Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players speculate some Legendaries are too “broken” for Gen 9
The Pokemon CompanyThe absence of certain Legendary Pokemon from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s The Indigo Disk DLC has led to plenty of speculation, with some suggesting Xerneas and others would have been too OP if included.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Indigo Disk reintroduced over 100 creatures that were previously unavailable in the Generation 9 titles. This includes over two dozen Legendary Pokemon spanning almost every Generation.
However, unlike in Pokemon Sword and Shield’s DLC, not every Legendary is back. And while almost all of the box art Pokemon are now available in the latest main series titles, Gen 6’s Xerneas and Yveltal are conspicuously absent.
This has players speculating why these Pokemon in particular were excluded, with some suggesting certain Legendaries would have been too powerful given Generation 9’s mechanics.
Pokemon players say Xerneas, Calyrex & others would have been OP in Scarlet & Violet
The conversation started with a post by Reddit user nodak1, who explained why they believed Xerneas would have been “the most broken pokemon of Gen 9” had it been part of the game.
Their logic comes down to Xerneas’ ability and moveset, which strengthens all Fairy-type moves used in battle. The Life Pokemon also has moves like Misty Terrain, Dazzling Gleam and its signature move Geomancy, which make it incredibly strong and capable of impacting all opponents at once.
For coverage, Xerneas also has the Ground-type move Earth Power to combat Fairy’s weakness to Steel and Poison-types.
All this is before even factoring in the Terastallization mechanic, which could further empower Xerneas’ overwhelming Fairy power.
Commenters seem to agree with the poster, though some point out other excluded Legendaries that also would be potentially OP in Gen 9 without significant nerfs.
“Xerneas probably wouldn’t be as broken as Shadow Rider Calyrex,” said one user, referencing one of the Gen 8 DLC Legendary’s forms. While Spectrier, the other half of Shadow Rider Calyrex, is in the game thanks to The Indigo Disk, the King Pokemon itself didn’t make the cut.
Others have pointed out that Alola’s Tapu quartet may have been excluded for similar balancing reasons, with Tapu Koko in particular being a potential problem thanks to Pokemon Violet’s Paradox Pokemon.
All of the futuristic-themed Paradox Pokemon have the ability Quark Drive, which boosts their strongest stat when on Electric Terrain. Tapu Koko’s ability Electric Surge automatically sets up Electric Terrain without needing to use a move, making it a potentially overpowered strategy in competitive double battles.
Though we’ll likely never get an official explanation from Game Freak as to why certain Pokemon were excluded from Scarlet and Violet and its DLC, these arguments do make sense and might help explain why Xerneas and other Legendaries remain unavailable.
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