Not a fan, but I want to be.

[Jnaejnae]

This may come as a surprise, especially on a site like this, but I don't actually enjoy or like Pokemon games. I do however really do like the lore and design of the games, but I do have concerns and other hopes for the franchise so I came here to voice them. Pokemon as a game, has an inspired lore, interesting story, cool characters, fun and strategic base gameplay, and more. Not to mention great soundtrack and consistent visuals. But the game does have its weak spots, some of which need some attention. I want to like the game, but the game isn't making it very easy.

I feel that one of the biggest detractors, is the grinding. There are lots of areas of which I feel the need to walk back and forth just to farm Pokemon for levels, I end up having to use the same moves, and fighting the same Pokemon over and over. This is no minor occurrence, the game seems to encourage and almost required grinding with no other alternative. It could be interesting if it was mixed up encounters a little better but generally this part, in extension the whole game, comes off pretty boring and repetitive, and on my attempt at a game a long time ago, I actually stopped half way because I completely lost interest and I felt annoyed about the repetitive nature.

This next big problem, can actually tie into the first one pretty nicely. It is the lack of side quests. There are two goals, and you have to work the whole game to do them. I never find the freedom or option, to go on an optional adventure. The only side quests I've seen involve a sleeping Pokemon blocking a path, of which all you need to do is find a item to move it. Imagine a Pokemon game with many intuitive and creative optional side quests, that can help earn xp. This would greatly lessen the amount of grinding, by offering an enjoyable alternative. Do this Nintendo, and you have me. Add side quests and i'll be a loyal fan. Other optional content is a more minor hope. Yet how about tough trainers that you have the option to fight, but will be really tough, so it gives the option for players to challenge themselves, while also fitting with the lore, as its weird seeing no trainers on routes that are good enough to beat the upcoming gym minus your rival and yourself.

I have another few hopes. One is for a better battle cry. 8 bit shrieking noises don't even fit with the lore. Pokemon are confirmed to talk, in a pattern using their own name. Putting some effort into matching voices would be a great addition. Another interesting idea would be to make new friends on the way. Its weird that you are with your child hood friends, and can become friends with absolutely no one else. Make some OPTIONAL friends, that you have to do a thing for, or help out, and they will come along and help you on your way. That would add a lot to the progression, freedom, and fun of the game. My last idea is for more unique Pokemon personalities. With more diverse ways of fulfilling happiness and making happiness more important. There should be Pokemon that are active and playful, and want to be played with a lot. There should also be battle savvy Pokemon that don't like play that much but like battling. Then hungry Pokemon that are best pleased by a good meal. A thing like this, Incorporated into something like Pokemon Amie, would be a really cool way to get attracted and make pals with your Pokemon. Also some more intuitive and new ways of playing and hanging out with Pokemon.

This is what I think the Pokemon game would benefit from, and is personally what I want in order to truly enjoy the game. That plus maybe a small nerf to stealth rock would be nice, and I also want to hear some thoughts about my suggestions from other types of Pokemon fans. Maybe suggestions of your own, or maybe you don't like mine. Say what you will. I do not believe that ALL of these changes should or could happen, but just that one big change is what Im truly asking for, everything else are small hopes that would really win me over. I have at least some hopes up for the new game, but I don't have a good feeling about it. Either way these are my feelings, thanks for reading.

 

[Arma]

Alright, that was quite the read... Anyways, I got a few remarks about your post.

Firstly, I think grinding is actually nicely implemented in the games. It is possible to beat the games without having to grinding your way through wild Pokes, but that means you can't really just train any pokemon you want. RSE did a great job by registrating trainers in your pokenav so you could battle em again. FRLG and DPPT did even better by implementing the VS seeker. This would allow you to gain exp faster and, imo, in a fun way.

Secondly, judging by how you have certain ideas/hopes on how the games should've been instead, why don't you check out the ROM-hacking o Game dev subforums here? There are lots of people (myself included) who all have lots of ideas on how Pokemon games can become even better. There's bound to be a game in there that tickles your fancy!

