But seriously, I have been playing Pokemon since the days of Pokemon Red. Back then I thought you could only get Charizard if you picked the red one. I mocked my friend who picked blue. Who wanted that turtle thing anyway? Charizard is a dragon! I still feel sorry for that charizard. I was sort of clueless back then and it seemed that most of my chosen Pokemon couldn't learn the HMs that the game dumped on me. So that poor charizard had a move list that consisted of Flamethrower, Dig, Fly and Cut. Fortunately, I have gotten better since then.
Alright, I'm going to toss a Pokemon game at you. Let's see if you can figure out which one I'm talking about. A young trainer meets with a professor and is given a pokemon and a pokedex to start their journey. They encounter some bad guys along the way, but due to their friendship with their pokemon, they defeat them. In the end, they face the Pokemon League and become the champion.
I'm sure anyone who has followed Pokemon lately is already nodding at my sarcasm and going 'I get it, you're describing every game.' Well, you'd be wrong. In Pokemon Black and White 2, you get your starter from a professors assistant.
Will X and Y be the same? Well, spoilers if you don't want to know anything. But the game's pokemon professor and bad guys have already been revealed.
"We're here to be the bad guys in this 'Pokemon Red' thing, are we late?"
So yes, I am expecting there to be to be some of the same sorts of plot points. However, I have some hopes. Lets look at how Pokemon bad guys have gone.
We start off with Giovanni, the head of Team Rocket, the bad guys in Generation 1. So what was Team Rocket up to? They want to use Pokemon in the pursuit of illegal goals. Fair enough. They're also meanies who don't believe in the heart of the car... Pokemon. Once Giovanni is defeated, he realizes the error of his ways.
As for Generation 2, the bad guys are... Team Rocket. What's left of them, anyway. They're pretty sure that their boss is going to return. Your character ends up disbanding them and everyone is happy.
Generation 3. For the first time, we have different bad guys based on which game you are playing. Before Emerald, you either found yourself facing Team Magma in Ruby or Team Aqua in Sapphire. Their goals were to either expand the world's land, or expand the world's sea, respectively.
"Then we all die from the resulting global cataclysm, GENIUS!"
Once again, you teach the error of their ways before wandering off to finish your goal to become the very best, like other people already were, until you beat them and take their place.
Generation 4 gave us Team Galactic. Now here, I believe, is where things start to change. For one, Team Galactic was smart enough to have a legitimate business face. Their did research into Pokemon energies. By not simply yelling 'we are evil' at the world, they got people to donate pokemon to them. What was their goal? Their boss, Cyrus, wanted to capture the Pokemon of Time and the Pokemon of Space and use them to rewrite the world in his own image and become a god.
Well.. we've certainly stepped forwards a bit from 'using pokemon to commit crimes' haven't we? And, for the first time, when you defeat him, he does not say 'by losing a Pokemon battle, I realize that bad stuff is bad, and will be good from now on.' He is last seen swearing revenge on the player.
Generation 5 takes it another step forwards. Team Plasma, like Team Galactic, pretended to have the best interest of pokemon at heart. But they were trying to get people to release pokemon so that the region would be weakened for take over. At the end, you head to the Pokemon League, as usual, but then.. this happens.
"How did they construct a giant, underground castle without anyone noticing?"
A giant castle bursts from the ground and attacks the Pokemon League itself. Something like this has never happened before. Unlike in the previous games, where the 'final battle' is a fight against the Pokemon League champion, with nothing but at title at stake, the end of Pokemon Black and White is a final 'dungeon' of the Plasma castle. You face off against N, who really did think he was helping Pokemon, before having a final battle with Ghetsis. And he doesn't reform after a Pokemon beating either.
For the first time, Pokemon games get a direct sequel, rather than a remake. In Pokemon Black and White 2, Ghetsis is back to try again. A villain in a Pokemon game returning? MADNESS. Team Plasma was also flying around in an airship blasting cities with a giant freeze cannon.
"No, seriously, where DO they get those wonderful toys?"
It's like an actual PLOT is happening. Like the bad guys matter for more than some grunts you have to battle now and then. It feels like, if you fail, BAD STUFF WILL HAPPEN. If you haven't seen it, you should check out the anime trailer for it HERE. I think the stuff we see there is better than anything the real anime has.
So, I started all this by talking about X and Y. My point is, it seems like Pokemon is getting a bit more serious. Sure, Pokemon aren't exploding in pools of blood. I don't think we'll see any games that start with your characters parents being murdered in front of them, and your character taking their last Pokemon on a journey of vengeance. Truthfully, I wouldn't even want that. I like the Pokemon games for being fun. The stakes can be high without it ever getting into Game of Thrones territory.
The idea of a story based around 'kid with Pokemon encounters bad guys' can be more, as Black and White are showing. Not to insult Game Freak, but I really feel like pokemon has been spinning it's wheels for a long time. It's been a simple matter of 'new game introduces some new pokemon and moves.' The only games that have felt a little different have been the spin-off games where you steal Pokemon from other trainers.. but you're the good guy, honest.
For the first time, Pokemon are moving into the wonderful world of 3D. I don't mean the kind that pops out of the screen, either, but actually modeled Pokemon. We'll be getting animations for attacking and similar things. I know they will be limited, but it's a lot less limited than the non-moving sprites we've had for 4 generations, or even the animated sprites from Gen 5.
Okay, so they're using later technology, does that mean that these games will really be that different? It also sounds like they've been listening to players. Information released has pointed to EVs and IVs being easier to figure out. I'm guessing there'll be some NPC who tells you things about them. The way Pokemon goes, he'll probably say 'this Pokemon's speed isn't very good' instead of giving you numbers. Just guessing of course. So what else, well, character customization for one.
"Wow, hair AND skin color?"
It seems limited, though we can't say until the full game is out. It just feels like Pokemon has to be dragged kicking and screaming into anything new. But if they have to take baby steps, that's better than them not taking steps at all. Of course, you may be wondered why I'm not addressing the donphan in the room. The somewhat controversial introduction of the Fairy Type.
"Hi! I'm here to destroy dragons!"
The Fairy type will be super effective against dragons. According to the guy who has been leaking information, they will also be immune to dragon type attacks. Whether or not that is true, this is big news. Dragons are all over the higher tiers in Pokemon. This is going to shake things up a bit, and I think that is a good thing. If everyone is stuck on the same teams and the same strategies, things get kind of stale. No one type should be 'the best'. As of now, dragons are only countered by ice and.. yet more dragons. Don't get me wrong, I dig dragons, just look at my icon and all. But I think this is a big sign that they are trying to change things with this game, that they want this game to be 'different.'
If they are going into this game with a concept of 'lets make a new Pokemon game' and not 'lets make another Pokemon game', this could be the best Pokemon game to come along in some time. After all, when I talk to people who haven't played since Gen 2, they never ask me what happened in the plot. It's 'what pokemon were added?' 'is this ability new?' or 'What the heck is Eviolite?'
Maybe this is the game where things start to change. Maybe we'll be able to link up with our friends and interact in new ways. Maybe our characters will be able to unlock new outfits to show off how cool they are. Maybe the bad guys will do something unexpected and shocking. Maybe someone will run around wielding a Honedge like a weapon because THAT WOULD JUST BE AWESOME.
Or, you know, maybe you'll defeat Team Flare, they'll see the error of their ways, then you'll have a friendly battle with the current Pokemon League Champion.
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