Have you ever been unable to decide between playing Genshin Impact and Pokémon? Or maybe you hate killing things in Genshin and want minions to do your dirty work instead? Well, now that Furina is here, I’ve been able to live my dreams of becoming a Pokémon trainer in Genshin Impact.
So, how do you play Pokémon in Genshin? Certain characters, like Fischl, can summon creatures to fight for them. Fischl can summon a crow familiar named Oz, who stays on-field and deals damage. There are others, too, like Kokomi, who summons a jellyfish, and Xiangling, who summons a small bear named Guoba. Combine multiple summons like this, and you end up with a field full of Pokémon ready to do your bidding.
Taking this concept, I tried to fully clear the current Spiral Abyss with Pokémon teams. Here’s how that went.
Pokémon Bloom
This team is made up of Nilou, Furina, Dendro Traveler, and Yaoyao. Furina summons three Salon members: an octopus, a seahorse, and a crab. Yaoyao can summon three to four Yueguis during her Burst. Traveler summons a lamp. It may not be an animal, but we do have a lamp Pokémon already, so I’m going to say it counts. Nilou is just there to buff the Bloom reaction.
I set up Nilou’s Bountiful Bloom passive, dropped down Furina’s and Dendro Traveler’s summons, and then Burst with Yaoyao. Then, I stay on-field with Yaoyao and run around the enemies. I don’t even need to attack. All of my Pokémon do my fighting for me.
The result is chaos. The entire screen turns green and fills with numbers. There are radishes and Bountiful Cores everywhere. Furina’s Salon members are somewhere in there, too. I can’t even see my own character. After a few seconds of green explosions, the enemies are dead, and the “challenge cleared” screen appears. That’s a success in my book, even if I couldn’t see anything that happened.
Pokémon Vape
Next, I tried Kokomi, Furina, Bennett, and Xiangling. Kokomi’s jellyfish and Xiangling’s Guoba join Furina’s Salon members on-field, creating a menagerie of Pokémon. Bennett doesn’t create any summons, but I need him to buff and provide Energy for Xiangling.
The team works by putting down everyone’s summons and using Kokomi on-field to heal the team. Between her Normal Attacks, the jellyfish, and Furina’s Salon members, there’s plenty of Hydro to let Xiangling Vaporize all her Pyronado hits. My favorite part is that it’s incredibly easy to play.
Did this team do well? Of course it did. Furina and Xiangling are both powerhouses, and Kokomi does a great job at keeping everyone’s HP full. It feels a bit like cheating, though, and not just because this team is so foolproof. Can it really be called a Pokémon team if most of the damage comes from Xiangling’s Burst and not the summons themselves?
Sukokomon
There’s always the OG Pokémon team. The team consists of Sucrose, Kokomi, Fischl, and Xiangling. This team combines Sucrose’s wind spirits, Kokomi’s jellyfish, Fischl’s Oz, and Xiangling’s Guoba to chain as many reactions as possible.
This one is a bit trickier to play. Part of it involves using Sucrose’s Skill right when Xiangling’s Guoba is about to breathe fire. This triggers Swirl on Guoba himself, applying Pyro onto surrounding enemies and causing chain reactions. There are detailed videos on how to pull this off, but I don’t think I was able to do it consistently.
Regardless, these elements create a messy soup of reactions that keep chaining into one another. It’s a spicy mix of Swirl, Vaporize, Overload, and Electro-Charged that fills the screen with more numbers than a math test. I don’t know if I got an A, but I did clear the chamber with plenty of time to spare, so I guess that means I passed?
Other Teams
These are far from the only Pokémon teams in Genshin Impact. If you want maximum Pokémon, then try Furina, Yae Miko, Dendro Traveler, and Yaoyao. Between Furina’s three Salon members, Yae’s three fox totems, Traveler’s lamp, and Yaoyao’s Yueguis, you can have up to 11 summons on-field at a time. I don’t have Yae, so I had to make do with Fischl. It’s a little scuffed since Yae and Fischl don’t make the best Hyperbloom triggers, but it works decently. Still, I wouldn’t call this one my favorite.
I got my full clear of Spiral Abyss, but I’m still experimenting with other Pokémon teams as I go. I’m also dying to try other creative Genshin teams, Pokémon-themed or not. It’s always fun to find new ways to enjoy Genshin, and I hope everyone is enjoying Fontaine as much as I am.
