Character Customization Features in Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is looking like the most ambitious Pokémon game we’ve seen. It’s introducing a lot of new game mechanics and bringing back features that made previous games great, and those features don’t stop at customization. While you want to follow the story and learn about the Hisui region, it’s also important to be able to create a personalized experience in these games. Most Pokémon games in the past didn’t have any character customization until Pokémon: Sword and Shield. Pokémon Legends will follow in those footsteps by adding even more character customization options and items. In the trailer released by the official Pokémon YouTube channel, not only will you have individual cosmetic items of clothing you can wear, but entire matching outfits you can unlock as well. It also appears you can mix and match these outfits to stand out and create your own personality. In this trailer we can see hats, shirts, pants, karate gis, kimonos, suits, sandals, and other accessories shown.

Hairstyles

In addition to clothing and accessories, you can also change your hairstyle. There will be a hairdresser somewhere in Jubilife Village where you can change your hair style and color. In the trailer we see clothes cost money, while the hairstyles don’t have prices next to them. This means changing your hair in Pokémon Legends: Arceus might be free.

Photo Studio

Character photos have also become a thing in recent Pokémon games such as Pokémon Unite and Sword & Shield. Pokémon Legends: Arceus will have a whole studio location for this feature. If you go to Dagero in Jubilife Village, you can take photos of your character with your Pokémon. Here you can change your look, shop for more clothes, and take photos! It hasn’t been confirmed yet but there may be a feature to share these photos with friends online.

These Die-cast Pokeball Replicas Are Exactly What I Wanted As a Kid

Pokémon has been around for more than 25 years and as a kid I would watch the anime where Ash would catch giant Pokémon inside Pokeballs the size of a baseball. This concept is so magical and cool, even as an adult, I still wish I could have a real Pokeball. If you’re anything like me, you want one too. Well, now is our chance to get a real Pokeball. It may not be able to store monsters inside them with magic, but these collectables are official die-cast replicas of the Pokeballs from the Pokémon universe. Not only are the regular Poke balls available but Great balls and Dusk balls as well. There was also a Master Ball replica that was available to buy exclusively on the Pokémon Center but is now sold out and no longer available. Luckily they’re still making the Poke balls, Great balls, and Dusk balls. The die-cast Poke balls are already available but Great balls and Dusk balls will need to be pre-ordered. The expected date for these to be released is 12/31/2021. By making a GameStop purchase through our links, we earn commission and you’ll be helping the PokePatch website stay up. Thank you!

Poke ball

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Great Ball

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Dusk ball

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How To Get Bonus Shaymin in Pokémon Legends: Arceus

With the newest Pokémon game, Legends: Arceus, coming out in just a few months, (January 28th, 2021) naturally fans are looking for pre-order and early bonuses. Game Freak is delivering on this hype by announcing multiple bonuses players will be able to get, including the Mythical Pokémon Shaymin (Land Forme). Shaymin is a cute, small hedgehog-like grass type Pokémon in it’s land forme. In it’s sky forme, it transforms into a slightly larger, grass / flying type Pokémon. It is unclear if Sky Forme Shaymin will be available as well. Preordering the game does not seem to be a requirement for obtaining Shaymin in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, but there are a few steps you’ll need to follow to obtain it. Here’s how to do it.

How To Get Shaymin

First you’ll need to play Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield on the same account you’re playing Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Next, the official Pokémon website says you’ll have to “view the game’s end credits”. This presumably means you’ll have to finish the game completely and get to the credits before you’re able to get this bonus. After you’ve done this, this will unlock a research request located in Jubilife Village. This quest / mission will allow you to get the Mythical Pokémon, Shaymin.

All VStar Cards in Brilliant Stars Pokémon TCG Set So Far

The newest expansion to the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Brilliant Stars will be the first set in a long time to introduce a new type of card. We’ve had V and VMax cards since the beginning of Sword and Shield, but now we’re getting a new type of card called VStar. This new set will come out February 25th, 2022. So far we’ve only seen 2 VStar cards be showcased from Brilliant Stars, plus some promo cards, but we’ll most likely see more soon. Here are all of the VStar cards in the set we know about so far.

Arceus VStar

PokePatch Pokemon Arceus Vstar Display

Card 123/172 in the Brilliant Stars set was the first card to be shown in the trailer they released for VStar cards. This will easily become a huge chase card as Arceus is the main Pokémon for this set and for the upcoming game, Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

Charizard VStar

PokePatch Pokemon Charizard Vstar Display

The VStar Charizard 018/172 will most likely be another popular chase card in this set. Not only is Charizard a fan favorite but it’s an amazing looking card all around.

Shaymin VStar

PokePatch Shaymin VSTAR

The VStar Shaymin card has been announced and shown from the Japanese Star Birth set. Because this is in Star Birth and among one of the first VStar cards announced, we’ll most likely see this card in Brilliant Stars TCG set as well.

Promo VStar Cards

There have also been two promo VStar cards officially announced and they’ll come in these Leafeon and Glaceon VStar boxes. These boxes also contain Jumbo versions of these VStar promos and a V card of each Pokémon.

