Ever since the second trailer dropped for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet back in June, players had a strong suspicion that the games would feature some elements of time travel with how certain Pokémon and characters were being portrayed.
This developed into a working theory that Pokémon Scarlet would have more elements from the past, while Pokémon Violet takes more from the future. And, thanks to some recent leaks that seem at least mostly accurate, those early guesses seem to be partially true.
Along with several rumored new Pokémon, evolutions, regional forms, and more, a leaker who has been reputable since around the launch of Sun and Moon has seemingly confirmed that time travel plays a role in the game—but not for the player themselves.
Related: Pokémon Scarlet and Violet appear to hint at each game being set in a different time period
According to several posts, brought over from Chinese forums, the time travel elements will only impact Pokémon, not the player. This likely means that Pokémon from different time periods will be appearing, perhaps including Hisuian Pokémon that don’t exist in modern times.
There are still other elements of the story that will likely be tied to time or time travel specifically, with the game’s exclusive professors, Professor Sada and Professor Turo, and the Legendary Pokémon Koraidon and Miraidon being key components there.
The same leaker also said the story is really good for a Pokémon game if that is worth anything, but we won’t actually know how much of this is true until the game’s launch in November or the companies involved with development share more information.