How to Restart Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

If you’ve realized you’ve made a mistake and picked the wrong starter, then chances are you’re going to want to know how to restart Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. After all, nobody wants to be stuck with a Fuecoco or Sprigatito when the bestest boy Quaxly is available. Fear not, as we’ll explain the various ways you can start over in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, including deleting your save data, or creating a ‘second save.’

It’s worth noting here that if you were hoping to reset the game in order to net yourself a shiny starter Pokemon, you’re out of luck. The starters are all shiny locked in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, meaning they will never be shiny, no matter how many times you reset the game.

How to Reset Pokemon Scarlet & Violet to Start a New Game

As noted above, there are technically two ways you can ‘restart’ Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. The first of these is to delete your save data on your Nintendo Switch profile.

Deleting Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Save Data

1. Go to ‘System Settings’ on your Nintendo Switch’s home screen by selecting the cog icon on the bottom toolbar.
2. Go to the ‘Data Management’ tab on the left-hand side of the screen.
3. Select ‘Delete Save Data’ and then select Pokemon Scarlet or Violet from the list that appears.
4. Select your Nintendo Switch Profile’s user data and press A.
5. Confirm that you want to delete the save data for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet for that profile.
6. Start up Pokemon Scarlet/ Violet again, and you’ll be able to start a new game.

If you’d rather keep your existing save and just want to experience the adventure all over again, there’s another way you can create a second save, despite Pokemon Scarlet and Violet not having multiple save slots.

Start a Second Save with a New Nintendo Switch Profile

The alternative here is to create a new user profile on your Nintendo Switch itself. As each profile on the system can have their own save file for the game, you can then switch between your profiles to access multiple saves.

1. Go to ‘System Settings’ from the Nintendo Switch home screen.
2. Select ‘Users’ and then ‘Add User’ from the menu that appears within this tab.
3. Complete the user profile creation process, including giving it a name and a profile picture.
4. You’ll then be asked to create a Nintendo Account or to link your profile to an existing one. You can do this or skip it for now.
5. Load up Pokemon Scarlet/ Violet on your newly-created profile and you’ll be able to start a new game.

That’s everything you need to know on how to restart Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. For more tips and tricks on the game, we’ve got you covered with breakdowns on how to get EXP Share, how to use Mystery Gift, how to catch Pawmi, and much more below.