A few months away from its release, it feels likePokemonfans know so much yet so little aboutPokemon ScarletandPokemon Violet. These two games aspire to be the first fully open worldPokemontitles, doing away with the barriers that the last couple Game Freak titles used in their worlds. Building off of this, players will be allowed much more freedom in how they progress through the world, and can even share a playthrough with up to three other humans. Even though less than ten new Pokemon have been revealed so far, there’s already a lot to look forward to inPokemon ScarletandViolet.
There is one other matter that fans have been discussing, however. Game Freak has shown a pattern of injecting some sort of battle system gimmick into the last few mainlinePokemontitles.XandYintroduced Mega Evolutions,SunandMoonhad Z-Moves, andSwordandShieldemployed Dynamaxing. These abilities did not persist outside their respective generations, andScarletandViolethave already been shown to have dropped the turn order system fromPokemon Legends. Fans are sure that some sort of new mechanic is coming to the 9th GenerationPokemongames, and a particular design direction found in several characters may hint at what this is.
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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Seem to be Teasing a Time Theme
While theScarletandViolettitles for thisPokemongeneration seem to bereferencing an old Spanish flag, any further meaning was not initially clear. Now that the gameplay reveal trailer has introduced the two versions’ professors and box legendaries, a second meaning for these colors has appeared.Scarlet’s Professor Sada is named similarly to the Spanish word for past, andViolet’s Professor Turo is close to the word for future. The two are dressed correspondingly, with Sada donning tribal clothing beneath her lab coat and Turo opting for a sleek bodysuit instead. The legendaries follow this theme as well, withScarlet’s Koraidon resembling a feathered raptor whileViolet’s Miraidon can be best described as a hoverbike.
At the moment, that’s allPokemonfans have to work with. Game Freak has been reserved with rolling out updates for these particularPokemontitles, and even their basic gym progression remains unknown. The only other thing to glean from the legendaries is that they both resemble motorcycles, and could eventually be used in the place ofwhatever vehicle corresponds to the pit stopsseen in the trailer. The past and future elements are currently just a visual theme, but there are a lot of ways that aPokemongame could make use of such a concept.
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Time Travel Could Factor into Scarlet and Violet’s Exploration
Obviously, the distant past and the far-flung future could factor into the game’s story. Some sort of time instability or a villainous team trying to invent time travel for personal gain could easily slot into aPokemontitle. The only problem with this is thatPokemon Scarletseems to focus exclusively on the past, whilePokemon Violetonly cares about the future. It could turn out to be a misdirect, but as it stands, writing and designing a game to accommodate traveling to either the past or the future would be rather difficult. Making the past, present, and future versions of a given area would need a lot more work than what past themes ofland versus sea or life versus deathhave required.
Thus, having two or three versions of the whole open map can probably be written off. What would be a lot more acceptable for both gameplay and story setpieces would be summoning time bubbles. These bubbles would containdifferent Pokemon from the past or future, and players could use the alternate periods to solve environmental puzzles that would otherwise stop them in their tracks. For example, the various man-made and urban-associated Pokemon would be more common in the future, and a past bubble could return a flooded ruin to either its pristine form or an ice age with new frozen bridges. That way, many more Pokemon would be able to fit into each game, multiplayer users could bring each other into their respective versions for a while, and each area would be that extra bit more memorable.
Battling Could Make Use of Past and Future Versions of Pokemon
Of course, that brings the discussion back to the new battle mechanic. Players have been discussing since the initial reveal trailer what this could be, with theories often including some sort of Pokemon Type augmentation. Some have suggested that something new likea Sound Type could be added, or that an extra Type could be applied to Pokemon during battles. With time travel in the picture, the possibilities for this mechanic are narrowed down. While Pokemon having more than two types is not likely, there may be a way to change a Pokemon’s typing in a manner similar to Mega Evolution.
A Pokemon’s ancestors or descendants could be adapted to different environments. For example, the title legendaries could be fundamentally the same species in the present, but Koraidon is a solitary hunting animal while Miraidon has been converted into a cyborg for societal use. This still has some crossover with Mega Evolution, but if players could set distinct loadouts for each form, then the strategic impact would be enormous. There could also be an element of localized time travel in certain technologically equipped gyms like inSwordandShield. Battles in them could adhere to special formats like rotation battles, permanent Trick Room status, or theturn order fromPokemon Legends. There are a lot of placesPokemon ScarletandVioletcould go with time travel if they wanted to, and hopefully they’ll push it as far as it can go.
Pokemon ScarletandPokemon Violetwill be released on November 18 for the Nintendo Switch.
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