New Pokemon Scarlet and Violet features include legendaries as “partners,” and land, sea, and air mounts

The legendary is your “partner” and will allow you to explore the map

Thanks to a new Pokemon Presents stream, we have new info on some Pokemon Scarlet and Violet features.

Nothing in terms of major bombshells dropped, but there’s plenty of stuff for fans to unpack. The narrative includes “attending an academy as a student,” with the core objective of embarking upon a treasure hunt with “three grand stories.” Of course, one of them is a series of classic gym battles.

Legendaries can be used as mounts, with “sprinting or drive mode” for land travel, “swimming and aquatic” for sea, and “gliding build/glide mode” in the air. You’re encouraged to “ride your Legendary Pokemon to traverse the expansive Paldea region and explore every nook and cranny together.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZf-vIpVDLo

Multiplayer was a big focus of the trailer too. The “union circle” enables co-op for “up to three friends.” You can run around the map together, and footage showed everyone riding their legendary mounts. Tera raid battles are in, borrowing a feature from Pokemon Sword and Shield: up to three other players are supported here too.

Named cast members include:

• Professors Sada and Turo (which change depending on the version, previously confirmed)
• Clavell (director of the academy – their suit seems to change colors based on the version too)
• Jacq (homeroom teacher of biology)
• Nemona (your friend, previously confirmed)
• Arven (upperclassman and cook)
• Penny (a shy student)
• Grusha (ice gym leader)

Named Pokemon shown off in the new footage include the following:

• Wooper (new Paldean form) — “Their bodies are heavy and they move slowly, but they can protect themselves by shooting powerful poisonous liquid from their gills.”
• Fidough — “When these Pokémon become excited, they intimidate their opponents by puffing up their bodies to appear bigger.”
• Cetitan — “Cetitan need to have tough muscles to be able to support their immense bodies, and physical attacks using their bodies have incredible power.”

A gem-like form called the “Terastallizing” mechanic will be part of the new Scarlet and Violet festivities, which “boost Pokemon types, and make their moves stronger.” Every Pokemon can apparently do this, and it can even change their types. An example given was a normal Eevee type that “could” change into grass or water type after Terastallizing. There will be “Pokemon with rare tera types.” As usual, like Z-Moves/Megas and all of their ilk, I expect this to be divisive. Officially, it’s known as the “Terastal phenomenon.”

Here’s a full recap of the stream!