The Academy (section)

Your first order of business is actually starting up the game, so this section covers everything leading up to arriving at either the Naranja Academy (Scarlet) or the Uva Academy (Violet). These are basically the same, so don’t worry—the main difference is really just the color of clothes that everyone throughout the game wears.

Getting Started

Keep in mind that this guide is written based on the English version, so if you are playing in a different language, some character names might be different. You’ll also be able to choose whether you’re playing as a boy or a girl, and even adjust your overall hairstyle, makeup, and appearance with a good amount of customization.

After confirming, you’ll be brought into the world of Pokémon, in your home in the southern part of the Paldea region.

You’ll need to do a few things around the house, but the long and short of it is you’ll be introduced to Director Clavell and will begin your enrollment process to either the Naranja Academy (Scarlet) or the Uva Academy (Violet).

After leaving the house, you’ll be shown the three choices of starter Pokémon from the region:

Sprigatito, the Grass-type Cat Pokémon

Fuecoco, the Fire-type Crocodile Pokémon

Quaxly, the Water-type Duck Pokémon

You’ll have a chance to take a walk with all three of them, and then you’ll need to make your decision when you arrive at the Director’s house. Afterwards, you’ll have to battle against Nemona, who will serve as your rival throughout the game, and even though she’s a Champion Rank, she’ll pick the starter Pokémon weak to yours and will train a new team as you progress through your adventure so she’s on more equal footing with you.

She’s not that tough to beat, don’t worry. Take her down and then you’ll be able to meet her on Poco Path, where she’ll she you how to catch Pokémon.

Poco Path

When you first arrive on Poco Path, you’ll be greeted by Nemona, who will show you how to catch Pokémon and also give you a few Poké Balls to get started with. You’ll have to fight against a Lechonk, which you can either catch or knock out.

Explore the area, catch Pokémon if you want, pick up some items, and make your way to the lighthouse. As you approach, you’ll hear a sound down by the beach, and when you approach the fence nearby to investigate, you’ll fall down below.

Feed the creature down there your Sandwich you got from your mom earlier and it will regain its strength, then it will head into the nearby cave.

Inlet Grotto

Inlet Grotto is a mostly linear cave and all you really need to do is follow the mysterious Pokémon. You can fight or catch Pokémon in here, and you can also pick up a few items. As you get to the end, you’ll find yourself attacked by several Houndour and a Houndoom, but then the mysterious Pokémon will power up and protect you from the Houndoom, then provide a quick getaway to the exit where Nemona is waiting for you.

Nemona will give you TM032 Swift, and inform you that TMs are single-use in Scarlet & Violet, although they are easy enough to craft as the game goes on, so you don’t have to worry about them long-term.

Poco Path Lighthouse

Keep going to the lighthouse and you’ll run into a guy named Arven looking into a window. He recognizes the Pokémon and will explain that the Pokémon’s name is Koraidon (Scarlet) or Miraidon (Violet). He will then challenge you to a battle after some more dialogue. He’s not difficult and just uses a Skwovet Lv. 5.

After beating him, he’ll give you Koraidon’s Poké Ball (Scarlet) or Miraidon’s Poké Ball (Violet), although you won’t be able to use the Pokémon for quite awhile, don’t worry. It will just sit in your inventory until you’ve finished going through the “prologue” of the Academy.

Climb to the top of the lighthouse by going up the ladder, and then talk to Nemona.

Path to Los Platos

Your next destination is Los Platos, a small town to the north of the lighthouse. It takes you through South Province (Area One). Getting to Los Platos is pretty easy: just follow the path and head north.

If you want some optional places to explore, you can check out the full page in the link above. This is recommended if you want to find Pokémon like Wiglett or Flamigo.

Los Platos

As you arrive in Los Platos, Nemona will stop you by the Pokémon Center. Pokémon Centers can be found throughout the region, even outside of cities, and you can heal your Pokémon there, you can buy and sell items at the Poké Mart, and you can use the Techincal Machine Machine—the TM Machine for short—to craft TMs that you know how to make using material that Pokémon drop along with a new currency, LP, which stands for League Points. You can actually use LP instead of   for a lot of transactions, too, but not the other way around.

Path to Mesagoza

Your next destination is Mesagoza to the north. It’s a pretty straightforward path there, as you can just follow the road, or you can just ignore the road and head directly north to reach the gates to Mesagoza.

There are a few more Pokémon and a lot more items around the northern part of South Province (Area One), so feel free to do some exploring, but your destination should be the Pokémon Center near the bridge leading to Mesagoza.

