Surfing Pikachu isn’t anything new in the Pokémon series. The iconic yellow mouse put battles on the back-burner way back when in Pokémon Yellow. Players could unlock a mini-game where they’d get to play as Pikachu riding on a surfboard in 1998. This could only be unlocked through a special Pikachu that could only be acquired in Pokémon Stadium or through special giveaway events.
Throughout the years both Pokémon games and the anime have referenced this gnarly callback to Yellow. It appears that now, Pikachu will be revisiting surfboarding in Pokémon Let’s Go! Pikachu and Let’s Go! Eeevee to some extent. During this week’s episode of Pokénchi, in Japan, we can see Pikachu using a move called Splash Surf against a Geodude in-game.
According to Game Freak director Junichi Masuda, special moves like Surf and Cut won’t take up conventional move-slots like in previous titles from the series. Skills used to cut down trees and travel across bodies of water have new names in both Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! Also, it’s important to note that the new move Pikachu can be seen using is not Surf. So to be clear, there’ll be separate lists for the conventional skills that you’d expect in a Pokémon title, as well as a separate list for skills that affect things outside of battles.
Pokémon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon Let’s Go, Eevee! will be launching exclusively on the Nintendo Switch later this year. You can pre-order either title right now on Amazon. Furthermore, Game Freak plans on revealing a Pokémon title for hardcore fans of the series in 2019 so look forward to that.
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