Pokemon Ultra: Ultrabeast Erishizai and Ultrabeast Hakhizarkhia (called in Japan Shikigami: Cosmic Lord Himmler and Shikigami: Cosmic Lord Eichmann) is a new Pokemon game, the first to come out on the PS4 and PS5. They've been made with the clear intent to make an "edgier" game.
The Pokémon in this game are called "Shikigami" in Japan, not Pocket Monsters, and in China they're called "Demons", not "Elves" (which is the name Pokémon are known as in China).
The Pokémon Ultra series is an entirely different series in Japan rebranded as Pokémon due to sharing a universe with it, and in order to avoid flops like Yo-kai Watch. It's basically what Persona and Digital Devil Saga are to Shin Megami Tensei. If Nintendo refuses to have Playstation-exclusive Pokémon, subsequent Pokémon Ultra games will be released as Shikigami in the West.
They're set in the Yamato region, based on Italy.
The titles come from the cover legendaries, the Ultra Beasts UB-88E and UB-88H, Erishizai and Hakhizarkia, known as Eichmann and Himmler in Japan.
The game has a cyberpunk theme, with the region of Yamato being a technologically advanced place in Ultra Space. It introduces Quantum Entanglement, which allows the trainer to fuse with certain species of Pokémon like a Kamen Rider and fight directly.
The starters are Leaphia (grass starter), Fokken (fire starter) and Vipeidon (water starter).
Pokémon from previous generations do not exist at all in this game. Not even Pikachu. The Ultra series is a reboot, and meant to be detached from the mainline Pokémon series and rebranded in case problems with Nintendo arise (which might, due to Nintendo not wanting a Pokémon series on the PS4).
This game does a drastic change of the type chart, justified as the Ultra-Space Yamato is in causing a drastic alteration of physics. The Rock, Bug, Ghost, Fairy and Fighting types are abolished, Flying and Psychic are renamed Wind and Soul, and Light, Cosmic and Aether are introduced. Aether is exclusive to Angels. Normal type is reserved to humans and to non-elemental moves. No Pokémon has this type. All moves that were once Rock type become Ground, the Bug type is merged with Grass, Poison or Normal, Fighting becomes Normal, Ghost becomes Dark, Ghost is split between Dark and Soul, and Fairy becomes Light or Cosmic.
All Pokémon who were Normal plus another type become that other type pure. Normal can no longer be combined.
Regional Pokédex[]
Technically, all Pokémon of Yamato are partly Ultra Beasts (hence the reason why they're called Shikigami in Japan instead of Pokémon), and the only returning Pokémon from past generations are Ultra Beasts themselves.
NOTE: Pokemon with an E) can undergo Entanglement.
001: Leaphia (Grass) (E)
002: Rooterra (Grass-Ground) (E)
003: Guerroccia (Grass-Ground) (E)
004: Fokken (Fire) (E)
005: Firikken (Fire) (E)
006: Huchinobi (Fire-Grass) (E)
007: Vipeidon (Water) (E)
008: Posnake (Water) (E)
009: Tsudraknam (Water-Dragon) (E)
010: Katskull (Poison-Dark)
011: Koskuurmor (Poison-Dark)
012: Disembutly (Poison-Dark)
013: Pilpillar (Grass-Soul)
014: Crysalik (Grass-Soul)
015: Mediteye (Grass-Soul)
016: Rokling (Ground)
017: Rocchingr (Ground-Steel)
018: Geargolem (Ground-Light)
019: Ratheft (Dark)
020: Sicarat (Dark)
021: Ratshishira (Dark)
022: Eaglotto (Wind)
023: Aquilgelo (Wind-Ice)
024: Galagala (Cosmic)
025: Asteryoda (Cosmic-Ground)
026: Comettoid (Cosmic-Light)
027: Blaziella (Cosmic-Fire)
028: Castleroid (Cosmic-Ground)
029: Speedsid (Cosmic-Light)
030: Noviella (Cosmic-Fire)
TBA
Legendaries[]
NOTE: All the legendaries are technically Ultra Beasts, while the Angels were created by Arceus to rule over Yamato and protect it from Ghul'Rakhan. Angels have a role in the plot, being the true form of Abraxas' executives, but capturing them is impossible. In order to get said angels on your own, you have to use an event-only mission where you refight them as shiny and they merge into Merkabah.
