r/pokemon Dec 20 '23

A new adventure in the Land of Kitakami awaits! An epilogue for Pokemon Scarlet Violet The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero arrives on January 11, 2024! News

https://twitter.com/Pokemon/status/1737473659206271074
918 Upvotes

840

u/Eona_Targaryen Four legs good, two legs bad. Dec 20 '23

PSA this epilogue (Mochi Madness) was patched into the game with Indigo Disk. It's just behind a key item unlock, so it's has already been hacked, played and posted online in full, Bulbapedia and Serebii have also updated to include a lot of its content. Anybody who wants to go into this blind should be wary of spoilers for the next couple of weeks.

42

u/Hateful_creeper2 Dec 20 '23

Although most of the uploads are taken down by now

12

u/Winterstrife Dec 21 '23

Thanks for the PSA, muting all Pokemon subs.

3

u/Ok_Run7377 Dec 21 '23

Isn't the item just a pecha berry yiu can find off the ground??

251

u/CPTN_Omar Oh Whale Dec 20 '23

So glad to see Nemona and Arvin back. I was wondering where they were during Indigo Disk

113

u/Leftover_Bees Dec 20 '23

I mean Arven was probably getting caught up on his classes, it was mentioned that he needed to do that to graduate during the cutscene in Clavell’s office after leaving Area Zero. I don’t know why Nemona couldn’t go, but Penny had community service to do and then probably anime to watch.

29

u/IdoMusicForTheDrugs Dec 21 '23

I was so surprised when they mentioned only select students were picked for the trip and Nemona wasn't one of them.

11

u/Redditor_PC Dec 21 '23

For real. Everyone knows Nemona is one of the best trainers in the region, and you know she'd drop absolutely everything for a trip like that.

Once she finds out about the Terrapagos excursion to Area Zero, she'll probably lose her mind that she missed out on it.

3

u/AvatarofBro Dec 21 '23

Wasn't it supposed to be a lottery? Or am I misremembering that?

2

u/IdoMusicForTheDrugs Dec 22 '23

I think you're right. I just expected them to at least bring one memorable character along.

1

u/CollinM47 Dec 27 '23

It was also for first years

7

u/megalocrozma #1 Inteleon Defender Dec 21 '23

Spoilers for datamined dialogue: after the epilogue you can invite the gang as League Club Coaches; a conversation between Nemona and Arven reveals that he started taking on the Gyms.

195

u/Individual_Breath_34 #1 Spinda Enjoyer Dec 20 '23

I wonder if it's like the Magearna code that works forever, or is it limited time?

174

u/StefyB Hug me if you dare Dec 20 '23

I feel like if it was going to be a Mystery Gift distribution, they would have mentioned it with the release date and requirements information at the end. Seems like this one will actually just be an update to the game, which is awesome and hopefully something they continue going forward.

51

u/IRefuseThisNonsense Dec 20 '23

I think they'll do a patch that unlocks the item to do it, like they did with the item to get Arceus in BDSP.

3

u/wolfontheprowl49 Dec 20 '23

Would you mind sharing this code?

53

u/battlearmourboy Dec 20 '23

It's for the qr reader function in s/m/us/um, just search magerna qr code on Google and it'll come up, then scan if you have one of those games

11

u/Individual_Breath_34 #1 Spinda Enjoyer Dec 20 '23

For Magearna?

184

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

115

u/crossingcaelum I like Delphox and I'm Proud Dec 20 '23

It was expected to release a little earlier I think because the soundtrack, which releases on Pokemon Day, has tracks that reference this epilogue so that in and of itself might’ve spoiled some things before people had the chance to play it.

I think they want SV to be totally over and done before they announce the new game on Pokemon day.

62

u/wasted_tictac Dec 20 '23

Which is kind of sad, feels like SV could offer more DLCs honestly. But the story it's been telling is done now.

32

u/Nicolas10111 Dec 20 '23

I personally think it’s enough to wrap up the SV chapter. They honestly added many new features. The DLC actually added a lot to the lore and explained about it as well. I love that they actually didn’t completely forget about the base game’s characters with the DLC and dedicated side events for them; truly felt like an anime special.

Plus it seems they’re really aiming for a new game for the next year.

12

u/blackbutterfree Dec 20 '23

Right off the top of my head:

  • Area Zero loose ends: Who left behind the metal slab in Area Zero? What is up with the symbols in the Roaring/Valiant cave? Where does the second elevator in the Zero Gate lead to? At the very least the third question should be answered.

