Pokémon Presents 18 August 2021 Round-Up
The Pokémon company have today lifted the lid on the up and coming Pokémon 4th Gen remakes: Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl as well as an update on Pokémon Legends Arceus which is scheduled to release in January. Here’s a round up of all the updates as it unfolded.
Pokémon Unite
The mobile version of the strategy battler will launch on 22nd September and will cross play will be enabled and preorders open today with bonus Pikachu available if either 2.5 millon or 5.0 million people pre-register.
Pokémon Cafe Remix
The free to play café puzzler is getting a revamp with new Pokémon and extras coming to the Switch and mobile devices. This will release at some point in the next few months and will have enough content to keep players invested ‘for years to come’.
Pokémon GO!
Ultra unlock 3 is coming Friday, 20th August at 10:00am and will last to Tuesday 31st August at 8:00pm. These are in your local times. Pokémon from the Galar region will be unleashed into the real world. Zacian and Zamazenta, in their Hero of Many Battles forms will be appearing in 5-Star raids and Skwovet, Greedent, Wooloo, Dubwool, and Falinks will be found in the wild. Shiny Galarian Meowth, a Shiny Galarian Farfetch’d, a Shiny Galarian Weezing, & Shiny Galarian Stunfisk will also appear more often, but as usual these shiny monsters will only be marginally more available.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl are coming to the Nintendo Switch on 19th November and it brings with it, the classic top down, 2D style the series is known for but with the new 3D visuals as seen in Sword and Shield.
The battle system is once again the traditional turn based engine we’re all used to seeing, which sees us moving further away from the Let’s Go remakes. Along the journey you’ll be battling Gyms and trying to stop Team Galactic from destroying the world.
Sinnoh’s Underground section also sees a return. Dig up fossils and decorate your own base with statues. Pokémon hideaways is a new feature in the underground, where Pokémon not usually found in the region can be caught.
The usual online battle/trade room will also be available (subject to the online membership). Costumes and Pokéball customisations which were missing in the original games, are now implemented to further customise the journey through the Sinnoh region.
A new Switch Lite Dialga/Palkia edition, featuring Onyx grey colouring will be available on 5th November.
Pokémon Legends Arceus
The next entry in the Pokémon series; Pokémon Legends Arceus is being handled by Gamefreak directly and will release on 28th January 2022. This is a more open world take on the series, building on some of the mechanics first introduced in Sword and Shield. Set in the ancient world of Hisui, which forms the basis of the Sinnoh region. As this is a new region, there will be exclusive monster variants such as Growlithe with a beard.
The story sees you join a survey team to complete the world’s first Pokédex in the Hisui region. Wild Pokémon going crazy and attacking Pokémon and humans alike, and as such we’ll have more control over the trainers as Pokémon battles are in full flow. Catching Pokémon will also be a skill as some wild monsters will run away and some will attack… Then there’s Bidoof who just wants to be friends. And when you’ve had enough for the day, find a base camps to rest or craft items.
Battles have been rejigged as Pokémon’s speed now comes into play as monsters are able to act more times in a round. When selecting a move you can also select Agile or Strong attacks. Strong will do more damage but slow you down, Agile attacks will do less damage but allow your monster to have more attacks.
Region exclusive Pokémon announced are:
- Wyrdeer (evolves from Stantler)
- Basculegion (evolution of Basculin)
- Hisuian Braviary
- Hisuian Growlithe
Pokémon Home support will come to both Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Pokémon Shining Pearl and Pokémon Legends Arceus in Spring of next year.