A Diehard Pokemon Fan’s Hope for Pokemon Switch - Venomous Smiles.

PKMN Trainer Venomous

I’ve been a huge fan of the Pokemon series, and I had the benefit of being a kid during the brand’s prime in the late 1990s(In the United States of Freedom anyways).

My favorite entries in the series are the pairings of Fire Red/Leaf Green & Black 2/White 2, but at one point I used to own a copy of every pairing and sister game in the main RPG series.

This article is coming from a long time fan, and if the reader isn’t a fan of this series as well, then they should skip this article because I’ll be going into great detail, and using terms non-fans might not understand.

The sun/moon pair was a completely underwhelming chore to play through, I lost interest in playing the ultra pair, and I’m very nervous about the series after seeing the trailer for Pokemon GO[fuck yourselves Nintendo].

I will be going over an exhaustive list of things I wish to see in the upcoming main series entry on the Nintendo Switch.

I sure a lot of those reading will have plenty to add as well, and I look forward to seeing it for myself.

Pokemon Bank

The software that bridges the gap.

This is the absolute MOST important feature for Game Freak to implement, in fact the reader can stop after reading this paragraph, because if Game Freak fail to implement the Pokemon Bank feature in the upcoming game, I will wipe my ass of this series, and move on.

Thanks to Pokemon Bank, I still own every pokemon I’ve captured since I was about 12, it would be completely draining to start all over again from scratch, and throw way ~20 years work.

I’m already pretty burnt out by this series, and making everyone start over from square one would be the last straw for me!

Retain the Series Signature Turn-Based Combat

Some of the only turn-based combat I enjoy.

My issue isn’t that the core series gameplay is getting stale, my issue is that the main meat of the series is getting buried by a bunch of nonsense.

The combat in the Pokemon series has far more depth than most people give it credit for.

Take the move “Gravity”, check out this Bulbapedia entry:

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Gravity_(move)

This one move known by a small handful of Pokemon, affects the game in so many ways, and drastically changes the rules of a battle.

I’ll be recommending small tweaks here-and-there in this article, but I want to emphasize that the core combat in this series is really great, and there’s no reason for Game Freak to scrap all of it and start over again.

Getting Back In the Game

The best in the series has the best logo as well.

One thing I think a lot of Pokemon fans have been begging for is, multiple save files on one cartridge.

Even if the SD card Switch games come on can’t fit more than one save file, save data can be stored on a Switch-owners external memory, maybe even on a cloud-based system?

If all else fails the Switch allows for multiple “profiles” on the same system, which work like a different account on the Windows operating system.

I ended up buying both games in a pair, just so I could have more than one save, so I hope Game Freak doesn’t force Pokemon fans to buy more than one copy of their game.

One of the best features in the late Gen 5 games.

A common complaint about the series is how its gotten far to easy for more experienced players, so the solution is to bring back the difficulty options from the Black 2/White 2 games.

Having a Beginner, Standard, and Expert mode depending on the individual player’s preference would be an excellent way to keep everyone happy.

Beginner should the prompt the player, by asking them IF they need extra help, not forcing them to endure tutorials, but remind them that there are deeper mechanics and optimal strategies if they’re interested.

Standard should be the typical Pokemon experience, where the player must learn how to make a versatile team, in order to complete the main story.

Expert should ratchet up the enemy A.I. And force the player to overcome just about every strategy the Pokemon series has to offer, the player should have to constantly adapt in order to get through.

Expert should require an intimate knowledge of the game’s mechanics, abilities, hold items, natures, etc., and should punish players severely if they don’t, or if they refuse to learn.

It’s important that these 3 difficulty options are distinct, are available from the start, and it’s made very clear to the player how each of these modes differ before they make their decision.

I ALREADY KNOW HOW TO CAPTURE POKEMON!

I believe that video game developers need to skillfully teach players how to play their games, by giving them ENOUGH information.

Enough might be vague, but every game is different, the important thing, is that Game Freak doesn’t over-inundate players with too much information.

The most elegant solution is to have an in-game encyclopedia with concise information, detailing every aspect of the game’s mechanics, with useful videos, images, text.

The player should be taught the very basics as soon as possible, but told that they can learn more, at their own pace by being pointed toward the in-game encyclopedia.

