Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: I Bet on Losing Dogs

In 2022, Pokemon fans all over the world waited with baited breath for the release of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Touting itself as the first mainline open world Pokemon game meant people had big expectations. When I finally got to play amidst the controversy of the buggy release I was surprised to find something I wasn’t expecting. What really got me wasn’t the new Pokemon designs or the open world system, it was someone’s old dog. 

For many players The Titans storyline where Arven nurses his wounded dog Pokemon, Mabosstiff, back to health was a standout in Scarlet and Violet. He enlists the player to help him find the Herba Mystica, legendary ingredients with special healing properties, in order to help Mabosstiff. It made me think about the use of old/sick dogs in fiction. Dogs tend to stand for loyalty and friendship thematically, think Old Yeller and Shiloh. And I can’t deny that it’s an easy way to tug at the heartstrings. 

I’m certainly not immune. The storyline reminded me a lot of my fourteen year old dog Snick who my family got when I was eight. Growing up he was a yappy little guy that loved to act like a big guard dog. We made fun of him for being a little prince, sleeping in my mom’s bed and demanding to be carried around. But as he aged he, like most other dogs, gained a lot of health problems. In 2022, Snick started limping and eventually lost all movement of his left back leg all together. The vet wasn’t actually sure what happened but he wasn’t in any pain. Watching Mabosstiff struggle to move reminded me all too much of him. 

Eventually Arven manages to bring Mabosstiff back to full health with the help of the Herba Mystica. It was a heartwarming storyline that endeared many players to the game, but I did notice that they chose not to hit one of the most popular sad tropes, which is the dog dying. Not every sad dog story needs to end with death but the trope is very popular. DoestheDogDie.com exists for a reason. In fact, Pokemon already tried it in the Sun and Moon anime, when it introduced an elderly Yorkie-like Pokemon called Stoutland that was taking care of Ash’s Litten. Eventually the Stoutland dies and it culminates into an emotional scene where Litten mourns its doggy caretaker’s death. 

But I would argue that there’s a specific reason why they didn’t pull that in Scarlet and Violet. In Pokemon dogs specifically represent childhood. Arven refers to Mabosstiff as his only friend during his troubled youth. In the Sun and Moon anime Stoutland played the role of a parental figure to a young Litten. I also coincidentally got my first Pokemon game when I was eight, the same year as when we got Snick, and I was instantly entranced. Pokemon was as essential to my childhood as Snick was. The death of a childhood pet could easily translate into the end of childhood. This idea is something they could do narratively in the anime but it gets dicier when we consider how Pokemon uses nostalgia to sell games to an adult audience. 

For Arven’s character, healing Mabosstiff could symbolize healing his inner child. But for Pokemon as a franchise, reviving the dog mimics what they were hoping to achieve with Scarlet and Violet, an open world reworking of a nostalgic game formula meant to breathe life into the franchise. Whether they were successful is a matter of opinion. I definitely had fun playing the game but that doesn’t mean it was without flaws. Pokemon was everything to me as a kid, and though I’m hopeful for the series’ future I have plenty of concerns as well with their breakneck release schedule and bugginess. But honestly, that’s fine, nothing can stay the same no matter how many fond memories you have of it. 

Maybe I’m just growing up. It seems silly to say that at the age of twenty-three, but I’ve been informed by many adults that I’m still actually very young. The same can’t be said for Snick who is fourteen and in his golden years. He can’t walk much anymore, a combination of the leg and arthritis. It’s sad but there’s no helping it. Things change, dogs die, we’re all just trying to be okay with it. On the bright side, Snick’s immobility means he gets waited on and carried around like the little prince he is. Can’t say the golden years are all bad.

If you like what we do here at Uppercut, consider supporting us on Patreon. Supporters at the $5+ tiers get access to written content early.