Because Pokémon Scarlet & Violet are open-world games and have three different main storyline arcs, it can be a bit overwhelming trying to figure out where to go, and writing a walkthrough to cover a game like that is no easy task, so here’s a quick overview of how best to use this walkthrough to help you get through the games.
How the Guide is Organized
As mentioned, there are a total of three main storyline arcs, and this is in addition to the early section of the game (referred to in this guide as “The Academy”), the endgame storyline arc “The Way Home,” and also the postgame portion of the game which comes after beating The Way Home.
You will find these on the navigation on the sidebar (on desktop) / navigation menu (on mobile) to quickly navigate to individual pages for any of these sections. This navigation is organized by section, not by recommended order, but each of the individual pages have links at the bottom to take you to either the next page in the section or the next recommended task based on level.
Additionally, you can click on the headers of any of the sections on the navigation (such as “Victory Road” or “Starfall Street”) to view an overview page for that specific section. The top of those overview pages show a spoiler-free table showing the level of the boss along with their primary type, and you can scroll further down to see a bit more information.
You can also view a complete combined listing of the “recommended order” on the Recommended Order page.
If you’re playing through the game from the start and want a helping hand from the very beginning, that’s fine! Go ahead and start with the Getting Started page and that will guide you through the early part of the game, and then just follow the recommended order.
However, if you’re playing through and need help with a specific section, you should be able to find it on the navigation: it’s first grouped by which storyline arc it’s in (Victory Road, Starfall Street, etc.), and then sorted by the intended order, usually with the type of the boss listed.
How Optional Areas are Covered
Because of the open-world nature of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, there are a LOT of optional areas to explore and visit! Exploring is absolutely encouraged, but to keep the walkthrough focused, it primarily focuses on just the most direct route to get from point A to point B and keeps sidetracking to a minimum.
You’ll find maps on most of the pages that show you both the general area they cover as well as the most direct route to get to your destination. As the walkthrough evolves, these broader areas will eventually have their own pages that show items, Trainers, and Pokémon in them, but these will not be in the main walkthrough pages as it would be overwhelming to try to follow as a reader.
How Pokémon, Items, and Trainers are Covered
Pokémon Encounters
Unlike earlier games, where there were relatively simple encounter tables with maybe a dozen possible encounters in any route or area, Pokémon Scarlet & Violet use very complex spawning zones and conditions to determine what is available and where. This makes a traditional approach impossible, so these traditional encounter tables will not be shown in the main pages of the walkthrough.
If there are very good Pokémon in the area, even if they’re a little out of the way, they’ll be mentioned in the appropriate page (such as getting a Flamigo early on, in the Path to Los Platos section), but generally these will not be included and will instead be summarized on the area pages once they are released.
A better way to find the location of specific Pokémon is by checking the Marriland website’s Pokédex once it is updated to include support for Scarlet & Violet.
Item Locations
There are so many items throughout the Paldea region and covering them all is no easy task. Any important or useful items that are in the immediate area of a specific page will be mentioned, such as TMs or held items, but for more common things such as Potions, Poké Balls, etc., these will be omitted from the walkthrough pages themselves.
Later on, these will be added to the broad area pages, but this is quite a task and may not be available so soon.
Trainers and Their Locations
Every area has a variety of Trainers scattered throughout it and you can often get rewards from nearby Pokémon Centers for fighting these Trainers. The rewards are really nice, but sometimes tracking down the Trainers can be a bit of a chore, and will lead you well outside of the path to get to your destination, so these will not be covered in the main walkthrough pages.
As with items, these will eventually be added to area overview pages that are not focused on getting you through the game, but this will also take a bit of time to implement.