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I've never understood how to find the special raids - do you just go across the map and look for it? I'm pretty sure I've checked every Psychic-type Tera Raid (I have Violet) and I haven't found Iron Leaves.
First you have to connect your game to the Internet in order to receive the latest event Raid data.
Once you do that, event Raids will appear, and can be distinguished from regular Dens by the swirling aura around them. You can also look at the map to see which Dens are event Dens, because they will have a sparkling, more brightly highlighted icon:
Literally thought the same thing when seeing the trailer. Would be cool if they fought. I guess.
EDIT: I meant Ogerpon but your idea makes more sense lol
Ah, off work and already 6 pages behind, new mainline Pokemon content must be here!
Start with a quick lookthrough of the Direct. Not going to comment on everything, just things which catch my attention.
14:32: POKEMON SLEEP: I don't care if I was a joking, I CALLED IT!
15:22: I wonder if Professor Neroli was also inspired by Kōji Nishino like Snorlax was. And for those wondering, neroli is an essential oil from the blossom of a bitter orange tree; its scent is "sweet, honeyed and somewhat metallic with green and spicy facets" (... if you say so, Wikipedia). While the Wikipedia page only focused on its use in perfume, a quick Google search of "neroli sleep" comes up with suggestions that neroli can be used to promote good sleep, so there's your connection. 15:39: HA! They're relying on the honor system. 15:48: They were considering a 4th level called "Coma" but decided that may be considered insensitive in some cases. 16:11: Alright, that's a neat little idea showing different ways some Pokemon sleep. Not sure if all the ones they showed are exactly special behaviors, but Totodile's "One-Eyed Sleep" certainly is (and yes, crocodiles do indeed sleep with an eye open; it's actually a behavior they share with dolphins and some other animal species where they rest one half of their brain while the other stays awake). 16:44: Pokemon GO Plus... Plus. Pokemon GO Plus Plus... Did you get the guy who came up with "Baddy Bad" to come up with that one for you? 18:04: You know this idea is beginning to sound creepier by the moment. I thought Sleep was gonna be something like Pokemon Smile, a cute little app which is meant to gamify sleeping to help you better sleep (as off as that sounds). But no, apparently your sleeping habits will be thoroughly judged and used in GO in undisclosed ways atm. Next up Pokemon Eat to help with that extra weight and Pokemon Work to make sure you STOP SLACKING OFF!
19:25: NEW PARADOX POKEMON: We're doing a JAPE for the new Paradox Pokemon that should be out early next month. You can read my full thoughts when it comes out, but I'll quickly share some thoughts here: You know how I feel about the Ancient Paradox Pokemon and Future Paradox Pokemon? Well, they haven't changed. Ancient Paradox Pokemon look cool (but make no sense in certain aspects, ESPECIALLY this new one), and most Future Paradox Pokemon are boring as they're just metallic versions of the species they're based on. Also they wasted a cool concept shown in the Scarlet/Violet Book. 19:45: Though I have mixed feelings on the new Paradox Pokemon, I do like this method of distribution. No needing to trade, just find yours, do open group battles, and once you catch it go to online Tera Raids to catch the other one! And with being 5 Star Raids they're doable as long as you have a good choice of Pokemon. 20:26: GO POSTCARDS & VIVILLON: Ah, so that's how they're going to do the Vivillon wing patterns. Interesting idea, while probably not exactly what GF envisioned with trading Vivillon probably would make it easier to get some of the rarer forms... if you play Pokemon GO. If you don't, well, sucks to be me you. 20:58: GO ROAMING GIMMIGHOUL: Man they must really not like people who don't play GO.
And, well, that's when we finally get into the meat of the Direct. Going to need a bit more time to get my thoughts together, but there's one thing I would like to note.
Now, while I got one (joke) prediction right, I got another wrong: the DLC doesn't take place on the inaccesbile high cliff of Paldea's Northeast corner. Teal Mask takes place in another region and Indigo Disc looks to be a facility in the middle of the sea near Paldea. Yet both are called the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, even though neither seem to be near the Great Crater of Paldea. On top of that, I'd like to point out these two color's placement on the color specturm:
Teal would be at/around the 500 nm mark (between cyan and green) and indigo between violet and blue (around say the 425 nm mark). Both are very much closer to the Violet side of the spectrum. Also, while the Teal Mask would certainly give us some new locations to explore as both SwSh's DLC did, Indigo Disc isn't looking to be that sparse.
