Summary
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’ssecond set of DLC,The Indigo Disk,is currently scheduled for a release in 2023. It follows the first DLC,The Teal Mask,and takes players to a new location called Blueberry Academy, where they can encounter new Pokemon including new Paradox forms and the Legendary Pokemon Terapagos. However, ifThe Indigo Diskhopes to succeed, it should avoid repeatingThe Teal Mask’smistake of neglecting the fact that mostPokemon Scarlet and Violetplayers had already completed the game and were entering the DLC with teams of highly leveled, combat-ready Pokemon.
While players do not have to have completedPokemon Scarlet and Violet’smain story to travel to Kitakami for the events ofThe Teal Mask,due to the DLC coming out nearly a year after the game, many had already done so. While the level of Pokemon found inThe Teal Maskscales based on players' progress, some still felt the gap between their Pokemons' levels and that of the Pokemon they encountered was too large.
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Many Fans Found Teal Mask “Too Easy”
Players who have completedScarlet and Violet’sstory are likely to encounter Pokemon of around level 60-65 in the wilds around Kitakami. The Trainers battled as part of the DLC’s story will have level 70-75 Pokemon, with some optional encounters featuring Pokemon as high as Level 80. However, these fights may not pose a challenge to players fielding a team of Level 100 Pokemon they have previously optimized for difficult battles such as7-Star Tera Raids. Even the Kitakami Ogre Clan, the hardest Trainer battles available in the DLC, have only 4-5 Pokemon of levels 75-80.
How Can The Indigo Disk Address This?
Even Higher Level Scaling
There are several ways in which the upcomingIndigo DiskDLC could address this issue and offer a genuine challenge to high-level Pokemon Trainers who have completedScarlet and Violet’smain story.The Indigo Disk promises a new set of “Elite Four” battlesfor players to challenge. Those who have already conquered Paldea’s own Elite Four should find themselves facing Trainers of an appropriately high level. Rather than maxing out at Level 80 like the Ogre Clan, Blueberry Academy’s most skilled trainers could offer high-level battles that would challenge even a Tera Raid veteran. Other battles could include a rematch againstThe Teal Mask’sKieran or a face-off against Blueberry Academy founder Cyrano.
Trickier Wild Pokemon Encounters
“Wild” Pokemon inThe Indigo Diskwill be handled in a unique way, appearing in Blueberry Academy’s artificial biome-filled Terrarium. This will allow for several Pokemon not originally native to Paldea to appear in the DLC. Hopefully, these will be higher level than the wild Pokemon found around Kitakami. While it is unlikely thatThe Indigo Diskwill feature any equivalent toPaldea’s Titan battles, it will hopefully feature some high-difficulty Tera Raids or other special battles against wild Pokemon.
Extra-Challenging Fights Against Returning Opponents
InThe Indigo Disk,players will be able to invite characters from the main game, such asPaldea’s Gym Leaders, to visit them at Blueberry Academy. While visiting, the player can battle these characters. The officialIndigo Diskwebsite hints that players “might just see a side of them [they] hadn’t seen before” which could indicate that harder fights against these characters could be coming. While several characters can be fought with high-level teams inScarlet and Violet’spost-game, it is definitely possible to make these fights even more difficult for their reappearance inThe Indigo Disk.
