This includes the game’s chief evolution gimmick, several new Pokémon species, and a name for its new region: Paldea. Freshly-revealed Paldean Pokémon include Fidough, a chubby puppy that looks like it’s made of oily bread and Cetitan, an icy whale with legs. We also got to see a Paldean Wooper, the game’s first announced regional form - here, it’s brown and poisonous from living in the area’s bogs. A brief blurb for Fidough caught my eye in particular: “Fidough’s moist, smooth skin has elastic qualities and is both firm and soft at the same time,” The Pokémon Company described. “When these Pokémon become excited, they intimidate their opponents by puffing up their bodies to appear bigger. Fidough ferments things in its vicinity using the yeast in its breath. The yeast is useful for cooking, so this Pokémon has been protected by people since long ago.” Yum. We also saw several new forms for the game’s legendary box creatures Koraidon and Miraidon, which the player will ride to traverse the Paldean region. Each has three forms to aid exploration, allowing you to sprint/swim/glide. Scarlet and Violet are the latest Pokémon games to offer their own unique form of powering up creatures, after previous entries in the series introduced gimmicks such as Mega Evolution and Gigantax forms. In Paldea, all Pokémon can “Terastallise”, a temporary process which covers the creatures in a crystalline effect and gifts them a glitzy Tera Jewel crown for the remainder of any battle. Pokémon which have been “Terastallised” will see a boost in power to moves the same as their Tera Type, of which there are 18. In essence, this seems like a way to further customise your Pokémon’s strengths - and looks to be another layer to gameplay for player experimentation. Raid battles will return in Scarlet and Violet, with Tera Raid Battles offering up to four players the change to take on wild Terastallised Pokémon. We also learned more about the structure of the game, which will offer three main questlines, described as “grand stories”. The first of these is your usual tour around eight Pokémon gyms across the region - this time without a specific path to follow. Two more “stories” were hinted at, but not detailed. As ever, an early adopter bonus for Scarlet and Violet will reward those who buy the game in its first few months on sale. This time, it’s a Flying Pikachu - available to claim via the Mystery Gift feature until 28th February 2023. Today’s livestream also included a smattering of other Pokémon games, though no word at all on Pokémon Sleep. The upcoming Pokémon Go Fest finale event on 27th August will allow players to capture all of the Ultra Beasts released over the three in-person Go Fest gatherings this summer - that’s Pheromosa (which debuted in Berlin), Buzzwole (Seattle) and Xurkitree (Sapporo, this coming weekend). Other news nuggets included the introduction of Buzzwole and a Pikachu event for MOBA Pokémon Unite, and a return for Mewtwo and the arival of Latias in Pokémon Cafe Mix, and the debut of Trainer Lodge in Pokémon Masters EX.
