Soapbox: The Next Pokémon Game Should Rework Old Critters, Not Just Add Dozens More

In general I've been under the opinion for awhile now that a ton of older Pokemon should be completely reworked in terms of stats, movepools, and in some cases (coughcoughCelebi) typings. Power creep is inevitable, sure, but sooooo much older stuff just feels completely lacking and pointless compared to better modern alternatives.

They try doing some rebalancing here and there somewhat, but it's not like SM raising Arbok's Attack slightly made it any less completely useless and forgettable. More extensive reworks should happen.

I agree with more than a few of your points, but the tone really makes you sound like one of THOSE Pokémon fans.

I'd agree with a thorough rework of older pokemon. Some are completely outclassed these days. But, the reality is that pokemon stats and competitive viability are only a concern to probably a small proportion of pokemon players who play competitive tournaments etc. The games themselves can be completed with even the weakest pokemon.

The Pokémon Company is far more interested in making new designs which they can sell as plushies etc, which makes far more money than the games themselves.

Correct. New evolutions and new regional forms would make a good number of fans fall in love with old favorites.
It could also provide a more compelling experience. Something like "you think you know pokemon? check this out."

There are way too many pokemon. It’s just a flood of new, meaningless ones each time. Meanwhile many of the older ones are iconic. Just keep the greatest hits.

My memory is a bit hazy when it comes to Pokémon from XY and onwards. Could I tell you every Pokémon that has a Mega Evolution? Definitely not, I keep rediscovering ones I forgot about.

Regional forms and extra evolutions are the way to go for me. I don't find it exciting when every region needs to have a version of Pikachu, a bird, a dog, etc. Something old that's fleshed out could be just as interesting.

I just want the Pokemon Company to stop with the weird names for their games.

Pokemon Z-A? Really? Really?!

I want more evolutions mainly (and/or more alternate/branching evolutions).

For all of the fanfare over Sunflora at one of the Scarlet/Violet gyms, it's an utter crime that it wasn't given a new evolution.

Area Zero was also crushingly disappointing after about 10 minutes when you realise that there are only a tiny handful of paradox Pokémon per version.

Obviously the older Pokemon were not built with the competive scene in mind, I don't care about it myself so I donno really what the say. Just in general I don't think everything necessarily needs to be equally useful.

The best game since the originals was Black and White which only had new pokemon until the post-game.

That said, there are a lot of weak pokemon that could use buffs, strong moves or evolutions.

I would say my thing here but I'd just sound like a broken record. Most people probably know what I would have to say. Even if this is the first time they see me comment.

Yeah I'd like to see some of the older Pokémon reworked in their stats and moves, and even slight tweaks to their visuals (Pikachu has slowly changed over the years, but others stick out among the newer art styles). But honestly, I mostly play these games for the new Pokémon, so if that were the sole focus or came with a small handful of new, it would be incredibly disappointing.

I agree with others here that the best in the series was Black & White. I didn't even like all the new Pokémon in that gen but it locking you into a new set, not having the previous gens until post-game was so fresh. It made everything feel new and exciting. It was a new world with new people but also every Pokemon I encountered was new, I was learning what they were and how to deal with them on the fly again, rather than the same "oh, Cubone. Water attack. Done. Move on.". I remember coming across a Frillish and the revelation that it was part Ghost type was really exciting (I was training a Fighting type who suddenly had no effect).

That is what I play Pokémon for. Not to catch Pidgey again but ooh now they have tweaked speed and a new move. That's cool and valid, but I doubt 90% of the playerbase would even notice.

That said, a lot of the new Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet felt rushed. Many felt like a first pass to me and didn't feel they they'd been super considered in 3D or the world they live in. A mimic who hides as a chest in a world...that has no chests in it?? Also the chest didn't look remotely like part of the scenery it stood out like a sore thumb. We already had a mimic Pokémon, Voltorb. Also Foongus. Both way more considered in their context of the world they exist in.

