Summary
From the moment they were revealed forPokemonScarletandVioletto their endgame plot twist, the decision to break with Pokemon Professor traditions was an ambitious one that paid off, but it shouldn’t become the norm. There has been a great deal of experimentation withPokemon’stried-and-true tropes, such asRubyandSapphireadding not one but two Pokemon Teams orBlackandWhiteintroducing thefirst female Pokemon Professor to the core series. So much likeRubyandSapphire, the choice to add two Pokemon Professors wouldn’t have been too unusual were it not forScarletandVioletgoing much further than just that.
Given thatScarletandViolethad bombarded players with so many new things such as Team Star, Paradox Pokemon, and their box art Legendaries, it’s possible that players were still adjusting to thePokemon Professors being version exclusivesthat their shocking villainous reveal was all the more unexpected. Similar toPokemon’srecent tradition-breaking antics, the games' villains have also been reinvented time and time again to keep players guessing, which only further adds to the unique quality thatScarletandVioletcaptured by making each Pokemon Professor the “big bad”, and it’s also why the twist shouldn’t be repeated in future games.
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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Break From Tradition Paid Off
Right from the beginning ofPokemonScarletandViolet, it was clear that the game’s progression was going to be significantly different compared to the rest of the series. For example, the player’s starter Pokemon is given to them by Director Clavell and not the Pokemon Professor, and the same goes for the Pokedex which is instead an app developed by Jacq. Though the player does eventually come across the Professor’s laboratory, it is inaccessible early on with Sada and Turo only ever communicating via TVs or Rotom Phones, all of which serve as small hints that something was amiss withScarletandViolet’s Pokemon Professors.
It’s possible that breaking from so many design traditions helpedScarletandVioletfind a way to accommodate multiple independent storylines without contradicting its larger plot, but it wasn’t without its risks. While the Professor’s absence isn’t too noticeable at the game’s start, their isolation becomes much more obvious as players progress, especially throughoutArven’s “Path of Legends” storyline. But as the Professor’s backstory develops and more hints are dropped, particularly around the Professor’s research into Area Zero, its history and expeditions, and its Paradox Pokemon, the unconventional approach earns its pay-off withinScarletandViolet’sendgame.
The Pokemon Professors' Plot Twist Can Only Be a One-Off
By the time players finally have the opportunity to meet the Pokemon Professor, they will have already completed the game’s three storylines and so will be aware thatScarletandViolethaven’t yet revealed their world-ending villain per the series' norm. As a result, the journey down intoArea Zero diverges from normal gameplayby pacing the player’s progress and punctuating it with scripted events. When meeting the Professor face-to-face at long last then, the player has since learned that Sada or Turo isn’t the real deal with the tension climbing as they’re innocently led into an ominously large chamber with major boss battle vibes.
The plot twist that the real Professor is actually dead with an AI duplicate now running things is somewhat abrupt, but it does contextualize whyScarletandVioletwere so untraditional. As the Pokemon Professor is likely the last character players would expect as the game’s villain, the suspicion throughout the game leading to this revelation balances the shock with its awe, and though brief it has become one ofScarletandViolet’sbest moments. But this twist can’t berepeated in futurePokemongenerationsas it would diminishScarletandViolet’ssuccess with new revelations becoming easier to anticipate, predict, and consequently underwhelm in comparison.
Pokemon ScarletandVioletare available now for Nintendo Switch.
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