The Pokemon Company dropped two big pieces of news on Pokemon Day, the 26th anniversary of the original’s games release. The first was the announcement of “Pokemon Scarlet” and “Pokemon Violet” coming later this year on the Nintendo Switch.
The news was surprising because it arrives almost a month after the release of “Pokemon Legends Arceus.” The three new starters for this adventure are Sprigatito, a Grass Cat Pokemon; Fuecoco, a Fire Croc Pokemon; and Quaxly, a Duckling Pokemon. Everyone on Twitter is already picking their favorite.
From the first glance, the new region appears to be inspired by the Iberian Peninsula, which includes Spain and Portugal. Smaller areas such as Gibraltar and Andorra could also be represented. That conclusion comes from the appearance of the architecture. Players can see buildings resembling the La Sagrada Familia and Spanish-style homes with clay roofs and stucco. The book in the trailer could be a reference to Don Quixote, one of the greatest works of Western literature. Perhaps, this will mean other famous landmarks such as the Alhambra will inspire locations in the game.
Along with this, it could mean that the final forms of the starters could resemble famous figures from Spanish culture. If the Galarian starters final forms took cues from James Bond and soccer athletes, then perhaps players will find evolutions that could be a riff on Don Quixote or Pablo Picasso.
Lastly, it looks like the major changes to the series from “Pokemon Legends Arceus” are here to stay as “Pokemon Scarlet” and “Pokemon Violet” will have an open-worldish format with creatures more integrated to the environment. Players can see Swablu hanging on wires above city streets. Some Pokemon were moving in flocks. If all those concepts stay true, it further creates a more coherent and immersive world.
The other big piece of news is that more Alolan Pokemon are on the way to “Pokemon Go” starting March 1. On the “Pokemon Go” Twitter account, Niantic hinted that Pikipek, Rockruff, Jangmo-o and Tapu Koko are coming to the mobile game.
In addition, it appears that the next chapter for this year will be called the Season of Alola. That means trainers will likely so more creatures from Hawaiian-inspired region. Out of the ones hinted at, Tapu Koko will likely appear in five-stars raids because it’s a Legendary. It has a notable Electric- and Fairy-typing. Meanwhile, Jangmo-o will likely be the sought-after creature because its final form is Kommo-o, the pseudo-legendary of this generation. It has a dragon- and fighting-typing, which makes it unique with strong defensive stats could make it great for PvP. If previous pseudo-legendaries are any indication, this Pokemon will likely be rare. If you see any on your radar, grab it.
To mark this transition, players will be seeing more Alolan Exeggutors in the wild and yes they can be shiny.
