Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are just over a month away from their official launch and Game Freak is hyping fans with increased announcements, but the reveals have been less surprising thanks to earlier leaks. Whether it was earlier leaks from Riddler Khu about new third types or the latest reveals of brand-new Pokemon or evolutions, it seems that Game Freak would capitalize on Pokemon leaks as marketing to build initial interest before finally confirming anything. But in doing so, Game Freak has given fans an inadvertent advantage when it comes to sorting the many leaks between the real from the fake.
The latest announcements of Wiglett and Farigiraf have provided some credibility to remaining leaks regarding potential new Pokemon or regional forms. Though there have been other leaks ultimately confirmed by Game Freak these often focus on new gameplay features like Gen 9's gimmick Terastallization to the recent change to obtaining Pokemon eggs. But Pokemon designs are objective designs instead of unclear mechanics, and combined with new Pokemons' popularity, they become the de facto canary in the coal mine of upcoming games, as they give fans an easy confirmation on whether leaks are real.
Revisiting Wiglett's and Farigiraf's "Leaks"
Both Wiglett and Farigiraf have different backgrounds to their leaked designs which give fans plenty to work with. For the most recent Girafarig evolution in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, its design was almost completely leaked back in July, albeit half-obscured behind emoji-like speech bubbles. This makes it the clearest leak out of all the recently confirmed Pokemon meaning anything else leaked alongside it has a significant amount of credibility now, as the likelihood of the associated leaks being true has skyrocketed with Farigiraf's reveal. These include a handful of pixilated screenshots that supposedly reveal other new Pokemon.
Wiglett, on the other hand, had its design details leaked but not the design itself. Prior to its announcement, regional fakes weren't yet established and so fans were anticipating new variant designs to be regional forms, leading many to interpret leaks of a new Diglett-like Pokemon to be a new form. However, though it challenged the nature of regional Pokemon for future games, Wiglett still provided a new lens of credibility to existing leaks around upcoming regional forms, since Wiglett was both a dead-ringer for Diglett and a Water type as alleged. Like Farigiraf, any leaks associated with "Diglett's regional form" could be true now.
Pokemon Leaks Moving Forward
Given the abundance of Pokemon leaks, as well as the many fake-outs fans make to catch onto Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's momentum, leak confirmations like these help fans sort the real from make-believe. For example, a Spritzee regional form was similarly leaked alongside "Diglett," so following Wiglett's reveal, fans could expect that Spritzee won't be getting a regional form, but rather, Game Freak has a new Pokemon planned. Similarly, many other leaks about alleged regional Pokemon forms and evolutions floating around online could now be regional fakes instead.
Farigiraf bolsters these leaks too, as many fans have been speculating that Gen 2 Pokemon would be prominent in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, as potentially evidenced by Paldean Wooper. With other leaks still circulating online, from the still unconfirmed possibility of paradox Pokemon to leaks about a new legendary Pokemon quartet, the recent announcements have given fans an insight into what's real and what's likely fake. Though it's ultimately anybody's guess what will or won't be in the upcoming Pokemon Scarlet and Violet games, fans can at least have a more informed idea of what's to come prior to launch.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are set to release on November 18, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
