PhantomZ2 sets her sights on Uva Academy one last time, detailing their journey through Kitakami, Blueberry Academy, and the full extent of their Paldean Treasure Hunt. Thank you to Nintendo for providing us with a review copy of Pokémon Violet & The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero DLC.
As Pokémon Scarlet & Violet’s Expansion Pass, The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero, released over time, I’ve been tucked away in the background, occasionally popping out, writing and note-taking my thoughts and experience with the DLC. Although we released a written review of The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero – The Teal Mask, we held back on releasing a video review to create one that encapsulated EVERY aspect of our Pokémon Violet review series. Thus, while this article will continue from The Teal Mask, the video below will allow you to watch the reviews of our original Pokémon Violet review from 2023, both parts of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, the game’s Epilogue, and a look back that showcases my perspective of my journey within Paldea as a whole.
Friendship in Blue – Double Battles Worth Fighting For | The Indigo Disk
Proofreading by NantenJex
Unlike the Expansion Pass of Pokémon Sword and Shield, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet feature a connected story between Part 1 – The Teal Mask and Part 2 – The Indigo Disk. Thus, I’ll need to provide a brief synopsis of what happened at the end of Part 1. If you’d like to avoid spoilers, then it would be best, at this point, to experience the DLC for yourself and avoid the review for this part of the game, as well as the Epilogue.
The End of The Teal Mask
Throughout your journey with Kieran, discovering the folktales of Kitakami, it is revealed that the band of three Pokémon thought to have protected the lands from a vicious ogre was not true. As explained to the player and Carmine by Kieran’s Grandfather, Ogrepon and the masks worn by it were attacked and stolen by the trio, with the villagers misunderstanding and believing that the trio fell aiming to protect Kitakami. Why is it only being told to us? Well, that’s because, on the night of Kitakami’s festival, the player and Carmine ran into Ogrepon and thanks to big sister over here, we’ve decided to keep it a secret. However, this secret doesn’t last for long, as Kieran overhears his Grandpa’s story.
Skipping forward to the end of the Teal Mask story, Kieran completely loses his cool. With his sister quickly becoming friends with the visiting player, both keeping a secret from him, the player being stronger than him, and then also catching Ogrepon; Kieran has completely changed by the time it’s time for us to return to Paldea. He has become distant and is now vowing to grow stronger and stronger…
Into The Indigo Disk
For The Indigo Disk, we see ourselves on another trip outside of Paldea. However, we’re not just traveling to another region, but to another school – (Kieran and Carmine’s school to be exact) Blueberry Academy in the Unova region! Don’t get too excited though, it may be in Unova but it is secluded so far off from any sort of land, that you won’t see many familiar locales. However, you will experience many things and people that evoke the feeling of Unova. From the returning Pokémon and remixed Generation 5 music, to the unique trainers you’ll meet.
Let’s continue on that last point. Not only are you a transfer student but as you quickly become integrated into Blueberry Academy, you’ll meet and befriend a group of trainers that will prove to be formidable opponents. Lacey, Crispin, Amarys, and Drayton – the Elite Four of Blueberry Academy! However, the ability to face them won’t be immediately unanimous. The BB Elite Four Challenge is meant to be accessible only to students originally enrolled at BB Academy, thus whether we should be able to participate is up for discussion, but not a long one. While Crispin is hungry to cook up some fiery battles against you, Drayton is one-half of the main push for encouraging you to take on the BB Elite Four. The other half? Well, it’s none other than the previously timid Kieran!
That’s right, the ending of The Teal Mask wasn’t just for show, Kieran sought out strength and achieved it by becoming the Champion at Blueberry Academy. However, in his quest for power, he’s become incredibly rude to the point of somewhat being a bully – and I love it. Where The Teal Mask introduced an assertive new rival and friend with Carmine, Kieran was introduced as a shy kid that you didn’t treat too well as a friend, thus becoming your rival. Not only does this provide us with a jerk for a rival, something that I always appreciate in Pokémon as they wind up being the best rivals, but this also presents a satisfying outcome from the previous part of the DLC. The player is the reason for the way Kieran has become, we (and Carmine) are the cause for Kieran’s descent and now the leading fissure in the Elite Four’s friendship. Thus, The Indigo Disk is not just an adventure about some legendary Pokemon we won’t see until the end, but it’s ultimately about patching up a friendship.
So, how do we go about patching up said friendship? Well, you may be thinking, “Defeat the BB League,” and yeah, you’re right, but if it was that easy where would be the fun in that? Instead, what you must complete are BBQs – Blueberry Quests! As you traverse around the Blueberry Academy’s Terrarium, essentially a multi-environment Wild Area, you will be given a set of three small activities like taking photos of a specific Pokémon or catching a certain type, to receive BP. These points can be utilized in various ways such as upgrading the BB League clubroom with different functions, changing your throwing style, obtaining items and TMs for battle, unlocking wild starter Pokemon, and most importantly – taking on each of the Elite Four’s Challenges. But, for those other purposes, I mentioned, you should take on your BBQs by creating a Union Room with some friends. Within them, quests will be shared amongst all the players, allowing anyone to complete them and for everyone to receive the points. Attacking BBQs is great with friends, but a slog on your own. Thankfully, the Elite Four Challenges are VERY cheap.
