Splatoon 3 Celebrates Pokemon Scarlet and Violet with Splatfest Crossover

Nintendo is bringing Splatoon and Pokemon together with a Pokemon-themed Splatoon 3 event soon timed perfectly to celebrate the upcoming launch of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. During this event, the new Splatoon game will feature a three-way Splatfest referencing the Grass, Fire, and Water-type Pokemon that players always choose from whenever they start their new Pokemon journeys. The event won't start until November 11th, however, so it's unclear now if there will be anything else involved in this or if it'll be limited only to a Splatfest.

Nintendo announced the cross-promotional event this week in posts on the company's social accounts that featured several Splatoon Inklings mimicking the Grass, Fire, and Water options with their designs. Whenever the event gets underway, players will find themselves aligned with one of those three options with the event seemingly playing out like a normal Splatfest beyond that aside from the Pokemon references.

This Splatfest will get underway on November 11th at 4 p.m. and will wrap up just two days later on November 13th at 4 p.m. PT. Once everything wraps up, Nintendo said that it'll hand out rewards to Splatfest participants with those who win getting more than others. It hasn't been said yet what those rewards will be.

Grass-type. Fire-type. Water-type. This debate has perplexed our great philosophers for ages. Let’s settle it.

The Splatoon x Pokémon special #Splatfest collaboration begins 11/11 at 4pm PT!

Which type will you choose? pic.twitter.com/rPlTwIcycB

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) October 7, 2022

"After you make your choice, you'll participate in Splatfest Battles, where the goal is to ink as much of the stage as you can without getting splatted too often," Nintendo said. "At the end of the event, the winning side will be revealed, and in-game goodies will be handed out (with the winning side getting more, of course)."

Nintendo could of course do these sorts of cross-brand promotions at any point in Splatoon given how many different properties it owns, but it makes the most sense to do this one in October given that the new Pokemon games are scheduled to release on November 18th. Those games have been getting more and more attention via trailers and one-off announcements lately such as the lengthy trailer released this week that revealed new Pokemon and more gameplay mechanics.

Splatoon 3's Pokemon-themed Splatfest gets underway on November 11th, so look for more details about rewards and such as we get closer to that date.