Many fans of thePokemonfranchise tempered their expectations for thePokemon Presents event hosted to celebrate Pokemon Day 2022. After all,Pokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlreleased on July 24, 2025, followed soon after byPokemon Legends: Arceuson August 09, 2025; it would make sense for the franchise to take an off-year for Generation 9. Yet Game Freak came out swinging with the reveal ofPokemon ScarletandViolet, schedule to release for Switch in late 2022.
The reveal teaser put a fair amount of information out there. Fans are confidentPokemon ScarletandViolet’s region is inspired by Spain thanks to architecture referencing Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona, as well as its starters; theGrass-type Sprigatito, Fire-type Fuecoco, and Water-type Quaxly; utilizing Spanish puns. This generation is also confirmed to be wholly open world.ScarletandViolet’s player characters drew attention for their new art direction and matching outfits, but the most notable thing about them may be the suggestion that Game Freak is leaning into customization more than ever.
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Increasing Character Customization in Pokemon Games
Since the earliest days ofPokemon RedandGreen, the series has centered youngsters going on adventures to meet new Pokemon, fill out a regional Pokedex, and train to become Champion of that region’s Pokemon League. TheoriginalPokemonprotagonist Redhad a design set in stone, which carried through toPokemon Black 2andWhite 2protagonists Nate and Rosa (albeit with some unique outfits for activities like Contests). Starting withXandYon Nintendo 3DS, players could choose between a very limited set of trainer templates and then buy outfits to customize their appearances.
GivenXandY’s Kalos region is based on France, the idea of making it a fashion-forward locale is sound; even Champion Diantha is canonically a world-renown actress. Over subsequent games the options for character customization grew, adding a few darker skin tones and a lot more clothing types.Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearleven bucked the traditionof remakes having redesigned canon characters by letting players dress up Dawn and Lucas. There’s still a lot to be desired for the series' customization, with people of color in particular lampooning Game Freak for not delving beyond a few options, butPokemon ScarletandVioletcould continue innovating in this regard.
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Potential Customization in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
When fans are first introduced to the yet-unnamed protagonists ofPokemon ScarletandViolet, the duo seem to run by in a flash. The most interesting thing about them, more obvious in images released by The Pokemon Company, is that their apparent school uniforms swap between orange and purple color schemes depending on the version. Yet this attribute contributes to perhaps the most genericPokemonprotagonists yet. Whereas characters like Elio and Selene fromSunandMoonstand out as base characters despite customization options, the new protagonists seem like gender-swaps of the same person.
This may be surprising in light of the series' penchant for uniquecharacter designs that rival franchises likeFinal Fantasyin number, but it makes a lot of sense if Game Freak is aiming to create a canvas. Tabula rasa comes to mind; protagonists who are such a blank slate that the options available to customize them are richer than ever. Perhaps the developer has even made them generic to the extent “boy” and “girl” are no longer the standard, with more racial options included, giving everyone the chance to recreate themselves by starting with more general features to adapt.
A region based on Spain would be a great place to work in this idea. France and Spain are next-door neighbors, so givenprior connections betweenPokemonregions like Kanto and Johtothere’s a good chance the land inScarletandViolethas crossover with Kalos (perhaps even paying off the unused railroad in Couriway Town).
Spain itself has a rich history of style worth drawing upon, not the least of which including outfits associated with traditional dances like flamenco.Pokemon Legends: Arceusleaned into traditional Japanese garb, soScarletandVioletcan do the same - perhaps calling back to monsters likeAlola’s Oricorioas an in-universe inspiration. Regardless of where Game Freak pulls its ideas, the important thing is for this developer to keep moving forward and expanding its breadth of character customization. Hopefully the generic new protagonists are a good sign.
Pokemon ScarletandVioletare set to release in late 2022 for Nintendo Switch.
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