“It’s such a loss.” This is how the Nintendo representatives sitting next to me described my meeting with Amarys, one of the members of Blueberry Academy’s Elite Four. Of course, I decided to test how much can be lost. I was running a team I didn’t know anymore, but I went one step further. To see how punishing the response would be, I also did a few moves that I knew were typical flaws. They weren’t kidding; I lost, only taking out four of my six Pokemon, though his ace appeared. It wasn’t the result I was hoping for, but I was impressed with how tough the fight was and how Amaris’ team and decisions put the Elite into the Elite Four. I may have lost, but as any trainer says, there’s always a comeback, and I’m looking forward to it when The Indigo Disk drops.
Indigo Disk is the second DLC for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Unlike The Teal Mask, you cannot play it without completing the main game. This is endgame DLC; you must complete both Scarlet and Violet’s main story and The Teal Mask to access it. Once you do, you’ll travel to a brand new area, Blueberry Academy, Orange Academy’s sister school. There you will reunite with old friends, meet and battle with exciting new trainers. Oh, and there are also some new (and old) Pokémon to catch. Everything is very Pokémon at its best.
My time with The Indigo Disk may have ended with a battle against Amarys, but it began with a trip to Blueberry Academy’s Terrarium, a massive facility that recreates several different environments, from tropical beaches to frozen tundra. Of course, Pokemon native to that environment live in the Terrarium. Part of the appeal is the sheer amount of Pokémon here. Each starter from previous generations offers a great chance to both fill your Pokedex and see how these Pokémon behave in the wild. They don’t just come from Poke Balls provided by friendly professors. Who knew?
Of course, the Terrarium is not just a place to catch Pokemon, although you can spend a lot of time on it if you want. Indigo Disk not only adds some new evolutions like Archuladon evolving from Duraludon and new Paradox Pokemon like Raging Bolt and Iron Crown; it also brings back a lot of returning Pokemon that go way beyond the old starters’ return. I can’t give exact numbers without being exiled to Area Zero, but suffice it to say, it’s a huge number and it will take you a while to catch them all.
Still, I think the real draw for many will be the Terrarium itself. It is absolutely massive and full of detail and I really enjoyed exploring it. At the time of this writing, I can’t talk about a few of the finer details, but there’s a lot here, and I’m happy to spend time exploring the Terrarium when I get the chance.
Of course, it’s not all fun and games at Blueberry Academy. It’s school, which means you have classes to take, and from what I can see, they’re pretty practical. The person I stopped at was in the Terrarium and told me to catch an Alolan Pokemon and bring it back. I was able to get my hands on Alolan Grimer and Alolan Exeggutor before heading back and giving everyone homework. wow
And then of course there are the fights. Blueberry Academy puts a heavy emphasis on double battles, adding an extra layer to your tactical and team-building decisions, so you better be ready to throw two Poke Balls when you face an opposing trainer. I’ve only had a handful of battles in my time with The Indigo Disk, but each one was a memorable one that challenged me to manage my team, write matchups, and pick options.
Once I was more or less comfortable, it was the Elite Four. As with Gym Leaders in the main game, you’ll need to complete a task known as an Elite Trial to truly challenge individual members of the Elite Four and take them on in a Pokémon-on-Pokémon battle. In Amarys’s case, this means racing either Koraidon or Miraidon through a series of aerial rings that reminded me of one of the obstacle courses in Spyro the Dragon. Oh, did I mention that Coraydon and Miraidon can now fly? They can now fly and you can use this to control the Terrarium neatly. Amarys’ Elite Trial wasn’t all that difficult, but it was a nice change of pace from traditional Pokemon gameplay and gives you something to have fun with before going up against a member of the Elite Four.
I didn’t win this battle against Amarys, but it made me even more excited to get back to Indigo Disc. With over 230 new and returning Pokemon to see and catch, exciting environments to explore, and powerful trainers to battle, Indigo Disk looks set to add all the post-game content a Pokemon fan could want. I personally can’t wait, so I fired up my copy of Pokemon Scarlet as soon as I got home. I have a return meeting to train for.