‘Pokémon Scarlet’ And ‘Violet’ — Obsidian Flames Cards May Be Your Type!

Welcome to the table,

I spent hundreds of hours playing the new Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. During my playtime, something that was announced fairly early on leading up to the game’s launch sat with me in a weird sort of way. I’m no stranger to the Pokémon franchise and the way they add a new feature with each new offering. It’s actually kinda cool to see how they can continue to innovate time and time again.

However, the concept of Tera Pokémon kind of weirded me out. Your Pokémon get this strange coating of crystal that makes them look like one of those really expensive jewelry decorative pieces and a thing sprouts on top of their head. What this does is, one second you have a fluffy little yellow Pikachu and the next they are encased in an Ice-man / White Queen-like coating with a bunch of balloons sticking out of their head. The balloons indicate that the type of Pokémon, in Pikachu’s case ‘electric’ has swapped out, and it becomes ‘flying’ instead.

This is rad when you are in a battle and your electric type runs afoul of someone’s water type and you think “Oh no! I am about to lose!” then you smash that button and you do a magic-girl style transformation. Not only are you sparkle-magic-pretty, but now also a type that is not as badly hurt by your opponent.

It just looked… weird to me when it was first announced. I have since come to accept the goofy Sailor-Moon style transformations my Pokémon do, but it was a harder convert for me than say Gigantamax… because who does not want a Kaiju chubby Pikachu stomping about.

Well, the fine folks who run the Pokémon trading card game are bringing Terastallization to the table and these things look spectacular.

In addition to looking fantastic with their magic-girl crystalline appearance, some Tera Pokémon cards have another feature that will make them stand out as you play the game. They will have an energy type that will be something other than what you may expect to find for that Pokémon. Earth could shift to Fighting, Fire could swap to Electric. These new types will change the way matches play out and really cause players to think about what their moves are going to be from play to play.

These cards also have some really wild and from what I have seen stunning artwork. I know that friends of mine who collect and play will be lined up to grab these as soon as they launch.

You can score your own Scarlet and Violet – Obsidian Flames cards at the Pokémon Center Website or wherever your local Pokémon cards are sold.

Until next time, I will see you in the tall grass. I know I said that last time… still have not seen you there!