The legendary Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet are living vehicles that can transform into bikes, boats, and planes.
As revealed in today’s Pokémon Presents video, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will feature two new legendary Pokémon: Koraidon and Miraidon. All legendary Pokémon typically have interesting abilities, but the next game in the series is taking it one step further by making them mounts that can adapt to the many different terrains across the new Paldea region.
Across the ground, Koraidon and Miraidon can act as a living bike for speedy cross-country travel. Hitting water will see them transform into a boat-like vehicle, while taking to the skies will see wings deploy. It seems like almost any kind of terrain won’t be an issue for Koraidon and Miraidon, since the gameplay footage showed them climbing straight up sheer cliff faces as well as more normal grass fields and gentle waves.
The official Pokémon website notes the three different travel modes, and they have different names for each Pokémon. Koraidon has three builds; Sprinting, Swimming, and Gliding builds. Miraidon has three pretty much identical modes; Drive, Aquatic, and Glide modes. The main difference seems to be that Koraidon uses its legs to sprint/paddle and wings to fly, while Miraidon is more mechanical in style, using its tail and throat as wheels.
The Pokémon Company describes Scarlet and Violet as an open world RPG, suggesting wide open spaces will be an important aspect of the game, as it was with the recent Pokémon Legends: Arceus. This may explain the need for a legendary Pokémon with such vehicle-like abilities.
It’s currently unclear if you obtain your legendary Pokémon early in the game, so it may be that Koraidon and Miraidon are mid or late-game Pokémon, and that you have to explore Paldea with more traditional forms of transportation first. The Pokémon website does note that the three forms have to be learned, and so it may be that you access ground, sea, and air traversal over a period of time rather than right away.
We speculated that Scarlet and Violet’s legendaries could be ridable vehicles back in June, where we also wondered if the gyms will have a motorsport theme. For more, check out the news that it will be 4-player co-op and the Scarlet and Violet memes that have already started happening.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.
