The Pokemon Company is teasing a brand new Pokemon with ties to a famous Basque piece of artwork. Earlier this morning, The Pokemon Company released several images stated to be from the Paldea region. These “strange markings” show brightly colored images on trees and rocks, either in a striped or bullseye pattern. Given that there’s just a few months to go before Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s release, it seems to make sense that these markings are tied to some new kind of Pokemon. You can check out the mysterious images below.
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The markings actually have ties to the real world, as they are likely a stand-in for Oda Forest, a piece of modern art found in the Basque region of Spain. Created by Agustin Ibarrola, Oba Forest features numerous figures and shapes painted on the trunks of trees, some of which can only be seen from certain positions.
This wouldn’t be the first time that Game Freak has inserted a local landmark into its Pokemon games. Pokemon Sword and Shield featured a version of the Cerne Abbas Giant, a piece of famous British hill art, which helped represent the Dynamax phenomenon. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet also appears to have a version of La Sagrada Familia, a famous Barcelona cathedral.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will be set in the brand new Paldea region, which is based on the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. The new games are the first open-world Pokemon games, with players able to explore the region without any set routes to follow. The games will also feature the Terastal phenomenon, a new battle gimmick that crystallizes Pokemon and boosts their attack power related to one specific type of attack. While most Pokemon will have a “Tera Type” that matches one of their two Pokemon types, some Pokemon will have alternate types, which opens up a world of possibility in battles.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will be released on November 18th.
