Kitakami: The Land of The Teal Mask, the Festival of Masks and Ogerpon

Kitakami is the school trip destination in The Teal Mask. At the foot of a tall mountain, its people have kept up the Festival of Masks for generations, along with the memory of three heroes, the Loyal Three — a version of events that the DLC ends up tearing to pieces.

Contents

• Kitakami, a land beyond Paldea
• A school trip in the middle of the Festival of Masks
• The Loyal Three, Kitakami's official heroes
• Ogerpon and the true story of Kitakami
• How three thieves became heroes
• The mask maker's secret and Pecharunt's slumber
• Kitakami at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Kitakami, a land beyond Paldea

Kitakami is a land you reach by leaving Paldea, the main region of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. It serves as the setting for The Teal Mask, the first of the two parts of these games' DLC; the second, The Indigo Disk, then takes the player far away from there.

An imposing mountain looms over the land, and it's at its foot that the people live. All around, nature stretches out in vast, peaceful spaces dotted with rivers and orchards. The main village, Mossui Town, serves as a gathering point for the locals and owes its fame to the Festival of Masks, a festival handed down over many generations.

Leaving Paldea has in-game consequences: since the land lies outside the region, no Paldean forms appear there, a detail that matters to anyone keeping close tabs on regional forms. Terastallization remains available, however: the crystals of the Crystal Pool are said to give off energy similar to that of the Terastal phenomenon, which would explain this exception.

A school trip in the middle of the Festival of Masks

The protagonist, Florian or Juliana, discovers Kitakami during a school outing. Their school, Naranja Academy in Scarlet or Uva Academy in Violet, organizes it with a partner school: Blueberry Academy.

The stay coincides with the Festival of Masks, which pays tribute to the Loyal Three, the land's heroic trio: Okidogi, Munkidori and Fezandipiti. There, the player also meets Ogerpon, an enigmatic masked Pokémon.

The trip also brings them face to face with Carmine and her little brother Kieran, two Blueberry Academy students from Kitakami.

🎭 Does the Festival of Masks make you want to put on a mask too? Browse our Pokémon costumes.

The Loyal Three, Kitakami's official heroes

The land owes its reputation as much to its stories as to its landscapes. Among these stories, a folk tale recounts the history of the Loyal Three, three Pokémon who came from distant lands, who are said to have once driven off a monster wielding masks with magical powers, whose presence terrorized the village.

According to this tale, the trio managed to take three masks from it to break its power, but paid for it with their lives. In their memory, the villagers built a grave where the battle had taken place; Loyalty Plaza later took shape all around it, while the masks went to Kitakami Hall.

As for the monster, it supposedly withdrew to Oni Mountain. Hence a stern warning: never venture there after nightfall, or the creature will steal your soul — unless your face is covered by a mask.

Ogerpon and the true story of Kitakami

Yet this story rests on a misunderstanding by the villagers of the time. It all begins with the arrival of a traveler from afar with his partner Ogerpon. Their appearance unsettles the locals so much that doors are shut in their faces, and the pair takes refuge in a cave on Oni Mountain.

Moved by their plight, a craftsman who makes masks comes to their aid. He crafts four masks, adorned with gems from the traveler's homeland; wearing them, the two companions can mingle with the festivalgoers, and the beauty of these pieces quickly makes them very popular.

This success stirs up jealousy. Pecharunt orders its three accomplices, Munkidori, Okidogi and Fezandipiti, to seize the masks and give them to an elderly couple whose desires it has inflamed with its Binding Mochi. After a fierce struggle in the cave, the trio leaves with three of the four masks.

How three thieves became heroes

Back at the cave, Ogerpon finds that its companion and its masks have vanished, and sets out to find them. When it comes across the three thieves parading their loot, its fury erupts: it attacks them and ends up defeating them.

But the scene has witnesses. Frightened by the rage of the small Pokémon, which flees at once, the villagers read it the wrong way around: with its mask, Ogerpon looks every bit the monster, and the trio seems to have defended the village against it. The thieves are then given the name Loyal Three and go down in local history as heroes.

The mask maker's secret and Pecharunt's slumber

The craftsman, however, knows what really happened. He tries to set the record straight, but no one believes him and he is branded a heretic. To keep his family safe, he chooses silence: the true story will be passed down only to his descendants, who must never share it with anyone. In The Teal Mask, it is Yukito, Carmine and Kieran's grandfather, who holds this legacy.

That leaves the mastermind behind the theft. Weakened by its clash with Ogerpon, Pecharunt withdrew into its shell and fell into a deep sleep, so that no one remembers it anymore: the real culprit faded from memory, while its three accomplices were celebrated as heroes.

Kitakami at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Where is Kitakami?
  Outside Paldea, the main region of Scarlet and Violet. It's the setting of The Teal Mask, the first part of these games' DLC.
• Why does the player go to Kitakami?
  For a school trip that their academy organizes with Blueberry Academy, during the Festival of Masks.
• Who are the Loyal Three?
  Okidogi, Munkidori and Fezandipiti, celebrated as the heroes of Kitakami. In reality, they are the ones who stole three of Ogerpon's masks on Pecharunt's behalf.
• Can you Terastallize in Kitakami?
  Yes. The crystals of the Crystal Pool are said to produce energy similar to that of the Terastal phenomenon, which would make Terastallization possible far from Paldea.
• Why avoid Oni Mountain at night?
  According to local legend, the monster driven off by the Loyal Three retreated there and steals the souls of nighttime wanderers, unless they wear a mask.

In short

Kitakami is far more than a school trip backdrop: its official legend is turned completely on its head over the course of The Teal Mask, to the point of making the village's heroes the thieves of the story and the so-called monster their victim. It thus fully earns its place among the regional legends and mythologies in the series.