Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players think NPCs are random due to “creepy” old man
NBC/The Pokemon CompanyA Pokemon Scarlet & Violet player has pointed out an old man in the Academy’s classroom, asking if NPCs are randomly generated, unaware that the truth is creepier.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet use a school setting, with the player attending classes between their adventures in the Paldea region. In Pokemon Scarlet, they attend Naranja Academy, while in Pokemon Violet, they attend Uva Academy.
The Academy doesn’t actually play a huge role in the game, and once the tutorial is over, the player is free to go off on their Pokemon journey, only to return for plot-centric cutscenes. The Teal Mask DLC eschews the school setting altogether, using the Kitakami region as its setting.
The fact that many players ditch the school in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet as soon as possible means that they may have missed an unsettling fact about the student body, one that’s right there in plain sight.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s school is home to adult students who attend classes with the kids
A user on the Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Reddit has asked other players whether the background characters in the game are procedurally generated, as an odd old man was sitting in class with the kids. The other users had to inform them that the Academy lets in students of all ages.
“I like the games but putting extremely old npcs in school uniforms is one of the things that I really don’t like. It’s so weird and takes me out of the immersion,” one user writes, while another says, “Something about an old dude in shorts sitting in class with kids as young as 10 just screams predator.”
“Idk, I find this weird and creepy,” one user summarizes, “I know it’s all ages, but, goddammit, AGE GROUPS! Make uniforms for kids, seniors and others!”
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet does mention that the Academy accepts people of all ages, and the player encounters all manner of students throughout the game. It’s still creepy that this was kept in the game, as it would have been easy to make all students kids or teens.
The all-age policy in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s Academy is easy to miss for people who only focus on the story or competitive battles, but it’s there in the open. This just means players have even more reasons to avoid the school.
