Following on from the brief teaser posted yesterday, a new video posted to Pokémon's official social media channels has given fans our first look at Poltchageist, a new Pokémon being introduced in The Teal Mask, the first part of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

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As of the time of writing, we are yet to receive a formal press release providing specific details of this new Pokémon and its in-game moves and abilities. From the video, it appears that Polchageist is a Ghost- and Grass- type Pokémon. As with many Ghost-types, its backstory tells of how it steals life from the living, so we're sure to get suitably morbid Pokédex entries for the Pokémon once it actually joins the game.

While it seems safe to assume that Polchageist is related to Polteageist in some way (cha literally being the Japanese character for tea, 茶), it's unclear if the Pokémon is an alternative evolution for Sinistea, or if Polchageist is simply a counterpart for it without being part of the same evolution family. If it is part of the same evolution family, it may be possible that Sinistea could itself receive a Kitakami regional form, however we have nothing to confirm or deny this at this point in time.

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UPDATE: Additional details on this new Pokémon have been provided in a new press release, and in additional updates to the official Pokémon Scarlet & Violet website and social media, including another short video.

Category: Matcha Pokémon
Type: Grass/Ghost
Height: 4" / 0.1m
Weight: 2.4 lbs. / 1.1kg
Ability: Hospitality

As expected, Polchageist is a dual Ghost- and Grass- type Pokémon, though interestingly it's primary type is Grass rather than Ghost. Polchageist's ability, Hospitality, restores a small amount of its ally’s HP when it enters a battle.

The press release notes a physical resemblance to Sinistea with its swirl pattern, while stating that it's an entirely different species of Pokémon. Presumably this can be taken to mean Polchageist comes from an entirely different evolution line, putting its relationship to Sinistea and Polteageist more along the lines of that between Diglett and Wiglett, or Tentacool and Toedscool. Similar to the Sinistea evolution line, the true form of Polchageist isn't its exterior vessel, but rather the contents of that vessel, specifically, the matcha powder. As seen in the introduction video, Polchageist is known to use its matcha to drain the life-force of people and Pokémon to absorb it as energy. It does this either by sprinkling a target with some of its own powdery body, or to place it on food that an unsuspecting victim then eats.

According to the press release, Poltchageist is known for taking up residence in old houses, where it will occasionally patch up broken objects. From the examples we've seen in the initial introduction video, this repair work seems to take inspiration from the Japanese tradition of Kintsugi, only using Polchageist's matcha rather than precious metals to join the broken parts.

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