GF generally doesn't like to repeat ideas when it comes to the Third Version/Expansions. And with how well SwSh's DLC did, I'm wondering if maybe GF are going to do two DLC bundles. Right now we're getting "Hidden Treasures of Area Zero Part 1" which included locations likely connect to Area Zero and the Terastal Phenomenon but still only pieces of the puzzle (notably the "Indigo Disc" Pokemon doesn't look like the "Disc Pokemon" from the Scarlet/Violet book). So in 2024 I think we're going to then get "Hidden Treasures of Area Zero Part 2" which would use two colors between green and red (Chartreuse, Yellow, Amber, Orange, Crimson, Cerise, Burgundy, etc.). And I would bet that DLC will have one make the northeast of Paldea explorable while the last one will let explore deeper into Area Zero to learn what's really going on down there... and maybe/or at least encounter the "Disc Pokemon" responsible for all of it.
GF generally doesn't like to repeat ideas when it comes to the Third Version/Expansions. And with how well SwSh's DLC did, I'm wondering if maybe GF are going to do two DLC bundles. Right now we're getting "Hidden Treasures of Area Zero Part 1" which included locations likely connect to Area Zero and the Terastal Phenomenon but still only pieces of the puzzle (notably the "Indigo Disc" Pokemon doesn't look like the "Disc Pokemon" from the Scarlet/Violet book). So in 2024 I think we're going to then get "Hidden Treasures of Area Zero Part 2" which would use two colors between green and red (Chartreuse, Yellow, Amber, Orange, Crimson, Cerise, Burgundy, etc.). And I would bet that DLC will have one make the northeast of Paldea explorable while the last one will let explore deeper into Area Zero to learn what's really going on down there... and maybe/or at least encounter the "Disc Pokemon" responsible for all of it.
Not sure where you're getting the idea they'll do a second DLC next year. A single DLC bundle functions as the third version/expansion.
This is one DLC called "The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero" that has two parts: Part 1 is "The Teal Mask" which is a school field trip to another region called Kitakami, featuring the legendary Pokemon Ogerpon (presumably a minor Legendary a la Urshifu) and a trio of heroes sacred to Kitakami. It's releasing in Fall 2023, presumably anywhere between September and November. Part 2 is "The Indigo Disk" and is releasing in Winter 2023, which would presumably mean December. It is starring the Legendary Pokemon Terapagos. The DLC collectively is called "The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero", and "Teal Mask" is Part 1 of this DLC while "Indigo Disk" is Part 2 of this DLC. The latter is literally called "The Indigo Disk" and is literally suggesting it will be about the Disk Pokemon. Considering it's also taking place in the Blueberry Academy, which is stated to be a sister academy of Naranja/Uva Academy, it's also strongly suggested that it will take place in that northern part of the map that was whited out near the North Province.
I think we have every reason to believe Terapagos is the Disk Pokemon in the Scarlet/Violet book. It has that disk-like vibe, and its name and its appearance with its shell being type symbols galore basically emphasize its relationship to the Terastal phenomenon, possibly being its harbinger.
The fact that it doesn't quite look like the image in the Scarlet/Violet book is because that drawing is the writer's interpretation of what they saw. In fact you can look at what we now know as Paradox Suicune and Virizion, aka Walking Wake and Iron Leaves, both of which are usable now and have known designs and compare them to the drawings of them in the Scarlet and Violet books and you'll see they don't look that much like what we saw in the books hinting at their existence.
I am pretty sure all of the story beats they want to do to expand on Paldea and SV will be covered in this one DLC and we will not be getting a second DLC after this.
Terapagos is absolutely the disk Pokemon. A Reddit post from earlier in the month (or last month?) actually cleaned up & highlighted parts of the page and the weird "thing" at the top is the actual Pokemon with the "disk' Below being what they think might be a reflection or representation of the world or some sort.