Where To Get Brilliant Stars Packs

If you’d like to pre-order Brilliant Stars packs, one of the best places to buy it from is GameStop. They’re listed at retail, MSRP price, so you don’t have to buy them off a scalper for a higher price. Not only will you be getting packs from a trusted source, but if you use our link below we earn commissions and you’ll help the PokePatch website stay up. Check out GameStop’s availability here:

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How Catching Pokémon Works in Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the newest Pokémon game in the franchise, coming to Nintendo Switch on January 28th, 2022. Not only has this game received a lot of hype because of the interesting story and new Hisuian regional Pokémon, but the completely new gameplay mechanics it introduces. For example you’ll be able to roam around a very large map and explore in a semi-open world environment. But the biggest noticeable difference between LA gameplay mechanics and all previous Pokémon games is the way you catch Pokémon. In the last games such as Sword and Shield, you would have to go into battle with a wild Pokémon and try to catch it by pressing a button in the menu’s UI. In this upcoming game you can actually throw a Pokeball at Pokémon to catch them.

How To Catch in Pokémon Legends: Arceus

In Pokémon Legends you’re mission is to observe Pokémon in the Hisui region while they’re in their natural habitats and you’ll need to catch some as well. To catch a Pokémon you’ll be able to sneak up and throw a Pokeball at it. If you miss, the Pokémon will notice. This risks the wild Pokemon choosing to flee or aggro you and you’ll need to run away or battle it if it attacks you. If the Pokeball hits your target, it will then go through the classic wobble animation and if you successfully caught it, fireworks will come out. There is still an element of RNG but this also introduces some skill to be able to aim and accurately hit Pokémon with the Pokeball. Your accuracy doesn’t affect your catch rate except for when you preform a back strike. This system is a fun new way we get to catch Pokémon and there will be a lot less mashing the ‘A’ button to get through dialog boxes.

What is a Back Strike?

A back strike is when you throw a Pokeball at a wild Pokémon’s back when catching it. By catching the Pokemon off guard, your chances of successfully catching it increase! Sneak up on a Pokemon and perform a back strike when possible for the best catch rate.

Catching During Battle

The second way you can catch Pokémon is during battle. If a battle has already begun, you’ll be able to catch Pokémon the classic way by pressing a button in the menu’s UI. This way, you wont be able to aim and throw it, as an animation of your character automatically plays, showing them throwing the ball. This is similar to Pokémon Sword and Shield and most previous games.

RareCandy’s 2nd Drop Features Giveaways and Opening Vintage Packs on Livestream

RareCandy is a new website that is planned to become a platform for buying rare Pokémon cards and collectables from a trusted source. To promote this upcoming platform they’re hosting events and livestreams where Leonhart, a popular Poketuber, opens vintage packs live on YouTube. The last livestream they did, Leonhart opened several old Base Set Shadowless packs and even pulled the famous classic Charizard card. This rare expensive card can go for up to $50,000 or $300,000 if it’s first edition. The best part about this is all of these cards go to fans. Fans buy the packs they want, the packs get opened by Leonhart on the stream, and are sent to the buyer.

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How To Buy Packs / Enter The Draw

This time around they’re selling Legendary Collection packs, Fusion Strike booster boxes, and Jungle First Edition booster packs. Legendary Collection packs and Fusion Strike booster boxes that are bought will not be opened on livestream and will be shipped sealed. The Jungle 1st Edition packs will be opened on livestream and shipped to the buyers opened. To buy these packs, you can go to www.RareCandy.com, select the packs you want and enter the draw. This means, since there’s so many people that want these packs, you may or may not be chosen as a winner. If you’re the winner, you’ll be able to buy the packs, if you’re not chosen you’ll still be entered for a giveaway.

How To Enter Giveaways

The website also states they’re giving away 3 free Team Rocket Booster Packs to fans who register for the drops and view the Leonhart livestream. These packs they’re giving away will be broken / opened on livestream as well and send to the lucky winners. To enter the giveaway for a chance to win a Team Rocket booster pack, you’ll have to enter the draw. Whether you win or not, you’ll still be eligible for the giveaway. Just make sure you’re watching the livestream on Saturday to see if you’ve won. The previous drop also had giveaways for people that joined their Discord. There’s no information on any extra giveaways like that this time but there could be more free giveaways in the future.

Why Fusion Strike’s Code Cards Look Different

When opening Pokemon cards you might have noticed the first card in the pack is always a redeemable code card. In previous sets they were either green or white, depending on the rarity of the cards in the pack. In the new Pokemon TCG set, Fusion Strike they’ve changed the design. All code cards are white and some feature black borders on them. This change is to promote the upcoming Pokemon TCG Live game that will be releasing some time next year, replacing the old game, Pokemon TCG Online. You can redeem these codes online for virtual packs that you can open and play the online TCG with. The new TCG Live has had some backlash due to not supporting some features that the community wants but hopefully that changes in the future.

