"Expand your Pokemon journey": Elden Ring mod introduces Scarlet and Violet to the Lands Between

When players think of the Pokemon franchise, the game Elden Ring probably isn't thought about in the same space. However, one Unity programmer on Twitter named Arestame sought to combine Game Freak's monster collection game with FromSoftware's brutal action RPG title.

By modding Elden Ring's game engine, Arestame implemented various Pokemon and features from Scarlet/Violet into Elden Ring's The Lands Between.

A trailer posted by Arestame showed players riding Koraidon, battling each other using Pocket Monsters in lieu of summons, and fighting different in-game species like Skeledirge and Oinkologne.

Players were excited at the prospect of Arestame's crossover, but many were worried that the mod would eventually draw the ire of Nintendo and The Pokemon Company.

Twitter reacts to Arestame's Pokemon Scarlet/Violet x Elden Ring crossover mod

While Arestame's crossover mod looks like a lot of fun, the official mod itself hasn't yet been released. The trailer debuted as an announcement, though many Twitter users were in disbelief that the mod could actually be released. Nintendo and The Pokemon Company tend to send Cease and Desist orders to modders and creators who use Nintendo IPs without consent.

However, all hope is not lost for fans who wish to battle Pocket Monsters in the Soulsborne title, as Arestame has a previous track record to fall back on.

Arestame, known as ArestameJoker on NexusMods, has released previous mods for Elden Ring. These include the Bill Clinton Orthodox Rabbi mod, which references the controversy surrounding Elden Ring's victory for Game of the Year at 2022's Game Awards. Five days after announcing the Bill Clinton mod on Twitter, Arestame made good on his promises to release the mod.

In addition, Arestame has released an Elden Ring mod that replaces three of the game's major bosses with Kaido, Shanks, and Whitebeard from the anime/manga series One Piece.

It remains to be seen if Arestame will release the crossover mod soon, but the gaming community will certainly be keeping an eye on the project.

Apprehension remains as to whether Nintendo will pull the trigger and threaten litigation, but some Pokemon mods have remained unscathed. Be that as it may, Nintendo's aggression towards the modding and emulation community using their intellectual properties is well-documented and has been a point of contention for years.

FromSoftware, meanwhile, has welcomed modifications for the Soulsborne titles as long as the balance of the game isn't threatened when players are online. A reskin like Arestame's crossover mod would likely not violate FromSoftware's terms of service since it doesn't actually change the core gameplay. Instead, it changes the aesthetic of creatures and character models.

Hopefully, fans will soon be able to mod their copy of Elden Ring to include some of the finest gameplay aspects from the Generation IX Pokemon titles.

However, until Arestame announces an update or the mod files are released on NexusMods, gamers will have to wait and hope that Nintendo doesn't drop the hammer on yet another member of the modding community.

About the author

Spencer has been covering AAA titles at Sportskeeda for 3 years, and his articles collectively boast 30+ million reads. He is currently focusing on Pokemon and Minecraft content. A man who truly wears many hats, Spencer is a reader, writer, occasional metal vocalist, and semi-competitive fighting game player. His love for video games stemmed from engaging in franchises such as Street Fighter, Dragon Quest, and Resident Evil, and he is an ardent fan to this day.

Spencer holds a Bachelor's Degree in English from the University of South Florida with a minor in Journalism, and his work in the Tampa Bay area was influential in sending him down the path of becoming an esports writer. In the last 8 years, Spencer has written guides for iFixit, film and TV features for Collider, and tons of interesting articles for Sportskeeda. He is deeply familiar with the mechanics of the gaming industry and quite deft at collating information from official outlets, developers, community posts, and content creators.

In his free time, Spencer likes to read, play tabletop RPGs with friends, record metal music with his old bandmates, and build Gunpla model kits. He is primarily a PC gamer who can be found juggling multiple titles at any given time.

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