Pokemon Scarlet & Violet feature rework makes some Pokemon harder to find

Philip Trahan
pokemon scarlet and violet flaaffy

Some early screenshots from Pokemon Scarlet & Violet could hint that wild Pokemon may have changed size and could be harder or easier to spot out in the wild.

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet will be the first mainline entries to feature a full, seamless open world as well as a host of other brand new features.

Though Pokemon Legends Arceus featured open-world gameplay and Pokemon freely wandering the land, it seems Scarlet & Violet will be expanding upon this new direction.

Now, fans may have gotten a glimpse at how Generation 9 is changing things up, as a recent screenshot appears to show Pokemon with more size-acccurate models in Scarlet & Violet.

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet could be changing Pokemon model sizes

The screenshot in question was showcased by Twitter user @TAHK0, who posted a screenshot from Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s second trailer speculating if Pokemon will appear close to their actual in-game size in the open world.

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet battle screenshot.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s Pokemon models look much more compact thanks to the larger scale of the game’s open world.

The screenshot shows a player character approaching another Pokemon Trainer for a battle, with flowers in a field behind them.

However, if you look very closely you can see that those aren’t flowers but are actually the Pokemon Flabébé.

Considering Flabébé is one of the smallest Pokemon in the Pokedex, it’s no wonder players didn’t catch this detail right away.

In fact, Flabébé can actually be seen during  Scarlet & Violet’s reveal trailer, but very few trainers actually noticed the Pokemon due to its small size.

This screenshot has led many fans to speculate that GameFreak may be adjusting various Pokemon models in Scarlet & Violet following Pokemon Legends Arceus.

If this is true, some smaller Pokemon like Joltik, Flabébé, and Tynamo could prove incredibly difficult to actually see in the open world.

However, the opposite could also be said for larger Pokemon. In fact, many fans in the tweet’s replies are asking to see massive Pokemon, like user @Sando979 who said “Impressive, very nice. Now let’s see Wailord.”

Of course, this remains to be seen as the majority of Pokemon shown off in Scarlet & Violet’s promotional material have been small or moderately sized. Still, this could make Scarlet & Violet’s open-world feel even more alive.

About The Author

Philip is a Staff Writer at Dexerto based in Louisiana, with expertise in Pokemon, Apex Legends, and general gaming industry news. His first job in the games industry was as a reviewer with NintendoEverything.com while attending college. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication focusing on Multimedia Journalism, he worked with GameRant.com for nearly two years before joining Dexerto. When he's not writing he's usually tearing through some 80+ hour JRPG. You can contact him at philip.trahan@dexerto.com.