Pokémon Scarlet & Violet - PLEASE TAG SPOILERS/LEAKS

[ZinogreVolt]

The new Raikou paradox is really creative-looking, but uhhhh oh boy do I just not give a damn about .. any of this, really.

[Blue Blood]

1 hour ago, ZinogreVolt said:

The new Raikou paradox is really creative-looking, but uhhhh oh boy do I just not give a damn about .. any of this, really. 

I wonder if anyone within Game Freak is really regretting the design principles for the Violet Paradox Pokémon yet. The Scarlet ones often sometimes look OTT, but at least there's some kind of ancient redesigning going on. Walking Wake and Raging Bolt are dinosaurs themed after the their respective Legendary Beasts. But Iron Leaves and Iron Crown are the their respective Swords of Justice made of chrome. It's super boring. 

[Sonicka]

On 8/4/2023 at 9:12 PM, Blue Blood said:

Look at this guy, thinking that Pokémon won't slip under the lowest of bars. 

It's true, they do have a tendency to completely fall from grace... after falling from grace - however I think they avoided the low bar this time as half the presentation was actually about games this time around which is a plus.

The flipside to all this obviously was it was basically all stuff we knew that was coming anyway, essentially it was just more trailers for games already announced with only release dates firmly put into place. Mileage will vary depending on interests in the various titles.

For me Pokemon TCG on Gameboy and Pokemon Stadium 2 on N64 was expected to release today (so no surprise there) but it's cool since they are awesome titles (but man, why TCG and not R/B/G/S/C still? lame). Detective Pikachu Returns I have Zero interest in, the Mobile titles I have Zero interest in, and the further exposition dump on the Area Zero DLC is fine. I love Sc/Vi (despite it's performance issues) so I am looking forward to more of this (and potentially returning to Area Zero as well at the end of this package). 

The announcement of Mew / Mewtwo is very welcome, my little one has been eager to bring catch these Pokemon in her game, and I'm still enjoying the weird-ass designs and names of the Paradox Pokemon. This Gen has felt more creative with its designs in general (to me) so more is always welcome. 

Shame about no new announcements... but at the same time I'm not really sure I want that. They need to knuckle down and focus on one thing at a time for now. 

[Salamander]

I ended up not being able to watch this Presents, and... it seems that might've been for the best?  I could just catch a few minutes' worth of trailers this evening.

I continue to like the new Pokemon... mostly.  Raging Bolt is a pretty cool redesign, even if too many of the Violet Paradoxes are just way too conservative.  Dipplin and Archaludon?  They're fine, I guess, but the apple really didn't fall far enough from the tree with Dipplin, and Archaludon just looks way too contrived as a design when it's in bridge mode?  I'm not sure I understand why Applin and Duraludon were selected to get new evolutions here.  Not complaining, just confused.

I am definitely feeling no impetus whatsoever to actually buy any of this, though.  Might give the Pokemon TCG GBC game a whirl one day, I think I borrowed it from a friend when I was younger and found it to be an interesting curiosity.

[Sonictrainer]

Worlds 2023 just ended and they showed a new trailer for the

Indigo Disk DLC.

 

Raging Bolt: Information & Signature Move (Thunderclap)

Spoiler

• Raging Bolt
• Category: Paradox Pokémon
• Type: Electric/Dragon
• Height: 17'1"
• Weight: 1,058.2 lbs.
• Ability: Protosynthesis

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Raging Bolt can be encountered in Pokémon Scarlet during an event that occurs in The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 2: The Indigo Disk.

A Ring of Fur Sways about Its Neck
The eye-catching ring encircling the top of this Pokémon’s lengthy neck is, in fact, fur. Raging Bolt is said to launch lightning from this fur and incinerate everything around it, but the full details are still unknown.

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Raging Bolt’s New Move: Thunderclap
This Electric-type special move allows the user to move first if the opposing Pokémon has chosen an attack as its next move. The user unleashes an electric blast to deal damage, but this move will fail if the target was not readying an attack of its own.

 

Iron Crown: Information & Signature Move (Tachyon Cutter)

Spoiler

• Iron Crown
• Category: Paradox Pokémon
• Type: Steel/Psychic
• Height: 5'3"
• Weight: 343.9 lbs.
• Ability: Quark Drive

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Iron Crown can be encountered in Pokémon Violet during an event that occurs in The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 2: The Indigo Disk.

Glowing S-Shaped Horns
It’s said that this Pokémon once mowed down everything around it by launching shining blades from its distinctive horns, but little else is known about it. It’s unknown what kind of Pokémon Iron Crown is.

