Quaquaval

WARNING: Potential spoilers for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet within. Read at your own caution.

About

Quaquaval is the unconfirmed, purported final evolution of the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Water-type starter Pokémon Quaxly. The character design for the Pokémon was supposedly revealed as part of a series of leaks that spread 10 days before the release of the game, alongside Meowscarada and Skeledirge. The leak went viral in the days leading up to the game after many fans began discussing its feminine and zesty mannerisms.

Origin

On November 8th, 2022, there was a massive leak of supposed information about the upcoming Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, including the full evolution lines of Sprigatito, Fuecoco and Quaxly. In the initial wave of leaks, only a sprite of Quaquaval was revealed. It was posted to Reddit's /r/pokeleaks^[1] by user OhMyTummyHurts that same day (shown below, left). A better look at the design was posted in the same subreddit on November 9th by Redditor abobao^[2] (shown below, right).

Spread

As Quaquaval began spreading on social media, users seemed amused by its flamboyant design, which appears to be a take on a samba dancer. Many quipped that it seemed "gay" in largely good-natured jokes. For example, on November 10th, 2022, Twitter user @pandobo^[3] drew the character in the Jack-o Crouch, writing "Why is Quaquaval so… you know…," gaining over 100 likes in four days (shown below, left). Also that day, user @skittywake^[4] posted art making Quaquaval look feminine with a very similar caption, gaining over 300 likes in four days (shown below, right).

The Pokémon also inspired a significant amount of videos on TikTok. There, people made videos joking about its stylish design. For example, on November 10th, TikToker @Chrischupps posted a clip calling Quaquaval the "definition of 'zesty,'" gaining over 69,000 likes in three days (shown below, left). On November 11th, user @impulsepokémontrainer joked that they would be dancing to Latin music while playing Quawuaval, gaining over 14,000 likes in three days (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References