Surfing Pikachu Is A New Mode Of Transport In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! And Let's Go, Eevee!

Best news this week.

Finally, we can use HM moves without having to take up an attack slot! I really hope that change carries over to the core game next year.

I am really getting hyped for this game.

Forget "Pokémon Stadium." I just used my Monster Brain to teach Pikachu Surf to play that minigame (and act as an excellent battle move, to boot).

@NovaCam Well, the 7th Gen games already took care of that problem in a different way, but yeah it's a nice way to handle it for these 1st Gen remakes where it wouldn't make sense to use that other solution.

Okay, this might actually get me to consider playing thi- Remembers every other news announcement about this game

...well, it was a nice idea, at least...

Switch branded Balance Board confirmed.

Ahh yes, good times when I'd get Surfing Pikachu on my Yellow game by trading it to Red, doing the requirements on Stadium, and then trading it back to make Brock a walk in the park....

What’s the difference between the Eevee and Pikachu titles? Just the main characters and the rest is the same? This game looks so nice that is forcing me to get it, my first Pokémon game ever (I know, I missed too much already)

@rjejr that’s the Labo Fitness Kit

They've put all the cool stuff in a game that's killed by how casualized it is. Cruel.

I hope this and the Pokemon following you around thing is in the next ACTUAL mainline game I've been holding out for.

Pikachu we've already passed the aloha region. there no time to go the beach now.

Funky Pikachu Mode.

@NovaCam didn’t they already address that last gen?

So Pikachu version gets to replace an HM move while Eevee version... doesn’t? I hope that version gets some free way to surf too, I mean it’s minor but still, I’m locked into the version I picked now as canceling my Amazon preorder means I lose the 20% discount, heck I wasn’t necessarily going to even use the starter and figured there wouldn’t be much difference.

Once again, it is minor though, not like I won’t likely have a water Pokémon to teach surf to...

I'm really glad they finally figured out HMs in a way that keeps them relevent, but not requiring an HM slave. Also a nice touch to add surfing pikachu. However will we having flying pikachu with balloons? In any case I won't likely play the pikachu version as I like eevee more.

Thank you gamefreak. You were on the right track with sun/moon, but this is what we expected. Ditch the nerf armor, and just look cool on the lapras(or surf board in this case).

I preordered Pikachu before Amazon changed its preorder policy. I much prefer Eevee (though from what I've read, your starter can't evolve :/ ), but Pikachu seems to have the Pokemon Red exclusives, which IMO seals the deal.

I've been doing monotype parties all through Gen 7, and I plan to keep it up in Let's Go. Sun is a Water team, UltraMoon is a Ghost team (that I need to finish playing), and Let's Go will be a Poison team (Kanto and its crazy number of poison-types).

My only concern is evolutions.

In Yellow you couldn’t evolve Pikachu, even after transferring to Silver.

In PLG, I assume this is the same? The Pikachu I can let slide, but what use is an Eevee that can’t evolve?

@TeeJay I can almost 100% confirm pokémon will not be able to follow you in the next game. There's over 802 when they add new ones to it. How do you animate that much. And it's not over casualised: they only changed the catching mechanic, added co-op and changed the safari zone as well qs stats a bit. But is it really too casualised? Co-op should stick around. The catching mechanic is better because it doesn't take as long. The safari zone is a bit meh. And stats are only slightly simplified. I dont the see issue. None of these ruin any of the fun.

@VexingInsanity none of those ruin the fun for you but you don't speak for everyone. I for one don't like those changes and hope they're pumped and dumped when they realize that this isn't going to convert Pokémon GO fans in massive numbers.

I would say that even that makes me leary of more changes. Streamlined doesn't always mean better, especially in RPGs which Pokémon is. It gives me FF13 from FF12 vibes and those changes were also made with best intentions but ended up with a game that basically played itself.

That's a shocking addition.

@HobbitGamer Labo Fitness Kit

My first thought was I didn't want my kids standing on the Switch screen inside a Labo build, but then I realized they could just make the surfboard bigger - those vehicle kits are HUGE so why not - and the kids could stand behind the screen. So you may be on to something.

@ShadJV The new attack Pikachu uses is not surf. There are fields moves that work as overworld HMs but they are not actual moves. Chances are Eevee can use that surfboard field move but not the new move.

@VexingInsanity All those Pokemon already have walking and running animations. They've been there since Sun and Moon. They would just have to make them for the newer Pokemon.

@ArcanaXVI thanks!!!

@RadioHedgeFund The Pikachu and Eevee starters supposedly have higher stats than normal.

So they'll probably be useful throughout the game, especially with all these special moves they're giving them. Probably to avoid repeating Yellow where towards the end Pikachu ends up as dead weight.

