Grass vs. Fire vs. Water

Grass vs. Fire vs. Water was a Splatfest event in Splatoon 3. It was announced on social networks on 2022-10-07 and in-game on 2022-11-04 at July 27, 2024. This was the third Splatfest in the Splatoon series to be themed around the Pokémon franchise after Pokémon Red vs. Pokémon Green and Pokémon Red vs. Pokémon Blue.

Details
This Splatfest was a celebration of the then-upcoming release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which would launch roughly a week after the Splatfest on 2022-11-18. The Tricolor Turf War stage was Sturgeon Shipyard.

In the Pokémon series, the player has a choice between three Starter Pokémon and choose one to accompany them as they start their adventure. Players choose between a Grass-type, Fire-type, and Water-type Pokémon, with those of different types having various strengths and weaknesses against each other.

Merchandise
T-Shirts and keychains based on the Splatfest teams were made available from the My Nintendo Store in Japan, United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and Hong Kong. In North America, the Splatfest Tees were only sold in the Nintendo New York store. Most regions outside of Japan sold the shirts as pre-orders to be delivered at the start of 2023.

Schedule
This Splatfest event ran in multiple phases:


 * Splatfest Sneak Peek: 2022-11-04 at July 27, 2024 to 2022-11-11 at July 27, 2024
 * Splatfest Main Event First Half: 2022-11-12 at July 27, 2024 to July 27, 2024
 * Splatfest Main Event Second Half: 2022-11-13 at July 27, 2024 to July 27, 2024

Results were announced in game on 2022-11-14 at July 27, 2024.

Halftime Report
At the halfway point in the Splatfest, Deep Cut revealed the team currently with the most overall Clout, used to determine the team playing the role of defense (and starting in the center of the stage) during Tricolor Turf Wars.

Quotes
"Breaking news for the next Splatfest! The theme celebrates the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet. Which first partner Pokémon would you choose? Grass-type, Fire-type, or Water-type? The fun starts Friday 11/11 at 4 PM PT and runs through 4 PM PT on Sunday 11/13."

- @SplatoonNA on Twitter

"To celebrate the launch of #PokemonScarletViolet, a Splatoon x Pokémon collaboration Splatfest will be held in #Splatoon3 from 12/11 to 14/11.

Get ready to splat for Team Grass, Team Fire or Team Water!

Get the deets: http://ntdo.co.uk/60184npBC"

- @NintendoEurope on Twitter

English
Announcement

Ay! Ay!(Breaking news, you two!)

Oh? What's got your fins aflapping?

Shiver! You oughta know. It's that time!

AAAY! Ay. (SPLATFEEEEEEST! Ahem. It's time for a Splatfest.)

Ooo! I like a Splatfest.

YEAHHH! TIME TO PARTY!

What's the theme? What's the theme?

Ay... (Hold your seahorses... The info's still downloading...)

I've got it! The theme is... Huh. Well, THAT is fascinating...

Ugh, hurry up and spill it! You're hogging the Splatfest vibes!

Chill. I'm getting ready to announce it. Ahem...

Aaay, aaay! (C'mon, c'mon...)

Without further ado, this Splatfest theme will be none other than...

Drumroll! Budda-dudda-budda-dudda-BAM!

Ooo! It's a collab with Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet!

Which partner Pokémon would you choose? Grass-type, Fire-type, or Water-type?

Aaay! (Whoa! I wasn't expecting that!)

Too bad it's an easy choice. Grass-type Pokémon are deadly elegance personified!

FWOOSH! That's the sound of my Fire-type Pokémon incinerating your grassy elegance!

Aaay! (Meanwhile, I'm just vibing and riding the waves. You know i'm going Water-type!)

It's not which is "strongest" or "coolest." Which makes the best PARTNER?!

Why are you looking at me like that?

Ay. Ay. (But Water-types ARE the best partners. Fins down.)

...Ay. (...Except for the both of you, I mean. Water-types have the fewest weaknesses!)

How do you know so much about this?

Aaay? (I guess us smooth, sleek, wave-ridin' creatures stick together, y'know?)

Whoa, yeah! You'd totally be a Water-type Pokémon. You're not a Pokémon, right?

