we werent getting an entirely new 3rd party, I think FE was a poor choice.

Though on the other hand, a ton of my disappointment vanished. My girlfriend doesnt have a large character pool, and she loves Byleth. It will motivate her to play with me more and enjoy the game more so I'm happy.

I felt awful for her because her initial reaction was feeling guilt for being excited for Byleth. She sees how intense i am about spec and Geno as well as Doom.

So I told her, enjoy your husbando teacher. I'm confident Geno is coming so I'm happy so long as you are.

It was another growing experience. So I came to terms with it. If this was the last thing with nothing but Geno spirit it wouldve been different. But reality is, its not. Stay strong friends. Adapt and grow strong as an oak.

(Also halp I've droned on and have no idea how to condense) bless yall for reading my inane stuff. Hope it may helped someone in some way.

 

[Lord Woomy]

I wish Geno would just be in the base roster then Hero comes as DLC...

Issue was Square seems to hate having their characters not be DLC when included in cross overs. That's the reason Cloud was so difficult for them to negotiate this time, iirc Square even proposed Cloud be released as day one DLC instead of appearing in base, but they eventually capitulated.

 

[RSF-Blue bomber]

There is literally no evidence to suggest 6 is coming soon and actually a ton of evidence that it’s going to be a long time until it is revealed. I’m not sure how anyone is coming to that conclusion.

"Am I really doing this...? Yeah, I got it!

We are still preparing things, so it might take some time before the 6th Fighter is revealed. Thank you for your understanding." https://t.co/owuEU6aRcn

— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) January 16, 2020

Also, just like I thought, the second Fighter pass comes with stages and music, which is another heavy hit against Geno’s chances. Be realistic here, how actually likely is a Super Mario RPG stage? Not likely at all. Same goes for Waluigi.

People keep asking me for a source on where Nintendo said the new Fighter Pass will include stages and music.

It's right in their press release.https://t.co/4oCkmhjkn6

I also checked directly on the press website for Nintendo, and it says the same thing. pic.twitter.com/krRygSNOX8

— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) January 17, 2020

I think at this point Smash’s DLC just really isn’t meant for me. Tired of holding out hope and clinging to “theories” and “rumors” only for a big bang like Byleth to not only spiral the fanbase out of control but confirm that the second Fighter Pass is just as ill-suited for Geno as the first one was.

My confidence is going down with each passing day.

dude get a grip lol. I love Geno too but just because Byleth got announced doesn't mean geno is out of the running. if you don't like waiting do something other than smash speculation to pass the time. That's what i do because if this is al you do it's going to feel like an eternity until the next reveal.

 

[Spatulo]

I don't believe that no FF composers were willing to have their music appear in and be remixed in one of the biggest games of the decade. Also how does that account for all of the (2) SE spirits?

I mean I’d have said the same about the DQ composer tbf

Spirits I have no idea lol, especially since DQ got plenty

 

[Deleted member]

Issue was Square seems to hate having their characters not be DLC when included in cross overs. That's the reason Cloud was so difficult for them to negotiate this time, iirc Square even proposed Cloud be released as day one DLC instead of appearing in base, but they eventually capitulated.

Did an insider say that Cloud was supposed DLC first?

 

[Lord Woomy]

Did an insider say that Cloud was supposed DLC first?

I'm not exactly sure where I remember hearing that, but it's not too crazy to consider.

 

[DaxMasterix]

I just Realised why geno is so requested,

https://youtu.be/v1tMMwRNXdM
Hold up

eh, Mallows better

Please, use the best

 

[Lord Woomy]

As someone who worries, overthinks and just generally has very bad anxiety, some of you doods need to chill. Byleth was disappointing and generally a bad reveal but that doesn't make him some sort of precedent for how FP2 will turn out. I always worry about that damn costume coming back, but as each presentation goes on, the chances of that happening gets less and less likely. If Geno's gonna be in, it's already been decided by this point. It's been decided and nothing will change that at this point. Again, coming from the guy who gets anxious over literally everything, I've tried to keep my spirits high even before Hero's presentation when those two songs got taken down and really began to revitalize Geno's chances. Nothing has changed yet, we're really just still where we always were.