It shouldn’t spoil the story or reveal the location of important items, but it should tell a new player what they need to know about the game, or give returning players a refresher on info they might have forgotten about.

Basically, there should be an in-game equivalent to Bulbapedia, but made with the U.I. of a console in mind.

It wasn't easy, and I couldn't have done it on my own.

I think when someone boots up their copy of Pokemon Switch after not playing for a while, that the game should ask the player if they want a recap of events before they saved and quit playing.

Anyone can spend at least 100+ hours in one game in this series, so I believe it’s important that after a break, that those players not be totally lost, and feel as if they need to start over again.

Character Customization Should Be Standard

The females always had more customization options!

Customizing the player avatar has been such a mismanaged feature in the series; X/Y made me think that it would be a series staple, but it’s removal in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire gave me pause.

It’s just another feature Game Freak likes to toss in-and-out of the series, seemingly at random.

One off the major issues is female trainer just have far more options, and the player can’t cross dress!

If Mario can wear a wedding dress, why can’t my male trainer also dress in drag?

In all seriousness, I just want Trainer Customization to be a standard feature in the series going forward.

In-Game Social Features

Earning all of these was a bitch...

I would love the in-game achievement system from Black 2/White 2 to return, but with some tweaks.

I’d like all of these medals to be tied to offline feats by the player, mostly because console/handheld online services never last longer than 10 years[if we’re lucky].

I wouldn’t mind viewing other trainer’s progress with any online connectivity, but it an inevitability that these online services get shut down in the long run, so I’d rather as little as possible be tethered to online as possible.

I hope earning these rewards are done through encouraging the player to play in abnormal ways, instead of, “Oh you took 10 steps? Here’s a medal! Oh you took 25 steps? Here’s a medal!”, and so on, and so forth.

Show off your battles to the world.

The VS Recorder was a feature that allowed players to record, play back, and share replays of their battles, but were restricted to a particular generation’s battle facility.

I would propose that it becomes a feature where EVERY battle the player participates in is recorded, but the player can toggle this feature on and off, and/or tweak when battles are recorded.

The videos can be stored as MP4 files on the Switch’s on-board or external memory, depending on the player’s memory situation.

The sharing and commenting of videos could be handled with a console-based social app, and/or a twitter hashtag.

The recording feature on the Switch only records the last 30 seconds of gameplay, and Pokemon battles can be up to an hour long, if not more, so Game Freak would have to implement a feature themselves to make a modern version of the VS Recorder.

Yay...thanks for the berry I can get anywhere for free...

An age-old game system that allows players to exchange items and receive special pokemon.

It’s been implemented using everything form the GameBoy Color’s infrared, to the DS’ Wi-Fi capabilities, all the way to scanning QR codes with the 3DS camera.

In Pokemon Switch it should be used for the same DLC purposes it’s always been used for.

I would like to stress that I think DLC should be free if a game’s assets are reused, or the code is already present; paid DLC should be content that the devs had to make from scratch, such as a new island or region, etc.

I’m really advocating that Game Freak maintain the series’ status quo, and not devolve into making half a game, then releasing the other half slowly over time as free DLC[looking at you Mario Kart 8 & Splatoon].

The Poke`Smart Dex

The best looking and most functional version of the Dex.

So many features and key items in this series could easily just be apps on a smart-device:

Connecting with other players, Pokemon/Item trades, purchasing form an “online” Poke`Mart, faster transportation, this list could be endless!

The point is that a smart-device would place a ton of features in one place, and should be customizable and easily organized by the player.

The Poke`dex could just be an app that uses the smart-device’s camera to scan wild Pokemon.

TMs usually take up space in the player’s bag like regular items, but having an app with tons of “demonstration videos” that teach Pokemon new moves, would be much better in my opinion.

I also believe that the player should be able to view their PC at any time with this device, and transfer Pokemon between their PC and party as well.

All of this is to say that, I’d love it if Game Freak modernized the menu U.I. and made it less cluttered, plus I’d love the convenience of having a huge chunk of the game’s features at my finger-tips, all well organized in one place.

Poke`dex Entries Should Accurately Reflect the Pokemon They’re Describing

Honestly there’s no reason the player should be reading about how if one of their Pokemon stops moving, it’ll die, or steal a trainer’s soul if they look into it’s back, if that kind of stuff never actually happens.

