The Pokemon franchise started off with an impressive 151 Pokemon, but that number has since skyrocketed. After the release of the first generation, there are now 747 more for players to catch, coming out to a total of 898 Pokemon. Somehow, Pokemon Unite chose just 20 of these to make up its playable roster, and with the game finally out, players can be 100% certain of who those 20 Pokemon are. Thanks to a unique feature in this Pokemon MOBA, those 20 playable characters are more accurately 41 different Pokemon, and there are more coming on the way.
For those that may have missed it, Pokemon Unite is Nintendo's effort to bring the Pokemon franchise to the MOBA genre. Players compete in two teams of five in Unite Battles, aiming to score as many points against the opposing team as they can before the end of the battle. As of launch, there are 20 different Pokemon in Pokemon Unite.
Below are the 20 playable characters in Pokemon Unite, but players should keep in mind that some of them have evolutions. In this game, players start each match as a level one version of the lowest stage of their Pokemon, and then evolve mid battle as they play. In this way, a level one Charmander will eventually become a Charizard, growing stronger as they do. By the end of the match, the player's Pokemon all revert back to their base forms, so some playable characters actually have more than one Pokemon wrapped into them. The gameplay of these evolutions is mostly the same, however.
- Absol
- Alolan Ninetales
- Charizard
- Cinderace
- Cramorant
- Crustle
- Eldegoss
- Garchomp
- Gengar
- Greninja
- Lucario
- Machamp
- Mr. Mime
- Pikachu
- Slowbro
- Snorlax
- Talonflame
- Venusaur
- Wigglytuff
- Zeraora
After completing the tutorial, players will get to pick one Pokemon as their starter in Pokemon Unite. The options here are Pikachu, Charizard, Eldegoss, Talonflame, and Snorlax. Once the player reaches trainer level 2, they get Slowbro for free. Finally, reaching trainer level 5 awards the player with Venusaur. Zeraora can only be obtained by logging into the game before August 31st, and the other 16 Pokemon must be purchased as Unite Licenses from the Unite Battle Committee (UBC) store for Aeos Coins or Aeos Gems. Each license typically costs 6000, 8000, or 10000 Aeos Coins, or 345, 460, or 575 Aeos Gems. Players wanting to unlock them all can use either currency, although it will take much longer using Aeos Coins to do so. Finally, Blastoise and Gardevoir are confirmed as upcoming characters, although there's no timeline as to when fans can expect to see them.
Pokemon Unite is available now on Switch and later on Mobile.