Sun & Moon and Kanto marketing

[Starry Windy]

Hmm, I thought Game Freak and the others are pandering on 1st Gen for quite a while now? Just like the others said, Kalos games were brimming with several 1st Gen references, like Santalune Forest being similar to Viridian Forest, and how Professor Sycamore giving you Kanto starters as well.

But then, I think Sun and Moon are pushing their hardest to put much of 1st Gen content because 1st Gen is what started it all, and personally I don't mind any of those, as long as other Gens are having attention as well, since they do say in the trailer that "it comes all together", right?

 

[Eruption]

Personally I think this is a recurring theme throughout the series with perhaps Gen III and Gen V being the only cases were elements of Gen I weren't incorporated/updated. Even then most of the Gen V species seem like a twist of Gen I 'mons.

Understandably for the 20th anniversary, this trend of revisiting elements of Gen I has intensified as a celebration of what started it all off. I'm sure this would all occurred regardless of Pokémon Go, but that made it a necessity in my opinion as it created new fans who only care about the 151 and means some old fans have returned who might only care about 151.

Personally I think its a good thing, we've had a lot of fun already just from seeing Alolan Exeggutor and Dugtrio. I personally will probably enjoy the game more knowing I can run some of my favourites from Gen I. I like every Gen of pokémon, but if I rate each gen just on the species introduced within that generation then its far and away the best overall in my opinion. My only concern has been whether they would damage old pokémon (as the Gen IV evolutions did in my opinion) through the redesigns and with the exception of Persian, I think we're clear on that front.

 

[Spinosaurus]

Personally I think this is a recurring theme throughout the series with perhaps Gen III and Gen V being the only cases were elements of Gen I weren't incorporated/updated. Even then most of the Gen V species seem like a twist of Gen I 'mons.

This is actually something to consider. Kanto "pandering" has always been a thing.

Gen 2 was very much a direct sequel to Kanto. The majority of Pokemon you can catch in Johto were Kanto Pokemon. They were much more common overall, and you even go back to Kanto and fight Red.

Gen 3 was a soft reboot, sure, but the overwhelming amount of returning Pokemon were Kanto Pokemon. All the stable Kanto Pokemon were catchable, especially early on. Johto Pokemon were very, very few and rare to come across.

Gen 4 introduced a lot of new evolution for past Pokemon, the majority being Kanto Pokemon. They were also easy to come across, and the stables returned.

Gen 5 is an exception, but a lot of the early Pokemon take from the Kanto ones.

Gen 6 was more blatant about it. Several events were reminiscent of gen 1, like Snorlax blocking your path, Lapras being a gift Pokemon, etc. You even get to pick one of the Kanto starters. Charizard and Mewtwo were the only Pokemon to get two megas, but I'd consider this more as a result of Charizard and Mewtwo being the most popular Pokemon ever not named Pikachu.

Gen 7 has Alolan Pokemon, all being Kanto Pokemon. We'll see what else is there. (I'm avoiding the leaks.)


Kanto has and will always be celebrated for being the start of it all. The Pokemon in general are just so, so marketable. It'd be silly NOT to pander to gen 1 fans. (Gen 5 got a lot of backlash for this.) It's very much like how every single Mario game call back to the first Super Mario Bros in some way.

 

[Lunar]

Although I'm kinda disappointed that the Alola Forms are exclusive to Kanto Pokemon, overall I don't mind the Gen One marketing. Tbh, it was always gonna happen considering it's the 20th anniversary, I really love Kanto and all the nostalgia surrounding it so it doesn't really bother me.

 

[MKC]

Honestly, the only thing REALLY bothering me is the amount of Kanto pokemon in Alola, nearly all of Gen1 appears on the regional dex, that means there's more Kanto pokemon in Alola than Alolan pokemon themselves, that's just not okay, specially considering we JUST got a set of games with Kanto pokemon only that just so happens to be compatible with S&M, Gen1 pokemon are what we needed the least.

The Pokedex feels really unbalanced having so many Kanto pokemon and so little from other regions. It also kinda bothers me how a few Gen1 Pokemon got Alola forms while the rest didn't, if most of Kanto is in Alola why did only some of them adapt? seems kinda weird to me.