And it lines up perfectly with our turtle friend: the shell, the little head and hands and the long fluffy tail
e: Also so glad I went to look it up again beacuse this reminded me that the background of the key art for Part 1 has Ogrepon with a clearly more upgraded design and I bet that Terapagos winds up with a big crown and becomes much larger in a similar fashion
Terapagos is absolutely the disk Pokemon. A Reddit post from earlier in the month (or last month?) actually cleaned up & highlighted parts of the page and the weird "thing" at the top is the actual Pokemon with the "disk' Below being what they think might be a reflection or representation of the world or some sort.
And it lines up perfectly with our turtle friend: the shell, the little head and hands and the long fluffy tail
e: Also so glad I went to look it up again beacuse this reminded me that the background of the key art for Part 1 has Ogrepon with a clearly more upgraded design and I bet that Terapagos winds up with a big crown and becomes much larger in a similar fashion
Perhaps the two are related and teaming up to create the Tera phenomenon. Maybe Ogrepon aplifies Terapagos's power. I think Ogrepon looks more like Glimmora, which could be important seeing as Glimmora and the Tera crystals are related.
So, random speculation: the 2 new legends look like Grass and Water. Specifically, Ogrepon looks spooky and Terapagos has a shimmering aura. Water/Fairy and Grass/Dark seem like specific counters to both the new Paradoxes.
Not a fan of the new paradox mons. I liked the Book designs that combined all 3 members of the trio. Proto-Suicune is cool, but not as cool as the in-game design they teased. Meanwhile, RoboVirizion is just blah. It's like all GF knows to do with future stuff is put metal on it. And the balance on the two of them is wild. Water/Dragon may be the best typing in the game, and they gave it a move specifically to make it work in sun as well. Grass/Psychic, meanwhile, may be the single worse defensive typing in existence. And making a Psychic type that functions in Electric Terrain is a lot less of a big deal than a water type that works in Sun. I just don't know what they wanted to do here.
Interesting designs. Carmine, though...Feels like GF is kind of falling into a rut with their female rivals. Marnie, Klara, Nemona, and now Carmine...I'm not complaining, but it does feel a bit like someone on their team has a type.
Not sure where you're getting the idea they'll do a second DLC next year. A single DLC bundle functions as the third version/expansion.
This is one DLC called "The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero" that has two parts: Part 1 is "The Teal Mask" which is a school field trip to another region called Kitakami, featuring the legendary Pokemon Ogerpon (presumably a minor Legendary a la Urshifu) and a trio of heroes sacred to Kitakami. It's releasing in Fall 2023, presumably anywhere between September and November. Part 2 is "The Indigo Disk" and is releasing in Winter 2023, which would presumably mean December. It is starring the Legendary Pokemon Terapagos. The DLC collectively is called "The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero", and "Teal Mask" is Part 1 of this DLC while "Indigo Disk" is Part 2 of this DLC. The latter is literally called "The Indigo Disk" and is literally suggesting it will be about the Disk Pokemon. Considering it's also taking place in the Blueberry Academy, which is stated to be a sister academy of Naranja/Uva Academy, it's also strongly suggested that it will take place in that northern part of the map that was whited out near the North Province.
I think we have every reason to believe Terapagos is the Disk Pokemon in the Scarlet/Violet book. It has that disk-like vibe, and its name and its appearance with its shell being type symbols galore basically emphasize its relationship to the Terastal phenomenon, possibly being its harbinger.
The fact that it doesn't quite look like the image in the Scarlet/Violet book is because that drawing is the writer's interpretation of what they saw. In fact you can look at what we now know as Paradox Suicune and Virizion, aka Walking Wake and Iron Leaves, both of which are usable now and have known designs and compare them to the drawings of them in the Scarlet and Violet books and you'll see they don't look that much like what we saw in the books hinting at their existence.
I am pretty sure all of the story beats they want to do to expand on Paldea and SV will be covered in this one DLC and we will not be getting a second DLC after this.
I have a feeling we’ll get a second one. (or is it a hope? i love more content) It will likely depend on sales of the DLC and initial reviews of Teal Mask.
There's a shot in the trailer of a bunch of power-ranger-looking masks that I very much doubt are just stylized visages of the dog/monkey/pheasant trio, and would bet they relate to some sort of form change they'll undergo. There is also a mask that looks Ogerpon-ish; though it has some horns, so possibly a form, but maybe it refers to another mon.
