Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s new DLC lets players control Pokemon directly

Pokemon trainers can control their Pokemon directly in The Indigo Disk DLC for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet and use them in multiplayer modes.

While the Pokemon series is about the titular monsters, the player is usually stuck in the role of a boring human who commands the Pokemon in battle. This allows the player to control multiple Pokemon simultaneously, with a human as their trainer.

There have been instances in the mainline games where the player controls a Pokemon directly, such as in the Team Rocket hideout in the Let’s Go games, but this is a rare exception. It’s far more common for players to control Pokemon in the spin-off games.

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet allows players to let their Pokemon out of the ball, which is part of the Team Star challenge. Game Freak will go further in The Indigo Disk by letting players sit behind the wheel of their favorite Pokemon.

The Pokemon Company

The Synchro Machine will let players control their Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s The Indigo Disk DLC

The latest trailer for The Indigo Disk DLC for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet revealed a new mode where players can directly control their Pokemon. A post on the official Pokemon Scarlet & Violet website has revealed more information about what players can expect from controlling their Pokemon.

As the player progresses through the story in The Indigo Disk, they’ll unlock a device called the Synchro Machine. This lets the player synchronize with a Pokemon, allowing them to be controlled. You can move the Pokemon around the environment and engage wild Pokemon in battle.

The Syncho Machine is tied to its own quests, as the player can help out a scientist complete research tasks in the Terarium in this mode. Multiple players can also control up to four Pokemon using the Union Circle multiplayer mode, letting them go on their own little adventures.

It’s unclear if there are any restrictions to the Synchro Machine, as the only Pokemon shown using this feature are small ones, like Pikachu and Morpeko. Hopefully, the game will let you control bigger Pokemon and stomp around the Blueberry Academy, but that wasn’t confirmed in the trailer.

The concept of the Synchro Machine in The Indigo Disk DLC is fun, but it feels like something that should have been included in the base game. Indeed, it has only been confirmed for the Blueberry Academy and may not even function in the Paldea region at all.