Pokémon Dark and Light

Pokémon Dark and Light are Japanese video games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo. The game is the most recent installment of the Pokémon series and was originally published on August 9, 2022, for the Nintendo Switch.

Gameplay
The game features similar gameplay to the other games, featuring a turn-based rock, paper, scissors system where certain Pokémon types are stronger/weaker against others. Most of the changes in the game are story-based, such as important cutscenes being fully animated in an anime style. Important cutscenes are also fully voice acted and the game is far more heavily story-based than other games in the series.

Going off of this new story-based approach, there is a new feature that allows the player to get extra lore on a certain character. To do this, the player must visit a Café (each town has its own) and speak to the server, who will then ask if they are eating alone. Responding yes will have the owner sell you ingredients in order to make curry with.

Answering no, however, will then cause the owner to ask who you're eating with. Five options will appear (which change each day) and the player will be able to pick a character from the options. Doing so will allow the player to eat with the character they chose and speak with them, gaining some extra insight on the character selected.

Returning from previous games is the Curry Dex, where the player can cook curry and write down their recipes. Mega Evolutions also make their return after being absent in Sword and Shield. The National Dex does not return for Dark and Light, a choice of much controversy, but more Pokémon from previous generations are added.

Summary
The game follows a mostly silent protagonist who the player can name as they attempt to become the greatest Pokémon trainer in their region, the Kopai region. On their way to the top, they must overcome several obstacles, including several rivals challenging them, their region's national Gym Challenge, and a group of Pokémon kidnappers known as Team Faux.

Main

 * Johan & Ivana (voiced by Robbie Daymond & Casey Mongillo) - the male and female protagonists of the game. Both wear black leather jackets, pants, and a leather cap. They also both wear a black and white striped shirt and have blonde hair.

Supporting

 * Moru (voiced by Xander Mobus) - the protagonist's first rival. Moru is a teenager from high society who has just moved to Kopai and wants to be a trainer due to his father's encouragement. He rarely expresses himself and can usually be seen with a flip phone.
 * Bee (voiced by Karen Strassman) - the protagonist's second rival. Bee, short for Beatrice, is an incredibly young trainer who declares the protagonist their rival after a conversation with Moru. She has a playground crush on Moru, who is incredibly put off by it.
 * Nola (voiced by Caitlynn French) - the protagonist's third rival. Nola believes herself to be a bad trainer and constantly belittles herself. This is due to bullying throughout most of her life, most of which came from her older brother.
 * Professor Spruce (voiced by D.C. Douglas) - the Pokémon Professor of the Kopai region. He studies Pokémon behavior and has a dislike of both using them for combat and Poké Balls. In spite of this, he helps trainers on their journies to become the very best.
 * Olivia Spruce (voiced by Xanthe Huynh) - Spruce's niece/adoptive daughter who refers to him as "papa". Unlike her uncle, Olivia enjoys Pokémon battles and is actually the one that gives the trainer their first Poké Balls.
 * Nurse Cathleen (voiced by Faye Mata) - the head nurse of the Kopai's Poké Centers. She is found in every Poké Center and travels between them incredibly fast, a fact that confuses everyone.
 * Officer Axel (voice by Kirk Thornton) - the head officer on the Team Faux case. In spite of being an officer, Axel is a borderline detective and acts like a hardboiled detective from noir films. The player has several run-ins with him throughout the game.
 * Jet (voiced by Richard Epcar) - the Flying Type Gym Leader and the first Gym Leader faced in the game. Jet is the oldest and wisest of all his peers and acts as a mentor figure to young trainers. In spite of this, he chooses to be the first and by default weakest Gym Leader faced in the Gym Challenge.
 * Morgan (voiced by Maxey Whitehead) - the Bug Type Gym Leader and the second Gym Leader in the Gym Challenge. Morgan is the youngest of the Gym Leaders and is incredibly odd and sometimes even creepy. She is obsessed with Bug Types and refers to them as "her only friends".
 * Alexandria (voiced by Colleen Clinkenbeard) - the Ice Type Gym Leader and the third Gym Leader of the challenge. Alexandria is an incredibly rich woman who is usually intimidatingly emotionless. The only thing that makes her express emotions is her daughter, Bee.
 * Vincent (voiced by Steve Blum) - the Ground Type Gym Leader and the fourth Gym Leader of the challenge. Vincent believes that the world will end any minute and has built an underground base to protect himself from the supposedly impending apocalypse.
 * Thomas (voiced by Billy Kametz) - the Ghost Type Gym Leader and the fifth Gym Leader of the challenge. Thomas is a young priest and spirit medium who acts like a stereotypical holy man but, in reality, is an incredibly excitable young man who's fond of hugs.
 * Natalia (voiced by Erin Fitzgerald) - the Electric Type Gym Leader and the sixth Gym Leader of the challenge. Natalia is the self-proclaimed Queen of the Poké Fans and enjoys hosting Comic Con-like events. She wears a hoodie that resembles her favorite Pokémon, Pikachu.
 * Ann (voiced by Mikaela Krantz) - the Steel Type Gym Leader and the seventh Gym Leader of the challenge. Ann is an incredibly intelligent woman who likes to tinker with machines. She believes people are just "fleshy machines" and has a habit of invading people's personal space.
 * Gabriel (voiced by Bryce Papenbrook) - the Normal Type Gym Leader and the final person faced in the Gym Challenge. Everyone seems to respect and even slightly fear him. This confuses everyone, as Normal Types aren't particularly known for being the strongest.
 * Elite Four
 * Eileen (voiced by Brina Palencia) - the first Elite Four trainer face. Eileen specializes in Grass Types and is the youngest member of the Elite Four. In spite of her age, she is fond of philosophy and speaks in borderline confusing quotes.
 * Laurence (voiced by Patrick Seitz) - the second Elite Four trainer faced. Laurence specializes in Fire Types and acts and looks like a Victorian noble. He seems to always be wearing a mask and seems to have a slight superiority complex.
 * Ash (voiced by Erica Mendez) - the third Elite Four trainer faced. Ash specializes in Water Types and acts like a stereotypical delinquent, constantly getting into fights, being prone to anger, and having a rather inflated ego.
 * Booker (voiced by Crispin Freeman) - the leader of the Elite Four and the greatest trainer in the Kopai region. He specializes in Dragon Types and is known as the Invincible King of Dragons. Those who have faced him were defeated so terribly by him they gave up being trainers.