The horns also show up as on one of the symbols on the lanterns in the key art for the teal mask. Interestingly, the other lanterns all have type symbols, but only nine types are represented that I can see (fire, water, grass, ghost, fighting, poison, rock, fairy, psychic). It's possible they just chose a random subset of types, but maybe these are hinting at the types of the Teal Mask mons. Nine is too many to assign all four revealed mons a dual-type, but if the mask-gimmick involves a type change, then it could fit (and some types could even be doubled up).
I will be shocked if Ogerpon is not part grass, since it looks like a four-leafed cover (unless it ends up being related to Sudowoodo, I guess), but the trio is less clear. If I had to guess based on the appearance, I'd say they look part dark and the coloring suggests fire/water/grass, but I really hope that won't be the case, since we already got a slew of dark types. If the types do match the lanters, then I still don't know what to expect. Fire/water/grass is still in the running, but the rest of the types could go anywhere, especially if form changes are involved.
In terms of Terapagos, a minor thing is that the official art given on the website and the art given in the trailer are different in terms of point of view. The placements of the types are consistent, for what it's worth...
If you want to argue that there's no good reason Worlds isn't in Spain, you gotta find the tweet where Serebii Joe suggested an actual reason and argue against that. I didn't say eSports weren't popular in Spain, I didn't say they don't host any tournaments at all, all I said was I recalled Joe offered a potential reason Worlds was unlikely to be held in Spain and it might have been a legal reason, but come to think of it it might also have just been something like there is no local TPCi office there. But, I couldn't find the tweet to check.
I doubt we're getting a second round of DLC because at this point the next game is likely mid development while this wraps up and after that we're probably jumping straight into gen 10 (which is probably in preproduction!). If there's another anything beyond that it'll probably be another BDSP-styled, separate game
Honestly I'm just sad they didn't show more of Pokemon Concierge and that more people aren't talking about it. A stop motion Pokemon show sounds unbelievably soulful
Hero Trio: I'm guessing they'll be part Poison. I say this because of the rope accessories that they're each wearing. Not only are they purple, the larger hoops on the rope ends also look somewhat like one eyed skulls, which are telltale signs of the Poison type. Would be really cool to have a Poison Legendary Trio for once. Purple Skull could be a hint at being Ghost or Dark as well, but I doubt that. They don't look related to the afterlife at all, and we already had a Dark Quartet in the baseline game. Given that, I suspect their final typing would be:
Poison/Flying Pheasant, Poison/Fighting Dog, and Poison/Dark Monkey
As for the masks in the trailers, I suspect they won't have any battle significance. My hunch is that it's a story teaser. My theory is that these "heroes" aren't heroes at all. They're scammers who dupe people into believing that they are there to save the day, when all they want is the glory. I mean, look at those smug faces on those guys. Do they look like they're up to any good? In other words, these "heroes" are two-faced, hence the masks.
I have a feeling we’ll get a second one. (or is it a hope? i love more content) It will likely depend on sales of the DLC and initial reviews of Teal Mask.
Unfortunately I don't think the sales of this DLC would be indicative for the possibility of "getting another set". Assuming that the DLCs follow a similar release process of the main games, they've likely been in development for at very least 1 year already. There's legitimately no way they'd be able to start developing something in winter and have it ready for the next year and not be a disgraceful mess (even worse than SV and SwSh tech issues combined)
Hero Trio: I'm guessing they'll be part Poison. I say this because of the rope accessories that they're each wearing. Not only are they purple, the larger hoops on the rope ends also look somewhat like one eyed skulls, which are telltale signs of the Poison type. Would be really cool to have a Poison Legendary Trio for once. Purple Skull could be a hint at being Ghost or Dark as well, but I doubt that. They don't look related to the afterlife at all, and we already had a Dark Quartet in the baseline game. Given that, I suspect their final typing would be:
Poison/Flying Pheasant, Poison/Fighting Dog, and Poison/Dark Monkey
As for the masks in the trailers, I suspect they won't have any battle significance. My hunch is that it's a story teaser. My theory is that these "heroes" aren't heroes at all. They're scammers who dupe people into believing that they are there to save the day, when all they want is the glory. I mean, look at those smug faces on those guys. Do they look like they're up to any good? In other words, these "heroes" are two-faced, hence the masks.
