Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet DLC The Teal Mask arrives in September

Tomas Franzese
By

As the final major announcement of the August 8 Pokémon Presents, The Pokémon Company gave a deep dive into the two DLCs that make up The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero expansion for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. The first of these, The Teal Mask, even got a September 13 release date.

Explore beyond Paldea's borders in The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero! ?️

The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, which was announced at a Pokémon Presents presentation earlier in the year, vastly expands the number of Pokémon, areas, and content available in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which have sold over 22.66 million copies. It’s split into two parts — The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk — and we learned a lot more about both during the August 8 Pokémon Presents.

Recommended Videos

When it comes to The Teal Mask, we learned that the DLC will kick off when a new teacher named Briar takes the player on a field trip to Kitakami, a community surrounding a large mountain that is very in tune with nature. During the adventure there, which has players facing off with many Pokémon from the area’s folklore, players will run into lots of new Pokémon — like a new Applin evolution named Dipplin — and characters. Some of those new characters include two trainers from the Blueberry Academy named Carmin and Kieran and a photographer named Perrin who while eventually give players access to a new Roto Stick Photo Mode.

Some of the new Pokemon from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 1 - The Teal Mask.
The Pokemon Company

The Teal Mask will also introduce a new minigame called Ogre Outsin, which allows players to earn mochi that can modify a Pokémon’s base stats. Overall, it’s a meaty piece of DLC, and we don’t have to wait long for it as a September 13 release date got confirmed at the end of the Pokémon Presents. Then, sometime this winter, The Indigo Disk will drop. That DLC is set at the Blueberry Academy Carmin and Kieran hail from, which contains a giant terrarium with four new biomes and lots of new Pokémon, like a Duraludon evolution named Archaludon. While there, players will join and then challenge the school’s BB League, which has a unique Elite Four and a customizable League Club Room. It will all cap off with players discovering the titular treasure of Area Zero.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are available now for Nintendo Switch. The Teal Mask releases on September 13, while The Indigo Disk will come out sometime this winter.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Tomas Franzese
Tomas Franzese
Gaming Staff Writer
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
After 25 seasons, Ash Ketchum is retiring from Pokémon
Ash holds a Pokeball while a lot of iconic Pokemon stand behind him.

The Pokémon Company confirmed that Ash Ketchum will no longer be the main protagonist of the series' anime starting in 2023.
Ever since Pokémon! I Choose You! first aired in Japan on April 1, 1997, the Pokémon anime has followed the exploits of 10-year-old Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum on his quest to become Pokémon Master. After trying and failing many times across 25 seasons, Ash finally managed to become the world's greatest Pokémon trainer in Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series after winning the Pokémon World Coronation Series.
The Pokémon Company is deciding to leave Ash's journey on a high note and will retire his character as the protagonist of the Pokémon anime after the current season. Thankfully, he is getting a proper send-off across the final 11 episodes of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, with classic anime characters like Misty and Brock returning to help tell "the final chapter in Ash and Pikachu's story." These final 11 episodes will start airing in Japan on January 13, 2023.
This won't be the end of Pokémon anime adaptions, though; The Pokémon Company will start a new series later next year, following two new characters named Liko and Roy. Details on this new series are still scarce, but we know it will also feature Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Quaxly, and a Shiny Rayquaza in significant roles. We're likely to see them venture through Paldea, the region Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are set in.
While the announcement that Ash Ketchum will no longer be the protagonist of the Pokémon series is bittersweet for those of us who grew up with the Pokémon anime, we can hope that the series will give him a beautiful farewell, and that Liko and Roy's series can successfully capture the hearts of a whole new generation of Pokémon fans. 

Read more
How to EV train in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Gengar in a city.

Even though Pokémon has reached mass appeal thanks to its cute monsters and simple RPG mechanics, it has also fostered a community of more hardcore trainers. These trainers don't necessarily want to catch 'em all, but rather catch and train the best. To the untrained eye, any two Pokémon of the same species would be identical, but Effort Values, aka EVs, have existed for generations and make a massive impact on how your Pokémon's stats work. This can get very complicated, especially if you're new to EV training, so we'll fill out your Pokédex entry with everything you need to know about EV training in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. 

See more

Read more
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet gym rematch guide: teams, weaknesses, and more
The pokemon champion glaring.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet offer trainers three unique quests to pursue through the new Paldea region. This not only adds variety, but plenty more content to do after you accomplish any single task. One of these main quests is the familiar journey to beat all eight gym leaders, claim their badges, defeat the Elite Four, and become the region's Pokémon League Champion. This has been the main goal of essentially all mainline Pokémon games and is just as fun to complete this generation as ever before.

Once you've done all that, however, you might be at a loss for challenging opponents to battle in Paldea. You won't have to restart your entire adventure to get another crack at facing off against your favorite gym leaders, though. So long as you've gotten all the badges, beaten the Elite Four, and become the Champion, you'll be given the option to challenge all the gym leaders to a rematch. However, this isn't a simple repeat of your first fight with them. Every gym leader is far stronger the second time around, so here's how you can best prepare for your rematch in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Read more