Pokemon Scarlet and Violet May Have a Trainer Who Could Beat Gold and Silver’s Red (2024)

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Indigo Disk DLC is a great example of what future games in the series can achieve even before expansions or third games are introduced, and it should be used as the foundation of what's to come rather than a generation's apex. One of the reasons why The Indigo Disk succeeds where base Gen 9 games failed is difficulty. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's level scaling approach meant that players could theoretically explore Paldea as they pleased, but every Gym or major encounter was still set at a specific level, and overleveling any of those would make the game a breeze. The Indigo Disk brings difficult battles back into the mix, and one trainer may now compete for the title of strongest of the series, even more so than the legendary Red or Cynthia.

There have been some epic battles in Pokemon games, and while it wasn't a mainline entry in the franchise, Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Volo boss battle is still considered peak gameplay thanks to the game's sheer difficulty combined with Volo technically having a team of 8 critters. To this day, Pokemon Gold and Silver's Red and Pokemon Diamond and Pearl's Cynthia have both been considered some of the strongest trainers ever, with the former possibly being even more iconic due to how early he was introduced. Gen 9 might be shaking things up, however, and that bodes well for the future.

Why Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Kieran Could Beat Red, Cynthia

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Indigo Disk Features Hard Battles

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Indigo Disk has hard battles all the way through, from random trainers in the Terarium to the BB League Elite Four and the Champion himself. One of the things Indigo Disk does is that it features double battles over single battles at all times, and with them come more strategies that competitive players have been using for years.

The BB League Champion is Kieran from The Teal Mask DLC, having lost to the main character in battle multiple times and having trained hard to be strong - so much so that his own sister fears for his human side. While Kieran may not have the same standing as Red in the series, he does have a powerful team of Pokemon that may very well beat him and other legendary trainers. Kieran's team and Red's teams in Pokemon games over the years are quite different in terms of approach, too, and the former has a much stronger focus on competitive strategies, fully-trained critters, and competitive-level movesets and items.

Every Team Red Has in Mainline Pokemon Games

The Indigo Disk's Kieran Team Explained

By comparison, Kieran's team has critters of lower level compared to the HeartGold and SoulSilver iteration of Red, but all of them are competitively stronger and feature a more comprehensive backbone strategy than Red's team of Gen 1 critters. Kieran's team in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Indigo Disk includes:

• Politoed (Level 80) - Moves: Weather Ball, Ice Beam, Psychic, Helping Hand - Item: Wacan Berry
• Dragonite (Level 80) - Moves: Breaking Swipe, Hurricane, Extreme Speed, Thunder - Item: Expert Belt
• Grimmsnarl (Level 80) - Moves: Reflect, Light Screen, Sucker Punch, Spirit Break - Item: Focus Sash
• Porygon-Z (Level 80) - Moves: Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Hyper Beam - Item: Life Orb
• Incineroar (Level 80) - Moves: Fake Out, Darkest Lariat, Flare Blitz, Brick Break - Item: Sitrus Berry
• Hydrapple, Ter Fighting (Level 82) - Moves: Fickle Beam, Earth Power, Tera Blast, Gyro Ball - Item: Assault Vest

This shows that Kieran's approach to battling is far more serious than Red's, leading with a Drizzle Politoed and Multiscale Dragonite capable of dealing massive damage in the Rain with Hurricane and Thunder, as well as picking up KOs with Extreme Speed, all while being supported with Helping Hand or damaging moves. Red's teams have been consistently strong and with high-level Pokemon, but they have always been limited to the classic Gen 1 starters, including Pokemon Yellow's Pikachu, with another pair of critters.

Cythia's Strongest Team in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Comparatively, despite Red's status as one of the strongest trainers in the franchise's history, Cynthia is another who possibly topped him. The strongest team for her is Cynthia's rematch in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, which can get her up to level 80+ critters on the second rematch. This team includes:

• Spiritomb, level 84
• Milotic, level 84
• Roserade, level 85
• Porygon-Z, level 85
• Lucario, level 86
• Garchomp, level 88

Volo's Team in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

Even Cynthia's iconic Garchomp could easily be defeated by Kieran's strategy-build team, with its only weakness being that it's built around double battles in Pokemon games. While double battles haven't been much in the mainline series, they are currently the preferred format for Pokemon VGC tournaments, and having Kieran focus on those makes him one step ahead of the game. Even Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Volo can't compete with Kieran's team, despite featuring the following Pokemon:

• Spiritomb, level 68
• Roserade, level 68
• Togekiss, level 68
• Hisuian Arcanine, level 68
• Lucario, level 68
• Garchomp, level 68
• Giratina, level 70
• Origin Forme Giratina, level 70

The main difference is that Pokemon Legends: Arceus is a hard game by default, where Pokemon can dish out impressive damage even with 20 or 30 levels less than their target, so Volo's pocket monsters all hit like a rock. On top of that, Volo can count on a seventh Pokemon with Giratina, giving players no way to heal up, and then doubling down with an Origin Forme Giratina after the first is defeated. Still, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Kieran has a much stronger team, featuring competitive threats like Intimidate Incineroar with Fake Out and Prankster Grimmsnarl with both Reflect and Light Screen.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Pokemon Scarlet & Pokemon Violet are the main entries in the series for Generation IX. They introduced over 100 new Pokemon and brought players to the Paldea region.

Franchise

Pokemon

Platform(s)

Switch

Released

November 18, 2022

Developer(s)

Game Freak

Publisher(s)

Nintendo , The Pokemon Company

Genre(s)

RPG

ESRB

E For Everyone Due To Mild Fantasy Violence

How Long To Beat

32 Hours

Metascore

72

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