If you are involved in basically any Pokémon-related media circles online, you are likely going to see new mockups, drawings, and “leaks” for the newest games pop up every day. But it is rare to see these supposedly leaked images and screengrabs pop up in a style that is believably close to what has already been shown in previous trailers.
In the case of the most recent Scarlet and Violet leaks making the rounds, several images of what appear to be the game’s gym leaders, another NPC, and several new Pokémon have appeared.
The biggest part of this leak involved what seems to be a new regional form of Girafarig, which shows the previously Psychic/Normal-type changing drastically in terms of coloration and design, with its sentient tail moving to engulf a much longer neck. The colorations likely hint at it being an Electric-type, but we won’t know for sure until this new form is officially confirmed.
The other three Pokémon shown in these leaks only appear in images that are very hard to make anything out of, though the community is already doing its best to piece things together based on the limited information provided.
As for the gym leaders, all of the images are equally blurry and only six characters are shown despite the leaker saying that it is all of them in the initial post—though more have been popping up. There is also another design shown off that is listed as “your rival,” meaning players might have multiple rivals again, something that has become commonplace in recent iterations.
The designs do look like they could fit with SV’s current art style and have distinct enough personalities to fit Game Freak’s track record with the important NPCs, but again, we likely won’t know for sure until the characters are revealed in future promotional material or the game releases.
One other big leak has also been making the rounds, with a different source claiming that Wooper will be getting a new regional variant in SV, along with an entirely different evolution separate from Quagsire. According to that rumor, Wooper will become a Poison-type, but no additional details are available.
All of this information is pure speculation right now, and with how common fake leaks are in the Pokémon community, it is best to assume nothing is true until Game Freak, The Pokémon Company, or Nintendo officially showcase the content themselves. But having fun with the rumors and content shown off is fair game.
