If you could change anything about the Pokémon games what would it be?

[Outlander]

Let's say tomorrow you're given free reign to add or change anything in the next mainline Pokémon game, what would it be & why?

For me personally I would change all Gym and E4 battles into Double Battles, and have all their Pokémon scaled up to match the level of your higher party member.

I like this change because it would make the core gameplay a little less easy, and be a good soft introduction to the official format for competitive pokémon too. Which is 4v4 double battles with set mode + a time limit, and usually there are certain restricted mons you can't use.

 

[Corveone]

Add a hard mode, like tons of games have. With Set battle style by default, auto level caps so players don't need to keep track of that by themselves, affection bonusses removed, important trainers using Held items and getting progressively more EVs based on their levels or number of badges, bigger teams, etc. (And no, it doesn't have to be something stupid like giving the first gym leader a full team of fully EV trained mons with competitive strats, but just to balance and scale things reasonably around the game natural progression)

 

[Squirtkipfan01]

Make it so they get 3 years dev time

 

[CoolKid575]

I would reverse Dexit and bring back the National Dex; I'd also do as Squirtkipfan01 said and give the devs 3 full years to make the games as well as double their staff.

 

[Palamon]

Let us mass release Pokemon in our boxes like in LGPE. I'm baffled this is gone.

 

[Lavender]

I'd Remove shiny locks, I WANT MY SHINY OKIDOGI >:(

 

[Sheep]

Difficulty options + double battles are the main types of battles. I had a lot of fun playing this way in XD and Colo so I want it to come back. It's just a lot of fun! Aaand since I've been playing since around 1998 difficulty options would be awesome for me.. normally I prefer to play games in easy mode but this series is different. It's just too easy usually and I want to adjust that.

 

[FeraligatrMaster]

I'd make your Pokemon's EV's and IV's easily checkable, like in many modern ROM hacks of GBA games. Also, I'd add a perfect IV mode and no EV mode, as seen in ROM hacks like R.O.W.E., Modern Emerald, and Inflamed Red.

 

[ReKoil]

1) I'd bring back an alternate thing to do into the games. SV's three paths is just a main game story line split into three pieces and presented as something new imo. As such I'd:
-return both Contests and PokeStar Studios. Both were fun to do, and by adding new scenarios to PokeStar studios you could make a lot of fun new things. And contests would have a lot of new Pokemon and moves in them by now.
-add a more modern version of the Pokeathlon. Like a big sports dome and you can compete with your Pokemon in similar events, like say the Hurdle Dash. But instead of it being minigames like in HGSS, you'd get control of your Pokemon and actually do the event playing as it.

2) I'd incorporate a selection of several mythicals in each game by making them catchable in the postgame in new areas that you get to explore. Preferably with a little story attached to them.

3) Bring back secret bases. Properly that is. Not the BDSP ones. However instead of making it a mostly multiplayer thing which a lot of people might not end up using, also make secret bases for NPC's. Like, imagine exploring a tunnel, opening an indented wall you find, and suddenly you just ended up in Grimsley's secret base. You can challenge him to a battle say once a day.
Could even tie this in with the mythical thing. If you've beaten Grimsley's secret base team after beating the game, he could give you an item that allows you to go to a new area where you could
catch Darkrai for example.

4) It's already been mentioned, but add more double battles. Most games only have a handful of them. I'm not saying every battle needs to be one. Just make them less rare!

5) Add a greater variety of ride Pokemon. LGPE had a lot of Pokemon you could ride. I'd expand the numbers as much as plausible with the Pokemon of whatever the region is. I mean, I like Miraidon, but you see other people ride Cyclizar. Why am I not given the option of riding one? Or perhaps an Espathra? Or perhaps fly around in a Bombirdier's apron and hope it doesn't drop you for the lulz?

