Gimmighoul’s evolution grabs some gnarly air with its leaked Pokémon Scarlet and Violet design

As the new Pokémon Scarlet and Violet inch ever closer to its long-awaited release, some Poké-fans have allegedly gotten their hands on a rom of Pokémon Scarlet and have been eagerly leaking data as fast as they can upload screenshots. From brand new Pokémon being added en masse to the ever-growing roster to new mechanics, Poké-fans have a huge amount of content to sift through while they await the release of the next Pokémon title. Gimmighoul’s final evolution is one such piece of data to be leaked, and it’s pretty tubular, all things considered.

Related: The best Gimmighoul fanart from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet fans

Gimmighoul has already captured the hearts of Poké-fans — its small, adorable character design comes complete with adorable antennae and large eyes, upping the cute factor ten-fold. So when an image leaked showing Gimmighoul all grown up, shredding in what appears to be a gold-plated skin, Gimmighoul went from a Poké-trainers want, to a desperate need. And are those coins flying off the nose of the board?

It’s important to note that this is an in-game image, meaning it appears somewhere in the game. Without a Pokédex entry or roster screenshot, it’s difficult to tell whether it’s already in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. It could be released later, added as DLC, and it’s equally plausible that it’s already available in-game, but the leakers haven’t managed to evolve or capture it just yet.

This highlights the underlying issues of leakers and rumors in the video game industry. It’s next to impossible to verify the accuracy and authenticity of a leak until, ideally, the developer comes forward and states that the leaks are genuine. Alternatively, fans will need to wait until Pokémon Scarlet and Violet releases to check for themselves whether the leaks are accurate.