Looking to get your Pokémon fix? Well, Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet are here – in all their open-world awesomeness.
Pack up your Pokéballs and head out into the brand new Paldea region for a Treasure Hunt entirely of your own making. It’s filled with towns to explore, trainers to battle and of course, Pokémon to catch!
What’s new about Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?
Scarlet and Violet are open-world games – which means you can explore your surroundings in a much more immersive way than traditional Pokémon games. You’ll still be battling against wild Pokémon to catch them and build the perfect team to take on every trainer in your way. But now you’ll be exploring seamlessly blended towns, seas, forests and inevitably a cave or two. Better stock up on those Potions!
There’s a whopping 400 Pokémon to catch in ScarVi - and 106 of them are completely brand new. So there’ll be something exciting waiting around every corner, in every river and over every mountain - and without spoiling too much, you’ll have your own legendary Pokémon to help you on your way…
We’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of different Pokémon games released in the past year. First the classic DS games Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were relaunched on Nintendo Switch in November, and then in January we got Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Pokémon fans – you’re being spoilt.
Ready for our hands-on video?
Starter Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet
Any good trainer knows that before you build a team – you need to pick your first Pokémon! Let’s have a look at the three new starters:
Quaxly is a duckling Pokémon and (of course) the water starter. Quaxly is described as ‘earnest and tidy’ and will probably have some great water/ flying moves as it grows. But let’s be honest, if you pick this charming duck it’s all to do with that amazing hat… hair… feather situation?
Prefer to kick things off strong with a fire type? Meet Fuecoco. A fire croc, Fuecoco ‘does things at its own pace’. We’re predicting an absolute tank for its final evolution.
Rounding off the big three we have Sprigatito – the grass type. Now we don’t want to play favourites, but just look at that face. Sprigatito is described as ‘the capricious, attention-seeking grass cat’. Considering previous cat Pokémon have had a dark/fire/electricity lean (yes, we know Leafeon exists too) it will be interesting to see how this one evolves and works in your team.
What’s the difference between Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?
Any longtime Pokémon fan will know all about version exclusives, and developer Game Freak sticks with that trusty formula here.
One of the most obvious differences between ScarVi are the legendary Pokémon - in Scarlet you get Koraidon and in Violet you get Miraidon. You can use both versions to get around the map, so it really just depends on the aesthetic you prefer - Koraidon has a red, feathery vibe, and Miraidon is all purple, neon and metal. This fits the theme of each game respectively - Scarlet embodies the past, whilst Violet embodies the future. We’ll leave it up to you to discover what that means…
Alongside that, each version has its own exclusive wild Pokémon to be found and caught. Plus, depending on the game you play, your character’s school crest and uniform will change. We’re team purple shorts at the moment.
