Design your perfect game

[Pyrax]

The first two are my favourites.

• #1 would be the ideal improvement ngl. If Gamefreak's so worried about players not beating the game, they can include a 'Very Easy' mode alongside 'Easy', 'Normal', and 'Challenge Mode' like in BW2. Maybe even include a 'Very Hard' mode as free DLC.
• #2 sounds like it'd be interesting see implemented. Let's say a Gym Leader has a Steelix. In one mode it'd have Steelium Z, in another it can mega evolve, and in another you'd have to fight a dynamaxed Steelix. That's good replay value.
• #3 sounds just as interesting - if done well it'd make for a fun region to explore. Inaccessible cliffs only available during winter, frozen ponds/lakes, etc.
• Not that sure about #4. If there was some incentive to choose one timezone over another, or if there was a way to reverse timezones, then maybe. Tbh it thematically made sense for SM, so it might look tacked on in other titles imo.
• Not sure about #5 either, but it changes up the gameplay without a new battle gimmick. Could work if done well.

 

[SerenaToAlola]

• I'd probably feel compelled to come up with a new regional battle mechanic. I'm not sure what exactly that'd be, though. What comes to my mind first, to sort of mirror the hybridization feature in breeding, is Combination Attacks. Kind of like Z-Moves, kind of like Linking moves in Mystery Dungeon, kind of like the whole Tag Team concept from the TCG - the loose notion in my head is that you could link two of your Pokémon and, at least once per battle (I'm not sure what the precise limitations would be), you can have one of those Pokémon draw power from the other in order to deliver a Combination Attack, which could do some interesting stuff with type combinations and could have useful effects. It's hard to say anything exact - these mechanics have always been complex features that likely go through a lot of testing and revision.

An 80s setting would work really well with a mocha/transformers like gimmick imo!

 

[SerenaToAlola]

Waiting for the inevitable mention of Pokemon Z or Gen 4 remakes.

I was actually thinking of making a new thread to talk about what a game I want would look like (more in lines of what Z would look like though there's already a thread on that) so I was pleasantly surprised to see this. Most of y'all are talking about game features instead but I'll still go ahead and post my ideas.

It's in some sense a Kanto sequel but it is not set after Johto. Instead, the game will start at around the same time as Red though it will eventually "lag" behind, fulfilling the sequel aspects of things.

Following from Pokemon Journeys, the starting town will be Vermillion City. However, you will not get to challenge Lt Surge yet because of gameplay and story reasons such as him not having returned from the war yet (Remember, Red starts at Pewter and not Vermillion). That said, the gym lineups are as follows.

You can access the gyms in any order but there are prerequisites. You must start with one of the gym leaders that only use two pokemons and you must have beaten at least two of such first before you can challenge a gym using three pokemon. Similarly, you must have beaten at least two gyms leaders using three pokemon first before you can challenge a gym using four pokemon and so on.

You can play the game according to the sequence in RBY or you can head to Saffron and take the magnet train to Goldenrod city. If you take the magnet train, you will arrive there at night. You will find Goldenrod mostly closed and that the only gym leader accessible is Falkner. The concept behind his gym is entrapment in tradition and the past, hence the dark and the traditional clothes. Once you beat him, you will unlock the day-night cycle and open up encounters with the newer Johto pokemon in Kanto as well. If you play the game the exact same way as RBY, Team Rocket will steal your badges after you beat Giovani and you will be forced to go to Johto to collect badges there instead.

Gym leaders will also appear outside of their gyms. The Johto gym leaders in particular will appear in Kanto to tease the features introduced in Generation 2. Whitney will appear in Celadon City and complain about how she can't find anything special enough for her. When you beat her in Johto, you unlock shinnies. Jasmine will appear in Kanto looking for a Metal Coat. If you go to Johto, she will announce that she had successfully found them and has discovered a new evolution for Onix.

The Kanto Elite 4 will appear in both locations as powerful trainers that you can battle with but they will end up not being the actual Elite 4 of the game. This is because Red beats you to it and changes were made to the Indigo League since he would rather train at Mt. Silver. Meanwhile, Mr Fuji will unlock Mega Evolution like in Pokemon Origins. Someone in the Bell Tower will unlock Z-Moves.

The total number of pokemon available will be bumped to 350. Some of these would be preexisting pokemon and cross-gen evolutions. New variants and megas will also be introduced. To that end, new routes will be made to link the cities further. One of my idea is that somewhere in Viridian Forest should be a path that leads to a theme park (a wink at Disneyland) which will then lead to Celadon.

Generally, you can think that that Red had made such quick progress in the game (and only in the day) that he failed to realise these aspects that were only introduced later.

That said, I'm not sure how the game should explain the new types and the type changes. My head canon has always been that the return of Xerneas awoken the "fairy gene" in all Pokemon but that doesn't happen til years later... This is a slight problem since the game starts at around the same time as Generation 1.