It’s just weird...

More Natural Pokemon Behavior

Feeding wild Pokemon at any time would be a nice feature.

I think it’d be a nice showcase of the more advanced hardware of the Nintendo Switch, if the behavior of Pokemon was given a little more believability.

If most Pokemon are animals, then it would be nice of they(especially bird Pokemon) had migration patterns the player could track.

Sure there might be certain spots where one is guaranteed to find a particular species, but plenty of real animals migrate, so it shouldn’t be a stretch to have Pokemon do so either.

Swarms should make their return, making certain rare Pokemon show up more frequently.

This can even be tied into the events happening in the game world, such as natural disasters, pollution, or urban sprawl.

Nature reserves and petting zoos would be nice too...

Friendly/non-hostile Pokemon should occasionally be seen outside of Poke`balls, as typical pets, laborers[both voluntary or otherwise], or allies.

The allies would be wild Pokemon that guard certain areas, or friendly and elusive creatures that aide the player because of a certain event.

These allies would be willing to assist the player, but prefer to remain free, so Pokemon stop being seen as slaves that fight for people’s amusement.

The series lore depicts the Pokemon as sentient and sapient creatures on equal footing with humans, so Game Freak should show us that by having Pokemon in a variety of different roles.

It should be seen as a rare mutation in the wild.

Shiny Pokemon, or Pokemon with alternate color schemes, used to be special because the odds of encountering them were very low, and breeding them used to be chore.

Over the years Game Freak has made it so easy that a cottage-industry of Youtuber’s has popped up showcasing how to obtain them very easily.

I would like Game Freak to make them rare again, in fact I want less than 1% of players to ever see one through wild encounters, remove all the methods people have discovered over the years to increase their odds.

Game Freak could have them be prizes for completing tough challenges, but their shiny traits couldn’t be passed on through breeding.

Let Me Dig for Items

Guess who just found fossilized Pokemon manure

I would love a feature or mini-game where the player can dig for all the special rocks, evolution stones, and fossils.

I’d rather farm for these items with an enjoyable mini-game, then have to purchase them for ridiculous prices.

Remove the Real-Life Waiting Periods

One of the WORST ways to bridge a generational gap!

Nobody should have to wait 24+hrs in real life to use an in-game feature, it’s stupid!

It’s bad enough some of the games in this series have terrible events, with horrible RNG, but when I need/want to get one thing done, and I have to put the game down for a whole day; and I have to do that constantly, that’s when I become reluctant to pick the game back up.

It’s garbage, and I hope Game Freak never puts a real-life 24 hour waiting period in any of their games ever again!

Take Advantage of the Switch

It’s okay for handhelds to have brief experiences, but that doesn’t have to be the case on consoles, the rules are a bit different, so Game Freak can experiment a little here.

Because the Switch is region-free, there’s no reason that the core series shouldn’t have a simultaneuous world-wide release going forward.

Hell X/Y did that, but I hope that it becomes a series standard from now on.

I’m not sure if it would be a good idea to have a pair of games every generation.

Trades are an inherent part of the core Pokemon experience; it’s a staple, and just having one game per generation makes more sense on consoles.

Two 3DS games are about ~$85, and the consumer doesn’t need both versions(further cementing their redundancy), but 2 Switch games would be about ~$130; Quite a huge difference.

Sister games such as Emerald/Platinum, could just be free updates instead of full retail/digital releases: Their content is often never a radical departure from the pair they derive from.

The 3DS games didn’t perform on a technical/graphical level, they had good art direction, but inconsistent frame rates, even on the “New” 3DS models.

All Game Freak and Nintendo have to do, is make sure that Pokemon Switch is well optimized for the system, to avoid slow down, frame dropping, and any other performance issue.

CRAZY TYPE COMBINATIONS

Make it finally happen Game Freak

Art credit goes to; 

https://archive-media-1.nyafuu.org/vp/image/1383/53/1383530241526.png

I just want my FIRE/GRASS habanero pepper Pokemon...

Tweak the EXP Share

It's the only good artwork for this item I could find.

Plenty of people bitch about the EXP Share from X/Y, but those people love tediously leveling up every single individual Pokemon one-by-one, in the slowest most monotonous way possible: These folks also love to shit themselves, because of the pleasant feeling of having a warm turd in their pants.

