I used to really like Blaziken, but now I just think its design looks awkward and jarring. Like, normally I don't have a problem with humanoid starter Pokemon, but Blaziken doesn't even look like a chicken aside from having a beak and talons. Shamo chickens are weirdly humanoid compared to other chickens, yes, but Blaziken's neck isn't long enough to look like one.
Like, people complain about humanoid Fire starters from recent gens, but at least you can look at Delphox, Incineroar, Cinderace and the like and say "Yeah, that sure is an anthro fennec fox/tiger/rabbit." Blaziken is the most jarringly human humanoid starter; like, I get what they were going for, but like, at least give it a longer neck, and maybe arms made of clawed wings.
Empoleon's my favorite Water-type starter, and was my main Pokemon in my playthrough of Brilliant Diamond. They managed to make a penguin of all things genuinely imposing. It's great.
And then you have Decidueye. Rowlet was my favorite of the three Alola starters from the moment it was revealed. Then the starter evolutions leaked, and while I liked all of them quite a bit, I fell in love with Decidueye from the moment I saw it. It was such a cool Pokemon, and being based on a stilt owl makes it even cooler. Decidueye's probably my favorite starter of all time, so yeah, going with Decidueye.
