Summary
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s The Teal Mask DLC has plenty to offer when it comes to alternative endgame grinds, new and powerful critters, and stories that can feel both familiar to the base game’s and something else entirely. WhileThe Indigo Disk is set to break bigPokemontraditionsin multiple ways, possibly paving the way for the next set of releases thanks to the Blueberry Academy’s location being Unova, The Teal Mask continues a trend fromPokemon Scarlet and Violetand spins it on its head. The Teal Mask breaks three rules about regional fake Pokemon, a new type of gimmick introduced with Gen 9, and at the same time muddies the waters ahead of Gen 10’s announcement and releases.
Regional fakes inPokemon Scarlet and Violetare few, with only two evolutionary lines in the base game and an additional one in The Teal Mask, but they are quite special when compared to anything else in the franchise. For starters, they’re not officially named as a gimmick like Regional Forms, and they take the likeness and even part of the name of existing Pokemon and then make them into something entirely different. One of the possible consequences of this is that it could become increasingly harder to tell alleged leaks apart from official creatures, and The Teal Mask DLC doesn’t help.
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Why Scarlet and Violet’s Regional Fakes, Paradox Pokemon, and Bloodmoon Ursaluna Are Problematic
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Toedscool lineis hard to tell from its original counterpart, with the exception that its color palette is a bit different, and it walks instead of swimming, but it single-handedly proves that even what would be considered a so-called “fakemon” could be legit. Its case isn’t really helped by Toedscruel’s appearance and name, and the same can be said about the second regional fake line in the games, which comprises Wiglett and Wugtrio.
Back when Wiglett was first leaked ahead of Gen 9 games' launch, it was met with doubt because it didn’t seem like somethingPokemongames would do. However, it was soon after confirmed forPokemon Scarlet and Violetby official sources, which started to pose questions as to why it wasn’t simply a Regional Form of Diglett. As the unofficial name suggests, regional fakes are supposed to be entirely new Pokemon that share a lot of DNA with existing monsters from past generations to the point that they can be seen as “fake” - something that was arguably easier to tell in past years about blatantly artificial designs.
The Teal Mask DLC’s Bloodmoon Ursalunadoesn’t do this any favors, as it could very well have been a fan-made critter in the same vein as regional fakes. On top of that,Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s first DLC also features Poltchageist and Sinistcha, the respective regional fakes of Sinistea and Polteageist. These mons have inverted name suffixes compared to the originals from Gen 8, all of which makes it even harder to tell potentially true leaks and rumors from fake ones.
Essentially, regional fakes break multiple criteria used by the series so far, whereasScarlet and Violet’s Paradox Pokemonand The Teal Mask’s own Bloodmoon Ursaluna could easily be compared to Ultra Beasts in terms of weirdness and characteristics. All of these subgroups within the franchise make the waters surrounding Gen 10 and future releases after that murkier by default, which could be a blessing or a curse. Considering how tight-lipped The Pokemon Company has been with recent releases, any new designs shared ahead of Gen 10 that are not explicitly stated to be official could either turn out to be genuine or fan art, and it could be pretty hard to tell.
Pokemon ScarletandVioletare available now for the Nintendo Switch.
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