Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s first DLC, The Teal Masks, brings a handful of latest ‘mons so as to add to your Pokédex, and one particularly is turning into a fan favourite: Dipplin. The grass/dragon-type Pokémon is predicated on a sweet apple, and is drenched in a heat, crimson syrup. Nevertheless, when you catch its shiny kind, the alternatively-colored little man is as an alternative enveloped in a golden coating. That’s all effectively and good, however what makes Dipplin’s shiny kind important is that this various look alters the way in which its assaults are rendered, in a approach just a few Pokémon can declare.
Welcome to Exp. Share, Kotaku’s Pokémon column wherein we dive deep to discover notable characters, city legends, communities, and simply plain bizarre quirks from all through the Pokémon franchise.
Dipplin has a signature transfer referred to as Syrup Bomb. Because the title suggests, this assault has the sentient sweet apple lobbing a grass-type glob of gloop at its opponent. On high of doing a little harm, it additionally slows down whoever’s on the opposite finish of the one-sided meals struggle for 3 turns. So it’s good for counteracting any velocity buffs your rivals may need in place, in addition to simply night the taking part in subject towards any fast foes. However as a result of it’s a signature transfer, the animation is tailor-made to Dipplin, and so it sometimes seems with the identical shade of crimson that covers the Pokémon. This modifications for the shiny kind, because the assault as an alternative takes the identical golden tone.
Followers took notice of this and highlighted it on social media, the phenomenon being so uncommon a couple of mistakenly thought Dipplin is perhaps the primary Pokémon to get this therapy. Nevertheless, there are two different strikes which have shiny kinds, however they’re so disparate and obscure that you might have by no means truly seen them in colour. And sadly, you possibly can’t see them in Scarlet and Violet.
Each of those shiny assaults are additionally signature strikes, which is why they’re capable of tailor them to at least one Pokémon’s shiny kind. Blacephalon was the primary, in Pokémon Extremely Solar and Extremely Moon. Its assault, Thoughts Blown, has the unsettling Extremely Beast take away and toss its spherical head at its opponent, and since its noticed skull trades a shiny white for a darkish blue, the projectile utilized in Thoughts Blown is modified to replicate that.
Blacephalon isn’t in Scarlet and Violet, so Thoughts Blown isn’t within the recreation in any respect to check. Nevertheless, Dragapult—the third Pokémon whose signature transfer is altered in its Shiny kind—is. Dragapult’s signature transfer in Sword and Defend is Dragon Darts, which fires, effectively, the tiny Dreepy that it retains in its horns (they’re fantastic, in all probability—the Pokédex says they love being launched on the enemies of their fathers). And since Dragapult’s Shiny kind comes full with Shiny Dreepy hiding within the cannons on its head, Dragon Darts additionally has a different-colored animation to go along with it. Effectively, it did earlier than Scarlet and Violet, a minimum of. The newest video games have made Dragon Dart far more generic-looking.
So whereas Dipplin isn’t the primary Pokémon to get this neat little element, it does convey consideration to only how few assault animations really feel tailor-made to the Pokémon utilizing them in latest video games. This is smart given Scarlet and Violet have pushed the Pokédex over the 1000 monster mark, and Sport Freak can not moderately make each assault for each Pokémon appear to be it was animated for each mixture you possibly can consider. But it surely does make little touches like this really feel particular within the grand scheme of issues. Hopefully Dipplin’s golden Syrup Bomb doesn’t get sanded all the way down to a generic crimson in future video games.