So is that it? Nope, there’s still one major important factor that I’ve left out. Every trainer battle within the Blueberry Academy, all of them, are double battles. Now, you may be thinking, “Oh, that’ll be pretty easy,” no – it wasn’t. The Indigo Disk is incredibly difficult as trainers are high-leveled and use strategies that take decent advantage of the double battle format. Maybe it was easy for some people, but I barely had Pokémon that worked well in double battles, let alone within the level 70s. Thus, I brought in some of the more competitive Pokemon that I had sitting in Pokémon Home. Thank you Level 100 Speed Boost Blaziken from Pokemon X.
I don’t have much to state presentation-wise, the game still has graphical issues and had occasional instances of freezing assumedly due to the large area available to you at once. I enjoyed hearing the remixed Gen 5 music and finally having an outfit that looked cool.
There are other features available within the DLC, but it didn’t appeal to me, as my attention was set solely on the story and gameplay GAME FREAK sought to deliver. The writing was not only quite funny but Violet’s Expansion Pass probably features the best character writing in the series. Even when motivations may be clear, characters will often surprise you with how mischievous or truly kind-hearted they can be in achieving or communicating their goals.
To play The Indigo Disk, you’ll need to not only own the Expansion Pass but also have completed The Teal Mask, as the stories are directly connected. While the character writing is what provided the majority of my enjoyment in Part 1, Part 2 excels further in this regard and provides a challenge for trainers to test how well they would fare in an often narratively underutilized battle format. I truly had a lot of fun concluding my journey through Pokémon Violet’s: The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero.
Or so I thought, as it turns out there is one final piece of this playthrough—The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero – Epilogue.
Epilogue – Mochi Mayhem
Proofreading by NantenJex
As this takes place as an ending, hence the name, I will be dancing around the major details and ending featured within the second half of The Indigo Disk. I’ll state that the player and Kieran are on good terms with one another, but how that happened is an epic tale for you to experience on your own.
Now, to execute the Epilogue of The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero, two events must occur first. First, you’ll need to obtain the Mystery Gift – The Mythical Pecha Berry via the internet. Second, you’ll need to have defeated each of the Gym Leaders and participated in the Ace Tournament idea as proposed by Nemona, Geeta, and Director Clavell.
That second part was something that I didn’t know was a requirement, so I tried to complete this task as fast as possible. Rotating out my strongest Pokémon to quickly get past something that I didn’t want to do. However, as fast as the battles went, I genuinely enjoyed re-encountering and learning more about the personalities of the Gym Leaders. Tulip was my favorite, as she provided the biggest words of encouragement for me as a Pokémon Trainer and as a person.
Once this is all done, you’ll want to head to Peachy’s store at the Community Center in Kitakami. Don’t talk to the lady, what you want to do is talk to the almost hard-to-notice purple decoration that’s on her stand. This is what will trigger the story for The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero – The Epilogue. To leave you with some mysteries that will encourage you to play the game yourself, I’ll only share some of my thoughts and not explain the entire story.
With amends made and the majority of plot concerns resolved, the Epilogue takes a rather different approach in just being a gathering of friends attempting to spend some time together. The direction of the events that unfold end up being very ridiculous, probably the most comedic sequence in the series. Additionally, this Epilogue also reignites the idea of Mystery Gift events, something that hasn’t been fully utilized since, to my memory, the Keldeo event with Pokémon Black and White. However, at the same time, to access this you need to spend $35 for the Expansion Pass. As it’s a packaged deal, the only way to encounter this part of the story is by doing everything else Pokémon Violet has to offer in its story. Furthermore, although an expiration date isn’t listed, it’d probably be best for the Mythical Pecha Berry to be included as part of the Expansion Pass inherently. If there is ever a case where online interactivity becomes no longer available for the Nintendo Switch, that would remove a piece of what’s regarded as the conclusion of the DLC.
Although it was strange and did feel like it ran its course after the first half, experiencing a Mystery Gift event again was worth it. I hope that this can be something that Game Freak continues to reincorporate back into the series, but hopefully not as something you have to pay a lot for. In fact, due to preservation concerns, perhaps it would just be best to incorporate more secrets within the game itself that truly lead players to exploration and worthwhile surprises.
Unfinished Business in Paldea | Pokémon Violet Extended
Proofreading by NantenJex
Looking back at my original Pokémon Violet review video from January 2023, my view on the title post-review began to take a new, primarily negative shape as I continued to play. In my original review, I showcased great appreciation for the amount of freedom that GAME FREAK allowed and the difference in playthroughs that will be experienced amongst players. Although I still agree that the difference in experience was worthwhile and something that should continue in the future, what I found to be the very dull in-betweens of Paldea greatly hampered the majority of my time with this game.
