While Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's event Tera Raids have mostly been either pseudo-Legendary Pokemon like the 5-star Tyranitar and Hydreigon raids, or past starters in 7-star raids like Greninja, Charizard, or Decidueye raids. However, it's highly likely that in the future there will be events to bring past Legendary monsters into the modern games in 7-star Tera Raid battles like Mewtwo, Kyogre, or Groudon. According to leaks, even if there aren't many of these events, most will be available through Pokemon Home. However, having Legendaries only available through raid battles could leave players feeling like it rings a bit hollow.
While these events can be cool and give trainers something to do with friends, they don't leave an impact on trainers like encounters in older games would. In previous generations, encounters with Legendaries would often come after having to solve a puzzle or explore niche parts of the overworld. Mons like Regigigas in Emerald, Mewtwo in Fire Red or Leaf Green, or basically any of the numerous legendary and mythical Pokemon available in Black and White 2's post-game. All of these have filled generations of trainers with childlike wonder because it feels like one has uncovered an ancient beast from old tales before the player character comes across it.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Suicune and Virizion Don't Capture the Awe of Galarian Birds
A lot of that awe is lost in more recent titles with Raid Dens in Sword and Shield not providing the air of astonishment facing older Legendaries. However, Sword and Shield featured some of the most revered legendary creatures introduced in recent games with the Galarian regional forms of the Legendary bird trio - Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Fans of the series met the redesigns of old fan favorites with much fanfare - with the new aesthetic for the trio having many fans, and the new stats, typings, and moves making them some of the most prominent and feared Pokemon in the eighth generation's competitive scene.
One of the biggest contributions to the reverence that the Galarian Birds received was the fact that they could all be encountered in the overworld in the Crown Tundra DLC. Just like in the old days, they were made part of the story rather than being an event boss with no build-up, and little payoff. Instead of having them stowed away to a Den Raid, or in the ninth generation's case, Tera Raids, trainers get to embark on a journey to find them. This allows capturing the birds to feel like something that players would have worked hard for.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet aren't off to a fantastic start in this regard. While no DLC has been released for the games yet, some additional Pokemon have been added to the game in Walking Wake and Iron Leaves. The two Paradox Pokemon are offshoots of Suicune and Virizion, Legendaries from past regions that were reimagined as Paradox Pokemon. As such, Paldea's equivalent to regional forms could be taking other past Legendaries and making them into futuristic or prehistoric versions of themselves. However, the new Pokemon have been introduced into the region through Tera Raids rather than their own storylines.
This could be explained away with DLC coming later, and the focus for story moments laying in those future expansions for the games. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Walking Wake and Iron Leaves might get additional lore, or even be featured in the story if players used them on their teams as the counterparts to other Paradox Legendaries, but fans will have to wait until more story is added to Gen 9. It's likely that there will be additional Legendaries introduced similarly to Walking Wake and Iron Leaves, but whether GameFreak chooses to stay with Tera Raids only or make an awe-capturing journey remains to be seen.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for the Nintendo Switch.
