Pokémon Sun and Moon, as with every new Pokémon entry, promises tons of new content and features not seen in previous Pokémon games. But in the new gameplay video above, one of Sun and Moon’s minor additions is introduced, and it doubles as its most startling feature thus far: a minigame that pays you to chuck a poor, unsuspecting Pokémon into the ocean.
Comics magazine V Jump uploaded the clip above, which shows a player hunting down various Pyukumuku, the new sea cucumber Pokémon, that can be found chilling on the Alola region’s otherwise peaceful beaches. He’s not just doing it to further his quest to become a Pokémon master, though; another beach dweller has given the trainer an incentive both monetary and, strangely, heartwarming.
That’s because there’s a reason behind all of that Pyukumuku-tossing other than just making some big bucks. As explained when the Pokémon was first revealed, the odd-looking creature has a bad habit to take residence on a single sandy spot, where it will remain until it starves to death. (In case no one’s ever told you this before, Pokémon can get pretty dark.) Alolan locals feel compelled to do Pyukumuku a favor by forcibly removing it from its chosen resting place by tossing it back into the water.
Capitalism reigns over all, however, and so some of the region’s biggest swindlers eventually commodified the act. The good news is that trainers can now reap the rewards to the tune of 20,000 Poké Money. We’re not sure yet what the parameters are for the payout, but it may have something to do with completing the task within a time limit or chucking a certain number of Pyukumuku. The other thing to know about this whole endeavor is that, like a boomerang, Pyukumuku will always end up back where it started. This is an activity best left to the cash-strapped, it seems.
Still, something about this odd minigame strikes us as kind of relaxing. We’ll see if Pyukumuku-throwing is outdone by anything else when Sun and Moon launch on Nintendo 3DS Nov. 18.
