Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Path of Legends Has a Surprisingly Sad Twist

One of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's core storylines has an incredibly sad and poignant twist to it. The new Pokemon games allow players to simultaneously complete three main plotlines – Victory Road (in which players battle gym leaders), Starfall Street (in which players battle the truant Team Star leaders), and Path of Legends (in which players battle Titan Pokemon while gathering a rare item called Herba Mystica). While the Path of Legends has a very practical purpose in the game – it allows players to power up their Ride Pokemon to gain the ability to climb, fly, and swim – it also has a surprisingly sad background to it. 

Joining players in the Path of Legends is Arven, an older student who's obsessed with cooking but isn't a strong Pokemon trainer. Arven claims that he wants to use the Herba Mystica to become a master sandwich maker, but it's quickly apparent that Arven's motivations are deeper than it seems. After battling two of the Titan Pokemon, Arven comes clean to the player – he is hoping to use the Terra Mystica to bring his dying Masbosstiff back to health. Masbosstiff was in a terrible accident not too long before the start of the game, and traditional medicine couldn't restore it to health. As Arven feeds his Masbosstiff more Terra Mystica sandwiches, he notices small improvements to his Pokemon's health, although he seems to be quite enthusiastic for what looks to be very nominal progress. 

The Titan Pokemon battles themselves typically aren't too difficult. Players usually have to corner a Titan Pokemon and then battle it twice – once on their own and once with the help of Arven after the Titan Pokemon grows stronger thanks to the Terra Mystica herb. Each Titan Pokemon battle rewards players with an upgrade to their Ride Pokemon and a Titan Badge, which has no practical effects. 

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is available on the Nintendo Switch now.