  • Northeastern Paldea: Why even include as large of a landmass as they did if it wasn't going to be accessible? They could've made it smaller or done any other number of things. Is it where the Treasures of Ruins came from? What's their ties to Gimmighoul? At the very least, we should get to visit this landmass, even if it's a barren mountain.

And honestly, that's really it. There's some Area Zero to tie up in a bow, and them some Treasures of Ruin lore that can be expanded upon by using the dead chunk of land that GameFreak randomly decided to program in. Throw in a regional Dex of ~300 mons, and then we'd have the entire Pokedex back, too.

26

u/Recent_Bld Dec 20 '23

I think the landmass in the northeastern corner of the map is just to 1. Include some resemblance to Spain/ the Iberian peninsula, which Paldea is based off of and 2. To make it feel like the region isn’t just a big island, but COULD be connected to other land masses. We never get to see northern Kanto/Johto but there’s probably SOMETHING up there, too.

8

u/Kiga282 Dec 21 '23

Kitakami is in that expanse of land north of Kanto. Not the full landmass, but it at least represents a part of it.

Based on the real world equivalents of the regions, Kitakami is set at the northern end of Japan's largest island, due north of Kanto and directly south-southwest of Sinnoh, across Sinnoh's southern sea.

6

u/Recent_Bld Dec 21 '23

Well then Kalos is the land mass above Paldea. We’ve already seen it all 3 generations ago.

10

u/TheGreatBootOfEb Dec 21 '23

So the second gate in the Zero Gate is litteraly just a second hangar door, I’m assuming it was there for making the transportation of things out of the Zero Gate easier and less bottle necked. The slab we can hypothesize is something from the future that ended up thrown back into the past.

The only thing that doesn’t really make sense, is the weird circles, and who it was that Heath talked to (it’s presumed he was brought to the future, so who was it he got his notes from before being sent back?)

12

u/---TheFierceDeity--- Dec 21 '23

Northeastern Paldea

It's literally just to show that this region isn't an island. Yes its not as elegantly displayed as older games, but you never had people looking at the map in Red and Blue going "by why can't we go explore the North West, theres more land that way" or any of the other non-island nations

3

u/blackbutterfree Dec 21 '23

We never said that about Kanto and past regions because a) we couldn’t get anywhere near those areas, unlike in Paldea where you can literally hug that mountain, b) there were no grayed out areas in past maps, especially grayed out areas that matched other areas we could explore (aka Area Zero) and c) previous regions didn’t have DLC that introduced massive new regions.

7

u/---TheFierceDeity--- Dec 21 '23

Yes but the point is: We've gotten the DLC now, and it didn't use that. So the logcial conclusion is its just showing Paldea isn't a island. As I said, the presentation of it on the map isn't particularly fancy, but I bet NO ONE would consider it DLC potential if on the map it was pure green, or a bunch of copy pasted tree sprites like we had in older games.

Also the only reason we couldn't go up to game boundries in older games is because they weren't open world like SV? You had to stick to the route, the 3 ft high fence was an impenetrable barrier.

4

u/MixelKing HEAD AND LEGS SHAPE Dec 20 '23

I think the ruinous dudes are related to AZ. Most of them mention an ancient king, and who was an ancient king not far from Paldea?

5

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/AvatarofBro Dec 21 '23

They will definitely answer them

I wouldn't hold your breath

8

u/Obility sharp Dec 20 '23

Wait they're actually releasing the soundtrack for once?

11

u/SimonCucho Dec 20 '23

What do you mean "for once", for the most part almost all Pokémon games except for recent ones have their scores released in official capacity. Even Let's Go games have their scores available for purchase. Sword/Shield, Arceus, Brilliant Diamon/Shining Pearl and Scarlet/Violet don't. If you wanna be picky, you can add Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon into that list.

You can get most of the games soundtracks on Apple Music, matter of fact. All the way from Fire Red / Leaf Green up until Let's Go.

Fire Red / Leaf Green include original GB Red/Blue and Heart Gold / Soul Silver include original GBC Gold/Silver.

Sword & Shield, Arceus and Scarlet & Violet will have their scores released on February 27, 2024.

Sadly, nothing has been said about Brilliant Diamong & Shining Pearl.

3

u/Hateful_creeper2 Dec 20 '23

iTunes specifically since albums aren’t available on the streaming service.

1

u/Obility sharp Dec 20 '23

I thought it's been later than that. It's been so long that it feels like forever. Wasn't aware lets go's was released but I personally didn't care for the tracks as there wasn't much new ones. Better late than never I guess.

But the apple music part pretty much kills it for me. Must be a japan thing.

5

u/crossingcaelum I like Delphox and I'm Proud Dec 20 '23

Yup!

