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Speculation Gen 9 Predictions (Development predictions, New Regions, Version names)

Sheep40

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I've kind of become infamous on the SS bracket because of my elaborate, fanfiction-esque predictions of the game before release. I do have a really active imagination, especially towards my passions (Pokemon being one of them), so let me share some of my latest.

Development time: Given the epic backlash to SS' november-rushed release date, Nintendo and GF may begin to change their development priorities following the release of the rumored Eternatus-Themed third version. It is at this point that, for all intents and purposes, Gen 8 ends, due to a variety of factors:
  1. Not wanting to risk further controversy by rushing the development of the remakes of what are arguably the most beloved games of the franchise (aside from the first), Nintendo and TPCI take a hands-off approach and allow Game Freak and Genius Sorority an extended development time for the DP remakes.
  2. Said DP remakes are mechanically much different from SS and the rumored Eternatus Version. They use the unreal engine, and have different mechanics (these lack a gimmick outright, have no wild area; instead having a completely controllable camera as well as redesigned routes, have a modified underground section that serves as a series of randomly generated dungeons chalice-dungeon style due to interference courtesy of Giratina).
  3. The division of labour between the companies. GF handles the programming and design whilst GS handles the visual design in its entirety. This results in all-new models for the 450-strong dex, more of a stadium/battle revolution-like quality to the battles themselves, among other quality of life improvements.
The DP remakes, are for all intents and purposes, are transitional as the Let's Go games were. They are not backwards compatible with SS in terms of communication but are compatible with Pokemon Home. The likely development time for these games is 4 years, resulting in a late 2024/early 2025 release date.

Then, for a further 3 years of development towards the new original versions using lessons learned from the DP remakes, the two primary versions of gen 9 are revealed.

The names are Niello and Champleve, a reference to decorative materals (champleve is a stereotypically white porcelain-like glass and Niello is a shiny black metal), with both of the game logos depicted a plaque surrounding the titles, tipped at the right with a helmet (Niello's depicts a very gothic rendition of a knight's burgonet whilst champleve's changes per whatever region they choose as for cultural appropriateness, thus dictating that the version legendaries are humanoid warriors), as part of a desire to ape BW, which tie with DP for esteem in the fandom. Nintendo hopes to live up to the promise they made before SWSH, and claims these games will totally revolutionize the franchise.

Prior to development, a third company is brought in to help, namely with the writing and world-building. This will most likely be Intelligent Systems.

As for the regions, I have envisioned three, all based off of areas Pokemon would do well to adapt. All of them would be the largest regions to date, being about the size of four HGSS maps (the DP remakes had maps about 2x the size of HGSS)

  1. Illystrius: The only region in the franchise to be based of a country that no longer exists (In this case Yugoslavia, particularly Communist Yugoslavia as there is a portion of the game that represents the Vardar river basin, which is in Macedonia), Illystrius (a combination of an archaric term for the west balkans and an "illustrious") is seemingly as shining as it's name suggests, having risen from a history of being either a vassal or a colony of surrounding cultures and protracted civil unrest to become a beacon of technology and tourism; its transhumance-based variant of the gym challenge (which is themed after combat sports, taking place in an octagon) attracting worldwide attention for the intensity and passion of its trainers. However, the brightest lights often cast the darkest shadows: the pokemon league is rampantly corrupt, as are the many tech companies, often under the control of shady political factions that have relations to the region's villanous teams, which are quite powerful. Illystrius is a very fairytailish region in design and very beautiful. It's highly cavernous and is based heavily around a light-dark divide in all things, integrating motifs from both western (and more commonly) slavic fairytales in both design and plot. The helmet depicted on Champleve version's logo is a Turban helmet, signifying the Ottoman inspiration of it's legendary
  2. Camlornia: Despite it's name, Camlornia is based off of Germany. It's a heavily forested region is famed for it's advanced technology and commitment to it's history; the pokemon league is a medieval-style guild, and trainers are journeymen. This has the closest Pokemon League to the classic games. The biker-based villainous team is contrasted against a glorified urban watch type of organization, both of which are kept in constant conflict by a conspiracy that is potentially ancient. The people of this region are renowned for their toughness, solemn attidute, and (humorously) harsh language. It has many arthurian inspirations (a significant part of the arthurian mythos are german in origin), including an area known as the valley of kings, numerous castles, and the like. The region has a fairly foreboding atmosphere; it's cold, many ancient ruins abound, and much of it is dark and mysterious forests. There is a strong Grimm motif in some of it to contrast the Arthurian, almost to suggest humanity and pokemon having to fight their baser instincts. Champleve version's logo depicts a sallet, signifying that this warrior is based off of a knight.
  3. Volhynn: This region, themed after both european russia (up to kalmykia) and surrounding areas (baltic states, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova) is kind of a magnification of Illyustrius: It's beautiful, lush, and pompous culturally, but cannot hide its social problems, which the pokemon league serves as a distraction from (even though it's largely under the control of largely the same forces responsible for making life in the region such a hassle). It's twin villanous teams are the scout-esque pioneers vs gopniks (what else?) It's an immensly varied region geographically, the only one of which has a desert accessible prior to the postgame (the closest camlornia gets is the underground), and has a strong basis in russian fairytales and mythology (there's an alternate dimension consisty of a golden city and castle hidden in the reflection of a lake, for example). It's a quirky region, in which complete humorous randomness an absurdity is par the course for life there (an ursaring riding a man riding a motorcylce can be seen in numerous roadways, for example). The helmet depicted on Champleve version is again a turban-type, though in context this signifies the basis of a caucasian-warrior-inspired pokemon. (caucasian warriors often look different from ottoman ones despite the similarities).

