Paldea was just the start. Honestly, if you played the base game and walked away after the credits rolled, you missed the actual point of the story. Pokemon Scarlet with DLC—specifically the two-part Hidden Treasure of Area Zero expansion—isn't just a handful of extra monsters thrown into a pokedex. It is a massive mechanical overhaul that fixes the barren feeling of the original map and finally gives us the difficulty spike we've been begging for since the 3DS era.
Most people complain about the performance. We know. The frame rate drops in Casseroya Lake are legendary for the wrong reasons. But if you look past the technical stutters, the expansion pack, consisting of The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk, basically turns a "fine" game into a masterpiece of team building and lore.
Kitakami and the Shift in Vibe
When you first land in Kitakami for The Teal Mask, the energy changes. It’s smaller. It’s denser. It feels like a rural Japanese summer. You aren't just a student on a treasure hunt anymore; you're an outsider in a village with a very dark, very weird history. The story of Ogerpon and the Loyal Three (Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti) is surprisingly heavy for a Pokemon game. It deals with prejudice and misinformation. It turns out the "heroes" were the villains.
The DLC adds over 200 returning Pokemon. That’s the big draw. Seeing Sentret hop around the grass or Milotic shimmering in the Crystal Pool makes the world feel inhabited in a way the base Paldea map sometimes struggled with. The density of encounters in Kitakami feels more deliberate.
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I found that the level scaling here is a bit wonky if you've already beaten the Elite Four. You’ll be one-shotting everything unless you do the smart thing: catch a new team. Catch a Poochyena. Grab a Poltchageist. Building a "local" team makes the DLC feel like a brand-new game rather than a victory lap.
Why The Indigo Disk is for the Hardcore Players
Then there's Blueberry Academy. This is where Pokemon Scarlet with DLC stops playing nice.
If you thought the base game was too easy, the Terarium is your wake-up call. Every single trainer battle in the Indigo Disk is a Double Battle. Let that sink in. This isn't just "hit the A button to win." The NPCs actually use competitive strategies. They use Tailwind. They use Trick Room. They have held items like Focus Sashes and Sitrus Berries.
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I remember fighting Amarys of the BB League Elite Four. Her team uses a terrifying combination of Skarmory and Empoleon that will absolutely wreck you if you don't have a plan for Entry Hazards and Steel-type resistances. It’s refreshing. It’s hard. It feels like Game Freak finally acknowledged that a huge portion of their audience understands the underlying math of the game.
The Synchro Machine and New Perspectives
One of the coolest, albeit weirdest, additions is the Synchro Machine. You can literally become your Pokemon. You run around. You attack wild Mons. You fly as a Charizard or scurry as a Gholdengo. It’s a gimmick, sure, but it’s the kind of "what if" feature that makes the DLC feel experimental. It’s fun to just exist in the world without the human avatar for a while.
The Terapagos Mystery and Area Zero
The real meat is back in Area Zero. The "Underdepths" section of the DLC finally answers what that giant hexagonal turtle was doing in the margins of the Scarlet Book. Terapagos isn't just a legendary; it's the source of the Terastal phenomenon.
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The Stellar Tera Type is a game-changer. Unlike normal Tera types that change your weaknesses, the Stellar type keeps your original defensive typing but gives you a one-time power boost to every move type in your kit. In Tera Raids, it’s even better—it stays active for the whole fight. It adds a layer of complexity to the endgame that makes the "Herba Mystica" grind feel worth it.
The Truth About the Performance
We have to be real. The DLC doesn't magically fix the engine. The game still struggles when there are too many weather effects or NPCs on screen. The Blueberry Academy Terarium is split into four biomes—Savanna, Coastal, Canyon, and Polar—and while they look stunning, the transitions can be janky.
However, the sheer volume of content compensates for the lack of polish. Between the Blueberry Quests (BBQs), which are small tasks you do to earn Blueberry Points, and the ability to fly—actual, unrestricted flight—the game finally feels like the "open world" it promised in 2022.
Hidden Mechanics Most People Miss
- The Item Printer: Forget the Cram-o-matic. The Item Printer in the Blueberry Academy clubroom is the best way to get Rare Candies, Ability Patches, and even Gold Bottle Caps. Feed it those extra Pokemon materials you have thousands of.
- Legendary Returning: Through a character named Snacksworth, you can encounter legendaries from previous generations like Lugia, Rayquaza, and Kyogre. They aren't shiny locked in the way some people feared, but they are static encounters.
- The Secret Ending: There is a "true" final scene involving a character named Pecharunt that ties the Kitakami and Paldea stories together. You need the Mythical Pecha Berry (distributed via Mystery Gift) to trigger it. Don't miss it; it's the most personality the rival characters have ever shown.
Is the DLC Worth It?
If you enjoy the core loop of catching and battling, yes. It doubles the amount of viable competitive Pokemon and provides a genuine challenge. If you only care about "graphics," you’ll probably still be frustrated. But for anyone who wants to see the Pokemon world feel a bit more mature and strategically deep, the expansion is mandatory. It turns a disjointed experience into a cohesive saga about time, crystals, and the strange history of the Paldean crater.
Actionable Steps for Your Journey
- Clear the Base Game First: While you can start Kitakami early, the story hits much harder if you’ve finished the "Way Home" arc in Area Zero.
- Save Your Materials: Don't sell your Pokemon drops for money. You need them for the Item Printer in the second half of the DLC to get the rarest items in the game.
- Train a Competitive Team: For The Indigo Disk, ensure your Pokemon have decent IVs and EVs. Even casual players will struggle against the BB League Elite Four without a balanced team of six.
- Grab the Mystery Gift: Check for the "Mythical Pecha Berry" through the Poke Portal immediately. This is the only way to access the epilogue and catch Pecharunt.
- Unlock Flight Early: Complete the main story of The Indigo Disk to upgrade Koraidon/Miraidon’s glide into true flight. It makes finishing the Pokedex significantly less tedious.