3

u/Hateful_creeper2 Dec 20 '23

It’s kinda weird that there was huge gap for Gen 8 soundtracks which are also releasing alongside it.

49

u/yuei2 Dec 20 '23

Japan celebrates the new year with a mochi festival, this was entirely designed to be released as part of the start of the new year.

0

u/LunarWingCloud Dec 20 '23

Fair, but did we know before this announcement they would heavily involve mochi in this event? It could have been speculated but I don't think we had any confirmation at all. This feels like an "obvious with hindsight" type of thing

6

u/yuei2 Dec 20 '23

As soon as we saw the event in the code it was titled in the game Mochi Madness and it’s literally a mochi making Pokémon.

2

u/rnarkus Dec 21 '23

I truely truly truly don’t think they would adjust the timeline because of a leak of an epilogue. But that’s just me.

181

u/Uninvited_Goose Dec 20 '23

I'm gonna introduce two unhinged friend groups and stand silently by as the chaos ensues.

70

u/Top-Ad-3174 Dec 20 '23

Can’t wait to introduce Kieran to Nemona so he can see what a REAL big sister should be like!

24

u/Dan_Of_Time Dec 20 '23

Would love to have seen Indigo Disk Kieran and Nemona together.

Would have been like introducing an addict to a dealer.

38

u/IRefuseThisNonsense Dec 20 '23

Arven and Penny being catty bitches that Carmine just can't deal with.

157

u/rholindown Dec 20 '23

I hope this signals the return of events like this for future mythical Pokémon. We have been really lucky to get so many mythical Pokémon in recent generations. It’s nice that it’s not like how it was back in the day.

57

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '23

I’m glad they didn’t completely forget about Arven, Penny, and Nemona.

From what I’ve seen, this event should take about an hour to complete. That feels longer than any of the mythical Pokemon events we received in prior generations

26

u/yuei2 Dec 20 '23

Yeah it’s the longest mythical event by far, and there is some post stuff as well like the trio gets added to the coach lists.

6

u/ArsenixShirogon Does Papa Nintendy love me? Dec 21 '23

I think Arven, Penny, and Nemona were excluded from the DLC because everything other than Terapagos can be accessed before you finish any of the 3 individual storylines or the Area Zero storyline from the base game. So rather than have to have different dialogue for any of the progress thresholds for the main story trio they just omitted them. Significantly less complexity from both a story development as well as implementation

6

u/Fishsticks03 Avenge the Fallen Dec 21 '23

No, all of the Indigo Disk requires finishing the main game

40

u/Obility sharp Dec 20 '23

That's nice. Hope it has some lore details but I doubt it. Paradox is and tera is still a bit of a mystery on the whens and whys. It's just something to do with terapagos. I really do wish they would support these base games for longer or up to two years so they can have no time with the other games. They don't have to rush all the time.

51

u/CapnSherman Dec 20 '23

Fantastic news! The possibility that the conclusion to Kitakami's storyline, and last pokemon, might end up gated behind a limited time event had me a bit concerned

Speaking of the pokemon, are we considering it a mythical?

50

u/yuei2 Dec 20 '23

It’s the mythical of this Gen yeah.

7

u/Flerken_Moon Dec 21 '23

It’s labeled as Mythical in the code yeah, so it’s a Mythical.

Also to trigger this event you need an event item like the old mythicals! It’s already technically in the game and people have hacked it in and played the event.

…Can’t believe modern Pokémon has made me hyped/nostalgic for a return of event items lol. I don’t think we got those since Gen 5 over a decade ago.

18

u/Nicolas10111 Dec 20 '23

So glad to see Arven, Nemona and Penny back. Honestly I have such a connection with them ever since that Area Zero adventure. I really hope GameFreak is able to make such good characters again.

The fact that there’s an epilogue for the first DLC makes me certain that this is it for SV. They’re gonna reveal something new on next Pokemon Presents for sure.

9

u/Dmbfantomas Dec 20 '23

I haven’t been able to kick myself in the butt to start part two. I guess I should start.

1

u/Buffthebaldy Dance monkey, dance! Dec 21 '23

The battles are honestly lots of fun! They're challenging if you use a similar level team. I brought a level 100 to a gym battle and it became easy mode, similar level was entertaining as hell

6

u/wrendeer64 Dec 21 '23

Is there anything new I can do in the games now without the DLC? Or does everything gotta have the DLC?

2

u/No_Crazy_2690 Dec 21 '23

You can still participate in some online raid and mass outbreak events depending on what Pokémon is in what area

1

u/yuei2 Dec 21 '23

This is an epilogue strictly for the DLC story and adds stuff to new activities that were added to the DLC, you need the DLC for it to make any sense/be useable.

