Pokémon Rose & Violet

**Pokémon Rose** (Japanese: ポケットモンスターローズ *Pocket Monsters Rōzu*) & **Pokémon Violet** (Japanese: ポケットモンスターすみれ *Pocket Monsters Sumire*) versions are the upcoming 9th generation of mainline games in the Pokémon series, and the third ones released exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. It is planned for a November 2021 release.

## Region

*Rose & Violet* takes place in Alleos, which is based off of South America. From lush rainforests to beautiful waterfalls, this region has plenty to explore & do.

## Features

* Like in Generation 7, there are *Trials instead of Gyms*. Unlike in Gen 7, though, these focus on stats & Friendship.
* The *Wild Area* makes a return. In addition, all Pokémon & weather conditions are available from the start.
* *Battle Bond*, nicknamed “The Power Of Friendship”, is a new mechanic which the centerpiece of the game’s story. It gives a huge stat boost (or design change, in the case of certain Pokémon) to the player’s Pokémon if their Friendship & Affection stats are very high.

## Differences from Previous Games

* Type effectiveness had been balanced;
	+ Rock-type moves are super-effective against Electric-types.
	+ Dragon-type moves are super-effective against Normal-types.
* The EXP Share returns, acting like it did back in Gen 7.
* Due to the controversy surrounding Sword & Shield, the National Dex is back!
	+ Pokémon not from the Alleos Pokédex can be obtained either from Pokémon Let's Go, Espeon! & Let’s Go, Umbreon! or special events.
* A new mechanic- Battle Bond -is a central feature in the generation's games.
	+ To activate it, your Pokémon has to have both maximum friendship and affection.
	+ Most Pokémon just have a golden glow around them, but certain species can also have changes in their design and stats.
		- Pokémon which can Mega Evolve or Gigantamax will take their forms when Battle Bond activates.
	+ Due to this becoming a central mechanic, the Battle Bond ability was removed.
		- If Ash's Greninja from the Sun & Moon Special Demo was transferred into Rose & Violet, it will have the ability Protean.
* Gigantamaxing was removed.
* Pokémon are appropriately scaled in the overworld & battles.

## List of New Pokémon So Far

* Florizu (Grass-type starter; is a squirrel)
	+ Airisu (Grass: Florizu's evolution, which is a flying squirrel)
		- Riseou (Grass-Flying: Airisu's evolutions, which is a cross between the tetrapteryx and an early mammal-like version of pterodactyls)
* Llavama (Fire-type starter; is an alpaca)
	+ Glamagma (Fire: Llavama’s evolution)
		- Volcuna (Fire-Fairy: Glamagma’s evolution)
* Splashidashi (Water-type starter; is a river dolphin)
	+ Rivina (Water; Splashidashi's evolution)
		- Agudelta (Water-Psychic: Rivina's evolution, which is a pink river dolphin)
* Cacaopillar (Bug-type: is a caterpillar with what looks like chocolate drizzled over it)
	+ Cocoacoon (Bug-type: is part cocoa bean, part cocoon)
* Helomama (Flying-Grass type box legendary for Rose; part of the snake mama trio)
* Purgamama (Water-Grass type box legendary for Violet; part of the snake mama trio)
* Sachamama (Grass-Ground legendary; part of the snake mama trio)
* Argapapa (Fire-Poison mythical; is based off of a queen ant)
* Oinkpe (Rock-type: based upon the Okpe)
* Jakin (Ghost-Normal type; based upon a jack-in-the-box)
* Undella (Water-type: based upon the Kasa-obake)

## Trivia

* This is the first Pokémon generation to have both Gyms & Trials in the same mainline games.
	+ While there aren’t any gyms at all in Sky & Sea, they do return in Let's Go, Espeon! & Let's Go, Umbreon!