Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet are 2022 role-playing video games created by Game Freak and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for the Nintendo Switch. These games are the first in the ninth generation of the Pokémon video game series. They were announced in February 2022 and released on November 18, 2022. Later, the games received a downloadable content (DLC) expansion pass called The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero. The first part of the DLC, The Teal Mask, was released on September 13, 2023, and the second part, The Indigo Disk, was released on December 14, 2023. A post-game expansion named Mochi Mayhem, which serves as an ending to the DLC and the games, was released on January 11, 2024.
The games take place in the Paldea Region, which is inspired by the Iberian Peninsula. Unlike earlier Pokémon games, these titles feature an open world. Players can complete three separate storylines. The games introduce 120 new Pokémon, two new regional forms, and special creatures called Paradox Pokémon. They also introduce the Terastal phenomenon, which allows a Pokémon to change into its unique "Tera Type." The games include features from earlier modern Pokémon games, such as large open areas and Pokémon appearing in the game world.
Development of Scarlet and Violet began right after the release of its predecessors, Pokémon Sword and Shield. Game Freak wanted to use a new art style for the games, combining more realistic world designs with stylized character designs. Models and animations for Pokémon species were updated to match this new artistic style.
Critics gave the games average reviews. Some praised the story, while others pointed out technical issues. The games sold over 10 million copies in their first three days, making them Nintendo’s largest launch ever. By December 2025, they had sold over 28 million copies. A free update for the games on Nintendo Switch 2, which includes better visuals, performance, and other improvements, was released on June 5, 2025.
Gameplay
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet follow the same basic gameplay as earlier Pokémon games. Players collect Pokémon, mainly by catching or trading them, and use them to explore the world and battle other trainers. A new feature allows players to battle trainers on paths. The games add 112 new Pokémon, including three new starter Pokémon—Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly—which are the first Pokémon players receive. Two new legendary Pokémon, Koraidon and Miraidon, join players throughout the game.
Scarlet and Violet have open worlds that mix cities and open nature areas without clear borders, unlike earlier games. Players can ride Koraidon or Miraidon, depending on the game version, to move around and use special abilities to explore Paldea’s terrain. A new "Auto Battle" feature lets players send Pokémon to fight other Pokémon without entering turn-based battles. Players can also choose from three different story routes, and tasks within each route can be completed in any order.
Each route has a different style. The first route, Victory Road, involves defeating Pokémon Gyms to earn badges from Gym Leaders. Gyms can be fought in any order, and after earning eight badges, players battle the Elite Four and their leader, Geeta. The second route, Path of Legends, requires players to defeat powerful "Titan Pokémon," such as Klawf, Bombirdier, Orthworm, Great Tusk (in Scarlet), Iron Treads (in Violet), or Dondozo. Defeating these Titans gives players Herba Mystica items, which improve their mount’s abilities, like jumping higher or climbing walls. The third route, Starfall Street, involves fighting a group of rebellious students called Team Star. Players must defeat five Team Star bases within a time limit to face the route’s final boss. Completing all three routes unlocks a fourth route that finishes the game’s main story.
The games introduce the Terastal phenomenon, which makes Pokémon look sparkly and changes their type to match their "Tera Type." This affects their strengths and weaknesses. A special move called Tera Blast becomes the same type as the Pokémon’s Tera Type when used by a Terastallized Pokémon. Players can change their Pokémon’s Tera Type. Wild Terastallized Pokémon can be fought in "Tera Raids," where up to four players battle a Terastallized Pokémon under a time limit. Each player uses one Pokémon, and if their Pokémon is knocked out, the time remaining decreases. Players can catch the raid boss after defeating it. Online features let players team up in Tera Raids.
The games add new mechanics. A "picnic" feature lets players play with their Pokémon, make sandwiches that help in the game, and breed Pokémon to get eggs. Up to four players can join picnics online. Players can also connect with others over the internet through "Union Circles," where up to four players explore the game world together. Online features allow trading and battling with other players.
Plot
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet take place in the Paldea Region of the Pokémon universe, which seems to be inspired by the Iberian Peninsula. The region includes a variety of landscapes, such as lakes, wastelands, and mountain ranges. A large crater, called the Great Crater of Paldea, is located in the center of the region. Inside the crater is an area named Area Zero.
In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, players attend either the Naranja (Scarlet) or Uva (Violet) Academy. The academy hosts an annual event called the "Treasure Hunt," which encourages students to find something they value by exploring the region. After meeting the Legendary Pokémon Koraidon or Miraidon, who joins the player despite losing its ability to battle, the player is invited to participate in three stories: Victory Road, Starfall Street, and Path of Legends.