 

[Datboigeno]

I mean I’d have said the same about the DQ composer tbf

Spirits I have no idea lol, especially since DQ got plenty

You just have to look at the difference between the SE content and literally every other company's content to see that something is up. So many other composers were hyped to get their stuff into Smash. But it just so happens that all the FF composers are too good for that. The DQ guy is a prick, but everyone else at SE as well? I don't buy that. Whether its out of stinginess or narcissism I really believe it's SE themselves choosing to limit what gets into SSBU.

 

[Polarthief]

<snip>

+1. I just woke up like 10m before the video (and I'm a total grumpus for like 30-45m after I wake up). Initial reaction was: "... what. This is a jape, right? Uggggh", but as I woke up more and thought about it, ultimately, it was just disappointment. Definitely a bad pick IMO, but the music is amazing and I'm glad that's coming. I too am a huge fan of 3H (it was my GOTY last year), and even a pretty decent FE fan in general, but I do still ultimately think this wasn't the time for Byleth and they would have been better as DLC 6.

People definitely react differently in the moment and after they've had time to think and process it; in my case from just waking up, I was extra grumpy, and I can imagine a few people who may not have woken up on time and were petrified of spoilers, so they may have stayed up all night and are met with, again, what I feel is a rather disappointing end to FP1. Sakurai being extra troll-y when he was putting up the poster and gave us that look of "HEH, ANOTHER FE CHARACTER!" and unintentionally giving people the finger during his binary counting probably didn't help. Sothis even mentioned the "another swordsman" thing, so he knew how much of the community was going to feel about the pick anyway.

Again though, just disappointed. Bad pick, but at least we have 9 great tracks coming to the game (and 6 more characters)!

I really believe it's SE themselves choosing to limit what gets into SSBU.

Then why even give us the costume in Smash 4, the spirits in Ultimate, DQ content and returning SE costumes from 4? Honestly, it could just be a huge coincidence or everyone involved on decisions regarding FF is just an elitist who thinks they're above having their stuff in the "babby not-a-fighting game".

Or they could just be asking way too much and Nintendo/Sakurai rolled over for the returning Cloud content. Also how much of a prick could the DQ guy be considering we still got 8 songs from the series and 4 characters? Does this make the Persona guy a prick for giving us 1 character and 9 songs? How about the FE guys a prick for giving us the same character of both genders and also only 9 songs? I get it when it comes to FF, but not so much DQ.

 

[Spatulo]

You just have to look at the difference between the SE content and literally every other company's content to see that something is up. So many other composers were hyped to get their stuff into Smash. But it just so happens that all the FF composers are too good for that. The DQ guy is a prick, but everyone else at SE as well? I don't buy that. Whether its out of stinginess or narcissism I really believe it's SE themselves choosing to limit what gets into SSBU.

I think it’s fair to say that SE has a certain... way they handle their franchises, especially DQ and FF. They seem to purposely restrict their use to keep them seen as something on a pedestal. Why? Simple.

How much is a 20 year old PS1 game ported to modern consoles? As much as Square-Enix wants because it’s Final Fantasy VII, the greatest most important game of all time forever and ever and don’t forget it

I believe that’s the reason for it anyway. Keeping things so tightly controlled seems like it’s for the purpose of maintaining a level of reverence for those franchises. I’m not saying it necessarily always works, but I believe that’s the intent. Now in this area I think we might be in luck, because Super Mario RPG is not FF or DQ, so hopefully they’ll be more loose with it. They did randomly put Super Mario RPG music in Fortune Street after all.

 

[T2by4]

Can't believe sakurai gave us a hint in the photo and not a single person guessed at FE rep. Sakurai absolutely dabbing on smash speculators.

