The main premise behind Pokemon is that players want to become the very best, like no one ever was. There's nothing wrong with becoming the region's Champion through battling, but Game Freak should also encourage people to become experts in other things. Pokemon needs variety for players' journeys, and there are plenty of paths to choose from, but they're not emphasized as much as they should in the modern day. A core piece of Pokemon's identity is the harmony between humans and Pokemon, so battling shouldn't be the only available activity.
Game Freak has been leaning harder into Pokemon battling, especially with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. These games took a unique approach by letting players assume the role as students, but there isn't much freedom in what they can accomplish. Players are restricted to topping the Pokemon League, battling Titan Pokemon for the Herba Mystica, and challenging the leaders of Team Star. All three Pokemon Scarlet and Violet story routes focus on battling, which lacks the diversity associated with attending school. The only unique feature is that players can attend classes and befriend their teachers, but this content largely boils down to game tutorials and isn't nearly as enticing as other activities.
Previous Pokemon Games Have More Unique Features
Recent Pokemon games have focused less on features that give the Pokemon world more life and variety, such as Pokemon Contests. Introduced in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, Contests are the antithesis to Pokemon battles, as they focus on using strategy to make a Pokemon as captivating as possible. Although some fans might not enjoy Contests as much as others, they should still be considered for future games (that aren't just remakes) because dressing up Pokemon in costumes and playing to crowds offers a breath of fresh air.
Although Contests have been present in multiple Pokemon games, there are more competitions and career choices that should to be considered. PokemonBlack and White had the Pokemon Musical, a sort of alternative to Contests that wound up being lackluster. Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver presented the Pokeathlon, an athletic competition that brought various mini-games using the DS stylus without turn-based elements. Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 featured Pokestar Studios, where players were able to participate in movies by completing puzzle-like special battle levels.
How Game Freak Can Improve Future Pokemon Titles
Game Freak should bring back some of those features, or innovate on new ones. These sorts of competitions and side-gigs add diversity to gameplay, making the experience and roleplaying more attractive as players become multi-talented trainers. There's more to the Pokemon world than battling, and Game Freak should be more open to experimenting with different Pokemon-related activities in mainline games aside from setting up picnics.
Players also shouldn't be confined to participating in Contests. Being a Pokemon researcher is one easy path considering players already have the task of filling their Pokedex. Pokemon Legends: Arceus introduced a different kind of journey, emphasizing Pokemon research in the Hisui region while completing various quests for the people of Jubilife Village. The Pokemon Snap games also had players work as a photographer, which seems like an exciting job in the main Pokemon world and a great mini-game building upon features from Sun and Moon.
Adding new side content is a lot of work, and it would require plenty of ambition and resources to make the content worthwhile. An argument can be made that if players want to experience a different kind of journey, Game Freak should create whole new spin-offs rather than adding such features to the mainline games. Pokemon already made several spin-offs about different adventures, but recent mainline Pokemon games have left people wanting more, so future games need to capture how the Pokemon world offers more than just battling.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.