In Victory Road, Nemona—a Trainer ranked as a Champion and a rival of the player—asks the player to complete the Paldea region's eight Gyms. After defeating the leaders of each Gym, the player can earn the Champion rank by defeating the region's Elite Four and Top Champion Geeta. Once the player achieves Champion rank, Nemona challenges them to a final battle, which the player wins.
In Path of Legends, Arven asks the player to help locate the five legendary Herba Mystica. To obtain each Herba Mystica, the player and Arven work together to defeat "Titan Pokémon," which are unusually large Pokémon powered by the Herba Mystica. Arven explains that he wants to use the Herba Mystica to heal his injured pet Mabosstiff, who was hurt by a Pokémon in Area Zero—the workplace of his parent, either Professor Sada (Scarlet) or Turo (Violet). After defeating all five Titans, the player and Arven use the Herba Mystica to heal Mabosstiff and restore Koraidon/Miraidon's lost powers. Arven then challenges the player to a final battle before being called by the professor to go to Area Zero with either the Scarlet or Violet Book. Arven decides they must recruit more allies before entering Area Zero.
In Starfall Street, the player helps a shy schoolgirl named Penny stand up to Team Star, a group responsible for bullying at the academy. Cassiopeia, the founder of Team Star and Penny's secret identity, asks the player to join "Operation Starfall," which aims to stop Team Star by defeating its five squad bosses. The player is aided by academy director Clavell, who disguises himself as a student named Clive to investigate Team Star's origins, and Penny, who wants to guide the player as Cassiopeia. They learn that Team Star was created to stop bullying, not cause it, and that their past confrontation with bullies led to the bullies leaving the academy and some staff resigning. After defeating all squad bosses, Penny reveals her identity and challenges the player to a battle. After her defeat, Clavell exposes his disguise and offers peace with Team Star, though its members must complete community service as punishment for breaking rules.
After choosing Nemona and Penny for help, Arven and the player travel to the Zero Lab, the professor's laboratory in Area Zero. This unlocks the final story, The Way Home. Inside, they encounter Paradox Pokémon—biological relatives of existing Pokémon from either the ancient past (Scarlet) or far future (Violet). Koraidon and Miraidon are revealed to be Paradox Pokémon, related to Cyclizar, and were driven out of Area Zero after losing a territorial battle to a more aggressive Koraidon/Miraidon. At the laboratory, the professor is revealed to be an AI substitute for the real professor, who died in a lab accident before the events of the games. The AI explains that the original professor created a time machine to retrieve Paradox Pokémon and insists on maintaining it to protect Paldea's environment. The AI urges the player to shut down the time machine but is forced to battle them. After being defeated, the time machine's security system disables Poké Balls not registered under Sada/Turo's ID, leaving the player with only Koraidon or Miraidon to fight the AI. This causes the time machine to fail, and the AI travels to an alternate time to destroy it, apologizing to Arven for the original professor neglecting him as a child before leaving.
After returning to the academy, Nemona, Clavell, and Geeta organize a Pokémon battling tournament between faculty and students. After evaluating all previous Gyms, the player wins the tournament.
Development
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet began development in late 2019, around the same time as Pokémon Sword and Shield. During development, the game developers at Game Freak wanted to create a more realistic and stylized look for the games. This included using more detailed textures and character designs. Keiichi Maezawa, a member of Game Freak, explained at a conference that the goal was to make the games feel more connected to the real world. To add realism, natural sounds were included in the game's environment. While this had been used in earlier games, the developers wanted to create a larger collection of sounds for future games. They made a program called "PokeSynth" to generate a wide range of sounds using Pokémon cries. Team members also tested these sounds by playing them in forests and studying how animals change their vocalizations in different situations. They grouped Pokémon based on their sounds to determine what each species would make.
The Pokémon models in these games were redesigned with new models created specifically for the games. Game Freak provided blueprints and instructions to the model team, who built the models based on these materials. After models were created, meetings were held to finalize details like facial expressions and emotions in animations. Changes to shading and textures were made to show different personalities, with special crystalline effects used to represent a Pokémon's Terastallized state. Lighting and angles were carefully chosen to highlight the playable character's appearance. Once models were approved, test versions were made, and movements for each species were finalized. Many animations were adjusted based on feedback from artists. Animations were created using a program developed by the team.
