13. Mudkip
I first met Mudkip in far more innocent days, when the internet hadnt ruined me as much as it has now and life was still worth living Okay, Ill stop with the Les Misérables references, but the point still stands. Young and starry eyed, at roughly eleven years of age, I picked up my copy of Pokémon Sapphire for the first time and fell instantly in love. Id never fallen for a starter so quickly before. Id favoured the water type, yes, but Id still been open to variation in the first generation I happily started with all three (four, if you count Pokémon yellow and Pikachu), in the second generation the only one that I actively avoided was Chikorita. But in the third generation I instantly fell in love, and absolutely nothing could sway me. Mudkip was the Pokémon of my heart and, if I still had the charger for my original DS, I would even now start with it every single time. Mudkip is absolutely adorable. Im not quite sure why, but it just is. It has pinchable cheeks, bright black eyes and a certain design quirk that means its always smiling no matter what. It is yet another Pokémon that makes me happy every time I see it. It is the perfect design for heading off on adventures, having fun and defeating the bad guys with the power of friendship and massively powerful water attacks. This tilt towards the cheerful is a fairly big change from what the design of Mudkip was originally based on. Mudkip draws large features of its design from mudskippers and mudpuppies who, despite their names, are far from adorable creatures that youd want to run away from home with. Thus it is a prime example of a Pokémon that yet again benefits from being based on an actual animal, but with tiny changes to it. If the designers had gone for a straight copy Mudkip wouldve been disgusting, favoured by absolutely nobody instead the changes make it adorable, a creature that you most certainly want to cuddle. Or that I most certainly want to cuddle, either way. It might be a hangover from my preteen years, but I still find Mudkip adorable, playful and absolutely charming. I honestly believe that it is one of the best starters around. And it is one that I will keep in my heart until Nintendo finally get around to releasing a remastered version of Pokémon Sapphire(/Ruby/Emerald) and making my dreams come true yet again.