Shadow Pokémon

[Hiatus]

Shadow Pokémon was a system we had in Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness.

When Pokémon were turned to their shadow form, they would lose access to all their emotions, allowing them to battle against anyone and anything without any hesitation. They would not even back then to attack their very own trainers. In a way, the system was similar to Mega-Evolution, as it would grant some decent power-boost to Pokémon.

Unfortunately, Shadow Pokémon was never part of main-series, and because of this, not many of us consider it to be as important. At some point in future, would we like to see them introduce this feature in main titles, and if so, how would we imagine them to go about doing it? What are some new Shadow Pokémon that we would like to see them put-together?

 

[Flushed]

I think it'd be pretty easy to implement this into a main title. Just replace those boring old villains with Cipher and go do the whole catch 'em all + Pokemon master thing, but just use Shadow Pokemon as part of the plot. It'd be a really interesting thing being able to maybe snag some Pokemon not found in the wild too.

I don't necessarily think the mechanics need to be changed, but maybe like online or even stuff like Gyms and E4 would prohibit Shadow Pokemon, because they were a little unfair.

 

[Zeturic]

I loved Shadow Pokemon, but being super-effective on everything was kind of ridiculous. Unless your team is overleveled or populated by tank-ish Pokemon, it makes fights like Ardos, Eldes, and Greevil a nightmare.

Beating them isn't hard, but they have so many Pokemon that are hard to snag that you'll be sitting there forever and, every turn, taking super-effective damage from strong Pokemon. It's not an exercise in difficulty; it's an exercise in tedium and patience, as you spend every turn using Poke Balls and healing items. Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

[Sirfetch’d]

I'd more prefer them to return in a spin off game such as an XD sequel but I wouldn't be opposed to them appearing in a main series game. Shadow Pokemon have always been one of the most interesting concepts to me. The thought of closing off a Pokemon's heart where they lose all sense of who they are is just really cruel and would make for a ton of potential if attempted by the in game villainous team. Maybe we'll see it in the future!

 

[LilBueno]

I loved that aspect of the games. I always wanted to see something like that in another Pokemon game, but one where you could also catch Pokemon. It'd be cool to have a different motivation for catching Pokemon and add a new Training feature.

 

[Xebelleon]

Close off the hearts of pretty much every myth-legendary, and you got a starting point for end game and bosses. More so if its those rather rare ones like Mew, Manaphy, Shaymin, Genesect, Arceus. Make one a forced shiny or something. Like a raging red Manaphy...

Game sequel should also continue the "sort" of idea of "this game only" items that can not be traded over to "Version" titles, like the Time Flute.

Shadow whatever region exclusive Move Tutor options would be great, as would getting tutor points from battle Bingo. That mini game thing was fun!

Let use HMs in field-overworld please. Was just plain silly not being able to Fly, or Teleport even, to places previous been to. Yes I know the map screen pretty much was a quick travel method

 

[Frozen Lotus]

It'd be easy for this to get out of hand, but it's not a bad idea in theory. The problem with Shadow Pokemon was that the entire game FORCED you to catch pretty much every single one of them. If a main entry did this it could very easily end up becoming tedious for something that's really not necessary.

So... I wouldn't be opposed to it, but I WOULD be skeptical and cautious. It's not a feature I'm against, but it does carry potentially huge negatives that I WOULD be against... and not for all that much benefit.

 

[Zeturic]

It'd be easy for this to get out of hand, but it's not a bad idea in theory. The problem with Shadow Pokemon was that the entire game FORCED you to catch pretty much every single one of them. If a main entry did this it could very easily end up becoming tedious for something that's really not necessary.

Uh, what? You can complete Colosseum without ever snagging a single Pokemon, and XD requires only one (the Teddiursa at the beginning of the game as part of a tutorial).

 

[Lycanthropy]

I haven't played Colosseum and XD, but the concept sounds interesting to see in the main series. Like in those games an evil organization could easily be built around it, but I think a sequel would be better if it would be in the same style as the originals instead of reshaping it to the main series.

 

[Sun]

It's an interesting and unique mechanic. But I prefer it stay out of the core series, or what's gonna make those series special and different from the core games if they are copy-paste of each others?

 

[Lycanthropy]

Man, you would've loved the concept of Shadow Pokemon back in the Colo/XD days! Basically, like, when you face a Shadow Pokemon, all of their moves are super effective against just about any type except other Shadow Pokemon (in which case it would be not very effective as far as I know?). And when you pair that super effectiveness up with the actual power of the shadow moves (some are insane, like there are shadow versions of double-edge and there are shadow moves that cut everyone's HP in half on the battlefield), and depending on the Pokemon itself, it can produce some pretty devastating results. @_@

That seems hard to beat those Pokémon then, more power and ×2 damage thanks to instant super effectivity. The shadow move you describe there seems like a massive Super Fang, so the game has its own set of moves even, a bit like how PMD added Vacuum Cut?
I should really play these games sometime, I'll put it on my (way too long) list of games I really should play when I have the time.

 

[SparklingMistral]

Shadow Pokemon was a pretty interesting concept, and I'd like to see it get used more, tbh. I didn't really play too much of the Colosseum or Gale of Darkness games, but I liked the concept of Shadow Pokemon. I don't really care if they make it another spin off or make it a part of the main series, I'd just like to see it used a bit more.

 

[Poké Bean]

I've never played the games they're in but heard them talked about so much so looked them up and was horrified to learn what had been done to them! Humans suck! But it's a great concept for a game! I'd love a new game to feature them, either main series or spin-off. I think it would work well as a plot in a main series game.