Spotlighting New Pokémon From 'Scarlet' and 'Violet' That Weren’t Revealed By The Marketing

Video Games

Nov 19

Happy Pokémon Scarlet and Violet release weekend to players and viewers alike! Over the course of the year, from the game’s announcement until about a week before the game’s release, 23 Pokémon were revealed, out of the over 100 that debuted here. And yes, 23, under circumstances that will be explained later.

For coverage from someone not in the position to play, it felt right to talk about Pokémon that made it all the way through without being revealed or at least identified. It was either that or unveiling the full lines of every Pokémon. There are other legendaries, but they won’t be discussed here. I have put together six categories and highlighted one (mostly) from each.

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New species: Flamigo

That’s right, Pokémon finally has a flamingo-based Pokémon. Its name is a portmanteau of “flamingo” and amigo”, and is a Flying- and Fighting-type. It is classified as the Synchronize Pokémon as according to its Violet Pokédex entry an entire flock of them can attack simultaneously in perfect harmony. Its Scarlet entry states it ties the base of its neck into a knot so that energy stored in its belly does not escape from its beak. It can learn moves like Mega Kick, Throat Chop, and Brave Bird by level-up. Flamigo can have the abilities Scrappy, which allows its Normal- and Fighting-type moves to hit Ghost-types, Tangled Feet, which raises its speed one level when it gets confused, and the newly-introduced Costar as its Hidden Ability, where it copies an ally's stat changes when it enters a battle.

Seen but not revealed: Squawkabilly

This Pokémon is the franchise’s next parrot and is indeed classified as the Parrot Pokémon. Its name comes from “Squawk” and “Rockabilly” (itself one of rock and “hillbilly”), an early style of rock and roll that blended country and R&B. It comes in four colors: Green, blue, yellow, and gray. These colors are lightened in their shiny forms and their pompadours and beaks turn a bubblegum or brain pink color. The flocks are constantly fighting over territory. The Normal- and Flying-type Squawkabilly was originally seen in the October 6 video that revealed Farigiraf and spotlighted Picnics, where it and two other Pokémon were visible on the small map. It is available in each of the three East Province Areas. Greens are noisy when searching for food and are rivals with the Blues. Yellows are the fiercer, more hotheaded, and vicious, while Grays have the lowest populations and hate being alone. They have Intimidate and Hustle as their abilities, while Guts is their Hidden Ability. Their strongest level-up moves are Fly and Brave Bird.

Nacli

Nacli was one of the Pokémon on the same minimap shot with Squawkabilly in the October 6 video. It’s the Rock Salt Pokémon. The Rock-type’s name even contains its chemical formula (NaCl, sodium chloride), and is the only Pokémon in this spotlight that can evolve, into Naclstack at level 24 and Garganacl at level 38. From centuries to millennia ago Nacli was particularly treasured, as they would share precious salt created and replenished inside its body. Its primary and signature ability Purified Salt protects it from status conditions and halves the damage taken from Ghost-type moves. Its secondary ability is Sturdy and its hidden ability is Clear Body. When it evolves, it can learn the signature move Salt Cure, which seems to be a Rock-type variant of Fire Spin and Sand Tomb with stronger chip damage against Water- and Steel-types, as salt dehydrates water and corrodes steel. By the end of its level-up move set when fully evolved, it can know Heavy Slam, Earthquake, and Stone Edge.

Regional Form: Tauros

Paldea, being a region heavily inspired by Spain, had many Pokémon fans salivating at the prospect of Tauros finally getting some of the love that Pokémon adjacent to it in the Pokédex had received over the course of the franchise’s history. But it didn’t just get one regional form, it got three. While the Kantonian form is Normal-type as it always has been, all three Paldean Breeds are Fighting-type. The Blaze Breed is Fighting- and Fire-type and exclusive to Scarlet, and the Aqua Breed is Fighting- and Water-type and exclusive to Violet. Its abilities remain Intimidate, Anger Point, and Sheer Force no matter the breed. In addition, they receive a new signature move called Raging Bull, a 90 power tackle that breaks barriers such as Reflect and Light Screen, but also changes type depending on the Breed, meaning the move can be Fighting-, Fire-, or Water-type instead of Normal. The Paldean forms learn Close Combat instead of Giga Impact at level 60. While Kantonian and Combat Breed Tauros learn Assurance at level 15 and Double-Edge at level 55, Blaze Breed has Flame Charge and Flare Blitz in those spots, whereas Aqua Breed has Aqua Jet and Wave Crash there instead. Whether the horns heat up or shoot water, it’s still pretty cool. As of what’s out now, these are the only Paldean forms other than that of Wooper.

Paradox Pokémon: Sandy Shocks

Remember when I called Great Tusk and Iron Tread “Donphan forms”? While the resemblance is obviously there, each Paradox Pokémon, as they’re all classified, are indeed their own separate Pokémon with their own assigned numbers in the Pokédex. Entries wouldn’t be a determining factor as many form differences for Pokémon do get their own nowadays. And they all get descriptive two-word names. The Scarlet-exclusive past-based ones get Protosynthesis as their ability, which boosts the Pokémon's highest stat in harsh sunlight or while holding Booster Energy. The Violet-exclusive futuristic Paradoxes have Quark Drive, which boosts the Pokémon's highest stat on Electric Terrain, or similarly with Booster Energy as before. This Magneton-looking Paradox is Sandy Shocks and it is Electric- and Ground-type, which has Bulldoze and Earth Power in its level-up move pool. It looks pretty cool with whatever its main magnets have attracted while using the others as legs. Paradox Pokémon aren’t Legendaries, but it’s at least a boost for Magneton, even 35 base stat points higher than Magnezone

New Evolution: Annihilape

Primeape’s Pokédex entry in Sun reads, “It has been known to become so angry that it dies as a result. Its face looks peaceful in death…”. It looks like the Primeape in Paldea took that and instead stayed angry and evolved. Primeape evolves into the Fighting- and Ghost-type Annihilape by using Rage Fist 20 times and leveling up. Rage Fist is a new Ghost-type move signature to Primeape that it learns at level 35. The move has 50 base power, but the power is raised the more the user gets hit. It’s either a mix of Rage and Power-Up Punch, Rage and Payback, or even a mix of the three. The evolution into Annihilape was an achievement of power “unfettered by the limits of its physical body” and its new fists are imbued with the power of rage, shattering opponents to their core, according to its Pokédex entries.

There’s a convergent species that might be identified by its long legs as much as Sandy Shocks, but its line is the only other convergent species of Pokémon in the game besides Wiglett’s, so you might be excited to find it yourself, along with all Pokémon found in Paldea. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are now available on Nintendo Switch.

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