Hi Pokelovers across the world!
Again allow me to salute all you loyal souls who have stuck by our heroes for all these years. I, like you, am an avid (and slightly crazy…ok, really crazy) Pokefan!
Upon thoroughly reading most (my apologies I did not read all of them) of the posts, I have decided to lend my views to some of the issues raised there. Here are a few issues I felt compelled to try and resolve, being the hard-core Pokefan that I am.
The Top Changes Developers Must Make
• Gym battles need to be revamped
I can’t honestly remember the last time Ash actually had a difficult Gym battle. Sure he lost to a few of them only because he battled like a wimp, or the gym leader was either simply cleverer and/or used Pokemon unbeknownst to him. In fact, his battle against Ewan was the last Gym battle I really truly, liked. It was very competitive and introduced a very interesting three round format. In fact, the last two gym battles in Hoenn displayed a sincere effort from the developers to introduce some freshness into gym battles. Sadly that trend did not continue and we went back to the same old boring 3 on 3 formats where the gym leader is not allowed to substitute, something which I think is criminally unjust and has to be changed. Really, please. It is predictable and monotonous.
Here’s what the developers can do.
Instead of letting the poor gym leaders get thrashed and shoved around by arrogant trainers all year, or make them hand out badges like free candy, perhaps the developers can take a leaf out of Pokemon contest formats.
Make a gym leader battle maybe once or twice a year and turn each occasion into a mini tournament, where the winning trainer gets to battle the gym leader. Limit the number of gym battles available to a certain amount per yer, leading up to the Pokemon Leagues, just like in contests.
Once a trainer gets to the leader if he/she loses, he/she gets just one more retry. That way I honestly will feel that a trainer like Ash or anybody else can genuinely improve and will feel he has actually “earned” the badge.
That way the poor gym leaders can also actually retain some dignity, rather than lose more and win few against challengers all year. And also make registering for the “gym tournament”, a first come first serve, service.
So the bottom line is, don’t make it as easy as walking up the stairs and challenging a gym leader anytime. Try and get trainers to really earn it. Make those eight badges hard to get. Make them an achievement in itself. Now addressing any developer reading this post, you got rid of the battle club tournament when it came to Kalos (and frankly I liked them better than the Unova league). So there is room for you to introduce changes like the ones suggested above. Rather than show pointless episodes where our heroes rescue a Pokemon here and there, saves some guy, and help some woman, you can have new Pokemon debut at these types of gym battles. I am not saying to stop and completely abandon the usual stuff, but if you can squeeze three episodes showing a battle club tournament, you can make the gym battles undeniably more exciting by adopting this strategy.
At least do it for us old lugs who are crying out for something different.
• Enough with the sudden deaths
I urge the developers to get rid of this one-on-one sudden death format, which usually kicks off the preliminaries of a major Pokemon League tournament. It is absolutely sad and grossly unfair, for a trainer to work so hard all year to gather eight badges (as straightforward as they maybe) and then be undone in the preliminaries because of a single battle. At least make it a two on two if you are not prepared to abandon this format. So that when a trainer’s first Pokemon falters, he can regroup and counter-attack with his/her second Pokemon, giving him/herself a decent chance of earning a comeback victory. But here is what I think you should really do and will be even better.
The Johto league is probably the only tournament to actually adopt the term “league” during its conception and eventual capitulation. Once Ash made it past the preliminaries, he was ‘grouped’ with two other trainers, and those who get the most points progress. It made absolute sense. After all, that is what a “league” is supposed to be right? But sadly the ingenious developer’s scuppered that as well, continuing on with the unfair sudden death system in the preliminaries of the Hoenn League and Unova leagues respectively. The cheery on top of the icing ofcourse was Ash’ battle against Trip in the Unova league, which was absolutely infuriating.
Make it a league format.
Divide all competing trainers into groups of four and have them battle each other (just like in the soccer/rugby world cup). The two with the most points progress. Make all knock out rounds up until the quarter-finals 3 on 3 battles. That way everyone has a fair shot. And it makes it undeniably more exciting. And for the love of God, change the battlefield once in a while during battles. You use to do that during the Kanto and Johto leagues. But for some reason, you stopped using this rule in the latter leagues.
• Why did you get rid of the battle clubs?
They were exciting and fun to watch as rivals and friends re-united. Okay still I didn’t like the one on one format (I mean c’mon that is for random trainer battles), but the tournaments were a good opportunity for trainers to develop their Pokemon. Perhaps reintroduce them and make them two on two brawls?