Some Pokémon reused animations from earlier games, even though they had new models and designs. This caused challenges, as the team needed to find the most efficient way to reuse animations. Unlike previous games, which used textures to show facial features, all Pokémon now had detailed facial features created with 3D models. The team focused on making each model reflect a Pokémon's personality while matching the game's artistic style. Pokémon based on real-world objects or animals included elements from those inspirations in their animations. The team studied these sources to determine the best designs. Pokémon resembling inanimate objects were created to look more like living creatures. New lighting effects were added to enhance the Pokémon's appearance, and idle animations were adjusted to be visible and interesting during battles. The developers ensured Pokémon looked visually appealing from all camera angles.
The game's soundtrack was created by several composers. Teruo Taniguchi, who worked on Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, composed music for Team Star. Go Ichinose, a longtime series composer, created music for the Path of Legends story and a battle track against the Ruinous Quartet. Junichi Masuda composed the Victory Road music, with Minako Adachi and Hitomi Sato creating other tracks for the route. The soundtrack was officially released in February 2024 and made available on Nintendo Music in October 2024. Toby Fox, known for Undertale, also contributed additional music.
English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran collaborated on the song "Celestial" for the games. Sheeran has been a fan of the series since childhood and previously worked with Pokémon Go in 2021. "Celestial" is the first song in the series with lyrics. The music video, released on September 29, 2022, was directed by Yuichi Kodama and featured Ed Sheeran interacting with sketch-style Pokémon, including a Snorlax and a Lapras. The Pokémon designs were created by art director Yu Nagaba, who used a style similar to how Sheeran drew Pokémon as a child. "Celestial" plays in the end credits of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and was later remixed for the game's DLC expansions. However, the song is not included in the official soundtrack release.
Marketing and release
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were announced on 27 February 2022 during a Pokémon Presents event. A trailer with some real-life scenes showed the three starter Pokémon: Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly. On 1 June 2022, a second trailer was released, revealing Koraidon and Miraidon, more gameplay, and new Pokémon such as Smoliv, Lechonk, and Pawmi. It also introduced characters Nemona, Sada, and Turo. On 3 August 2022, a third trailer was shown during a Pokémon Presents event, revealing two new Pokémon, the name of the region, and details about Terastallization. A fourth trailer on 7 September 2022 described the three story paths players could take, introduced three new Pokémon, and revealed characters like Mela, Brassius, and Geeta.
During the closing ceremony of the 2022 Pokémon World Championships on 21 August 2022, a new trailer was released, showing a new Pokémon called Cyclizar and new items for competitive play. On 29 September 2022, singer Ed Sheeran released a song titled "Celestial" in partnership with The Pokémon Company. The song was later included in the game's credits. On 6 October 2022, a 14-minute trailer highlighted how different players could take unique story paths and introduced Farigiraf, the evolution of Girafarig. Before the games were released, The Pokémon Company shared in-universe videos, such as a camera trap revealing Grafaiai, a web seminar revealing Wiglett, a livestream revealing Bellibolt, and a short found footage trailer revealing Greavard. On 4 November 2022, a special Nintendo Switch OLED model with themed artwork was released. On 11 November 2022, a Splatfest in Splatoon 3 was held, themed around the three starter Pokémon types.
Before the games were released, some in-game content was leaked online. Leaks began in July, with low-quality images of unrevealed characters and Pokémon appearing before their official reveals. The Pokémon Gimmighoul was leaked in early November through a datamine of the game Pokémon Go after it was accidentally shown in a pre-release trailer. About 72 Pokémon in the game were leaked days before the release, and the leaks spread quickly on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. ROMs of the games were shared on the forum 4chan, and players livestreamed the games before their release. Nintendo tried to remove the leaks, but some accounts reposted the information after it was taken down.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were released worldwide on 18 November 2022. The games had many technical problems, including bugs and glitches that affected gameplay. On 1 December 2022, Nintendo apologized for the issues and released an update called 1.1.0 to fix some bugs. Another update, 1.2.0, was released in February 2023 and fixed more bugs but also caused a rare issue that damaged save files. A third update, 1.3.0, was released on 19 April 2023 to fix additional bugs.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is one of the Nintendo Switch games that can be upgraded for free when the Nintendo Switch 2 is released. On 2 June 2025, the Nintendo Today! app showed gameplay footage of the Switch 2 upgrade, revealing better image quality and a 60 FPS frame rate.
