Scarlet and Violet will be Pokémon's 9th generation of games, and the recent Pokémon Presents gave fans a fresh 6-minute overview of the games' features. Seeking to expand on Legends: Arceus' much-needed formula shakeup from earlier just this year, the trailer and overview showed off some of the new characters, environments, mechanics, and even another batch of Pokémon.
New major announcements from the franchise have essentially become online events, with fans flocking to Twitter to discuss. From excitedly-posted memes to concern over some gameplay tropes, there were plenty of reactions on the social media platform.
Fidough: Everyone's New Best Friend
With every generation of Pokémon comes a new lovable star that takes the internet by storm. There are typically a few of them, in fact, with the aptly named pig species Lechonk striking quite the chord with fans before.
However, it looks like the equally clever-named Fidough has claimed that spot for the time being. This new Fairy-Type pup has an expectedly endearing creature design that many have fallen in love with already, and user @Meyrick94 is already feeling Fidough's fame take the spotlight from Lechonk.
Koraidon, Scarlet's Living Motorcycle
Sometimes Pokémon can feel overdesigned, and while that might in part apply to Scarlet and Violet's flagship legendaries, the former's Koraidon has a certain wild flourish to it that some fans can't help but appreciate. The new trailer for the games at the Pokémon Presents confirmed that both Legendary creatures will have mounted forms, including Koraidon's motorcycle-like state.
@TheRealCoolmath account joked how they looked forward to recreating the iconic "Akira drift" while riding traveling Paldea on Koraidon. Though radically different from Pokémon, Akira is one of the best anime movies ever released and it made the Akira drift a decades-old classic that permeated pop culture.
Near-Endless Creativity For Fidough's Evolution
Given how much fun Game Freak seems to be having with the names of Paldea's new Pokémon in particular, fans on Twitter have eagerly taken it upon themselves to come up with evolution ideas for Fidough.
With the games having a metamorphosis-inspired evolution mechanic since Pokémon's inception, one would think that most dog breeds are fair game for whatever they might evolve into. User @StockratesDK kept the dog/pastry-themed puns going, suggesting a Great Dane become Fidough's evolution.
Wooper Gets Another Share Of The Spotlight
Fidough understandably took the lion's share of the spotlight with the recent Scarlet and Violet trailer, but the new Regional Form for the Johto-native Wooper is at least a close second. The Paldean Wooper is a more terrestrial variant of its Johto cousin, dropping the Water Type for a dual Poison/Ground-Type.
Wooper's new sweet, charmingly dopey design instantly won over countless fans online, with users like @Kekeflipnote making some fan art to celebrate. In this case, it's with a creative gif inspired by Gold, Silver, and Crystal's nostalgic 16-bit aesthetic. Time will tell if the Paldean Quagsire will become one of the strongest Poison Pokémon around.
Cetitan Has Also Won Its Share Of Fans
The smaller, more cutesy Pokémon designs certainly enjoy a lot of affection in the online fandom. However, another great new reveal in the Scarlet and Violet overview and trailer was the land whale Cetitan.
Game Freak have certainly pulled from a wide variety of real-world animal influences for their Pokémon, which is practically a requirement if there are going to be over 1,000 unique species. And as far as whales go, Cetitan might be the most creative yet. A pure Ice-Type terrestrial whale looks interesting, and user @taesungart did a great job illustrating its imposing and charming features in his fan art.
Charizard Is Inevitable For Generational Gimmicks
Charizard is understandably regarded as a classic and fan-favorite Fire-Type Pokémon, but even longtime fans have to admit that its popularity has been saturated in recent years. It transcends Kanto region pandering, with the semi-dragon Pokémon typically getting a new feature in Game Freak's (somewhat infamous) generational gimmicks.
The latest Pokémon Presents showcased yet another gimmick in the form of Terastallizing. And while nothing's been confirmed yet, fans like user @BigWeegus joked about how Charizard getting something special out of this is a matter of "when."
A Shot At Getting In-Game Crystal Onix?
Since canonicity and lore have never been things The Pokémon Company paid too much attention to, there are clear differences between the anime, manga, and video game continuities. There are even differences within timelines from the same medium, and a niche piece of lore from the classic anime was the existence of the Crystal Onix.
In the anime, the Crystal Onix was a rare variant that Ash and co. encountered in a cave. But with the Terastal phenomenon in Scarlet and Violet, perhaps this is the first shot at having a game-canon Crystal Onix. In a straightforward reply to the trailer, user @jake_tcg suggests that this needs to happen.
Even More Fidough Evolution Pitches
The Fidough excitement knows no bounds on Twitter following the sweet bread-themed pup's reveal, and fans have been getting even more clever with their ideas for its evolution line.
The aforementioned design choice potential is certainly great, but some fans, like user @dragonshuffle1, wanted to pitch some ideas for evolution names specifically. With Game Freak's fun pun-based names for Pokémon as of late, all of these could reasonably work in the official games. Especially so if Fidough gets two evolutions.
Apprehension Over The Next Gimmick
Having features unique to each generation seems to have been emphasized in the mainline Pokémon games since Mega Evolutions in X and Y. Although, Mega Evolutions were widely beloved and fans promptly bemoaned Game Freak inexplicably scrapping them altogether.
Each new feature since has come off as more of a cheap gimmick to many fans, especially since they're typically disposed of in the following generation. It's one of Pokémon's more poorly-aged tropes and fans like user @EeveesolutionSK are worried this will play out like the prior and underwhelming Dynamax/Gigantamax gimmick from Sword and Shield.
Return Of An Unsung Hero
In more low-key news from the Scarlet and Violet segment of Pokémon Presents, fans peering at every possible shot of the overview and trailer looked at the creatures found throughout the world. Since the games will no longer house all species since the franchise reached a staggering 1,000+ varieties, fans are eager to know if their past favorites will make the cut.
User @PokemonMDfanboy excitedly pointed out that the Unova region's Eelektross was spotted in the background, confirming it can be obtained naturally in Scarlet and Violet. Eelektross is an intimidating and inventive design, and it held its own in battle during the generation 5/Black and White days of the franchise.