 

[Ewery1]

Honestly, the only thing REALLY bothering me is the amount of Kanto pokemon in Alola, nearly all of Gen1 appears on the regional dex, that means there's more Kanto pokemon in Alola than Alolan pokemon themselves, that's just not okay, specially considering we JUST got a set of games with Kanto pokemon only that just so happens to be compatible with S&M, Gen1 pokemon are what we needed the least.

The Pokedex feels really unbalanced having so many Kanto pokemon and so little from other regions. It also kinda bothers me how a few Gen1 Pokemon got Alola forms while the rest didn't, if most of Kanto is in Alola why did only some of them adapt? seems kinda weird to me.

Yeah this is what bothers me.

 

[Hikamaru]

Honestly, the only thing REALLY bothering me is the amount of Kanto pokemon in Alola, nearly all of Gen1 appears on the regional dex, that means there's more Kanto pokemon in Alola than Alolan pokemon themselves, that's just not okay, specially considering we JUST got a set of games with Kanto pokemon only that just so happens to be compatible with S&M, Gen1 pokemon are what we needed the least.

The Pokedex feels really unbalanced having so many Kanto pokemon and so little from other regions. It also kinda bothers me how a few Gen1 Pokemon got Alola forms while the rest didn't, if most of Kanto is in Alola why did only some of them adapt? seems kinda weird to me.

I can understand you a lot, since I do feel the inclusion of so many Kanto Pokemon makes the VC compatibility moot. The only way I could see people even using the VC Kanto games to transfer to S/M is for 1st Gen-specific movesets that weren't possible in later generations, or to transfer normal forms of the Pokemon with Alola Forms.

 

[Spinosaurus]

I can understand you a lot, since I do feel the inclusion of so many Kanto Pokemon makes the VC compatibility moot. The only way I could see people even using the VC Kanto games to transfer to S/M is for 1st Gen-specific movesets that weren't possible in later generations, or to transfer normal forms of the Pokemon with Alola Forms.

The aspect of transferring Pokemon from the first game to the latest one is appealing and novel to most. That's all there is to it.

Nevermind the fact you can use your gen 1 Pokemon to use online, EV train or what have you.

 

[Kieran]

For people whom did not start with generation 1 (Like some of you have mentioned), naturally you can't feel the nostalgic feel to it. Starting at a later game then going back certainly don't make you feel better about it, definitely, since it was much more simple back then.

I am glad they decided to use Kanto's Pokemon to boost things up-- The friends from my generations whom have stopped playing Pokemon for ancients (Since the first generation!) have started coming up to me again asking me about buying Sun and Moon. I'd say it does help.

 

[Rivvon]

But it isn't my biggest problem. My biggest problem was the mentioning of Kanto from Sensu Style Oricorio's profile, which gives me the impression it's the only Japanese region representative in the Pokémon world, which isn't true.

Oh my gosh, this is so true. I had already mentioned it in the old thread about Oricorio but I think it's worth repeating here: Ecruteak City is the place with a very traditional Japanese atmosphere, the Kimono Girls and their rigid training as geisha and in traditional dance, and connection to folklore and spirits through the Tin and Brass Towers and their Ghost-Type specialist Gym Leader. Ecruteak City is in Johto. You're telling me they aren't the ones who feel reminded of home when they see Sensu Oricorio, it's only the people from Kanto who do? It's a small detail, sure, but it shows just how far they're willing to go to pander to gen 1 instead of even simply referencing other gens even though it would be more sensible to do the latter.





I'm not going to reply to anyone else in particular but I just want to say this: The Kanto pandering in SM is so widespread that it affects everyone differently.

To someone like MKC, it doesn't make sense how there can be so many Kanto Pokémon in the region when there's not only less new Pokémon than gen 1 Pokémon, and there are so many other regions to take Pokémon from, but we also just this year got VC re-releases of the original games with the huge marketing pull of being able to transfer to your Pokémon from the VC games into SM.