I suppose my lovely sharks DO enjoy the water. That's something!

But no. For my first partner Pokémon, the logical choice is Grass-type.

Don't I deserve the most relaxing type of Pokémon after winning both Splatfests?

Wow. WOW. You went there, huh?

Yeah, Shiver. Why don't you sit this one out after all that hard work?

Meanwhile, I'll be forging a bond with my partner Pokémon in the fires of friendship!

Plus, you can't Frye without a little heat. LIGHT IT UP! Fire-types, let's do this!

There you go, thinking in terms of pure power again. It's cute.

Ay... Ay! (Wait... but if we're talking power, Water-types drench Fire-types!)

And Grass-types mop the floor with Water-types. This is why Power is a dead end.

But... Fire-types are strong against Grass-types! That means they're best, right? During the Splatfest

And that's all for now. Make sure to get your votes in!

Ay! Ay. (Don't forget your Splatfest Tee! Check the Equip menu after you vote.)

Splatfest Results

Ay? Ay! Ay! (How about that? We won! Team Water wins!)

M-my team lost? How is this possible?!

No! I can't believe Team Fire fizzled out...

Ay. Ay! (I'm so proud of our teamwork. We came. We splashed. We conquered!)

I'll take this opportunity to congratulate my team as well. Team Grass stood tall!

Well, you can't say Team Fire didn't bring the heat. We went out in a blaze of glory!

I hate to say it, but Team Water really earned the W.

Whoa. Water starts with W! So, uh...what Shiver said. I can't top that.

Ay? (So are you all convinced? Are we all getting in the Team Water pool together?)

Ay? (What I mean is...we're all picking the Water-type first partner Pokémon, right?)

Big Man! I thought you were the Pokémon expert around here.

If we all choose the same type, it'll be harder to complete the Pokédex!

Aaay! Ay. Ay! (You're right! I let the water get to my head. Forget everything I said!)

Trivia

 * This was the first Splatfest won by the team represented by Big Man, and the first in Splatoon 3 where Shiver's team did not win (including the World Premiere).
 * This was the first Splatfest where a team won in all categories.
 * This was the first Splatfest in the entire series where two teams (Grass and Fire) ended in a tie, both scoring 0 points. This is in part due to the fact that Splatoon 3 is the first game where ties are possible (given that there are three teams rather than two).
 * This is the first Splatfest in which the team winning at Halftime won the Splatfest.
 * The weapons shown in the official art correlate to the Pokémon types in the Splatfest.
 * The Bamboozler 14 Mk I is made of bamboo, which is a type of grass.
 * The Range Blaster has a fire pattern on it.
 * The H-3 Nozzlenose is based on a hose, which sprays water.
 * The Splatfest Tee logos resemble Japanese names for the three types: クサ kusa (Grass), ほのお honō (Fire), and ミズ mizu (Water). The logos are also in the same style of SquidForce's starting tees: and  designs of the Basic Tee as well as the Tri-Shred Tee in, respectively.
 * The Pokémon featured in the official art and on the backs of the Splatfest Tees are Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly, the starter Pokémon of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Additionally, in the background of the official art, the silhouettes of the final evolutionary stages of all starter Pokémon from main series Pokémon games prior to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet can be seen. These silhouettes are also seen in the backgrounds of the icons seen in-game for each team, with each of the Pokémon appearing in the icons of their type, arranged in the order of their introduction clockwise from the top-left.
 * On the Team Grass background, these Pokémon are Venusaur, Meganium, Sceptile, Torterra, Serperior, Chesnaught, Decidueye, and Rillaboom.
 * On the Team Fire background, these Pokémon are Charizard, Typhlosion, Blaziken, Infernape, Emboar, Delphox, Incineroar, and Cinderace.
 * On the Team Water background, these Pokémon are Blastoise, Feraligatr, Swampert, Empoleon, Samurott, Greninja, Primarina, and Inteleon.
 * The ink splats on each Splatfest Tee are the color of the type that is strong against the Grass, Fire, and Water types. The Grass tee has red splats, the Fire tee has blue splats, and the Water tee has green splats.
 * The color for Team Grass was supposed to be a more saturated green. However, due to a bug the  used color was not replaced.