RSE What a Team!

[vaporeon7]

Quote: Professor Birch (Emerald)
"Oh, <player>! Imagine seeing you here! And where might my Brendan/May be?"
"Oh, I see! You two are running separately. Well, that's fine."

As shown above, one of the things Professor Birch asks you in Emerald is where your rival is, implying that he though you were both going to be travelling together through Hoenn. Of course, this isn't the case and you go solo. But what if you and your rival travelled together like Ash and May? Do you think it'd make for a more enjoyable game? How would you like to see it work? Do you think it could be possible?

Discuss!

[Sydian]

If it meant all wild encounters were double battles and Brendan healed my team after each battle, I would be a-okay with it. :P Though even if he didn't heal my team afterwards, I still think it would have been interesting, however then you probably wouldn't get to team up against Maxie at the Space Station with Steven, unless Brendan goes off to do something else. -shrug-

[vaporeon7]

I think it'd be cool if for part of the game they joined up with you and then for gym battles and major battles, you battled separately. Surf, Fly and using your bike would be interesting though.

[Diversion]

It's pretty interesting, you get help from the other player.
This is a pretty good idea, but it won't make the game challenging cuz the other player HELPS you too.

[Brendino]

It could be exciting near the beginning of the game, if your rival followed you around for a little bit, pointing out things like how to catch a Pokemon, teaching you about double battles, healing your Pokemon, etc. By the time you get to Rustboro (maybe even by Petalburg) it might get a little annoying though, so maybe it's for the best that they didn't go with this route and have Brendan/May follow you around the majority of the game.

[EternallyAnna]

I do think it would have been fun for Brendan/May to team up with the player through certain segments of the game- Littleroot to Rustboro, Slateport to Mauville, Mt. Pyre, one or two Team Hideouts. That kind of thing. It could be fun to have the option to go through Victory Road and the E4 as a team, too. But I don't really know... in all instances, having a partner that can heal all the 'mon is a bit cheap. So I suppose the player would have to be responsible for healing the 'mon after/during battles. I suppose the rival could give you some healing items to use (or not). I dunno, it'd be fun but a bit complicated.

[LilJz1234]

I think it would be pretty fun. Having someone walk around with you. That little detail could make the game seem more fun. Also, when you're having double battles, your partner could also join up with you.

But the idea of your partner healing your Pokemon a lot seems quite unappealing for me, maybe she could give you items from time to time like a Pokemon with the pickup ability? Not healing your Pokemon, that's kind of an overkill for the game x)

[Cosmotone8]

I don't think that's really necessary. I say have them just team up with you occasionally to go through caves and stuff like in DPPt. If you're going to have someone follow you, let it be a Pokemon like in HGSS.

[Isseubnida]

It would be an interesting concept, especially in RBGY and FrLg, with Misty and Brock theirselves.

[LiquidRage]

I think if that were to happen, it could be a final fantasy-ish setting. You could switch out which member you want to use and then use the pokemon on their team. You would also fight multiple pokemon at once. I imagine it like the super pokemon rpg: Eevee edition or whatever it's called.

[Ash493]

If the partner was May, I would go for it! xD
But yeah, LiquidRage has a point... it could have been done RPG-style... which would be cool but that's not something Pokémon will ever have...

[glitchguy]

It would definitely would be interesting to see but i think it'd make the game too easy maybe they could team up once in a while to defeat the villainous teams and maybe also team up against Liza and Tate.

[JustChillin810]

Well, it would get annoying fast because every battle would have to be a double battle and you would have no control over what your partner would be doing. Although my style of battling is having a balanced team that are a few levels under your opponents strongest pokémon and your partner would most likely have a fairly leveled team that could demolish your opponents team.

Originally Posted by glitchguy

It would definitely would be interesting to see but i think it'd make the game too easy maybe they could team up once in a while to defeat the villainous teams and maybe also team up against Liza an Tate.

I agree to everything you say and I would like to add that a lot of the fun of the game is the creativity it takes to create the perfect team and that this would take away from the fun in the game. It took me 35+ hours to do everything I wanted to do before the Elite Four. If you had a partner, you could complete the game in 20 hours or under.

[AlexTheRose]

Oh my gosh I thought it would've been the coolest thing! I kind of wanted to implement it in a ROM hack sometime, but to no avail.

I think that it would be a good idea for the rival to refrain from healing your Pokémon, though. It'd make it too easy if he/she did :/.

And as for following you around everywhere, I kind of want to stick to the idea of he/she coming with you on certain segments of the game - for instance on the trip from Rustboro to Slateport or during the whole legendary story sequence in Emerald. Now, there's a thought!