Pokemon Scarlet And Violet: Every Legendary Pokemon Encounter, Ranked

With plenty of Pokemon making up the Paldean Pokedex, and plenty of legendaries returning, Scarlet and Violet offer a wide variety of powerful Pokemon for players to encounter. Some are returning legends, which appear thanks to the Blueberry Academy. Meanwhile, the new legendaries and mythical introduced in this generation are reminiscent of events of old, while breaking new ground for others.

There are more than ten legends, plus a mythical, for players to meet during the main game and the two DLCs. The encounters and story setup for each of these special Pokemon range from interesting and engaging, to nothing more than a battle. From least to most interesting, the legendaries and mythical of Scarlet and Violet rank pretty clearly.

9 Terapagos

Stellar But Lackluster

8

Despite being the crowning legendary of the Indigo Disk DLC and introducing an entirely new Tera type, Terapagos didn’t do much during its storyline. There was so much hype and intrigue surrounding the mysterious Pokemon at the bottom of Area Zero, the source of Terastallization, and perhaps the cause of the Paradox Pokemon. But Terapagos is little more than a new element to push the character Kieran further into his angst.

Beyond the imposing threat of Terapagos at full power as the player battles it, the Pokemon feels like the worst kind of legendary encounter. It’s a slightly challenging battle, with the reward of a strong Pokemon. The Tera raid dynamic adds to the fight, but it’s done better by the previous legendaries in the Paldea and Kitakami regions.

7 Pecharunt

Mythical Mochi Mayhem

A mix between a horror movie and a comedy, the epilogue of the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC includes Mochi Mayhem, which involves the awakening of Pecharunt. It’s a fun and somewhat spooky approach to a mythical Pokemon’s encounter. Since mythical Pokemon are rarely seen outside of distributions (i.e., when the player instantly obtains them in their party or PC), Pecharunt’s lengthy story is already a step up.

Though somewhat on the long side, the Mochi Mayhem story is a creative way to include the lore of Pecharunt with what was seen in the Teal Mask DLC. With Pokemon-specific interactions that occur during the battle with Pecharunt, the encounter with this mythical Pokemon is an interesting one.

6 The Loyal Three

Playing Around With Narratives

5

A major part of the Teal Mask DLC’s story was the initial showcase of the Loyal Three compared to their subsequent revival. Their various Titan-like battles were among the better uses of having legendary Pokemon as villains. While the shift to revealing the true nature of these mischievous Pokemon was expected, the general tone of their fights and story was spot-on.

Related

Every Pokemon In Scarlet And Violet’s Summer Outbreaks

The summer outbreaks for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are here, and it’s time to shiny hunt the following Pokemon across Paldea and Kitakami.

Although they’re not the most exciting or engaging legendary encounters in the game, the Loyal Three present a fair challenge and add to the ongoing lore of the land of Kitakami. They also serve as the perfect antagonists to Ogerpon.

4 The Treasures Of Ruin

Disaster Sealed

Obtainable once learning about their deadly origins from the Academy in Paldea, the Treasures of Ruin are intriguing, if somewhat standard, fights and encounters. Each Treasure tests the player’s exploration skills, or at least their skills for looking up the stake locations. However, the general encounters for Ting-Lu, Chien-Pao, Wo-Chien, and Chi-Yu aren’t too special.

The destructive origins of these four Pokemon are easy for players to feel. Lengths have been taken to seal each one behind a glowing, mystical rune, and the conditions of the earth surrounding the seals are often desolate. But beyond the environmental aspects and the lore in their library entries, the Treasures of Ruin are the typical legendary group.

3 Ogerpon

A Sweet, Story-Rich Encounter

The legendary tied to the Teal Mask of the titular DLC, Ogerpon’s initial encounter and battle leading to her capture marks a stark turning point for how legendaries are handled in Scarlet and Violet. While most of the DLC revolves around helping Ogerpon through similar battles, the lead-up doesn’t feel tedious, given how clearly the story behind the ogre is communicated.

Perhaps the highlight of the story of the Teal Mask is fighting Ogerpon while she cycles through each of her four masks. The appropriate flavor text adds even more to the ongoing fight, building up how important this legendary is on such a small scale. Most players, once given free choice to capture Ogerpon, seem to pick the Friend Ball to do so, despite plenty of other balls working the exact same way.

2 The Professor’s Legendary

A True Threat In Paradise

One of the few legendary Pokemon with a confirmed body count, the legendary dragon used by either game’s Professor exudes the exact energy one would expect from such a title. The Koraidon or Miraidon feels threatening the moment it shows itself in Area Zero. It’s there to make it clear how dangerous the conditions in the crater are.

Related

Pokemon Scarlet Violet 7-Star Mighty Pikachu Tera Raid Guide Counters & Weakness

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet fans have a great chance to get Water-tera Pikachu with a mighty mark, and here are the best counters and weaknesses for it.

Scarlet and Violet bucked the usual tradition of legendary Pokemon by giving the player their legendary within ten minutes of playtime, and then by not having the alternate game’s legend appear in-game. Both the initial encounter with the alpha dragon and the proper fight against it felt like the perfect send-off to the main story of both dragons, as well as the Professor.

1 The Player’s Legendary

The Best Legendary Story

In the hands-down best inclusion of the box legendary in the main story in a Pokemon game, the Koraidon or Miraidon the player finds on the beach after starting the game is a great setup. Thanks in part to the small cutscene playing before the crash landing at the beach and the general attitude shown by the legendary dragon, players actually cared about their box legendary as a character. It’s more than just the super-powerful Pokemon that’s caught in 12 seconds at the end of the game.

The Professor’s dragon serves as a great antagonistic threat to the player, and a perfect flip of the usual friendship and family tropes seen in Pokemon. However, player’s dragon is perhaps the first time most players were emotionally invested in helping the legendary Pokemon in a game.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Released

November 18, 2022