New Synchro Machine will let you play as your Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet The Indigo Disk

The final trailer for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s The Indigo Disk expansion featured plenty of new info and confirmation for theories about upcoming content. But most players likely weren’t expecting a mechanic that lets you play as one of your Pokémon. 

A new NPC named Synclaire is running “an amazing experiment” while you explore the Blueberry Academy Terarium, and you are invited to participate. Saying yes will allow you to access a device called the Synchro Machine, which will let you “see the world through the eyes of your Pokémon.”

This seems to be an expansion to the base Scarlet and Violet Let’s Go mechanic, which lets you send out a Pokémon in your party to battle wild Pokémon without needing to command them. In this case, however, you are in direct control of the Pokémon you choose and can battle wild Pokémon in a new way. 

Most details about this new feature were kept under wraps for the trailer, but it does show one player syncing up with their Pikachu and running around the map. It has also been confirmed that the Synchro Machine can be used while playing with friends in the Union Circle, meaning up to four players can run around Paldea as Pokémon together. It is unclear if you will need to hit a button to attack, if multiple moves will be available, or if battling will still mostly be done automatically at the moment. 

This is one of several outright new mechanics being added to Scarlet and Violet via its second DLC, alongside a new Tera Type that we still don’t know anything about and the ability to freely fly around on the back of Koraidon and Miraidon. More information about the Synchro Machine and other features exclusive to The Indigo Disk should be revealed once the expansion is released on Dec. 14.