To someone like Ewery1, it doesn't make sense why they'd put in Pokémon like Magnemite over Magcargo when the region is supposed to be volcanic and tropical. And before anyone says anything: this is a valid opinion. "The average player doesn't care about details like that" is a weak argument. The average player also doesn't care about narrative in their games--that's why even in a Pokémon-loving community of people, most people will consider gen 5 as the "worst" gen, despite BW having arguably the best story, and B2W2 arguably having the second-best story paired with arguably the second-best amount of overall content. But let's just say if SM botch their story somehow, it would be hard to make a convincing argument of "Well, the average player doesn't care about the story so it's okay that it didn't turn out so hot." That's why it's perfectly valid to think that the Pokémon picked to be in Alola's regional dex is a weak point--it matters to someone and that's what matters.

To other people, maybe they expected the 20th anniversary games where " " it all comes together!!! " " to have more than just a generic NPC ripped from one gen and a reference to a legendary that may amount to nothing more than flavor text in the end from another. Hey, maybe Game Freak intended for SM to only sing the praises of gen 1. Alright then. But that's not gonna change that some people aren't big fans of gen 1, or that other people like other gens and want to see them get some love which they only seem to get in their own generation and never outside it unless they get a remake.

If the Kanto pandering had been limited to Alola forms, then only the people who were super highly mega against them would be taking any issue with this. But because this goes above and beyond Alola forms, it opens the doorway to take it too far in a certain direction that individuals may not like. These individuals may be super hyped for SM but still find fault in the way some aspects are handled. Some may not be hyped at all and the gen 1 pandering adds to that feeling. And both are perfectly valid.

Yeah, maybe the gen 1 pandering is helping them bring back some genwunners for the time being and is a "good business move." Sure. But that to me doesn't make the gen 1 pandering any more appealing.

 

[Hikamaru]

Angelica's post just before me makes a strong point - the 20th anniversary is celebrating not just Pokemon as a whole, but the beginning of Pokemon which is where Kanto came in, and its set of Pokemon have the recognition identity that Pokemon from newer generations tend to lack. Pokemon GO has also been promoting Kanto a lot and has been successful in that manner with its Kanto-only roster that has been successfully bringing back fans who fell out of favour years ago, usually around 3rd Gen since I feel that was the point when many old fans left Pokemon.

Alola Forms put a fresh spin on these iconic Pokemon and while I'm not a fan of Kanto (in fact I never even played a game that mainly took place in Kanto) I do love the concept with the Alola Forms but as we learned, everyone views the Kanto pandering differently. Heck, I'm even disappointed with some of the regional Dex distribution for Alola since a lot of my faves are lacking in it (at least what I consider my "top" faves), but that at least turned out well in my plan to use only new Pokemon and an Alola Form or two.

 

[Hikamaru]

One thing we must remember however, is that this isn't Kanto we're playing here. It's Alola. We're playing a region that has its own identity. We're playing a region that has its own culture, its own characters. The 20th anniversary games celebrate the birth of where Pokemon began, but it's not Kanto's fault that it happened to be that region.

For the 20th anniversary, it DOES all come together. It's the birth of Pokemon in 1996 which is what is reminisced about the most, alongside the progression of Pokemon throughout the years. The idea of Alola forms in the first place is a Sinnoh thing (new forms for older Pokemon? Sinnoh). Festival Plaza looks like a combination of Join Aveune from fifth gen and Wi-Fi Plaza from Fourth gen alongside Alola's own spin on it. Mega Evolutions being included in the games is a sixth gen thing (albeit no new megas but not the point), etc etc. We're going to see smaller details that are reflective of other generations being included, and to me, that matters just as much as the bigger additions. That's the bigger picture, here.

If you're seeing the forest just for the trees, then I'd argue that's the wrong way go about with it.

You definitely nailed it. It's with features like Festival Plaza that are serving as shout-outs to the other generations, heck even the Battle Tree is very much like a PWT clone. While we won't see as much representation as Kanto, we will at least be getting a good amount of references and shout-outs to many previous games.

 

[Maserati777]

Can I just say Ninetales is my favorite Pokémon, and the fact the creators recognized a Pokémon, that is usually overshadowed by Arcanine, in this game by not only giving it a good Alolan form, but also revealing it first is pretty awesome.