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Iron Crown’s New Move: Tachyon Cutter
This Steel-type special move never misses, allowing the user to unleash two successive hits on a target. The Pokémon attacks by firing off blasts of energy from its horns.

 

New Moves: Psychic Noise & Upper Hand

Psychic Noise

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This Psychic-type special move deals damage as it bathes the target in abrasive sound waves. This attack also prevents the target from recovering HP through moves, Abilities, or items for a certain number of turns.

Upper Hand

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With this Fighting-type physical move, the user reacts to the target's movements and strikes with the heel of its palm. If the target was trying to use a priority move, Upper Hand will get the jump on them, allowing the user to attack first and cause their opponent to flinch without fail. This move will fail if the target wasn’t readying a priority move.

 

Wild Starters Available in the Terarium

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First partner Pokémon from past titles in the core Pokémon series are appearing in spades in the Terarium housed within Blueberry Academy, the setting of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 2: The Indigo Disk. The Terarium is a facility that re-creates a variety of biomes—from the tropics to icy seas—where many different Pokémon live and thrive in the environment best suited to them. You might even get the rare chance to see first partner Pokémon as they live in the wild.

Of course, you can also battle these Pokémon to try adding them to your team, and you’ll be able to see how the Terastal phenomenon—familiar to all those who have played Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet—looks on these old friends!

 

The 19th Tera Type Teaser

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The Terastal phenomenon first appeared in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, and it grants Pokémon special power while also making them sparkle like brilliant jewels. It plays an important role in battles. Terastallizing your Pokémon opens up a new world of strategy since it allows you to change your Pokémon’s type to its Tera Type, which can increase the power of moves with the same type or change your Pokémon’s weaknesses.

And now, in The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero for Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet, a new Tera Type has been discovered—a nineteenth Tera Type.

Something about it seems different from the eighteen Tera Types we’ve seen before, but much is yet unknown. What is the truth behind this nineteenth Tera Type?

 

[Sonictrainer]

We're getting some kind of reveal tomorrow.

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We invite you to gather round on August 22 for a haunting tale about a Pokémon from the land of Kitakami

 

Spoiler

Some people think it's a Sinsitea Regional Variant/New Evo

 

[Salamander]

2 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

We're getting some kind of reveal tomorrow.

  Hide contents

Some people think it's a Sinsitea Regional Variant/New Evo

Speculation inspired by TPC sending Pokemon influencers boxes of:

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Matcha.

 

[Sonictrainer]

A new Grass/Ghost Type revealed.

 

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The tea was spilled on a spooky new Pokémon in a tale as old as matcha

 

[Salamander]

The scuttlebutt from the leaker who leaks everything appears to be that it's a convergent evolution, but I'm not convinced.  Looks to me more like a Sirfetch'd situation where it's a regional evolution from a regional form that hasn't been shown yet; this is also consistent with it sharing one of its types with the original, whereas convergent evolutions have different typings altogether.  (Granted, not that there are really enough examples to extrapolate a trend from yet.)  Some people have inferred from its design that Poltchageist is, confusingly, a Sinistea analogue, but Perrserker shows that regional evolutions don't necessarily owe a great deal to the evolutions they parallel - Perrserker looks more like Meowth than Persian.

I imagine we'll find out more in a few days.  TPC's standard for recent reveals has been to let the reveal stand alone and then release a breakdown of things like ability and classification later on.

[Sonictrainer]

The US site has updated and we got another video

 

New Convergent Species: Poltchageist

Spoiler

• Poltchageist
• Category: Matcha Pokémon
• Type: Grass/Ghost
• Height: 4"
• Weight: 2.4 lbs.
• Ability: Hospitality

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Though Ecologically Similar to Sinistea, It’s a Completely Different Pokémon
Poltchageist has a swirl pattern similar to the one that’s known to be Sinistea’s weak point. However, one thing that sets these species apart is that Poltchageist’s swirl is not its weak point.

After a target is sprinkled with some of Poltchageist’s powdery body or eats food dusted with it, Poltchageist drains their life-force and absorbs it as energy.

It Lives in Old Houses and May Even Patch Up Broken Tableware
Poltchageist has a liking for old houses and may make its home in them. By day it remains still in cool, dark places, but once the sun sets, it begins to prowl around towns and their outskirts.

It sometimes mends cracked or broken things. In homes where it’s taken up residence, Poltchageist may even take it upon itself to repair broken tableware and other objects.

 

New Ability: Hospitality

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New Ability: Hospitality
Poltchageist’s Ability, Hospitality, is being introduced in the DLC for Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet. When a Pokémon with this Ability enters a battle, it showers its ally with hospitality, restoring a small amount of the ally’s HP.

Seems good for situations when catching Wild Pokémon with self-damaging moves.

