Pokémon Scarlet & Violet's Co-Op Can Make League Cards Matter

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Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's new trailer gave an indication of new 4-player co-op gameplay, opening the door to bring back the previous installment's League Cards. Introduced in Pokémon Sword and Shield, League Cards served as a replacement to the preexisting Trainer Cards and offered players a new level of customization by allowing them to edit the design of the card as well as their trainer's pose on the card. These cards can then be exchanged with other players online as well as earned by trainers in the game.

League Cards belonging to trainers in game are usually given to them by the trainers themselves as a symbol of camaraderie and respect, often after either defeating the trainer or performing a task. Beyond exploring some of Pokémon Sword and Shield's backstory elements on the League Cards themselves, however, they serve no further in-game purpose. As a piece of lore, these cards function well in adding life to the characters that inhabit the Galar region, but by remaining as such, the potential of their use in-game is missed.

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PokémonSword and Shield introduced the Wild Area along with Raid Dens as a featured fixture of the new, large-scale map locations. Raid Dens allowed players to team up and battle larger, more powerful Pokémon than can be found in the wild normally, with NPCs standing in for humans should the player not fill out their group of four. Even with the introduction of the large-form Dynamax Adventures in the Crown Tundra DLC, however, the opportunity to use League Cards to fill out the raid team with a chosen NPC was left unfulfilled.

Using League Cards to call trainers and Gym Leaders to your group for Raids and