In today’s Pokémon Presents, the Pokémon Company officially unveiled the next adventure in Game Freak’s long-running, monster-catching franchise. Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet will be the latest games to join the Pokémon series when they launch later this year.

Both titles will feature the Pokémon franchise’s first-ever, open-world environment where players can seamlessly travel between towns and the wilderness where wild Pokémon run free. The teaser trailer showed off a variety of different biomes, including dense forests, sprawling deserts, and bustling cities where people and Pokémon live together.

The trailer also revealed the three, starter Pokémon players will be able to choose from when starting their adventure: Sprigatito, the Grass Cat Pokémon; Fuecoco, the Fire Croc Pokémon; and Quaxly, the Duckling Pokémon. The footage showed some Pokémon from previous generations, such as Pikachu and Lucario, will return in these entries.

The last, mainline entries in the Pokémon franchise were Pokémon Sword and Shield, which were released in 2019. They were renowned for introducing the Wild Area, the series’ first attempt at an open region where players could explore freely. Scarlet and Violet look to be expanding on this concept by bringing that level of exploration and freedom to the entire game.

Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet are slated to launch sometime in Late 2022 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. Which version are you planning on picking up? Which starter will you choose? Let us know in the comments!