Gladion

Started by pkmin3033 July 2nd, 2017 11:18 PM
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A trainer who unofficially works for Team Skull, brother to Lillie and Lusamine's son, Gladion functioned as something of a rival character to the player. He later became President of the Aether Foundation at the end of the game and, in the aftermath of USUM's announcement, this concept art - later debunked as fake - were "leaked" on the internet.

But it does raise an interesting question - what role would you like Gladion to have in these games? If a sequel/continuation to SM, how do you imagine he'll fit into the story as the Aether Foundation's new President? If an alternate setting, would you like to see him as a member of Team Skull again, or as something else?

Seen January 6th, 2023
Posted March 31st, 2021
56 posts
9.2 Years
Gladion was nice and all, but I really feel like there was something missing to him--something that just did not make him feel complete as a rival, or even a character in general.

I wouldn't mind him being in the Aether Foundation this time, but I feel like that would mean that we'd have missed the opportunity to expand more upon his character. The game would be banking upon the fact that we know all about him due to the earlier installment, but due to the fact that he never got the chance to have any development to begin with would just make the interaction empty rather than something meaningful.

However, him being in Team Skull again would just feel rehashed. There wouldn't be anywhere for him to go from there either that we haven't seen from him.

What I'm hoping for is something completely different. Maybe like him and Lillie in opposite sides to what they were before (which would also be great on showing Lillie as well). No idea, but that's just what I want.

Overall, he has a ton of potential and these new installments might make him into a really great and memorable character.

Nah

Age 30
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Gladion was one of the best characters in SM. He is made in a brilliant way.
How so?
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Hikamaru

Age 30
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Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
I loved Gladion as a character, but like some of the others mentioned, we didn't get to battle him much. Ever since that one piece of fake artwork of him in an Aether Foundation getup, I would love to see him actually become the President of Aether Foundation, but I also hope we get more development for him.
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Morioh
Seen October 29th, 2017
Posted September 22nd, 2017
811 posts
14.4 Years
As much as I love Gladion, I do feel like his development was rushed, he simply wasn't seen enough for his development to be effective, he kinda felt like a bootleg Silver, although Gladion was never truly an asshole, just angsty. I wanna see him more in USUM, if it's a Platinum type game, let him appear in Melemele sometime, maybe surprise us with a battle, if his Null is too OP for that time he could use Porygon or Riolu instead. I wanna see more of his interactions with Team Skull too and maybe push a bit more at first that he's a threat, and then he'll slowly warm up to you until the battle at Aether happens. Honestly when I first played SM I was so confused that he was teaming up with me when he hated us not even two trials ago. I love Gladion, but please give him a bigger role.

Nah

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What do you mean? His appearance in SM speaks for itself. He is definitely better of the two siblings.
just want to hear, in detail, why you like Gladion so much is all
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jombii

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Seen June 28th, 2019
Posted April 13th, 2019
3,412 posts
8.9 Years
I hope we get a Gladion's Aether Foundation, one that is really committed to their cause and not just a front for shady activity. Plus, we might get more out of Type: Null or Silvally, like more spotlight. From the announcement pre-SuMo, I really believed that it would play a bigger part than just "being on Gladion's team."
Age 28
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Seen September 24th, 2018
Posted July 3rd, 2018
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13.1 Years
I hope we get a Gladion's Aether Foundation, one that is really committed to their cause and not just a front for shady activity. Plus, we might get more out of Type: Null or Silvally, like more spotlight. From the announcement pre-SuMo, I really believed that it would play a bigger part than just "being on Gladion's team."
As did I...
If this is an alternative version then maybe they could make it that Gladion never stole it from Lusamine. And instead Lusamine uses it to battle the Ultra Beasts.
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Palamon

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I'd like to see Gladion's role altered and explained. Make him a member of the Aeither Foundation this time around, and give us more to him than what we got in S/M. Sure, him being a member of Team Skull (kinda) was alright, but I always found him to be Edgelord Supreme without much development. Either way, I feel like I'd like to see this happen.

also maybe he can have nebby this time. joking, of course
As did I...
If this is an alternative version then maybe they could make it that Gladion never stole it from Lusamine. And instead Lusamine uses it to battle the Ultra Beasts.
There are three Type: Null in existence, so how about if both happened? Be a bit of a blow to Lusamine if her Type: Null never evolved and failed, prompting Gladion to swoop in with his Silvally...which could evolve at that point, even.

Honestly, I felt that - much like everything else about him - Gladion's Type: Null evolving into Silvally was a waste of potential development. Evolving to battle the beasts to save his psychotic mother would be a better reason than just "oh, it's been with me a really long time now" or something.
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There are three Type: Null in existence, so how about if both happened? Be a bit of a blow to Lusamine if her Type: Null never evolved and failed, prompting Gladion to swoop in with his Silvally...which could evolve at that point, even.

Honestly, I felt that - much like everything else about him - Gladion's Type: Null evolving into Silvally was a waste of potential development. Evolving to battle the beasts to save his psychotic mother would be a better reason than just "oh, it's been with me a really long time now" or something.
Yeah. It would've been better if he accompanied Lillie and the Player. His Type: Null could've evolved and rushed to save Lillie from their psychotic mother.
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Yeah. It would've been better if he accompanied Lillie and the Player. His Type: Null could've evolved and rushed to save Lillie from their psychotic mother.
Gladion is too much of an Edgelord Tsundere to accompany the player anywhere, haha. Although as a result I never got a sense of a change from him - Silvally was just there with him because it had to be in order to provide a slightly tougher (hahahaha!) battle, not because he really deserved it.

