I do not care for Dialga. I do not care for Palkia. I do not care for Lucario. I do not care for Infernape, nor Empoleon. I do not care for Cynthia. I do not care for Gen 4, and yet an entire generation of Pokemon fans were introduced to the series by its first Nintendo DS entry, a game that turned me away from Pokemon for the best part of a decade.
And that’s fine. Not every Pokemon game is for everyone. Gen 4 ranks just above Scarlet & Violet as the worst of all time for me. Maybe Sun & Moon are also down there thanks to the first 25 percent of the game being dull, unskippable tutorials, but they also introduced enough cool Pokemon to edge ahead.
However, Gen 4 also gave us the best remakes Pokemon has ever made. HeartGold and SoulSilver are by far my favourite Pokemon games, owing to the fact that they’re obscenely beautiful versions of my first, nostalgia-filled experience of the series.
I don’t count remakes in my Generation rankings. If I did, it would be quite the conundrum.
Chronological Is Logical
Now I know a lot of you stopped reading after the fifth sentence, so thanks for sticking with me if you’re still here. If you couldn’t take my Cynthia slander, I hope you’re enjoying your life away from my Factually Correct Takes. Gen 2 is simply better than Gen 4 (for those of us with intense Johto nostalgia), and I’m gutted it’s not coming to Pokemon TCG Pocket just yet.
I’m fully Pocket-pilled at the moment. I open all my packs, I scour Wonder Picks, I build decks around my favourite cards. I have every event emblem and I hunted for that d*rned Venusaur promo for hours. With the main series games not doing anything that warrants me going back to them these days, this is my preferred Pokemon proclivity.
Lots of people expected Gen 2 to follow on from the Gen 1 focus of the first set. Nearly everyone, in fact. I saw people mocking up Lugia ex cards, speculating on which Gen 2 starter would be the best, the lot. And I bought into it. Big time. Gen 2 would follow Gen 1. It’s only natural. It’s only chronological. Alas.
Gen 4 More Like Gen Bore
I understand why Pokemon TCG Pocket has opted to skip a couple of generations and dive right into Gen 4. After Gen 1, it’s probably the biggest jumping-on point a lot of kids had with the Pokemon games. It’s got a ton of nostalgia for it for a whole lot of people. Hitting Gen 1 and 4 in quick succession is a surefire way to get the most adult players (those who will be more likely to spend money on the game) on board.
There’s another benefit, too. If your favourite generation is, say, Gen 8, you might get bored of waiting. An expansion every three months means Gen 8 would arrive in Autumn 2026 if ordered chronologically. You might not want to wait that long, and you might put down the app in that time because Dottler or whatever your favourite Pokemon is won’t release for over a year. By the time it does, you’ve moved on.
By skipping a few generations, though, players will never know when their favourite monster might arrive. I’ll be hoping for Raikou ex in the next update. And the one after. And again. By keeping it random, players will be more inclined to wait it out, and support the game in the meantime.
Like I said, it makes perfect sense for Pokemon TCG Pocket to jump to Gen 4. But that doesn’t mean I like it. Sure, Dialga looks good for Melmetal and Wigglytuff ex decks and I’ll definitely build something with Lucario ex and Kabutops. But I won’t be happy about it. I’ll grit my teeth as I open packs. I’ll mutter, “This should have been Scizor” every time my Kabutops deals and heals 100 damage. I’ll play intently, unhappily, for three months until the next expansion is announced. If that’s not Johto, all hope for my sanity is lost.
Next
Pokemon TCG Pocket Warns Players Not To Trade For Real Money
“We will warn them, suspend their account, or take action.”