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How to connect to friends, trade, battle and do Raids in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet online and through local multiplayer
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet coop is done either online, or connecting to local consoles and others Switches in the game’s offline mode. You’ll need to have your friends’ Link Codes either way, but once connected you’ll be able to explore each other’s worlds and engage with some of the challenges together. Read on to find out how to play Pokemon Scarlet and Violet coop, what you need to unlock it, and how it can be used to have fun with friends.
If you’re headed to a Pokemon Center, the Union Circle is the Yellow Screen on the side of the building. Interact with it to begin (you can also redeem Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Mystery Gift codes here).
Once you have both of those set up, you need to do the following:
If you form a group, players will enter your game, join your world, and effectively be your guests. If your connection fails or you close the game, they will all be forced to leave. If you join a group, the other player is the host and you’ll be in their game.
If you form a group, you’ll enter a special menu with three other spaces for players, and a “Link Code”. Tell the other players this code, so they can enter it when they join your group – it acts like a special password that allows them to join.
If you join a group, you’ll immediately be asked for the Link Code (there’s no way to join a group without one). The host should tell you the code, and all you need to do is enter it – and then you’ll be in the group!
Once enough people have joined, the player who formed the group simply needs to press “Set out together,” and everybody will be brought into their world.
Though there’s no way for two people to play Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and on the same Switch console, if a friend has their own Switch and copy of the game, you can play without an internet connection, if you’re close together – as in, the same room or so.
To play locally, simply follow the steps for online coop, but do not connect to the internet at the beginning! The game doesn’t search for local consoles if you’re online, it only checks the internet. Make sure you’re in the offline mode, then repeat all the steps above – you’ll be able to form a group or join a group in the same way with nearby consoles. Just make sure not to get too far away from each other!
Your options as a whole are pretty limited – the game doesn’t let you fight wild Pokemon, Trainers or Gym Leaders together, it’s more of a social experience than anything else, so calling it cooperative is a bit of a misnomer when there isn’t much you can cooperate on, beyond the Tera Raids. Still, it’s got its advantages – you can see if your friends picked one of the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet best starters and their evolutions!
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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.
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