Everything You Need to Know About ‘Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’

The overarching region at the heart of this new Pokémon journey is called "Paldea," which is patterned after the real-world Iberian Peninsula. The booming city at the heart of this new region is called "Mesagoza," which plays host to either the "Naranja Academy" (in Scarlet) or "Uva Academy" (in Violet). Your trainer attends one of those institutions and is pushed to involve themselves in the annual "Treasure Hunt," which requires trainers to go exploring and come upon their own treasure (this journey is inspired by the newest trainer rival, Nemona). Three storylines lie at the heart of this new trek, which are explained below:

1. Starfall Street - trainers will have to contend with a mischievous gang known as "Team Star"
2. Path of Legends - trainers will team up with a new character named Arven in a bid to battle giant Pokémon and discover the lofty "Herba Mystica"
3. Victory Road - trainers will have to take on eight Gym Leaders in any order they desire, face the ultimate champion, and become the greatest Pokémon Trainer in the process

As with every mainline Pokémon game, you'll get to choose from three Starter Pokémon before you embark on your trek. Those brand new Pocket Monsters include:

1. Sprigatito - Grass Cat Pokémon and Grass Type
2. Fuecoco - Fire Croc Pokémon and Fire Type
3. Quaxly - Duckling Pokémon and Water Type

As far as the newest Legendary Pokémon go, Scarlet will feature Koraidon while Violet will have Miraidon. The coolest thing about these new creatures is the fact that you can actually use them as transports across land, sea, and air. The newest array of Pokémon that will debut in this mainline series iteration is Armarouge (exclusively in Scarlet), Bellibolt, Ceruledge (exclusively in Violet), Cetitan, Cyclizar, Farigiraf, Fidough, Grafaiai, Greavard, Klawf, Lechonk, Paldean Wooper, Pawmi, Smoliv, Wiglett, and Gimmighoul.

You know what to expect here if you've played any other Pokémon games in your lifetime - plenty of exploring, battling, capturing, trading, and training. The two major addition to that gameplay formula are the "Terastal" phenomenon and the four-player online co-op option. That first mechanic focuses on Pokémon being able to transform into their crystalline form, which changes their appearance and also has the possibility of switching up their elemental type to their "Tera Type." Terastallized Pokémon have the ability to use a powerful move called "Tera Blast," which is powered by that creature's Tera Type. When it comes to the co-op feature, four players can venture together across the Paldea region and participate in "Tera Raid Battles." These clashes include all four players taking on super-powerful Terastallized Pokémon during battles where no one has to wait for their turn to land an attack. Upon defeating that massive threat, they'll be able to capture it.