Pokemon as a franchise has been around for over 26 years, and there is a lot of world-building and lore that the games managed to create, let alone the series as a whole. This year, Generation 9 of the mainline Pokemon games will launch in the form of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. These titles will most likely include a plethora of new Pokemon and stories intertwining with the region and its characters. These stories are often told through characters' dialogue bubbles, but as far as the Pokemon themselves go, their background is almost exclusively told via Pokedex entries.
Pokedex entries are often used as a way for players to learn something about all the Pokemon in the games, both new and old, and they are an interesting source of storytelling -- one that uses detailed descriptions to demonstrate what sort of abilities Pokemon really have. However, not all Pokedex entries in the series so far have fully made sense, and some of them seem even contradictory when it comes to the actual capabilities of a given critter, which is something that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet should change for the better.
Why Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Pokedex Entries Should Improve From Past Games
There are many examples that explain why Pokedex entries are not always accurate in their descriptions, besides ones that state facts that are just hard to believe, like Magcargo's body temperature being 18,000° F. Purugly, a Pokemon that is described as being naturally beefy, can outspeed -- as in, it has higher base Speed stat than -- Pokemon like Latios and Latias, which are described as "jet Pokemon" and are in fact plane-shaped. Naturally, one would think that plane-shaped nimble Pokemon are faster than most other critters, if not the fastest, but that is not the case.
Another example is that Yanmega's Pokedex entry in Pokemon Y states that this big dragonfly Pokemon can easily transport adult human beings in flight, but the critter can't actually learn the move Fly in the games, even if the game's protagonist is a kid and could be transported even more easily. Rampardos is a dinosaur-like creature that is described as the "Headbutt Pokemon," and its Pokedex entries across the series repeatedly recount that its head can withstand incredibly forceful impacts. Yet, its most powerful move, called Head Smash, deals incredible damage to the enemy, and it also damages the user.
There are other examples, like how Chesnaught's Tackle, one of the most basic Pokemon moves in the games, can flip a heavy tank, even though Chesnaught's Tackle deals as much damage as any other Pokemon's, and it's only affected by the user's Attack stat. Other Pokedex entries also claim near-impossible things about Pokemon, such as Gardevoir being able to create black holes or Magikarp being regarded as the "most weak and most pathetic Pokemon in the world," even though its base stat total is not the lowest in the series.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will undoubtedly have new Pokedex entries for all the Pokemon in the games, even ones from past games, and they should try to avoid these types of issues by stating more accurate facts. Pokemon's stats and abilities exist for balancing reasons, and while they do make sense, the narrative behind them shouldn't be one where some Pokemon are extremely powerful in the lore and not in the games or vice versa. Overall, there can be a compromise between these things, and that's what Pokemon Scarlet and Violet should strive for.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet release on November 18 for Nintendo Switch.
