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At the center of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's world lies the Great Crater of Paldea. Deep within its reaches is the mysterious and eerie Area Zero, where the Terastal Phenomenon was first discovered and where Pocket Monsters from other time periods have emerged.
Compared to the oft-vibrant environment seen elsewhere in Paldea, Area Zero can be quite an imposing area. While the location begins quite bright and beautiful, it becomes dark and scattered with Tera Crystals as players make their way to the fourth research station established by the Paldean Expedition.
Even worse, the conclusion of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's story leaves plenty of questions unanswered, as was pointed out by one Redditor by the name of Astraldejections.
The Redditor made a fair point, and several players in the comments section sounded off in response.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's subreddit reacts to Astraldejection's Area Zero post
In their post, Astraldejection stated that while they didn't believe Area Zero was intentionally made to be creepy, it didn't assuage their concerns. After all, Professors Turo and Sada died protecting the Legendary Pokemon Koraidon/Miraidon in Area Zero. Aside from the AIs left in their place, no bodies were ever recovered.
The music is also hauntingly unusual compared to the rest of the soundtrack, and the large Tera Crystals carry an eerie appearance of their own.
Astraldejection requested that commenters reach out and make them feel as though their fear of Area Zero wasn't completely off-base. As one might expect, plenty of Pokemon fans voiced their own discomfort with the deepest reaches of Paldea's central fixture.
Many Pokemon fans were in agreement that Area Zero's beautiful scenery was part of what made it so unsettling for them.
Plenty of players drew parallels to Lavender Town in the titles that took place in the Kanto region. The town is well-known for being the resting place of fallen Pocket Monsters, as well as its relaxing but creepy musical theme.
For many fans, Area Zero's crystalline and isolated appearance feels off compared to the rest of the zones in Paldea.
The comparison to the film Annihilation is certainly interesting. This particular movie adapts the Southern Reach Trilogy novels by Jeff VanderMeer.
In Annihilation, a group of five women ventures into a mysterious location known as Area X. The location has the ability to alter genetics and create hybrid monsters as well as alter the makeup of the human inhabitants.
Could Area Zero's Tera Crystals have unintended effects on inhabitants within its confines? It's certainly an interesting theory worth exploring. After all, not all of the secrets of Terastallization in Pokemon are fully understood. There may be plenty of mysteries remaining past what Professors Turo and Sada were able to uncover.
The Scarlet/Violet book created by Heath seems to have some answers, but there seems to be much more to know.
Perhaps Game Freak can explore Area Zero further in upcoming Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLCs. The mysterious location likely still has much to offer for trainers and the research community of Naranja/Uva Academy.