Sun and Moon Duo[]
151: Hjalmartemis (Cosmic-Grass)
152: Vonpapollo (Light-Fire)
Love and War duo[]
153: Bormars (Steel-Ground)
154: Hevenus (Water-Soul)
The Great Triad[]
155: Iuppinqvart (Wind-Electric)
156: Kaltenbrunnerva (Soul-Steel)
157: Iuneurath (Light-Ground)
Cosmic Lords Quartet[]
158: Ducecorrotto (Cosmic-Poison)
159: Erishizai (Cosmic-Light) (E)
160: Hakhizarkhia (Cosmic-Dark) (E)
161: Ghul'Rakhan (Cosmic-Dragon) (As Lucifuhrer: Aether-Dragon) (E)
Angels (mythical Pokémon)[]
162: Raphael (Aether-Water)
163: Uriel (Aether-Ground)
164: Gabriel (Aether-Wind)
165: Michael (Aether-Fire)
166: Merkabah (Aether)
167: Messiah (Aether)
Gameplay[]
The game is a turn-based RPG like the rest of the mainline Pokémon games.
Like in Legends Arceus, there are no random encounters, instead all enemies are visible in the overworld and you can throw your Poke Ball for an extra advantage. Pokémon can also attack the trainer directly.
To accommodate the more cyberpunk, edgier story, the gameplay is changed a lot:
- the game uses a Press Turn system a la Shin Megami Tensei. Hitting a weakness gives extra turns, while hitting a resistance gives an extra turn.
- battles are no longer one-on-one but enemies tend to appear in packs. You can catch all Pokémon you want, even when there are more than one on the field.
- Due to the protagonist being a secret agent, stealing Pokémon from trainers is allowed. You cannot capture humans however.
- The "Sacrifice" system has been added: you sacrifice a caught Pokémon to turn it into an XP boost for another. Some Pokémon can only evolve by being sacrificed another.
- the trainer herself and other human partners can fight using a gun, and only summons three Pokémon at a time (or human partners) to assist her. Her moves are called Gun Skills, and, if she dies, it's game over regardless of your Pokémon's remaining health. Entangling gives special Entangled Moves.
- Instakill moves now always work if the enemy is weak to their type. They work on bosses, except for a few. Conditional instadeaths which kill you with 100% accuracy if you have a status have been added: Eternal Rest kills you if you're asleep, Exorcism kills you if you're a Zombie, and Pestilence kills you if you are poisoned.
- New status ailments are added, such as Zombie and Brand. Zombie causes healing moves and items to damage you and instadeaths to heal you. Brand causes all healing moves and items to be set to 1 HP and doesn't wear off with death. Sleep heals HP but makes you weak to Normal-type moves, while Freeze makes you automatically weak to Fire, Confusion makes you weak to Soul,
- Nuzlocke, called Merciless Mode, is a legit difficulty setting. Killed Pokémon stay dead and are automatically sacrificed to another Pokémon you choose (starters and legendaries cannot die: if they die, it's game over), and catching is locked after the first encounter, aside from when the Pokémon is a shiny.
- Shininess is actually a useful trait: Shiny Pokémon, once sacrificed, give double the XP boost than a normal Pokémon at the same level, and have much better stats and growth. Some Shiny Pokémon are superbosses, and shiny legendaries are the toughest bosses ever.
- Entry Hazards are changed into Terrain moves which damage all the opposing Pokémon each turn.
- Difficulty is significantly boosted, with enemies being able to instakill you and bosses frequently healing and exploiting weaknesses.
- Trade evolutions no longer exist. Pokémon that used to evolve by trading evolve either by having another Pokémon sacrificed to them (the Pokémon that evolve by trading without item), or by using the item on them directly (Pokémon that evolve by trading holding an item). Some Pokémon evolve by having a specific Pokémon sacrificed to them. Evolutionary stones are renamed Evolution Chips, but they work the same.
- The game does not have an evil team. Instead, the closest things the game has to it are a megacorporation called Abraxas and the ancient Fa'Shan cult. Abraxas is not a team because it actually has power and fighting it is the center of the plot, while the Fa'Shan cult is composed of ancient humans and led by the legendary Pokémon Korben (actually the ancient king Benkei Musashino, mutated by a pact with Ghul'Rakhan and is imprisoned beneath Agapio town).
- There are no gym leaders
Type Chart Changes[]
- All types except Normal, Dragon and Aether resist themselves. - Ground resists Fire and Poison, and is now weak to Wind. - Normal is not resisted by anything, is only weak to Aether, and only Aether nullifies it. - Fire and Wind are supereffective against each other. - Dark is supereffective on Electric and resists it. - Ice has been changed to only be weak to Fire and Steel and resist itself, Water and Ground. - Soul resists Fire, but it's weak to Grass. - Poison is supereffective on Water and resists it. - Steel is weak to Fire, Water and Electric, while Ground and Normal damage it normally. Resists Dark. - Dark is immune to Soul and weak against Light, Light is immune to Dark and weak against Soul, and Soul is immune to Light and weak to Dark.
