Everything we know about Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Terastal Pokémon

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is a new era for the pocket creatures: Now Pokémon can turn into shiny crystals. The Pokémon Company showcased new information on Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Wednesday during its latest Pokémon Presents stream, where we learned a little bit more about the games special forms, called Terastallizing.

To put it simply, Terastal Pokémon are the franchise’s next gimmick — like Pokémon Sword and Shield’s Gigantamax Pokémon. Instead of making Pokémon super huge, Terastal Pokémon turn into gem stones, basically. They shine and shimmer like crystals, with jewels adorning the creatures like crowns. The new phenomenon, unique to the Paldea region, is a way for players to power up their Pokémon during battles. All Pokémon in Paldea can do this, and it’s accessible once per battle — and the power up lasts until the battle ends. To Terastallize a Pokémon, players need a Tera Orb. Tera Orbs will need to be recharged after battles by touching crystals or visiting a Pokémon center, The Pokémon Company said in a news release.

In the new trailer, The Pokémon Company showed how some Pokémon can change type while Terastallizing — Pikachu can become flying type with crystalized balloons overhead, for instance, if it’s got the right Tera Type.

The other part of Terastal Pokémon is the Tera Raid Battles, which are events where players can battle and catch wild Terastal Pokémon; it looks very similar to Sword and Shield’s Max Raid Battles.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will be released Nov. 18 on Nintendo Switch. Players who preorder the game will get a special Pikachu that knows Fly, because its Tera Type is flying.