I love the EXP share because I can use one Level 100 Pokemon, to gain experience for five freshly hatched Pokemon, and have them all reach Level 100 within about 90-120 minutes at most.

It made breeding a lot less painful, it reduced the amount of grinding need to reach level 100, and it meant I could rely on only the best/most useful Pokemon in the story, but still maintain a team around the same level.

I would tweak the EXP Share a little, so that the player could toggle a new feature on-and-off; it would allow the player to keep their Pokemon from gaining experience, but store it in the item for latter.

This would allow the player to give the stored experience to any Pokemon at any time, and function like a rare candy that the player charges up, instead of purchases.

Custom Poke`balls

That animation man...

The player should be able to add stickers or entire skins to Poke`balls that are housing a Pokemon.

Aside from their appearance, the player could earn certain graphical[particle] effects, as their Pokemon exit their capsule.

These can be purchased, or earned through completing certain objectives, or even gifted by other players.

I also think that Poke`balls could be customized with certain capturing properties, based on which items the player gives to a Poke`ball smith(yes that’s what they’re called).

These effects could range from failed capture attempts inflicting certain statuses, to successful captures resulting in maximum friendship.

Certain stones or gems could allow players to reuse custom Poke`balls a limited number of times.

The idea is that Game Freak should allow players more options when it comes to one the core elements of the series, as I believe it would go a long way in adding even more variety.

Exploring the Pokemon World

I can't believe James is gone...

It’s nothing new in video games, or the Pokemon series, but the region the player explores in Pokemon Switch, should have dynamic weather, and a Day/Night cycle.

I think these systems should be tied to when the player sets the clock, but be a randomized cycle, instead of tying it to the real world: Usually this causes battery problems in the long run.

Weather already affects battle in the main series, and I think Game Freak should maintain that in this upcoming game.

WHY DID THEY REMOVE THIS!

Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire had a feature so awesome, it should have become a new series standard!

It allowed the player to soar above the entirity of the map in those games, which plenty of modern games, such as Ni No Kuni 1, let the player travel the world faster, and land just about anywhere.

If a PS3 game let the player do that, I don’t see why the Switch couldn’t handle it as well.

It doesn’t have to be prompted as it was in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, using a MEGA form of a legendary, but it shouldn’t have been omitted in the Generation 7 games.

Another great feature that fell by the wayside...

Another great feature from Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire was the DexNav, which allowed the player to scan the environment, and get a preview of the pokemon they could catch.

There was info on the species, the abilities it had, a 1-3 star ranking system, and the egg moves it had.

In an ostensibly 3D, free-roaming version of the Pokemon world, it would have to be changed, because it’s not being used on a single screen anymore.

Well, my non-game-developer-non-programmer solution, is to make it proximity-based, and displayed on a mini-map, with and arrow or other guide marker pointing to the Pokemon the player selects within that Area-of-Effect.

It would go a long way to helping players optimize their team, but choosing to only capture the Pokemon they’re interested in, and of course would be yet another optional App for their in-game smart-device.

Overhaul the Raising of Pokemon

You in trouble now Mewtwo!

MEGA Pokemon and MEGA stones are still a fairly controversial mechanic introduced in X/Y.

I’ll break it down; these MEGA stones breathed new life into old Pokemon by giving them a boost of 100 in their Base-Stat-Total(a rating system tied to each of the visible stats such as Attack or HP, from 1 to 255), new appearances, new abilities, and even new secondary types.

The issue is that it mostly applied to fan favorites or already overpowered Pokemon, basically in most cases the rich got even richer, with Mewtwo(the 2nd strongest Pokemon in the series) receiving 2 MEGA forms!

A great example of a MEGA done right.

The reason I think MEGA Pokemon should be salvaged, is in the example above: Beedrill was originally worthless in battle, because it had terrible stats, which meant it couldn’t take advantage of all its moves.

MEGA Beedrill benefited greatly from the stat boost, gained an even cooler appearance, and made it fun glass canon in battle.

MEGA stones should be used to redeem Pokemon and encourage players to rethink older Pokemon’s battle capabilities.

I never gave a fuck about Beedrill until it received a MEGA form!