This could be my fault, as my trek through Paldea could’ve been greatly fastened by bringing over my stronger Pokémon from previous games. Perhaps focusing on exploring the land of the region first and foremost rather than honing my team to take on the Gym Challenges and Team Star was a poor way to play. However, that experience was one that I still had, and I believe that the openness and some of the story within Violet are part of my growing distaste towards the game.
Arven was easily the most enjoyable character in the game, before the DLC. While the ability to access more of Miraidon’s expedition capabilities was the reason I tackled the Path of Legends storyline first, reaching out to my empathy in regards to his sick Mabostiff and the disconnect he had with his father was what made me stick to his story without much deterring. But, tackling his storyline first and foremost, even while under-leveled, left me with not much more to explore and just consistent trainer battles that I ended up simultaneously not being prepared for and uninterested in. As my favorite franchise that I’ve spent so much of my life vested into, I’ve never felt more uninterested in doing the things that I usually do in a Pokémon game. If battling random Trainers is going to be left up to my choice, I will instinctively refuse to do it as that doesn’t feel like there is an ever-present challenge or guide to the bigger challenges.
Thus, I instead waited for the DLC to arrive to hopefully revive my interest in Pokémon Violet. As you’ve heard my thoughts on The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero – Part 1: The Teal Mask, you know that that did indeed happen. I treated that part of the DLC as if I was starting from scratch and I was treated to a small expedition, not only in a new area but with new characters that I was constantly interacting with and enjoyed spending time with. So, once I completed The Teal Mask and before The Indigo Disk was released, I returned to Paldea and tied up the remaining loose ends.
I completed the path to Victory Road and became a Champion, as is the standard with every Pokémon game. I didn’t care too much for Nemona before and my opinion hadn’t changed much by the end of that storyline. I don’t hate her, but her battle-hungry nature was a tad annoying. I did enjoy meeting the Elite Four, the strongest band of trainers under the Top Champion who had very unique quirks and interactions between themselves and myself that made them stand out more than any previous Elite Four.
I also completed Starfall Street and although the leaders of Team Star are very interesting regarding their visual design, the amount of grinding I did for both them and Victory Road overshadowed any interest I now had in them. This doesn’t mean that they’re bad characters or uninteresting, but I just felt detached by the time I returned to face them. Additionally, Cassiopeia being Penny was no big surprise, it was incredibly obvious that she would be Team Star’s head honcho. If GAME FREAK intends to do a big twist, I think they should take notes on what they did with Volo. Have them work in the background and seemingly have certain connections to other important factors within the story, but don’t present them as someone you will mainly be interacting with on your journey – which was the case with Penny in trailers. However, the conclusion to Starfall Street showed me how much the writing, via Director Clavell, intends to present Uva Academy as a home with care for all its students despite their delinquent actions and by admitting that authority can fail in its duties to those it is meant to serve.
Forgetting about the giant crater at the center of Paldea, I thought that completing the last story would lead to credits. However, Paldea’s mysterious centerpiece was the next target in Pokémon Violet’s final main storyline and the one to cause a large shift in my perception of this title. Upon descending into Area Zero with Arven, Penny, and Nemona traveling alongside me to uncover this secret within Paldea and what happened to Professor Turo, Arven’s father, I was left in utter shock. The music within the game from this point forward was outstandingly awe-inducing, while also very intimidating. The huge descending landscapes bathed in light as my three friends ran alongside me to different points of interest and encountered future versions of Pokémon I knew from previous regions. Finally, concluding with a battle with my team of Pokémon against what Arven’s Father left behind and then fighting alongside Miraidon against the culmination of Professor Turo’s obsessive research.
Finally, after getting through all of the visual glitches that plagued this game, and still do. Overcoming the grindfest that I, in a way, had put myself on the path of. After getting past the parts of the story that I no longer had much of an inkling of care for. I finally found myself having pure, unquestioned excitement and fun with Pokemon Violet. I felt like I could finally praise this game for delivering what was probably the best endgame and writing within a Pokemon game, showcasing the damages and severity of the failures that come with obsessive ideals or infatuations, as previously presented within Pokémon Sun and Moon and Pokémon Black and White, which are my two favorite games within the franchise, storywise.
Does this make Pokémon Violet a great game? In my eyes, no. Despite the amount of appreciation and love that I have for the character writing featured within this title, I am far from saying Pokémon Violet is a good game. If the rest of the game was as engaging and intriguing as Area Zero was, perhaps I would say such is the case. However, the reality was still that half of my experience with this title was bathed with distaste, playing for the sake of playing, and the entire game, even after a year, is plagued with poor optimization, graphical issues, glitches, and questionable decisions. I would prefer if GAME FREAK scaled back from open-world games and kept to a more linear or hybrid format, ala Pokémon Legends: Arceus. However, I can say that Pokémon Violet is a title that, despite all of its issues, presents some of GAME FREAK’s best efforts and still succeeds at touching the player’s heart by the game’s end and beyond.