 

[Blueredemption]

Hmm, you have quite the dilemma here. I agree on grinding, it can get pretty annoying after while. Starting in gen 6 they did implement the Exp share (well, all), which makes casual players enjoy the story a bit more. Though if you were to play X-Y you might find it boring anyway, so try ORAS instead :) Sadly, both of these games lack most of the other qualities that you are asking for.

The lack of side quests is something that can't be helped in all the games up to now. We can only hope for a change in that degree, but I wouldn't expect it to happen any time soon. The cries of the Pokemon are meant to be how they were in the first generation... Even though they really don't make sense now. On the flip side, they did change the cry for Pikachu starting in X-Y, so other Pokemon may follow. All of the other Ideas you have I really like, but I don't see them coming to main series Pokemon any time soon ;-;

I did notice that a lot of the things you want are in the Mystery Dungeon games, so if you want to try to get into Pokemon it's a good place for you to start. Good luck!

 

[OuterTsuchinoko]

Grinding never bothered when I used to play through Gens 1-3, but I understand it's usually a boring thing to most people for obvious reasons. When I reached Gen 4 I started playing the games without grinding at all so I could get a nicer challenge. My style is running from all wild encounters unless you plan on catching the Pokemon, the only level ups I get are from battling trainers. This way I am always underleveled for gym leaders and many trainers too. It adds a perfect difficulty in my opinion, making things just hard enough to have some really memorable experiences during battles.

As for side quests I would like that a lot. One thing I liked about Gen 4 was that you teamed up with people in the forest and cave a couple times. I thought that was cool and ties into your idea of meeting new people throughout the game. The only thing is you only interact with them for that one part and never see them again.

I love the classic 8 bit cries. I hate how Pokemon say their name in the anime and think it would be a pretty bad idea for them to all sound like their anime counterparts in the games. I always pictured the cries as what they actually sound like in the world and to me made them more believable as animals. I hope the cries stay forever.

 

[Jnaejnae]

Again, not a full fledged pokefan, so your acronyms did get a little confusing, but thanks for the feedback. Ill make this more concise, as I started rambling off again. The Ai is dumb. You dont get interesting counterplay, they always go for the most blatant attack or buff, never switching out until the pokemon is already low health, and only ever beat me if its a bad match up or if I didnt get enough xp. In general Im against games that makes "experience" points, as it makes actually experience as a person less important, in this singleplayer that is. But you cant get to the multiplayer to fight intelligent opponents, unless you do a large amount of the tedious campaign. I don't want to have to re battled Ai thats not even good at the game, just to get "experience". Because regardless of how actually experienced a player is, he wont be beating a lvl 50 pokemon with a lvl 10 unless his opponent uses nothing but non damaging moves. So the gameplay really is only good, when you are VS against players, with the same level pokemon, who isnt the shit AI.

So that said, why not just make a strict multiplayer path? Pick any pokemon, customize your moveset on a whim, build a team from a roster, choose the stats, and fight. Thats something along the lines of a web game Ive played, that took all the "gameplay" and story elements from pokemon, and gave you unlimited resources to be paired with a fighter. Was simply a better game and made me question why the pokemon campaign exists at all, much less necessary for all other features. Its a linear storyline, with little progression, and bad Ai, all trumped by the act of wasting time.

If I am going to make a mod of a game, Ill start with a game I really enjoy right now. Smash brothers is one. So eh, again I find pokemon unenjoyable with alot of potential. I might make a mod someday, but I dont have the time. Im not here to get xp faster, Im here to get xp funner. The recalling a trainer is neat, but again isnt that just the same Ai, that is beaten by spamming a single good attack? Its still another way to farm, its just slightly less tedious than wild farming.