I actually started playing the games during Red and Blue, I'm most familiar with Gen 1 and 2 and to an extent 6. I lost interest in Pokémon around Generation 3, then XY brought me back to the games. So personally I would have been fine with seeing some of the later Generation's more popular Pokémon such as Lucario and Chandelure get Alolan forms. I probably wouldn't have wanted a Cricketune or Wurmple Alolan form in the vein of Gen 1's more annoying Pokémon like Rattata and Geodude. Of course since Gen 1 is the oldest game and thanks to Pokémon Go I'm also the most sick of a lot of the lower Gen 1 Pokémon and so am glad they have an update along with the cooler Alolan forms.

 

[Rivvon]

Also, as Spinosaurus already stated earlier, Kanto pandering has always been a thing throughout the generations.

Game Freak is more blatant about it this generation than others, but it's by no means something new that they've started doing.

Is this supposed to make me like the pandering more? Because when I hear confirmation like that, it just makes me think, "Yup. I really do wish we got something different for a change and had the other gens get some limelight for once."

but in case you haven't noticed, no Pokemon game has every single character and has every single Pokemon and has every single region in it. This will always be the case and it seems that SM gets the worst of it because Game Freak is more blatant about their Kanto references than they have been in past generations.

The other games weren't marketing themselves as "it all comes together in the series's 20th anniversary titles," though. If DP had marketed themselves as the "10th anniversary of gen 1!!" then yeah I'd wonder where all the Kanto references were but they didn't do that at all so ...

I also don't get why you continue to use the "every region, every Pokémon, every character" argument. Like, I get that you're trying to exaggerate for the sake of your point, but I don't think any of the ideas presented by the people in this thread are that unfeasible. Of course there can be no game with "all regions and all Pokémon and every single character." But... there can be another game with a PWT, which doesn't include every region or every Pokémon or every character, but it can include a sizable number of them. Or just keep it simple and bring back the Battle Frontier. Your argument is too drastic for what people have actually been saying.

And quite honestly, I think the saddest thing above all is that I fear some people cannot move on past the "Kanto pandering" creating this "Us vs Kanto" mentality that ultimately affects their perspective of the games.

I'm sorry that people have high expectations for the games that pride themselves on being the 20th anniversary titles but there's nothing I can say in regards to that. It's just bound to happen--especially after coming from what a lot seem to regard as a rather lackluster gen overall.

And like, a lot of the people here have said they're hyped for the games regardless, they just don't like the Kanto pandering. Maybe SM will turn out to be their favorite games regardless of it. Maybe they'll enjoy the games but it won't be their favorites because the Kanto pandering was too much for them. Maybe they'll enjoy the games but it won't be their favorites because Lillie keeps giving them the stink-eye. So what? That's their opinion and that's fine. Is it really that important for everyone to see every single little thing about SM in a positive light?

One thing we must remember however, is that this isn't Kanto we're playing here. It's Alola. We're playing a region that has its own identity. We're playing a region that has its own culture, its own characters.

People claimed Kalos suffered from a hampered "unique identity" despite having a very unique appearance and culture (and only one returning character), due to the Kanto pandering (regardless of how small you think it was), the lack of new Pokémon, and the overabundance of old Pokémon in comparison to them.

So yes, Alola is its own region with its own culture and characters. But it also has "Alolan Prof. Oak," Red and Blue reappearing, alongside others potentially. Not to mention how few new Pokémon there are; there are more Kanto Pokémon in the region than new Pokémon, not to mention what happens when you add the rest in there. You're right... This isn't Kanto we're playing. But it's way too soon to know if Alola will suffer a similar fate as Kalos or not. And no, I don't think just because they have Trial Challenges they're automatically in the clear.

For the 20th anniversary, it DOES all come together. It's the birth of Pokemon in 1996 which is what is reminisced about the most, alongside the progression of Pokemon throughout the years. The idea of Alola forms in the first place is a Sinnoh thing (new forms for older Pokemon? Sinnoh). Festival Plaza looks like a combination of Join Aveune from fifth gen and Wi-Fi Plaza from Fourth gen alongside Alola's own spin on it. Mega Evolutions being included in the games is a sixth gen thing (albeit no new megas but not the point), etc etc. We're going to see smaller details that are reflective of other generations being included, and to me, that matters just as much as the bigger additions. That's the bigger picture, here.