Game Freak could keep the MEGA forms of overpowered Pokemon, by retaining their MEGA form appearance, abilities & stat changes, by retaining their original stats, and preventing them from becoming even more OP than they already are.

To summarize, MEGA stones should power-up Pidgeot, but only tweak Salamence.

We all remember this screen.

Pokemon Switch needs a few changes done to improve the series’ breeding mechanics.

I’d love a feature where if the player wants to hatch a Magby, and the entire Magby evolution line fully registered in their Poke`dex, then they should be able to choose which traits their offspring has BEFORE they ever hatch or receive an Egg from the daycare.

The player should be able to manually select the sex, ability(hidden or otherwise), nature, egg moves, ect., and be told how many eggs the daycare would reject before the breeding pair finally lays the egg the player wants.

To balance this out, the daycare should charge the player triple or quadruple prices for this feature, as more frugal players can still hatch 8000+ eggs until they get what they want.

Also the player till has to wait for their advanced eugenics to kick in, but in the end the player would get EXACTLY the offspring they wanted.

I want to omit choosing to pass on shiny-ness onto the offspring to keep shiny Pokemon as rare and elusive as possible.

Bottom line, I’m really sick of having to hatch egg-after-egg, which clogs both party and PC box space, then having to release (one-by-one) or trade the rejects.

Just cut me some slack Game Freak.

The most underrated feature in X/Y.

Manipulating and fine-tuning the stats of Pokemon through EVs/IVs has been slowly getting easier and easier.

What used to be a nearly invisible aspect of the game that required advanced mathematics to properly calculate, now has values that the player can easily view for themselves.

Skim this article for a more in-depth look;

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Individual_values 

IVs are still kind of intangible, but sense they act like a Pokemon’s DNA, and in real life, Scientists have mapped the Human Genome, I propose that both EVs/IVs be displayed in Pokemon Switch!

It could be in the Sub-Menu where ribbons and other miscellenous things are displayed, and not on the usual stat screen, but as long as the player can view them if they’re interested, it would be a nice change of pace.

Changing those values should retain the variety of methods the series has gone with, Vitamins/Berries/Wings, Poke`rus, Power Items[+other held items], Horde Encounters, and my personal favorite, Super Training, and a couple new ones.

Once the player has earned EVs, they should be able to assign them into any stat they choose, with a slider that increases or decreases the value.

A hard to locate NPC, could charge a great deal of money/have the player clear a tough challenge, to increase the EVs of one Pokemon at a time: This NPC wouldn’t assign the EVs, just give the Pokemon the maximum amount, then prompt the player to assign them on their own.

When I mentioned earlier that I wanted Game Freak to retain the series’ turn-based combat, I meant it; a few tweaks here-and-there won’t fundamentally change it, as far as I’m concerned, and you’ll see why.

I’ve seen fans of this series desire that a Pokemon should be able to learn ALL of its level-up, TM, and move tutor moves; I’m mostly in agreement with this.

I believe that a Pokemon can learn all of its moves, so long as there’s only 4 move slots active, meaning they still only have 4 moves in battle, but the player is able to experiment with all sorts of movesets, without having to raise a ton of duplicates.

Another benefit, is the elimination of Move Deleter, because players would be able to slot-in-and-slot-out a Pokemons moves, within the “moves” menu.

I’d even go so far as allowing players to only slot one move and leave the other three blank. 

Overhauling Wild Pokemon Encounters

Oops, I guess the link broke...just pretend.

A series staple that’s in dire need of a shake-up is wild Pokemon encounters.

I have no clue as to why players still have to deal with RNG nonsense when they want to start catching Pokemon.

If Pokemon should physically in the game world, roaming around like the animals they are.

Individual species could even have the same temperament they do in the anime/manga/Poke`dex entries: Either running away, hiding, chasing the player.

Elusive and rare Pokemon would be able to flee when sighted, making the player feel really accomplished when they finally catch that Feebas!

The player would do more than simply bump into wild Pokemon, they could set bait, or even cruel traps only sold on the black market, pay certain types of tribute to earn the right to battle them, the possibilities are endless!

Custom Bases and Tents

Not my favorite feature, but plenty people like it.

The more sprawling the world is in Pokemon Switch, the more likely the player will be away from civilization for long periods of time.

The Super Secret Base feature should be brought back and slightly retooled, even if bases can only be established in set locations, they should act like a home-away-from-home.

