The PERFECT Pokemon Game - Part 1

I feel like I sound a little broken-record-y sometimes when I consistently repeat myself. I am of course, referring to the masochistic relationship we are all in with the Pokemon Company.

Pokemon Inc.

The last mainstream game to hit the shelves was of course Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire and that was a good while ago. From their release date till now there has not been any concrete news about a new titular game in the franchise.

Will it be a sequel based in Kalos or Hoenn? Or an entirely new region? (I wish)

What does an avid PokeFan do while they wallow in their acquired helplessness? They daydream of course. They daydream and they doodle and they let themselves go entirely to their inspiration and their wishful thinking - about what the new games would/should hold for us.

Needless to say, I thought it would be nice if collected all my random scribbles on notebooks and pieces of paper and articulate it into a nice blog entry. After all it has been a while since my creative juices flowed on here.

The following is an exhausting list and has no real world merit to it safe for the fact that I sorely wish for them to be part of the Pokemon Franchise. I couldn’t bear to put them in a countdown format because personally, the inclusion of any of these in the games would be a treat on its own. 

Trainers from across each Generation

Upon reviewing the mountain of things I had written down, I decided to make this blog entry a multi-part series. (There's only so much I can sit and write down before I get back to the real world).

The following, as you'll see, are in no specific order and obviously involve a lot of geeky Nintendo-patented jargon and I apologise to those of you who have stumbled across this by mistake and have no idea what I’m talking about. #SorryNotSorry

For everyone else though,
Enjoy reading through all the things, that I felt our PERFECT Pokemon Game would have!

1. The Need for a Dark Gym Leader

The Dark type has grown on me quite significantly since its conception in 2^nd gen. I prematurely thought they were a bit of a filler tactic and safe for a handful of legitimate threats on a team, the Dark type was, dare I say it, lackluster. 

Pokemon Gym Symbol

I have since then, been humbled.

My Umbreon has been a staple of my 6^th gen team for a while now. I had always been predisposed to Espeon as my Eeveelution of choice but it was one time in the middle of the night where I accidently leveled up my well trained/bred Eevee that its noir appeal really hit home.

In the meta game, only Elite Trainers have specialized in the Dark Type, namely Karen, Sydney and Grimsley, which is a nod from the developers to how much of a threat the Dark type is.

Dark Type Pokemon enthusiasts, Karen, Grimsby and Sydney of the Elite 4

I personally think it is about time that we should have a Dark Gym Leader. Gym Leaders as well all know are the Pokemon specialists in each town/city that the player goes through and their type choices reflect palpably in the decorum of their respective locales. 

Blaine and Flannery favouring the Fire type next to a volcano, Candice and Wulfric partaking in Ice types amidst a perennial blizzard etc. This would mean that a Dark type Gym would be situated in a city buzzing with seemingly sinister undertones.

City/Town with a Dark Type Gym Leader

I acknowledge how that might be cause for concern for impressionable children but that being said I don’t think its reason enough to not go ahead with it. 

Where many Dark-type Pokemon may come across as intimidating and vicious, they are in fact supremely loyal to their Trainers. 

The little streaks of ‘mischief’ that they possess are endearing traits rather than glaring liabilities. The city in question would then not have to necessarily be a criminal underbelly, but rather a large population of pranksters! 

Who knows, if we were to come across a charismatic Dark Gym Leader, many new Trainers would even be inclined to using Dark-Types much more in their teams. 

All in all, 6 generations down the line, I think it is about time that we get our Dark Gym Leader.

2. Surfing, Flying and Soaring – What’s Next?

Logistics is an integral part of the Pokemon games. Getting from Point A to Point B is inherently crucial to advancing. 

Surfing on Pokemon

Sometimes, that journey is made even more intriguing with the use of our Pokemon. 

Water Types to traverse large channels of water, Flying types for a more streamlined trajectory and as of ORAS, the use of Latias/Latios to Soar in the sky.

The thing is though, that every entry in the PokeDex has such potential for helping out in this regard, that I’m a little confused as to why this feature has not been used to its full potential. 

Summoning to Fly

We were given a sneak peak to this during our travels in Kalos where we could mount and ride a Skiddo, which was a nice little change from whizzing around on our bikes or rollerblades.
Going a step further I don’t consider it improbable to use other Pokemon to help in moving around. 

Soaring near Mt Chimney

Excadrill leading the way underground

Like riding a Girafarig through the taller grass, or latching onto a Drifloon to ‘hover’ over small obstacles like mounds and rocks, or even using an Excadrill to travel underground. 

Hovering with a Drifblim

I would even like to go out on a limb and suggest the use of Abra to teleport shorter, more practical distances rather than a beeline to the last Pokemon Center.

One of the core novelties of the games is the interactivity between the overworld and the Pokemon we possess, coming together in fun new ways. 

