Pokemon Scarlet/Violet Update Soon! What Does the Patch Hold in Store?

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are getting a patch slated for the end of this February.  Among the updates in this patch are many bug fixes and great quality-of-life changes! Below is a list of some of the most important new fixes to look out for!

• From a Pokémon’s summary, players will be able to change Pokémon’s nicknames, markings, held items, and mark- or Ribbon-related titles, as well as being able to reorder moves, have Pokémon remember moves, have Pokémon forget moves, and use TMs.

This is a huge time save for competitive players, shiny/ribbon hunters, and casual battlers alike!  

• Players will be able to swap out held items by pressing the Y Button when in the Held Items view.

Another pretty big quality-of-life improvement for competitive players.  This is a very important thing this generation, as the competitive VGC scene has an amazing meta and exciting competition currently. Keeping competitive players from pulling their hair out in team building is great for both them and Game Freak's image.

• The News screen will be displayed when you connect to the internet from the main menu, just as it is when connecting to the internet from the Poké Portal.

This isn't as big of a deal for me personally, but it could save more casual players who might not otherwise know about a limited-time Tera Raid or other cool events.

• A bug that can prevent an opposing Tera Pokémon’s HP gauge from properly reflecting damage done by certain moves (such as Play Rough) or certain status conditions may occur in Tera Raid Battles, resulting in the Tera Pokémon’s HP gauge fluctuating in an unusual manner. This will be fixed.
• A bug that causes all Pokémon on your side to faint at once despite their HP gauges indicating that they still have HP may occur in black crystal Tera Raid Battles against Pokémon with the Mightiest Mark. This will be fixed.
• A bug that can temporarily prevent a player from entering any input into the game may occur if a Tera Pokémon takes certain actions while the player is choosing the target of their move. This will be fixed.
• A bug that causes a communication error may occur when someone connecting to a Tera Raid Battle sees a different Pokémon displayed on their screen than what the host sees. This will be fixed.
• A bug may occur that causes players joining a Tera Raid Battle from the Tera Raid Battles search screen to be brought to a Tera Raid Battle against a Pokémon different from the one they saw displayed. This will be fixed.
• A bug that causes Tera Raid Battle crystals to not appear for a set amount of time may occur under certain circumstances. This will be fixed.

So many Tera Raid bug fixes! Tera Raids, again, are a big pull of the new games, so making them work better will make the games that much more enjoyable.

• Type matchups against Pokémon that have fainted will no longer appear when selecting a move or target during Double Battles.
• The stats of a Dondozo with a Tatsugiri in its mouth will increase when Dondozo uses Order Up, even when the move should have been negated (for example, by an opponent using Protect). This is a bug and will be fixed.
• If a Pokémon Terastallizes after using Destiny Bond and then faints, the effects of Destiny Bond will fail to activate. This is a bug and will be fixed.

All of these fixes are minor patches to VGC issues.  Nothing too big, but good improvements nevertheless.

• We will address an issue that can cause the game to forcibly close at certain locations. As a result of this fix, there may be a reduction of Pokémon and people displayed in certain towns or in the wild.
• When a Pokémon that is not a part of the Paldea Pokédex is obtained through a Link Trade, it is displayed as being registered to the Paldea Pokédex. This is a bug and will be fixed.
• When a Pokémon you caught comes back to you from another player through Link Trade, it may not listen to your commands in accordance with what is written in the profile app (“Pokémon caught at Lv. XX or below will listen to your commands”). This will be fixed.
• Objects such as Poké Balls may be displayed in certain locations of the field unintentionally. This will be fixed.

These patches are much more important to those still playing the main story, which I doubt many readers of this article are. Even still, these fixes do improve the experience for those people.

This is a pretty big patch, fixing many technical issues with the current games.  I'm optimistic that these fixes will make the game much more enjoyable by squashing so many bugs.