So, what do you think? are any of these likely? How much would you like any of these predictions to pan out? Comment below! :D
 
No offense, but they are not going to take 4 years for remakes or 7 years for the next generation. We'd be lucky to see a break this year.

I think we should all avoid assumptions that start with "these will be the best games ever!" because that never ends well. ORAS were generally more anticipated than DP remakes, by the way.
 
I never said they would be. There are a ton of somwhat controversial points with these that are probably going to preclude universal fan love of these predicted game's. They're not for this exact thread though.
 
With all this information, I don't see Pokemon taking this year off, although, I can see 2021 being where they take a year off so Gen 9 can be developed further. There is already a third company involved with Pokemon, that's Creatures Inc.

Being on topic though, Spain is a good candidate for what the new region is going to be based on.
 
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With all this information, I don't see Pokemon taking this year off, although, I can see 2021 being where they take a year off so Gen 9 can be developed further. There is already a third company involved with Pokemon, that's Creatures Inc.

Being on topic though, Spain is good candidate for what the new region is going to be based on.

My own predictions on the new region is that it will be based on China.

And this is something that while fun, It causes me some disconfort: region predictions. For me it's a sign of how a certain formula is beated, because people are already expecting only one region in a game, GF has been returning to Europe between generations and so the question is what comes next. It seems like Assassin's Creed where players also do this and almost everything (gameplay-wise) follows the same script, only changing the region and having some new feature. I started playing and loved Pkmn for being a game based on Japan and I still think that Japan can give us a couple more regions so why not going back and use this opportunity to actually improve and think about the foundations of the gaem. We had so many Kanto being shoved into the games but no rethinking, no actual remake where Kanto grows beyong a handful of cities and simple routes to a propoer region that has all the opportunities that were made with each new game but forgotten or dropped for the next ones.
 
With all this information, I don't see Pokemon taking this year off, although, I can see 2021 being where they take a year off so Gen 9 can be developed further. There is already a third company involved with Pokemon, that's Creatures Inc.

Being on topic though, Spain is a good candidate for what the new region is going to be based on.
I don't think that they would have two European regions back to back.
 
I'm not sure If there will be a 9th gen game. It's now hard thinking about something of new and innovative at the moment.
 
I'm not sure If there will be a 9th gen game. It's now hard thinking about something of new and innovative at the moment.
Game Freak always finds a way that we're not thinking of. As someone who has played Pokemon since Gen 4, I see many cases of Game Freak finding ways to continue the franchise.
 
I don't think that they would have two European regions back to back.

Japan has been done back to back four times. Furthermore, This is eastern europe we're talking about, much different from western.

I actually think that the secondary version would be called Ivory. Unlike champleve, it's actually traditional to arts in all three real world inspirations, and it rolls of the tongue easier.
 
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Japan has been done back to back four times. Furthermore, This is eastern europe we're talking about, much different from western.

I actually think that the secondary version would be called Ivory. Unlike champleve, it's actually traditional to arts in all three real world inspirations, and it rolls of the tongue easier.
I was talking about Poke Dragon and his thoughts about the region being based on Spain. Your first comment is just down to what TVTropes called Early Installment Weirdness.
 
Not really marketable to the main demographic of children and early teens... And I doubt the general public even knows what these things are. I didn’t for one.
Agree. The Pokémon games, and other series that have more than one version, tend to have names that are pretty simple. Example: Red & Blue/Green, Dusk & Dawn, Power & Speed, etc.
 
I think it'll come out depending on when we have a gap year, but if there is none, I could totally see DP remakes this year and Gen 9 next. Or gap year this year, DP remakes 2021, Gen 2022.

Region wise, I have a feeling it wont be a region based on the US, Europe, or Japan. I think it'll be set far away, maybe somewhere in Southeast Asia and visually I think it'll be a huge leap from Sw/Sh visuals as response to the criticism during Sw/Sh pre-release.

I don't expect the national dex to return.
I think that routes will be replaced with wild areas, and the game wont follow the traditional gym structure, but something different like S/M did.
 
Please note: The thread is from 2 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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