We've been checking our Pokémon Legends: Arceus bingo cards, and not a single one of us had "Basculin gets a new evolution". Basculin? The fish guy? We have to say, we weren't completely on board — at least, until we found out how GOSH DARN METAL he was.
Everyone loves a Pokémon with a horrible back story, like Drifloon stealing children and Bewear crushing people to death, and Basculegion, the new evolution, is the newest member of the "wtf, Pokémon" ranks.
Basculegion (Water/Ghost) is powered by the souls of restless, dead Basculin that failed to make the perilous journey upstream. That's it. That's the whole thing. It's a Pokémon made up of angry fish ghosts. Imagine if salmon turned into large, mean salmon if a bunch of them died!
You'll be able to ride Basculegion around the waters of Hisui, though we can't imagine why you'd want to.
There's also Wyrdeer (Normal/Psychic), the final evolution of Stantler, a deer with a large booty that was introduced in Gold and Silver. Wyrdeer is tall and fluffy, looking pretty much exactly the same as Stantler, but with fur. Also, its antlers are more angular, and look a bit like TV aerials.
We also have (at least) two new regional variants in the Hisui area: Hisuian Growlithe, and Hisuian Braviary.
Hisuian Braviary (Psychic/Flying) changes the Pokémon's colouring from that of an eagle to a more dignified grey/white palette, also altering the Normal/Flying type to Psychic/Flying with the use of some glowing plumage. All Rufflet that evolve in Hisui will become Hisuian Braviary.
As seen in the Pokémon Presents footage, players will be able to use Braviary as a sort of hang-glider, with the ability to steer the bird instead of just flying from A to B automatically.
Hisuian Growlithe (Fire/Rock), on the other hand, has no apparent abilities other than being extremely fluffy and cute. He's a darker shade of orange, with voluminous hair that mimics the style of Chinese stone lions, which could hint at Hisuian Arcanine's appearance, too. Hisuian Growlithe are known to watch over their territory in pairs (like guardian lions!) and are "hyper-vigilant".
Those are all the new and semi-new Pokémon we were introduced to in today's Pokémon Presents, and they'll all be part of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, coming to the Nintendo Switch on January 28th, 2022.
Which Pokémon would you like to see get a regional variant or new evolution? Let us know in the comments!