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The Difference Between Black and White Borders

If you open a pack and the code card’s borders are black, there is likely a holographic rare or better in the pack. In turn, if the code card’s borders are plain white, there’s most likely a non-holo, regular rare in the pack. Many people don’t look at the code card while opening packs because they like the element of surprise but this is how you can tell if there is a holo rare in a Fusion Strike pack.

How the Battle System Works in Pokémon Legends: Arceus

While battling Pokemon in Pokemon Legends Arceus, the first thing you’ll notice is the iconic intro when encountering wild Pokémon or starting a battle doesn’t play anymore. Instead, once a Pokémon aggros you and you get into battle, the battle UI will become visible on screen and the battle start immediately. This might seem like a bad thing at first because we’re so used to having an intro to each battle but this will allow for better immersion and less time spamming the ‘A’ button. You can see an example of this in the trailer video below when a trainer throws a Pokeball with a Pokemon in it at a Hisuian Growlithe. The wild Growlithe aggros the player and immediately a battle begins.

Battle Styles (Strong vs Agile)

Each Pokémon’s moves and stats play a big role in battles. This has always been the case but in Pokémon Legends: Arceus they’re changing how moves affect battles. More specifically, they’re adding a new kind of move called battle styles. In this trailer we also see two styles being displayed, Strong Style and Agile Style. these styles can only be used after mastering a move. Strong style does more damage but you risk your opponent moving sooner and possibly attacking you multiple times. Agile style will allow you to move quicker so you may be able to move sooner or more than once before your opponent moves. Wild Pokémon can also use these styles. This is also a parallel to the Rapid Strike and Single Strike battle styles cards we see in the Pokemon TCG.

Trainers Can Be Attacked

This is another huge change being introduced in Legends Arceus. In previous Pokemon games, trainers would never get hurt or even have a health bar. In this new game, you’ll be vulnerable to wild and Alpha Pokemon attacking you directly. If you get hit enough, you’ll likely faint and wake up back at camp. To prevent this from happening you’ll need to stay out of harms way by dodging attacks and fighting back using your own Pokemon.

Don’t Lose Hope! Ultra Premium Collection boxes are being Restocked for Pokémon’s TCG Celebrations Set

Celebrations Restocked

Even though, the Celebrations set in the Pokemon TCG has been out for more than a month already, there are still many fans trying to get their hands on more products from the 25th anniversary set. Luckily, the Pokemon Company knows this and planned for this situation. They are still printing and releasing several Celebrations boxes and products in waves. Wave 1 seems like it has ended but we’ve already started wave 2. People are noticing a large amount of Celebrations boxes being stocked back onto shelves on retail stores. There’s also talk about there being a 3rd wave, possibly in December of 2021. This makes sense because Celebrations had been the most promoted set we’ve seen in a while and the holiday season is starting while people are buying gifts for others. This isn’t confirmed information and there is a lot of demand for these products so while you shouldn’t give up, you should know that it still won’t be easy to get these.

Ultra Premium Collection Being Restocked

The most sought after product in the Celebrations set has been the Ultra Premium Collection box, also known as the UPC. This has sold out faster than anything because not only does everyone want it, but there has been a very limited quantity of these. Some retail locations only got just a couple of these boxes total and usually sold out within minutes of opening the store. Hopefully we’ll see more of these boxes on shelves in the next waves of releases so more people can get some. According to Tweets from @PokemonTCGDrops, there were many people that were able to order UPCs on retail websites and this might hint that they will soon by restocking the actual physical locations as well.

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Fusion Strike vs Fusion Arts? What’s the Difference?

Fusion Strike is the newest set addition to the Pokémon TCG. This set has big shoes to fill coming out after the greatly anticipated, Celebrations set but has met expectations already. There’s a lot of amazing art in this Pokémon Trading Card Game addon. The set is comprised of multiple cards from Japanese sets that never made it into English packs until now.

Difference Between Fusion Strike and Fusion Arts

Obviously the first thing you’ll notice is that Fusion Strike is in English while Fusion Arts is in Japanese. Fusion Arts came out before Fusion Strike. Much of the art in Fusion Strike came from Fusion Arts but not all of it. As mentioned before, Fusion Strike has cards from multiple Japanese sets, the best example of this is the Alternate Art Vmax Espeon. This card came from the Japanese set, Eevee Heroes, while most Mew cards in Fusion Strike came from Fusion Arts. This means if you’re looking to pull that specific Espeon card, make sure you get the correct set because you won’t find that and more in Fusion Arts. Because Fusion Arts is made up of multiple previous sets, it has a lot more cards. Fusion Strike has 264 different cards, excluding secret rares, while Fusion Arts only has 100 cards, excluding secret rares.

Which Set Should I Get?

If you mainly like collecting Japanese cards, buying multiple packs from different sets like Fusion Arts and Eevee Heroes would be a good idea to get the variety of cards that Fusion Strike offers. If you collect English cards or you just want more of a variety of art then Fusion Strike is for you. You may also want to consider pull rates. Fusion Strike’s pull rates seem unforgiving compared to past TCG sets and you may find better luck getting rare cards in the Japanese sets.