 

[Blue Blood]

The waters are very muddied when it comes to regional forms now. It's hard to say how things will go. We have exclusively regional forms (Geodude line), regional evolutions with shared base forms (Hisuian starters), regional forms that have new evolutions (Obstagoon), regional forms that have parallel evolutions (Perrserker), the confusion of Mime Jr not having a regional form of its own but evolving twice in Galar and only once everywhere else, and now convergent forms which are totally not just regional forms I swear. 

It's still just a bit of variety and I don't think you can reliably guess its one thing or another.

Spoiler

All we can say with certainty about Poltchageist is that it's another 0/10 design, just like Polteageist. 

 

[Salamander]

Well, I thought the rules were clear-cut, but they just confirmed this thing as a convergent and that messed it all up.  A shame; this makes convergent Pokemon a little more boring to me.

But it is true, I accept, that Scarlet/Violet have been blowing the doors open for riffs on previous designs.  We had cross-gen evolutions in Gens II and IV, then regional forms in Gen VII, regional forms and regional evolutions in Gen VIII - and Paldea just throws them all together along with the convergent evolutions.  The designers can pretty much do whatever they want when revisiting old designs now, and there'll be a label to fit.

[Sonictrainer]

We have some art from the Pokémon Center for Halloween this year

[Salamander]

Fuecoco is looking surprisingly anxious for a Pokemon which ends up as a Ghost!

[Blue Blood]

5 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

We have some art from the Pokémon Center for Halloween this year

It's August. 

[Sonicka]

27 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

It's August. 

Tell that to the retail shops, I'm already seeing this crap everywhere. Heck, my local supermarkets already have their Christmas stock lining the shelves.

[KayDen]

i still like pokemon, but maybe pokemania was a mistake. i would've just taken the dengenki pikachu manga and the anime would just last a few episodes inbetween seasons

[Sonictrainer]

The Teal Mask DLC is now available to download & play! :D

[Sonicka]

Downloaded. Shouldn’t be on this at 2:30am buuuuuuut…

5 mins in and did I read that correctly about where Blueberry academy is located?! That… can’t be a coincidence. 

[Soniman]

On 9/12/2023 at 9:59 PM, Sonicka said:

Downloaded. Shouldn’t be on this at 2:30am buuuuuuut…

5 mins in and did I read that correctly about where Blueberry academy is located?! That… can’t be a coincidence. 

Praying to every god that doesn’t lead to anything. I do not want a ugly looking version of Unova running at sun 30fps (alternate: it looks like a Chinese mobile game)

[Sonicka]

So, I like the new map so far. With the vibe and music feel they've gone for I feel like I'm running around in a game world version of My Neighbour Totoro, which is a big plus for me (and seeing all the Gen 2 pokemon wander around)

What's a bit disappointing is that the new Map is not connected to Paldea - I thought this was going to be how we uncover the closed off area in the top right of the map, but if this gives any indication it just means that the developers intention was probably for us never to go there but just to demonstrate that Paldia isn't exclusively an island and is connected to a larger landmass. 

I am also still getting that wonderful amount of scenery clipping, disappearing and warping in certain high up locations when looking out onto the horizon, I shouldn't be surprised but because the map is smaller I expected this to be less of an issue in the DLC. Good to see they've been hard at work since the base version release...
 

6 hours ago, Soniman said:

Praying to every god that doesn’t lead to anything. I do not want a ugly looking version of Unova running at sun 30fps (alternate: it looks like a Chinese mobile game)

What I meant was it being a fun easter egg in lieu of the B&W series being next in line... how they approach remaking those games though, yeah either option is not great right now. I would be open to a Scarlet / Violet approach for them to quasi transform it into open world... BUT I don't want it running at sub 30FPS.  

Their best bet is the approach & style of the OG / AS remakes... which basically means just do it in the style of Sword & Shield without the wild areas if it comes out on Switch hardware. 

 

[Sonictrainer]

Some interesting information regarding the Loyal 3

Spoiler

It has been speculated and semi-confirmed that they have a Leader

Part of its head appears in the paintbrush story and it appear in the Kitakami Shop

 

[Sonicka]

Of course…

Spoiler

it’s Lechonk!

[Sonictrainer]

The Indigo Disk DLC will be arriving next month

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Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 2: The Indigo Disk launches on December 14! 

Adventures await you at the Blueberry Academy, Trainers! 

 

[KHCast]

Can’t wait to see more of Carmine tbh. Enjoyed the teal masks story enough to leave me wanting more.  The stuff with Kieran is gonna prob be cringe as all hell, but it’ll prob also be pretty funny too so that should be fun lol