Two major Game FreakPokemontitles releasing in the same year is an almost unheard-of occurrence, but that’s what happened in 2022.Pokemon Legends: ArceusandPokemon ScarletandVioletboth came out to mixed yet intrigued reviews, with many thinking ofPokemon Legendsas the prototype for the latter. Each title tackled the open-world genre, withLegendstesting the waters through several massive areas andPokemon ScarletandVioletsporting one giant map. This resulted in some of the most distinctPokemongames fans have tried in a long time, renewing hope for the series' future even while its lack of polish grows more obvious.
Pokemon Legends: ArceusandPokemon ScarletandVioletended up sharing a number of traits, though not as manyPokemon Legendsaspects returned as some would have liked. Both shared a focus on time travel, withPokemon LegendsandPokemon Scarletlooking to the past whileVioletexamined the future. While the player themselves did not personally time travel inScarletorViolet, they do meet Paradox Pokemon from the distant past or future. These species introduced a new naming scheme to the franchise, and it would be great if thePokemon Legendssubseries not only continued, but took advantage of this fitting detail.
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Scarlet and Violet’s Paradox Pokemon Introduced A New Naming Scheme
In most of the games within thePokemonfranchise, Pokemon names are original words based on puns. Regional variants add their given region’s name to the front, even inPokemon Legendswhere the Hisui region was really the past form of Generation 4’s Sinnoh. The first time Game Freak approached breaking this rule was with theUltra Beasts inPokemon SunandMoon. Initially, it isn’t clear if these powerful beings are even Pokemon, so they are assigned a UB number followed by a descriptive word. They received normal names after more was learned about them, but the initial titles made them feel unsettling and alien at first.
Pokemon ScarletandVioletthrew this tradition away with shocking ease. Once the player reaches Area Zero, they will encounter Paradox Pokemon fromScarlet’s past orViolet’s future. TheParadox Pokemon inViolethave the word “Iron"at the front of their names, followed by a descriptive word.Scarlet’s prehistoric beasts, meanwhile, have no consistency and use names ranging from Scream Tail to Roaring Moon. After decades of Pokemon names rendered in a single, pun-based style, Paradox Pokemon have broken new ground by simply using regular words.
Why A Pokemon Legends Sequel Could Use Paradox Pokemon Names From Scarlet
While this makes Paradox Pokemon stand out as oddities in mainlinePokemongames, they would be right at home in aPokemon Legendssequel. The thing aboutPokemon Legends' setting is that it’s only set a few hundred years before most otherPokemongames. Knowledge of what Pokemon are like and how to handle them is scarce but is rapidly growing. AnotherLegendstitle playing off ofPokemon Scarletcould go back even farther into the past, way before humans had decided on what to call different Pokemon.Scarlet’s freeform descriptive names work perfectly in an ancient setting filled with terrifying, unknown Pokemon.
Violet’s naming scheme is a little harder to use, though the idea of aPokemontitle set in the far future is still appealing. At any rate, usingLegendsto explore Pokemon locations in unseen time periods is brilliant, and unknown Pokemon species that haven’t evolved into their modern forms could easily be named like Paradox Pokemon. Thefuture of thePokemon Legendsspin-off seriesis currently unclear, but many hope that Game Freak carries its concepts forward and gives exploring the life of an ancient Pokemon trainer another shot.
Pokemon Legends: Arceusis available now for Nintendo Switch.
MORE:One Year Later, Pokemon Legends: Arceus Still Has Plenty of Lessons to Teach
