Just like TiMi Studio promised, the next playable Pokémon coming to Pokémon UNITE is indeed a Supporter, with the Mythical Hoopa already available for players to use in-game right now, along with a new Pokémon Day event.
Hoopa is the first Supporter being added to the game since Blissey was introduced last August, which is by far the biggest drought for a role that players have had to deal with yet. The uniqueness of Hoopa’s gameplay might make up for that, however, because it can warp items on the map and other Pokémon too.
Hoopa’s first moves are very straightforward, with Astonish turning into either Shadow Ball or the newly introduced Phantom Force. Phantom Force lets Hoopa warp to a designated Pokémon, dealing damage and shoving them, followers by two flames that will deal damage to that Pokémon if they make contact, while also decreasing movement speed.
And if that wasn’t enough, it can be used a second time to allow Hoopa to warp back to the starting location of the move.
In its secondary slot, Hoopa’s Confusion will turn into Hyperspace Hole or Trick.
Hyperspace Hole is a unique utility move that will set a ring on the ground, and after a designated time, Hoopa and an ally within the ring will be warped back to their team’s base and given increased movement speed. Or, if you use this warp space on one of your goal zones, you can warp to the corresponding goal zone on the opposite lane, giving Hoopa and its allies a chance to quickly jump between the top and bottom lane.
Trick lets Hoopa link itself with an ally Pokémon, increasing both Pokémon’s movement speed and a shield for a short time. While linked, when Hoopa uses a Basic Attack or uses Shadow Ball, the linked Pokémon will fire the same attack without needing to do anything.
Trick also can work in tandem with Phantom Force, as an ally Pokémon linked with Trick can also warp to the initial ring’s location, which will provide a quick escape and recover some HP.
As if that wasn’t complicated enough, Hoopa Unbound is also in the game as a separate form that makes Hoopa a Ranged Attacker when it uses its Unite Move, Rings Unbound.
This will change Hoopa’s moves to Hyperspace Fury, an area of effect attack that deals multi-hit damage to any Pokémon in the affected space, and Psybeam, a horizontal ray that deals damage to any Pokémon in the way and also makes Hoopsa immune to hindrances when in use. This transformation will only last for a short period of time.
Along with Hoopa making its debut in UNITE, a new event themed around the ongoing Pokémon Day celebration is also live, giving players access to special items, boosted Energy rewards, and much more.
But that isn’t all, there is also a Hoopa Special event that has players completing new tasks in exchange for ingredients, which can then be used to unlock items, including Hoopa’s Unite License. Players can also participate in the Hyperspace Box Challenge, which lets them claim a mystery item box each day.
A new Limited-Time Mode, Full-Fury Battle will be launching on Pokémon Day, Feb. 27. This will let players go all out with no limits, featuring super-fast cooldowns, revives, dunks, and more.
This update also overhauled a few aspects of the game’s user interface, such as dividing the Event tab into Featured and Daily sections, along with smaller sub-sections for each different event itself. A new balance patch was added too, which includes some previously mentioned changes to Aegislash and Decidueye, along with updates to a few aspects of the game’s maps.
