Pokemon Scarlet and Violet leaks continue to appear online as more people play the ROM, and fans believe that some hints in the game point to a future region being based on Italy. Leaks for Gen 9 games started a few days ago when some players got their copies early and then shared pictures of Fuecoco's and Smoliv's middle-stage evolutions, only for them to be followed by other images. The peak of the reveals happened two days ago, however, as Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's entire Pokedex leaked online as the ROM became accessible both to those who wanted to play and those who wanted to datamine it.
As such, all Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's starter evolutions were leaked, starting a debate within the community about which ones are the best, and why it may be worth picking a given starter over the others. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Paradox Pokemon were also leaked, including fan-favorites in the form of Salamence and Tyranitar, which are respectively called Roaring Moon and Iron Thorns. After the Pokemon themselves, it was the turn of everything else, including stats, moves, Abilities, and even Gen 9's story.
Yesterday, a popular leak aggregator known as Centro LEAKS shared a picture taken in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet where the main character is looking at a painting called "Street, Midday." According to the note left in the game, the painting actually portrays "a beautiful town in a different region," which could be based on Italy based on the subject of the painting, which is a sunny street with cobblestones and light-colored buildings, adorned with flowers and plants. This fits thematically with some areas in Italy, especially Tuscany and the southern part of Italy, such as the main islands, Sicily and Sardinia. Click here to see the image, but it's worth noting it may be removed in a few hours.
There is also a second image that was shared about potential Pokemon Gen 10 hints, and this time it seems to be either an in-game drawing or a sketch in a book depicting a medieval town, which includes several towers. Fans believe this could be somewhere in real-life countries like Spain, France, Germany, and Italy, but two of them can already be ruled out because Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Paldea region is based on Spain and possibly Portugal as well, whereas Gen 6's Kalos was based on France. Because the first picture is much more likely to hint at Italy than other countries, such as Germany, it's possible that it could be depicting Florence. Click here to see the image, but again, note that it might be taken down at some point.
Overall, it may be too soon to connect all the dots from possible Gen 9 hints toward the next generation of Pokemon games, but it has become a tradition of sorts to include some hidden, obscure references to them. Then again, an Italy-based region was rumored for Gen 9 based on some clues found in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, but Scarlet and Violet ended up being based on a different European country, proving those rumors wrong.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet release on November 18 for Nintendo Switch.