Now to OuterTsuchinoko, I appreciate most of what is said, but I cant say playing the game without grinding is much better, because again it doesnt feel like Im being out skilled. Its, OH YOU DIDNT GRIND, WELL YOU WILL JUST DO DIRECTLY WORSE. It doesnt raise the difficulty, rather you are handicapping yourself to make it seem like that. The fights again do not feel fair, simply being matched against better pokemon isnt exactly a good thing in my view. So its either grind or cried. I wont be buying any more main pokemon games until I see some of these things addressed.

For the cries, I feel really that its a matter of preference, so I wouldnt mind the old cries to be optional, but I prefer there to be a consistency there. Plus some shrieks dont exactly feel very good. Id rather listen to voice acting, but I cant really say that the cries are objectively bad.

 

[Nah]

We actually have a fair number of members on this site who aren't major Pokemon fans really, at least not anymore.

The leveling curve in some of games is complete ass (the Johto and Hoenn games are the biggest offenders in my eyes), but the grinding itself isn't that bad. Trust me, I've played games with some horrendous grinding.

I agree though with the lack of side quests being a major issue. It's not a problem in all the games, but I've generally enjoyed the ones with less side quests/post-game content significantly less than the ones that do have enough.

Unfortunately Game Freak refuses to have any sort of consistency with some things in the games =(

 

[Midnight shadow]

There are very very few traditional RPGs that don't have an element of grinding in them (the only one I can think of off the top of my head is Zelda, which swaps out grinding for collectathons...pick your poison there). Similarly, any game with a fixed leveling system is going to have grinding and the skill cap is going to be limited due to the leveling system. That comes part and parcel with these types of games.

I feel like in order to get what you want, they would have to completely re-do the entire games and essentially change the genre of them. Like it or not, that's not going to happen. I understand your frustration regarding the stupidity of the AI, but there's always going to be a cap on the difficulty, due to the mechanics of the game. If we take gym leaders as an example here:

1. You always know what type of pokemon they use, even if you don't look it up before hand.
2. It's a rock-paper-scissors RPG. Know what your opponent has and counter it with a type advantage.
3. Every pokemon can only learn 4 moves at a time, meaning there will always be a weakness to exploit.

No matter how smart you make the AI, more often than not you can get a pokemon with the type advantage that is faster than whatever the AI is using and 1-shot their team before the can even more. Making the AI smarter isn't going to change that. Like I said, you would need to change the entire fundamentals of the game in order to give it what you want.

As for your "strict multiplayer" idea, it would never happen. A huge part of the franchise is breeding, training and trading pokemon for battle. If people were able to do that in an instant, nobody would bother breeding or training or trading, and a huge portion of the game would die, along with a lot of the playerbase.

It's funny that you mention Smash Bros as I think that is the exact game you want Pokemon to be. Keep the storyline the same but then when it comes to battles, you choose your pokemon, pick your 4 moves and then play it out in real time as if it were Smash Bros. Don't get me wrong, I would love to play that too, as there are times where I get sick of turn-based gameplay, but again I can't see it happening.

 

[Nah]

As for your "strict multiplayer" idea, it would never happen. A huge part of the franchise is breeding, training and trading pokemon for battle. If people were able to do that in an instant, nobody would bother breeding or training or trading, and a huge portion of the game would die, along with a lot of the playerbase.

It's funny that you mention Smash Bros as I think that is the exact game you want Pokemon to be. Keep the storyline the same but then when it comes to battles, you choose your pokemon, pick your 4 moves and then play it out in real time as if it were Smash Bros. Don't get me wrong, I would love to play that too, as there are times where I get sick of turn-based gameplay, but again I can't see it happening.

The funny thing with these 2 statements is that they already kinda exist in in Pokemon Showdown and Pokken Tournament

 

[machomuu]

I'm feeling some mutual resonance here. Made this post almost a month ago.

God I hope Pokemon gets one straight to the face. Save for XY and, debatably, Gen 3(which, in both cases, is a stretch), they've never made grinding easy or fun.

In their micro/macromanagment creature-fighting RPG.