So yeah, rebalance the old Pokémon (and make the Nidoran one entry in the Pokédex please). But also take time to make new Pokemon that are exciting and new and don't get lost because they're bland or repeated jokes.

One person's forgettable is another person's treasure, I guess.
I won't say no to giving non-Charizard Pokemon more attention and care, though.

Make it 3 Pokemons vs a lot of enemies like standard JRPG games and the Non Playable Pokemon in your team can be switched their roles like FF 13 style (Commando, Ravager, Medic, Synergist, Sentinel, Saboteur).

I think instead of adding 50-ish new Pokémon species every generation, they should add new evolutions to existing Pokémon like what up to Gen 5 did; add baby forms or a final evolution, just please no more Pikachu clones

I totally agree a lot of the older pokemon could use a stat rebalance and even some need to get new abilities/hidden abilities. And expanding movepools wouldn't hurt either.

I mean Vaporeon is one of my favourite pokemon, but they are simply outclassed competitively by other bulky water mons because of the shallow movepool and not really having the best abilities either. I'm sure there are many other examples of these problems.

Also they could use it as a chance to rework some pokemon who they made really awful shinies for and make them look cool.

@Lizuka so more like eevee.
pidgeot
Snow fire leaf and electric birds.

THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS! I would hug this article if I could!

We have too many forgettable Mons, and to see each one have multiple SUBSPECIES should be the future of the franchise! Tentacool to Toedscool was a great example and currently my fave! There are enough monsters to keep making variants!

Even popular ones like Charizard, would be cool to see have a downgraded variant without wings to match it's environment. I always imagined a water type Charizard as a kid (Hydrozard).

This would be such a fresh take and would make me excited about Pokemon games again!

Beyond Gen-1 denier here.
Don't be telling me there are more than 151 to catch. Let me believe that I have caught them all. Don't make me do it all over again tenfold.

In all seriousness, I agree with the notion. So many are so forgettable. Please stop merging machine with 'mon too. No bike or speeder boat pokemon. It is too weird. As for the one that is an ice cream or a pile of gears? EEp.

Reworking and rebalancing Pokemon should ba a priority at this point, and then they can focus on the quality over quantity when it comes to new Pokemon. Sometimes it feen like the just try to find anything that has not previously been a Pokemon.
So yeah next time we could see Grouty (The weak beer Pokemon) Beeerkann (The beer can Pokemon, also the evolution of Grouty) and Doodsoldatt (The empty can Pokemon, evolution of Beeerkann)...

Personally I think regional variants are a great way to rework older pokemon. I love them and, in recent games, my teams are filled with them. There are Pokemon I’ve rarely used before like Electrode, Muk, or Rapidash who quickly became favorites of mine because of their updated movesets and expanded typing. It’s a great way to make old pokemon feel fresh.

You see, i quite liked cross-gen evolutions. It gave old favourites a new twist. I'm glad they brought it back in SV (and gen VIII). Granted the last time it was fully implemented in Gen IV the results were a mixed among people (Magmortar was kinda ugly) but I do enjoy seeing them and using them

Regional variants are another smart idea. It allows some old Pokémon a new lease of life, makes some sense that some Pokémon are different depending on the environment and more importantly to me, holds back on the expy designs you'll sometimes get. Why give Paldea a new black bull Pokémon when Tauros exists and refit for the areas culture. It's the same with Mr Mime in Galar. The original is based on miming so surely it's a good basis for other performance art like tap dancing or physical comedy.

I'm also a fan of mega evolution but I can understand why that wouldn't be revisited again (Z-A withstanding). Apparently, it was a bit unbalanced in competitive so if it was an ongoing feature with more Megas, the whole thing would have to be drastically rebalanced each and every time. That might explain why XY got the Legends treatment. Z-A will likely be single player focused title like Arceus so they don't have to worry too much about balance or the competitive scene but also throw the fanbase a bone with a much liked feature. Unfortunately, this also means besides Gen 6 remakes, enjoy Z-As Megas because we won't be seeing them again.

