Pokémon fans have, rather expectedly, been quite divided on the upcoming mainline titles Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. While many are embracing the new open-world nature of the games and the apparent freedom it affords players, others are disappointed that the games seem to be a step back after Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
Some fans, however, have noticed a very specific change to one of the creatures showcased in the trailer: Eelektross, the final form of Tynamo introduced in Pokémon Black and White.
As reported by Automaton, Eelektross started life by standing upright for its sprite in Generation V, garnering praise for its intimidating look. When Game Freak moved into the 3D realm with Pokémon X and Y, however, Eelektross was changed to float in the air, likely to demonstrate its Levitate ability and its immunity to Ground attacks. Observe:
Given Game Freak's affinity for replicating assets from X and Y onwards, Eelektross hasn't changed its stance ever since, much to the annoyance of fans who preferred its look in Black and White. But that is apparently set to change, as its appearance in the most recent trailer for Scarlet and Violet appears to showcase Eelektross standing upright once again.
Fans have been quick to noticed the change too, and have taken to Twitter to express their excitement:
It's a small change, to be sure, but a welcome one for long-time fans! You can check out the new depiction of Eelektross in the new trailer below; it shows up at roughly the 1:53 mark.
What do you make of this apparent change to Eelektross? Are you excited? Couldn't care less? Let us know!
[source automaton-media.com]
Comments 49
Hmmmmmm.
Smash
I hope Xatu is fixed too. Had the exact same problem.
I be using this Pokémon in my Pokémon White physical copy playthrough, because I'm still catching good Sandile first.
Nice, a headline that sounds like something my adblocker would normally block. "Kardashian fans can't believe this one simple trick worked for Kylie!"
I absolutely love Eelektross as a Pokemon (great design, amazing type and ability combo and some killer offensive coverage) so to see him not only back for the first time ever in the Switch era but to see him in such a proud stance makes me so happy. My ONLY concern with this image is that it seems to be outside of battle, meaning we still don't know whether or not he still floats during the main gameplay of Pokemon. But even so, the fact that they've consciously made this change gives me hope they'll do the same for other 3D-maligned mons like the Sky Battle victims (poor Xatu....).
Looked like they might have also planted Dragonite on the ground, judging by the brief snippet of you see. Hope so, it's always looked really awkward flying.
A lot of the Pokémon animations are looking good. Seeing Houndour curled up on the ground was a pleasant watching.
Now they just need to confirm Absol and Roserade and I’m good.
I always thought it looked silly "standing" upright. Those little fins pretending to be feet are pretty goofy
@TheBigK It does make a Pokemon that would otherwise be absolutely terrifying pretty adorable though, doesn't it? That's why I hate the regular stance so much: it turns it from lovable partner to downright creepy.
@olliemar28 This doesn’t confirm anything. That’s just the pose Eelektross
assumes when it’s being played with, like in Pokémon Amie or Pokémon Refresh. The animation is even the same.
Also yes, I am fun at parties. It’s just a shame I never go to them.
Even if the rest of the game doesn't look stunning, I quite like the new shader on the Pokémon themselves. Especially for the shiny/metallic ones.
Speaking of minor improvements, I wish they'd consolidate some of the text in the games; for example, if a move raises and/or lowers multiple stats, I wish they would appear in the same line (e.g. [Pokémon's] attack and speed fell!) rather than displaying them in separate lines of text, which can unnecessarily pad things out.
I also wish that they would add dodging animations for when attacks miss rather than just showing them standing idly, which looks particularly ridiculous in Legends Arceus.
Similarly, showing attack animations for ineffective moves would also likely work a lot of the time.
As for the stances of flying/levitating Pokémon, perhaps they ought to alternate depending on the situation. For example, if a Pokémon attempts to attack a flying/levitating Pokémon with a ground-type move, then the flying Pokémon should assume an airborne stance (and perhaps also when a flying-type Pokémon uses a flying-type move), but when using a non-flying type move (or Roost), and when entering battle, then a perched stance should be the default, and that should alleviate most (if not all) criticisms regarding the general ugliness of the airborne stances of some flying-type Pokémon in battle.
Not sure what to think of it to be honest...probably because it never enter my mind to think about or anything.
@Silly_G Gotta agree… the text stats look like an idea from a decade ago. They can easily put on screens icons to show when speed, defense or attack, rise or fall. Just put a green arrow with the word speed, up or down, blue for defense, red for attack, etc. We only need to see them for a second and all at the same time.
It’s time to modernize Pokémon battles. A main complain I have is how there’s always a point where you only smash A to win or go through all the tedious texts in battles.
Is it just me or are there so many Pokémon at this point that I barely remember some of them? Most Gen 4, 5, and 6 Pokémon just sort of blur to me, at this point.
@somnambulance : I remember most of them, but Gens VI+ especially are more of a blur to me, as are many middle evolutions, particularly when the first letter is further away in the alphabet than other forms.
I have a feeling that I'm going to struggle more from hereon out though, but maybe it's just the old age finally taking its toll.
@somnambulance For me it's Pokes 6th gen and up that most of their names escape my mind.
That thing looks like it eats horses (or Ponyta) now 🤠
Nope.
I love it! Definitely want one on my team!
@somnambulance For me, it's Gen 8 Pokémon . It's crazy because I actually liked most of the new Pokémon themselves. Ultimately, Sword and Shield are my least favorite of the series and I didn't/don't play them as religiously as previous games. So it's been a challenge to remember names
I love memorising Pokémon names. I didn't even play Gen 8 until 2 years after its release, but I went in knowing all the Pokémon anyway because I felt compelled to learn all about them even when I wasn't playing. Each and every new Pokémon is a new friend.
