This is something that has been on my mind for awhile ever since I first discovered the Ralts Evolution line: Should Ralts be promoted to a Starter Pokémon in a mainline Pokémon game??

I mean, they have the qualities to make a good one:

.It's a Pokemon with a three stage evolution (even an alternative stone evolution.)

.it starts out cute, and eventually becomes cool and powerful in it's final stage.

In fact, in mainline games where it does appear, it can be encountered very early in a playthrough (I myself have used a Ralts as a "replacement" starter in some challenge run playthroughs and got pretty far in those.

The only downside to this is that if Ralts IS made a starter, then it will likely not be encountered in the wild anymore and become a super rare Pokémon (as for some reasons, Starter Pokémon are even rarer than most Legendaries.)

Realistically, this will never happen as GameFreak appear to only want their starters to be either Fire, Water and Grass types and likely won't break from this trend anytime soon.

still though: I find Ralts to be that type of Pokémon that would be your pal at the start of your journey and carry you to the end like any starter would.

UPDATE: Whoa, this comment section really exploded with Pokémon Professors schooling my on Stats and Typings.

Gonna be honest, I wasn't entirely serious with this question and wasn't even taking competitive play into consideration. This was all just a fun discussion for challenge runs and roleplay.

Source: https://x.com/yupo__0322/status/2057034453810319727?s=46&t=EaGBlq6YKYmDEqS2VD-cbg

I downloaded this a few days ago, I forgot where I got it.

Ralts is the first stage of a three-stage evolution line, has really low base stats, and even looks somewhat like a toddler. Wouldn’t it make sense for it to be classified as a Baby Pokémon, similar to Tyrogue or Smoochum?

Even Kirlia wouldn’t feel out of place as the “basic” Pokémon you encounter in the wild. Its stats are comparable to several early-game Pokémon you can catch in Emerald, so Ralts almost feels like it could have been the baby form added underneath it.

Source: https://www.deviantart.com/l-y-n-s/art/Ralts-for-Adoption-592167387

https://x.com/02monya/status/1905950768072630463?t=V1_Eru8j-SjqxttkNGPldA&s=19

Oh and Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Source: https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/130341246

Artist unknown

Source: https://x.com/yupo__0322/status/2011420716298797141?s=20

I'M GOING TO GO TOE TO TOE AT THE ELITE FOUR WITH MY ARMY OF CHILDREN