Also, lukewarm take but I liked the baby Pokémon. We got one in Gen 8 and I thought it was a shame Cetoddle and Capsukid weren't considered baby forms especially from the naming structures

I. . .I have a better idea. What. . .what if. . .here's a funny thought. . .what if Pokemon just went third party?

@WaffleRaptor01 I know right? They should've left it to me. It would've been Pokemon R-I-P.

TBH I used to be a big fan of Pokémon but lately it's just... too much. Not in terms per say of the number of Pokémon, it's an entire world like ours, of course there's going to be thousands of Pokémon. I mean in term of power-ups. I feel like for the last couple of games they've just been piling more and more. Don't get me wrong, some I really like and I think it's cool like Z-moves, metaevolution. Those fit, those are more "Pokemon-ish" if that makes sense. I started drawing the line with the new powerups like giga max (Literally just making them big??? Not very original...), and The crystalize one (This one is the worst to me because it's just plain ridiculous, where did this idea even come from?).
I believe the best course of action the Pokémon Co. could take going forward is just fixing the mechanics and in game lore then they could do what they want.

I do wish the Pokemon competitive scene could be more like the anime; I’ll never forget that episode where Ash had to fight a trainers Bellsprout in the Pokemon league…and it was
kicking butt! I wish any pokemon could be viable like the anime, but sadly I realize the games are a more limited to code and numbers.

Gen 10 is going to be the start of a huge new chapter in Pokemon. It'll likely coincide with the 30th anniversary assuming it comes in 2026 which means a ~4 year development cycle (quite long for Pokemon's history). It'll also debut on the shiny new Nintendo console with much more processing and graphical power. Despite the buggy mess that was S/V, Pokemon has been more experimental as of late, especially with the Legends games. I don't think anything needs to change with the creatures, but the series itself could seriously use some modern touch-ups. Let's start with adding proper voice acting please!!!

Mega Evolutions for Pokemon with less than three evolutionary stages should become regular normal evolutions without any of the restrictions or benefits that comes from being a Mega Evolution. You don’t have to make them hold an item and don’t have any stat boosts.

Mega Gyarados would now just become a regular third stage evolved form. However Charizard would not be able to become Mega Charizard as that line already has three stages.

If Mega Evolutions were to return then the regular third stage Mega Gyarados could have a further evolution, a Mega Mega Gyarados, but Mega Evolutions repurposed as regular evolutions would have a new name but still look the same.

I've always worried about this. The amount of Pokémon is insane. They definitely should rework the forgotten Pokémon-- I know some of that weakness is a part of their charm, but either rework or remove them entirely.

@Gamergirl4 I feel very similar to you. I wish the Pokemon Company would add the finer details and buckle down on the performance, then go and add mechanics. Arceus was really close to how I've imagined the Pokemon games since the beginning. There are some things they need to add to make the worlds feel more alive besides just them not looking like polygonal garbage. I still want Pokemon getting into scuffles in the wild, flocks of flying pokemon overhead, and forests where the pokemon are in the trees. Nice things to show the world is "alive" and not just a game.

We need a few new twists to Pokémon progression. Specifically, Eevee and their evolutions…

• second level eeveelutions (more badass, but not on Mega level - about half way there)
• cross-type eeveelutions
• and eeveelutions for the remaining types.

An arty pal drew a whole bunch of non-canon ones years back - a steel one (Bolteon), a second level of Jolteon (Volteon), a psychic/fire cross-type (Psyroveon), and a Flying type which we had a brilliant double-pun name for - Paraveon.

The whole series just needs a big shake up. The battle system is largely unchanged since the first games aside from the gimmicks they add for one game and then it's gone again. A big part of this is down to the competitive scene I reckon. You mess with the formula even a little, like letting Pokemon have a 5th move, or make it more traditional RPG where your entire party fight on the screen at once, and you mess with the strategies, parties and the Pokemon people have clung to since they first started playing 25 years ago.

@martynstuff Mega was the most Digimon thing they did and gosh those designs were so damn cool! I miss cool looking Pokemon too. Simple but cool!