Bases should naturally be customized by the player, but should also have access to the PC, item storage, and Pokemon Center-like healing.

Bases should be places where the player can easily fast travel to, in order to regroup, or quite playing while having a decent starting point to launch from.

Why this kinda stuff hasn't been in a game is beyond me.

I don’t see why the series would ever drop its “save anywhere” feature, but a neat way to modernize it, is to have a tent the player can set up, just about anywhere.

The player could interact with their Pokemon, rest and restore HP, and of course save.

There could even be a mechanic where wild Pokemon or evil trainers could steal things from the player, or even steal Pokemon.

I think tents would add a bit of believability and enjoyment to the series.

Reintroducing Battle Facilities

I never managed to clear even one of these.

The absence of these challenge arenas has been very painful in the most recent games in the series.

The watered down garbage presented in the 3DS games, emphasizes how terrible the post-game content has been lately, and I want this trend to stop!

What ever Game Freak chooses to call the “Battle Frontier”, there should be a battle facility that pushes the player to the limit, in terms of challenging trainer battle.

The new Battle Frontier should bring back all the unique and interesting battle styles not seen in the series since Pokemon Emerald/Heart Gold/Soul Silver.

Obviously there should be facilities for 6v6 singles, doubles, triple, rotation, and any of the standard Battle Tower stuff, but a lot of interesting gameplay has been lost over the years because Game Freak will just toss gameplay features away, arbitrarily.

It’s about time all battle styles were represented in one location, one which gives all sorts of players the challenge they deserve.

The contests have a lot of fans...

I’m not a big fan of Pokemon contests, but plenty of other fans love them, and this hypothetical “Battle Frontier” should include a facility for this type of gameplay as well.

Pokemon contests re-contextualize the trade-mark battling system, and a Pokemon’s individual stats and movesets, to focus on style.

The coordinator has to please both the judges and the crowd to win

It’s another alternate gameplay style that should be encouraged for players who don’t like battling, because it even has it’s own methods to raise Pokemon, and its own items; it’s another deep, content rich feature for players to enjoy!

Gen 5 was so great!

Every one of these battle facilities should have their own online version in what I will dub, “The Pokemon World Tournament!”, so named after one of the best features in B2/W2.

The offline version, will allow the player to battle computer-controlled versions of every famous trainer in the series so far, in case of internet outages, network crashes, or the discontinuation of the Switch’s online services.

Players can battle each other in any battle style they wish, and even set up tournaments.

Game Freak themselves could set up their own official events through this, where people could also just spectate at home.

The Great Poke`dollar Depression

He has so much money!

The economy in this series is fucked, and has been fucked for some time, and it needs to stop.

Almost every game in the series has a point where they run out of trainers to battle, and then money becomes incredibly difficult to earn.

Battling every trainer in the game guarantees that the player will have a huge some of money, but eventually the only way to farm cash is to re-battle the Elite Four over-and-over again, and it’s garbage!

Sure the player has a huge sum of money by the post-game, but certain items, like special evolution stones, become horribly expensive, not to mention rising daycare costs; it’s a mess!

This is to say that eventually the player’s vast fortune will eventually run dry, because the only way to earn decent wages is cut off from the player.

I can't wait for the VS seeker to finally return!

The VS Seeker was a key item that completely removed the money farming issue, because it allowed player to re-battle trainers.

It was held back by needing the player to recharge it after every use, by walking a certain amount of steps, and sometimes no trainer would be willing to battle me again, but the concept is too good to not a series staple.

The revamped version, should be another useful app the player can download, instead of a key item, to reduce the amount of item menu clutter.

If the game has a certain part of the map loaded, then every trainer in that map should have a re-battling dialogue option added, when the player uses this app; simple as that.

These trainers can even has tweaked or more powerful teams, but give a fixed amount of cash when defeated.

Not only does this keep a source of income from nearly disappearing, but also allows for even more battle experience for the player’s Pokemon team.

Something I skipped over in HG/SS...

Lastly, another solution to fix the terrible economy in this series, is to have a myriad of fleshed out mini-games and other tasks that work as side jobs that pay based on the player’s performance.

These can be returning from any previous game in the series, but I have one idea that should be included.

