After two days of acting as Pokémon Go’s version of a cryptid, Gimmighoul has officially been revealed as the newest Pokémon players will encounter on their journeys through Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. However, kind of like Meltan, this new Pokémon has some interlinked gameplay with Pokémon Go that will allow players to catch different forms.
According to the new trailer, Gimmighoul has two distinct forms that act differently around trainers who encounter them—though that depends on which game they are in.
Gimmighoul (Chest Form) is known for manipulating people into helping it fill the treasure chest it lives in with 999 mysterious coins, but players can also capture this form once encountered. Gimmighoul (Roaming Form) is a little trickier, as it will run away from players who are nearby in the overworld, but only in Scarlet and Violet.
According to Jacq, a professor from the academy players will attend in SV who has been talking with Professor Willow, no trainer in Paldea has ever captured a roaming Gimmighoul. That being said, Willow noted that the Gimmighoul appearing in Pokémon Go do not have that tendency to run away and instead approach players who have been gathering these mysterious coins from PokéStops.
Based on that, Gimmighoul (Roaming Form) will act as a living Dowsing Machine in SV, likely leading players to coins or maybe even treasure chests containing other Gimmighoul—fitting for its design. We also only know that Gimmighoul (Chest Form) is a pure Ghost-type at the moment, as no additional info has been given for Gimmighoul (Roaming Form.)
It looks like the roaming variant will be obtainable in Pokémon Go after SV’s release sometime in 2023 which should tie into some Special Research or item revolving around the Pokémon and those mysterious coins.