They used the Lati twins to Soar, why can’t we use Rayquaza to travel to another region altogether? Ok, I’ll stop now!

Riding a Rayquaza

3. More Trainer Customisations

It has been a time-honoured tradition for a ten-year old protagonist to set out into the vast world with one of the three starters in tow.

'What Kind Of Trainer Are You?'

In the Unova and Kalos regions, the players were set to a more ‘teenage’ feel. The change was aesthetic to say the least but what it established was that the player’s age was, more or less, of little significance to the plot of the game as a whole.

In Kalos we could customize our avatar in a number of ways, further adding to the variety and collectible appeal to the game where we would now spend an obscene amount of money to possess every article of clothing that was available, or change our hairstyles every so often.

My attachment to the Pokemon series has spanned a good 20 years now. It seems a tad mundane to me to be represented by a 10 year old in the game, where I would feel just as comfortable, if not more, as a 25 year old Trainer, maybe with the added option of manipulating my height and weight.

Pokemon Trainer Customisation Options

Although completely inconsequential to the game dynamics, this invariable feature would duly inject another layer of diversity into the game.

4. Location Based Movesets

Every so often, the developers tweak the game engine and many existing Pokemon get changes in their movesets. For example Pikachu who has gotten a new Electric Type move in each generation.

I feel that there is room to take this philosophy one step further with the addition of location based movesets for the Pokemon that you catch. 

Shiny Gyarados using Muddy Water

Right off the bat I would like to think that a Gyarados that you caught on the swampy Route 212 in Sinnoh would be able to learn Muddy Water (because it has grown in that environment), or a Route 1 Milotic from Unova being able to use Iron Head (because of its proximity to the P2 Laboratory and the insurgence of Team Plasma would have caused the wild Pokemon in the area to adaptively defend themselves).

Milotic using Iron Head

These moves would be exclusive to the area that these Pokemon are caught adding another very potent mechanic of capturing and building your team.

Adding on, I would like to travel to Castelia sewers to catch a Grimer that knows Haze/Shadow Sneak (city dwelling Pokemon would possess the skills in tune with the survival instincts needed by them to thrive in a human metropolis) or a Magic Coat using Exeggcute at the banks of the Lake of Rage (no doubt a side effect of Team Rocket’s radio wave experiments there – and we thought only the Magikarp were affected).

Generation 6 PokeDex

The PokeDex reflects a large array of creatures that have colonized all across this world. It would only make sense that some pockets within them would be equipped to locally ‘adapt’ to their surroundings as a direct result. We see this in the real world all the time, so why not mirror that within the game. 

This would make the capture origins of many Pokemon even more unique.

5. Third Level Evolutions in the Wild

This has always irked me a little bit, or at least lack of it. Every game so far seems to have a cap on the level of Wild Pokemon you can encounter in the game.

I would like to think that a hardworking Trainer, considering they have made it so far, would be able to come across a Gengar, a Staraptor or an Aggron in the wild. 

Where to catch a Crobat

The seemed to have fixed this problem with Wild Steelix on Iron Island or Crobat in the Giant Chasm but the selection process was pretty arbitrary.

As a hardcore Trainer I would love the idea to stumble across a scrappy Upper Tier Evolution in the wild. 

Go ahead, make them frustratingly elusive, with obscenely difficult capture rates – that doesn’t matter – it only adds to their appeal. You would only be adding to the novelty of the find. Not to take away from the mundane consistency of several rounds of Elite 4 matches to level up etc – but coming across a rare 3^rd Level Evolution gem is a treat in itself at times. A level 65 Nidoking just attacked! What?!

Romance, Interrupted

6. Complete the Eeveelutions

Eeveelutions

 I should know better by now. I know that the Eevee Evolution tree will be used constantly for many many years to come to reel in audiences. 

There seems to be a universal appeal amongst Trainers for new ways to evolve their precious Eevee. Every alternate generation the developers give us a beautiful new design and type. 

So far, apart from the Normal Type base form, we have 8 -eons to pick and choose for our teams. It’s only a matter of time that GameFreak rolls out the rest. 

The ones that I am most excited about is the Ghost and Dragon type –Eons. That’s a lie. 

Prospective Eeveelutions

They could release a picture of a Ground type and I’ll still lose my shit.

7. Several Save Slots

It doesn’t matter if you’re a well functioning adult, or a pre teen - where the main Pokemon Games are known for a lot of things, they’re not exactly cheap investments. 

Main Games in the Pokemon Franchise

Every iteration of the game is pretty hefty on the pocket, from the console they use to the cartridge itself. I remember going through an obscene amount of batteries back in the GameBoy Colour days. 

What I would need, ideally, to be more secure in my spending, would be the addition of multiple save files.

