Scarlet & Violet Fan Video Stirs Debate About Pokémon Voice Acting

"Pokémon Scarlet and Violet" expanded the gameplay of the series like never before, adding an open world and lots of new features, like auto battles, that had fans excited for its launch. One thing "Pokémon" games still don't have, however, is voice acting.

It's entirely understandable that "Pokémon" didn't have voice acting at the launch of the series. "Pokémon Red" and "Blue" were released on the Game Boy, which made any sound other than some simple music and effects out of the question. Since then, the series has released titles on other handheld devices up through the 3DS, again eliminating the possibility for fully voiced characters. With the latest versions of the game coming to the Nintendo Switch, however, it finally opens up the opportunity of adding this feature to "Pokémon." Still, Game Freak chose not to this time around.

Some fans, however, think the time has come to give "Pokémon" trainers, professors, and the rest of the "Pokémon" world their own voices. Now, in a recent, fan-made video, a handful of voice actors offer gamers a look at what that might be like.

The video, developed by Joe Goffeney, and posted in parts to Twitter features select scenes from "Pokémon Scarlet and Violet" with voice acting provided by Goffeney and several other voice actors. Intended to show what a fully voiced "Pokémon" game might look like, it comes with Goffeney's statement that "Pokémon absolutely NEEDS voice acting in Generation 10." While Goffeney and the rest of the cast clearly want to see Nintendo and Game Freak going in this direction, the video and declaration have sparked debate and mixed reactions among fans.

The tweet currently has nearly 150,000 likes and over 20,000 retweets with plenty of responses praising the video and supporting the proposition of "Pokémon" voice acting in general. On the other hand, there were lots of responses opposing the idea, either on the grounds that it would be too expensive and time consuming or because they don't trust Nintendo games to get voice acting right.

This has spurred ongoing debate in the tweet's comments with no clear indication of where the majority lies. There's no indication that Nintendo and Game Freak intend to go in this direction in the future but it's certain that, if they did, it would spark plenty of conversation.