 

[Firox]

Issue was Square seems to hate having their characters not be DLC when included in cross overs. That's the reason Cloud was so difficult for them to negotiate this time, iirc Square even proposed Cloud be released as day one DLC instead of appearing in base, but they eventually capitulated.

I swear, Square-Enix is such an insufferable diva. They can't stand being anything but the main attraction.

 

[SSGuy]

Can't believe sakurai gave us a hint in the photo and not a single person guessed at FE rep. Sakurai absolutely dabbing on smash speculators.

Which one? The middle finger one or was there a photo that actually pointed at Byleth?

 

[Polarthief]

Can't believe sakurai gave us a hint in the photo and not a single person guessed at FE rep. Sakurai absolutely dabbing on smash speculators.

IIRC without looking at it, PapaGenos jokingly guessed it could have meant Three Houses. I'm sure others did too but didn't think that heavily on it.

The reason this was so unexpected is because after 4 third party characters, giving us a first party breaks that pattern. Byleth obviously broke a ton of patterns and theories yesterday as well as evidence.

Which one? The middle finger one or was there a photo that actually pointed at Byleth?

They're talking about the announcement 3 days ago with Sakurai holding up 3 fingers to represent 3H (Three Houses).

 

[TheCJBrine]

They're talking about the announcement 3 days ago with Sakurai holding up 3 fingers to represent 3H (Three Houses).

tfw people were complaining about others being crazy with thinking Sakurai's gesture meant something and it did.

 

[EricTheGamerman]

Ok now do why they didn't add any FF songs into SSBU whereas Capcom comparatively allowed an ass-ton of Mega Man and Street Fighter music not to mention spirits.

Third party focus was primarily focused on the marquee returning parties instead of the other third parties. Capcom and Konami got tons of music as they both were clearly the focuses of Sakurai's third party vision with both receiving bosses, new fighters, large sections in World of Light, and scores of Spirits and Music.

The other three third parties returning for Ultimate got considerably less when you consider how they're content compared to Smash 4 looks (not counting Mii costumes because literally none of those returned in base game Ultimate):

Sega:
+Knuckles, Rodin, and Akira Assist Trophies
+3 New Sonic Songs
+Some Spirits

Square Enix:
+Geno and Mallow Spirits

Bandai-Namco:
+2 New Song Remixes
+Heihachi and Prince are now in Pac-Man's taunt
-Pac-Maze
-Several trophies did not become Spirits, so we also lost Spirits and we didn't get any new Spirits from them at all either

Sega notably got more than the other two thanks to the Assists, but it absolutely pales in comparison to the insane amounts of content Konami and Capcom got as the premiere series with new characters and bosses. Though, it's worth pointing out that Sega and Square Enix both got more content in the Fighter's Pass, though Sega more vicariously since it was all Atlus content. There's clearly a huge difference in which third parties got more content in base Ultimate, and since Final Fantasy VII is a mess licensing wise and Square Enix was getting more content in the Fighter's Pass, I'm not surprised they didn't devote many resources to beefing up the Square Enix content in base game Smash. Bandai-Namco looks considerably worse if anything than all of the third parties right now considering their current position.

 

[Firox]

So I was poking around the general speculation thread and found some input that I found interesting. Apparently, there's not only others that agree a gen 8 pokemon is imminent, but to take it even further, some are thinking that Nintendo could shill out a character to promote BotW 2. Gotta say, that really does seem like a possibility after seeing Byleth get dropped.

 

[I.D.]

So I was poking around the general speculation thread and found some input that I found interesting. Apparently, there's not only others that agree a gen 8 pokemon is imminent, but to take it even further, some are thinking that Nintendo could shill out a character to promote BotW 2. Gotta say, that really does seem like a possibility after seeing Byleth get dropped.

Pretty sure Sakurai already took care of Zelda representation with the 25$ mii costume of season pass 2. Hopefully, it will make you feel as if you are playing a new Zelda character!