So keeping older features from older games is what constitutes as "celebrating" past gens now? What I mean by that is, how is something like keeping Mega Evolution "celebrating gen 6" when that's something that should have remained regardless? Is gen 3 and onward all celebrating gen 2 because they were kind enough to keep the Steel and Dark Types? And I mean, I'm glad they brought the Free Space back from B2W2 but considering most people don't even seem to notice it's from those games it's hard to really view it as a great big "hurrah" in their name, you get me? It's just the Free Space.

I think a lot of people view Pokémon as games that should progress from each other, regardless of what anniversary they're celebrating, which is why so many viewed gen 6 as a disappointment. So at the same time, while they probably look at stuff like the Festival Plaza and say "cool beans" they probably don't think of that as being the whole "this is our big gen 5 reference because we know you all played gen 5 for the Join Avenue!!"

So I get what you're saying but I also totally understand why people don't look at stuff like that and think that that's how they're paying respects to the other gens.

 

[Ewery1]

-snip-

I keep agreeing with everything Rivvon is saying, tbh colours, your arguments seem mostly vapid and just blatantly discredit the feelings of many fans because of 'good business.' Regardless of whether this is 'good business' or not, the fact remains that it is unsatisfying and ultimately makes Alola loose much of its identity by basically becoming a vehicle for Kanto. The argument that you keep using about Pokemon selection being unimportant is completely stupid and meaningless, would you rather have a game where things are tacked together because they are popular with no reason? Just because casual players won't specifically care doesn't make it any less valid, what's the point of designing a dynamic environment and region if you're just going to fill it with random Pokemon so that you can make a quota of enough Pokemon so that genwunners are pleased?

Ultimately, I'm very disappointed with Gamefreak and this is taking away from my enjoyment of SM a little preemptively, although I can't say how this will affect me in the game, and I'm sure it'll still be great, just not as amazing as it could be.

 

[Yixi]

Personally I think the Kanto marketing in Sun and Moon was a good move. The only reason I even came back to Pokemon was the fact Sun and Moon sparked my interest. I only played up to gen 4 before the announcement of Sun and Moon. I've been spending my time playing gen 5 and 6 to catch up while waiting for Sun and Moon. Considering they got me to buy a New 3DS XL plus Sun and Moon...I'd say it was a good business move. Rip wallet.

 

[Rivvon]

Is it really, though? You say it's too drastic, but in the Battle Tree thread, you sure have your expectations set for nearly every Gym Leader, nearly every remotely important character in the history of Pokemon gaming ever to make a cameo in order for the Battle Tree to be a satisfactory experience. It's no longer enough to have Gym Leaders, Rivals, and Elite Four show up, it has to have N and probably AZ and all these other characters and if they don't make it in the games, you're going to make a really disappointed reaction post about how Game Freak isn't doing enough or these games and how "it all comes together" is supposed to mean everyone that you like is supposed to be included in the games, not what the experience actually turns out to be and the actual substance of the games, which is the bigger point.

Did I really say that though?

I'm sorry but, I think you're really trying to tie this whole thing around how I personally am not hyped for SM, as opposed to actually making this about the Kanto pandering subject... I dunno what it is about me not being hyped for SM that you don't like, but is this really the way to go about attacking me for it?

By no means am I saying it's wrong to have these high expectations, because sometimes Game Freak can and does sometimes live up to them, but there's a problem when those expectations become so excessively high (as in the case of SM, as you can plainly see) that morale for the games will dip as soon as something is revealed that doesn't quite fit within our mental image of what the games should be like.

Isn't this how it is every gen, though? People want a certain feature or whatever, it's not in, "darn why couldn't they bring this back." Like, how is this any different? At all?