The player could be tasked with catching Pokemon for certain NPCs; rental Pokemon for Battle Facilities or Trainer Schools, or anyone else who posts a request on the app.

There could be certain conditions, like having to catch a Level 65 Steelix with only 10 Heavy Balls, or any other stipulation.

This would incentivize players to keep catching Pokemon even after they have built their optimal team, and the huge roster of Pokemon would keep the job from getting stale.

The All Important Story

That comic series is such a bad read...

Sun/Moon had a botched-story where the player helped form a Pokemon League, but the descision came so suddenly at the end, and seemed real natural for all the strong trainers to form an Elite Four and whatnot.

The story in those games still had Gym Leaders, they where called Trial Masters, but they mostly functioned like Gym Leaders, it’s just there were 18 of them, one master of each type.

I’ve learned over the years never to believe Nintendo when they say will, “radically change the next entry in a long-running franchise”, because it’s always a lie!

You can like Nintendo’s games, but there’s no reason to fall for their trickery!

I want Pokemon Switch to have an actual version of Sun/Moon’s story, where there’s no organized sporting event for Pokemon battles AT ALL.

The Battle Facilities would then be a post-game/post-story feature added in later, maybe a few years after the game’s main events.

The idea is that the story in Pokemon Switch would be about a rookie who turns into an ace trainer[the player’s journey], then convinces all the regions strong trainers to form a league and establish rules of engagement.

Until this new Pokemon League is formed, battles are spontaneous and lack the rules of other regions: The player never knows if the trainer that challenges them is a push-over or overpowered genius.

This would force player’s to always be ready to battle at their best, but NPC trainers could still give friendly advice, unless they’re assholes who only care about victory[a.k.a. the “antagonists”].

I don’t think this would be a radical departure, but would be something not seen in the core series.

Exploring the Pokemon World

That's quite a world to explore.

I would love the upcoming Pokemon game to feature one massive region that can plausibly house EVERY Pokemon in the series so far: It would have the geography necessary for every species to live in, and be spacious enough to have real-time encounters without special “tall grass” tiles.

A rather annoying thing about the entire series is needing several games in order to complete the Poke`dex legitimately.

Check out this video by Youtube user Jrose11, to fully understand how painful it is to actually attempt this;

Having one big region where the player can catch all of them would fix this problem, and players could still trade with each other on top of that.

Game Freak need to step their side-quest game up!

It’s about time this series gets some REAL side quests, not find all the sparklies on the map, or fainting Rattatas in a sewer, I mean real side quests that would affect the game world in tangible ways.

Even side quests that advanced or added to the series lore would be nice, just none of that mundane shit from Ubisoft’s boredom simulator franchises, please!

A small example could be the expansion of a city through out the city, but the urban sprawl puts people in direct conflict with wild Pokemon. Even if a matter like this were resolved, it would still affect were wild Pokemon would be found.

Another example could be a natural disaster devastating that same city and how it affects both people and Pokemon.

The idea is that player’s that ignore side quests should get quite a different experience than those that don’t.

Strength in numbers!

A common wish from fans is the ability to carry more than 6 Pokemon on a team, but with the Poke`rides feature being implemented, the need for this is starting to wane, because a player’s team can be totally focused on battle.

I happen to like the 6 Pokemon limit, but there is a way to please everyone, and that’s with multi-trainer parties.

Whether online or offline, the player would have direct control of one trainer, but be able to switch characters at will.

The co-op version would allow players to work together at all times, on just about any activity in the main game.

The COM trainers would have teams the player could also customize if they wish, other wise they could have the COM trainers capture their own Pokemon off screen or something.

Even if it’s limited to only 3 trainers, that’s still up to 18 customizable Pokemon for the player to work with!

How do they expect me to be 2 champions by myself.

Since the goal of the story would be to seek out strong trainers, a few of them should be ultra tough bosses, but they each have different attitudes toward battle.

These folks could range from a loner who trains in the woods or mountains and has a deep [non-pornographic] love for his Pokemon, or an asshole who love to dominate the weak and maybe forms a posse of other jerks who are cruel to the less experienced trainers.

Recruiting and convincing all these people to help form a league should require a minimum number to finish the main plot, but there could also be optional or elusive trainers to add to the mix.

Make Legendary Pokemon Special Again!

Imagine boss intros like this.

