Juan in ORAS

[Boss1708]

Did you want Juan to be in ORAS, in some way? Or did you prefer not having him in the game?

I have been reading comments about that: some people wanted him in the game, but others were glad he was left out.

Personally, I only played Emerald from the gen III Hoenn games. So, Juan as the eight gym leader was only logical for me.

I happen to prefer Juan over Wallace (design wise, NOT character wise, I dislike both character wise), so I would have preferred him as the last gym leader, instead of Wallace.

But then again, this could have meant Wallace was the Champion, like in Emerald... and it would have been horrible, so I am glad they followed Ruby and Sapphire plot there, instead of Emerald's. I much prefer Steven over bothxD

He could have been the Contest rival, but Lisia is better I think. He could still be in the game somehow, but I don't know...

So, were you a) annoyed, b) glad, or c) neutral to his absence in ORAS?

Or did you think the mention he got in game was enough homage?

 

[Zeb]

I was kinda disappointed yeah. I would have liked to see him get an updated design. Even if they were remaking R/S and not Emerald, it seemed unfair to leave him out, especially when they were changing the games quite drastically in some ways anyway (Zinnia, Primals, Delta Episode, etc), so slotting him in, even in a minor role, wouldn't have been a big deal that upset any sort of balance.

 

[Esserise]

I have no profound interest in Juan one way or the other, so the character's absence on its own isn't an issue to me. However, I also think that it cannot have been *that* difficult to simply make them version-exclusive Gym Leaders like Drayden and Iris, except that would contradict the games' ethos that anything from Emerald needed to be kept at an arm's length at all times. So in the larger view, it is another example of OR/AS's steadfast refusal to experiment and modify and be anything more than just R/S in 3D, and I am not a fan of that.

 

[Almonds]

I have no objections because ORAS are remakes of RS not Emerald. Juan never existed in RS, so I can understand that the most they could give him was a mention, like that teasing nod to the Battle Frontier and the early form of the Match Call. The epilogue of the Delta Episode tells us that ORAS takes place before Emerald anyways, so I guess it's natural that Juan doesn't have anything to do in ORAS. So yeah, I think the mention is enough.

It would have been nice if he was indeed involved with Contests as a surprise opponent, like how you can compete against Wallace in Master Rank occasionally. Or if there was a need to give him something to do story-wise, they could have just used him instead of Lisia for the Contest story. But I like Lisia better because she's cute. Even if Pokemon is for everyone, kids play the games mostly and I think they'd rather have someone more their age as a Contest rival/tutorial guide than an old man.

 

[RedGoldRubyDiamondBlackX]

At least! Like Meta Boss, Emerald was the first game I ever played (in emulator ) and maybe they should have done it like Drayden and Iris, or at least a cameo or a reference from Wallace (due to... issues I don't have a 3DS so I can't play ORAS), but yeah, I prefer Steven's smug face than Wallace as a champion and Juan as Gym Leader and we already have Wallace as champion in the Delta Episode so whatever I think ORAS is great and the only thing it needed was a Mega Flygon.

 

[Soki]

I'm a bit disappointed, I've also only played Emerald and I quite liked Juan. Would have liked to at least meet him in ORAS, even if he only says one line to you or something. Would have loved it if he replaced Lisia (don't really care for her) or if you could at least compete against him in the contests.

Though after seeing what they did with Wallace's outfit, I dread what they would have done to him, so maybe it's for the best...

Or let him be a contest rival or something, that would've been great.

I have no objections because ORAS are remakes of RS not Emerald. Juan never existed in RS

Eusine only existed in Crystal and was in HGSS anyway, so that's no argument.

Or did you think the mention he got in game was enough homage?

Wait, he was mentioned in ORAS? I think I missed that, when was it?

 

[Boss1708]

I have no objections because ORAS are remakes of RS not Emerald. Juan never existed in RS, so I can understand that the most they could give him was a mention, like that teasing nod to the Battle Frontier and the early form of the Match Call. The epilogue of the Delta Episode tells us that ORAS takes place before Emerald anyways, so I guess it's natural that Juan doesn't have anything to do in ORAS. So yeah, I think the mention is enough.

It would have been nice if he was indeed involved with Contests as a surprise opponent, like how you can compete against Wallace in Master Rank occasionally. Or if there was a need to give him something to do story-wise, they could have just used him instead of Lisia for the Contest story. But I like Lisia better because she's cute. Even if Pokemon is for everyone, kids play the games mostly and I think they'd rather have someone more their age as a Contest rival/tutorial guide than an old man.

Yes, I agree with you on that Lisia is a better character (although Juan is probably younger than you think xD).

However, ORAS actually takes more elements from Emerald than people aknowledge. All of them occur during the post game and Delta Episode. Rayquaza being central to a plot, Wallace's Champion Team, one of the Teams taking over the Mosdeep Space Center, recieving other region starters from the professor, and many homage elements like those you mention, etc.

But yeah, I agree, ORAS can add whatever they want from Emerald, they don't have the obligation to, since it is based on RS.

And all the people saying HGSS added Crystal exclusive stuff, it is simply because Crystal barely added a few things to Gold/Silver, and most importantly, only added stuff. Emerald didn't only add elements to Ruby and Sapphire, it contradicts RS in many ways. So I think it only makes sense for ORAS to follow the original games more.