 

[SerenaToAlola]

Triple post. I've never played the Hoenn games (since I started with DP) and I was kind of bothered by how the Elite 4 was full of NFE or repeated pokemon so I thought I'll try changing up the whole league by making most of them gym leaders and rebranding some of them so here goes:

First two gyms are both double battles. Roxanne is a teacher that wants to teach her students how dark the world is. Sidney is an implied drug dealer. Winona is a aviator that plays with weather effects. Wallace has beautiful pokemon.

What do you think?

 

[Sheep40]

Cross posted from reddit over making up a pokemon region:
Name: Illystrius (After Illyria+Illustrious). Based off the entire former Yugoslavia, so it's really multiple regions in one (9 to be exact).

Themes: Hopes, dreams, letting go of the past, embracing your inner darkness, acceptance of death and change, choice, conflicts between the ideal and the real, celebration of the pokemon community. Illystrius has a troubled, tumultous history and compared to the other regions on the continent it's quite poor. It could be said the entire region is divided in two, one half looking forwards and the other looking backwards, let alone the love-hate relationships the inhabitants of the region's subdivisions have. It's ancient history is largely unknown, and it's spent most of it's time being a colony to the empires of larger regions. Illystrius is a region that at once both rejects and embraces change. It's both a place of great growth and advancement and a black hole where hopes and dreams go to die. It is rather beautiful though, and the people are proud and strong, with resolve as a big part of the region's culture.

• Numerous ethnic groups in Illystrius were and still are traditionally pokemon trainers, so the practice is embedded in the region's culture to a degree unseen in other regions. Illystrius hotlines training and training culture into it's veins. Most trainers in illystrius are transhumance, meaning they nomadically shift between different lodgings dependent on the situation and time of year. It's a vibrant place, which interacts strangely with the region's darkness both figuratively and frighteningly literally.
• Mechanically Illystrius is divided into 9 crown-tundra/armor-isle style subdivisions, with a hidden 10th. These correspond to: Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzengovia, Republika Srpska, Kosovo, the Vardar River basin, actual north Macedonia, and the pagan slavic underworld.

Villainous teams: Illystrius has 4 villainous teams.

• The first two are haters of the current pokemon league. Team Brave and Team Reaper. Based of the Studs and Gravediggers futbol fanclubs in Serbia with elements of rap-fans and metalheads respectively, they hate the corruption in the pokemon league and have delcared a temporary truce in order to teach the league a lesson. By targeting trainers who don't rebel against it.
• The corrupt pokemon league itself. Whilst the gym leaders, elite four, and champion have their hands largely clean, the pencil pushers and businessmen and politicians associated with the league have been using it as a money pot for years and they sure as heck aren't going to let it stop now.
• The Starini, a secretive cabal of trainers who hate the region's pokemon league with a beyond unhealthy passion, led by an even more secretive inner circle who despise the current state of the pokemon world as a whole. They lurk in the shadows, using corrupted esoteric powers derived from that last subdivision and from some of the region's legendaries and mythicals to sow chaos within the pokemon league. Their actual leader is the player's rival and best friend, Matija, who simply wishes to relive the glory days of pokemon forever and ever alongside the other Starini. And ideally you, too.

Version legendaries:

• Primary Version (Zero) legendary is a dark-gray humanoid western-european knight, embodying the endless void of darkness. There's a karma meter in the game that can determine the forms of the legendaries, and the two versions have different colors for neutral (good is blue, evil is red). Zero's is green. The typing are ghost/poison (neutral), Ghost/steel (good), and ghost/dark (evil)
• Secondary version (infinity) is a light gray humanoid russian knight/turkish spahi that embodies the raging storm of darkness. Infinity's neutral color is yellow. Typings are ghost/electric (neutral), ghost/psychic (good) and ghost/fighting (evil).

Also, some random scattered additions

1. More new pokemon. Have 400 by base with half of that being new
2. Bring back the midriff-baring clothes for female PCs
3. Pull the camera in closer, over the shoulder
4. Cut compatibility with previous versions in order to drastically rebalance the game to account for its length.
5. Do a more visibly anime art style.

 

[techitisJ]

