More new Pokémon are slowly being revealed for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet ahead of a Nov. 18 release and the Toxic Monkey Pokémon, Grafaiai, is a first for the series with its unique typing.
Grafaiai is the Pokémon franchise’s first Poison/Normal-type, meaning it is only weak to Psychic and Ground-type attacks without external factors playing into it.
With Grafaiai’s reveal, Game Freak revealed that it is a very territorial Pokémon known for roaming around the Paldea region on its own and painting trees where it resides. It coats its uniquely shaped hands in poisonous saliva to slash at foes, but it can also spit it at them.
That saliva changes color depending on what the Pokémon eats, and if it makes contact, it can paralyze opponents—especially Bug Pokémon that are drawn to the saliva’s “sweet, fragrant scent.”
In the reveal trailer for the Pokémon, Grafaiai is shown sitting near a tree that has paint all over it. This could indicate the potential for an in-game mechanic built around the Pokémon’s lore. It hasn’t been confirmed, but something like a Honey Tree in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl could be the base for a new encounter type through Grafaiai.
Depending on how the Pokémon’s evolutionary line, stats, and movepool play out, this could also be an interesting Pokémon to use both during a regular playthrough of the game and in competitive matches thanks to its typing. Its abilities are Unburden and Poison Touch, which aren’t great in high-level play but don’t make or break the Pokémon overall.
Now that Poison/Normal has been used, we are still missing the following type combos from the franchise:
- Ice/Normal
- Bug/Normal
- Rock/Normal
- Dark/Bug
- Ice/Poison
- Bug/Dragon
- Steel Normal
- Fire/Grass
- Poison/Steel
- Ghost/Rock
- Fairy/Fighting
- Electric/Fighting
- Fire/Fairy
- Normal/Ghost
There are a lot of Normal-type pairings on that list, though some of these might be knocked off by the time Scarlet and Violet release.
