Pokémon Scarlet and Violet players unearth hidden Terastallize mechanic months after launch

The Terastal phenomenon is the fancy new battle mechanic in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and yet, players are still learning exactly how it works.

Early on in the Gen IX games, one of your rivals, Nemona, gives the player a Tera Orb that allows them to Terastallize their Pokémon throughout their Paldea journey. The tutorial states, “After Terastallizing a Pokémon once, you won’t be able to Terastallize a Pokémon again until you heal up at a Pokémon Center.” This is true, for the most part, but as players have discovered, there are some exceptions.

In a July 1 Reddit thread, one player shared how they just noticed the Tera restrictions are much different in Area Zero where all the Paradox Pokémon are hiding.

While you’re still limited to Terastallizing once per battle, your Tera Orb automatically recharges after defeating or catching a wild Pokémon in Area Zero. That means you could technically Terastallize in multiple battles without having to visit a Pokémon Center.

A mechanic like this makes a lot of sense, considering Area Zero is filled with Tera Crystals and it’s where the Terastal phenomenon was first discovered.

Similarly, players commented on how you can recharge your Tera Orb outside of Area Zero by interacting with the Tera Raid crystals that pop up all over the Paldea region. This was mentioned on the official Scarlet and Violet site, but it could’ve easily been overlooked by a lot of players since it wasn’t mentioned in the Tera tutorial.

One player mentioned it’s also possible to Terastallize during each Elite Four battle even though you can’t heal at the Pokémon Center between matches. They brought up a theory of how the Elite Four building could be made up of Tera Crystals. Another player pointed out how close the building is to Area Zero, which may also contribute to charging your Tera Orb.

Even though the games have been out for over half a year now, it’s nice to see players are still making new discoveries about the Terastal phenomenon and Area Zero.

And with the new Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC coming out later this year, we’ll probably be uncovering even more mysteries soon too.