Following the reveal of the revealed Pokémon Violet and Scarlet's starter Pokémon, along with a few other sparse details.
As one of the best-selling names in media, the Pokémon franchise is watched closely by its millions of dedicated fans. When counting each release separately as opposed to considering the double-releases as one, there have been dozens of entries in this long-running casual gaming series. It was only a few months ago that Pokémon BDSP was released, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus followed not too long after. Before both of these games came Pokémon Sword and Shield, the first Switch-exclusive entry in the series. Each game takes place in a particular fictional region, which are often based upon real locations (Pokémon BDSP's Sinnoh region is inspired by Japan's Hokkaido, for instance). With the news that Pokémon Violet and Scarlet will be releasing this year, many fans have been speculating about what this ninth-generation world could look like.
As Pokémon fans theorize about details provided in the game's trailer, Reddit DDD-HERO (as noticed by IGN) has been looking at earlier releases for hints. When searching through Pokémon Sword & Shield, DDD-HERO discovered that a section of the Hotel Ionia in Circhester features a section-off area with orange-and-grape-print wallpaper. This has significance because oranges and grapes were featured in the trailer for Pokémon Violet and Scarlet. Additionally, DDD-HERO found that a patch of flowers was changed from yellow and white in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl to purple and red in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl - colors very similar to violet and scarlet.
References and Easter eggs in the Pokémon games are far from unheard of, so these discoveries could very well be significant. Game Freak has been developing these games for decades now, so they likely plan out releases years in advance. Pokémon Sword and Shield and Pokémon Diamond and Pearl are both recent releases, so the teams working on them almost certainly had knowledge of Pokémon Violet and Scarlet.
That being said, it is just as likely that these details are mere coincidences. Oranges and grapes are very common symbols in art, so it makes sense that they would be on a wallpaper while also appearing in the Pokémon Violet and Scarlet trailer. As for the Pokémon BDSP flowers: the games saw complete overhauls from their originals, so the changing of flower colors could have been due to countless other reasons. Either way, Pokémon fans will continue to learn more about this release in the coming months.
Pokémon Violet and Scarlet will be released in 2022.
Source: DDD-HERO/Reddit (via IGN)
