It’s our first fully Scarlet-centric chapter! As much as I love Violet, it’s so refreshing to see the spotlight solely shining on Scarlet. She’s such a fun character to follow, and I’m excited for the mystery around her backstory to be unraveled.
There will be spoilers ahead, so make sure to pick up a copy of the first mini-volume if you didn’t get the chance to read the chapter while it was still up on the CoroCoro website. The mini-volume release also contains a new scene that wasn’t present in CoroCoro, so there will be spoilers for that, too!
After Scarlet escapes a particularly battle-hungry Nemona, we finally get to see her treasure hunting begin! I’m curious about the significance of the Gimmighoul Coins to Scarlet’s mission. We can tell she’s planning on collecting 999 of them, which hints that she might be after a Gholdengo—but why, exactly? Scarlet’s clearly the type of person who wouldn’t do something so strenuous if it didn’t give her any kind of advantage. Even though she’s a treasure hunter, I find it hard to imagine she would go after a rare Pokémon for bragging rights. Would a Gholdengo somehow be the key to whatever it is she’s trying to accomplish? Or maybe instead she’s being hired by someone else to collect the coins?
It caught me off guard when Cassiopeia hacked Scarlet’s Rotom Phone in the middle of her battle against the Gimmighoul. First off, it’s fun that the most mysterious characters we’ve met so far have some established relationship. Second, it always seemed like Cassiopeia would wait for a convenient time before hacking the player’s phone in the games, so I liked how we got to see them accidentally throw off Scarlet during her battle. Scarlet’s history with Team Star is interesting, too—I’d really like to know more details about how she was rescued by one of their squads. Cassiopeia mentioned she was at their base for a long time, which makes it seem like they’ve done a lot for her. It’s also interesting to consider that Scarlet didn’t hesitate to humiliate Team Star when she saved Penny from them. Even though they’d helped her through what was presumably a difficult time, she is quick to act against their wrongdoings. It either shows that she has a strong sense of morality, or maybe she doesn’t form the attachments that would cause her to at least pause before throwing those Grunts down the stairs.
Despite being unafraid to stop Team Star, Scarlet didn’t feel the need to join Cassiopeia’s mission after bargaining with them for access to Uva Academy. She simply used Cassiopeia’s offer in a way that benefitted her. Enrollment into a prestigious academy is a big ask, but she doesn’t seem to be bothered about not doing anything for them in return—besides “listening,” that is. I’m also intrigued by Scarlet’s request to come to Uva Academy in the first place. I wonder if she’s after an important resource there, or maybe information from one of the instructors. If she is, maybe she already got it, because it seems like she’s in no hurry to spend more time there. Something else that might be worth noting is that before the chapters of the were collected into the volume release, Scarlet was depicted wearing a uniform for Naranja Academy. Because this was retconned, I don’t want to speculate too much on it, but I’m interested in knowing if Naranja Academy exists at all and what that would mean for this story.
If there’s one thing that the Gym scenes can tell us about Scarlet, it’s that she’s efficient in everything she does, even if it means breaking the rules. She didn’t waste any time getting the olive to the goal during the Gym Test, and she sure didn’t in her battle with Katy either. Her battling style is quick and precise, as we see with the way she launches a flurry of attacks against Nymble (and Gimmighoul in the first scene, as well!). She’s also very crafty—luring Katy into Terastallizing her Teddiursa into a Bug type so she could instantly defeat it with her Flying Tera Type Pikachu.
I really liked Katy’s portrayal in this chapter. The assumptions she makes about Scarlet being hungry, as well as the way she lets her cheating slide, shows that she prioritizes the wellbeing of her challengers over anything else. It’s through her that we discover Scarlet is generally unhealthy and doesn’t seem to take care of herself. Since she’s so focused on her treasure hunting, she might not think that taking care of her own health is a priority.
At the end of this chapter, we finally learned that Scarlet is after the treasures of ruin. I’d love to know more about that, and whether she is referring to the treasures as objects, or the Legendary Pokémon they became. I wonder if this treasure hunt is related to her pursuit of 999 Gimmighoul Coins, or if she’s simply working two separate jobs.
I loved having a chapter that was fully focused on Scarlet. I’m curious as to why the main Pokédex holders have yet to meet at this point, but it’s not the first time it’s taken a while for that to happen in Pokémon Adventures. In the , the two didn’t even meet until the second full volume. I wonder how Scarlet and Violet’s first meeting will go—will she make him cry? Or will he be impressed with her speed and decide that she’s also his best friend? It’s interesting to see Nemona and Arven being paired off with each of the protagonists, but I’m a little worried about Nemona’s portrayal so far. She comes off as a bit too one-note with her love of battles—almost like a flanderization of her character in the games. Hopefully, with Nemona mentioning that she may have information about the treasures of ruin, it will mean her character will have more opportunities to shine outside of battle.
Scarlet’s treasure hunt is just getting started! How do you feel about her journey so far?
