Pokemon Scarlet and Violet had the impossible job of living up to expectations and spectacularly going above and beyond for many players, as they are the very first fully open-world chapter in the franchise, and also one that allows trainers to complete the goals in any order. Still, Gen 9 games were met with criticism on launch due to technical and performance issues that did anything from minor disruptions all the way to the game crashing, and they left a mark because this was not what fans had been expecting on release. Although this sentiment is no longer as pervasive as it was throughout the first week since launch, some Pokemon Scarlet and Violet fans made compilations of hilarious glitches occurring in their game, whereas others are still lukewarm about Gen 9.
Today, The Pokemon Company released a trailer announcing that Ash and Pikachu will leave the Pokemon anime after 25 years, and fans are now nostalgic about all the memories shared with the iconic duo, especially because several of them grew up with their adventures. Because the news was met with a heavy heart, and because Ash and Pikachu's goodbye is linked with the Gen 9 anime series featuring a brand-new protagonist, there is a chance that the overall reception of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will suffer from it.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Future Must be Bright Ahead of Ash and Pikachu's Departure
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's DLC reveal could happen in January, at least based on the first trailer for the expansion pass in Gen 8, which came out on January 9 - mere two months after launch. There is a chance that The Pokemon Company will do something similar in Gen 9, as the games came out on November 18, compared to November 15 for Pokemon Sword and Shield. However, that is not necessarily the best approach in this specific case.
A big pet peeve that some fans have with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is that Gen 9 games could have been more polished on launch if they were kept in the oven a little longer. The general sentiment is that the three-year development cycle that modern Pokemon games have adopted may be straining the quality of the games, and while this can be true from a game development standpoint, there are likely more factors than just time that weigh on this matter. Regardless, announcing a DLC or expansion pass as early as January could backfire, as players could see it as another unfinished product that's being released too soon.
Not only that, however, as January is also when the first of the final eleven episodes dedicated to Ash and Pikachu will air. As such, there could be fans displeased with both Gen 9 games and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet as a whole for being the series that marked Ash and Pikachu's departure, with new protagonists and pocket monsters in it, instead. For these reasons, the major changes that the anime series is going through may play a role in the already middling consensus about Gen 9, even if the anime's new protagonist turns out to be Ash's daughter.
For these reasons, the upcoming DLC announcement, whenever it may end up going live, carries the same burden that Gen 9 did before release: meeting expectations, and possibly exceeding them with flying colors. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Tera Raid events and recent patches are already partly making up for the not-so-positive first impressions, and a well-orchestrated trailer and reveal for future content could help in that direction. Ultimately, the opposite outcome is likely to be met with negativity on the community's part if it ends up happening in January, as that will also be the beginning of the end of a 25-year era that Ash and Pikachu were the icons of.
PokemonScarlet and Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.