Spoiler: This is a long post so I'm putting it in spoilers

The Player

• Full Character customization
  • You open up the game and you put in your name and your pronouns (no more of the "Are you a boy or a girl?"). Clothing and hairstyles are not genderlocked
  • You have a wide range of eye color and skin tones, as well as hairstyles and colors to choose from right off the bat.
  • You can also choose the outfit your player initially wears when you start out on your journey. You are given a small variety to choose from, and of course, you can buy new clothes later in the game
  • Piercings, Tattoos, and Jewelry are also available in customization.
  • Once you get out to the shops, there are a lot more clothing options than any game has had before.
• Trainer types
  • When you first meet the Professor, you are asked whether you are a new trainer or an experienced trainer. If you say a new trainer, you will be given the option to hear about certain tutorials, but if you choose an experienced trainer, the game won't even ask you that. (this is completely separate from a difficulty mode)
  • Before the Professor gives you a Pokemon and Pokedex, they also ask what kind of trainer you want to be. I don't have all my options thought about, but here are some of the roles and what you get to do for that gameplay.
    • Gym Challenger: The usual Pokemon game. You aspire to challenge the gyms and receive all 8 badges
    • Contest Coordinator (this idea borrows a lot from what the Pokemon anime did with contests): Pokemon Contests are back in this game (probably revamped a bit) and your goal is to beat a certain amount so you can take part in the Grand Festival, where you will compete against rivals you have met in contests along the way.
    • Pokemon Breeder: In this version, your goal is to help take care of and raise baby Pokemon. Along with your starter, you are given a special Pokemon egg that will slowly hatch. You have to befriend this Pokemon and raise it. it's kind of like raising friendship with your Pokemon in the main game. The Pokemon Refresh/Camp/whatever feature is for every Pokemon, but for this baby Pokemon, it's special. You feed it and play with it through the refresh/camping feature, and when it's tired you put it in its Pokeball to rest. As you play, the monitors go down so you have to remember to check on them. Basically, you are raising a child. Your goal is to consistently monitor this Pokemon and keep it fed, well-rested, and played with so that it finally evolves. You can also help other trainers raise their own Pokemon.
    • Pokemon Researcher: In this version, your main goal is to catch every Pokemon, but along the way, you will be tasked to do further research on certain Pokemon. You will have to walk around and document how these Pokemon interact in the wild, and then add more to their Pokedex entry with your findings. You will inevitably be able to do this with every Pokemon if you wish, but there are many of them you will be required to do more research on.
  • While you can only choose one path, in the post-game you can participate in the other paths. Of course, in every one of them, you can catch Pokemon, but in the post-game yu can get the camera that allows you to take pictures and add comments on how Pokemon interact in the wild, you can also ask to raise a baby Pokemon. Each section of the region has a different baby Pokemon to raise)
    • These baby Pokemon can be bred from their evolutions, which are catchable in the late game, but it takes a long time to breed them
      • Basically, the same monitor that tracks your time spent in-game in order to determine when the baby Pokemon needs to be fed or played with is also a timer for this breeding mechanic. It takes just as long to breed a baby Pokemon as it does to raise a baby Pokemon to it's evolution. This way there still is an incentive to raise the baby Pokemon yourself.

The Region, and the mechanics of it

• The region is not based on anywhere in particular, and it's a massive region. There are several different environments running across the region, including some beautiful lush mountains, a tropical rainforest, a harsh desert, dark caves and abandoned mines, a supposedly dormant volcano, and sandy beaches.
• Seasons make a return in this game, some areas being more affected than others by the change in season. I'm not sure whether or not I would have the seasons based in real-time, or like they are in Gen 5.
  • Several Pokemon have different forms they change into throughout the seasons, but the change in seasons does not completely prevent a Pokemon from spawning. You still have an opportunity to get every Pokemon in any season, but sometimes they are easier to find if you are playing in a different region. For example, a bear Pokemon is going to be a pretty rare find in the winter.
• The Region is actually made up of the remnants between 3 formerly separate regions. In the past, these 3 regions were in a massive war, which left part of each region uninhabitable. After the war, they had to move people out of those parts of the region, and eventually, the leaders of the regions were so worried about the limited resources that they decided to group together and become one massive region. The cultures of the 3 different sections of the region are quite different
  • When you initially start the game, you can choose what section you want to start in. Each different section has its own Professor
  • The starters are also different in each different section.
• The region and gameplay are open world. From the moment you start, you can choose whatever direction you want to go in
  • For gyms, this means you can challenge them in any order. After you challenge a gym, the game automatically raises the levels of every gym leader to the same level
• There is a main hub, kind of like Lumiose City, in the middle of the region. This is whether the game will eventually end, no matter the route you take. But, like Lumiose, you can visit here early in the game.

Pokemon

• The game introduces 100 brand new Pokemon, and 50 or so regional variants and evolutions.
• There regional dex is at 500
  • Dexit is still a thing, but Pokemon Home would be updated to be a lot cooler, where you can use all of your Pokemon to battle competitively or for fun with other people.
• As mentioned earlier, there are 3 different sets of starters, and depending on which section you start in dictates which starter you choose from. But you still have the opportunity to catch every other starter. The other starters from the section you start in will be able to be caught in the other two sections of the region. Then the starters from the sections you don't start in can be found in your section.
• You can obtain all Pokemon, no trading or transferring required
  • The main game story actually has you catch both legendaries, one around the middle of the game (this is your game's box legend) and the other later on. This will be explained further in the story section
  • Trade Evolutions are able to be completed with in-game trades. Within the massive hub town, there is an NPC trainer who loves trading Pokemon to evolve them and will offer to trade and trade back your Pokemon.
• Those special baby Pokemon I mentioned earlier are actually the pre-evolutions of legendary Pokemon. That's why they take a while to raise/breed, and why they are so special. There are 3 of them, each one for a different section.