Older pokemon actually do regularly get stat changes, new moves, abilities, even new typings like when jigglypuff went from a pure normal type to normal/fairy in X and Y. The problem is that these changes aren't marketable. Do people actually want to see a trailer listing out each pokemon that received 10 points to their speed or attack stat?

Also, even recieving an evolution wouldn't automatically make a pokemon better. Stantler got an evolution... it also sucks and people don't use it. And some pokemon like Murkrow are actually better than their evolutions.

I'd like to see more eeveelutions - round out the types. But I don't think cross types, as someone mentioned here. Then it gets too "where to we draw the line?" Just stick to one of each type.

Beyond that, is what it is. I already find myself too comfortable in what I know. I have to try to create/use new teams each game cause I otherwise fall into the trap of what I already know.

One way to fix (though sure, recently you could technically go anywhere in any order) the falling into old habits would be having all new mon available early on and returning mon later game. I don't mean as drastic as Black and White. But if I couldn't catch something familiar until after 5 or 6 badges, I'd be far more likely to stick to a new team.

Mini rant alert: that was a tough part with even gen 2. The likes of larvitar, houndour, slugma, sneasel, murkrow, etc. only being available post game was a shame. Let me build a whole new team I've never seen before early on to take on the journey. And then deal with catching my 500th Pikachu or geodude in the post game. I know there were some new available earlier, but I listed some of the cooler new mon there. Trapped post game is a shame.

I think a great mass of them should simply be culled.

Excluding regional and paradox forms, no 3D pokemon game has introduced even 100 new pokemon. That’s how many Gen 2 introduced, and Gen 2 was tiny!!

They’ve clearly already put the brakes on new designs in favor of servicing old ones, and it’s for the worse. Each game used to have its own identity because you saw so many new faces filling up niches in the dex and the game world. Maybe not every game can be Black & White, but I’d settle for a Ruby & Sapphire again! At least the Hoenn dex was over half new.

I play a new Pokemon game to see NEW pokemon. The 3D era has blended together into grey goo because each region is just a staging ground to see old designs over and over.

Most recent games since sun n moon have reworks of older pokemon,

Personally what I’d like is the entire dex with side quest storylines for most if not all of the legendary creatures. Make them matter. I’m also personally tired of the latest games having like, zero conflict in their games. Even the serious fights are all happy go lucky with the children ensemble at battle turning points.

The older games themes were hella dramatic. Like even the main battle music from blue and red was like oh snap this rattata is a threat

@swoose : As much as I (mostly) adore Gen II, that's a terrible example as a good chunk of the new Pokémon were stupidly rare and/or had frustrating evolution methods. And idiotically, too many Johto Pokémon were dumped in Kanto for whatever reason, and Larvitar can't even be obtained until you're in the final area of the game (among others like Misdreavus and Sneasel), and at a paltry Level 20! And the game doesn't give you much opportunity to grind either, with all of the wild Pokémon in Kanto being pathetically underlevelled.

The worst of the lot is perhaps Porygon2 (my absolute favourite Mon), which requires you to gamble like hell, and then trade-evolve it with an item of which there is only one in the entire game. Rubbish.

Though I would like to see something similar to Gen V where we are swamped with new Pokémon, or at least a more generous regional Dex considering the sheer quantity of species that now exist.

@SillyG My gen 2 example was only that it was a small generation. Yes, they were also poorly distributed in Johto. But the following 3 generations all introduced more pokemon than Gen 2, and the last 4 generations have now introduced even fewer. That points to an already downwards trend.

Johto was directly attached to Kanto so it made some sense to heavily feature Kanto mons. It still had its own identity due to innovating the series forward in a number of huge ways (day/night cycle, held items, gender, eggs, special atk/def split, weather conditions)

Not just old Pokemon, but also old moves!

