The Pokémon Company and Game Freaks have announced two new gameplay features in “Let’s Go!” and Auto-battle for players who do not enjoy grinding to earn EXP. The new mechanic lets players do other things while their Pokémon are exploring and leveling up. Alongside the gameplay feature announcement, the new Treasure Hunt trailer was released revealing story elements, characters, and a giant crab Pokémon.
“Let’s Go!” and Auto-battle
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet will be adding two new features that allow a Pokémon to explore an area autonomously. The first feature is called “Let’s Go!” and will allow players to send their Pokémon off on adventures. Players will indicate which direction a Pokémon heads off to and it will automatically pick up items that it encounters. The auto-battle mode can be activated by using “Let’s Go!”. The Pokémon you send out using the “Let’s Go!” feature will automatically seek out and engage any wild Pokémon it encounters in combat. Auto-battles will not require any player commands and winning these fights will reward your Pokémon with items and EXP points. Players can also move freely around the area after sending out their Pokémon using the “Let’s Go!” feature. You can choose to explore on your own or watch over your Pokémon as it uses auto-battle. The announcement specifically states that you can explore and gather items while one of your Pokémon is in auto-battle mode. Hopefully, the system will allow you to also use your other Pokémon to battle any wild Pokémon you encounter when doing simultaneous exploration with the “Let’s Go!” feature.
A Treasure Hunt trailer
A new trailer was posted alongside the “Let’s Go!” and Auto-battle feature announcement. The theme for the new gameplay trailer is “A Treasure Hunt”. The three-minute-long trailer showcases three story arcs in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: Along Victory Road, Path of Legends, and Starfall Street. These three quests will be part of the open-world adventure and can most likely be done in any order. Along Victory Road sets the player off to battle in gyms along the Paldea Region via the Pokémon League. There are a total of eight gyms in the region and you will have to defeat all the gym leaders and pass a test to earn the Champion Rank. You will be meeting Chairwoman Geeta who manages the Pokémon League. The trailer also introduces Brassius, the gym leader of the Artazon Gym, who uses plant-type Pokémons. In Path of Legends, players will help Arven seek out a rare ingredient called Herba Mystica. The rare plant is guarded by Titan Pokémon. One of the Titan Pokémon is called Klawf which looks like a giant crab. In Starfall Street, players will battle against Team Star which is made up of several squads of rebellious students. The leader of the Schedar Squad is named Mela and she specializes in fire-type Pokémon. Players will have to defeat each squad and their Starmobiles to take down the leader. Pokémon Scarlet & Violet will be available on November 18, 2022. To celebrate the game’s arrival, Nintendo has revealed a Pokémon Scarlet & Violet-themed Switch OLED. The special edition Switch OLED will launch ahead of the game on November 4, 2022.
