On February 27, Nintendo released a special Pokémon Presents presentation and many fans were surprised to see a trailer for a new addition to the Pokémon series, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which also included many secrets some may have missed. The trailer contains both real-world images and unfinalized game footage. It seemed to take many by surprise considering there was no news previously of another new Pokémon game.
The release of the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer was unexpected. Pokémon Legends: Arceus was just released in January of this year with high sales. Game Freak's most recent game was a completely new concept for Pokémon games, getting rid of gyms and having to battle every wildPokémon and giving players a vast world to explore openly. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is highly replayable, but it seems as if Nintento has seen fit to double up on releases this year. Scarlet and Violet is set to be released in late 2022 per the trailer, which was somewhat unexpected.
The Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer clocks in at over three minutes long and packs a ton of detail into those three minutes. There were many things that fans may have missed during their first watch-through. A lot of these small details may hint at what to expect in Pokémon's latest upcoming game.
As many fans are already aware and as is hinted at in the architectural style, it seems that the setting of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is Spain-inspired, as noted in the architectural style in the trailer. This is a new region for Pokémon to explore, after recently touching on ancient Sinnoh, which is based on Japan, and Galar, which is based on England. As far as what time period the game will take place, judging from the images in the trailer it would be safe to assume this game is not journeying into the past like Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
There also seems to be an abundance of different ecosystems for the player to explore in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. The trailer shows a desert, a lake, grasslands, mountains, a marsh, and even beaches. It also looks like there will be caves to explore and Pokémon centers out in the wilderness, implying that Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's open world will have diverse habitats.
The Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer also gave players a look into the populated areas of the game. One brief shot shows what looks to be different types of shops, including an eyeglasses shop. Shops have been in Pokémon games before, allowing players to purchase different styles of clothing and change their looks. There is also a panning shot of what looks to be a city square with some Swablu sitting on a wire. This implies that there will be undomesticated Pokémon interacting in populated areas as well as in the wild, which adds more realism to the open-world mechanics in Pokémon games.
Those watching the trailer closely will also see a few other hints to the populated areas in the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer. There are images of farms, orchards, windmills, lighthouses, and more. There even seems to be some ruins visible in a shot showing some Stonjourner walking through a desert.
In the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer, an image of oranges and grapes together is shown. In one shot it shows the actual fruits in a bowl on a table and viewers will also see an orange and grape plaque on either side of the door. In the gameplay portion of the trailer, orange trees are shown and the view of the farm also hints at possible orchards or even vineyards. With the game taking place in a location similar to Spain, both of these make sense. Usually, when Pokémon has a dual release game, the name also hints at important Legendary Pokémon, so fans may very well see two new Legendary Pokémon based on oranges and grapes.
The Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer shows a wide variety of Pokémon during the gameplay portion, including some that have not been seen in the last few games, like Hoppip and Seviper. There is also a hint in the real-world portion of the trailer at another Pokémon that will be making an appearance. Toward the end of the trailer, there is a panning shot of multiple Nintendo Switches and to the left of them are three balls. At first look, these seem to be billiard balls, but on closer inspection, the symbol on the ball looks suspiciously like an Unown. Unown recently featured in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, where players had to collect 28 different Unown and use them in ciphers to reveal clues.
There are many different symbols in the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer that may be hinting at details for the game. Two of these are a spiderweb-type symbol on the back of a chair and a star shape with a lightning bolt in a picture frame. These could be hints toward new antagonist teams (similar to Team Rocket) or possible gym badges for a Bug-Type and Electric-Type gym.
Another symbol that stands out is a radiation symbol on a bulletin board on the wall. This could hint toward a Poison-Type Pokémon or new regional variant of current Pokémon. There is also a bit of history with Pokémon and radiation. A free fan-made game, Pokémon Uranium, was released in 2016 and included 190 popular fan-created Fakemon Pokémon for players to collect, including Nuclear-Type Pokémon.
In the trailer for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, there is a clock shown with spinning clock hands. However, before the hands start spinning, the hour hand is near the 12 and the minute hand is between the eight and nine. This could imply a possible release date of December 8 or 9. Aside from Pokémon Legends: Arceus, every Pokémon game since 2014 has had a release date of late November, in time for the holidays. December 8 or 9 fits in this time frame. Pokémon game releases also usually take place on Fridays, which will be December 9, meaning that the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer may have revealed more than was initially thought.
