There is one other matter that fans have been discussing, however. Game Freak has shown a pattern of injecting some sort of battle system gimmick into the last few mainline Pokemon titles. X and Y introduced Mega Evolutions, Sun and Moon had Z-Moves, and Sword and Shield employed Dynamaxing. These abilities did not persist outside their respective generations, and Scarlet and Violet have already been shown to have dropped the turn order system from Pokemon Legends. Fans are sure that some sort of new mechanic is coming to the 9th Generation Pokemon games, and a particular design direction found in several characters may hint at what this is.
RELATED: Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: Explaining the Themes of Each Game
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Seem to be Teasing a Time Theme
While the Scarlet and Violet titles for this Pokemon generation seem to be referencing an old Spanish flag, any further meaning was not initially clear. Now that the gameplay reveal trailer has introduced the two versions’ professors and box legendaries, a second meaning for these colors has appeared. Scarlet’s Professor Sada is named similarly to the Spanish word for past, and Violet’s Professor Turo is close to the word for future. The two are dressed correspondingly, with Sada donning tribal clothing beneath her lab coat and Turo opting for a sleek bodysuit instead. The legendaries follow this theme as well, with Scarlet’s Koraidon resembling a feathered raptor while Violet’s Miraidon can be best described as a hoverbike.
At the moment, that’s all Pokemon fans have to work with. Game Freak has been reserved with rolling out updates for these particular Pokemon titles, and even their basic gym progression remains unknown. The only other thing to glean from the legendaries is that they both resemble motorcycles, and could eventually be used in the place of whatever vehicle corresponds to the pit stops seen in the trailer. The past and future elements are currently just a visual theme, but there are a lot of ways that a Pokemon game could make use of such a concept.
RELATED: Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Latest Trailer Supports The Biggest Gimmick Rumors
Time Travel Could Factor into Scarlet and Violet’s Exploration
Obviously, the distant past and the far-flung future could factor into the game’s story. Some sort of time instability or a villainous team trying to invent time travel for personal gain could easily slot into a Pokemon title. The only problem with this is that Pokemon Scarlet seems to focus exclusively on the past, while Pokemon Violet only cares about the future. It could turn out to be a misdirect, but as it stands, writing and designing a game to accommodate traveling to either the past or the future would be rather difficult. Making the past, present, and future versions of a given area would need a lot more work than what past themes of land versus sea or life versus death have required.
Thus, having two or three versions of the whole open map can probably be written off. What would be a lot more acceptable for both gameplay and story setpieces would be summoning time bubbles. These bubbles would contain different Pokemon from the past or future, and players could use the alternate periods to solve environmental puzzles that would otherwise stop them in their tracks. For example, the various man-made and urban-associated Pokemon would be more common in the future, and a past bubble could return a flooded ruin to either its pristine form or an ice age with new frozen bridges. That way, many more Pokemon would be able to fit into each game, multiplayer users could bring each other into their respective versions for a while, and each area would be that extra bit more memorable.
Battling Could Make Use of Past and Future Versions of Pokemon
Of course, that brings the discussion back to the new battle mechanic. Players have been discussing since the initial reveal trailer what this could be, with theories often including some sort of Pokemon Type augmentation. Some have suggested that something new like a Sound Type could be added, or that an extra Type could be applied to Pokemon during battles. With time travel in the picture, the possibilities for this mechanic are narrowed down. While Pokemon having more than two types is not likely, there may be a way to change a Pokemon’s typing in a manner similar to Mega Evolution.
A Pokemon’s ancestors or descendants could be adapted to different environments. For example, the title legendaries could be fundamentally the same species in the present, but Koraidon is a solitary hunting animal while Miraidon has been converted into a cyborg for societal use. This still has some crossover with Mega Evolution, but if players could set distinct loadouts for each form, then the strategic impact would be enormous. There could also be an element of localized time travel in certain technologically equipped gyms like in Sword and Shield. Battles in them could adhere to special formats like rotation battles, permanent Trick Room status, or the turn order from Pokemon Legends. There are a lot of places Pokemon Scarlet and Violet could go with time travel if they wanted to, and hopefully they’ll push it as far as it can go.
Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet will be released on November 18 for the Nintendo Switch.
MORE: Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Co-Op is a Game Changer
