The next generation of Pokémon is upon us. Soon we will be exploring a whole new region full of unique monsters for us to capture, train, befriend, and battle until we’re the best trainer in the world. We’ve done it eight times before this and everyone is fully ready to do it for a ninth.
On Wednesday, a new trailer showcasing Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet was released and it gave us a bunch of new information about the upcoming games. The biggest reveal was that these new games will be released on November 18, 2022. This is a big year for Pokémon fans that are getting two games in a single year thanks to the release of Pokémon Legends: Arceus back in January, but while Legends: Arceus was a spin off title this is a brand new entry into the mainline franchise.
As with any new mainline game that means new Pokémon to become friends with! We already knew about the starters from a previous trailer, but the new trailer gave us three new Pokémon to get excited about: Pawmi, Lechonk, and Smoliv.
✔️ New Pokémon
✔️ New Professors
✔️ New trailer
The wait is over, Trainers — the latest Pokemon #ScarletViolet trailer is finally here! pic.twitter.com/7CrdwWZGoS
— Pokémon (@Pokemon) June 1, 2022
Among these three, a quick fan favorite has been Lechonk. The adorable little pig Pokémon is not only adorable looking, but it has an eye catching name that while it will get a giggle out of some has an interesting possible origin behind it. Lechon is a popular pork dish in Spain which also happens to be the region of the world that Scarlet and Violet is inspired by. Add in the popular internet slang “chonk” to mean “fat” and we get a very cute fat pig.
Meet Lechonk, the Hog Pokémon! 🐷
It may appear fat at first glance, but in reality, the Pokémon’s body is mostly muscle built by constantly walking around in search of food.
❤️💜 #ScarletViolet pic.twitter.com/sMnhPNRXUD
— Pokémon (@Pokemon) June 1, 2022
A few more interesting tidbits from the trailer include four player multiplayer, which is exciting for anyone that wants to go on a co-op adventure together with friends, and Toby Fox the creator of Undertale announcing that he did some of the field music for the game. Fox might be best known for Undertale, but he’s done plenty of music composition for other games including Pokémon Sword Pokémon Shield..
I had the honor of composing the field music for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet! After creating a concept sketch, Game Freak arranged it into many versions that you'll hear throughout the game. You can hear a bit of it in this trailer… https://t.co/dhjv4e9fQN
— tobyfox (@tobyfox) June 1, 2022
There is always a lot to look forward to whenever a new mainline Pokémon game comes out and this year’s entry feels no different. November can’t come soon enough!