On 27 February 2023, a Pokémon Day presentation announced a downloadable expansion pack called The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, which included two DLC expansions: The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk. The Teal Mask, released on 13 September 2023, focused on the Legendary Pokémon Ogerpon. The Indigo Disk, released on 14 December 2023, focused on the Legendary Pokémon Terapagos. The DLC added over 230 returning Pokémon not in the base game, including new Pokémon like Poltchageist and new evolutions for Applin and Duraludon.
In The Teal Mask, players go on a school trip to the land of Kitakami, which is tied to a local legend and a festival. In The Indigo Disk, players study at Blueberry Academy, a sister school to the Academy, and later return to Area Zero to finish the story. On 11 January 2024, an epilogue called Mochi Mayhem was released, allowing players to return to Kitakami to catch the new Mythical Pokémon, Pecharunt.
After their release, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet became compatible with Pokémon Home, a cloud-based storage system that lets players save Pokémon from the games and transfer Pokémon from earlier games into Scarlet and Violet. The games also became compatible with Pokémon Go in 2023, allowing players to send postcards between the games. This feature lets players in Go encounter a special form of Gimmighoul, while players in Scarlet and Violet can encounter special forms of Vivillon. Videos featuring characters from both games discussing Gimmighoul were released before the compatibility was announced.
The anime series Pokémon Horizons: The Series included elements from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, such as locations, characters, and Pokémon. In August 2023, a limited 4-episode web series titled Pokémon: Paldean Winds was announced during a Pokémon Presents event. It premiered on YouTube on 6 September 2023 and ended on 13 December 2023. Produced by Wit Studio, the series is based on the Paldea region and focuses on different students at the Academy overcoming challenges.
On 16 November 2023, pop duo Yoasobi and The Pokémon Company announced a song titled "Biri-Biri" to celebrate the games' first anniversary. The song was released in both Japanese and English on 18 November 2023, along with a music video. The video follows characters Nemona and Anna on a quest to find a treasure. "Biri-Biri" was inspired by a short story titled Kimi to Ameagari o written by Ayano Takeda. The song was later performed live by Yoasobi at various events.
Reception
Scarlet and Violet received "mixed or average reviews" according to Metacritic, a website that collects game reviews. This makes them the lowest-rated mainline Pokémon games. Another review site, OpenCritic, said the games received fair approval, with 48% of critics recommending them.
GameSpot writer Jake Dekker said the games' non-linear design was a strong point. Nintendo Life compared the experience to the original Pokémon games, Red and Blue, calling it "real magic." They also praised the story as "wholesome" and having "genuinely tender moments." IGN writer Rebekah Valentine enjoyed the new open-world gameplay and features like Tera Raids and online mechanics. However, she criticized the games for lacking polish and depth in areas like online features and exploration.
GamesRadar+ writer Joel Franey said the open-world design felt aimless and lacked clear goals. He praised the music and user interface improvements. Polygon writer Kenneth Shepard liked the Terastallization feature, which improved battle strategy, and the game's writing. He thought the games were less advanced than their predecessor, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and felt the story's structure was unclear.
The Guardian's Tom Regan said the games were fun but had technical and graphical issues that limited their quality. GameRevolution's Jason Faulkner criticized the game's textures, performance, and awkward progression. 4Players' Lea Irion said the games showed the Pokémon franchise was becoming less ambitious and felt unfinished. Nintendo World Report's Willem Hilhorst said the games had glitches and missing features that made them hard to enjoy, though he praised the story.
Critics said the games had graphical glitches, poor performance, and unimpressive visuals compared to other Nintendo Switch games like Xenoblade Chronicles 3. The Washington Post's Jhaan Ekler noted fans and critics were unhappy with the graphics, which had not improved from past games. Eurogamer's Oliver Mackenzie called the graphics low quality and said the games were worse than Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Rebekah Valentine from IGN said the games' creative ideas were hurt by technical problems. Some players asked for refunds due to performance issues, and Nintendo approved most requests. The Pokémon Company's leader, Takato Utsunomiya, said the company would review the series' release schedule after the criticism.
According to The Pokémon Company, Scarlet and Violet were the most pre-ordered Pokémon games in history. Within three days of release, they sold over 10 million copies worldwide, including 4.05 million in Japan. This was the highest three-day sales record for any Nintendo software and the best launch for a console-exclusive game. The games were the top-selling video games in Japan in 2022. By June 2025, they had sold 27.15 million copies, making them the second-best-selling Pokémon games and sixth-best-selling Switch titles. As of 2026, they had sold 8.66 million copies in Japan, ranking second behind Red and Green.