Availability of multiple Save Slots

Every game only has one slot and once you’re done with the linear gameplay, defeating the Elite 4 and Champion, all you have left to do in the large expansive overworld is loiter. I would like the chance to go through the storyline again, making a new team and choosing a new Starter without losing out on my Pokedollars and items, or having to trade out all my hard trained Pokemon to another game before resetting the battery.

Data Erase Option Screen

I think this is a reasonable request; I’m a big fan of the Fire Emblem series and I love the fact that there are multiple save files so I can back track and relive the story again, if only to compare. Economically though, I think it would give us all more bang for our buck.
 

8. Simultaneous Attack Combinations

Attacks like Flying Press have given us fodder for inspiration. 

Hawluch using Flying Press

It takes me back to several instances in the anime where Pokemon moves had more heft to them than just damage calculations. Previously I thought that move combinations was a staple for the contest battles in the anime but then I remembered all the times that Ash’s Pikachu would electrify another Pokemon’s water type moves to send Team Rocket blasting off, or more infamously how Dome Ace Tucker made his Swampert and Arcanine team up and create a move fusing water and fire.

Water and Fire Type Attacks combined

In the past there have been combination moves, like the Pledges and Defence Curl/Rollout combos but I think that there is room for growth.

Pignite using Fire Pledge

Greninja's Frozen Water Shuriken

If a Greninja’s Hydro Pump was frozen solid by a Froslass’s Blizzard, it could suddenly become a Water/Ice Type attack maybe even becoming Physical in the process. 

Or what if a Venusaur’s Solarbeam was fused with a Sylveon’s Moonblast? 

Can you imagine how devastating an Earthquake/Eruption combo could be? 

Typhlosion's Eruption/Earthquake Combo

Pokemon games in the future should definitely look into more dual type attacks as it’s would provide a rich vein to tap into for Attack based content.

9. More Catching Methods

Catching Pokemon is the foundation to absolutely everything else in the Pokemon games.

Starting from the first generation, we could walk through grass, caves and surf through water until we came across a Pokemon. 

Headbutting trees in Ilex Forest

In Gen 2, through the friendly Move Tutor in Ilex Forest, we were introduced to Headbutt-ing trees, where a Pokemon in our party would straight up bang their noggin on a tree and an unsuspecting Pokemon would drop down. Smashing boulders in Gen 3 would produce the same result, as did Honey Trees in Gen 4. 

Also in Gen 4, in HeartGold/SoulSilver, I really liked placing items in the Safari Zone, where we had to wait a number of days for a particular Pokemon to show up in the area. 

Hidden Grottos in Unova

The Hidden Grotto feature in Gen 5 was a particularly nice touch as it increased daily playtime as well as giving access to Pokemon with Hidden Abilities. 

The swooping, and jumping out novelty in Kalos was just that – novelty, nothing concrete, but finding a Pokemon in your berry trees was quite fun.

The piece de resistance, finally came around in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire - the formidable DexNav. With this device, manufactured from the auspicious Devon Corporation, Trainers everywhere could trigger the terrain to “rustle” and “shake” bringing out the Pokemon that they needed. I loved the DexNav feature, and when I finally found my Drought powered Vulpix on Mt. Pyre, I was ecstatic. 

Skitty hunting on a DexNav

GameFreak is definitely got the formula down for mass engagement on this level. More of this please!

Using a bug net

Probably an ambitious thing to say as I’m sure a lot of other Trainers would feel the same way but I want newer and more interactive methods to catch my Pokemon. 

Like a bug net to go running around in the grass. Or making special Poffins/Pokeblocks and leaving them in a dish at your Secret Base, and checking up on it to see if a Wild Pokemon had wandered inside. 

Poffins as Bait

There are just so many Pokemon out there; adding a unique take to their capture would be incredible.
 

10. PokeDex Milestones to make future easier

One of the most primary motives for the game – the catching them all concept has lately become the most mundane. 

PokeDex Completion Certificate - Big Whoop -_-

With 700+ Pokemon now, the entire effort has dwindled down to a thankless chore. There’s a certificate somewhere in-game waiting for you if you accomplish this feat, which has all the appeal of a piece of paper, and a Shiny Charm (I think the appeal is overrated; it was way too frustrating). 

Bianca offering a PokeBall

Developers need to revamp this and take us back to our roots. I want a damn Aide to come find me on select progresses I've made on the PokeDex and give me goodies as a reward (like he used to in the first generation), lots and lots of goodies. 

These could be immensely hard-to-get items, or upgrades, or even access to previously unknown routes. Hell, they could also be a RARE Pokemon! 

Personally though, it would definitely go a very long way in engaging players in the long run.

You Gotta'

TO BE CONTINUED...

(*This was just Part 1, and we've only just scratched the surface - I have dozens of awesome ideas for what our PERFECT Pokemon Game should be like so stay tuned, and keep reading!*)