Gameplay

• There are still random and overworld encounters. Pokemon actually interact a lot more in the overworld now, and even with each other
• Following Pokemon are back, and they can follow you through the whole game. Certain Pokemon also have special following animations, which you can set in the Pokemon's info
  • So for an Arcanine, you can set it so that the Pokemon is just following you are you are actually riding it, or for a Pikachu, you can set it to be on your shoulder, or following you
  • if you have one of the special baby Pokemon, unless they are resting in their Pokeball they automatically travel on your shoulder or in your arms. You can still have one of your other Pokemon following you though. Think Pikachu or Eevee in LGPE.
  • The following setting can be toggled on and off for regular following Pokemon, but not for the special baby Pokemon
• Experience candies are still in the game, and the option to turn experience share on and off is back. Also, there is an option to use the experience share on just one Pokemon.
• There are different gameplay modes. Easy, Medium, and Hard. This is not anyway linked to whether or not you a veteran trainer. There is a bit of a level increase with each, but mostly the AI is just better.

Story (I actually haven't really thought this through, and this post is getting really long, so I'll just go basic on this one)

• Despite the fact that the regions decided to join together a very long time ago, the tensions can still get high between the some of the people in the 3 major cultures. There are some smaller, evil teams (think Team Skull), that are basically gangs and they always get into fights in this hub town with the other gangs. They also aren't too friendly with trainers who come around from other sections of the region. So the ones in the region you start in are chill with you, but not the other two.
• Even though these 3 groups of people have their differences, it is ultimately better if the region decides to stay this way. The majority of these people embrace being a part of one whole region.
• Back when they were separate, and since they've joined together, they all worship the same two Pokemon, a pair of psychic type Pokemon who are very strong, and have the powers of mind control
  • There is a single person though, with some followers, who want to separate the region once more. This person has tried time and time again to convince the people of this, but they know this is better. There are not enough resources without them all sharing them, because so much of their original regions are still completely desolate after the war
    • In retaliation, this person decides to build a Pokemon army, and their goal is to summon the power of the two psychic legendary Pokemon to hypnotize all the wild Pokemon, and trainer's Pokemon, into fighting the Pokemon who live in the other sections, so that the people think that maybe they need to separate them to stop the violence.
      • But someone who knows this person (maybe even has worked with them), doesn't want this to happen so they trust the player to catch the other legendary before the evil person can get their hands on them.

 

[Neyo]

I just want a Pokémon game with high quality graphics, a good regional design, lots of new Pokémon(especially a an Eevee-esque Pokémon, but physically based), difficulty modes, a good story, and good trainer AI.
I don’t want huge stretches of grinding. I don’t want a flashy new gimmick. I don’t want open world design. I don’t want another Pikachu/Charizard form, God forbid.
I just want a Pokemon game without controversy, at the bare minimum.

 

[Almonds]

A prequel series where you can play as one of the champions when they were children. You can still build your team in whatever way you want, but there will be certain points in the game where you will use the champion's signature pokemon as part of your team (like how Reshiram/Zekrom will be part of your team no matter what).

 

[Mistresspaie]

My perfect game



Region and story

1. Region that includes a vast amount of variety and is filled with hidden secrets and thought provoking puzzles. Wide expansive routes, open areas full of secrets, Deep complex dungeons. Sprawling cities, beautiful rural villages etc. Fully rotationable camera everywhere.

1. Overworld Pokémon that are more interactive with each other and more natural.

1. Gyms based on theme over type. (Beauty theme, magical theme etc.

1. Story based on the multiverse and the full Pokémon mythology. Giving us a proper insight on how the cosmology works and the secrets of ultra space.

Features

1. Current QOL features with adjustments. HM replacement being unlock able key items instead.

• Online back to the PSS. No time limit. Little Cup introduced. Pokémon lv5 and only 1st stage Pokémon.

• Megas return.
• Pokémon World Tournament returns with all leaders and champions.
• Triple and rotation battles return
• Petting and feeding Pokémon return
• Super training returns
• Trainer AI improved.
• All gym leaders/e4/important characters use held items. Level cap like online. Each leader uses 6 Pokémon.
• Super trainers like Red return post game
• Post game worm hole legend hunting
• Mythological Pokémon have events like 4th Gen.
• Leader rematches
• Hard mode that improves teams and further enhances AI.
• Berry growing
• Dexnav
• Shiny Pokémon in overworld
• No Dynamax or nerfed harshly.
• Post game battle frontier.
• Post game story fully delving into ultra space and introduces new areas and landscapes to explore.
• Seasons return
• Day and night return
• E4 rematches
• Champion challengers like S/M
• Many beloved character cameos.
• Diving returns
• Exp share togglable.
• VS seeker and recorder return.
• Pokeathlon returns.
• Trainer and Pokémon cosmetic customisation.
• Following Pokémon that keep pace with trainer. Like Let’s Go.
• Certain Pokémon rideable like let’s go
• National Dex returns
• Contests return.