Why do I still play these games

I mean, so often lately have I wondered why Pokemon never really introduces new ideas. Concepts, I mean. They don't have to change things, just...think. Like, the series has been hinging on the same ideas since Generation 2, and we've been experiencing facelifts ever since. And nobody really brings this up, either. They talk about how the games are mostly the same and, my favorite line for a lot of reasons, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but they never talk about how we're still using the Pokegear...and nothing else. Bike's still here, phone's still here, and, um...bag. And we get unique little contraptions from time to time, but mostly these are temporarily tacked on to old ideas and then dropped next generation.

I've seen their Poker Horse Racing and Harmoknight, GF has good ideas. So use them. Carve your Pokemon world. You have the technology. You have the power.

Definitely held back a fair bit, but I think the title alone kind of sums up my relationship with Pokemon and how I would love to like it as I did when I was as a kid.

In regards to grinding, I completely agree, especially in regards to Pokemon more than most series. When you make a series where there are all types of creatures to collect yet, by nature of it being a Turn-Based RPG that doesn't really do much to encourage training Pokemon en masse (yes, even with EXP share, since the game isn't in any way designed around it), you're pretty much going to use mostly the same team from start to finish. Constantly swapping out Pokemon will not net you much in the way of pros, and though grinding is an option, it isn't really fun. This is made more tedious when you try to go into competitive play through legitimate, in-game means.

And I daresay, grinding is inherently boring but it doesn't have to be. RPGs of all kinds have been moving away from grinding in recent years and the ones that do have it have been implementing ways to get through (or over it) in enough time to have fun with the game or, my favorite solution, they've been making it fun and something the player wants to do. Pokemon has done exactly one thing to rectify this, and that was the EXP calculation change in BW. There are some other things they've added to try, I suppose, such as wild Pokemon with high EXP yields and most recently, EXP Share (V2 (read "Easy Mode")) which feel a lot closer to workarounds than actual fixes. And they aren't without their own flaws or problems. I'd definitely agree that sidequests, though not the only way to go about it, are a good way to make grinding compelling or even a non-issue, and it could even be a wonderful chance to make the world seem more alive and detailed.

My last idea is for more unique Pokemon personalities. With more diverse ways of fulfilling happiness and making happiness more important. There should be Pokemon that are active and playful, and want to be played with a lot. There should also be battle savvy Pokemon that don't like play that much but like battling. Then hungry Pokemon that are best pleased by a good meal. A thing like this, Incorporated into something like Pokemon Amie, would be a really cool way to get attracted and make pals with your Pokemon. Also some more intuitive and new ways of playing and hanging out with Pokemon.

Pokemon individuality is something that I think should have been added generations ago. One thing that I think the anime, of all things, did right on various occasions were making Pokemon that were just plain different from others in their species, be it in color or in physical detail, or, hell, in the way of a talking Meowth (he did learn it, of course, but still. It seemed like they wanted to do something like this in Gen 4, because it seemed something of a theme (in the way of gender differences, Gastrodon that varied in appearance on the same region, and the various customization options). And I like this idea that Pokemon of the same species would have these different traits, because that's how animals work in real life. If Pokemon happened to range in colors, sizes, cry pitch, etc....That would make collecting and catching Pokemon exciting even regarding Pokemon you already have. And, again, make the world feel more alive.

Because- another thing I think that the anime (openings) did well- I want the world to feel alive. Oh, if the Pokemon world felt like a Pokemon world and not a world where people exists and also Pokemon. I don't think there's a better way you could get me enraptured in the game. But Pokemon feeling wholly secondary and separate from the world at large in a series that bears their name is another post for another thread for another time. But speaking of,

Interacting with Pokemon is something I've always wanted and, honestly, Pokemon-Amie is more than I could have expected. It's a step in the write direction, and your ideas would make for good fun so long as the interaction with Pokemon doesn't separate itself from the game at large as much as Pokemon-Amie does currently. Baby steps, though. Considering its history, I don't see us moving on significantly from Amie for a good long while (if ever), but who knows.

