After months of silence, The Pokemon Company held a Pokemon Presents event that included a long Pokemon Scarlet and Violet trailer as well as an overview trailer that went through all the features revealed so far. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Legendaries will help players from the very beginning of their adventure in the Paldea region by providing them with alternate forms that make for fast travels across land, sea, and air. New Gen 9 Pokemon were also shown, including the first regional variant revealed thus far in the form of Paldean Wooper, a pocket monster that closely resembles its Johtonian cousin, albeit with different colors and an interesting type combination.

One of the most interesting features unveiled in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's third trailer is the battle gimmick for Gen 9 games, the Terastal phenomenon. Thanks to Terastallization, Pokemon can change their existing type or type combination to a specific type that's dictated by their Tera affinity, gaining all strengths and weaknesses of the chosen type until the end of the battle. Outside the many use cases for Terastallization, this gimmick is an interesting one because all Pokemon can virtually become any other type in the game. Additionally, The Pokemon Company confirmed that Raid battles are returning in Gen 9, and this time they pack a few surprises.

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Why Tera Raids Are a Valuable Addition to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

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Raid and Max Raid battles from Pokemon Sword and Shield were one of the greatest additions to Gen 8 due to the replayability value that they brought to the table in the endgame section, which can at times be quite barren compared to the rest. Instead, Raid battles shook things up by allowing players to grind for more powerful pocket monsters or ones with the unique Gigantamax feature, which is a more powerful version of the regular Dynamaxing phenomenon. In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the same principle applies to Tera Pokemon.

Tera Pokemon are critters that have their own Tera type, which can be any of the existing eighteen types in the series. All Pokemon in Paldea will have an assigned Tera type that will become their main and only type if players Terastallize these specific creatures, a mechanic that is now returning in the Raid battles in Gen 9, so finding those with a rare Tera type will be a high priority for many fans. In fact, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will feature Tera Raids to assure trainers that they can get any Pokemon in the game with exclusive Tera types, such as the Fire-type Dragonite shown in the third trailer.

Fighting Terastallized Pokemon in Raids makes these battles even more thrilling compared to Gen 8 because fighting the same set of Pokemon doesn't necessarily mean that the encounter itself will be like others before it. Players could run into a given critter multiple times in Tera Raids, and yet every single one of them could have a different Tera type that changes the course of the fight, the strategy one has to employ, and also what sort of Pokemon it's best to use. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Tera Raids can be game-changers when it comes to replayability, and they could also be very rewarding.

Assuming that not all Tera types for all Pokemon are equally common, Tera Raids could provide unique venues to come by rare Tera types that also possess STAB moves of that type that would be otherwise unobtainable. An example of this logic comes from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's pre-order bonus, a special Pikachu that has Flying as its Tera type and comes with the move Fly already learned, both features that won't be normally available for the iconic critter. As such, Tera Raids can truly change the game with their encounters, and they are overall one of the most compelling additions to Gen 9.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet launch on November 18 for Nintendo Switch.

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