Pokemon Scarlet & Violet announces its final free DLC as Gen 10 begins
The Pokémon Company has confirmed that Pokémon Scarlet & Violet will receive its final significant content update with the arrival of Ranked Battle Season 41, signalling the definitive wind-down of the Generation 9 titles.
According to data obtained by reliable database Serebii.net, the current seasonal roadmap is set to conclude shortly. Season 41—scheduled to launch on April 1, 2026—serves as the final competitive refresh for the games. While the servers will remain active, the cessation of seasonal updates marks the end of new rewards and dynamic monthly rankings, with the publisher encouraging players to migrate toward the dedicated Pokémon Champions app to continue their competitive careers.
This sunset phase aligns with the broader franchise timeline as focus shifts entirely to the upcoming Generation 10 title, Pokémon Winds & Waves, slated for a 2027 release. It is a standard operational pivot for Game Freak, which typically halts active support for current-gen titles roughly a year before the next major instalment—a strategy that mimics the hype cycles seen when a major RPG sequel aims to dominate the Nintendo ecosystem. While Scarlet & Violet had a notoriously rocky technical start before stabilising on updated hardware, the three-year support cycle has been robust, maintaining the sort of fervent engagement usually reserved for when a rare 1999 Pokémon card sells for a small fortune. The move to a unified competitive app in Champions also suggests an attempt to tidy up the fragmented eSports landscape ahead of the new generation.
The Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) has confirmed that Pokémon trading cards now dominate its grading submissions, officially surpassing sports cards as the franchise approaches its 30th anniversary. The grading giant reports that 2025 marked the first time trading card games (TCG) eclipsed sports memorabilia in submission volume, with Pokémon representing approximately 90% of all TCG items processed.
To put the surge into perspective, PSA graded 1.5 million Pikachu cards in 2024 alone. That single-year figure nearly matches the 1.6 million Michael Jordan cards the company has graded in total since its founding in 1991. The data highlights a mass market shift where nostalgic cardboard has become as liquid as vintage sports assets, fueled by headlines of rare 1999 Pokémon cards selling for five-figure sums.
While the video game series continues its momentum through Pokémon Scarlet and Violet expansions, the collectible market has taken on a life of its own. “Previously, Michael Jordan was kind of our most graded athlete slash character of all time,” Elizabeth Gruene, PSA’s head of pop culture, told Polygon. “We graded 1.5 million Pikachu cards just last year.”
