What appears to be the final trailer forPokemon ScarletandVioletdropped Tuesday, a little more than a week before the games launch. It serves as an overview ofScarletandViolet’s major features and storylines, but also dropped a first look at past and future variations Donphan: Great Tusk and Iron Treads. Additionalcrossover content for games likePokemon Unitewere announced alongside this trailer, which ended off highlighting unique Rotom Phone cases available to those who have data from prior Switch releases.
MainlinePokemongames were confined to handheld devices for a long time, but Game Freak poured a lot of energy into developing for the Nintendo Switch.Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu!andLet’s Go, Eevee!gave fans another journey through Kanto in 2018, integrating the catching mechanics ofPokemon GO. A year later cameSwordandShield, officially starting Generation 8, and then ILCA dropped Sinnoh remakesBrilliant DiamondandShining Pearlin 2021.Pokemon Legends: Arceusreally shook up the formula earlier this year, and fans who have kept up will receive crossover items inScarletandViolet. However, even more cases could be added based on system data from older entries.
RELATED:Genesect is a Great Model for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Temporal Themes
Pokemon’s Switch Games Have Plenty of Save Data Rewards
Rewards for playing previous entries began right away in the Switch era of Pokemon games, withSwordandShieldoffering a unique Gigantamax-capable Pikachu or Eevee to players withLet’s Go, Pikachu!andEevee!on their devices.Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlsimilarly rewarded The Pokemon Company’s dedicated fans by offering one of two Mythical Pokemon:Mew for theLet’s Gotitles and Jirachi forSwordandShield. The Gen 4 remakes also retroactively added the Azure Flute as a bonus forLegends: Arceusplayers, allowing them to catch the titular Mythical Pokemon in an event that never officially released forDiamond,Pearl, orPlatinumversions.
Being the latest entry,Legends: Arceusincluded the most extensive sava data rewards. Pikachu and Eevee festival masks, a Shaymin-themed Kimono, and “modern” Team Galactic uniforms were introduced for those with all three prior releases. Having data forSwordandShieldas well asBrilliant DiamondandShining Pearlalso unlocked two unique quests around Shaymin and Darkrai.
Pokemon ScarletandVioletwill carry this tradition forward via the introduction of four Rotom Phone cases: a Gen 1-styled spite battle between Pikachu and Eevee, Ball Guy from the Galar region, Sinnoh’s Poketch, and theArc Phone provided toLegends: Arceusplayers. There’s currently no word whether spin-offs will introduce further content akin toPokemon Questunlocking League Card cosmetics inSwordandShield. However, even if there’s nothing related to games likeMystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX,New Pokemon Snap, orPokemon Unite, this isn’t the only data that Game Freak can utilize.
RELATED:Pokemon Spin-Off Tier List
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Rotom Cases Could Apply to Transferred Monster Data
Since Generation 3, one key tenet of thePokemonfranchise has been bringing Pokemon partners forward. The Nintendo DS allowed DS and Game Boy Advance titles to be plugged in at the same time, transferring monsters from Gen 3 to 4. After that, the Poke Transfer minigame brought Gen 4 Pokemon intoBlack,White, and their sequels. ThePokemon Bankapp on 3DS let Gen 5 Pokemon appear in Kalos and Alola, and once the Switch era began that was migrated intoPokemon Home- which also allows for crossovers likeGimmighoul’s Roaming Form inPokemon GO.
Pokemon SwordandShieldmade the controversial decision to restrict the series' National Pokedex, meaning some monsters remain unavailable in any mainline Switch release. But that doesn’t mean fans won’t potentially have data for Pokemon going back to the early 2000s on their console, even in just theirHomestorage. Rotom Phone cases are a relatively simple cosmetic, and it would be fun to see more of them added based on the entire franchise.
One key way this could be accomplished is mimicking the digital devices from every generation akin to the Poketch. Different versions of the PokeNav could appear based on monsters from Gen 3 or Gen 6’s Hoenn region, as could skins utilizingHeartGoldandSoulSilver’s Pokegear orBlackandWhite’s C-Gear. ARotom Dex skin based onSunandMooncould even display a roulette wheel. It’s unlikely this would happen given transfer services have shut down over the years, making them unfairly limited compared to a collection of Switch-exclusive cases, but the potential is there.
Pokemon ScarletandVioletlaunch November 18, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
MORE:What it Might Mean for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet to Have Multiple ‘Champions’