• Get rid of the “6 Pokemon only” mould
They did break the mould in the Unova region, where Ash actually captured more than six Pokemon (nine in total I think). That undeniably was a great touch from the developers. He should be capturing as many as he can. Think about this, with the stringent and competitive gym battle format I had suggested above, Ash and indeed other trainers will have plenty of opportunities to develop all their captured Pokemon. It’s a shame, but it looks like they got rid of it. Because signs are, Ash won’t capture any more than six in his time at Kalos. I mean isn't he is supposed to "catch em all"? That's the motto, right?
• Get rid of the “4 attacks per Pokemon" mould
I don’t like it. A pokemon should at least be capable of using 8 moves, including status, special and conventional moves. So that tragedies like replacing thunder with thunderbolt (Pikachu), bolt tackle (with quick attack), and seismic toss with dragon tail (Charizard), do not happen. It is just frustrating. Sort of like forcing a Pokemon to limit its abilities.
• I like Mega evolution (no not really)
Other fans may slaughter me, but I don’t really like the idea of using some magic stone to make my Pokemon powerful (mega evolve as it is). I like to think a Pokemon is as strong as its trainer trains it to be, and relies on willpower and its guts rather than an artificial stone, to gain power. Nice try developers. But no thanks really. Concentrate on tweaking gym battle and the league formats instead, for Chrissake.
• We don’t want you to get rid of Ash
Don’t do that or we will be gutted. But at least, give him something. How long are you gonna keep stalling? The Kalos League I believe marks the 25th anniversary of the Pokemon franchise. Make it a grand event. Give him something to go on. But please don’t make him look even more ridiculous. And certainly don’t deliver low blows like the one you did with Tobias. What I really hope is that you make him champion.
• The champions league can be introduced
It should be a different tournament and should comprise of the top 4 trainers from league competitions across all the regions (discovered regions and/or those yet to be introduced). The format should be as suggested above. But this is one for the future.
The elite four tournament however, should not be categorized as the “champions league tournament”. It should only be region specific and should only allow the trainer who has won the league in that particular region. And of course if that trainer beats the elite four he gets to meet the champion.
Friends, thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts thus far. I hope you have found them to be informative and useful.
Again allow me to salute all you loyal souls who have stuck by our heroes for all these years. I, like you, am an avid (and slightly crazy…ok, really crazy) Pokefan!
Upon thoroughly reading most (my apologies I did not read all of them) of the posts, I have decided to lend my views to some of the issues raised there. Here are a few issues I felt compelled to try and resolve, being the hard-core Pokefan that I am.
The Top Changes Developers Must Make
• Gym battles need to be revamped
I can’t honestly remember the last time Ash actually had a difficult Gym battle. Sure he lost to a few of them only because he battled like a wimp, or the gym leader was either simply cleverer and/or used Pokemon unbeknownst to him. In fact, his battle against Ewan was the last Gym battle I really truly, liked. It was very competitive and introduced a very interesting three round format. In fact, the last two gym battles in Hoenn displayed a sincere effort from the developers to introduce some freshness into gym battles. Sadly that trend did not continue and we went back to the same old boring 3 on 3 formats where the gym leader is not allowed to substitute, something which I think is criminally unjust and has to be changed. Really, please. It is predictable and monotonous.
Here’s what the developers can do.
Instead of letting the poor gym leaders get thrashed and shoved around by arrogant trainers all year, or make them hand out badges like free candy, perhaps the developers can take a leaf out of Pokemon contest formats.
Make a gym leader battle maybe once or twice a year and turn each occasion into a mini tournament, where the winning trainer gets to battle the gym leader. Limit the number of gym battles available to a certain amount per yer, leading up to the Pokemon Leagues, just like in contests.
Once a trainer gets to the leader if he/she loses, he/she gets just one more retry. That way I honestly will feel that a trainer like Ash or anybody else can genuinely improve and will feel he has actually “earned” the badge.
That way the poor gym leaders can also actually retain some dignity, rather than lose more and win few against challengers all year. And also make registering for the “gym tournament”, a first come first serve, service.
