Has watching a Poké Ball shake before you caught a Pokémon ever stressed you out? Good news: you may not have to wait in agony any longer.
Pokémon news and leaks account Centro Leaks noticed several moments in recent Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailers where trainers’ Poké Balls appear to shake only once before confirming a capture. This is a departure from previous main-series Pokémon games, where Poké Balls traditionally shake three times before confirming captures. Instead, Scarlet and Violet appear to be borrowing from Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which used single-shake Poké Balls.
Centro noted that none of the trailers have included any footage of three-shake Poké Balls, but there have been several scenes of single-shakes. They also noted that the footage in question doesn’t appear to be of critical captures, a random event that dramatically increases the player’s chance to catch a Pokémon and results in only one shake of the Poké Ball. Critical captures have a higher-pitched sound and different effects. Single-shake Pokémon captures would result in less time waiting to see if a Pokémon was successfully caught, which is one of the series’ most stressful aspects.
Despite these points, fans were skeptical in the comments. Some believe that the footage in the Scarlet and Violet trailers has been edited so that players only see one shake to cut down on unnecessary run time. Others believe that the captures shown in the trailer were all critical captures that perhaps used different sound effects than previous games. It’s unclear which side is correct, and we likely won’t know until the games are released later this year.
Scarlet and Violet will release on Nov. 18, 2022.