Also I'd make another Alolan Diglet scavenger hunt, but now you got to find 1.000 of them! 😈

 

[Sweet Serenity]

Voice acting: Characters communicating through textboxes is extremely outdated. Future Pokémon games are definitely long overdue for voice acting. The Nintendo Switch and other future consoles for Pokémon games definitely have the power to allow their characters to speak. If Pokémon Masters Ex can do it, the mainline Pokémon games definitely can as well.

National Pokédex: Instead of only including certain Pokémon in a specific Pokémon game, I would include all Pokémon in the games, similar to the mainline Pokémon games that existed before Pokémon Sword and Shield. Therefore, players would no longer have to worry about their favorites not being included in the next generation of Pokémon titles.

Paired version removal: Pokémon truly does not require the release of paired versions to thrive as a video game series. Paired versions are essentially the same game, with only a few minor differences between the two. Instead of releasing paired versions for every new generation, I would instead only release a single Pokémon game with much more content and DLC.

Updated Game Corner: The original Game Corner with the casinos and its Voltorb Flip replacement were horrible. Instead, I would re-introduce the Game Corner, but make it a place where you can play minigames with your Pokémon similar to the minigames in the Pokémon Stadium series, which can be a fun way to bond with and interact with your Pokémon beyond battling. The player can earn coins when they win games and exchange their coins for fabulous prizes.

More robust competitive scene: When playing competitively in Pokémon, in ranked battles, players are practically limited to 4v4 Doubles and 3v3 Singles, with very limited ruling options. Instead, I would include more formats for ranked battles, similar to Pokémon Showdown, which would allow players to play competitively in several different ways. In unranked battles, I would also allow players the chance to fully customize the rules to their liking. For example, instead of setting pre-made rules such as flat 3v3 rules or rules with no legendaries, players should be able to customize them to "one legendary per team" and so on if they wish.

Increased difficulty: Face it, Pokémon is extremely easy. I would change the gameplay to make Pokémon more challenging. Trainers would have Pokémon with better IVs and EVs as the player progressed through the game, Pokémon Champions would have Pokémon with perfect IVs, maxed EVs in their best stats, and helpful Natures, much like real-life competitive players, and most trainers in the game would have Pokémon with held items.

NPC awareness: This might be a small change, but I want to showcase NPCs doing more than simply standing in one spot for the rest of their lives. I want more NPCs to at least have certain routines that they're programmed to do and interact with the environment to make it seem as if the Pokémon world wasn't made only to accommodate the player. For example, I want to see more trainers walking into Pokémon Centers, Pokémarts, and whatnot. In addition, I would have NPCs acknowledge certain Pokémon used in battle. For example, if I challenge a random route trainer with Arceus, I want him or her to say something like, "Wow, Arceus! How in the world did you get that?!" It would make the Pokémon world feel more alive.

Improved communication features: I would give players communicating online the option to voice chat, which would make playing competitively online with friends and/or using features such as the Union Circle much better.

 

[Outlander]

I think I'd also turn natures+personalties into flavor text, and replace EVs & IVs with something like the Grit system from Legends Arceus.

Because honestly soft reseting for natures, iv breeding, and ev training are my least favorite parts of the game...and Legends Arceus mitigated that frustration because I always had plenty of grit items to increase my Pokémon's stats just from catching & releasing extra mons once I completed the dex entry.

 

[Setsuna]

Giving the games longer, more comfortable development cycles is my obvious answer. But as for what's in the games themselves, I'd love to see an EXP system along the lines of Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, where you can bank your EXP and level up or down manually. I don't think the EXP share is the real problem with difficulty, it's a quality of life improvement to save on grinding for less experienced players. I think being able to manually adjust your level and give more control over the level of challenge you want is something closer to the """correct""" answer.

Heck, even if it's not perfect, I think I'd like to see them try out new things with the way EXP is gained or leveling up. Even if it absolutely crashes and burns, I think that willingness to experiment could create some kind of future change that would, at the very least, be more interesting for the series.