pokemon games that i wish existed
For several years, my parents kept a photo of my brothers and I on our refrigerator from a Christmas where each of us is grinning ear to ear while holding up a different copy of Pokemon. Even though they were meant to be shared gifts, I commandeered Silver as mine. The trade-off was that I didn’t touch the other cartridges (Red, Blue, Gold, and Yellow) and exclusively played on my brand-new raspberry GameBoy Color.
Silver was love at first sight for me. I chose Chikorita as my starter (and was later traded a Cyndaquil when my brother was getting ready to restart his game.) Some of the Johto Pokemon I remember playing with frequently include. One of the elements that I enjoyed the most about the game was that after beating the League Four in Johto, you get to play through Kanto and all of the Pokemon that my brothers were having fun with in Red/Blue were suddenly at my fingertips. It felt like having two games in one and I felt such a sense of accomplishment after defeating Red.
After Silver, I played Diamond, X, Let’s Go Eevee, Moon, and Sword to varying degrees of completion. Of them, my favorite games were honestly Let’s Go Eevee and Moon since I heavily welcomed their departures from form with an emphasis on catching them all and completing island challenges, respectively.
The other day, I was talking about Pokemon with a co-worker and how the direction they are moving in doesn’t include the kind of games that I want to play. I’m interested in playing the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, especially after watching a couple other people play through them, but the titles I really want the most don’t exist and probably won’t be made. As a child of the 00s Neopets era, browser-based virtual pet sites played an integral role in my online socialization and influenced the kind of games that I enjoy. And while I have played a few online Pokemon games, they don’t quite scratch the itch of what I’m looking for with either too much essence on breeding and collecting or too much like a regular Pokemon simulator with a focus on pvp trainer battles. I can’t be the only one clamoring for these types of genres, however, so here’s my Pokemon Wishlist:
1. Pokemon Concierge
I have always wanted to play an Animal Crossing-inspired Pokemon game, but ever since I watched the Netflix show Pokemon Concierge, I fell head over heels with this particular theming. Imagine that you are a Concierge at a Pokemon resort and your daily task is to take care of Pokemon who are on vacation and require want entertainment, relaxation, companionship, adventure, etc. You could unlock new features at the resort as you gain more funding, do research to meet the needs of different Pokemon, customize hotel rooms… just thinking about it makes my brain itch with ideas and longing. There could also be fun cameos with iconic Gym Leaders, Professors, and trainers and the possibility to go on little professional development cruises to learn more about Pokemon care at other islands.
2. Pokemon Fantasy Life
Over the years, Pokemon has introduced a lot of entertaining side-quests that you can complete for funsies, and I was always deeply saddened when these elements would disappear game-to-game when I played them so much that I would have just as easily enjoyed an entire game dedicated to those platforms. What if there was a Pokemon title where you could do everything other than battling? Want to be a beauty contest fashionista? A pop star sensation recording videos? A breeder at a daycare center? A professor conducting research with different areas of specialization? A chef gathering ingredients to make tasty pastries or curries? A nurse at the Pokemon Center? I want an RPG where you can choose your class, build out a skill chart, and complete quests.
3. Pokemon: Little Eeevee, Big City
Admittedly, I haven’t played Little Kitty, Big City yet, but I can just imagine how much fun it would be to explore the Pokemon world from the perspective of a small Pokemon rather than a trainer. I think setting it in one of Pokemon’s big, metropolitan areas could be a lot of fun. I’m thin on the plot here, because I mostly want vibes: causing a little mischief, making friends with other Pokemon in the area, poking into people’s houses or stores. This idea is less fully formed, but I think there could be something to it!
4. Pokemon Cafe ReMix sans Microtransactions
I want to like the original game more than I do. The art style is adorable and I have a soft spot for this type of puzzle game from playing Tsum Tsum for years, but I cannot get past any mobile game that has microtransactions—the big reason why I stopped playing Pocket Camp and also why I am loving it so much more now that there is a single fee to pay. Basically, that’s what I would prefer for this game as well, but I’d also like to see more features for customizing the look and appearance of the cafe, menu offerings, outfits, staff compatibility boosts, etc. Maybe there could be some side mini-games for harvesting items to make item management make more sense in game when the store is removed. Whatever the case, I really want to play this game more but its current system puts me off too much.
5. Pokemon Professor Visual Novel
Last night, my spouse and I were bantering about the mundanity of being a Pokemon Professor (since both of us are post-grads) and now I cannot stop thinking about how cathartic a satirical, but still ultimately heartwarming, a visual novel about a cohort of Pokemon professors could be. I’m imagining them complaining about a lack of funding for certain fields of study, struggling to get their old school committee to understand the significance of their research, losing their idealism when they entered the program with big environmentalist ideas and now are brushing up against the commercialism of the university. Listen, I’m a jaded former academic and this is just… something I didn’t know I wanted haha
Thank you for reading! ʕᵔᴥᵔʔ