A new Pokémon Legends: Arceus trailer has just hatched, and alongside lots of new footage of the game, it reveals the existence of a whole new class of monsters: Noble Pokémon. The first of which is Kleavor.
Titled Lord of the Woods, because apparently these Pokémon aren’t just noble but ennobled, Kleavor is a bug/rock pocket beast. It appears to be an evolution of Scyther, according to leading pocket monster website, Serebii.
The trailer (above) shows just how involved combat is going to be here, as the player character battles a Kleavor, not just with his own Pokémon, but by throwing bags of something called Forest Balm at it, while jumping and rolling out of the way its attacks. Then, seemingly when balmed enough, a teeny little Oshawott is thrown into the fray, who David-like slays this enormous Goliath with Aqua Jet.
The battle over, Kleavor loses its fiery yellow glow, and appears as a calmer range of browns, then described by the game as “Axe Pokémon.” Bear with my confusion: these are all terms so new, that at the time of publication, not even Bulbapedia has entries for any of it.
The rest of the trailer is divided between showing us what we’ve seen before — riding about on the backs of Hisuian Braviary, Basculegion and Wyrdee (and just in case the BotW comparisons weren’t rife enough, you see Rei playing a pipe to lure a mount) — and an awful lot more detail about character customisation.
While you won’t be naming your own young Pokémon trainer this time out, the playable characters Akari and Rei will be able to pop to the hairdressers and stores for those all-important cosmetic touch-ups.
“The Galaxy Team hairdresser really is…dare I say…cutting edge!” says the dialogue, hurting me inside my bones. This is located in Jubilife Village, a name so on the nose it just squeezed a pimple, where you can craft materials into useful items, change your hairstyle (I really hope the “modern bob” is super-retro, because that’d be a neat gag), change your clothes, dye everything, even change skin colour, and in the end create characters that look absolutely original.
There’s also a photo studio to visit, where you can pose with your favourite buddies, wearing your new do. Looks that, horrifically, appear to include wearing the scalped head of a Croagunk at an improbable, gravity-defying angle on the side of your head.
The game is out January 28th, which is in exactly four months time today. My main hope between now and then is the announcement of Nobel Pokémon, who receive prestigious awards for having conferred the greatest benefit to Pokémonkind.
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