Yesterday was Pokémon Day and several existing games in the franchise – such as Go, Legends: Arceus, Unite, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl – got announcements for small updates, but the biggest news was the next mainline games in the form of Scarlet and Violet.

We’ve seen a bit of the game thanks to a reveal trailer, but there’s now an official website which can be visited here which shows a bit more.

“With these new titles, the Pokémon series takes a new evolutionary step, allowing you to explore freely in a richly expressed open world,” reads the description of the games on the site.

“Various towns blend seamlessly into the wilderness with no borders. You’ll be able to see the Pokémon of this region in the skies, in the seas, in the forests, on the streets—all over! You’ll be able to experience the true joy of the Pokémon series—battling against wild Pokémon in order to catch them—now in an open-world game that players of any age can enjoy.​”

The new region, which is unnamed at this point, seems to be based on Spain or Italy as many people have suggested since the reveal. The last main series games, Sword and Shield, were based on the Galar region which is modelled after the UK.

The website contains screenshots from the trailer, but there is some new stuff here such as clear, official art of the three starter Pokémon and the player character outfits which seem to be based on school uniforms.

The colour and designs of these uniforms vary between the two versions of the game which is a new “feature” but we have to wonder how much this really matters. We say this because most of the modern Pokémon games on the Nintendo Switch feature character customisation, making your starting outfit something that is ditched shortly into a playthrough.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are due for release in late 2022 only on the Nintendo Switch.