October 6, 2022, is going to be a packed day for Nintendo fans thanks to the debut of Illumination's first Super Mario movie trailer and another showcase for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. The upcoming releases haven't been marketed as heavily as entries like Sun and Moon, so fans are eager to absorb as much as they can - even if much of that comes from Scarlet and Violet leaks. It has been confirmed that the Generation 9 games will have three narratives to tackle in the open-world Paldea region, including taking down Team Star bases as part of the "Starfall Street" story.
Team Star is the Paldea region's prerequisite "villain" organization, but seems to fit the misguided punk mold of Team Skull and (to a certain extent) Team Yell more than the crime syndicates of Team Rocket, Galactic, or Plasma. The Pokemon Scarlet and Violet website describes a group of delinquent, rebellious students who cause trouble while pushing other kids to join their cause, forcing players to tackle the base of each squad. Doing so initiates a new limited-time invasion mode where players use Auto Battles to reach the boss as soon as possible, but it's likely this idea won't reach its full potential until put to the test with more threatening antagonists.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Starfall Street Formula
There's a lot that fans don't know about the structure of Team Star given its only unveiled group is the Fire-type Schedar Squad. This crew is led by Mela, a punk girl who calls Pokemon characters like Ryuki to mind, and is described as Team Star's "all-rounder." Her methods can be heavy-handed, according to the Scarlet and Violet website, but always in service of her teammates. After players fight through a wave of grunts to reach Mela, she faces them while riding a custom Starmobile.
Each Team Star squad will likely follow a similar structure capped off with a fight against the boss and their Starmobile - which is a Pokemon that "will get in your way." Pokemon Scarlet and Violet leaks suggest there may be five Team Star squads embodying the types that aren't already taken by the Gym Leaders and Elite Four members in Paldea's "Victory Road" storyline, but the Auto Battle mechanic is where these encounters will really shine.
These upcoming Pokemon titles will take the idea of Pokemon following their trainers to the next level with the "Let's Go!" feature, in which a traveling partner can freely go off in their own direction to collect items and battle. Pokemon Legends: Arceus toyed with a similar idea by letting players use their monsters to activate resource nodes, but Let's Go! has the potential to help each monster feel more alive by creating passive stories. Early footage of Team Star base invasions even show players Auto Battle using multiple Pokemon, defeating a group of Houndour with their Makuhita and a Baile-style Oricorio.
Scarlet and Violet's Auto Battling Could be Huge with Bigger Threats
While free-roaming Pokemon could initiate fun stories if they react based on underlying factors such as Nature, the relatively low stakes of fighting class-cutting ne'er-do-wells might undermine the system's potential. There are plenty of ways to slot this invasion feature into prior stories that seemingly make better use of the limited-time "defeat them all" structure. For example, one could imagine a revamped Team Magma/Aqua Trainer Horde battle from Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, or having to quickly take on Team Galactic commanders Mars and Jupiter at the top of Spear Pillar before Cyrus summons Dialga and Palkia.
Having more battles in the overworld opens more engaging duels between NPCs too. Whether it be Champion Lance defeating Team Rocket in Mahogany Town, Team Magma and Aqua battling one another atop Mt. Chimney, or the Unova Gym Leaders stepping in to battle Team Plasma Sages in N's Castle, there's a lot of room to reimagine intense conflicts that the player must run through before reaching their ultimate goal. Team Star could surprise fans with encounters of this caliber, or Game Freak might unveil a more sinister organization akin to the Aether Foundation and Macro Cosmos, but for now it remains to be seen how well Scarlet and Violet utilize this Auto Battle mechanic.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet launch November 18, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.