Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Indigo Disk Breaks the Fourth Wall With One NPC

Highlights

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s The Indigo Disk DLC is likely the conclusion of Gen 9, wrapping up the promised “Hidden Treasure of Area Zero” storyline.
Despite datamined or leaked cut content and an epilogue, it’s unclear when or if these additions will be released, meaning the game’s content may not see significant changes.
The Indigo Disk DLC features unique trials, including Drayton’s challenge, which breaks the fourth wall in an interesting way by addressing players’ tendency to use their best Pokemon to “cheese” through battles.

WARNING: This article may contain spoilers for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s The Indigo Disk DLC

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s The Indigo Disk is likely the culmination of Gen 9 content, given the way the story seems to wrap the promised “Hidden Treasure of Area Zero” part of the DLC pack. While there is currently datamined or leaked cut content and an epilogue for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s Indigo Disk, there is no indication when these things will be released, if at all, and it’s likely that the game won’t see significant changes in its content. This can be a double-edged sword considering the reception of the new Legendary Pokemon encounters in the DLC, but the expansion does have its good moments, such as one character breaking the fourth wall in a big way.

Even games like this year’s GOTY Baldur’s Gate 3 break the fourth wall at times, often for narrative purposes or to keep players more engaged in some way, and Pokemon is no exception. There are some interesting choices that Game Freak made with The Indigo Disk, such as having a second set of Elite Four members outside of Paldea’s own, this time called the BB League. Each member of the BB League has unique trials that players must complete in order to battle these trainers, and Drayton’s challenge breaks the fourth wall in the best of ways.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Indigo Disk DLC Breaks a Longtime Tradition

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have already broken multiple traditions, and The Indigo Disk breaks another massive one in two big ways.

How Drayton’s Trial Breaks the Fourth Wall in The Indigo Disk

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s BB League Trials Explained

The Indigo Disk’s BB League is a big part of the story, and players will have to beat each of the Elite Four to have a chance to fight the ultimate Champion of the League, Kieran – who was a central character in The Teal Mask as well. In order to do that, players will have to complete the various trials that the Elite Four come up with, including Drayton’s.

Drayton’s Trial Asks Players to Not Cheese Through The Indigo Disk

When spoken to, Drayton states that there are two rules to his trial, which are:

Players need to use Pokemon caught in The Indigo Disk’s Terarium.
These Pokemon have to be caught by the player, making traded ones or those from Pokemon Home uneligible.

What makes this trial fun and unique is that Drayton straight-up tells players that the reason he chose this type of challenge is to prevent the main character from taking the best Pokemon they have in their boxes and cheese through the battles. This is exactly what most players expect to do when going into Drayton’s trial, and it’s Game Freak’s way of telling Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players it knows far too well what they will attempt to do.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s Indigo Disk features challenging trainers for a change, making it one of the most difficult entries in the series. Even with teams of level 100 Pokemon, players are going up against trainers with critters between level 65 and 86, which is much higher than any DLC before it or even some mainline entries as a whole. Kieran has one of the strongest teams in the series, for example, and Drayton’s trial can be quite worrisome at first.

However, his trial only applies to the three trainers that players have to defeat before they can battle Drayton himself, which can be done with any critter they have at their disposal, even if not originally caught in the Terarium. This admittedly makes the fight against Drayton much easier for those who already have teams of level 100 Pokemon with full IVs and EVs, but it’s just a stepping stone to the battle against Kieran or even the post-game Ace Tournament in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, where trainers will now have much stronger Pokemon.