It is 2016 and official Pokémon art now depicts Pikachu DYING. What a time to be alive (or not, in this case!)
We’d already heard that Pokémon Sun and Moon would include a haunted sandcastle Pokémon, but today The Pokémon Company unveiled footage showing the critter in action:
The official Pokémon website also updated with new information, including this factoid about Palossand, who is pictured in the initial image on this post:
Palossand loves the vitality of Pokémon and drags small Pokémon into its body so it can steal their life force. Its sandy vortex swallows them up in a heartbeat! Pokémon dragged into Palossand leave traces of their ill will behind. It’s thought that this negative energy may be the starting point of new Sandygast...
Damn, that’s dark. You can’t even drag the creature for basically being called “Pile of sand,” because it’s a pile of sand that could kill your favorite monster. The Pokémon lore doesn’t mess around sometimes!
Between this and Mimicyu, it seems like the upcoming generation of Pokémon games really have it in for Pikachu, huh?