In Pokémon Horizons, Scarlet is canon

Pokémon Horizons: The Series, the latest season of the Pokémon anime and the first to star protagonists other than Ash Ketchum, has finally premiered in the U.S. via a 12-episode drop on Netflix. It’s a big deal — Ash finally became the very best, and now we have to leave him behind. But the new Pokémon trainers are just the beginning.

[Ed. note: Slight spoilers for Pokémon Horizons episode 10 follow.]

After introducing us to the new protagonists and the basic story setup, Pokémon Horizons takes events to the Paldea region. There, in the city of Mesagoza, is a school; in Pokémon Scarlet, it’s called Naranja Academy, while in Violet, it’s Uva Academy. Although there are two versions of the school in the games, there can only be one in the anime. And the winner is… Pokémon Scarlet.

For U.S. anime viewers, this might not be a surprise. Horizons isn’t the only animated Pokémon series to feature Paldea and Naranja Academy; there’s also Pokémon: Paldean Winds, a four-episode miniseries released on YouTube last year. But Horizons was released in Japan at the beginning of 2023, before Paldean Winds, and its status as part of the main Pokémon anime series means it’s the one setting the tone, if you ask me. Us Americans just had to wait a year to get the official word on which version is the canon one.

Like with any new generation of Pokémon games, prospective players had to decide which version to buy when Scarlet and Violet came out. And a good portion of Pokémon fans have strong opinions. Both games have hot professors, so that was a matter of personal preference. Violet has the cooler legendary, in that it’s a dragon with wheels and the wheels actually work (unlike Scarlet’s, which has wheel-like structures on its body but uses its feet to run). Me? I picked Scarlet. Have you seen Professor Sada?

The matter of which school you’d be attending wasn’t high on the list of pros and/or cons for either version. But the school does affect how your character looks through the entire base game. Neither version has particularly good fashion options; Scarlet gives you a set of dorky orange uniforms, while Violet offers the same dorky uniforms except in a more pleasant purple.

But even if Violet has the slight edge, it’s Pokémon Scarlet that gets the official anime stamp of approval. In episode 9 of Horizons, the protagonists arrive in Paldea, and we’re shown the campus of Pokémon Scarlet’s Naranja Academy. Then, in episode 10, we meet a familiar character from the games — battle-happy rival Nemona — all decked out in her very orange Naranja Academy uniform.

Image: OLM/The Pokémon Company, Netflix

Does this actually mean anything in the wider context of Pokémon? No, not really. While Pokémon games always have version differences — exclusive Pokémon, a different trainer battle here and there — the anime has typically combined them into a cohesive whole. It’s not like Ash Ketchum had to trade with another version of himself to catch ’em all. It’s just that sometimes, a version difference is big enough to be noticeable in the anime, and this is one of those times.

So yes, maybe Pokémon Scarlet’s version of Mesagoza is the canon one. But to Horizons’ credit, antagonist Amethio does have a Ceruledge — the evolution of Charcadet that’s native to Violet. It’s just a shame that of the two schools, Horizons picked the one with the uglier uniforms.

Pokémon Horizons: The Series is now streaming on Netflix.