Pokemon Scarlet and Violet brought many novelties for fans of the franchise and new players to enjoy, including concepts like Paradox Pokemon and "regional fakes," or the fully open-world setting for the region of Paldea. Gen 9 single-handedly revolutionized the franchise in many ways, as long-standing traditions like tall grass and line-of-sight trainer battles were broken, whereas new strategies emerge for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Nuzlocke runs thanks to Pawmi's signature moves. One of the most polarizing aspects of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is likely the ability to Terastallize Pokemon, which is the new gimmick introduced in Gen 9 games that allows players to change their critters' types to any of the eighteen available.
This doesn't mean that players can choose their Pokemon's Tera type on the spot, but rather they can change it at any time in the endgame by spending Tera Shards, which are obtained from Tera Raid battles. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Paradox Pokemon are great recipients of Terastallization due to them being quite powerful on their own, but this gimmick is more valuable than Mega Evolutions or Gigantamax forms because it can be used on any pocket monster. Terastallization has great strategic value because it can be used both offensively and defensively, and a common tactic is that of using it to counter either the user's weaknesses or the opponent's strengths.
Why Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Terastallization is a Game-Changer
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Terastallization is a game-changer because the options are near endless, and it can drastically change the course of any battle, especially competitive Pokemon battles, in the blink of an eye. A great example of how Terastallization encourages counterplay comes from the recently banned Pokemon Scarlet-exclusive Roaring Moon, the Paradox version of Salamence, which was deemed too powerful in the OverUsed tier. There are many reasons why Roaring Moon is too strong, and one of them is the fact that it has the best base stats of all Paradox Pokemon, excluding Flutter Mane.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Paradox Salamence is a Dragon and Dark hybrid, meaning it takes four times the damage from Fairy-type moves, which is pretty much a death sentence in competitive. In order to offset this weakness, many players started using Roaring Moon with Steel as its Tera type, which makes it resistant to Fairy critters and also boosts the damage of moves like Iron Head. This is one of the reasons why Terastallization can be used very effectively to counter opposing Pokemon.
While this specific case highlights how Terastallization can be used both offensively and defensively at the same time, this is not always feasible due to the move pool that every Pokemon has access to. Some critters may prefer a more direct approach that boosts their offensive capabilities, such as with Choice Specs Torkoal going for Eruption, for example, and so Terastallizing it with Fire as its Tera type would boost its Fire damage. However, this also means that the opponent could Terastallize their own Pokemon to become Water, for example, to take reduced damage from Fire-type moves and also be supereffective against it.
Unlike Dynamax and Gigantamax forms, which lasted for three turns in a row and were lost if the Pokemon using them was switched out, Terastallization remains active for the entire battle, even if the user switches out and then back in. As such, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players can make the most out of Terastallization with different strategies, and while it makes sense to go all out on the purely offensive side, this gimmick is better suited for counterplay. Overall, the options are almost endless with Terastallization, and the upcoming competitive format will provide players with great insights into its use.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.