How Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Teal Mask and Indigo Disk Break a Big Gen 8 DLC Rule

Highlights

• Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are innovative and unique titles that break traditions set by past games, making them alluring and standout entries in the franchise.
• The DLCs for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk, have more cohesive storytelling and are tied to the game’s themes and narrative, unlike Gen 8’s DLCs.
• The names of the DLCs in Gen 9 go beyond simply naming the new areas and add intrigue and depth to the game, making them more effective and interesting choices.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are outstanding titles in the grand scope of the franchise, as they are arguably the most innovative of the bunch, possibly even more than Pokemon Legends: Arceus – albeit on a different level. Innovation is part of what drives new Pokemon games’ success, as each new title strives to add new features or rework older ones, and in this regard, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet breaking big traditions set by past games helped make them unique and inherently alluring titles. With Gen 8 setting the precedent for post-launch content via two expansions, it seemed natural for Gen 9 to come with at least two DLCs – and so it did, also dramatically changing one big rule set by Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra.

Possibly one of the least popular entries in the series so far, Gen 8 had its flaws both on launch and when the Isle of Armor DLC came out. A good chunk of this bad reputation came from the controversial choice to limit the number of Pokemon available in the game and future games given the toll it takes to animate and update 3D models for the over one thousand critters now. Still, Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s DLCs did end up redeeming Gen 8, something mainly attributed to Crown Tundra, and they also created a cornerstone for future games and what expansions can do.

How Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Teal Mask and Indigo Disk Compare to Gen 8’s DLCs

Pokemon Gen 8 and Gen 9 DLC Names Explained

Gen 8’s expansions were a bit disconnected from the overall story and themes of the main games, something that was also noticeable when looking at the DLCs’ names. On the other hand, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s rainbow color theory is brought to life thanks to their DLCs, and the expansions’ respective stories also end up being tied to one another and the overarching narrative in Paldea, eventually coming together with the recently released Mochi Mayhem Epilogue.

Pokemon Sword and Shield notably didn’t have a DLC epilogue to wrap the story up, but it wasn’t even needed, considering the disconnect. Plus, Gen 8’s DLCs were pretty straightforward when it came to their titles, as they were simply the names of the new areas they unlocked. However, Gen 9 went the extra mile with The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk, each not only adding a new color from the rainbow’s spectrum to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s already strong theme, but they are also tied to the story they tell and the Pokemon they introduce.

How Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Teal Mask and Indigo Disk Change a Naming Rule From Gen 8

The Teal Mask is one of Ogerpon’s masks in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, eventually becoming its base form when players do catch the creature. The Teal Mask also plays a big part in the story, with Carmine and the player character teaming up to restore it and take it back to the fabled ogre, but trying to keep this a secret from Kieran in order not to make him all the more obsessed with Ogerpon. The Indigo Disk’s story also features an actual Indigo Disk item, which players can use in Area Zero to unlock a new area called the Underdepths, where they eventually find and catch Terapagos.

This makes Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s DLCs much more cohesive with each other and with the base game compared to Gen 8, which had seemingly set a much simpler rule for expansion names, which is to name them according to their new locations. With the same logic, Gen 9’s DLCs could have been called The Land of Kitakami and The Underdepths or The Blueberry Academy, which are arguably less effective names because they do exactly what they say on the tin. The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk do the same, in truth, but they are much more intriguing and at the same time more revealing, but only in retrospect, once players roll credits on each expansion.