Voltorb Gets Adorable Wooden Makeover In Pokémon Legends: Arceus

The Pokémon Company today revealed yet another region-exclusive variant for the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Arceus in Hisuian Voltorb, a super cute spin on one of the original 151.

Voltorb were introduced in the Pokémon franchise’s first generation as perfectly round, two-toned creatures that were liable to zap trainers who mistook them for Poké Balls. With Pokémon Legends: Arceus focusing on the series’ distant past, it only makes sense that Voltorb of the era would match the wooden Pokémon-capturing tools used by some of the earliest trainers as they filled out the world’s first Pokédex in the Hisui region.

Here’s what the official Pokémon Legends: Arceus website has to say about our new little buddy:

This enigmatic Pokémon has a glossy, spherical body. It looks very similar to the Poké Balls of the Hisui region, what with the wood-grain-like makeup of its body’s surface and the hole on the top of its head.​

There seem to be countless seeds packed inside Hisuian Voltorb. Occasionally, it spouts these seeds out of the hole in its head. However, no one knows exactly what it’s like inside the Pokémon’s body, because inside the hole, it’s pitch-dark. It’s impossible to see anything even if one peers into the hole.​

And apparently, Hisuian Voltorbs can be just as much of a nuisance as their regular counterparts:

This Pokémon is always in high spirits and has a friendly personality. However, it discharges its stored electricity all at once from the hole in its head when it gets excited, so it frequently shocks humans and Pokémon in its vicinity. Even the slightest provocation can set off such a discharge, so in human settlements, Hisuian Voltorb is considered a nuisance. Tales of people temporarily plugging the hole on Hisuian Voltorb’s head and kicking it out of settlements are not entirely uncommon.​

Pokémon Legends: Arceus will also feature Hisuian variants of Growlithe, Braviary, Zorua, and Zoroark as well as entirely new Pokémon like Wyrdeer, Basculegion, and Kleavor (which evolve from Stantler, Basculin, and Scyther respectively). The game is currently being prepared for a January 28, 2022 launch on the Nintendo Switch.