New Pokemon Let's Go Trailer Shows Mega Evolution, Staryu Flying Like a UFO

A new Pokemon: Let's Go trailer confirmed that Mega Evolution would return in the new Pokemon games, and also revealed one of the strangest Pokemon "walking" animations yet.

Nintendo debuted a new one-minute trailer for the upcoming Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee Nintendo Switch games. The trailer showed Vermillion City, Lt. Surge and the SS Anne, all iconic characters and locations from the original Pokemon Red and Blue games. However, what really got fans talking was the return of Mega Evolution and a new animation that showed how Staryu would follow its trainer.

Mega Evolution is a relatively new addition to the Pokemon franchise, having been added in Pokemon X & Y as a new mechanic to temporarily boost certain Pokemon's power. When specific species of Pokemon hold a Mega Stone, they can Mega Evolve into a new form, which usually comes with big boosts to their stats and maybe a type change. The trailer showed off the Mega Evolutions for Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise — all of which were originally added in Pokemon X & Y.

Some players have speculated that we could get new Mega Evolutions in Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee, as the Japanese trademarks for several Pokemon species were apparently renewed earlier this month. The trademarks correspond to one "signature" Pokemon for each Kanto gym leader, so some players believe that the new games could feature post-game content in which new Mega Evolutions are revealed. That's pure speculation, of course, and we haven't seen any evidence to back that.

In addition, we also saw a few more walking animations in the new trailer. One of the neater features in Pokemon: Let's Go is that players can assign one of their Pokemon to follow behind them. Every single Pokemon has a unique walking animation, some of which are very surprising. An earlier trailer showed Venusaur leaping like a frog, and this trailer shows Staryu hovering behind their trainer like a helicopter or a UFO.

The anime established that Staryu (and its evolved form Starmie) could fly through the air by spinning itself, but we've never really seen it try to consistently move over land for a prolonged period of time. Using Tackle attacks out of the water is one thing...but watching it lazily rotate behind its trainer is truly bizarre.

Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee comes out on Nov. 16.