Speculation Will Pokemon Gyms return after Gen VII

[Morningstar]

The way I see it (especially with remakes) if that there is a chance that Gyms will return, hoever, moving forward there is also a chance for them to eschewed for various regional replacements for boss fights. It would still be a formulaic clash testing your knowledge of your type chart leading up tot eh E4, but the opponents, context and puzzles will be different.

 

[Matleo]

I think they will do tchem in the new anime and in third instalment game of SM it will also hapen.

 

[Zeb]

I don't want them to return, at least not yet, because I want them to continue experimenting with other ideas. I refuse to believe the entire Pokemon world hangs on gyms as its entire existence.

Not to mention I just preferred the more natural aspect of the trials, where you aren't subject to running a dangerous assault course with a giant pit of death below. Going into a cave or a jungle or climbing a mountain or visitng the old abandoned super market were way more interesting than shoving some nonsensical death trap maze into a building and telling you to get to the end (especially after 6 generations of it). And it felt more like an adventure that way.

Maybe trials didn't have enough battling with trainers, but I don't think that justifies reverting to gyms after one game without them. There's work refining things that could be done and implementing things that did work in both.

I also think more boss style wild Pokemon battles like Totem Pokemon are good for the series on top of its human boss characters.

But do I think they will return? Probably, yeah.

 

[Silktree]

Give me Totem-like bosses as well as fleshed out human bosses (like the Kahunas and some trial captains), and I'll be fine with anything.

 

[DoctorWhy]

I'm sure they'll be back. Maybe not in every game, but they're definitely not gone for good.

 

[@ngel]

Definitely want them to for sure in the next gen. I liked the novelty of the trials in Alola, but this should stay a novelty in my opinion.

Although I wouldn't mind if they came up with a new idea for gyms. Something new and fresh is always nice.

 

[GhostLucario]

I think they will and I want them to.
Island trials is something that feels like it belongs to Alola, something only the region has like contests in Hoenn and Sinnoh, or the Musical in Unova (I know it's not the same thing, but it's the closest thing there is).
And it can sort of be excused considering there was no Pokemon League, but now there is one.

The other thing is that I prefer gyms because they are more focused on battles, I love the puzzles you had to solve to get to the leader. The gym leaders themselves felt more important, it was more of a feeling of satisfaction to beat them.... I just hope they return with better teams, movepools, well-thought strategies.... something the trials were severely lacking. For me a gym was more challenging (except the gyms in XY, XY sucks).

 

[Lufenium]

Do I think trials will return? Not outside of Alola, no. Do I think they could create something else to avoid going back to gyms straight away? Possibly.

People reacted really positively to the trials, and I think it really opened up a new direction for Pokemon to take - the gyms were absent from the game and people still loved it. I echo the sentiments of others posting here that trials felt more natural and intertwined into Alola's culture and history, far more than gyms ever did in other regions.

In Gen VIII I wouldn't mind gyms returning, but I would prefer to see something different like the trials.