A new Generation 9 trailer in September revealed major details about Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Gym Leaders, and players becoming the region's new champion. The other two storylines remained a mystery for months until Game Freak dropped a surprise trailer in September. Below is a complete breakdown of each of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's campaign's storyline, and what players will actually be doing to complete them.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Story Campaign # 1: Victory Road Gym Leader Challenge
Players are able to tackle the Paldea Region's Pokémon League at the very start of the game. Because the Gen 9 RPG is completely open-world, trainers can actually go to any Gym on the entire map and complete them in any order. In the September update, The Pokémon Company revealed that the Gym Leader challenge is run by Ms. Geeta, the Chairwoman of the Pokémon League. Game Freak hasn't confirmed whether Geeta is also the game's actual Champion, although rumors swirling around in August claimed that a Pokémon Scarlet and Violet version-exclusive champion could be a possibility.
Interestingly, the official summary for Geeta specifically points out that she "reigns supreme as the most skilled Trainer of all". Based on her biography, the chairwoman is Paldea's most looked-up to Pokémon Trainer and could easily match any champion in skill. While players can technically tackle the league in any order, the September update also revealed one of the game's first challenges - Gym Leader Brassius. The Grass-type Pokémon reigns over the Artazon Gym, and is known as the "Verdant Virtuoso". In the trailer, the green-haired trainer uses a thorny whip and treats Pokémon battles as an artistic expression.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Story Campaign # 2: Path of Legends Titan Mystery
The second major campaign of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet centers around school rival Arven, and his quest to search for Herba Mystica. As a cook, Arven is hunting down the mysterious herb as it can be used to fully heal any Pokémon who is injured. However, players will quickly discover that each Herba Mystica is protected by a Pokémon Titan. Similar to Alola's Totem Pokémon from the Gen 7 Pokémon Sun and Moon RPGs, Titans are giant versions of Pokémon with powerful special moves.
During the September 7 trailer, Game Freak showed off a Pokémon Titan battle with the protagonist facing down Gen 9 Rock-type crab Klawf. Because Arven isn't good at battling, players are tasked with exploring the map with him and defeating every giant Pokémon Titan that is guarding each Herba Mystica. The second story campaign will mainly consist of players tracking down these giant boss battles, and defeating them to obtain the mysterious ingredients for Arven. According to the Pokémon Company, players will be rewarded with special food dishes created by the chef.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Story Campaign # 3: Starfall Street
The final story campaign has players taking on Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's evil team called "Team Star". The new antagonist group is made up of the University's most rebellious students and is broken up into various squads that travel throughout Paldea. In a first for the series, the villainous group doesn't actually have a main leader. Instead, each squad has its own separate leader that controls that specific group. In the September update, Game Freak gave details on Mela, "Boss of the Schedar Squad (AKA Team Star’s Fire crew)."
During the campaign, players will need to defeat each of Team Star's base compounds. After entering their territory, trainers will be engaged in Horde Mode where they must defeat a wave of wild Pokémon. If every Pokémon is taken down under the time limit, players will then be able to challenge the base's Squad Leader. A special boss fight will then be triggered, and trainers will have to defeat the leader's moving car vehicle called a Starmobile, and their party Pokémon. While not confirmed, several leaks claim that Team Star will have a total of five bosses in the third campaign storyline. According to leaks CentroLeaks, the Paldea antagonist group will also use the Cassiopeia star constellation to plot out the locations of their hidden bases across the region's map.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's release date is set for Thursday, November 18. The highly anticipated game will be the first new generation since the launch of Sword and Shield in 2019. Although Game Freak has begun to release a lot of information about the open-world RPG, there are still many things that players don't know about Paldea games. However, based on the campaign mode's new epic structure, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is leaning heavily into players having freedom of choice, and giving them multiple ways to experience the new region's story.
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