@TheBigK
That's exactly why I love the goober
@Silly_G I agree with all this. It's kind of irritating, in a max raid battle especially, when a move lowers/raises everyone's stats and each one get their own text blurb
@Silly_G I've been wanting special animations for moves missing or Pokemon dodging them since Stadium back in the N64 days; I thought back then that when we got better hardware capable of better graphics and animation, they'd eventually come, but nope. Pokemon just stand around like, "Durr, I'm sure glad that Fire Blast didn't hit me even though I'm a stationary target!"
That game STILL has better animations than anything GF has done, by the way....
There was a game on Wii called Dokapon Kingdom that had a very basic battle system similar to Pokemon. Whenever a move missed a character, you got a short dodging animation that changed based on the character's class, along with a sound effect. Even that much goes a long way to adding flair and liveliness to battles. Seeing things like Flying mon take to the sky, Ground mon dig, or ones known for speed dodge/run/jump out of the way would add so much personality to each Pokemon.
@YoshiF2 I'd say the text stats look like an idea from when the games were on 8-bit monochrome hardware 25 years ago that had simpler coding patterns and limited ability to convey information onscreen. Now that we have game engines more capable of complex algorithms and sharing things visually, some of those tedious and archaic ways of giving feedback to the player should be modernized.
I for one am ecstatic that the Tynamo line is returning for Scarlet/Violet since Eelektross is my fav electric type.
It's official...I don't pay that much attention to pokemon. I'm ok with that.
"Pokémon fans have, rather expectedly, been quite divided..."
What are the rough numbers on this division that cause you to make such a statement? Cuz I'm pretty sure most Pokemon fans are super excited which is why it will sell millions of copies just like every other Pokemon game.
I hate how modern journalism perpetuates fake divisions by using a handful of negative comments as proof of some war.
I wish I could be an adult in a Pokemon game instead of always being a kid. And if they keep kids, let the people age so they can become adults in the second part of the game!
@Silly_G @AlexanderDaniels @UmbreonsPapa Honestly, anything after Gen 2 is sort of a scramble for me. I’d rather get regional variations than new Pokemon at this point. I mean, sure, there’s a couple great Pokemon every generation, but there’s what 870 or something now. Who can remember all those? Lol.
To think that so many Pokemon's designs were affected for the worse for 3 generations all because of a super minor, never again revisited battle mode in X & Y.
@somnambulance : We're past the 900 mark now.
But that of course is not counting any alternate forms (including regional variants).
@Flint To be fair. Pokemon Black/White was about 12 years ago.
@Silly_G
Your suggestion sounds great to me!
@Kilamanjaro
Unfortunately, the "target" audience are kids so unlikely to ever happen
@burninmylight
Colosseum has these but GF can't be bothered
Interesting to see Eelektross touching down. I was just thinking about it and it's Levitate ability.
standing tall like the proud boy he is
@moodycat
That is one of the most rose tinted glasses statement ever, a majority of the Pokemon games had some rough pixel artwork
A step BACK from PLA?? That’s hilarious.
How is an open world game "a step back" from a game on rails? I mean it's different, you can argue that, but a step back??
@jamesthemagi Deeply enjoyed Arceus and I'm in my 50s. I'm sure kids loved it too, but it was a great game to me.
Today I learned that Eelektross is a fan favourite pokemon
I think I have an eelektross tucked away in a box somewhere…. Apparently I should be using it.
Everyone is making some great points and suggestions on this comments section. Game freak has a LOT of work to do to get this series up to the community’s standards. Animations, text… and I also agree with the generational fluff: I’m still an original 151 dude. Not that I don’t want more Pokémon and believe me, I love collecting them all, but there’s a point where you can tell someone at a Pokémon Company was like …. looking around a room for Pokémon ideas, saw a pencil and was like, “BAM.. Pencilsaurus!”
@jamesthemagi are you a kid? Or an adult that plays Pokemon? Nintendo makes more mature versions of games for their audiences (doesn't mean Mature rating). Even within the Pokemon franchise, look at Pokemon Go. Add an avatar that's an adult & get rid of the parent at home. Easy. Then beat your adult neighbor who hates how you garden or something. It's maybe a few more lines of dialogue than in a regular Pokemon game
@Kilamanjaro
Game freak has repeatedly stated that Pokemon's target audience is kids. As such they will probably never bother to make an avatar that is an adult or let you age. In fact, this is the 1 franchise where aging is basically sure to never happen because of Ash. Remmeber that the games must complement the anime and the merchandise. Hence, why sometimes a rush mess is released as it cannot be delayed. I did use the word unfortunately, I am not against the idea, I was just telling you it will never happen. One of the reasons for the removal of challenge and the Battle Frontier is because GF cater the game for kids.
Even better, hopefully this confirms we can release our Pokemon in the overworld like in PLA!
@jamesthemagi I wouldn't say never, I understand their target demographic, but they have a LOT bigger range of demographics than kids. Adults ultimately pay for the games, take kids to the movies, buy the toys, etc and the franchise is old enough that many of us are adults now. Maybe the next gen we will see it, they did open world eventually so there's hope there. And Red ages as you play against him in later games.
Don't care much for Electross, but that being said, I read somewhere that the coolest thing about pokemon is that there are no pokemon that is universally unloved. Every single one of the 905 pokemon will have someone who likes it. And if Electross floats your boat, all the power to you! I'm glad the Pokemon company is doing something good for your pokemon.
Now here's to hoping they do something good for Jumpluff.
@Aaronosauruses Not even remotely funny actually
@SpaceboyScreams It is hilarious. PLA was a steaming pile of garbage.
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