Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Legendaries have been revealed, and they’re just as terrifying as they are odd.
The new duo coming in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet was announced in a fresh trailer, showing us what they’ll look like and how they’re used. And used they very much will be. These aren’t your average super rare pocket monsters, but genuinely functional Legendary creatures that look halfway between Frankenstein’s monster and a motorbike.
Named Koraidon and Miraidon, each one can be used as a vehicle, letting you hop on their backs to ride around the game's new Paldea region. Need to zoom across a meadow? Engage “drive mode” and watch as your Legendary pal sprouts a humongous wheel from their chest and, er, crotch. Stick to “sprint mode” if you’d rather move on foot. They can also swim across water, climb mountains, and even produce wings to glide through the air.
Watch them in action in the trailer below.
Legendary companionship
The duo’s design isn’t worlds away from the Legendaries of past pokémon generations. Elegant dragons that stand head and shoulders above the other ‘mons, Koraidon and Miraidon aren’t messing about. But it’s the addition of their locomotive capabilities that make them so strange.
In the context of the wider game, however, they make more sense. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will be the first fully-fledged open-world Pokémon title, letting you seamlessly explore its vast world. No more loading screens between towns and the wilderness, you’ll be free to run around wherever.
It looks like Koraidon and Miraidon will act as the gateway to that exploration. They’re essentially all-terrain vehicles capable of navigating every nook and cranny of Paldea. We expect they’re needed to access some areas of the map – like the top of a mountain – and will be all but required to journey from one end of the world to the other.
That might suggest the pair will be available fairly early in the game. While Legendaries are usually unlocked as rewards for completing late-game battles, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet might well give them to you sooner. We’ll know for sure when the game releases on November 18.
