I don't get it. Isn't Rowelt the most popular base form and overall most popular Pokemon of the 12 starter forms? I figured that would extent to Decidueye as well, especially since the reaction to Incineroar was lukewarm at best.
>>32274967's reasoning feels more likely, what with Blaziken getting it's Mega stone released early, 3 fire starters in Pokken, and everything Charizard. You can argue that they chose Incineroar to match up with the trainer's design, but if you look at Alain and Riley, among others, the idea that they base the trainer off of their lead Pokemon isn't far fetch'd. Maybe I'm just a bitter Grassfag, but it feels like we got cheated this round. My only comfort is knowing that movie production takes so long that they probably decided on Incineroar assuming it would be the most popular, only to have it usurped by the Rowlett line, so hopefully this isn't permanent.
The real crime is Lucario being shoehorned in where it doesn't belong though.