KYOTO, Japan — Nintendo revealed today that Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet are meant to be “bug type” additions to the long-running franchise.
“You know all those pesky bugs you keep finding in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet? The thing where your Koraidon or Miraidon disappears or your Pokémon falls off a cliff or you end up inside a wall? Those are bugs and this is a bug type game. Welcome to Paldea!” explained lead developer Shigeru Ohmori. “Every single time you post a video of a bug on Twitter or Reddit, guess what: you’re roleplaying as a bug catcher. You’re that guy Route 3 with just some level 10 Caterpies who we’re forced to engage in battle with when we walk past you. That’s you, dude. Hope you’re cool with that. You’ve fallen right into our trap.”
According to a leaked internal memo, every game in the Pokémon franchise has a specific type applied to it.
“Look, we’re not gonna lie. Pretty much every Pokémon game since the first gen has had bug-type as a secondary type. But Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet are the first to be exclusively bug-type,” the memo says. “We, as a company, have decided that we are done sugarcoating these games and are just going to lean into what they are. Unlike the wonderful creatures that live in the worlds we create, Pokémon games are not known to have any evolutions. We’re not pressing B to cancel the changes when the option comes up, they simply do not evolve into anything. Sometimes that’s life.”
Following the reveal, longtime fans of the series flocked to social media to comment on the news.
“I actually feel a lot better about Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet now that I know it was meant, from the beginning, to have all these bugs. It makes perfect sense, actually. I can’t believe I ever doubted Game Freak,” said Redditor SquirtleMyNurples. “Hopefully the next game is something different like dark-type or steel-type, but I’ll be pre-ordering it no matter what when it’s announced in the next few months.”
“Don’t you people see?! You’re all slaves to Game Freak! They aren’t making the games bug-type on purpose, they’re just saying that to cover their asses!! They probably meant this one to be dragon-type or something!!!” said PikaChuChuTrain83. “We need to BOYCOTT all Pokémon games. Don’t buy the next game, don’t comment on the things you like about the franchise, forget that Blastoise ever existed. Wipe these games from your mind until they’ve taken their Pokémon boots off our necks!!!”
At press time, in response to fans asking for a new Pokémon Stadium game, Ohmori confirmed that the franchise is unfortunately a ghost-type.
