Although many had hoped for it, the reveal of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet at the latest Pokemon Direct still came across as a major surprise. Part of this is because the trailer undeniably had Detective Pikachu vibes, but it quickly became apparent that it was the new mainline games. Almost immediately, the new starters—Fuecoco, Sprigatito, and Quaxly—stirred up some attention online.
Since then, many have combed over the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet trailer and subsequent reveals to glean as much as they can from the upcoming games. This has led to some discussion of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s open-world design, potential directions for the evolutions, the use of traditional catching mechanics, and more. However, the latest comes from a keen-eyed Redditor named Wlsgarus.
In looking over the shots of one of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s cities, Wlsgarus made an interesting observation about a Pokemon Center. The castle-like Pokeball area can be seen in the background, while there are many normal buildings in the foreground. Hidden behind another building is what clearly looks like a Pokemon Center, but its shape is unusual—less of a building and more of a kiosk.
It's undeniably unusually shaped, standing out against all Pokemon Centers in earlier franchise entries. This is interesting, because it may very well lend itself to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s open-world design. If the Pokemon Centers have become kiosks, then there would be no loading screen from the world to the store. In other words, players may be able to heal their Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet very quickly and continue on their journey.
This does pose one interesting conundrum, though. While this sounds like a great addition and twist to the formula, Nurse Joy has been a mainstay of the Pokemon franchise. It’s unlikely she stands outside at a kiosk, so how the game resolves this remains to be seen. Assuming this is a kiosk, it is possible that there are other, more traditional Pokemon Centers elsewhere in the game, but at the end of the day, it’s hard to imagine Game Freak giving Nurse Joy the boot.
Nonetheless, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s reveal was kept pretty simple. Outside a few glimpses of the map, the debut of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s starters, and the confirmation of a handful of Pokemon, very little is known. However, if the games do intend to release at the end of 2022, players can reasonably expect to learn more as summer draws near.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are scheduled to release in 2022 for Nintendo Switch.
Source: Dexerto
