Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were some of the most hotly anticipated video games to be released for the Nintendo Switch in a long time. Like (almost) all of its predecessors, these games were released as a pair on 18th November 2022 and ushered in the ninth generation of Pokémon.

The new generation brought with it new Pokémon, new characters, new game mechanics and a whole new region to explore. The new region, Paldea, is thought to be based on the Iberian Peninsula, an area which is mostly made up of Spain and Portugal. This is evident throughout the games with plenty of Spanish references and words scattered throughout Paldea.

The Pokémon Scarlet and Violet starters are what a lot of people are most excited about and feature Quaxly, Sprigatito and Fuecoco. As always, we have a fire, a water and a grass type starter and this is something that Pokémon has never strayed from in its nine generations.

If you have played any of the Pokémon video games in the past, you will know that each of the pair has some differences.

We are going to take a look at those differences to help you decide on which game will be better for you.

Pokémon Differences

As with all previous games, there are some simple and subtle differences such as which Pokémon are available in each game. This has been a regular feature for as long as the games have been running and means that to complete the Pokedex in the game, you will need to trade certain Pokémon from Scarlet to Violet and vice versa.

The first and most obvious version specific Pokémon are the ‘Box Legendaries’ Koraidon (Scarlet) and Miraidon (Violet). Depending which version of the game you have will determine which of these is available and you receive one early on in the game as your mode of transport, which makes exploring this massive open world easy and exciting. There are even differences in the way these Pokémon move around with Koraidon having the Sprinting Build, Swimming Build and Gliding Build. The Miraidon has Drive Mode, Aquatic Mode and Glide Mode. Both of these function the same but it’s good to be aware of the name differences.

But there are a whole list of others which I’ll set out below:

Scarlet:

• Armarouge
• Tauros -Blaze Breed
• Larvitar/Pupitar/Tyranitar
• Stonjourner
• Drifloon/Drifblim
• Oranguru
• Stunky/Skuntank
• Skrelp/Dragalge
• Deino/Zweilous/Hydreigon

Violet

• Ceruledge
• Tauros - Aqua Breed
• Bagon/Shelgon/Salamence
• Eiscue
• Misdreavus/Mismagius
• Passimian
• Gulpin/Swalot
• Clauncher/Clawitzer
• Dreepy/Drakloak/Dragapult

As you can see, there are a few differences and some pretty popular Pokémon in this list, including Dragapult and Tyrannitar. For some people, this can make all the difference and if your favourite Pokémon is on this list then you may be more inclined to get the version which features them.  

Paradox Forms

Paradox Form Pokémon are a new addition to the Scarlet and Violet games, a never before seen region exclusive. These are past and future forms of Pokémon, the past versions residing in Pokémon Scarlet and the future versions coming out of Pokémon Violet, very much like the box legendaries, Koraidon and Miraidon, and the Professors, Sada and Turo.

These powerful Pokémon are only available towards the very end of the game and there are different ones for each version.

Here is a list of the Paradox Pokémon for each game and their ancient (Scarlet) or futuristic (Scarlet) counterparts. Although these Pokémon are not known to evolve to or from any others, they do resemble versions of their counterparts.

Pokémon Scarlet:

• Great Tusk - Donphan
• Scream Tail - Jigglypuff
• Brute Bonnet - Amoonguss
• Flutter Mane - Misdreavus
• Slither Wing - Volcarona
• Sandy Shocks - Magneton
• Roaring Moon - Salamence

Pokémon Violet:

• Iron Treads - Donphan
• Iron Bundle - Delibird
• Iron Hands - Hariyama
• Iron Jugulis - Hydreigon
• Iron Moth - Volcorona
• Iron Thorns - Tyranitar
• Iron Valiant - Gardevoir/Gallade

Exclusive Academies

Without giving too many spoilers, in these games you will be joining an academy where you will learn all about the Pokémon and the history of the region of Paldea. Each game has its own unique academy, with Pokémon Scarlet featuring Naranja Academy and Pokémon Violet featuring Uva Academy. Each of these have their very own unique professors (which we will take a look at soon), their own crest and their own uniforms. The crest for Naranja Academy features an orange and the crest for Uva Academy features a bunch of grapes, both very fitting with the colour theme. The academy director, Director Clavell, is the same in both games, although he does change the colour of his suit for each one!

Characters

Both of the games have a different professor for you to work with. In Scarlet you get to work alongside Professor Sada, whereas in Violet you get to work with Professor Turo. The two professors are the perfect representations of their respective worlds, Sada with a more caveman look to match the games legendaries and Turo has a more futuristic look, more in line with the style of Violet. This is the first time that a pair of games has had a different professor and they play a different (but somewhat similar) role in their respective games. We won’t discuss their relationship to other characters here in detail because we don’t want to spoil too much!

The endgame is very much centred around the professors and involves time machines and AI!

Exclusive Outfits

As we said earlier, each of the academies has its own uniform, depending on which game you are playing. You might have guessed already, but Naranja Academy has an orange uniform and Uva Academy has a purple uniform. Maybe one of these is your favourite colour and helps you decide which game version to choose!

One thing to note is that you can’t change your outfit to something completely different, you only have a choice of four styles, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. You can choose your different accessories though, including footwear, glasses, bags and even your rotom phone case!

Story Differences

The main story difference (aside from the characters, Pokémon and academies) is the theme, with Scarlet being based around the past and violet being based around the future. This is evident throughout the game, with the professors, but is most obvious at the game's climax when we are introduced to the paradox Pokémon and learn a lot more about the professors and who they are!

All in all, the Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet games have been a great addition to the Pokémon world and no matter which one you decide to go for, I know you will have a great time and spend hours exploring, catching Pokémon and battling with your friends.