No, and I've never said anything about people taking every little thing about SM and seeing it in a positive light. What's more important is approaching the games with an open mind to the change Game Freak brought upon us and then developing an opinion afterwards. If, afterwards, SM isn't your game, that's fine. If it's your favourite, that's cool! The important part is that you actually played the games and were exposed to the content enough to develop an informed opinion instead of prejudging because "ew Kanto".

Isn't that what the pre-release period is for, though? The publisher is trying to get the potential audience to "pre-judge" their game in hopes that people will buy it. And I'm sure everyone who's posted in this thread so far will buy the game(s) regardless, at the very least.

If someone's shown information about something, they're gonna have an opinion on it. If they show a lot of gen 1 pandering, people are gonna have their opinions on the gen 1 pandering. That's how it goes.

If you recall, it's a long tradition that each and every generation, Game Freak would trash older features and replace them with new ones, which lead to polarized reactions, mostly, depending on the newer feature being introduced.

Okay, and I thought Pokémon fans in general wanted to move away from that. SM very well may be the start of them moving away from that and that would be fantastic. But I still stand by those who say that it doesn't constitute as a "reference." Yes features matter but not as an homage, especially when they've been altered so much and aren't given much if any focus.

I mean, it's completely meaningless and pedantic, but hey, that's your thing. I mean, every generation, I don't sit there and think "Hm... does this Pokemon really belong here?"

I do think it's interesting how you praise Alola for being a hugely unique, own-identity region, but don't put any value in the Pokémon that actually appear there.

Maybe I'm the only one who thinks so, but I thought it was very clever how, say, in Unova you had Pokémon such as Pidove and Trubbish, since pigeons are very common in New York, and it's (sadly) a very polluted place. Pokémon such as these were appropriate for the region, and I thought that was a very nice touch--these and other certain Pokémon made Unova "feel" like New York. It's just fascinating to me that you put such a particularly heavy emphasis on Alola's "identity" but completely dismiss the Pokémon available there as a part of it.

 

[Rivvon]

I am very disinterested in having a debate about underlying implications, because those can oftentimes be interpreted differently than what the poster generally meant. But at any rate, here are the parts of the posts that you linked that gave off that impression. If I am in error in my own interpretation, then feel free to point them out:

Yes, N's my favorite character. I'm sorry my favorite character isn't Cynthia (or Wally) and I don't think that those two alone will make the Battle Tower more enjoyable for me.

Like, I'm legit trying to keep my expectations low while also giving Game Freak the benefit of the doubt that they actually can potentially make this facility worthwhile even though it's just another Battle Tower, which is the exact thing I was hoping we wouldn't be getting. How is that bad? You're so intent on calling me out on any little thing that you can't even see when I'm trying to be positive and keep my expectations from going too high ("but if we actually get a large number of returning major characters to fill in the role of "Tower Tycoon," this could still be the most enjoyable Battle Tower yet" "but we may just be getting some Champions and some rivals" "Oops this got too long too fast" "but I'm worried that would start pushing it" all from the posts you selected).

And to keep this on the topic of Kanto pandering, the potential to actually include at least one character from each gen in the Battle Tower would be a fairly nice nod to them so there's that aspect that I like about it, too.

I don't think it's fair to me to say that I'm "attacking" you for it. It's a discussion.

I apologize. After I had posted I realized "attacking" was the wrong word for me to use. "Targeting" is the word I should have used.

I'm well aware of that. My biggest concern is people tying Gen I pandering to how they're going to enjoy SM overall, disregarding what other possibly enjoyable features the game would have and making the Gen I pandering the face of the game, which I feel is unfair to the region, overall.

Are people saying that, though? Ewery1 themselves even said "I'm sure it'll still be great, just not as amazing as it could be." I honestly don't think anybody has said anything remotely along the lines of "the gen 1 pandering will ruin the games as a whole." Maybe they said they're less hyped, but that doesn't equate to them thinking the games are completely ruined.

I suppose that's fair then if you don't see that as a reference; I guess we'll agree to disagree there. I'm curious though as far as what your definition of an "homage" would be? Does a homage to a past generation have to strictly be character cameos? That's precisely why I argued features, because there's more than just characters that make up the region.

