Pokémon Scarlet and Violet guide: Pokédex, gyms, stakes

Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet are two highly anticipated open world games. They are the first installments in the 9th generation Pokémon video game series. In this article we provide a brief introductory guide for these games, as well as information about the Pokédex and all 32 Ominous Stake locations.

What Pokémon are in Scarlet and Violet?

The central objective of every Pokémon game is to complete the Pokédex by exploring every corner of the region and capturing absolutely all the creatures that inhabit it.

This time around, pocket monsters will make their comeback to Paldea, and the region welcomes a number of completely new Gen 9 Pokémon. Brace yourself for a total of 400 Pokémon to catch!

As we will discuss further later, the starter Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet are Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly. The games feature a combination of Regional Pokémon, Paradox Pokémon, Wild Tera Pokémon, and even transferable Pokémon from previous generations, including all time-favorites Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard.

Furthermore, you will be able to find several never-before-seen Pokémon that make their exclusive debut in the 9^th generation of the franchise.

What is the order to play Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet?

In Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet the plot develops through a Treasure Hunt, which takes places right after you join the Naranja or Uva academy. It's a challenging mission that will require arduous exploration of the Paldea region through three different stories with different objectives. Scarlet and Violet are open world games, meaning that you have the freedom to choose which route to take and complete the Treasure Hunt stories in the order you prefer.

These are the three Pokémon Scarlet and Violet story paths:

Victory Road: In this story you will have to follow Nemona as she travels the region following the same path as the Pokémon League. The goal is to visit the eight gyms in the region, where a Gym Leader will challenge you to a Pokémon battle.

Path of Legends: You will accompany Arven in his investigation to find special ingredients called "Herba Mystica", used to create recipes that benefit the Pokémon's health.

Starfall Street: You will face several members of the Team Star squad, a group of rebellious students causing trouble at the academy.

Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet starter guide

Here are some details about the introductory sequence of the Scarlet and Violet games:

Starter Pokémon

The adventure begins! During the game's introduction you will be able to design your character to your liking. Immediately afterwards, Professor Clavell will give you a brief prelude to the Academy and the region of Paldea. After that, you will have to get up from your chair, walk down the stairs and follow Skwovet to the kitchen. There, you will meet your mom, who will share a few words before Professor Clavel appears again. You can now go upstairs collect your bag and walk outside.

Professor Clavel will be waiting for you to present the Starter Pokémon line-up:

Fuecoco: A laid-back Fire Croc Pokémon.
Spirigatito: A cute Grass Cat Pokékon.
Quaxly: A serious-mannered Water-type Pokémon.

Your decision is completely personal, but you have to keep in mind that your rival Nemona gets to pick a Pokémon after you. The pick scenarios are as follows:

If you choose Sprigatito, Nemona will go for Quaxly.
If you go for Fuecoco, Nemona chooses Sprigatito.
If you select Quaxly, Nemona opts for Fuecoco.

After having selected your Starter Pokémon, Nemona invites you to a battle on the beach. By making sure to use your Pokémon's main attack it should be relatively easy to beat Nemona. After the battle, you will be awarded a Pokédex.

Meeting Koraidon and Miraidon

After defeating Nemona, follow her until you bump into your mom, who will give you some a sandwich and 5 potions. Now you will need to make your way to Mesagoza, following the path to the north that will first lead you to the Poco Path area.

This is where you will learn how to catch your first Pokémon. Nemona hands out 5 Poké Balls, which you can use to catch a LeChonk. As soon as you managed to do so, talk to Nemona again to receive a pack of 10 Poké Balls. Nemona will tell you to meet her at the lighthouse, which is located on top of the slope. Instead of heading straight to the lighthouse, we recommend you stick around for a while to catch a few Pokemón and collect some items.

As you walk up the path, you will be awaited by Nemona. During the conversation you will hear a mysterious scream. It's time to run off and find out where the noise came from. The search for the source of the strange cry will lead you to the beach. The noise is produced by a Koraidon/Miraidon Pokémon who is laying by the water, the creature seems to be too hurt to move. Give it the sandwich that your mom prepared for you and watch the cutscenes.

Make sure to follow Koraidon/Miraidon as it walks through the Inlet Grotto. As soon as you exit the caves, Neomona will give you TM 032.

Meeting with Arven and arrival at the Academy

After this encounter, if you go near the lighthouse, you will meetyour old friend Arven, who will challenge you to a fight. His team of Pokémon shouldn't be too difficult to beat. After the battle, Arven will reward you by giving you his Pokéball.

