Pokémon Sword & Shield - 10 Best New Pokémon

Falinks has been set up to be a very divisive Pokémon, but for those coming down on the pro Falinks side, it’s a bizarrely brilliant beast. Inspired by Roman foot soldiers, Falinks follows the tradition of Exeggcute of being a bunch of smaller creatures combining as one Pokémon.

Falinks is encountered during the weaving rocky maze of the map, and can be spotted darting from one tiny crevice to another like a super powered Nokia snake. While there have been other bundled ‘mons before, there’s never been any quite like this.

Each individual creature (a Falink?) has a great minimal design on their own, essentially a shadowy ball wearing a golden helmet and marching. It might just be the strangest ‘mon in the game, but it’s also the only one who comes close to dethroning Cinderace for best signature move.

Though some animations are still meh, Game Freak have gone all out on signatures. No Retreat boosts all stats and makes it impossible to withdraw, but that hardly tells the story.

Like something out of 300, the Falinks form a Flying V as stone braziers appear and a tidal wave crashes on a cliff behind them. It’s epic on an unseen scale for Pokémon.