• Water Pulse : 60 Power and only 20% chance of confusing. Totally outclassed by most Water attacks. This move could be given new tech relevance by making the secondary effect guaranteed. Many newer attacks operate like this, and at 70 Power or even greater. Another way to buff Water Pulse is to make it never miss, similar to Aerial Ace.
• Smokescreen. Buff it by lowering accuracy for the whole opposing team instead of just one target. This would give it new usage in doubles. You could also make it - - instead of 100% accuracy, and make it remain on the field for 5 turns like a Terrain or weather move!

I could go on and on, because there are hundreds of old moves that could use a rework in order to breathe new life in older Pokemon!

But fundamentally, one of the biggest things holding back Pokemon battling is that it still clings to the old 1990's text-based adventure gaming conventions. Debuting in 1996, Pokemon obviously was programmed to function like a text-based adventure game. "Squirtle used Water Gun! The attack missed!"

Experiencing a battle with text was acceptable in the 90's, but now that Pokemon has transitioned to full 3D environments, the games need to present the battle animations by showing, not telling.

In wild encounters, get rid of battle text altogether! Simply seeing a wild Pokemon using some sort of attack on you can make a new encounter that much more intimidating. "What attack is this new Pokemon using on me?? Wait it confused my Pokemon too?!"

In official trainer and gym battles, you could keep the battle text as a formality, but only in the background. It's time to transition battling into one big, fluid attack-then-counter-attack animation. More importantly, the biggest glaring weakness of text-focused battling as it currently exists is when an attack misses.

Pokemon need to still go through with the attack animation even if it misses, and they also need a dedicated dodge animation to evade the attack. It's an ancient relic of 1990's text-based adventure gaming when the battle text announces to everyone that apparently, they used an attack, but it missed, even though both Pokemon are standing completely still!

@SirCarbs Even if it doesn't go full anime, giving the players a bit more agency over how a Pokemon behaves in a battle would go a long way to make even slightly weaker Pokemon more relevant. Having some control over your Pokemon as it battles can elevate a weaker Pokemon, similar to the Bellsprout example you gave. This could be done by transitioning battles to more of a real-time system rather than fully turn-based. Maybe not fully action-based right away, but perhaps a real-time system similar to Xenoblade.

They should make a Pokemon that looks like a CHOCOLATE iced cream cone! And when it evolves it gets rainbow sprinkles and a cherry on top.

All Legendary and Mythical Pokémon deserve unique, powerful abilities and gimmicks. No other Pokémon should have access to them at all. They are called Legendary Pokémon for a reason; they are meant to have special significance in lore, be amazingly powerful with distinct mechanics, yet the meaning of the legendary classification has lost impact over the life of the franchise. Mewtwo, Ho-oh, and Lugia are among those that have been neglected by Gamefreak. But because of Mewtwo's deep personal significance in my life, I will focus on Mewtwo when addressing the issue. Don't mistake that for me excluding other older Pokémon legendary or otherwise. There are plenty of old Pokémon in need of love like those mentioned in the article above.

@ButterflyWitch

Modern Legendaries have powerful abilities unique to them as well as special gimmicks and narrative focus/relevance. Mewtwo has the generic, lackluster Pressure ability. Pressure has those placeholder "Oops I ran out of time" slapped on vibes. There is absolutely nothing valuable or interesting about it whatsoever.
To digress briefly, I will add that they should give Groudon and Kyogre unique abilities since they gave average Pokémon theirs as a hidden ability. Back to the subject, each Legendary should have an ability based on its lore and have special battle effects and secondary traits.
Battling a Legendary Pokémon should evoke anxiety, anticipation, and epicness comparable to how I felt facing the Lich King in WoW. I shouldn't be able to conquer it with a single Joe-Schmo Pokémon. I shouldn’t be able to defeat God with a ratatta. I want a challenge. If you want the old experience, give the game a story mode, basically what we have now, and give those of us who want something more a different mode. Gamefreak has largely refused to innovate and change up Pokémon battles for decades.

