Ever since Pokémon Unite launched on 21st July we’ve been hearing about Blastoise being added as a playable character, but now that’s finally happening come 1st September.

Expected to be the first post-launch Pokémon to be added, Blastoise has to wait in line behind Gardevoir, Blissey and others. This was strange as Blastoise was advertised before the launch of the game appearing in art and other marketing material. You can even see the Pokémon in a piece of art above used for the launch of the game.

We’ve got as first look at how the cannon turtle will look and play in a short video released by the official Pokémon Unite account (see the embed below).

In the trailer Blastoise uses several familiar moves seen in other Pokémon media such as hydro pump, surf and rapid spin. For rapid spin developer TiMi Studio even modelled the Pokémon withdrawing into its shell first, which is a nice touch.

Also a nice touch is the animation for Blastoise scoring points which uses the familiar back cannons.

Blastoise is the third and last of the original Kanto starters to come to Pokémon Unite. Both Charizard and Venusaur were available at launch making the lack of the water starter all the more apparent.

OK, Trainers.

Blastoise: September 1.

That is all.#PokemonUNITE pic.twitter.com/7DxZdCFJeY

— Pokémon UNITE (@PokemonUnite) August 25, 2021

Pokémon Unite is available now as a free download on Nintendo Switch. A port for mobile devices – both Android and iOS – will arrive on 22nd September.

In anticipation of the mobile launch there’s also an incentive programme created to entice the community to pre-register. Rewards will be given out to said community when pre-registration numbers reach one million, 2.5 million and five million.

Shortly after the announcement of Blastoise made a few minutes ago at the time of writing, the 2.5 million milestone was reached. This unlocks a Unite licence for Pikachu which means more people can play as this Pokémon without spending the resources to buy their own Unite licence.

We just reached a new pre-register reward milestone, surpassing over 2.5 million pre-registrations! The Pikachu Unite license has been unlocked!

Keep at it, Trainers! We’re most of the way there!

Read up on the details ➡️https://t.co/GwGWwDMHmX pic.twitter.com/rnUX6wSIfW

— Pokémon UNITE (@PokemonUnite) August 25, 2021