New Types[]
- Cosmic resists Wind, Dark and Ice, is immune to Dragon and is weak to Poison, Light, Soul, Steel. - Cosmic is supereffective against Dragon, Dark and Wind, is resisted by Steel, Soul, Light and Poison,
- Light is weak to Grass, Poison, Steel, Dragon and Soul, resists Cosmic and Ice, is immune to Dark. - Light is supereffective on Dark, Ice, Cosmic and Poison, is resisted by Electric, Fire and Steel and and does no damage to Grass and Soul.
- Aether resists all types except Light, Soul, Dark and Cosmic, is immune to Normal, and is only weak to Dragon and itself. - Aether is only supereffective against itself, is not resisted by anything and does no damage against Dragon and Normal.
Characters[]
Alice Bergamini: The protagonist. A spy augmented with cybernetic parts. She's a member of the resistance against Abraxas.
Kentaro Bonaventura: The main rival. Kentaro is an enforcer of Abraxas, also known as the Nightrider. He's secretly trying to take over the corporation.
Minoru Inoue: The Ruby Knight of Abraxas. His true form is Raphael.
Aniello Okazaki: The Obsidian Rook of Abraxas. His true form is Uriel.
Lucia Castoldi: The Diamond Bishop of Abraxas. Her true form is Gabriel.
Nobuko Terada: The Silver Queen of Abraxas, main leader of its army. Her true form is Michael.
Rocco Morabito: CEO of Abraxas and ruler of Yamato, also known as the Gold King. He's actually an Angel called Messiah, created by Arceus to rule over Yamato.
Vincenzo Kobayashi
Benkei Musashino/ Fa'Shan Cult: Former ruler of Yamato before Arceus punished him, and the cult he was leader of. He had made a pact with Ghul'Rakhan in exchange for power, turning into a monster and committing a massacre of Pokémon known as Great Purge. Arceus (referred to as "God" in the game) punished him by turning him into the unstable immortal Ducecorrotto (Italian for "corrupted dictator"), locked beneath the town of Agapio where he was born. His cult members survive as Corrupted Ones, which you can't capture and can't be added to the Pokédex. Musashino's design is based on Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7 and his monster form Ducecorrotto is based on Lavos from Chrono Trigger. The Fa'Shan cult was originally from Kanto and Johto, though it was eradicated from those regions by Lt. Surge, and only the Yamato branch led by Benkei Musashino survived. The name Fa'Shan is a reference to the fascists, though their looks are based more on Japanese samurai with Oni masks.
Plot[]
The game starts with the protagonist, Alice Bergamini "Spektra" (not a silent protagonist, not named by the player, always female), infiltrating an Abraxas Corporation lab.
Trivia[]
Yamato is another name of Japan. The Yamato region is based on Italy, though it has a lot of Japanese cultural elements, explained as being created by the Fa'Shan cult.
The Pokémon Ossone, also known as the Rubik Cube Pokémon, is similar in design to a purple Cubone with a rubik's cube as its helmet instead of a skull, and named after a pun in Italian involving the Pokémon Cubone: in Italian a Cubo is a cube (as in "Rubik's Cube") and a Cubone is a big Rubik's cube, while an Osso is a bone, so an Ossone is, by association, a big bone. Cubone, despite being named after a Cubo, holds an Osso. So Ossone, named after an Osso, uses a Cubo.
Ducecorrotto is the only Pokémon to be a human in origin. He's the ancient cult leader Benkei Musashino, mutated by Ghul'Rakhan into a monster. You can catch him as if he was a normal Pokémon. The name Ducecorrotto means "corrupted dictator" in Italian.
Legendary Pokémon of Yamato, being Ultra Beasts, are named after real-life criminals and Roman gods. They are mostly Lovecraft-style abominations, and names belonging to criminals would make them more threatening and would convey their feeling of monstrosity.
- Vonpapollo is Franz von Papen + Apollo
- Hjalmartemis is Hjalmar Schacht + Artemis
- Bormars is Martin Bormann + Mars
- Hevenus is Rudolf Hess + Venus
- Iuneurath is Iuno (Juno) + Konstantin von Neurath
- Kaltenbrunnerva is Ernst Kaltenbrunner + Minerva
- Iuppinqvart is Iuppiter (Jupiter) + Arthur Seyss-Inquart
- The Cosmic Lords were meant to be straight-up named Himmler, Eichmann and Goebbels, but got changed due to those criminals being too well-known and would feel offensive. Their Japanese names are actually Himmler, Eichmann and Goebbels.
- Ghul'Rakhan's divine form is named Lucifuhrer, a portmanteau of Lucifer and Fuhrer. Its Japanese name is Satanael.
Usually you cannot obtain Shiny legendaries. On the other hand, Angels obtainable by the player in this game are ALWAYS shiny, as non-Shiny Angels are the main antagonists.