Pokemon Scarlet and Violetare well into their post-launch phase where The Pokemon Company provides players with a constant flow of additional content in the form of Tera Raid events and mystery gifts. The first major event was dedicated to the return of Charizard, arguably one of the most popular Pokemon ever made, whereas the second 7-star Tera Raid boss turned out to be Galar region’s own Cinderace. Recently, The Pokemon Company announced yet another Tera Raid boss coming soon toPokemon Scarlet and Violet, but this time didn’t include the identity of the critter but only its Tera type, which is set to be Poison.
The decision to make the identity of the next Tera Raid event is an interesting one as it leaves a lot of room for speculation, especially considering that both Charizard and Cinderace had peculiar patterns tied to their Tera types, original types, and move pool. Because early events typically don’t yield rare Pokemon like Legendaries and Mythicals, which tend to bePokemon Home-exclusivesoutside of specific distributions, the list can be already narrowed down quite a bit. Following the most obvious pattern, which is that of starters, there are only a handful of adequate candidates forPokemon Scarlet and Violetto feature in a 7-star Tera Raid, and the most likely at the moment would be Greninja.
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Why Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Next Tera Raid Event Could Include Greninja
Much like Charizard, Greninja too is one of the most beloved critters in the franchise’s history, and ever since its introduction in Gen 6 games, players have been asking for it to come back to the Switch. While this didn’t happen in Gen 8, it’s at least confirmed to be the case now in Gen 9 thanks toPokemon Scarlet and Violet’s datamined returning Pokemon- a list that comprises all three Gen 6 starters.
Greninja makes a lot of sense as the next major Tera Raid boss for several reasons, and chief among them is the fact that this mysteriousPokemon’s Tera typeis Poison. This is important because both Charizard and Cinderace had moves of their respective Tera types added to their pool, and the only non-Gen 9 starters that will be inPokemon Scarlet and Violetand that have access to Poison moves are Chesnaught and Greninja. Furthermore, both Charizard and Cinderace’s Tera type granted them at least one resistance to moves that would be supereffective against their original types, with the former resisting Electric and Water and the latter resisting Rock.
Greninja’s Water/Dark type combination makes it weak to Electric, Bug, Grass, Fairy, and Fighting, and its Poison Tera type would resist four out of five of them with the exception of Electric. With a wide move pool that would include Gunk Shot as its only STAB Poison attack, Greninja would fit right in the pattern that was established withPokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Tera Raid bossesso far. This makes even more sense when one considers that Cinderace’s Ability in the Tera Raid was Libero (its Hidden Ability that allows it to change its type once per battle based on the move it uses).
Greninja’s Hidden Ability is Protean, which is the same as Libero but with a different name, and it makes the comparison all the more consistent. It’s also worth noting that Greninja is much more popular than Chesnaught, and the hype surrounding a mysterious Tera Raid boss would die down if it ended up being a Pokemon that is not really loved by the masses. Gen 6 starters have also been missing from Switch games since the console’s launch, and picking Chesnaught over Greninja could be perceived as tone-deaf.Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s alleged new Typhlosion modelon top of the changes made to Charizard’s model also bode well for Greninja, which could look the best it ever did in the franchise.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violetare available now for Nintendo Switch.
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