PLEASE NOTE: This article contains MASSIVE Spoilers for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Proceed at your own risk.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet may be among the most revolutionary games in the franchise for a plethora of reasons, from them being the first fully open-world title in the series to the removal of tall grass and line-of-sight trainer battles. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Professors break four major traditions as well, with them not giving players their Pokedex and starter Pokemon, them being version exclusives alongside new and returning critters, and most of all, them being the villains and final bosses of Gen 9 as a whole. Fuecoco being a crocodile broke the seemingly unintended tradition of Fire-type starters being inspired Chinese zodiac, for example, whereas Nemona breaks the tradition of the rival who starts their journey alongside players.
And yet, there are many other big traditions that Gen 9 games broke, and one of them has a lot to do with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Koraidon and Miraidon. Box Legendaries are often very powerful pocket monsters, and Game Freak pigeonholed itself into making Legendary and pseudo-Legendary Pokemon Dragon-types, which also applies to Koraidon and Miraidon, being Dragon/Fighting and Dragon/Electric, respectively. What changes in Gen is the fact that they are handed out to the players almost immediately, and then they can be encountered two more times, all while they are on their trainer's team.
How Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Legendary Break Major Series-Long Traditions
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's story begins with a newcomer to the region that is given their starter Pokemon, only to then set out on an amazing adventure that encompasses exploring the whole region. Because Paldea is massive, and it is entirely explorable, players need a means of transportation, and that's where Koraidon and Miraidon soon come into play, with them acting as the main character's ride for the entire game. As such, players obtain them from the get-go, barely minutes into Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and slowly upgrade their travel capabilities as they defeat Titans to get Herba Mystica for Arven.
This was never done before, and Legendary Pokemon have always been an endgame prize for players. Not even Pokemon Sun and Moon, where players encounter "Nebby" almost immediately, did give them the box Legendary right away, albeit in a non-battle form. On top of that, there's another tradition that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Koraidon and Miraidon break, and that has to do with the final battle in the game's story.
While facing Professor Sada or Turo in the lab in Area Zero, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players will be forced to use their Koraidon or Miraidon for the first time ever in battle, and not against the opposite Legendary, but another copy of itself. Normally, Pokemon games treat clashes between Legendary Pokemon as a plot point where one defeats the other or one of the two is highlighted in some way, and it differs based on the version that players picked. In Gen 9, players have to battle with just their Koraidon or Miraidon against another Koraidon or Miraidon in order to beat the game.
Finally, the third tradition that Gen 9 games break is that not only do players get to use their Koraidon or Miraidon in battle after defeating the one used by the Professor, but they also get to catch a second Legendary. This is because the Koraidon and Miraidon obtained early in the game cannot be traded even after they fully unlock their potential, and the reason is that they still function as the players' only means of transportation. As such, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Area Zero features another copy of Koraidon and Miraidon that players can catch, and this too is a major change.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.