When training pokemon is a spectator sport, trainers try to look good for the spectators
You know, I never understood that. If pokemon fights are the poke-world's most popular sport, you'd think there would be more of a spectator sport aspect to it. If they are truly so idolized, professional trainers and their monsters should have more of the air of celebrities (or youth celebrities) instead. There would be sponsorship stuff, competitions, and public events going on in more than just the background if there is so much money to be made there.
Instead some kid shows up at the end in his jeans and sweatshirt, and the Elite Four is like a couple of monks and a few rich folk with little to no renown or lead-up storywise short of being told they are experts. I always felt there was no reward or recognition in-universe for becoming a great trainer. The story always focuses on this purely personal quest for the badges and this standardized slugfest system of going across the nation and defeating all the official arena fighters as part of some test. There are no real rules to it, much less any fanfare.
I think I recall the anime having more stuff about public events and celebrity trainer meetups, and I think it helps lend to the protagonists' quest being more epic. It's been a while since I played one, but I recall the games having no story at all with the world not really reacting to anything. Maybe this one will be a bit different?
It's been a while since I played one, but I recall the games having no story at all with the world not really reacting to anything. Maybe this one will be a bit different?
You've not played in quite some time them. Sun and Moon had a very involved story, off the top of my head, and Black and White 1-2 were also supposed to be quite good in that respect IIRC.
You've not played in quite some time them. Sun and Moon had a very involved story, off the top of my head, and Black and White 1-2 were also supposed to be quite good in that respect IIRC.
I stand corrected, I think I remember hearing Sun and Moon did have a decent story, but I also recall that one kind of diverging from the previous games' formulae quite a bit in that it truly was a purely personal quest and a coming of age story that didn't even have a league up until the very end.
Sun and Moon aren't unique in that regard; Black and White in particular, the League was basically superfluous to the story, and was pretty much a hobby you were doing on the side.
It's why we're running into the current issues of the gimmicks themselves turning disposable. What with Megas and Z-Moves now apparently being gone so they can focus on Dynamax and Gigantomax, which will also probably get shafted once gen 9 rolls around.
They're now trying to "differentiate" each gen from the previous, introduce a major gen-defining mechanics and make sure(read: force) the players to use(read: rely) on it because dammit we can't afford to have Megas outshine Dynamax in its own gen.
This, coupled with the fact that Pokemon at the end of the day still is a kid's game means they have to keep the metagame accessible, and that means not bogging down the post-game and competitive scene with 30 new mechanics the kids can never follow, that's why I believe Megas and Z-moves are gone now, even if Gigantomax is essentially just rebranded Megas.
It's a curse of any long-running game franchise, especially kid franchise. You need to keep introducing new things to avoid being called lazy, make sure you keep enough of the old things to please the old fans, while making sure all of the game still is also digestible to a 6 years old. TCGs have the same problem and arguably they handle this issue far worse than Pokemon.
Blindga said: but I recall the games having no story at all with the world not really reacting to anything. Maybe this one will be a bit different?
We've had a major story for the games since 2nd gen honestly. SO you really have not been paying attention.
You also need to check the remakes too if you don't wanna go back to the old school ones.
Heartgold and Soul silver and Omega Ruby and Alpha Saphire.
The games really started getting story heavy by the time we got to Diamnod and Pearl though, and that one still doesn't have a remake.
Black and White just solidified the new direction Gamefreak was going.
if you want the story heavy ones. BLack and white > Black and white 2 > X and Y > Omega Ruby and Alpha Saphire > Sun and Moon > Ultra Sun and Moon
basically by the time the games started getting 3D, it played less sandboxy and more like a visual novel.
X and Y's prologue is almost 30 minutes long if you care to actually read it. Same for Sun and Moon. Ultra sun and moon's Post game story with Rainbow rocket is also super story heavy that relies on you playing previous games too as it brings in villians from the past games.