Gonna go out and say that not only are they the "villains" but the wee mask guy (haven't learned new names yet) is actually trying to alert/warn the villagers that they aren't heroes/helping them and ultimately turns out to be the hero of the story
The more I look at Iron Leaves the more I dislike the design
The design in the book looked great, this is just an uninspired mess. I thought Iron Jugulis was boring but Iron Leaves is literally just the original Mon with minimal changes
I am not the biggest fan of Walking Wake either but the Violet paradox mons are such a fumble
A story thought occurred to me: if Tera proper is specifically tied to the Paldea region, it wouldn't make a huge amount of sense for it to be usable in the outside region that DLC1 takes place in. Obviously, they wouldn't drop the generational gimmick from the gameplay, so they would instead need to implement lore around some effect mechanically equivalent to Tera that occurs in the new region. Seems like a reasonable guess that that's what the masks and associated legendary are about.
A story thought occurred to me: if Tera proper is specifically tied to the Paldea region, it wouldn't make a huge amount of sense for it to be usable in the outside region that DLC1 takes place in. Obviously, they wouldn't drop the generational gimmick from the gameplay, so they would instead need to implement lore around some effect mechanically equivalent to Tera that occurs in the new region. Seems like a reasonable guess that that's what the masks and associated legendary are about.
That's already kind of accounted for by the story. According to the lore, the Terastal Phenomena originates from the Great Crater (which is why the Professor had to build their Research Labs in such a dangerous location), and the Tera Orbs they invented allow the effect to be performed on a whim anywhere else and recharged. The Tera Raid Dens seem to dissipate daily so the immediate explanation is they scatter Terastal Energy that doesn't last away from the Crystal Deposit.
In short, the Tera Orbs already explain away how we could use the gimmick outside the Paldea region proper, while Future Gen explanations will simply be that no one outside Paldea makes or knows how to make them.
Gonna go out and say that not only are they the "villains" but the wee mask guy (haven't learned new names yet) is actually trying to alert/warn the villagers that they aren't heroes/helping them and ultimately turns out to be the hero of the story
Could be. If we use the Momotaro archetypes, the Three Heroes are the Pheasant, the Dog, and the Money, with Ogerpon as the Ogre Villain. That still leaves Momotaro, the Peach Boy and main character in the story, a role which I suspect is being played by... Ogerpon again. The back of its head looks like a broken off stem from a fruit. Also each of its feet look like a peach's "rump" with two leaves sprouting from it.
Could be. If we use the Momotaro archetypes, the Three Heroes are the Pheasant, the Dog, and the Money, with Ogerpon as the Ogre Villain. That still leaves Momotaro, the Peach Boy and main character in the story, a role which I suspect is being played by... Ogerpon again. The back of its head looks like a broken off stem from a fruit. Also each of its feet look like a peach's "rump" with two leaves sprouting from it.
Praying against all hope that neither of the new legends have a "combine with another form to unlock its real power in one of two ways" gimmick. Those mons are always enormously obnoxious to optimise on cartridge and I don't get why GF loves the gimmick so much, especially given one of the forms has always been obviously superior to the other every time they've done it *and* they're always ugly as sin.
Praying against all hope that neither of the new legends have a "combine with another form to unlock its real power in one of two ways" gimmick. Those mons are always enormously obnoxious to optimise on cartridge and I don't get why GF loves the gimmick so much, especially given one of the forms has always been obviously superior to the other every time they've done it *and* they're always ugly as sin.
On an unrelated note, I think the otherwise baffling "design" of Iron Leaves is meant to be that it can function well in any of the terrains. It has Grass and Psychic STABs which directly benefit from the relevant terrain, one of its STAB moves also directly benefits from Electric Terrain (which also gives it a boost thanks to Quark Drive), and it obviously likes not being able to be burned under Misty. It also resists all three of the offensive terrain types itself and doesn't care about status immunity while hitting Tapu Fini hard with one of its STABs, limiting your opponent's ability to use the terrain usefully.