Antagonists

 * Team Faux
 * Mordecai (voiced by Matthew Mercer) - the pseudo-leader of Team Faux. Mordecai speaks with a heavily distorted voice and wears a purple skull mask to hide his identity. In spite of his team kidnapping Pokémon, there is no way of linking the kidnappings to him and he is allowed to wander free.
 * Cassandra (voiced by Cristina Valenzuela) - one of Team Faux's admins. Cassandra is an intimidating and stern-minded woman that will do anything in the name of Team Faux. She seems to be in love with Mordecai but hasn't admitted it to him.
 * Patricia & Patrick (voiced by Hynden Walch & Laura Stahl) - two of Team Faux's admins. The pair are twins that were taken in and raised by Mordecai at a young age. They specialize in double battles and both of them, confusingly enough, are nicknamed "Pat".
 * Roderick (voiced by Kyle Hebert) - one of Team Faux's admins. Roderick is an incredibly large and bulky man that rarely speaks. Roderick is the main bodyguard of the other admins but is usually the bodyguard of Cassandra.

PokéDex

 * 1) Scalerra: Fire Type. "Scalerra is constantly generating lava from certain parts of its skin. It likes to gather up rocks and place them on its body as both armor and a way of keeping the lava at bay. The volcano-like object on its back was placed there intentionally as a weapon against predators."
 * 2) Watlop: Water Type. "Watlop isn't particularly known for its social behavior. It intentionally makes itself look as small as possible as a defense mechanism against predators. Unfortunately, it sees almost everything as a predator and so much of its life is spent hiding from people."
 * 3) Cubture: Grass Type. "The leaves on Cubture's body change depending on the month and weather. They will turn orange in Fall, die in Winter, and regrow in Spring. The leaves can also be removed fairly painlessly, leaving only a slight sting, and can be used to create medicine or medicinal herbs."
 * 4) Rocktor: Fire Type. Evolves form of Scalerra. "Rocktor's thick skin and rocky armor makes it a very tough foe in combat. It seeks out battles against tough enemies and will go easy on enemies that aren't as strong as it. If it is defeated in combat, it will have undying respect for the Pokémon that defeated it."
 * 5) Truddle: Water Type. Evolves form of Watlop. "TBD"
 * 6) Cleafon: Grass Type. Evolves form Cubture. "TBD"
 * 7) Avalizard: Fire/Ground Type. Evolves form of Rocktor. "TBD"
 * 8) Hooftio: Water/Ice. Evolves form of Truddle. "TBD"
 * 9) Monarion: Grass/Steel Type. Evolves form of Cleafon. "TBD"
 * 10) Maskrow: Flying Type. "Maskrow enjoys visiting areas that are related to death and/or the dead, such as cemeteries. Many cultures actually believe it to be the reincarnation of a dead human and that it visits these placed to get a final look at its human body before passing on to its new life."
 * 11) Toxicrow: Flying/Poison Type. Evolves from Maskrow. "Toxicrow enjoys finding people and Pokémon who are incredibly sick. If the individual in question is curable, Toxicrow will do everything it can to help them. If not, however, Toxicrow will simply be there to keep them company in their final moments."
 * 12) Llaming: Normal Type. "TBD"
 * 13) Spithesis: Normal/Grass Type. Evolves from Llaming. "TBD"
 * 14) Nicotachi: Electric/Ground Type. "TBD"
 * 15) Sneacoon: Dark Type. "A thief by nature, many in the Kopai region despise Sneacoon. It is a particularly good companion for those living a criminal career, as its cute appearance lets it manipulate people easily and its fast reflexes let it steal before the person notices."
 * 16) Shinoon: Dark/Ghost Type. Evolves from Sneacoon. "Its dark colors allow it to fade into the night as fast as it appeared. Shinoon considers itself a gentleman thief, only stealing from those it believes deserves it or for the sake of the ones that it loves. Making enemies is quite easy for a Shinoon."

Trivia

 * The choice to have animated cutscenes, voice acting and a more heavy focus on story was a controversial choice, with many fans arguing both for and against it.
 * Johan and Ivana appear to be the oldest protagonist in the series yet.
 * While never actually mentioned in the game, Morgan is actually the second cousin Johto Gym Leader Bugsy.