@Soki Yes, you have to defeat Wallace and/or Lisia (not sure, but I think it's both) in a contest in order to trigger it. ORAS loads of cool Easter Eggs like this.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

I wanted Juan to be gym leader in ORAS but of course it had to be Wallace because it is a remake of Ruby/Sapphire. I do recognize some of the stuff that is similar to Emerald such as team magma at space centre, Wallace's team at sky pillar, and Johto starters from professor. I do wish however that I got to see two primals fighting in Sootopolis and Mega Rayquaza coming to stop it but that might cause problems with the story. It was still a favorite of mine from Emerald. Emerald is an alternative story of Hoenn just like Crystal and I don't believe it contradict Ruby and Sapphire. I am fine with ORAS but I still have personal preferences that could have been included.

 

[godiego]

i think it would've been nice, but if GameFreak didn't even make a unique model for Professor Cozmo and he plays a larger role than Juan would......i doubt they'd've done it unless there was more Emerald in ORAS.

 

[Absent]

Seeing how this isn't Black & White where the Gym Leaders are actually characters, I didn't care for who the 8th Gym Leader was going to be. If Wallace/Juan were more important and prevalent I would've minded. Also I wouldn't care if you switched Wallace with Steven and vice versa.

 

[IncineROAR]

I don't really see ORAS as remakes of RS. Same basic storyline and region, but ORAS feel so much different. It's like they exist in a completely separate universe to RS. So the inclusion of Juan wouldn't have mattered to me in any way.

 

[Almonds]

I'm a bit disappointed, I've also only played Emerald and I quite liked Juan. Would have liked to at least meet him in ORAS, even if he only says one line to you or something. Would have loved it if he replaced Lisia (don't really care for her) or if you could at least compete against him in the contests.

Though after seeing what they did with Wallace's outfit, I dread what they would have done to him, so maybe it's for the best...

Or let him be a contest rival or something, that would've been great.


Eusine only existed in Crystal and was in HGSS anyway, so that's no argument.



Wait, he was mentioned in ORAS? I think I missed that, when was it?

First of all, this is ORAS not HGSS. They are two completely different games. Maybe they included a lot of Crystal stuff in HGSS, but just because they did it last time does not mean they should do the same thing every single time they do a remake - and while there are Emerald elements in ORAS, Juan was just not one of them. They've shown us breaking patterns, giving us things we never thought of, and taking away what we expected they'd keep. I think it's past the point of relying on previous games for proof when each game has their own identity.

And yes Juan was mentioned. During the Contest side-story, you can compete with Wallace at some point and you'll get to talk to Lisia and Wallace about Contests and they'll mention Juan.

 

[Bolt Strike]

Well there's not much point in having both in one game, so I can see why they didn't, but it would've been nice to see him as an Easter Egg of some sort.

 

[Lufenium]

If Game Freak could find room for Rayquaza, Aarune & mega evolution in OR/AS, then I'm sure they could have found room for Juan in some capacity. They just chose not to.

I personally prefer Wallace over Juan, so I'm glad Wallace was given the limelight, but Juan is an interesting character in himself. It would have been nice to see him appear in the Delta Episode, or possibly as a Master Contest opponent with his Kingdra.

 

[LordGarcholf]

I was disappointed he wasn't in ORAS. It's fine Wallace being the gym leader (you can't even re-battle them + RS story), but why replace Juan with Lisia since Juan was already known as the famous contest star?
Personally I'm not fond of ladies-man like characters and have nothing against Lisia either, but Juan was a damn hilarious the way he was; a source of odd humor and inside jokes, even annoyance, too. Imho in every game there should be characters which cause feelings, the positive and negative ones - makes the gaming experience more colorful. Not many of them in ORAS, Zinnia was annoying at some point but.. bleh!
And I was always curious if Juan got a more fabulous design. X'D If Z will have more content like contests or something like PWT, maybe there's a chance we'll see Juan again.

 

[PaulTheProtist]

He should've been in at least part of the game, even if only as a minor NPC. Eusine was in HGSS, after all.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Well, hard to say. I find Juan marginally less annoying than Wallace, but then Steven's constant "thinky pose" steadily got on my nerves during my play through of Alpha Sapphire ... so I suppose on the whole it makes no difference to me

 

[Boss1708]

Well, hard to say. I find Juan marginally less annoying than Wallace, but then Steven's constant "thinky pose" steadily got on my nerves during my play through of Alpha Sapphire ... so I suppose on the whole it makes no difference to me

I definitely find Wallace kinda irritating, more than his mentor, but more during the main plot. During the Delta Episode he isn't annoying at all. He really wants to help. It's some evolution at least.

But Steven is my favourite Champion, easily.

 

[EmpoleonProd]

He is mentioned, among other Emerald characters like Pike Queen Lucy, Dome Ace Tucker, and Scott. It's a shame we haven't gotten some sort of DLC to add the Frontier and a bunch of Emerald characters.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

He is mentioned, among other Emerald characters like Pike Queen Lucy, Dome Ace Tucker, and Scott. It's a shame we haven't gotten some sort of DLC to add the Frontier and a bunch of Emerald characters.

DLC wouldn't be a good idea for a pokemon main series game. Not all people can gain access to it and it is better to just keep the events in the game rather than downloading a small piece of content that won't do much in the game.