Yeah. Gladion was miserably underused and hopefully that'll be something they fix in USUM...although not to the point that USUM become Pokemon: Gladion Version the way SM were Pokemon: Lillie Version.
Sometimes less is more, but one thing I don't think Pokemon has ever had is a properly developed character. I can't see USUM changing that in the least, because the writers just don't have a clue and they don't NEED to have a clue to sell games, but I don't think fairer representation and appearance between the two siblings is totally out of the question, whether these games are sequels or alternate re-tellings or whatever. Whether that means less Lillie or more Gladion - or both - I couldn't say. But either way, with what little they had with him, I still think they could do better by their standards.
Age 28
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13.1 Years
Sometimes less is more, but one thing I don't think Pokemon has ever had is a properly developed character. I can't see USUM changing that in the least, because the writers just don't have a clue and they don't NEED to have a clue to sell games, but I don't think fairer representation and appearance between the two siblings is totally out of the question, whether these games are sequels or alternate re-tellings or whatever. Whether that means less Lillie or more Gladion - or both - I couldn't say. But either way, with what little they had with him, I still think they could do better by their standards.
That's true. Even N, AZ, and Zinnia weren't all the developed despite being interesting characters.
I'm currently working on some novels. If you're interested you can read them here:
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GF have been attempting to push a story-focused narrative in Pokemon since Gen V, and by now they really should have learned a thing or two about how to actually do that. When they're recycling the same plot they've been using since Gen III, focus is clearly intended to be on characterisation, and in all ways here they are falling short. Maybe it isn't necessary, since the games sell regardless, but that they have learned nothing is disheartening.

Although honestly, I wouldn't pick Gladion for having an expanded role either, if they were serious about proper character development. His type has been in the games so many times now, and there isn't much to him I think they could add, short of resetting him completely.
Then why the shift in focus? Why the sudden sidelining of the player character and the constant, ceaseless shoving of NPCs in our face? I think the argument of showing off features of the game goes out the window when you consider how on-rails SM was, and the fact that you could rename the games to Pokemon: Lillie Version. Of course, this could be because SM were rushed, and USUM will have more refined features, but honestly I think it more likely we'll get a greater focus on NPCs again than anything else.

...probably because the player would have missed all those features if they hadn't of drawn attention to them, given how focused on NPCs the game was. I got a definite sense of "You can't explore because we're going to funnel you down this linear stage-based island experience with these NPCs, but you can do this if you want to!" feel from SM's features. Which weren't stellar to begin with. I mean, the interface for Festival Plaza, come on, GF...
I would say all Pokemon has had are cardboard NPCs. This is precisely why I do not find them appealing: all that has changed is the frequency of their appearance. There is no progression, just more of the same. I suppose if we didn't have the current formula we might ask why they haven't changed up their approach, but...well, they haven't changed up their approach. Same cardboard NPCs, just appearing more often. That isn't a positive change. To keep it relevant, you could put Gladion in the second gen games, or the third, or whatever, and nothing would be different apart from the fact that he'd pop up more often. There is no progression. I know that is a subjective matter, but...well, yeah.

I see your point, but if they want to push features like that, why are they pushing story instead? The features in SM felt very secondary because you were barely afforded enough time to really explore them. There was a constant rush on, and a need to drive the player through the story as quickly as possible. Honestly though, I think how/if they expand the features in USUM will determine where their focus is for Gen VII because, as I said, SM were very threadbare, and without a similar comparison it's difficult to tell if that was intentional or due to rushed development for the 20th Anniversary. I would like to think it was the latter. But I won't discount the former until I see what USUM does to improve upon those lacking features.
I lost my original post and had to type this out again so sorry if it sucks, thank you PC for crashing

More is not always better, and frequency of appearance is not really progressive change. The quality of the NPCs has not improved even marginally, is my point. Less is sometimes more - I mean, a lot of NPCs who aren't central to the story of games get massive amounts of popularity because they ooze personality through their dialogue and design, or whatever. The more you see a character, the better you get to know them, but if there is nothing about them that is really worth knowing...it falls flat. It fell VERY flat with pretty much every major NPC from Gen V onwards, because GF forgot to give these characters actual personalities. In the old days it wasn't a problem, ecause it was VERY clear where the focus was. Now that they're drawing attention to this by including them more often, it's becoming more and more apparent how shoddy the quality of that really is.

I honestly don't think GF does know what it's doing, because the player is having to hunt for these mechanics, or they're getting minimal focus or explanation - remember the battle styles in Gen V? How about sky battles in Gen VI? - and instead we're getting bogged down in the same story again with banal dialogue with NPCs that are about as interesting as the townspeople who just repeat the same 2-3 lines of dialogue each and every time you talk to them. I realise it's a matter of perspective as to whether the NPCs are better or not. But they can't cower behind the "focus on the gameplay!" excuse any more when that gameplay is getting minimal exposure in amongst the banal dialogue. The games have not changed, but the FOCUS of the games has, and it's suffering for it unless you can tune it right out, which you shouldn't have to do, because if they're going to change the focus they should put some effort in. Effort is not "we'll just have these NPCs appear more often and say more than 2-3 lines". Yeah, they know the gameplay is what sells the games. So they ignore it because they can afford to and push the weakest part of Pokemon games - the story and characters - repeatedly in our faces. It's unnecessary, alright.

Although yes, I will agree that it is unlikely Gladion will get any significant development because of this, meaning he'll remain one more bland design in hundreds of other bland designs, without any personality whatsoever. That doesn't make him any worse than the rest of them, but it definitely does not make him better.