Graphics and animation

1. Unreal engine 4

1. Re work all animations to be more fluid, characterful and lively.
2. Proper Pokémon battle scaling like let’s go.

 

[Johtoo]

1. 16 Gyms - 2 Regions
2. 500 Pokemon
3. Overworld Pokemon
4. Ridable and Following Pokemon
5. Pokeseals
6. Complete trainer customization with outfits from previous games
7. Subplots - secondary stories
8. 40 hours minimum for the main story
9. Battle Frontier
10. Gym leader rematches
11. No Dynamax or Mega Evolution
12. Ingame legendary event Pokemon
13. The ability to age your character (post game) and purchase property and run a Pokemon breeding farm or hotel or anything like that
14. Pokenav

 

[Jukain]

To answer this, I have to answer why Sword and Shield just feels empty to me. Either I am tired of the gym formula, or focusing solely on it was what detracted me. If there could be a way you choose a path you want to follow and there is a different plot and ending for all of them. The straight trainer plot is still there, only now there's also other options. I do realize that Sword and Shield addresses the absurdity that is the matter a child saved the word singlehandedly in the other gens, but the villains were the only thing giving me agency before. Alola didn't satisfy me either, so I am not sure what I am asking for.

 

[R1ke]

Welp this is far from perfect and it's more of a concept than an actual game. But this is my idea of an open world pokemon region (heavily inspired by BOTW):
- Starting area in the middle is a university. Yep, you'll be playing as a student who's going out to the world to get data/help with research or something. This area is basically your 'hub' where you'll be introduced to all the basic mechanics. It has all the main facilities (pokemon center, mart, battle facilities, school etc) and has a large population of NPCs that can offer you side quests.
- Surrounding this is the wild area. It'll be the bridge between the university and all the separate other biomes. Also the 'dungeons' I mentioned in a post ages ago can be found here.

So imagining the region as a square with 9 tiles, the outer 8 tiles would be the main 8 areas of sorts.
- Directly above would be a volcanic region.
- Up and right would be a desert. Perhaps you'll also find some ruins and ancient temples here.
- Up and left would be a cold, mountainous area. But there's civilisation up there.
- To the right would be the ocean. Ideally you'd be able to dive as well, which would open up way more possibilities for exploration.
- To the left are a mix of a plains and hilly region. More rural settlements can be found here.
- Directly below would be a large jungle.
- Below and right would be either a swamp or wetlands.
- Below and left would be the haunted woods.

You'd also be given a selection of overworld abilities which would be required to traverse them.

 

[TreeHermit]

Hi.
I wanted to just pitch the idea that limiting EV's to 510 since gen 3 didn't make much of a positive difference for the game. I mean think about it: its a double edged sword. For ex. an Arceus with maxed attack EVs attacking another mon with 0 defense EVs is ridiculous. And it doesn't help much with bridging the power gap between different pokemon since, like i said, it could very well mean the opposite depending upon how you spread the EVs. Anyone else thinks all evs should be allowed to naturally max again, as in Gens 1 and 2?
Thanks.

 

[TreeHermit]

Imagine that you were the director of an upcoming Pokémon game, and had free reign to do absolutely anything. What would that game look like? Which aspects of the series would you change, and which would you keep the same? What kinds of Pokémon, characters, locations, storylines and features would you include? Let your imagination run wild!

I'd move the series back onto a more affordable handheld console, and make the price of the game the same as that of the DS and 3DS titles. I'd scrap the idea of paired versions and release a single game, but to keep the classic duality theme I'd put two legendaries on the box art.

Completion of the region's Pokédex would be made more accessible, with a smaller roster consisting of somewhere between 150 and 250 Pokemon. All Pokémon with trade evolutions would be retconned to evolve with a new method, and with the paired version system gone, it would now be possible for anyone to complete the Pokédex on their own. At certain points in your adventure, however, you'd be asked to choose between two or more Pokémon - not just the starters, but also fossils and a few special gift Pokemon. All the Pokémon you didn't choose, even the starters, would be available in the postgame, but would be rare, so there would still be an incentive to trade in order to obtain those Pokémon sooner or more easily.

There would be no Mythical Pokémon in the game, or at least, none that become unavailable after a certain amount of time has passed. I really liked the QR code system for obtaining Magearna, so I might try to incorporate something like that.

The story would be deep and thought-provoking, but there would be significantly less cutscenes than before (I'm of the opinion that a good story could be told with a fraction of the cutscenes that Gens 6, 7 and 8 have). There would be memorable characters who develop as you progress through the game, but most importantly, the story in this game would be all about you. The player character would seem more like true protagonist, rather than just an observer - I'm thinking perhaps they set out on a journey partly to uncover a secret about their own past.

Your decisions would influence the plot sometimes. For example, right at the beginning of the game, you'd make a decision which determines which of the two box legendaries you encounter at the story's climax (and the other one would appear in the postgame instead). The game would encourage the player to be introspective, to think about what kind of person they are and what kind of trainer they want to be.

There would be no villainous team in this game, but rather, a single antagonist or pair of antagonists.

