Content warning for mentions of death. This is a contentious and sensitive topic, so if you don't feel ready to discuss it, feel free to go back.
One thing that the main games have not done yet is killing off a major character, either onscreen or offscreen. Generally, whenever death is brought up, it's that of a minor, usually nameless character (e.g. Alder's starter Pokémon, the man in the house in Anistar City, the Faller that died while in a mission with Looker and Nanu, Emma's parents, one of the Eeveelution specialists, the kings of Galar, Kamado and Beni's comrades, etc.) or the ghost of someone who has already long since passed (e.g. the mother Marowak). Sure, Lysandre is implied to have died in X/Y, but that was never outright confirmed, and there's just as much evidence for him still being at large. The PLA characters are also dead in the present time, but since the game is pretty much a period piece, they don't count either.
What I'm talking about is either having a main character perish during the main campaign - or, failing that, mentioning the offscreen death of a major character from a previous Pokémon game, like a Gym Leader, Professor or facility head. Naturally, Pokémon fan games have been ahead of the curve in this aspect. Nearly every well-known fan game features at least one death, from the airport name homage to the late Professor Oak in Xenoverse (which takes place 30 years after RBY) to the brutal, gruesome plot deaths in games like Reborn, Rejuvenation and Insurgence.
My question is, do you think the canon Pokémon games should start working in character deaths in any of the forms mentioned above? If so, how do you believe should they be tackled?
One thing that the main games have not done yet is killing off a major character, either onscreen or offscreen. Generally, whenever death is brought up, it's that of a minor, usually nameless character (e.g. Alder's starter Pokémon, the man in the house in Anistar City, the Faller that died while in a mission with Looker and Nanu, Emma's parents, one of the Eeveelution specialists, the kings of Galar, Kamado and Beni's comrades, etc.) or the ghost of someone who has already long since passed (e.g. the mother Marowak). Sure, Lysandre is implied to have died in X/Y, but that was never outright confirmed, and there's just as much evidence for him still being at large. The PLA characters are also dead in the present time, but since the game is pretty much a period piece, they don't count either.
What I'm talking about is either having a main character perish during the main campaign - or, failing that, mentioning the offscreen death of a major character from a previous Pokémon game, like a Gym Leader, Professor or facility head. Naturally, Pokémon fan games have been ahead of the curve in this aspect. Nearly every well-known fan game features at least one death, from the airport name homage to the late Professor Oak in Xenoverse (which takes place 30 years after RBY) to the brutal, gruesome plot deaths in games like Reborn, Rejuvenation and Insurgence.
My question is, do you think the canon Pokémon games should start working in character deaths in any of the forms mentioned above? If so, how do you believe should they be tackled?