Pokemon Scarlet & Violet's Second And Third Stories Could Hold The Key To Its Future

thegamer.com:

The recent Pokemon Presents buried the lede a little bit when discussing Scarlet & Violet. While it was obvious the talk of the town would be Fidough, the bread dog designed to give you yeast infections, the bulk of the Paldea focused Presents fixated on the Legendaries and the world itself, but halfway through proceedings, there was a tone switch. More information started coming at us thick and fast, like it was hinting to the listener 'the hype stuff is over, this bit is for the nerds'. As a fully paid up member of the nerds club, I leaned in with anticipation. Then the bombshell dropped. This time around, Pokemon will have three stories, which all happen simultaneously. This is the biggest shake-up to the formula Pokemon has ever promised.

I've been burned by Pokemon a lot, and not just from hugging Charmander too much. Change for the series has been slow, frustrating, and laden with caveats, despite its huge success. It's been one step forward and three steps back at times. Pokemon's the love of my life but it makes me mad. I love it, want it, hate it, I just don't understand. Still, when it comes to Pokemon, I choose optimism. Three storylines is not a major ambition for a game of Pokemon's pull or revenue, but it's way beyond anything attempted so far (certainly in a mainline game), that this might be the something that eventually had to give.

Related: Pokemon's Legends: Arceus Animated Special Might Have Already Shot Itself In The Foot

We know just one of the three stories so far, which means there's a lot of opportunities for the rug to be pulled out from under us. This single story is the regular story, eight gyms, Victory Road, becoming the very best like no one ever was - you know, it's a whole deal. You can