Revolutionary Indigo Disk DLC Shatters Pokemon's Traditional Starter Mold

Highlights

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have broken traditions in terms of narrative and gameplay, introducing new elements like open-world gameplay and shiny sandwiches.

The Teal Mask and Indigo Disk DLCs for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will introduce new creatures to capture, as well as provide players with extra content such as mini-games and challenging battles.

With the Indigo Disk DLC, players will have the opportunity to capture all previous starter Pokemon at the Blueberry Academy. This is a significant departure from previous games, which limited access to starters through trading or random encounters. This change is widely regarded as a positive move towards increased accessibility and sets a promising example for future developments.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet stand out as the most innovative games in the franchise, surpassing even the groundbreaking Pokemon Legends: Arceus. These games challenge traditional narratives by deviating from the norm, as Professor Sada and Turo do not provide players with their starters or Pokedex. Additionally, the new open-world formula and shiny sandwiches redefine gameplay. The upcoming DLC expansions, The Teal Mask and Indigo Disk, promise to further break the mold by introducing new creatures to capture and engaging content to enjoy, such as the intriguing Ogre Oustin' mini-game. While details about The Indigo Disk remain scarce, players can anticipate challenging battles with the BB League, a second set of Elite Four in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Furthermore, the Blueberry Academy offers four distinct biomes for trainers to explore, each housing various Pokemon species, including first partners from previous games.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Blueberry Academy Lets Players Catch All Past Starters

In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's DLC, players can now catch all of the starters from the mainline series. Previous games only allowed players to find a limited number of starters in the wild or through trades. Even games that included all starters up to that point still limited players to finding only a few of them or receiving them as one-time gifts.

For example, in Pokemon Sword and Shield's Isle of Armor, players were given one of the Alolan starters after finding the scattered Alolan Diglett on the island. However, in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Indigo Disk, players have the opportunity to find all of the past starters in the different biomes within the Blueberry Academy's grounds. This breaks a long-standing tradition and is a positive move by The Pokemon Company, especially considering recent controversies and the game's live-service model with the Tera Raids.

During the time-limited Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Tera Raids, multiple past starters were released to players. This caused concern among trainers who thought they needed to catch them all during the events to have a chance of collecting them in Gen 9. However, The Indigo Disk has now made every first partner Pokemon accessible to everyone, providing a much-needed break from a potentially difficult and lengthy task. This news is especially beneficial for players who participated in the recent World Championships for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

The event's rules were stricter than before, resulting in some players being banned even after participating in a few rounds and traveling to Japan. This was due to the common occurrence of genned Pokemon in tournaments, leading to thorough scrutiny of each team to ensure their legality. Given the difficulty of completing the Pokedex in the series, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's decision to make all starter Pokemon available through The Indigo Disk is a positive step towards enhancing accessibility.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for the Nintendo Switch.