 

[Deleted member]

So I was poking around the general speculation thread and found some input that I found interesting. Apparently, there's not only others that agree a gen 8 pokemon is imminent, but to take it even further, some are thinking that Nintendo could shill out a character to promote BotW 2. Gotta say, that really does seem like a possibility after seeing Byleth get dropped.

Calling it now, KASS FOR SMASH.

 

[SoupCanMafia]

So I was poking around the general speculation thread and found some input that I found interesting. Apparently, there's not only others that agree a gen 8 pokemon is imminent, but to take it even further, some are thinking that Nintendo could shill out a character to promote BotW 2. Gotta say, that really does seem like a possibility after seeing Byleth get dropped.

I suspect that the "shill" pick would be the Gen 8 Pokemon. Though what would the Pokemon be if that were the case? My guess would be Intellion. I don't oppose Zelda since it is pretty important, though more likely than not, I'm going to hazard a guess that Gen 8 Pokemon is more important to shill than a BotW 2 character.

Actually, Fatman, what is your opinion on the possibility imposed by these conditions?

 

[Polarthief]

I suspect that the "shill" pick would be the Gen 8 Pokemon. Though what would the Pokemon be if that were the case? My guess would be Intellion. I don't oppose Zelda since it is pretty important, though more likely than not, I'm going to hazard a guess that Gen 8 Pokemon is more important to shill than a BotW 2 character.

TBH I'm hoping Toxtricity, given his popularity. Would be nice to get a non-legendary, non-starter, non-mascot (Lucario was pushed by TPC back in the day), and unless you can think of a full kit for Wooloo or Yamper (two very overrated Pokemon just because of their "cuteness"), Tox would be the best pick. I'd be fine with Intelleon, but people would get mad about another water starter. Most likely would probably be Rillaboom who I will groan very loudly over and be annoyed whenever I see one.

PS: Super easy to make alt costumes for Tox too, literally 4 of which can be official skins: Low-Key, Amped, Shiny Low-Key, and Shiny Amped. Then you only need to make 1 more for each form, and then 2 to reference its Gigantimax/Shiny Gigantimax.

Zelda I'm still hoping Impa would be the next one.

Huge oof if we get whatever 2021's Fire Emblem protag is in FP2. Like, supermassive oof. Like people are already raging at Sakurai for Byleth, they'd go off the deep end if we got another FE character in FP2, oof.

 

[Lord Woomy]

If there were any characters I'd bet on making it in, it'd be Geno and Lloyd. The two are pretty much the only remaining long time requests who haven't been ATed (which isn't ironclad deconfirmation, but I don't see it happening. I'm so sorry, Isaac), added as a fighter already, or has had their support fall off a cliff in recent years (Lookin' at you, Krystal). Not to mention, both their Mii Costumes are still MIA along with other Square and Namco costumes. Anyone else that I've predicted is just really blind speculation.

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

Which one? The middle finger one or was there a photo that actually pointed at Byleth?

Three Houses. He's holding up three fingers. Probably.

 

[SoupCanMafia]

TBH I'm hoping Toxtricity, given his popularity. Would be nice to get a non-legendary, non-starter, non-mascot (Lucario was pushed by TPC back in the day), and unless you can think of a full kit for Wooloo or Yamper (two very overrated Pokemon just because of their "cuteness"), Tox would be the best pick.

I'd be fine with Intelleon, but people would get mad about another water starter. Most likely would probably be Rillaboom who I will groan very loudly over and be annoyed whenever I see one.

Aye, though I suspect that it'll be towards Pokemon that will really make a big boom. Sakurai has proven to me during Base Ultimate's development that if a Pokemon game is even within his radar, he will do his damndest to make sure one will make it in. I can appreciate his persistence, though that is one of the few constants of Sakurai: if there's a Pokemon game on the horizon, he will try to make one of them a Smash Fighter.