 

[Jnaejnae]

There are very very few traditional RPGs that don't have an element of grinding in them (the only one I can think of off the top of my head is Zelda, which swaps out grinding for collectathons...pick your poison there). Similarly, any game with a fixed leveling system is going to have grinding and the skill cap is going to be limited due to the leveling system. That comes part and parcel with these types of games.

I feel like in order to get what you want, they would have to completely re-do the entire games and essentially change the genre of them. Like it or not, that's not going to happen. I understand your frustration regarding the stupidity of the AI, but there's always going to be a cap on the difficulty, due to the mechanics of the game. If we take gym leaders as an example here:

1. You always know what type of pokemon they use, even if you don't look it up before hand.
2. It's a rock-paper-scissors RPG. Know what your opponent has and counter it with a type advantage.
3. Every pokemon can only learn 4 moves at a time, meaning there will always be a weakness to exploit.

No matter how smart you make the AI, more often than not you can get a pokemon with the type advantage that is faster than whatever the AI is using and 1-shot their team before the can even more. Making the AI smarter isn't going to change that. Like I said, you would need to change the entire fundamentals of the game in order to give it what you want.

As for your "strict multiplayer" idea, it would never happen. A huge part of the franchise is breeding, training and trading pokemon for battle. If people were able to do that in an instant, nobody would bother breeding or training or trading, and a huge portion of the game would die, along with a lot of the playerbase.

It's funny that you mention Smash Bros as I think that is the exact game you want Pokemon to be. Keep the storyline the same but then when it comes to battles, you choose your pokemon, pick your 4 moves and then play it out in real time as if it were Smash Bros. Don't get me wrong, I would love to play that too, as there are times where I get sick of turn-based gameplay, but again I can't see it happening.

Sorry for the late response, but Id like to make my points. I dont actually hate grinding, I see the use, but I feel like pokemon could simply use alternatives. Ive stated side quests could fix that, maybe make an interesting side quest every other route, and I would totally not care about grinding. It just feels like I either have to grind, or lose. Offering more interesting optional ways of earning xp is all I ask from grinding.

I dont want a real time game, I completely dig the turn based gameplay. Smash Bros is amazing, and I got pokken tournament too, so I really have no desire to make another real time fighting game out of a unique RPG, so I dont know why you make that assumption. I dont think the game needs a strict multiplayer. Pokemon Showdown is a fan program that does that already, but with leagues and such so its probably better than nintendo could ever do with that concept. And I have fun with the pokemon showdown.

I legitimately dont understand your idea that we would have to redo the entire game. I like the gameplay as is. But they dont mix the gameplay up enough. All I really need is side quests, and most of my concerns would vanish. Why are sidequests bad?

I'm feeling some mutual resonance here. Made this post almost a month ago.



Definitely held back a fair bit, but I think the title alone kind of sums up my relationship with Pokemon and how I would love to like it as I did when I was as a kid.

In regards to grinding, I completely agree, especially in regards to Pokemon more than most series. When you make a series where there are all types of creatures to collect yet, by nature of it being a Turn-Based RPG that doesn't really do much to encourage training Pokemon en masse (yes, even with EXP share, since the game isn't in any way designed around it), you're pretty much going to use mostly the same team from start to finish. Constantly swapping out Pokemon will not net you much in the way of pros, and though grinding is an option, it isn't really fun. This is made more tedious when you try to go into competitive play through legitimate, in-game means.

And I daresay, grinding is inherently boring but it doesn't have to be. RPGs of all kinds have been moving away from grinding in recent years and the ones that do have it have been implementing ways to get through (or over it) in enough time to have fun with the game or, my favorite solution, they've been making it fun and something the player wants to do. Pokemon has done exactly one thing to rectify this, and that was the EXP calculation change in BW. There are some other things they've added to try, I suppose, such as wild Pokemon with high EXP yields and most recently, EXP Share (V2 (read "Easy Mode")) which feel a lot closer to workarounds than actual fixes. And they aren't without their own flaws or problems. I'd definitely agree that sidequests, though not the only way to go about it, are a good way to make grinding compelling or even a non-issue, and it could even be a wonderful chance to make the world seem more alive and detailed.


