The August 3rd, 2022 Pokémon Presents was absolutely packed with information about everything going on in the Pokémon world. Here’s what you need to know…
To Be A Champion…
This year’s Pokémon World Championships will be held from August 18th through the 21st, and will be in person for the first time in three years! The venue is the ExCeL London Events Center and will include the usual tournaments for the Pokémon video game (Sword and Shield will still be used at this year’s event), the Pokémon TCG, and Pokkén Tournament DX. Newly added this year are tournaments for the location-based AR game Pokémon GO and the MOBA Pokémon UNITE, bringing the total to 5 events.
Speaking of GO and Unite:
Ultra Beasts are now in Pokémon GO, and more will be appearing over the next few weeks! The Pokémon GO Fest finale kicks off on Saturday, August 27th worldwide and will allow access to all of the available Ultra Beasts, plus a chance to encounter Shaymin after completing special in-game missions. Newly added Daily Adventure Incense attracts Pokémon not typically found in your area once a day for 15 minutes, and can even attract Legendary Pokémon!
Pokémon UNITE is also getting in on the Ultra Beast action with Buzzwole, a melee All-rounder who gets buffed for a short time whenever it gets a KO. And it’s available now, so go get that UNITE license! In celebration of its first anniversary, players can partake in a new quick battle mode “Pika Party”, which makes every Pokémon in the match a Pikachu! Players will also be able to claim presents for Blastoise, Pikachu, Snorlax, Lucario, and Sylveon in the near future, so keep an eye out!
A Quick Breather:
The presentation was surprisingly light on Pokémon Masters EX information, only giving us a brief teaser hinting at a Red/Pikachu Sync Pair, and an upcoming feature called the Trainer Lodge. Unfortunately no firm date or details on what this feature will entail have been announced yet. Pokémon Café Remix sees the return of Mewtwo in a new challenge, allowing players to add it to their staff. Victini and Latias are also available and Latios is coming soon.
Terastallize Your Cetitan In Paldea:
The big news from today’s presentation was clearly the new Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet announcements, delivered via a brand new trailer. This brief blast of information highlights the open-world aspect of the upcoming games, making sure to include the towns and cities as part of the seamless environment. Scarlet and Violet’s answer to long-distance travel is different forms that the box legendaries Koraidon and Miraidon take. These forms include a bike/running form, gliding form, swimming form, and climbing form much like the modes of travel found in Pokémon Legends: Arceus earlier this year.
The story, or rather stories of Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet appear to be three distinct tracks the player can freely switch between. The only story we know about currently is the traditional Gym Challenge, where the player will take on 8 gyms (in whatever order you want!) before ultimately taking on the Champion Assessment. It is easy to imagine that a second story would focus on exploring and collecting Pokémon, but the third story is a bit of a mystery so far.
Related: We Need To Talk About Those Pokémon Scarlet/Violet Leaks
Who’s That Pokémon?
A few new characters were introduced, including Clavell, the director of the academy the player character attends in Scarlet and Violet; Arven, an upperclassman who specializes in cooking and creating healthy recipes for Pokémon; Jacq, the player character’s homeroom and biology teacher; Penny, a shy truant in your class; and Grusha, the ice-type gym leader in Glaseado.
Speaking of Grusha, he’ll challenge you with Cetitan, one of the newly announced Pokémon. Cetitan is an ice-type Terra Whale Pokémon who’ll use its horn to freeze everything around it. Fidough is a fairy-type Puppy Pokémon that can ferment things around it with its yeast breath and puffs itself up to appear bigger when excited or threatened.
Finally, we have Paldean Wooper (who has already been nicknamed Pooper… thanks Twitter). This poison/ground type lives on the land and covers itself with a poisonous film to keep it from drying out. We should also expect to see a Paldean Quagsire or unique evolution along the lines of Galarian Yamask evolving into Runerigus.
A New Meaning to Pokémon Crystal:
The “Terastal Phenomenon” is what Gamefreak is calling the new battle mechanic for Pokémon’s ninth generation, and can make some major changes to the moves available to your Pokémon and their type. It seems that each Pokémon can take advantage of this form, but there will be rare encounters with Pokémon whose “Tera Type” doesn’t match their regular type.
For example, all players who gain access to the mystery gift feature of Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet before February 28th, 2023 will be able to receive a special Pikachu that knows the move Fly and has the Flying Tera Type, meaning they will gain the Flying type when under the effects of the “Terastal Phenomenon”. (If you’re familiar with Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield, this seems to be very similar to the Dynamax/Gigantimax mechanic.) It is unclear at this time if the Pokémon’s Tera Type is added to their base type, or if this replaces their base type altogether.
Multiplayer:
This leads nicely into the multiplayer functionality coming to the next Pokémon games. Raid dens make a reappearance from Sword and Shield, albeit in a more active fashion. Up to four players can still challenge a specific Tera Raid together, but you no longer have to wait for your teammates to execute their moves, allowing you to coordinate more effectively with move timings, or simply getting through the battle faster.
The goal of these Tera Raids is to defeat the boss, which will give you an opportunity to capture the Pokémon with a rare Tera Type, like a Drifblim that becomes a fire type when Terastallized. It also appears that four players will be able to explore the world together in basically unlimited coop, including riding your Koraidons and Miraidons (take that Elden Ring).
Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet release on November 18th, 2022 on the Nintendo Switch.
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