@saintayu "this isn't going to convert Pokémon GO fans in massive numbers." maybe not, but, we don't that yet, it's just speculation. I'm not a Go fan, and I haven't played the recent Pokemon games, because they're tedious, and after several hundred random fights against the same monster, I get bored. I probably wouldn't have gotten any new Pokemon games if they were just regular games, but, I'll definitely be getting Let's Go!, since I don't want to waste all of my time grinding, fighting wild zubats, and geodude's, trying to collect just the 151 Poke's that are there. That doesn't stop anyone else from wanting to grind, but, to me, it just makes it more accessible, and worth purchasing.

@Nintendo_Thumb all I can see is I have played every pokemon and never had to grind very much or fight the same monster that many times. Stats don't equal grind, neither does a more complex battle system.

But to each his own.

@Nintendo_Thumb there is no single pokemon game that you have to grind just move forward and defeat the little random trainers and know what you're doing and the games were always and will be always accessible to all kind of players casual or competitive but now these aren't for competitive players because they removed all kinds of key features and mechanics like abilities

what? no surfing eevee?

@Pokeman_noob Who said they removed mechanics like Abilities? I've never seen any announcement like that?

Simplifying IVs and EVs are fine, since they're over-complicated for the average Pokémon gamer anyway, but I bet stuff like Abilities and Held Items are still included.

@Pokeman_noob People looking for certain types of Pokemon always end up fighting other Pokemon instead, because you couldn't see them in the tall grass. And, that's grinding, just looking in the tall grass for different Pokemon, or training, either way, I find it quite dull by today's standards.

It's like: you walk into tall grass, make a few steps, hit the A button a couple times, walk a few steps, hit the A button a few times, walk a few steps hit the A button a couple times, etc. until you find a new Pokemon, and even catching the Pokemon doesn't require much of any skill. I feel that if I'm going to be getting into a ton of encounters with wild Pokemon, I'd rather an element of skill be involved, and though I haven't played it yet, the throwing mechanic in the new games sounds like it's got an element of skill required, which could make the game more interesting.

If this game had traditional training and catching with no motion controls it would be perfect

@Nintendo_Thumb Well, there is a different type of skill involved in weakening a Pokémon without KOing it and/or applying status effects before catching it, but otherwise I agree with you. The new catching mechanic introduces a different type of skill that's a refreshing change of pace for these remakes, just as long as they go back to the normal catching mechanics for Generation 8.

I also agree it will be nice to be able to hunt exactly which Pokémon you want on the overworld itself for once. Catching new species is made easier, and even grinding is more tolerable when you can just avoid the annoying ones like Zubat and Roggenrola for the most part. That's a mechanic that I hope carries over to the main series.

@LUIGITORNADO yeah I'm defo not going to get it.

Waving my arms around to play video games... Nah im not feeling that.

If that feature carries over to the main line game then I'll put Pokemon aside for good.

To be honest though i haven't really enjoyed a Pokemon game since Pearl... Y was okay too. Never tried sun or moon. I will prob grab em on the Switch.

@BulbasaurusRex nobody is going to announce we removed this and that but in the gameplay demo it's been seen that there's no ablities and to add to this claim is the fact that you chose whatever mega charizard when you're mega evolving it this was shown in Japanese version of the mega evolution trailer and since i am lazy to add links there are two YouTubers who made a video about this topic the super forced positive ProtoMario and he was saying that this a good thing and these games arre fixing the series and the other is HoodluScrafty

@Pokeman_noob You do know that demos by their very nature are incomplete versions of the game, right? They very well could still be included in the full game. We just don't know at this point.

@BulbasaurusRex i know this is an old comment but i wonder why how can't you see that they're doing unnecessary casualizing to the game maybe their purpose is to make casuals play online battles? But this isn't the purpose of the comment what i am here to say is that it's been confirmed by joe Merrick (serebii cite owner) who got to play two hours from the start of the game that there is no items nor abilities and a lot of other information and if you want to read what he said it's in the news page of serebii

@Pokeman_noob I stand corrected, and I agree that it's pushing the simplicity of the games too far. However, everything else about the games sounds great, so the lack of those two features isn't a deal breaker for me.

I'll just have to remember to switch Weezing out against Ground types (among other things). Since these games only include first gen Pokémon and their evolution famillies, at least none of the later Pokémon that were specifically designed around their Abilities (like Castform and Shedinja) or Hold Items (like Arceus and Genesect) are affected, although some of the Mega Evolutions like Mega Kangaskhan will play quite differently. I do have to wonder if we'll be able to breed Pokémon that usually require Incense like Munchlax or if breeding will even be included at all. We'll see...

@BulbasaurusRex in one interview(i don't remember which one) it was stated that breeding is removed sure the gen 1 pokemon aren't focused around items or abilities but their removal will make a big difference pokemon like mewtwo will be even more scary geodude line is useless and FEAR ratata ain't saving us from anyone, i don't really mind the game at all because i know we will get the true thing later but what is scaring me is the change that they'll do to the series and it's going to be extra painful if they made them a new branch because they'll most likely replace remakes and sadly gen 5 is my favorite so i won't gonna see a glorious remake of it