As you approach the gate to Mesagoza, hopefully after healing up your Pokémon at the nearby Pokémon Center, you’ll be approached by Nemona, who wants to battle you to check your progress. She uses two Pokémon: her starter Pokémon and her Pawmi. The Pawmi will Terastallize on the first turn, powering up its Electric-type moves. This isn’t something you can do just yet, but you’ll be able to soon enough.

Mesagoza

First of all, it should be noted that Mesagoza is a pretty darn big city, but thankfully it isn’t too difficult to get to your destination: the Academy! All you need to do is just head directly north from the entrance and you’ll get to where you need to be, don’t worry.

Team Star is Recruiting

As you approach the Academy, climbing up the steps near the center part of the city, you’ll find a girl with an Eevee backpack get approached by some troublemakers wearing white helmets and star-shaped sunglasses trying to get her to join Team Star. Help her out and you’ll have to fight against two Team Star Grunts.

The first uses a Shroodle, which is a Normal/Poison-type and shouldn’t be that bad to fight, though watch out for any of your Grass- or Fairy-types.

After taking the first Grunt down, Nemona will give you the Tera Orb, which allows you to Terastallize in battle. You’ll then have to fight against the second Grunt, who uses a Yungoos. You can press the R button while selecting a Pokémon’s moves to Terastallize it. Go ahead and do that in this fight if you want, although it isn’t necessary.

Now that Team Star has been scared off, the girl you were protecting earlier will thank you for the help and then run off, leaving you free to head up the stairs to the Academy.

Naranja / Uva Academy

There’s a bit you’ll need to do when arriving at the Academy, but the main goal is to introduce yourself to the teachers and the other characters. You’ll start by introducing yourself in Mr. Jacq’s class, and then will be given more freedom to explore.

Go to the Cafeteria and talk with Arven and he’ll tell you a bit about his goals and wanting to track down Herba Mystica. This will start the Path of Legends storyline arc, which involves fighting against five Titan Pokémon.

As you leave the Cafeteria, you’ll receive a call on your Rotom Phone from someone named Cassiopeia who wants you to help them take down Team Star.

In the Staff Room (which you can access by pressing A by the computer terminal at the front desk, in case you’re confused), you’ll find Nemona there speaking with someone. Nemona will encourage you to take on the eight Gyms in Paldea and challenge the Pokémon League’s Champion Assessment to become Champion Rank like her. This begins the Victory Road storyline arc.

Head to the Director’s Office and you’ll meet up with Director Clavell, who will introduce you to either Professor Sada (Scarlet) or Professor Turo (Violet) via video call on the TV, and they’ll talk to you a bit about Area Zero, located within the Great Crater of Paldea, and explain to you a bit more about the Koraidon/Miraidon that Arven was taking care of, but now asks for you to take care of it instead.

After all of that, Nemona will show you to your Dorm Room. Take a rest on the bed and some time will pass, then Director Clavell will officially commence the Treasure Hunt.

Leave the school, head down towards the center part of Mesagoza, and you’ll be stopped by Nemona, and then by Arven, and then you’ll receive a call from Cassiopeia reminding you about Operation Starfall, which will officially begin the third and final storyline arc, Starfall Street.

You can now ride of Koraidon/Miraidon by pressing the + button and you can jump while riding it by pressing the B button. You can also freely fall from cliffs without worry, as Koraidon/Miraidon is immune to any sort of fall damage (or damage in general).

Which Way to Go?

At this point, you’re free to take on any of the three storyline arcs, although you’re best starting with either Victory Road or Path of Legends. Arven recommends heading out from the east gate to take on the Titan Pokémon over there, while Nemona recommends heading out from the west gate if you want to take on the Gyms first.

Either path is fine, they’ll both be about the same difficulty, and you can always backtrack to the other path whenever you’re done. If you’re following the Recommended Order, you’ll want to start with the Cortondo Gym by heading to the west, but, again, it is about the same difficulty as the Stony Cliff Titan, so don’t worry too much.

Although it’s not recommended to start with Starfall Street, you can do that if you’d like, or at least read up on it to know what to expect:

Recommended Order

Because you can take on these three storylines in any order, and can fight against any of the bosses of each storyline in any order, you have a lot of freedom. That can be fun, but it can also be a bit overwhelming!

This walkthrough is broken up into sections for each of the three storyline arcs and goes through them in the recommended order for those arcs, but you’re probably best off going through the game in the following order:

Of course, you can take them on in any order you’d like, and you may find that it’s better to take on objectives that you have more super effective Pokémon for early if you have an opportunity for it.

Keep in mind that, if you follow the recommended order, you’ll need to do a lot of flying to previous areas, although it’s very quick and shouldn’t be an issue. That being said, if you’re intending to follow the recommended order, your next destination should be the Cortondo Gym to the west of Mesagoza in Cortondo.