So the bottom line is, don’t make it as easy as walking up the stairs and challenging a gym leader anytime. Try and get trainers to really earn it. Make those eight badges hard to get. Make them an achievement in itself. Now addressing any developer reading this post, you got rid of the battle club tournament when it came to Kalos (and frankly I liked them better than the Unova league). So there is room for you to introduce changes like the ones suggested above. Rather than show pointless episodes where our heroes rescue a Pokemon here and there, saves some guy, and help some woman, you can have new Pokemon debut at these types of gym battles. I am not saying to stop and completely abandon the usual stuff, but if you can squeeze three episodes showing a battle club tournament, you can make the gym battles undeniably more exciting by adopting this strategy.
At least do it for us old lugs who are crying out for something different.
• Enough with the sudden deaths
I urge the developers to get rid of this one-on-one sudden death format, which usually kicks off the preliminaries of a major Pokemon League tournament. It is absolutely sad and grossly unfair, for a trainer to work so hard all year to gather eight badges (as straightforward as they maybe) and then be undone in the preliminaries because of a single battle. At least make it a two on two if you are not prepared to abandon this format. So that when a trainer’s first Pokemon falters, he can regroup and counter-attack with his/her second Pokemon, giving him/herself a decent chance of earning a comeback victory. But here is what I think you should really do and will be even better.
The Johto league is probably the only tournament to actually adopt the term “league” during its conception and eventual capitulation. Once Ash made it past the preliminaries, he was ‘grouped’ with two other trainers, and those who get the most points progress. It made absolute sense. After all, that is what a “league” is supposed to be right? But sadly the ingenious developer’s scuppered that as well, continuing on with the unfair sudden death system in the preliminaries of the Hoenn League and Unova leagues respectively. The cheery on top of the icing ofcourse was Ash’ battle against Trip in the Unova league, which was absolutely infuriating.
Make it a league format.
Divide all competing trainers into groups of four and have them battle each other (just like in the soccer/rugby world cup). The two with the most points progress. Make all knock out rounds up until the quarter-finals 3 on 3 battles. That way everyone has a fair shot. And it makes it undeniably more exciting. And for the love of God, change the battlefield once in a while during battles. You use to do that during the Kanto and Johto leagues. But for some reason, you stopped using this rule in the latter leagues.
• Why did you get rid of the battle clubs?
They were exciting and fun to watch as rivals and friends re-united. Okay still I didn’t like the one on one format (I mean c’mon that is for random trainer battles), but the tournaments were a good opportunity for trainers to develop their Pokemon. Perhaps reintroduce them and make them two on two brawls?
• Get rid of the “6 Pokemon only” mould
They did break the mould in the Unova region, where Ash actually captured more than six Pokemon (nine in total I think). That undeniably was a great touch from the developers. He should be capturing as many as he can. Think about this, with the stringent and competitive gym battle format I had suggested above, Ash and indeed other trainers will have plenty of opportunities to develop all their captured Pokemon. It’s a shame, but it looks like they got rid of it. Because signs are, Ash won’t capture any more than six in his time at Kalos. I mean isn't he is supposed to "catch em all"? That's the motto, right?
• Get rid of the “4 attacks per Pokemon" mould
I don’t like it. A pokemon should at least be capable of using 8 moves, including status, special and conventional moves. So that tragedies like replacing thunder with thunderbolt (Pikachu), bolt tackle (with quick attack), and seismic toss with dragon tail (Charizard), do not happen. It is just frustrating. Sort of like forcing a Pokemon to limit its abilities.
• I like Mega evolution (no not really)
Other fans may slaughter me, but I don’t really like the idea of using some magic stone to make my Pokemon powerful (mega evolve as it is). I like to think a Pokemon is as strong as its trainer trains it to be, and relies on willpower and its guts rather than an artificial stone, to gain power. Nice try developers. But no thanks really. Concentrate on tweaking gym battle and the league formats instead, for Chrissake.
• We don’t want you to get rid of Ash
Don’t do that or we will be gutted. But at least, give him something. How long are you gonna keep stalling? The Kalos League I believe marks the 25th anniversary of the Pokemon franchise. Make it a grand event. Give him something to go on. But please don’t make him look even more ridiculous. And certainly don’t deliver low blows like the one you did with Tobias. What I really hope is that you make him champion.
• The champions league can be introduced
It should be a different tournament and should comprise of the top 4 trainers from league competitions across all the regions (discovered regions and/or those yet to be introduced). The format should be as suggested above. But this is one for the future.
The elite four tournament however, should not be categorized as the “champions league tournament”. It should only be region specific and should only allow the trainer who has won the league in that particular region. And of course if that trainer beats the elite four he gets to meet the champion.
Friends, thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts thus far. I hope you have found them to be informative and useful.
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