Rachel Schaffner – Resident Gamer

rls6117@psu.edu

On October 25, Pokémon gave fans a look at a new Pokémon that will be in the new “Pokémon Scarlet and Violet” game that comes out on November 18, 2022. The trailer opens up with a character looking for Ghost-type Pokémon. In typical horror-esque fashion, the video glitches here and there as this character continues their search. The researcher finds a new Pokémon, which looks to be a candle in the ground. Popping up and revealing itself, the new Ghost-type Pokémon is called Greavard.

As seen from the trailer, the more the researcher was playing with Greavard, the more tired they were becoming until they fell over due to exhaustion. According to the official “Pokemon Scarlet and Violet” website, more information was revealed about Greavard, one of them being confirmation that this is one of Greavard’s effects on players if they decide to play with the new Ghost-type for too long. With its playful nature, Greavard hides in the ground to the point where trainers can only see the candle, and when the trainer comes closer, Greavard will pop out, scaring the trainer.

In my opinion, while Greavard looks very cute, it unfortunately has a scary resemblance to two other Pokémon within the series. The candle, with its painfully obvious look, resembles that of Litwick, the candle Ghost-type Pokémon. While the other resemblance is to that of Hisuin Growlithe that appears in “Legends Arceus,” released back on January 28. When compared to the other Pokémon that were announced in the Paldean Region of “Scarlet and Violet,” Greavard looks the least unique among the rest. 

Still on the topic of Pokémon, there are tons of Pokémon within the universe to be considered fan favorites. Of course, Pikachu is the most popular Pokémon not only as the face of the company, but many newcomers gravitate towards Pikachu because of the companies’ high marketing of the pokémon. 

Fans poke fun at the company since the Pokémon Company seems to have a favorite of their own, being Charizard. Being the last evolution from the base Pokémon Charmander, the Charmander evolution line can be easily recognized as a big fan favorite. However, with all the talk about fan favorites, some certainly get more limelight than others. As for me, my favorite Pokémon came to be my favorite due to a complete accident. 

Receiving a shirt with this Pokémon as a gift, I was unaware of the Pokémon’s name and decided to look it up. Mimikyu, the shy Ghost-type Pokémon that dresses as Pikachu, has been my favorite Pokémon ever since I learned about its past. Wanting to be popular just like Pikachu, it dresses up as the iconic Pokémon in hopes it will also gain popularity. While that was not the case at first, Mimikyu has grown to become popular enough to where Pikachu dressed up as Mimikyu in one of  the “Pokemon Go” Halloween celebrations. 

Mimikyu certainly does not have the long history of Pikachu, since Mimikyu was released within the game “Sun and Moon” in the Alola Region. However, it has made many appearances since its debut, being put in “Pokémon Go,” “Pokémon Sword and Shield,” the anime series, and from the trailer of Greavard, Mimikyu might be making another appearance in “Scarlet and Violet.” If that is true, I cannot wait to have my favorite Ghost-type on my team once more.