Wiglett gets officially revealed for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

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The water-type Pokemon apparently has a keen sense of smell

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Wiglett
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Update: The Pokemon Company has officially introduced Wiglett for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet after it made a brief appearance during an official presentation yesterday. 

The water-type Pokemon may look just like Diglett but, as we now know thanks to one Pokemon fan's biology lesson, they couldn't be further from related. According to the official Pokemon Scarlet and Violet website, the Garden Eel Pokemon has an incredible sense of smell that can pick up scents from over 60 feet away. It also has the abilities 'Gooey' and 'Rattled.'

Alongside its official reveal, we got to see more of Wiglett in its natural habitat; the beach. The little slimy guy appears to be super happy popping its head out of the water alongside its buddies. We also see it demonstrate one of its attacks on an unexpectant Bonsly which takes the Pokemon's water attack straight to the face. You can see this - as well as read the original story - for yourself below.

Original: A new Pokemon coming to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet appears to have been revealed.

Earlier today, The Pokemon Company released a 'showcase' from the Pokemon World Ecological Society (via Serebii), showing some of the new and returning members of the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Pokedex in the wild. Among those creatures that we've seen before, however, was a previously-unseen creature that bears a striking resemblance to Diglett.

While regional variants of pre-existing Pokemon have been around for several generations, however, Diglett and its evolution Dugtrio are expected to appear in their original form. What's more, this white alternative seems to live by the sea - an unlikely habitat for a ground-type Pokemon. 

As the showcase went on, The Pokemon Company appeared to reveal that this was an entirely new creature. That information lines up with leaks suggesting that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet would feature a 'fake' alternative to Diglett in an example of convergent evolution. This noodly 'mon appears to be based on the garden eel - small aquatic animals that keep much of their bodies hidden in burrows under the sea floor but leave their heads visible. 

Right at the end of the trailer, The Pokemon Company revealed that the new creature was called Wiglett. That implies that it's an evolved, marine alternative to Dugtrio, but if the recent reveal of fellow new arrival Grafaiai is anything to go by, we'll likely learn more over the course of the day. It's pretty fair to assume, however, that we'll be seeing a water-typing revealed once we learn more about the new arrival.

While we wait for Scarlet and Violet, here's our list of the best Pokemon games.

Ali Jones
Ali Jones
Managing Editor, News

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.

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