Pokémon unveils generation 9

Written for April 5, 2022 print edition

By Graciela Del Rosario

Staff Editor

In a long awaited announcement, Nintendo reveals Pokémon´s generation nine titles: Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet.

In Feb. 27´s Pokémon Presents, Nintendo unveiled the next main-line titles for the series, setting their release date for the latter half of 2022. This announcement excites Nintendo enthusiasts as it follows the company’s Direct earlier in Feb., anticipating even more content for fans. Pokémon has always been a big part of my life–with its main titles and side games–so this sudden announcement intrigued me, and the entirety of the internet.

From the three minute video, internet sleuths tore the trailer to shreds, aiming to find any clue of anything. The general consensus (and piecing together literal fragments and frames) has determined this generation is based around Spain and Portugal, perhaps specifically the Iberian Peninsula and the game appears to take inspiration from space and discovery as main themes. Alongside the shown geography and architecture, the basilica-like structure shown throughout heavily resembles the Sagrada Família, located in the district of Barcelona. Additionally, the “main plaza” that has Pokémon typing tiles adorning it shows similarities to Portugal’s calçada portuguesa, in terms of architecture and ground design. The world they’ve shown already looks remarkable even though much of it is still in development. Hopefully though, their wild areas and routes will look more detailed and freeing compared to what Sword and Shield had to offer (and the textures could use some work too). I enjoyed the previous installment, but following Legends of Arceus is a tough act to beat.

Beside the environment, the Pokémon and trainers have piqued many interests. Right off the bat, the avatars/main characters look…empty (in-game at least). They have more rounder features and it’s cute, just not the biggest fan of it. A nice detail though is that depending on the version players decide to pick up, the colors of the avatar’s uniform changes (orange for Scarlet and purple for Violet). Hopefully character and clothing customization makes a comeback and integrates Spain’s fashion scene to some capacity; as their mix of traditional clothing with modern styles could blend beautifully within the game.

What took myself and the majority of the internet in a chokehold though is the starters. To start, they are absolutely adorable. The Fire Croc Fuecoco, the Grass Cat Sprigatito, and the water Duckling Quaxly were proudly revealed and the internet is already trying to decide on which one to stay loyal to. Fan artists are already attempting to predict their next evolutions and my only wish (and the rest of the internet) is to have Sprigatito stay on four legs and ONLY four legs (thanks Incineroar and Delphox…).

Finally, every Pokémon game has a gimmick whether it be mega-evolution or dynamaxing, so what’s Scarlet and Violet’s niche? Fans have noticed the Japanese version of the titles have gems embellishing them, so perhaps that may be a hint?