The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) released a new trailer for the upcoming Pokémon games: Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet on Oct. 6. At 14 minutes, this is the games’ longest trailer released so far.
The trailer introduced numerous new features to the game, including the ability for players to combine items in the overworld with league points obtained during the adventure. This creates “Technical Machines,” (TM) discs that allow players to give new moves to their Pokémon. The variety and power of the moves will increase as players progress through the game. In these games, the moves can only be used one time, like they were in the first four iterations of the series.
In addition, a new Pokémon was revealed. Called Farigraf, it is an evolution of the Generation Two Pokémon Girafarig. It is a Normal/Psychic type Pokémon with two new abilities. Cud Chew will allow it to eat Berries — one-use items that a Pokémon can hold with effects such as healing HP or status effects — at the end of two successive turns. Meanwhile, Armor Tail will allow users to prevent their opponents from using priority moves that allow Pokémon to attack first, such as Quick Attack or ExtremeSpeed.
This also expands on the previous iterations of the game, “Sword” and “Shield.” Instead of the previous game’s camping feature, players can have picnics, during which players can groom their Pokémon and feed them sandwiches created with ingredients from town.
In previous trailers, the Pokémon Company revealed the generation’s new gimmick: Terastilizing. Terastilizing allows for the Pokémon to change type. Previously, it looked like each Pokémon could Terastilize into a limited range of types. However, in this trailer, it was revealed that all available Pokémon in the game can change into each of the 18 types, known as a “Tera Type.” Despite this versatility, each Pokémon has different Tera Type rarities, wild Pokémon that can Terastilize in battle will have an aura surrounding them. In addition, a Terastilized Pokémon that takes significant battle damage will revert to its standard type. A new move, known as Tera Blast, changes its type in conjunction with Terastilized Pokémon to match their Terastilized type. This will grant the Pokémon a Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB), increasing the moves’ power by 50%.
The game also offers greater customization options compared to the previous generations. For instance, the trailer revealed that each character has at least 11 possible hairstyles they can purchase in at least 10 different colors. While this appears to be less than the options available in “Pokémon Legends Arceus,” which had 13-15 hairstyles and 15 different hair colors, a scroll bar in the trailer hinted that this is only a small taste of the game’s customization.
In addition to the Pokémon news, a teaser poster for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was revealed on Oct. 4, a few days prior to the official teaser trailer’s release. The poster features Mario in a village surrounded by Toads, with Peach’s castle in the background.
The actual teaser was released on Oct. 6. Nintendo released a special Nintendo Direct presentation for the event with a special introduction by Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto.
In his introduction, Miyamoto thanked all the Mario players and mentioned how fun the movie’s production was before introducing Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri, the movie’s producer.
Meledandri thanked the movie’s staff and mentioned how hard they worked on composition and lighting. He also mentioned that the famed Mario composer Koji Kondo was working alongside the movie’s composer, Brian Tyler, and that production had taken seven years. Miyamoto and Meledandri then worked together to introduce Jack Black and Chris Pratt, who voice Bowser and Mario, respectively.
Pratt appeared first, reminiscing about his memories playing Mario Bros at the laundromat and telling people what an honor it was to voice Mario before introducing Black. Black joked that he had been building up muscle, growing out a beard and learning how to breathe fire in order to help him become Bowser. He also thanked the workers of Nintendo and Illumination for his role.
Miyamoto then introduced the trailer, which started with an ice castle. Suddenly, Bowser’s ship anchors itself to the ice and the Koopa army invades. They meet a group of penguins who attack them, but they have no effect on Bowser or most of his army. To counter this, Bowser burns down their castle and claims their power star. The trailer jump cuts to Mario, who jumps out of a pipe and encounters Toad. The two of them head to the Mushroom Kingdom, followed by the movie’s logo and a montage of scenes, including scenes of Mario and Luigi running from Dry Bones.
Oct. 6 was a big day for fans of Nintendo’s biggest franchises, helping to build anticipation for products releasing in the near future.
Bailey Kanthatham is a Entertainment Staff Writer. He can be reached at bkanthat@uci.edu.