I'd either bring back Mega Evolution and introduce new ones, or have no special battle mechanic at all. There'd be regional forms, because I think they're great fun and should become the series staple that Mega Evolution never was. The whole region would be like a Wild Area, with a fully controllable camera and huge expanses of wilderness to lose yourself in (I'm pretty sure the series is headed in this direction anyway). I'd merge Pokémon Camp with Pokemon Refresh, so you could play with all six of your Pokémon at once, but still pet them with the touch screen and feed them berries when they come up to you. EVs, IVs and the stat-altering effects of natures would be removed to streamline the process of getting Pokemon ready for battle against other players.

I'm not sure what I'd do about Dexit. Including every Pokémon would be the obvious answer, but I'm of the opinion that the ever-increasing number of Pokémon is beginning to cause other problems besides using up time and resources for the developers (legendaries being stripped of their mystique by being crammed into postgame areas, for example). All I know is that I'd spend an extra year developing the game to make it jam-packed full of content, so that there'd be no need to follow it up with an enhanced version or DLC later on.

Imagine that you were the director of an upcoming Pokémon game, and had free reign to do absolutely anything. What would that game look like? Which aspects of the series would you change, and which would you keep the same? What kinds of Pokémon, characters, locations, storylines and features would you include? Let your imagination run wild!

I'd move the series back onto a more affordable handheld console, and make the price of the game the same as that of the DS and 3DS titles. I'd scrap the idea of paired versions and release a single game, but to keep the classic duality theme I'd put two legendaries on the box art.

Completion of the region's Pokédex would be made more accessible, with a smaller roster consisting of somewhere between 150 and 250 Pokemon. All Pokémon with trade evolutions would be retconned to evolve with a new method, and with the paired version system gone, it would now be possible for anyone to complete the Pokédex on their own. At certain points in your adventure, however, you'd be asked to choose between two or more Pokémon - not just the starters, but also fossils and a few special gift Pokemon. All the Pokémon you didn't choose, even the starters, would be available in the postgame, but would be rare, so there would still be an incentive to trade in order to obtain those Pokémon sooner or more easily.

There would be no Mythical Pokémon in the game, or at least, none that become unavailable after a certain amount of time has passed. I really liked the QR code system for obtaining Magearna, so I might try to incorporate something like that.

The story would be deep and thought-provoking, but there would be significantly less cutscenes than before (I'm of the opinion that a good story could be told with a fraction of the cutscenes that Gens 6, 7 and 8 have). There would be memorable characters who develop as you progress through the game, but most importantly, the story in this game would be all about you. The player character would seem more like true protagonist, rather than just an observer - I'm thinking perhaps they set out on a journey partly to uncover a secret about their own past.

Your decisions would influence the plot sometimes. For example, right at the beginning of the game, you'd make a decision which determines which of the two box legendaries you encounter at the story's climax (and the other one would appear in the postgame instead). The game would encourage the player to be introspective, to think about what kind of person they are and what kind of trainer they want to be.

There would be no villainous team in this game, but rather, a single antagonist or pair of antagonists.

I'd either bring back Mega Evolution and introduce new ones, or have no special battle mechanic at all. There'd be regional forms, because I think they're great fun and should become the series staple that Mega Evolution never was. The whole region would be like a Wild Area, with a fully controllable camera and huge expanses of wilderness to lose yourself in (I'm pretty sure the series is headed in this direction anyway). I'd merge Pokémon Camp with Pokemon Refresh, so you could play with all six of your Pokémon at once, but still pet them with the touch screen and feed them berries when they come up to you. EVs, IVs and the stat-altering effects of natures would be removed to streamline the process of getting Pokemon ready for battle against other players.

I'm not sure what I'd do about Dexit. Including every Pokémon would be the obvious answer, but I'm of the opinion that the ever-increasing number of Pokémon is beginning to cause other problems besides using up time and resources for the developers (legendaries being stripped of their mystique by being crammed into postgame areas, for example). All I know is that I'd spend an extra year developing the game to make it jam-packed full of content, so that there'd be no need to follow it up with an enhanced version or DLC later on.

I'll reinstate the EV system from Gen 1 and 2, make the game with more of an open world, maybe even put in some sandbox features like Breath of the Wild. An infinite world like minecraft, and most importantly I'll add some feature that (after intense training) permits the slow growth of the BASE STATS OF ALL POKEMON, so that with enough hard work any pkmn can beat any other pkmn like in the anime.

 

[trubbish-eat-rubbish]

This is going to be long...

Spoiler

No more "one game for the price of two". My games would take place in alternate dimension versions of the same Region. The Pokémon distribution would be vastly different between the two games. So there'd be a lot of version exclusives, giving the player an incentive to trade. Since the distribution is wildly different, the games would have different Pokédexes. You would only be able to trade between two different copies of the same game until you get the National Pokédex, when trades between Game 1 and Game 2 would be unlocked. So you'd be able to complete the Regional Pokédex with barely any trading, whilst needing trade to complete the National Dex. Why "barely any trading"? Well, because some Pokémon, both in the Regional and National Pokédexes, would be exclusives of certain translations of the games, to encourage trading between different parts of the world.

