Dragonite coming to Pokemon Unite in Christmas update

Tis the season for Christmas-themed events in and around the gaming world, and Pokemon Unite is set to get a big one for the holiday season with Dragonite’s release being just the tip of the iceberg.

The official Pokemon Unite social media channels uploaded a trailer outlining what’s to come in the second half of December, and there’s a lot to unpack. Alongside a load of Santa-themed skins, Dragonite is set to join the game as a playable character. Aeos Island will receive a snowy makeover, with a map reskin that will turn it into a winter wonderland.

It looks to be a large update, which means it’s worth going over each part of what’s to come.

Dragonite set to come to Pokemon Unite after Tsareena

December is going to see at least two new playable characters added to Pokemon Unite, with Dragonite joining Tsareena. Tsareena was initially spotted by a data miner and has since been confirmed and revealed for the game. Tsareena will release on December 9.

Dragonite is set to come out shortly thereafter. Though a specific release date wasn’t given for the Pokemon’s release, the trailer ends with “Festivities begin on December 15.” It’s uncertain if this means all the new things introduced in the trailer will come out at once on that date, or if they will be staggered out across the remainder of December.

It’s uncertain exactly how Dragonite will play, but a few moves were shown. It looks as though Dragonite will have a standard dash-and-stun move, as well as a fire breathing attack. His ultimate looks to be a slam that calls down meteors.

Dragonite is the second “pseudo legendary” Pokemon to be added to Pokemon Unite, joining Garchomp. This is notable as it means that Dragonite might join Garchomp and Mamoswine as the most late-game-focused characters in the game.

Christmas holowear skins bring surprises

A number of skins were shown off in this trailer, for both Pokemon and trainer avatars. Included in this are an abundance of Santa hats, two new skin lines including a chef-inspired look for Snorlax, Cramorant, and Mr. Mime, and Christmas skins for Pikachu and Crustle.

This is largely standard fare, but the Christmas skins for Pikachu and Crustle are notable. Instead of just looking nice, they actually change animations for both Pokemon. Attacks and scoring have new thematic effects, with presents and treats flying everywhere for players who have the skins equipped. 

Changing animations is interesting and could provide extra value to Pokemon skins, something that has been historically lacking in Pokemon Unite. Watch for this to potentially become the norm for more expensive holowear heading into 2022.