Pokemon individuality is something that I think should have been added generations ago. One thing that I think the anime, of all things, did right on various occasions were making Pokemon that were just plain different from others in their species, be it in color or in physical detail, or, hell, in the way of a talking Meowth (he did learn it, of course, but still. It seemed like they wanted to do something like this in Gen 4, because it seemed something of a theme (in the way of gender differences, Gastrodon that varied in appearance on the same region, and the various customization options). And I like this idea that Pokemon of the same species would have these different traits, because that's how animals work in real life. If Pokemon happened to range in colors, sizes, cry pitch, etc....That would make collecting and catching Pokemon exciting even regarding Pokemon you already have. And, again, make the world feel more alive.

Because- another thing I think that the anime (openings) did well- I want the world to feel alive. Oh, if the Pokemon world felt like a Pokemon world and not a world where people exists and also Pokemon. I don't think there's a better way you could get me enraptured in the game. But Pokemon feeling wholly secondary and separate from the world at large in a series that bears their name is another post for another thread for another time. But speaking of,

Interacting with Pokemon is something I've always wanted and, honestly, Pokemon-Amie is more than I could have expected. It's a step in the write direction, and your ideas would make for good fun so long as the interaction with Pokemon doesn't separate itself from the game at large as much as Pokemon-Amie does currently. Baby steps, though. Considering its history, I don't see us moving on significantly from Amie for a good long while (if ever), but who knows.

I love your idea on more variants, having pokemon with different cries, sizes, and even slight colors would be cool. The color one Im not too sure about because of shiny pokemon. Shiny pokemon, are often only slight variations of color that happen rarely and randomly. To keep shiny pokemon valuable, they would either have to make all the shiny pokemon look quite different so they can be distinguished from more common color variations, or to fit the name, actually make shiny pokemon SHINY. With somewhat reflective and smooth body. Shiny pokemon that are actually shiny. With a glimmer and glow to them. Then the old shinys can become more common color variations, and the new shinys being any color, but simply shiny.

I agree. I have a few more ideas. What I want to be added to expand the pokemon universe, is cooking. I mean cooking has made a fairly big presence in the anime. It would be cool firstly, to use berries and stuff to make different treats, of which your pokemon would gain alot of health and maybe customizable temp stat buffs, that can be given to the pokemon before battle, or used on the pokemon after. It could be a minigame, where you can burn it, or maybe one of the pokemon simply doesnt like the taste. It would add more personality, more versatility in items, and more things to do. I dunno, I just really like the idea of cooking up some pokepuffs that buff special defense on consumption right before battle, and maybe giving my pokemon a treat for doing a good job. This of course would need some ingredients, so maybe some places to harvest berries, as its a pain mostly relying on the berry supply from strangers. Id rather do some oran berry picking myself. Plus a cute touch could be the pokemon could help. Like a fire type pokemon could help cook food without an oven, and maybe a water type could easily make soups, with grass having abilities to grow some ingredients. All of this would be amazing. Isnt necessary, but Im sure people would love it if they did add this.

My last idea, is resting pokemon. Even if you heal a pokemon, their pokepower wont restore. What if they scattered parks and rest areas, where you can give your pokemon a short nap, and restore their pokepower? Again, another fun way to bond with pokemon, that actually adds some functionality, all the while being optional. Its not nessecary to the health of the game, but generally I think they should keep working on fun options like these, like how Amie did. I lost my X game, so I have to play on black, and I honestly miss the Amie features and training. It makes the game feel kinda empty.

 

[Fannie]

I hope GF improves on the battle cries in Sun and Moon. I just want to hear Corphish say 'butt-butt' like it does in the anime.

 

[Purist of Black Water]

Lack of side quests was a thing that bothered me a lot about pokemon.
It's like the main quest and slight continuation was GOOD enough for people.

I really did like changing outfits on x and y.
it took them years to do it though.

