Pokémon Scarlet and Violet games have always focused on catching and battling monsters rather than on the storyline or the villains. However, Scarlet and Violet sets a new trend in the franchise by introducing the first fully fleshed-out villainous team, Team Star. The Pokémon Scarlet and Violet offers a non-linear story and an open-world concept. Scarlet and Violet tackle important issues while providing depth to the team’s individual characters, resulting in a storyline that is both entertaining and powerful.
Past Pokémon Villains: Simplistic and One-Dimensional
In previous Pokémon games, the villains were largely one-dimensional and straightforward from a plot perspective. The player was tasked with taking down a large-scale criminal organization set on some degree of world domination. For example, Team Rocket was a mafia-style crime syndicate led by a wealthy businessman in Gen I. Team Galactic of Generation IV was an evil organisation bent on destroying the universe in order to establish a new one that matched their leader’s perverted worldview.
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While iconic, the simplistic nature of these villains hardly fit into the light-hearted atmosphere of Pokémon. Additionally, aside from a few standout characters like Giovanni, most villains lacked individual personalities or backstories. This left much to be desired in terms of character development and relatability.
Team Star Improves the Villainous Team Formula
Team Star is a welcome addition to the Pokémon franchise. A group of teenagers founded the squad in response to a bullying problem at school. The students banded together to confront their bullies, leading to a big confrontation with wide-spreading consequences for the students and staff. The result was that the teachers resigned, the bullies left the school, and Team Star’s mysterious leader was sent to study abroad for over a year. In solidarity with their leader, Team Star refused to return to school without them, leading to possible expulsion due to excessive absences.
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With the prominence of bullying in modern schools and online, Team Star’s story is an important one for both kids and adults to experience. It gives adults insight into the problems that children encounter and helps them to learn from the mistakes made by the professionals at Naranja and Uva Academies. At the conclusion of the game, the player is left trying to break up this gang, not to stop them from doing awful things to mankind, but to save them from themselves.
Scarlet and Violet Sets a Good Example for Future Pokémon Games
Scarlet and Violet’s story of students banding together is both heartwarming and tragic. Team Star is a collective of kids who were failed by the adults around them and slipped through the cracks. They are perceived as a threat and, incorrectly, as the bullies they aimed to combat. By addressing real-life challenges in this way, a Pokémon Scarlet and Violet game that is not only fun but also impactful for young people is created. Scarlet and Violet sets a new precedent for villains in the Pokémon franchise, providing a guiding light towards a brighter future for villainous teams.
Scarlet and Violet’s non-linear story and open-world concept introduce a new trend in the franchise. Team Star offers depth to the individual characters, making it the most developed villainous team in the Pokémon series. The game addresses important issues, resulting in a storyline that is both entertaining and powerful for young people. Scarlet and Violet sets an example for future Pokémon Scarlet and Violet games, providing a guiding light towards a brighter future for villainous teams.
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