Game Freak unveils Pokemon streamer gym leader for Scarlet and Violet

The Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s gym leader reveal also teased a brand-new Paldean Pokemon

One of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s gym leaders is an Electric superstar, and that’s no exaggeration. The Pokemon Company revealed Iono, the upcoming monster-catching RPG’s new character, in a trailer styled as a YouTube short. The move is a fitting one, since Iono is an up-and-coming streamer in the Paldea region where Scarlet and Violet take place, and unlike The Pokemon Company’s other recent reveals, the trailer doesn’t tell us much about what to expect from the games themselves.

Instead, it presents a deep dive into a small slice of Paldean culture, where wannabe stars like Iono craft online personalities built around specific aspects of Pokemon and hope to stand out among the crowd. Iono is all about cuteness and Electric Pokemon, and she even sports two custom-made Magnemite hair clips that emit electric charges when she wants to emphasize a point.

Meet Iono, an influencer, streamer, and Gym Leader who specializes in Electric-type Pokémon

Can you guess Iono’s partner Pokémon?

#PokemonScarletViolet pic.twitter.com/32hBWMMKYY

— Pokémon (@Pokemon) October 12, 2022

How much all of this – the voice acting and the world-building that’s deeper than we usually see in Pokemon – might carry over into the full games remains to be seen, but the trailer did tease something new in store: a brand-new Paldean Pokemon.

Iono gave a few hints about the crackling critter, namely that it has bumps people mistake for eyes and it creates electricity in its stomach, but so far, there’s not even a silhouette to suggest what it may be.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF