Pokémon Sun and Moon’s newest Pokémon are one-of-a-kind

We’ve already seen every new Pokémon that Pokémon Sun and Moon have to offer, as part of a major info dump spread by datamining demo players. The Pokémon Company is committed to trickling out further details about these monsters in the days until the games’ launch, and the latest trailer spotlights a handful of the Sun and Moon’s rarer finds.

Below, we’ll walk you through everything we now know about these new Pokémon, now that they’ve been formally introduced.

Decidueye

The Pokémon Company

The final form of Rowlet, the fan-favorite grass-type starter, is this cool guy. The “arrow quill Pokémon” is a combo grass/ghost-type, which is an admittedly rad pairing. The ghost in Decidueye helps keep it hidden from enemies, and it uses its fierce feathers to strike them down from behind the bushes.

But Decidueye, much like James Dean, can’t be stoic 100 percent of the time. In the off-chance it’s caught off-guard, the avian Robin Hood beats itself up about it. This is a Pokémon that takes great pride in its precision, which is impressive, but we appreciate that there are chinks in the armor to make it more relatable.

Incineroar

The Pokémon Company

We were extremely disheartened when we first saw Incineroar, the buff evolved form of the adorable fire-type starter, Litten. Let’s get into why: We’re a little bit tired of the fire-type Pokémon starter adding a fighting typing when it hits its final form, which has happened so often now that the community has deemed it a trope. Nothing against fighting-types, of course ... we just would prefer something more unique.

More selfishly, we think Litten is a perfect, beautiful baby cat. To see it turn into a gigantic fighting feline monster is upsetting, especially when it’s described as unlikable and attention-seeking, but that’s the way the news goes sometimes. At least there’s some good to be found in Incineroar’s official reveal: It’s not part-fighting, but part-dark instead. Although it has the spirit of a brawler — Incineroar comes with its own flaming championship belt, which it uses to pound on its enemies — it also learns the exclusive Darkest Lariat move, a dark-type attack that ignores status effects.

Primarina

The Pokémon Company

The soloist Pokémon concludes the exciting evolution of Popplio, the put-upon water-type starter. Primarina is a singing, dancing fairy/water-type hybrid, and it’s as strong as it is delicate. Its weapon of choice is the crafty water balloon, which it manipulates with its voice. Like any accomplished musician, it’s important to keep that voice healthy and well-rested. If Primarina’s throat gets sore, it’s bad news for the Pokémon.

We’re a little intimidated by Primarina, if we’re being honest; it’s the most put-together, accomplished final evolution of the group.

Tapu Bulu

The Pokémon Company

There are several guardian Pokémon that protect the Alola region’s islands, each named “Tapu.” Tapu Bulu watches over Ula’ula Island with its grass- and fairy-type moves. We’re not totally sure what real-world creature this Pokémon is meant to approximate the look of, but we’ve learned not to ask questions about Pokémon’s inspirations at this point. We will say this, though: This Pokémon somehow stands (or floats?) at an imposing six-foot-three, which we can’t quit believe.

Tapu Lele

The Pokémon Company

Tapu Lele is much tinier; the psychic/fairy-type is just three-foot-eleven. What it lacks in height, it makes up for in power. This Pokémon sounds like a friendly enough land spirit, though, as it uses its scales to heal others, not hurt them. Instead of damaging opponents, it’s more of a tactician who employs status-effecting abilities to its advantage.

Tapu Fini

The Pokémon Company

Tapu Fini is the guardian of Akala Island and the fourth such Pokémon of the Alola region’s four islands. (See how well that works out?) Its attacks are water-based, and it can control the ocean to produce fog, mist and other damaging aquatic-based attacks. All the while, Tapu Fini remains deadpan, which could unnerve its foes.

All four Tapu Pokémon have the same Z-move, the Guardian of Alola attack that kind of reminds of us Transformers. The Tapu becomes the head of a giant body if conjures out of nowhere to lay down the law.

Cosmog

The Pokémon Company

Cosmog, the nebula Pokémon, is painfully cute. It’s also extremely rare, just like the other Pokémon we’ve seen so far ... but there’s something special about this little one. Not only is there just the one remaining Cosmog in Alola, very few locals even know of its existence.

The mysterious Aether Foundation has made encountering and understanding Cosmog its most important research project. We have a feeling that that will play heavily into Pokémon Sun and Moon’s storyline, as we actually glimpsed Cosmog at the very beginning of the game when we got to play it at a recent Nintendo event. It lives inside Lillie’s bag; she’s the assistant of Professor Kukui, who directs all budding trainers on their first Pokémon journeys.

Oh, and then this guy

The Pokémon Company

The internet already had its field day with puffy-faced Alolan Persian, but the Pokémon Company still went out of its way to properly showcase the regional variant, which is far more abundant than the Pokémon above. It ... still ... does not look great! Sorry, Alolan Persian.

The funny thing is, the Alolan locals seem to have a vastly different opinion. Here’s what the official website has to say about Pokémon’s version of Garfield:

The round face of Alolan Persian is a symbol of the rich Alola region, and it is held to be a Pokémon of great beauty. It is such a distinctive Pokémon of the Alola region that all Persian are well protected, and strict inspections are required before tourists can be permitted to take one back to their home region.

[...]

Its exquisite coat shines with the glow of high quality and enchants both humans and Pokémon. For this reason, it is a very popular Pokémon in the Alola region.

Uh. Sure. Okay, then.

Pokémon Sun and Moon’s remaining new Pokémon may not be revealed until the games themselves hit stores on Nov. 18. We’ve got the free Nintendo eShop demo to bide our time with until then.