The Gym Leaders and Champion would be the same characters, but they'd have wildly different teams, with their only unchanged Pokémon being their ace which would be a Pokémon introduced in these games. There would be no Elite Four, the League instead being similar to the one in SwSh and the ones in the anime.

Spoiler: Evil teams

The evil team would be different depending on the game. Game 1 would have a silly comedy relief evil team, and Game 2 would have well-intentioned extremists. Since Team Comedy Relief is so silly and Team Well-Intentioned Extremists does have some good points, they'd go largely unchecked besides you beating a few Grunts here and there until they screw up big time and put the Region in danger. Both Teams have Grunts that steal Pokémon, so after you beat them, you'd get a chance to catch their Pokémon with special Poké Balls, kinda like Shadow Pokémon in GO. Then you'd send the Pokémon to some sort of foster home that's part of the Daycare, where the Pokémon would stay until the postgame, when the Daycare Couple would task you with finding their Trainers, giving you a couple of clues. Each time you return a stolen Pokémon to their Trainer, they'd reward you with an item. After you've returned all the stolen Pokémon, the Daycare Couple would give you a Manaphy Egg.

Team Comedy Relief would seem like petty dumb punks who steal Pokémon and just want to cause trouble at first, but their Admins and Leader would be actual cunning, competent people who put on a facade of dumb violent punks because they know they'll never be taken seriously and as such left unchecked until they reach their goal. Team Well-Intentioned Extremists would be some sort of nationalists that are obsessed with protecting the Region due to a large offscreen war that the Leader lived through, and do such by stealing Pokémon from Trainers they deem too weak to use them to protect the Region. The Leader would be genuine about his crazy beliefs and end up trying to catch the Box Legendary to ensure he's powerful enough to protect the Region. The Grunts would mainly just be extremist thugs, though.

The final battle against both Leaders would have them use the Box Legendary under some sort of mind control artifact that also makes the thing insanely powerful. You'd team up with your rivals in some sort of Raid Battle to stop the overpowered Pokémon, kinda like the Eternatus battle in SwSh. After the Legendary is defeated, your rivals would heal your Pokémon. Then the evil team admins would show up and go against your rivals, while you'd fight the Leader's actual team.

Spoiler: Trainer customisation

There would be customisation from the get go. You get to choose between default avatars like always, and then you go to a menu where you can change skin colour, eye colour, hair colour and select from a few simple hairstyles (that take into account different kinds of hair), as well as choose between simple clothing items. As you progress through the game, you'd be able to customise your character further, but you could actually play with a character that at least kinda looks like yourself from the start. Whatever choices you make regarding hair, eyes, and skin would affect your Mum's appearance as well, so she resembles her child. Whichever default avatar you choose would have no impact in the rest of the game besides your pronouns. No special items or Pokémon or being forced to use items of a certain colour. All players would get the same customisation options. The Pokédex and PokéGear clone would have special skins you can unlock, but you could choose from a small selection of colours from the get go. So no being forced to use blue because you're a boy or pink because you're a girl.

Spoiler: Pokédex

Speaking of the Pokédex, it'd be an improved version of the FRLG Dex, with a lot of classifications, but with a search function and the added classification of formes, Shiny forms, etc. The National Dex would be back and unlocked after becoming Champion just like before SwSh. It could be completed by trading, transferring from older games, and mixing records. Yes, record mixing would be back! The postgame would have a HUGE Safari Zone with weekly changing Pokémon, like the Great Marsh but giving you more time to catch changing Pokémon. Mixing records would affect the Pokémon that are found in the Safari Zone. Mixing records with someone who has a different language version of the same game would temporarily allow you to catch Pokémon exclusive to other languages in the Safari Zone. Mixing records with someone who has the other game would temporarily allow you to catch Pokémon exclusive to the other game. Mixing records with someone who has a different language version of the other game would be a mix of the two. And even though mixing records with someone who has a same language version of the same game wouldn't change the Pokémon found in the Safari Zone, it'd temporarily increase the chance to find Shiny Pokémon in it.

I think the Region could be based on Australia, because I think it's a really interesting place full of weird animals that'd make fantastic Pokémon. Wild Pokémon would live fully integrated with people and could be encountered anywhere, even indoors, though there would be rare Pokémon that live deep in the wilderness and in caves too.

Spoiler: Postgame

The postgame would include an island where "Region Fairs", parties that celebrate friendship with previous regions, are held every month. They'd include minigames related to the Region that's being celebrated that month. Winning at the minigames would give you tickets you can exchange for items such as Mega Stones, exclusive Pokémon, and special TMs with moves that are no longer available as TMs but that were back in the day. There'd also be a little tournament where you can battle Trainers from previous Regions. The tourney would be short and wouldn't feature many Trainers, but they'd be randomised so that you get to battle different Trainers on each iteration of the same Region Fair. Each Region Fair would feature a different gimmick, like Mega-Evolutions for Kalos and Dynamax for Galar. The price would be a bunch of Tickets and some item. Older regions with no such gimmicks would have stuff like Triple Battles. Region Fairs would be the only way to get certain Pokémon, such as Regional Forms, older Fossil Pokémon (which would only be obtainable in a digging minigame during the Sinnoh Fair, including the Galar Fossils, the latter of which wouldn't be able to be revived until the Galar Fair, where Cara Liss would make an appearance), Pokémon with Gigantamax Factor, etc.