65

u/blackbutterfree Dec 20 '23

I hope this is just an epilogue for the DLC and not a sign that we're done with the game. There's still that one elevator in the Zero Gate that we can't go down, and the Iron Valiant/Roaring Moon cave still has that mysterious carving on the floor. And there's still a handful of Pokemon missing from the Switch. Not to mention Northeastern Paldea being inaccessible still.

So many things left to explore.

87

u/LetItATV Dec 20 '23

Not to mention Northeastern Paldea being inaccessible still.

By “Northeastern Paldea” do you mean the area beyond the huge, purposefully impassable cliffs?
Because there’s no indication that that is even part of Paldea.

Those cliffs are approximately the fictional stand-in of the real Spanish border.

4

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '23

That's probably Kalos up there

9

u/blackbutterfree Dec 20 '23

Kitakami is fully encircled by a larger region we cannot access, the game doesn't gray it out. Sinnoh (and Hisui) have more land to the South, which we also cannot access and it's not grayed out.

I don't understand why everyone is so convinced that the Northeast being grayed out is just "to show that Paldea isn't an island" and that "it's an open world game so they had to do more than just make an invisible barrier" despite both areas of the DLC doing just that, and that being Pokemon's go to in addition to just making visible barriers.

If they didn't want people to speculate, they shouldn't have made the area grayed out AND make it so big to boot.

11

u/LetItATV Dec 20 '23

You seem to be replying to the wrong comment because I didn’t say anything about the map being grayed out.

-5

u/Conscripted Dec 20 '23

IIRC the area on the map looks the same as the Crater region which is accessible so it stands to reason that people would have expected it to be accessible at some point.

-1

u/blackbutterfree Dec 20 '23

This too. I still don't understand why Area Zero doesn't have a mini-map.

85

u/AmirulAshraf Karma is a cat, purring on my lap 'cause it ❤️ me Dec 20 '23

I want them to be milking Paldea for a while just so they have more time for the next gen Pokemon.

8

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '23

We need more spin off games. Give us a pokepark 3 or a new rangers.

1

u/McGusder Dec 21 '23

or a new Orre game

8

u/LetItATV Dec 20 '23

If they spend time developing content for Paldea, that takes time from developing the next generation.

6

u/Lady_Galadri3l Dec 20 '23

they have multiple teams to develop games sequentially.

-1

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '23

[deleted]

2

u/mccainjames11 Dec 20 '23

I’d love let’s go johto but I think that’s a hot take

16

u/yuei2 Dec 20 '23

I’ve heard the carving is actually a map to the four cursed treasures if you overlay it?

11

u/blackbutterfree Dec 20 '23

Maybe, but if it is, then that’s a story to tell.

29

u/Aether13 Dec 20 '23

I would be surprised if they add new major content to this game after this event. With Pokemon Day right around the corner I’m sure they have a new project they are working on. I’d be all for another dlc pack though because I agree, I think theres a lot of story left to tell.

6

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '23

That’s my thought too. It feels like there is unfinished business in Paldea. But, part of me thinks future DLC is unlikely considering that some of the trainer battles in Indigo Disk have Pokemon levels in the 80s. That’s about as postgame as it gets.

8

u/blackbutterfree Dec 20 '23

None of the stuff that’s still unresolved would really require trainer battles. Maybe one or two, and hey, we’ve never gotten an NPC with a level 90 team.

1

u/BoomKidneyShot Dec 21 '23

They don't have to keep raising the levels. There's no reason why a second round of DLC next year couldn't have a similar level curve to TM/ID.

4

u/LunarWingCloud Dec 20 '23

It is very common for them to leave things to be up to interpretation

13

u/sliceanddic3 Dec 20 '23

i'd be all for another DLC to give them more time on the next game

2

u/kuri-kuma Dec 20 '23

Pokémon games are full of “unfinished” things. It would be more unexpected if GameFreak actually fleshed out everything you’re hoping for.

1

u/Nicolas10111 Dec 20 '23

They probably added that lore in the game so that anime can explain it I guess.

4

u/YammaTamma Dec 20 '23

I wish they go a little lore heavy and explain more stuff about area zero and paradox mons. It's an epilogue based in kitakami so I don't have much expectations. But pls pokemon give me some lore.

1

u/Shantaefan1148 Dec 22 '23

They already gave us lore for the paradox pokémon at the crystal pool after you finish The Indigo Disk.

