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During yesterday's lengthy Pokemon Scarlet and Violet trailer, Nintendo revealed details of new features and new friends on their way to the upcoming title. But for me, the star of the show was the new-look Pokedex.
Around the seven-minute mark in the trailer below, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet revealed Farigiraf, an evolution of Gold and Silver's Girafarig. As ever, the documentation of a new Pokemon means a new entry in the regional Pokedex, which the trailer revealed to have had a seriously impressive visual overhaul.
In most previous Pokemon games, the Pokedex has used each mon's official artwork to document your captures. The Pokemon style remains iconic, of course, but in Scarlet and Violet, it looks like things are switching up a little. When the dex opens to show off Farigiraf, it reveals a collection of photos of recently-caught Pokemon, arranged as though on a shelf against some wood-panelled wall. Some of those look like they've been taken in the wild, in a manner similar to Pokemon Snap, but others seem to portray sleeping, or otherwise tame Pokemon.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will feature a photo mode, but it's not clear whether your new-look Pokedex will populate with the snaps you take, or whether there's already a bank of 'official' pictures. Either way, the new presentation looks fantastic; the original Pokedex structure dates back an awfully long way now, so it's certainly overdue this coat of paint, which fits in with both the Switch's enhanced visual capabilities and the more open-ended nature of the series in the modern day.
That new look happens to extend beyond the Pokedex. Elsewhere in the trailer, Nintendo showed off the TM Machine, a nifty little gadget that allows you to build copies of the moves you want for your team, rather than relying on what you can scavenge or buy elsewhere in the world. Much like the Pokedex, it's filled with images of Pokemon using the moves, rather than a simple description. There's a Pikachu using Charm, a Venonat using Struggle Bug, and a Glaceon using Icy Wind. Elsewhere, the likes of Grimer, Meowth, and Gardevoir can all be seen. It's another impressive detail that adds to the reimagining the series has been undergoing between Scarlet/Violet and Pokemon Legends Arceus.
Those aesthetic tweaks are far from the only things we drew from yesterday's trailer. The highlight was Pokemon Scarlet and Violet picnics - much like the camps available in Sword and Shield, you'll be able to interact with your Pokemon, and make Subway-style sandwiches to enjoy with them.
A $300,000 Pokemon Collection 25 years in the making is being sold.
