Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Seems to Be Making a Big Change to a Classic Game Feature

By Christian Hoffer

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet might be changing a longtime game feature in an effort to better streamline the open world of the game. Last month, The Pokemon Company announced Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, a brand new pair of Pokemon games that seem to blend the classic Pokemon experience with the open-world gameplay fans have wanted for years. Fans have poured over the scant few minutes of gameplay video looking for potential hints at what's to come in the still unnamed new region that the games are set in, and players have spotted one key difference in a longtime feature seen in every single Pokemon game since Pokemon Red and Blue. 

The first trailer for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet showed off what appeared to be several Pokemon Centers nestled throughout the sprawling world of the game. These Pokemon Centers look a bit different from other Pokemon Centers, as they resemble kiosks or gas stations rather than the traditional clinics seen in past games. You can see one of these potential Pokemon Centers in the official screen shot shared by The Pokemon Company below: 

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(Photo: Pokemon)

A close up of the Pokemon Center appears later in the trailer, which gives fans a closer look at the new design. In the Twitter post below, Twitter user DeltaUminotami suggests that Game Freak could be switching the design of the new Pokemon Center to help with the new open world concept of the games. By letting players stop at a Pokemon Center that can be interacted with from the outside, Game Freak can cut down on the loading that comes by entering and exiting buildings. 

Pokemon Centers have gone through several evolutions since debuting in the original Pokemon games. Depending on the region, Pokemon Centers have included cafes, merged with Pokemon Centers, and even featured different hubs for multiplayer play. Of course, Pokemon Centers are also the home to the PCs players use to access their Pokemon boxes, although that feature was also rendered mostly obsolete with Pokemon Sword and Shield, which allows players to access the box from almost any part of the world. 

It certainly seems like some big changes are coming to even familiar parts of the Pokemon franchise. We'll have to wait until later this year to see what changes Pokemon Scarlet and Violet bring.

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