True to their word, Nintendo released a new trailer for their upcoming Pokémon Scarlet and Violet games today, revealing a number of firsts for the mainline Pokémon series. Based on the information provided, it appears that the games will feature true online multiplayer, where players can explore and catch Pokémon together in real-time. Previously in Sword and Shield, players could encounter each other in-game while using the game’s camping feature but could not actively play together outside of trading, battles, and raids.

The new trailer also showed off some new and familiar faces in the ever-expanding Pokédex. In addition to footage of the games’ starter Pokémon — Sprigatito, Quaxly, and Fuecoco — fans were given a first look at three new creatures exclusive to the region: a tiny orange Electric-type critter akin to Pikachu, a goofy Grass-type bulb creature with a yellow flower on its head, and an adorable little brown pig named Lechonk (a clever pun on “lechon”, the Spanish word for “piglet”). Returning pokémon such as Mareep, Fletchinder, Chewtle, and Venonat were also confirmed to be present in-game. Finally, just seconds before its end, the trailer also introduced the world to Scarlet and Violet’s signature legendary pokémon, Koraidon and Miradon.

Fans were introduced to some new human faces in the Pokémon universe as well, such as Nemona, a spunky-looking girl with a green strand in her hair who appears to be the player’s main rival. Generation 9 also introduces two different Pokémon professors, Sada and Turo, who appear to be exclusive to Scarlet and Violet respectively.

The game appears to be built off of the same game engine used by Pokémon Legends: Arceus, in which battles are rendered in the game’s overworld rather than in a separate encounter system. Unlike Arceus, however, Scarlet and Violet will return to the traditional fixed camera angles for battles that were used in previous titles.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will release worldwide on Nov 18, 2022, and are currently available for preorder individually or as a double pack on Nintendo’s store page.