@ButterflyWitch

Back to Mewtwo. As I mentioned before, the main Legendary Pokémon of every generation should have a strong narrative focus where its lore and significance are explored. In the original games Red/Blue/Yellow/Green, despite being the main Legend, Mewtwo wasn't even physically in the game until after completion and what little lore it had in the game could be easily missed. It was treated like the third main Legendary of the generation like Rayquaza, Giratina, and Kyurem, whom you can't face until finishing the main game, the ones who were fleshed out and focused on after they got their own special third version. Before Legends Z-A, Mewtwo and Zygarde were the only main legendary Pokémon to have not received their own version.

Only the anime and movie did Mewtwo justice, creating one of the anime's deepest, most complex characters in history with a tragic backstory and existential inner turmoil. The Japanese script anyway. In the games, Mewtwo hasn't had the best treatment or representation. Yes, it received two ugly, lackluster mega evolutions 11 years ago. Big deal. Megas are obsolete and no longer relevant now and will continue to be so after Pokémon Legends Z-A. I've grown so weary of "the get a new gimmick, lose the last one" formula. Legendary Pokémon deserve something permanent and substantial that doesn't ultimately become obsolete.

@ButterflyWitch

It's time to talk about power creep and how it continues to erode the relevancy and competitiveness of older Legendary Pokémon with them being endlessly outclassed. The power creep must stop at some point. It's not sustainable in the long run. I'm not sure how many of you realize this, but upon the release of Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal Mewtwo was heavily nerfed as its base stat total if kept intact was 744 when factoring in the Special stat.

The Special stat was the average of what eventually became Special Attack and Special Defense. To this date, Mewtwo is the only Legendary Pokémon that had its stats significantly nerfed and this was done specifically to avoid power creep. That nerf should be reversed to bring Mewtwo back on par and compete with modern Legendary Pokémon and level the power creep. Not to mention that the psychic type was over-nerfed.

In one of Mewtwo's older in-game Pokedex entries (not just in the anime) it was stated that Mewtwo was created to be the strongest Pokémon so why not give it the upgrade to support this lore?

I'm not saying Mewtwo should curbstomp everyone/every Pokémon. That's stupid, not to mention counter to what I'm advocating for. I'm saying I want Mewtwo to once again be competitively relevant, get some well-deserved love in the games, and feel as important as all other Legendary Pokémon.

@ButterflyWitch

Now let's talk about Psystrike, Mewtwo's signature move with a base damage of 90 which is laughable in comparison to the average 120 base damage of a main Legendary Pokémon’s signature move. There are multiple legendary Pokémon with two or more signature moves to Mewtwo's one.

I would like to see Mewtwo's BST returned to 744, get a uniquely powerful ability only available to it, either a boost to Psystrike's base power or an additional signature move and a deepening of its lore and importance. A Pokémon Legends: Mewtwo game would be the perfect opportunity to implement these upgrades or an "ultimate form" and finally give it narrative and lore importance.

Before anyone tells me a Pokémon Legends game for Mewtwo is impossible, I will remind you that time travel is a major element in Legends games which means a game set in the near or distant future (even during its creation or slight after or before) is absolutely possible. I also expect Mew to be an important secondary character.

Either that or in an open-world Kanto "reboot" game, with a new narrative that elevates the original material, and deepens Kanto's lore (it has the least lore of all existing regions), Mewtwo is important and present to said narrative that builds on its lore, trainer customization, chance encounters with partner/buddy Pokémon that are more powerful than normal but cannot evolve like Partner Eevee and Pikachu from Let's Go and following Pokémon.

Am I being delusional? Possibly. I am 100% nutter butters, but I have a dream. Who are you to crush it? Bet none of you made it this far. Plebs ( I’m joking.)

To be fair, Flamigo and Oinkologne are kind of hard to forget (at the moment), seeing as they come from the latest game that spawns Pokèmon in the overworld every second.

Also, I think regional variants are considered the same Pokèmon. Just a different form. Convergent lines like ToadscoolTentacool, DiglettWiglett, and SinesteaPoltchageist are the ones considered completely different species.

As for Pokèmon I feel are really forgettable, Heatmor comes to mind. Zeraora or most Mythical Pokèmon after maybe Victini?