This is a big one, because over time Legendary/Mythical Pokemon have been losing their value over time, it’s just a box most of us tick to complete the Poke`dex.

Since players can’t breed these guys, and manipulating their IVs requires a ton of soft resetting, I’m going to propose something radical!

All of these Pokemon should be given a new type: Legendary, which takes neutral damage from all other types, but super-effective damage from only its own type.

They would retain their abilities, movesets, appearance, and form changes, but have no IVs, and their absolute best EVs.

I want to retool them as uncatchable boss encounters, and also have them be called upon as summons, probably with some special item, or something.

The item itself could be part of a side quest.

If the player choose to use them in the story, they would take up space in their team based on their ranking, and the player could choose to use them in one of two ways;

The first is in battle, where they would function as normal, but each trainer could one control one at a time, not have a team of overpowered Legendaries.

As a summon they would perform one OP move that could deal massive damage, buff the player’s entire team, or de-buff the opponent’s entire team, and everything in between.

The ranking would have 3 tiers represented by stars, 1 star takes up one slot, 2 stars takes up 2 slots, and 3 stars(for OP Pokemon like Mewtwo) 3 whole slots.

Poke`balls wouldn’t contain them, but the player could earn their respect, and they could be asked to aide the player in the game’s story.

Overhauling the Player’s Relationship With Their Pokemon

That clipping though...

I have no idea what’s taking Game Freak so long to let player’s have their Pokemon follow them, it just seems like a no-brainer!

Having Pokemon rendered to scale and rideable is just a neat little touch that adds a bit of personality to these creature, but it’s nice to see Game Freak showcasing that in the Pokemon GO trailer; that’s nice.

The anime had a few cool landmarks.

The alternate ways in which Pokemon evolve in this series has gotten so tiresome, the worst example is having older Pokemon level up with certain moves, or the constant need to create new held items.

A great way to solve this issue is to have some of the alternative methods reworked into a, possibly repeatable, side quest.

Take friendship evolution for example, if the player wants to turn their Golbat into a Crobat, then wouldn’t it be great if, instead of raising an invisible stat with repetitive actions, they could go on a journey that creates a stronger bond?

It could be unique to every atypical evolution in the game, trade evolutions could be reworked to have the player’s Pokemon be trusted with an NPC, who update the player on their training progress(like the Charicific Valley in the anime).

I’m just sick of having to farm Dubious Discs to turn my Porygon2 into a Porygon-Z!

The Pokemon Trading Card Game

A great way to cross-promote their stuff.

A side activity in Pokemon Switch could be a simulation of the Pokemon Trading Card game(you know for easy cross-promotion).

This would have every card up to that point and electronically simulate the game as it did in the GameBoy game of the same name.

Game Freak could even use to promote their new cards in updates, but the idea is that there could be another non-battling activity for the player to engage in.

Implementing Pokemon Snap Features

That damn Mew!

I would love a side quest where the player helps Todd Snap build a track around the entire region for a ZERO-ONE machine, that allows the player to take photos of various Pokemon.

Todd could offer the player free rides for helping him and occasionally give the player the profits from ticket sales, like in Forrest Gump!

Fans of the first-person rail shooter on the N64 have wanted a sequel, but adding a virtual tour of the region in Pokemon Switch would be just as good.

Cloud-Based Item Storage

I'm sick of having to grind for these items in every game!

I’m so fucking done with having to grind Battle Points for the same exact item in every butt-fucking new generation.

All I’m asking, and I’ll shell out money for this, is a cloud-based service that allows me to store all the items I work for, so that I can have the competitive held items ready for the next game!

If it works like Pokemon Bank, then all the better, because almost every competitively viable item is highly likely to be in the next game; any items that don’t make it, can just stay in the bank, and be transferred back into the game it originally came from.

Conclusion

I still can't believe James is gone...

Because Game Freak are breaking new ground by releasing the next core series Pokemon game on consoles, I don’t think they need to follow series conventions as much any more.

On some level I know it’s more likely that Game Freak will continue to coast on past successes, but it would be really nice if they chose not to this time.

It should be noted that any feature I omitted was probably just glossed over by me, it doesn’t mean I hated it, I’m just one person!

I’m sure the reader has a ton of ideas to share or criticisms of my ideas, and I would love to read about them!