This article contains spoilers for the endgame of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.Much has been said about Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Their launches were technically flawed, but they brought a lot of new life to the aging Pokemon formula. Many parts of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet resemble those found in past games, like wandering a region to challenge gyms while encountering different storylines that come together later on. However, it's the way that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet present all this in an open world that makes them feel truly special.
It helps that the story itself has more interesting developments and strongly written characters than some previous generations. Regardless of whether one is playing Pokemon Scarlet or Pokemon Violet, the end result is still a surprisingly climactic final area that feels ripped out of a different JRPG series. That alone is a selling point of the ninth generation games, but players with different versions will recount slightly different versions of the events. As is standard for Pokemon, there are a number of differences between Scarlet and Violet, though some have considerably more impact on the story than others.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Change A Few Details Early On
The two Generation 9 games have a few expected differences. Obviously, some Pokemon are replaced between the versions, as well as a couple of evolutions for specific Pokemon. This becomes more relevant to the story later, but at the beginning, it just determines which legendary Pokemon players receive as their mount. Pokemon Scarlet players will get to ride atop the reptilian Pokemon Koraidon, while Pokemon Scarlet owners will instead cross Paldea on the back of the cyborg Miraidon. They serve the same role in the story, but their presence is a constant reminder that Pokemon Scarlet is themed after the past, while Violet focuses on the future.
Aside from that, players may notice that the names of their respective academies are different. The school in Pokemon Scarlet is known as Naranja, with a crest showing an orange, while Violet uses Uva and a crest of grapes instead. It's a strange little detail that might exist to justify having students wear different versions' colors. Scarlet players will often find themselves with orange clothing, while Violet ones will, appropriately, have violet clothing. Director Clavell will also change the color of his suit. Previous Pokemon games have changed the player's aesthetic to fit the version, but this is usually reserved for tertiary titles like Pokemon Emerald and Platinum.
Later Story Revelations are Where Scarlet and Violet Diverge
However, the real meat of the story differences comes with the professors and the endgame. Pokemon Scarlet features Professor Sada, a woman dressed in stereotypical caveman attire. Meanwhile, Violet's Professor Turo wears a sleek, futuristic bodysuit. This is the first Pokemon generation to have different professors for each version, and they have a larger role in the universe than that; both Pokemon professors are Arven's parent in their respective games. In Scarlet, his father left Paldea in his youth before his mother Sada disappeared into her work. Pokemon Violet reverses these roles, and he instead has an absentee mother and Professor Turo as the disappeared father.
These revelations come to a head in Area Zero, featured in the Great Crater of Paldea. It's filled with Paradox Pokemon, with ancient ancestors dotting Scarlet while robotic descendants populate Violet. These are tied into the time periods that each version's Professor was working with, as each has a functional time machine. However, the professor has actually perished in a lab accident, and it's revealed that the person players have been talking to was actually an AI all along. This means the final boss is different in each version, with AI Sada using Scarlet's Paradox Pokemon while AI Turo uses Violet’s. There's a lot to read into regarding Arven and the professors, and it's satisfying to have some real depth and variance in a new Pokemon game’s story.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.