No, it could also be something like... new Mega Evolutions, new evolutions or forms of Pokémon, new special attacks for Pokémon from that region...

And I get that this isn't going to happen and we should just let it go and move on, but I just wanted to say it to show there are other ways to do "references" than just "Wally's here, hey how you doin'" or "if you squint just right, it reminds you of Join Avenue." And it's because those exact methods of reference are used exclusively for gen 1 that it's easy for them to become a focus in some people's minds.

 

[MegaKuriboh]

I wouldn't mind the pandering again if it wasn't for XY having a whole bunch of it (like it really should have been saved for now). I was okay with it then a bit, because it didn't seem like a lot, getting a second pair of starters was nice, making those weak final evolutions given a needed boost was great too, and then we got Mewtwo which I'm kind of neutral on but it was cool to see it in 3D doing it's pose with a sweet new remix to go along with it.

What mostly annoys me about it in SM isn't the Kanto pandering itself, I mean.... Red and Blue back with new designs? Hell yeah! Giving some Kanto Pokemon fresh new designs? Sweet. Professor Oak has an Alolan Cousin? That's hilarious, I missed the old fart, so it's nice to see some reference to him.
Alola forms are Kanto only? Eh... that's annoying but whatever. Special Z-Moves seem to only be for Kanto mons too so far (excluding the Tapu's) that's.... really a waste isn't it? I mean we don't exactly know if it's for sure yet, but there are many many Pokemon that could use a special new move.

Johto gets...... special PokeBalls? I mean, that's cool I guess, but it probably means literally nothing to people who don't want to customize their Pokemon with special balls. Oh, and a guy wears a Meganium shirt. okay.
Slowpoke Tails reference is kind of funny it'll admit.

Hoenn gets.... riding a Sharpedo, and Wally's there (Which I'm assuming the Battle Tree will get one character from each gen anyways, so it doesn't make a difference). So cool I guess nobody likes Gen 3 anyways right? We're all still mad because it cut off connection with Gen 1 and 2 games right? What dumb Pokemon designs am I right? Misty is better than May.

Sinnoh gets a new Rotom design! But it's not a Pokemon, it's a Pokedex.... alright. Well it still might be fun but eh. Type: Null and Shivally were made out of Arceus design which is cool, and maaaay tie in with Gen 4 remakes. Also Cynthia is there, which I'll admit is awesome, cause I love Cynthia and we didn't see a 3D Model of her yet, but she is one of the most popular Pokemon characters anyways and my point with Wally still stands.

Unova gets..... an NPC pose. k. oh, and possibly a professor I've never even heard about until now. I'm happy I get to ride on a Stoutland though. But who likes this region i mean the pokemon designs were soooooo bad am i right? and who cares about the features BW2 gave or the story we got this is where pokemon went downhill totally

Kalos actually gets a decent amount of stuff, with all the Zygarde stuff, Ash-Greninja, and seeing Dexio and Sina a bit grown up, which is nice but I feel the first stuff was just rammed in there just because they couldn't make Z happen.

I like the Kanto love, it's all pretty damn good, and of course Kanto is going to get more love since it's mostly it's anniversary, but it just pains me to see SO little of the other generations. Pokedex distribution doesn't matter THAT much later because of Pokebank making it so easy to port over whatever Pokemon you wanna use in your journey. And again, the game actually isn't even out yet, so we don't even know what could await us, for all we know there could be many more references sprinkled throughout the game. Maybe there will be more ride Pokemon, maybe we'll get some more champions and rivals showing up, maybe gamefreak managed to scrub mega evolutions off the demo, whatever, I'm not going to let this favouritism affect my enjoyment of the game, and I still have yet to discover Alola and all of it's unique cultures and traits too, so that will be fun. I'm sure these games will be fantastic, but if we really get that little representation of the other generations, I can't help but feel that a little potential was wasted.

 

[Degurchaff]

I dont mind that only the kanto pokemon gets a alola form But i wouldn't mind seeing other forms I have seen a few interesting fan made ones like this one for example

I have also seen a few more cool ones in this video right here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSasp79HOC8

New alola forms of others generations would be amazing
It would take a lot more work But think of how awesome the ending result could be.