Nintendo leaked a new Scarlet and Violet Pokemon a month before data miners could

A new creature for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet seems to have leaked through Pokemon Go - a month after it appeared hidden in the background of an official trailer for the new mainline games.

No name has yet surfaced for this new Pokemon, but it has the appearance of a bug-like creature with a coin on its back. It's flat like a gingerbread man, and has alien features, an adorable smile, and a pair of antennae on its head. You can see a quick look at the creature and its animations courtesy of PokeMiners (via Polygon) in the tweet below.

This new look comes courtesy of a Pokemon Go data mine - you can see another image from ElChicoEevee on Twitter - but it's actually not the first time fans have seen the creature. October's big, 14-minute Scarlet and Violet trailer hid a number of Pokemon in plain sight, including a familiar little flat friend hoisting a coin. The critter was almost totally obscured by the text of the in-game photo menu, but now that we've got these datamined images, its identity is clear.

As early as August, leakers had been talking about a "new coin Pokemon" that's "very hard to get, like Spiritomb in Pokémon Legends: Arceus". If you don't recall, catching Spiritomb in that game required you to track down all the Pokemon Legends: Arceus wisps locations, grabbing 107 little collectables to even access to the creature.

Whether or not the little coin... ant... fella's appearance in the official trailer was intentional is a matter of some debate. But if we can expect a Spiritomb-style challenge to unlock it, its inclusion in the background of the official trailer makes a lot of sense as a way for Nintendo to tease something mysterious and new.

Check out the full Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Pokedex confirmed so far.