After a busy day for the series, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have released update 1.2.0, adding some new features to the games. Today's Pokemon Presents also saw the announcement of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's first expansion, so it's an exciting time for fans.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet faced a rough launch, with players complainomg about the games' visuals and performance upon release. Players are still finding new bugs in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, so the updates since release haven't managed to fully smooth out the experience for players yet. That hasn't stopped gamers from flocking to the titles, as they quickly became some of the fastest-selling Pokemon games of all time. With the games continuing to sell to this degree, the Pokemon franchise continues to show what a powerhouse it is in the gaming industry, 27 years after it was first released.
The new patch has gone under the radar on a day packed with Pokemon news, but the news comes courtesy of the official Nintendo website. The update, released today, is mostly comprised of bug fixes, however, it does add a few new features to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Notably, players can finally connect their games to Pokemon GO, and players can now also enter Online Competitions and Friendly Competitions in the Battle Stadium. The update also adds a host of new functionalities to Pokemon Boxes, making them much more useful in-game.
Updates for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will always be welcomed, especially patches that add new features. With some players comparing Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's visuals to PS1 graphics, the games still have a long way to become what many expected them to be upon release. It would have been easy for Game Freak to move on from the titles, knowing that the next release will still sell well regardless. But to the company's credit, it seems dedicated to making Pokemon Scarlet and Violet the best games they can be. Hopefully, this level of support continues after their DLC expansions are released.
The Pokemon franchise is in a really healthy place right now, with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet smashing sales figures for the series. However, The Pokemon Company should still choose its next steps carefully to ensure it stays that way. With iconic protagonist Ash leaving the Pokemon anime, fans are understandably worried about who could take his place. And while Pokemon Scarlet and Violet both sold well, the games undeniably ate away at some of the franchise's built-up goodwill among the gaming community. The next Pokemon game should look to take some serious leaps forward for the franchise, to ensure it remains relevant in the future.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Patch Notes
Newly Added Features
- The Nintendo eShop page for The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC for the Pokémon Scarlet game or the Pokémon Violet game can now be accessed via the main menu. For more details on The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC, please visit The Pokémon Company.
- Trainers can now enjoy Online Competitions and Friendly Competitions in the Battle Stadium, and entries are now open for an official Online Competition: Paldea Prologue.
- Players can now connect their games to Pokémon GO.
Feature Adjustments
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Additional functionality has been added for Pokémon Boxes:
- From a Pokémon’s summary, players can now change Pokémon’s nicknames, markings, held items, and mark- or Ribbon-related titles, as well as reorder moves, have Pokémon remember or forget moves, and use TMs.
- Players can also now swap out held items by pressing the Y Button when in the Held Items view.
- Players are now able to select All Boxes while moving Pokémon or items in the Party and Boxes view and Held Items view.
- When in the Battle Team view, Pokémon in your Boxes that are assigned to a Battle Team will now have their icons displayed in a darker hue if those Pokémon are members of the Battle Team that is currently being displayed.
- The News screen will be displayed when you connect to the internet from the main menu, just as it is when connecting to the internet from the Poké Portal.
Bug Fixes
Tera Raid Battles
- A bug could prevent an opposing Tera Pokémon’s HP gauge from visually reflecting damage dealt by certain moves (such as Play Rough) or damage dealt at the same time that certain status conditions are applied, causing the Tera Pokémon’s HP gauge to fluctuate in an unusual manner. This has been fixed.
- A bug that caused all Pokémon on your side to faint at once despite their HP gauges indicating that they still have HP could occur in black crystal Tera Raid Battles against Pokémon with the Mightiest Mark. This has been fixed.
- A bug that temporarily prevented a player from entering any input into the game could occur if a Tera Pokémon took certain actions while the player was choosing the target of their move. This has been fixed.
- Errors could occur when someone connecting to a Tera Raid Battle saw a different Pokémon displayed on their screen than what the host saw. This has been fixed.
- A bug could occur that caused players joining a Tera Raid Battle from the Tera Raid Battles search screen to be brought to a Tera Raid Battle against a Pokémon different from the one they saw displayed. This has been fixed.
- A bug that caused Tera Raid Battle crystals to stop appearing for a set amount of time could occur under certain circumstances. This has been fixed.
Battles
- Type matchups against Pokémon that have fainted will no longer appear when selecting a move or target during Double Battles.
- We have fixed a bug in which a Zoroark that had Terastallized and was disguised as another Pokémon via its Illusion Ability could have been identified as a Zoroark by using the Check Target option.
- We have fixed a bug in which the type matchups of moves targeting a Zoroark that had Terastallized and was disguised as another Pokémon via its Illusion Ability would display based on the type of the Pokémon that Zoroark was disguised as, rather than Zoroark’s Tera Type.
- We have fixed a bug in which the stats of a Dondozo with a Tatsugiri in its mouth increased when Dondozo used Order Up when the move should have been negated (for example, by an opponent using Protect).
- We have fixed a bug in which the effects of Destiny Bond failed to activate if a Pokémon Terastallized the turn after using Destiny Bond and then fainted.
- allizes after using Destiny Bond and then faints, the effects of Destiny Bond will fail to activate. This is a bug and will be fixed.
Other
- We have addressed an issue that made the game prone to forcibly closing at certain locations. As a result of this fix, there may be fewer Pokémon and people displayed in certain towns or in the wild.
- We have fixed a bug in which a Pokémon that is not a part of the Paldea Pokédex was displayed as being registered to the Paldea Pokédex after being obtained through a Link Trade.
- Certain actions prevented the main character’s expressions from changing until the game was closed and reopened. This has been fixed.
- A bug occurred for some players after Ranked Battles Season 1, wherein visiting the Ranked Battles screen immediately after the season’s results had been calculated caused an error right after these players received their rewards. Following this error, players were unable to participate in any further Ranked Battles. This has been fixed.
- We have fixed a bug in which a player may not have received the Master Rank Ribbon if they had registered several Battle Teams but had not used the Battle Team in the first slot when winning Ranked Battles in the Master Ball Tier.
- We have fixed a bug in which a Pokémon you caught may not have listened to your commands in accordance with what is written in the profile app (“Pokémon caught at Lv. XX or below will listen to your commands”) if that Pokémon was Link Traded back to you from another player.
- We have fixed a bug in which new information may not have been added to your Pokédex after you received a Shiny Pokémon or a Pokémon caught by a Trainer who plays in a different language via Surprise Trade if you already had that species registered to your Pokédex.
- Objects such as Poké Balls could have been displayed in certain areas unintentionally. This has been fixed.
- Passersby are no longer displayed during certain battles that take place in towns during the main story.
- A number of other bug fixes have been implemented.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for the Nintendo Switch.