 

[illumine]

Surely more of an issue might just be that trainer battles are highly repetitive and resolve into repetitions of the same thing. Not that you have to like them, but past a certain point it would get a bit unnecessary without the variation in Pokémon, etc.

In any case, though, because of the focus on the variety of the Pokémon, the region's areas, etc., it's unlikely that such a focus on 'side-quests' is going to occur, as they would detract from the variety stressed in the games, namely that of the creatures to be found on the journey and so on. In addition, the series was based in many ways upon a theme of a single journey involving Pokémon, and would have been unlikely to get off the ground if it weighed that down with too many sidequests. Because of this, the trainer also has to be given some importance, and ability to seem like a primary influence on a Pokémon, or be such, rather than facing them like a safari. Making players not only have to look for Pokémon, but also particular types or shades if they want that, is akin to regularising the Feebas thing or having 'grinding,' except just to catch anything, which would be a nuisance. If not, then it's effectively indifferent so far as the player is concerned, and not a gameplay feature.

In any case, though, 'grinding' is something that is usually integrated into the games, for instance via rare Pokémon and having to walk around a bit to catch them anyway, but in general is allowed for because Pokémon isn't merely a checkpoint-centric game, in which case one could play anything else. The game doesn't just want you to rush through trainer battles and abandon its routes and Pokémon.

In addition, of course, to this, as for instance with the first gym battle of R/B, with a gym known mostly for its resistances, the grinding and so on depends on multiple circumstances and adjusts depending on where you are in the game, rather than you being restricted to just a few things, types, etc. Grinding can often be avoided on some level if you didn't want to use that many Pokémon. In any case, though, stressing the routes is important to the games, as they are the locus of the game's design properties. They need some open spaces which are important in order to get across the various aspects of the game and so on, rather than just plot elements, which is why grinding in the games isn't likely to be as annoying as in other games, usually. Grinding is hence team-specific, in a way that gym badges and so on usually aren't, and hence might be significant on that level.

Pokémon's actual 'personality' depends in part on their trainer, in part on their history, but in general as it is implemented into the game it was generally speaking just a minor stat change, and not highlighted, such that realistically it doesn't add much to the game if that wasn't there already. It's more akin to 'formes,' as it were.

What I want to be added to expand the pokemon universe, is cooking. I mean cooking has made a fairly big presence in the anime. It would be cool firstly, to use berries and stuff to make different treats, of which your pokemon would gain alot of health and maybe customizable temp stat buffs, that can be given to the pokemon before battle, or used on the pokemon after.

It's not Aquaria, which at least had some excuse. There's a decent reason why berry-blending and all that was kept very much to the side and to the 'Contest' path which was less important, as mini-games being given too much importance or stress would detract from the main game and the Pokémon.

In any case, they probably wouldn't want to make things seem too contingent as the main game goes, nor would any of this generally be much of a gameplay change.

It's like the main quest and slight continuation was GOOD enough for people.

I mean, presumably people did think it was good, in some way, that's why they played the game. It doesn't improve its design just because you add more - or rather altered - stuff to it, which may or may not be good.

1. You always know what type of pokemon they use, even if you don't look it up before hand.

And they're generally adapted to what Pokémon you could have at that point. In any case, that's mostly a good thing, gyms aren't supposed to be a question of surprise, but rather to be usual things. As such, it's probably useful that they're implemented in such a way that this surprise is usually limited.

Of course, due to types like Steel, Fairy, etc., and hybrids of these, gyms can hence be unpredictable and distract from their main type - a gym with Steel-type Pokémon is a Steel gym, usually - because of finnicky type-resistances, but this obviously doesn't usually help, but rather comes off as gimmicky.

Make some OPTIONAL friends, that you have to do a thing for, or help out, and they will come along and help you on your way.

"The witch that came (the withered hag)
To wash the steps with pail and rag
Was once the beauty Abishag,
[...]
Better to go down dignified
With boughten friendship at your side
Than none at all. Provide, provide!"

- Robert Frost.