You will now see that Nemona is waiting for you on top of the lighthouse. Climb the lighthouse and talk to her, while enjoying the beautiful view over the valley and the city of Mesagoza. Nemona will tell you to head to Los Platos. Along your way you, at the bridge before the Pokémon Center, you will see Youngster Elian, who is always up for a battle. His Pokémon is a Level 5 Tarountula. The easiest way to take on Elian is by using a Flying-type Pokémon.

Continue your way to the city of Mesagoza until Nemona shows up again. As you may have guessed already, she would love to have a battle! This time around she will use her Starter Pokémon at Level 8, as well as a Level 9 Pawmi, which is able to Terrastallize.

After beating Nemona she will give you 3 Revives, besides teaching you the basics of Terrastallizing. You are now finally able to enter Mesagoza. Take your time to wander around the city, before meeting up with Nemona in front of the Academy. Walk towards the stairs where you will have your first encounter with Grunt A and Grunt B, both of whom are members of Team Star Grunts. First you will have to battle Grunt A and his Level 8 Shroodle, followed by a fight against Grunt B, who will be using a Level 9 Yungoos. This is the perfect opportunity to try out Terrastallizing. After the battles, go into the Academy, and speak to Nemona and Arven. You will see that both of them have extremely valuable information to share.

The Treasure Hunt begins!

At this point, you will receive a call from a mysterious caller who goes by the name of Cassiopea. She wants to give you some advice on how to take on Team Star. Right after this, Professor Clavell asks you to come to his office. While at Clavell's office, he will introduce you to Professor Sada or Professor Turo (depending on the version of the game that you play). You must be quite exhausted by now, so it's time to go to your dorm room and rest on your bed for a couple of days. When you wake up, you will be asked to head to the schoolyard. This is where you will learn about the Treasure Hunt. You will now have the complete freedom to explore the main story paths of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Victory Road, Path of Legends, and Starfall Street.

The gyms in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet

There is a total of eight different gyms in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and each of them has its respective leader and badge:

Cortondo Gym, led by Katy (Bug Bade).
Artazon Gym, led by Brassius (Grass Badge).
Levincia Gym, led by Iono (Electric Badge.
Cascarrafa Gym, led by Kofu (Water Badge).
Medali Gym, led by Larry (Normal Badge).
Montenevera Gym, led by Ryma (Ghost Badge).
Alfornada Gym, led by Tulip (Psychic Badge).
Glaseado Gym, led by Grusha (Ice Badge).

How to find the Ominous Stakes in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?

In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet you will need to find the Ominous Black Stakes, scattered throughout the Paldea region, to get hold of the Legendary Pokémon. In these installments of the game, the Legendary Pokémon are located in the Shrines, and to unlock them, you need to collect every single one of the Ominous Stakes.

You must consider that there are a total of 32 Black Ominous Stakes, which are divided into four groups of eight stakes. Each set of Stakes has a unique color related to one of the Legendary Pokémon: Purple (Wo-Chien), Yellow (Chien-Pao), Green (Ting-Lu), and Blue (Chi-Yu).

It is recommended to defeat all Gym Leaders before searching for Legendary Pokémon, as this will make them much easier to catch. Trying to face them without having obtained all eight medals is a difficult task and will result in an unnecessary waste of Poké Balls. It should be noted that this type of Pokémon is "shiny-locked", which means that they are not available in shiny color variations.

How to quickly level up in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet offer an exciting adventure in which you start from scratch and must form a team capable of facing all the dangers that come across your path during various challenges.

In general, many players will want to have a Level 100 team, since it will be very useful to overcome the more difficult Tera Raid Battles, which require very well-trained Pokémon.

Here are some tips and tricks to level up quickly, but keep in mind that once you've reached Level 70-80 leveling up will become a rather challenging task:

It is recommendable to fight Chansey or Blissey every time you see them, since they are the Pokémon that grant the most experience. Defeating one of them can level up your entire team significantly.
If there are a large number of these Pokémon in a given area, you should quickly head there to take advantage of the opportunity to battle as many of them as possible.
Use the Lucky Egg byequipping it to one of our Pokémon. This item increases the experience gained by that Pokémon by 50%. You can get the Lucky Egg by talking to Jacq after beating 5 Gym Leaders.
If you want to find Chansey more often, you need to go to Area 3 (North Province) and make a Ham Sandwich with Pickles, Boiled Ham, Mustard, and Ketchup. Yeah, this may sound funny indeed, but it will increase the chance of Chansey showing up.
Another option to gain experience is to participate in all possible raids, since by defeating the bosses of the raids you will receive Experience Candies. These candies can be XS, S, M, L, and XL, granting 100, 800, 3,000, 10,000 and 30,000 experience points respectively. XL Experience Candies are especially valuable for quickly leveling up.