Spoiler: DLC

There would be one DLC that features yet another island with a Battle Frontier! Or at least that's what the trailer would tell you... In reality, the Battle Frontier would be a ploy from a bunch of Pokémon Poachers to steal Trainers' Pokémon, including yours! You see, the Poachers stole a bunch of the same special Poké Balls that allowed you to catch Pokémon stolen by the evil teams. The shady guy who invites you to the Battle Frontier would offer to battle you and steal your Pokémon. You now have to choose between a bunch of Rental Pokémon and use them to battle against the Poachers until you finally find their leader, and find yourself battling your own team! After this whole story is over, you can play on the Battle Frontier normally.

Spoiler: Characters

The local professor studies alternate dimensions. Every way you have to interact with other players in this game was created by her or her father, who also studies dimensions.

You'd have three rivals/recurring characters you battle often.
1: A traditional rival, just a kid from your town who wants to be the Champion. Team is consistent yet strong. Makes it to the finals of the Pokémon League, but you beat her. After you become Champion, she challenges you once again, but, upon losing, she leaves to another Region to become stronger. You encounter her again in the next game, where she is the Champion.
2: A Trainer whose goal is to see every Pokémon in the world, and who is helping the Professor fill up the Pokédex. Team is not that strong but he always rotates it, so every time you battle him you won't know what you're going against. Ends up becoming the Frontier Brain of the Battle Factory.
3: An older teen explorer who just appears randomly to give you TMs that contain moves that used to be HMs you can use to travel throughout the Region. You battle next to her more often than you battle her. Turns out to have ran away from home because her overprotective mother thought Pokémon were dangerous and didn't let her go outside. Her dream is to explore the world.

After the League was modified to become more like the insanely popular Galar League, the Elite Four lost their positions. They become Frontier Brains in the DLC, and so does the former Champion.

Throughout the story, the Champion is out in Unova participating on the PWT. She comes back to her native region when she hears what the evil team did, but, when she arrives, you and your rivals already stopped them. She then goes back to defending her title as Champion. In the DLC, she becomes a Frontier Brain.

I really haven't thought much about the Gym Leaders and evil team Admins/Leaders honestly.

 

[RuinManiacNero]

A perfect game...

1. A large, double region with no less than 12 gyms (maybe even all type gyms).

2. A more serious story with a lot of characters, both teenagers and adults and ability to compete with your chosen character over your ideals. Or, alternatively, bond with a certain character up to CONSTANTLY participating in double battles together. Basically, you choose both your rival and friend in the journey.

3. Gyms are not buildings but caves, mountains, forest depths, temple ruins, etc - they must be found before and NONE of the npcs will tell you where there are, it's a secret! Each gym is difficult to navigate and has no less than 20 normal trainers before you reach the leader! (So you must prepare WELL ahead) As others said, the gyms are based around a THEME so if, for example, you encounter a 'secret ghost lovers club's gym in an abandoned building, you may expect ghost, poison, dark or even normal type pokemon depending on a trainer. You never know! Technically, no one calls it a gym at all, they call it 'Swimmers' beach' (water, poison, flying, ground gym) or 'Ghost lover club' (ghost, dark, poison, normal gym) or 'Conspiracy theory corner' (psychic, steel, electric, poison gym).

4. All trainers are very aggressive and not very sportsman-like. They attack you with the intent to BRING YOU DOWN. And they will often comment on you entering their turf. There will be no schoolboy trainers or preschoolers. Adults only! There will be more delinquents, police officers, soldiers, pilots, workers (not just construction, cafe workers too, for example). Every character in the game will own a pokemon and will be quite competitive. You may even lower some prices by battling a shop owner!

5. There is no pokemon center and annoying waiting times. Every town will offer a nice cozy inn where you and your pokemon will stay at. (And play at!) There will be no PC (what a dumb name) to insert pokemon into. They are completely physical creatures now. No pokeballs either. You buy some bait at the shop and go hunting!

6. There will be weather which affects pokemon and routes

7. No ultra modern towns or anything. Everything is lovely and detailed.

8. Your pokemon follow you and sometimes communicate with you (via face expressions, of course), reacting to your words and choices. They may also sense the enemy pokemon, warn you about danger or show you their affection before a decisive battle. You may also anger them if you treat them wrong and while they won't disobey you completely, angering them makes them less obedient in battle. They also act according to their nature. (For example, a timid Pokemon may be obedient even when treated badly but adamant one will show you what it's worth)
Even better, some pokemon may encourage some lifestyles! A gentle pokemon may want to visit a daycare while a sassy one will want to enter a contest. And lax one may just want to visit a cafe. You will find out that some pokemon match your personality and some don't!

(To be continued, this is fun!)