‘Pokémon Scarlet’ And ‘Violet’ Was Announced As The Ninth Generation Of The Franchise

Pokémon is one of the biggest franchises in the world. What started off as just a couple of games has evolved into a multi-media giant with trading cards, tv shows, and apparel bringing in billions. So anytime anything new in relation to Pokémon comes out, it’s usually a big deal.

For that reason, The Pokémon Company usually tries to keep the franchise fresh with a constant output of new games to make sure there’s always new Pokémon for fans to be excited about. The last games in the franchise, Sword and Shield, came out in 2019 so we all knew an update was going to be on the way soon. What we didn’t know is just how close it actually was. On Saturday, The Pokémon Company announced that the ninth generation of the franchise is on the way and it will release in 2022. The big hook to this one? It’s the first mainline game in the series that will be open world, an obvious plus for anyone that’s been diving into Pokémon Arceus the last month.

What will separate this game from Legends Arceus however, besides being a mainline title, is that this open world is going to be seamless. While the trailer didn’t make that explicitly clear, a website that was launched to showcase the upcoming game confirms what everyone was hoping for. We will be able to explore this entire world with no borders.

Various towns blend seamlessly into the wilderness with no borders. You’ll be able to see the Pokémon of this region in the skies, in the seas, in the forests, on the streets—all over! You’ll be able to experience the true joy of the Pokémon series—battling against wild Pokémon in order to catch them—now in an open-world game that players of any age can enjoy.​

This is a huge deal for fans of the franchise because while everyone really enjoyed Legends Arceus, a small criticism against it was how the game didn’t have a truly open world. It instead had open regions that the player could explore, but to go from region to region the player would have to select it on a map. This upcoming game, based on everything we’ve been told, will not be like that.

Alongside this announcement came three new starters! According to the Pokémon website, Serebii.net, the three new starters’ names will be Sprigatito, Fuecoco and Quaxly. All three are absolutely adorable and soon enough they will evolve into destructive forces that can take us to the top of the Pokémon world once again.

It’s kind of incredible to realize that all of this will be coming to us in late 2022. Get excited Pokémon fans!