It looks like Game Freak is taking more ideas than fans originally thought from Pokémon Legends: Arceus and implementing them into Scarlet and Violet, with one segment of the game’s newest trailer revealing some changes are being made to series staple status conditions.
As pointed out by competitive Pokémon player and creator Wolfe Glick, during one of the Tera Raid Battles in the new trailer, two Pokémon are seen attacking while seemingly having the status symbol for Sleep next to their HP bars.
This could mean a few different things, but one of the most interesting theories is Game Freak is either adding two new status conditions or outright replacing two that have been present in every Pokémon game since the original Red and Green.
And just what status conditions are being discussed? Well for that you need to dig into the changes made for Legends: Arceus.
Back when the developers were giving insight into the updated battle system for Legends: Arceus, which shed many mechanics and altered Pokémon’s gameplay at its core, both Sleep and Freeze were quietly replaced by Drowsy and Frostbite. These two altered variants of the classic status effects made it so there would be no way of completely immobilizing the Pokémon, while still providing the utility.
Drowsy would work closer to that of Paralysis or Confusion, where a Pokémon would have a chance of being unable to move for each turn the status is afflicted. In addition to that, the Pokémon receives increased damage and has a higher chance to miss an attack during snowy weather conditions.
Frostbite was an even more drastic departure from Freeze, instead copying Burn in dealing 1/16th of a Pokémon’s Max HP each turn. The main difference is it doesn’t cut the Attack stat by 50 percent. Instead, the Special Attack stat is impacted.
These changes were moslty praised at the time as being good choices to eliminate a Pokémon from being completely shut down during battle—providing more of a focus on the other hindering elements of status effects. But, there was no way of knowing if Game Freak would ever use them outside of Legends: Arceus or other games that utilize that specific style of the battle system.
And, while we still don’t have confirmation, seeing Farigiraf and Drifblim both attacking with that status symbol during the raid does at least give players some hope at seeing Drowsy and Frostbite in a traditional setting.
Though we also don’t know if both will be added, if one is being included, or if some other changes are being made to the gameplay that make Sleep function differently in this setting.
Unfortunately, just as there is potential for this to come true, there is also evidence to push against the idea.
The Rest TM shown in the TM Machine does not feature any text about being drowsy. Here is the comparison between the Rest TM descriptions in Sword and Shield, Legends Arceus, and SV.
- Sword and Shield
- The user goes to sleep for two turns. This fully restores the user’s HP and heals any status conditions.
- Basically remained unchanged since Ruby and Sapphire
- Legends: Arceus
- The user restores its own HP but also becomes drowsy.
- Scarlet and Violet
- The user goes to sleep for two turns. This fully restores the user’s HP and heals any status conditions.
With the text reverting back to what it was in Sword and Shield, this could mean Drowsy is not being added, Sleep has been reworked on its own, or maybe moves like Yawn are now displayed as status effects once they impact an opposing Pokémon. Whatever the case may be, something is at play here, and it likely won’t be just involved in the new raids.
“Pokémon in many ways has been trying to make their game easier and simpler to understand and play,” Wolfey said.
“I think to have the core mechanic of your game behave differently in your boss mode, which is intended for single players compared to the entire rest of the game, would be extremely confusing.”
We likely won’t get confirmation of this change until closer to Scarlet and Violet’s release on Nov. 18, but if it does happen this will shake up a lot of interactions—especially at the competitive level. And who knows, maybe the other weather will make an appearance too.
