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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s fifth trailer was recently released, and it contained clips from the three major storylines that players will be able to tackle at their own pace while exploring the region of Paldea. The first of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s three storylines is the so-called “Path of Legends,” which is about finding a rare ingredient called Herba Mystica that is apparently tied to a mysterious group of Pokemon called Titans, each with their own lair scattered across the region. Then, players have the typical Gym Challenge to take up, which will lead them all the way to battle the Elite Four and the Champion. Lastly, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will feature their own villainous team in the form of Team Star, which players will have to confront.
The trailer also showcased some new critters, including a crab Pokemon called Klawf and two version-exclusive Fire-type knights, which had been talked about by leakers months ago. In fact, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s Fire-types are an interesting concept because they originate from the same pocket monster, but then evolve differently based on the version of the game, and they’re both humanoids. The Pokemon Scarlet-exclusive critter is called Armarouge, and it is a Fire/Psychic hybrid that can turn the pauldrons on its armor into a cannon capable of shooting powerful projectiles. The Pokemon Violet-exclusive monster is Ceruledge, a Fire and Ghost Pokemon that has blades on its arms and is more nimble than its counterpart.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s ‘Humanizing’ Trend May Have Gone Too Far
Human-like Pokemon are not a novelty for the series, and a great example comes from Gardevoir and Gallade, with the latter being even more humanoid in its design due to having the posture and the limbs of a fighter. This design philosophy became even more apparent in recent years, with creatures like Pokemon X and Y‘s Greninja or Pokemon Sun and Moon‘s Incineroar making their debut, and even more so with Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s three starters. Yet again, one of the principles for Game Freak’s process of designing starter Pokemon and their evolutions entails making them evolve in a way that mirrors humans and how they change growing up.
This is why a Pokemon like Litten, which is a cute cat-like creature, ends up evolving into a full-fledged tiger-like wrestler. The concept makes sense because it means that younger trainers playing Pokemon games can have the feeling of growing up alongside their Pokemon, which is what they would experience with real-life pets. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s Armarouge and Ceruledge, however, were immediately associated with Megaman characters by fans online, and that’s because their design makes them even more humanoid than other existing Pokemon.
The parallel with Megaman came quite naturally thanks to Armarouge’s cannon, but the memes, in this case, reveal the underlying truth that Game Freak may have gone overboard with these new Pokemon’s designs. Both Armarouge and Ceruledge have clear human-like features and proportions, making them stand out as potential NPCs when compared to the main character’s silhouette from the trailers. These new version-exclusives in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet don’t exactly look like Pokemon, at least not in the traditional sense.
Even humanoid critters like the aforementioned Incineroar maintained characteristics that also made them unequivocally Pokemon, be it a feral appearance, otherworldly features, or similar attributes. In the case of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s Armarouge and Ceruledge, these elements are there, but they are not as much the focus as they normally are, and at first glance, these two Pokemon could appear as characters from another franchise. This is an interesting direction for the series’ approach to humanoid monsters, but it bears the question of whether this should become a trend in the future or remain a one-off experiment.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are set to release on November 18, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
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