Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Free Download Officially Available Until October 1

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Major Free In-Game Event Available Until October 1

Published Sep 25, 2026, 7:51 AM EDT

Nicholas Becher is a gaming journalist with an MFA in Creative Writing from FAU. With extensive experience playing video games, he covers all forms of gaming content at Screen Rant, from breaking news to the latest fan theories. Most-played games range from Clair Obscur to Civ to Elden Ring to Halo 2 and beyond. 

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet was an ambitious new direction for the franchise when the Gen 9 games launched back in 2022, bringing players to the open-world Paldea region for the first time. Unfortunately, that ambition came with some significant growing pains, as the launch was plagued with performance problems, visual glitches, crashes, and other technical issues that contributed to mixed reception, even as players praised the games' actual Pokémon, the open-world exploration aspects, and surprisingly good story.

Fortunately, Game Freak and Nintendo have addressed numerous bugs across several updates since the game's release, while Scarlet and Violet received additional visual fixes and frame-rate improvements when played on Nintendo Switch 2 specifically. Further, Regular Tera Raid events continue to give trainers plenty of reasons to return, and with nearly 30 million copies sold, it's clear just how popular S&V and Gen 9 has become over time.

And if you're one of those dedicated players, there's a major free download available to claim for a limited time, and you'll want to act before October 1 if you want to take advantage (via DittoBase).

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is giving players another reason to return to Paldea with a new series of high-level Tera Raid Battle reruns. Beginning today, September 25, 2026, a selection of fully evolved Powerhouse Pokémon are returning to 7-star black crystal raids, with each featured Pokémon carrying the prestigious "Mightiest Mark." The series is expected to cycle through 10 returning powerhouse encounters in total.

Dragonite kicks things off from September 25 at 00:00 UTC through October 1 at 23:59 UTC. This is a Level 100 Dragonite with a Normal Tera Type, Inner Focus, and a Brave Nature, while its battle includes moves such as Extreme Speed, Scale Shot, Dragon Dance, and Earthquake, alongside additional scripted attacks including Hurricane, Thunder, and Draco Meteor.

There is one major caveat for returning players, however, as each special Pokémon can only be caught once per save file, and that limit carries over from the Pokémon's previous event appearance. Anyone who already caught this Dragonite during its original 2024 event therefore cannot obtain another one. However, those players can still participate in the raid and earn rewards, including Tera Shards, Exp. Candy, Ability items, Bottle Caps, Herba Mystica, and other useful materials.

Tera Raids have become one of Scarlet and Violet's main forms of recurring endgame content. Up to four trainers work together against a powerful Terastallized Pokémon before the timer expires, with 7-star encounters representing some of the toughest. Players need access to black Tera Raid crystals to host these battles themselves, although those who have not unlocked them can still join another player's raid through multiplayer.

With additional Powerhouse Pokémon following Dragonite, the event effectively provides weeks of free new high-level challenges for Scarlet and Violet players.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet