As with any Pokémon game, there will undoubtedly be many characters you’ll run into across your adventure, between the player character, supporting characters, the region’s Professor, and the potential evil team in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
Below, you’ll find some of the important new characters that have been revealed as of September 7, 2022.
Also, many characters will have different color schemes in their clothing depending on which version you are playing.
Player Characters
The main player characters have different starting outfits depending on whether you’re playing Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet. You’ll find key artwork of their default outfits down below. It’s currently uncertain whether there is further customization or not and, if there is, if it will be like the Alola games where different clothing options were available depending on the version.
Main Character (Boy)
Scarlet Outfit
Violet Outfit
Main Character (Girl)
Scarlet Outfit
Violet Outfit
Screenshots of the Player Characters
The Professors
Professor Sada
Professor Turo
For the first time in the Pokémon series, the region’s Professor will change based on which version you’re playing. If you’re playing Pokémon Scarlet, the region’s Professor is Professor Sada, while if you’re playing Pokémon Violet, your Professor will be Professor Turo instead. Each professor is focused on researching lore passed down through the region.
Rival / Friend Characters
Nemona
Arven
Penny
Nemona is one of the rival characters that you’ll encounter throughout your adventure in the game. She’s a friend and a guide for players, and also uses a variety of new Pokémon, including Pawmi, Lechonk, and Smoliv. She is particularly focused on the Victory Road storyline, which involves fighting Gym Leaders, earning Gym Badges, and eventually challenging the Pokémon League to become Champion Rank.
Arven is an upperclassman at the academy and enjoys cooking with healthy recipes. He’s apparently not very good at Pokémon battles. He is the main character involved in the Path of Legends storyline, and his search for rare herbs known as the Herba Mystica involve you scouring the Paldea region and fighting against very strong, very large Titan Pokémon.
Penny is rather shy and doesn’t come to the academy very often. She has an Eevee backpack. Not much else has been revealed about her aside from that.
Naranja Academy / Uva Academy
Clavell
Jacq
Clavell is the director of the academy—either Naranja Academy if you’re playing Scarlet or Uva Academy if you’re playing Violet—and is said to be a friend of Professor Sada and Professor Turo.
Jacq is your homeroom teacher and the developer of the Pokédex app for the Rotom Phone. He’s knowledgeable about Pokémon biology.
The Pokémon League
Gym Leaders
Grusha
The Gym Leader of Glaseado Gym, Grusha, used to be a professional snowboarder but is now a Gym Leader and uses his Cetitan when you battle him. He specializes in Ice-type Pokémon.
Brassius
Brassius is the Gym Leader of Artazon and is also known as the Verdant Virtuoso. He specializes in Grass-type Pokémon and has been shown to use a Smoliv as well as a Sudowoodo. Yes, a Sudowoodo—one that Terastallizes into a Grass-type!
Iono
Iono is the Gym Leader of Levincia and is also known as the Supercharged Streamer. She is a livestreamer and influencer that cares about views and popularity. Her partner Pokémon is the new Electric-type frog Pokémon Bellibolt.
Chairwoman Geeta
The person overseeing the operations of the Paldean Pokémon League is Chairwoman Geeta. According to the official website, she is among the region’s Champions and “reigns supreme as the most skilled Trainer of all.”
Team Star
Every region needs its “evil” team, right? Team Star is the Paldea region’s troublesome team, and they’re a bunch of troublemakers that cause trouble for the school for your game. They play the main role in the Starfall Street storyline, where you’ll need to take them down.
Team Star Grunts
Team Star Fire Crew Boss, Mela
Team Star appears to have several different groups or crews, and the boss of the Fire Crew is Mela, who has some extremely large boots and also has a Torkoal of her own, which she’ll use against you in battle.