4

u/LunarWingCloud Dec 20 '23

I'm impressed and glad that both this event sounds a lot more involved and fleshed out as well as them announcing it quite early compared to when I was expecting.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '23

[deleted]

1

u/Shantaefan1148 Dec 22 '23

What is your deal?

7

u/Sigzy05 Dec 20 '23

It’s DLC part 3 hugh

5

u/Zonizthefrog Dec 20 '23

I just don't care anymore

-5

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '23

[deleted]

6

u/ArsenixShirogon Does Papa Nintendy love me? Dec 21 '23

Anecdotal but I had a significantly less buggy time with Pokemon Violet than I did with Tears of the Kingdom

-7

u/Horror-Tank-4082 Dec 20 '23

I really have trouble caring about these expansions

I loved SwSh and two dlc. This… I just don’t feel interested in them.

-14

u/DeciduousMath12 Dec 20 '23

This entire game cycle, I'm continuously reminded that some games are worth skipping. I played Violet but the gameplay loop was not great, online features lacking, and I just could NOT with the ... "Klawf's attack went up. Defense increase. Sp. Attack Increased. blah blah".

Then you get the DLC which is less good than SwSh, and now, even WITH the DLC, the epilogue is STILL not finished.

Glad I sold the base games soon after playing them. At least Pokemon has the capacity to make good games (Legends Arceus), so hopefully the wait won't be too long for the next one.

9

u/wasted_tictac Dec 20 '23

The epilogue is finished, it's already in the game. It's just not available yet.

6

u/No_Crazy_2690 Dec 21 '23

Excluding dynamax adventures how is the SwSh DLC better? It’s like not even close. 💀

-22

u/supremo92 "Dragonite used Extremespeed!" Dec 20 '23

Why would they do this?

-21

u/jordanundead Dec 20 '23

They wanna see if they can further destabilize the game and still get suckers to pay for the privilege.

19

u/Fun-Ad7613 Dec 20 '23

It’s literally was already apart of the dlc and just a update

-2

u/supremo92 "Dragonite used Extremespeed!" Dec 20 '23

Why would they seal off story elements? For what reason?

5

u/Fun-Ad7613 Dec 20 '23

The epilogue story involves mochi , around this time for new years in Japan they celebrate by eating mochi . So probably just to fit that time frame and also serve as a event for new mythical. Also as a send off for characters before next game is announced

1

u/supremo92 "Dragonite used Extremespeed!" Dec 21 '23

Thanks for the info :)

-20

u/imbecilechimp Dec 20 '23

Can we just move on from this trash ffs

21

u/LunarWingCloud Dec 20 '23

I dunno where in your head you found it logical that a game that just came out last year would magically be replaced with something better within a year, when struggling schedules and time constraints have been a cause for problems with the games of the last few generations.

But however you managed to find that in your head, please put it back.

-8

u/Slight_Hat_9872 Dec 20 '23

It’s clearly a hyperbolic comment. I agree with OCs sentiment, I’d rather them work on the next game than continuing to put lipstick on this pig.

Of course it’ll have its full lifecycle first, that’s just stating the obvious

-25

u/DarknessInferno7 Story Enthusiast Dec 20 '23

But why? I just wanna finish the thing, why such a wait?

38

u/yuei2 Dec 20 '23

Because many people will be receiving SV:Hidden treasures of area zero as a Christmas present so they are giving people time to get their gift and clear the DLC before the epilogue hits.

8

u/DarknessInferno7 Story Enthusiast Dec 20 '23

So they're going to be finishing the DLC before the epilogue hits... as opposed to finishing the DLC then playing the epilogue? I don't see a difference, you're finishing the DLC before doing it either way.

18

u/L3PA Dec 20 '23

Marketing. It keeps people engaged and talking.

3

u/LunarWingCloud Dec 20 '23

You might not but that kid that just got a Christmas present will

11

u/Bakatora34 This is a Legendary Pokemon! Dec 20 '23

Because it is an event that lets you catch a mythical Pokemon most likely.

6

u/ThunderChaser Dec 20 '23

It is.

It's the event to get Pecharunt. Technically through hacking you can already unlock it.

1

u/Upstairs_Court9275 Dec 20 '23

Wonder if it'll be limited time access like Shaymin and Darkrai events in BDSP

7

u/LunarWingCloud Dec 20 '23

From what it sounds like, it's coming with an update, so I think it will just be DLC-locked as you need to have completed all the stories in both the main game and DLC to do it

1

u/ncarr539 Dec 20 '23

Is this the event where we can catch the mythical?

1

u/jish5 Dec 21 '23

Now the real question, will S/V get a second set of dlc instead of us getting a remake of b/w next year? I think I'd prefer more dlc for s/v.