Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’s ending can be shocking for those who weren’t keeping up with the game before launch, as it involves a surprise appearance by a real-life celebrity.
The Pokemon world shares many direct elements with our own, including references to countries (like India) and other video game franchises (like Mario). It’s much rarer forreal people to be referenced in Pokemon, though it does happen when you visit the developers’ offices, as they included their own cameos.
This is why it’s so jarring when the end credits forPokemon Scarlet & Violet suddenly feature Ed Sheeran singingas he belts out “Celestial” over images from the game. Users on thePokemon Scarlet & Violet Reddithave shared their surprise at hearing a random pop song after finishing the game.
“Seems like a huge waste of money for them tbh. Some people love it and think it’s cool but it’s still a huge amount of money for an end credits song,” one user wrote, while another said, “It shocked me too but I enjoyed it.”
There’s another issue at play, as one user pointed out, “It was commissioned for the game, and also has the side effect of giving streamers panic attacks when they hit the credits.” This refers to how videos and live streams can run into problems if they feature copyrighted material, like songs.
Those with a pathological hatred for Ed Sheeran for his awful cameo in Game of Thrones can at least take solace in The Indigo Disk DLC, where aremix of the song by Toby Fox of Undertale/Deltarune fameis used as the new end theme.
Related:
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet have many issues, especially regarding their performance. In another life, where the Gen 9 games were technical masterclasses, the Ed Sheeran song might have been seen as their low point. As it stands, it’s merely thecherry on the MissingNo cake.
Scott Baird is a Games Writer on Dexerto’s UK team, specializing in Pokemon, Baldur’s Gate, Dungeons & Dragons, Final Fantasy, and Magic The Gathering, and Nintendo games. He also has bylines at Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, Screen Rant, The Gamer, and TopTenz.
