Dataminers are a common thread in a lot of gaming communities today. Speedrunners rely on them to help with the creation of tools, timers and other elements vital to their communities. And even media outlets rely on their output to get scoops. Today’s news is more of the latter than the former. Video game dataminers may have uncovered some exciting news for Pokémon fans this week. The reveal comes from Smogon’s community of leakers and glitch hunters, a fixture within the game’s community.
Dataminers managed to uncover three new NPCs within the game. The reason this is somewhat unusual has to do with their Trainer Class. Trainer Classes are a type for each battle-ready NPC in the game. Each type of Trainer Class has a set roster of Pokemon to pull from, as well as their own AI quirks when it comes to fighting them. This is something that the Pokémon community has relied on for years to gauge how a certain NPC will fight against the player. The three new NPCs: Billy, O’ Nare and Heath, each has something unique about them.
The news comes from a prominent leaks account on Twitter, which collates news from various sources online and moves them onto their page. These new leaks have prompted speculation from some about possible Pokémon Scarlet and Violet DLC, so let’s see what’s been found. Check it out below.
Billy is one of two Trainers found within the game’s files, with references to Heath and other NPCs. But the more interesting one, is the second NPC. Dataminers also uncovered an entirely unused Trainer class. O’Nare is a Trainer name found in the files, which is listed as a unique female Trainer class, possibly tying into Nemor’s parents who are suggested to be very rich. The speculation here from players and fans is that any new DLC could delve more into the story of the game and how your rival came to be Champion. Given the focus on lost memories and time travel paradox within the game, we may see some time travel happen if this turns out to be the case.
Heath a character integral to the game’s story also has a bunch of unused dialogue referencing these missing NPCs. Heath actually wrote the book the acts as the game’s framing device for tutorials, so he presents as an expert on Paldea and the unique way Pokemon work within the region. The fact that these leaks suggest that Heath had dialogue at one point could mean a lot of things. Some fans speculate this may just be cut content, while some hold out hope for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet DLC.
Though this could be a cool reveal of a new storyline and battles to come, we just don’t know, Given the blatantly unfinished state of the game on launch, it’s entirely possible that these are just cut content which will remain so. We’re likely not going to receive any news about what will come to Scarlet and Violet until the start of 2023, so we’ll just have to wait until we know more.
