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.
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.
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.
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.
