Pokemon Scarlet and Violet leak has fans questioning the new additions

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A week before release, a lot of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet has leaked

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)

The latest batch of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet leaks has been the final straw for some fans, who have been left feeling disappointed about the newest additions to the series. 

If you've been safely avoiding all things Pokemon until Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's release next week, first of all - we don't blame you. Secondly, here's what you may have missed. Starting a couple of weeks ago, there's been several high-profile Pokemon Scarlet and Violet leaks, but as recently as this morning one player took it further by livestreaming the whole game online.

As you'd expect, this is where the majority of the leaks have come from. We're going to discuss some of them just a little so if you really don't want to see any of it we suggest you don't read on from here as we're heading into light spoiler territory.

Well-known Pokemon leaker @CentroLeaks has shared an image that contains "all Gen 9 leaked Pokemon," and this is what has got fans talking about the quality of the latest generation of Pokemon. "Is it just me or do most designs not even look like Pokemon?" One Twitter user said in a reply to CentroLeaks.

"Quite frankly, I’ve seen better designs from fanart," another replied, "most of gen 9 I have to say, not a fan." Echoing one of the earlier replies, another Pokemon fan said on Twitter: "It's sad. I see this dex and I can only think that this is a bad joke. [...] They don’t even look like Pokemon."

Over on Reddit, someone shared CentroLeak's gen 9 photo which led a similar conversation to break out over there. Things got a bit more specific on Reddit though, with many fans calling out the "lazy" character design for one of the new Pokemon. Flamigo, which is an obvious mashup of the pink bird and the Spanish word for friend "amigo", has gained the most negative comments. "I know people joke about Gen 1 Pokemon being just a recolored animal with an exaggerated silhouette called something else (Rattata, Ekans, etc), but like, that is a flamingo," one comment reads.

If you're still excited about the next-gen Pokemon game, the good news is that Scarlet and Violet is due to release in a few days' time on November 18, 2022.

Want to know what other newcomers are on their way in gen 9? Take a look at our Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Pokedex list.

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.