Pokemon has always been a series about discovery and friendship, from asking fans to catch all 150 original critters, to letting viewers watch the adventures of Ash and Pikachu start small to eventually becoming the Pokemon World Champions. The games have been able to keep past creatures alive as innovative features allowed previous Pokemon to be transferred to newer installments like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet with hardly any trouble. In recent years, though, these attachments have become the series' Achilles' heel.
Creatures like Spiky-Ear Pichu and Cosplay Pikachu were given arbitrary rules to keep them in the games that they originally appear in, and now only a select number of creatures can be taken on new adventures with the National Dex being removed from releases after Generation 7. It seems more trainers will be broken-hearted in the future as there's currently no known way to transfer the Koraidon and Miraidon fans get at the start of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet to other games.
The Role Miraidon and Koraidon Play
The Gen 9 Pokemon games made quite a stir for themselves when one of the trailers revealed that the box legendaries would serve as sentient bikes available at the very start. It may have broken the Pokemon tradition of making the legendary into an endgame reward, but it used the need for a fast-travel mechanic around the open region of Paldea to its advantage. The game's central story revolves around Koraidon and Miraidon's origins and past, and Scarlet and Violet encourage the player to bond with the Pokemon as the game progresses.
Helping the legendary Pokemon regain its former powers as its trainer comes to a climactic end against the Paradise Protection Protocol that almost argues that driving home important emotional story beats is better than sticking to the status quo. For many players, learning about and spending time with the unique pocket monster led them to be attached to their big red or purple lizard, which fits Pokemon's core themes of friendship incredibly well. However, the powerful moments in Scarlet and Violet are made tragic since that specific creature might be left behind at the end of Gen 9.
The Double-Edged Sword of Scarlet and Violet's Themes of Friendship
As powerful as Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's themes of friendship are compared to games like Sword and Shield, having players bond with a special Pokemon that won't be joining them on any future adventures was the worst thing Game Freak could have done with the current situation the franchise has pigeonholed itself into. As fans are worried that the loss of Pokemon Bank when the Nintendo 3DS eShop shutters in March will render numerous fan-favorite critters unobtainable, it now feels like even creatures set up to be fan favorites aren't safe from being left behind.
Things get even more muddled when the second Koraidon or Miraidon that fans can catch in Area Zero isn't held back by the same restriction. If players have already grown attached to the one stranded in the game due to the travel limitations set upon it, then they likely think of the second legendary as rather mean after how it treated the other Cyclizar-based creature. On top of that, the Pokemon Company has yet to say why this particular Koraidon or Miraidon isn't transferable, and some have traded the second legendaries they've received in exchange for the other box legendary they need for their Pokedex already.
Not only does this situation hurt those who got attached to their Koraidon or Miraidon, but it also gets even worse with the fact that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's end-game content is rather lacking. Despite the game's rather infamous performance issues, plenty of players have enjoyed experiencing their adventures in Paldea, but if they decide to travel through Paldea a second time by restarting the game, they'll lose the legendary they played the entire game with.
There's still a chance for Game Freak to fix this as Generation 9 has only just begun. The reason the first Koraidon and Miraidon can't be transferred is that they can't be placed into the PC at all, which is needed for Pokemon Home. Considering there are no games apart from Scarlet and Violet themselves for these legendaries to be transferred into at this point, there may be a feature implemented to bring them to the next set of games once Gen 9 comes to a close. However, with the franchise's track record with other locked Pokemon being left behind, it sadly seems very unlikely.
PokemonScarlet and Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.
