With the Pokemon franchise approaching its 30th anniversary, rumors about where the beloved creature-collecting series will take players in the future have been swirling. While the next generation of Pokemon is still likely a ways off with Pokemon Legends: Z-A primed to be the next game in the franchise, it’s possible the Gen 10 could take the biggest leap the series has seen so far. With the core Pokemon series remaining largely unchanged for its near-30-year existence, Gen 10 undergoing a total reboot of the franchise isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
The release of Pokemon Black and White and the start of Gen 5 was the series’ first attempt at a soft reboot, with the games moving out of a Japanese-inspired setting for the first time and featuring only a new crop of critters in the regional Pokedex. While Pokemon Black and White still retained the majority of the franchise’s core mechanics, the Gen 10 games could make some significant changes. After Pokemon Legends: Z-A, the franchise may be ready to head in an entirely new direction with Gen 10.
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Why Pokemon Gen 10 May Be the Perfect Time to Replicate One Gen 2 Feat
Pokemon Gen 10 has a lot of exciting paths it could take, and the more powerful hardware of the Switch 2 could be the key to replicating one feat.
Pokemon’s Formula is Due for a Dramatic Shake-Up
After generations of featuring the same core gameplay mechanics, the Pokemon franchise has started to branch out with titles like Pokemon Legends: Arceus and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Legends: Arceus flipped the traditional series conventions on their head with an emphasis on action RPG elements, catching critters in real-time, and a narrative that broke from the typical gym challenge storyline, while Scarlet and Violet marked the franchise’s first true open-world experience. However, both of these titles still retained familiar franchise elements at their core, such as creatures from previous generations or a traditional gym challenge storyline.
Pokemon Gen 10 could go above and beyond the changes introduced in these games and truly reboot the franchise by combining the best of the two games to shake up the core gameplay and narrative beats. The Pokemon series’ usual conventions like a regional gym challenge, limiting party sizes to six mons, and even the Grass-Fire-Water starter trio could be broken in a franchise reboot. With the active time battles that Pokemon Legends: Z-A is introducing, it feels like Gen 10 has all the tools to rewrite the franchise’s longtime script.
Pokemon Sun and Moon were the first games to really break the gym challenge narrative in the main series with the Island Trial Challenge, a formula Pokemon Gen 10 could follow if it were to reboot the franchise.
A Reboot Could Help Alleviate the Franchise’s Growing Pokedex Problems
One of the biggest reasons why Pokemon Gen 10 should be a reboot of the series is to help manage an ever-growing Pokedex size. Ever since the infamous “dexit” incident of Pokemon Sword and Shield, modern Pokemon games have omitted the complete National Dex as the franchise crosses the 1,000 unique mon threshold. While it might seem somewhat counterintuitive, Pokemon Gen 10 featuring a completely unique crop of 150 mons in its regional Pokedex may be for the best.
Rather than making concessions on which returning mons should be featured in the Gen 10 Pokedex, the games could lean into the dexit controversy and lock any returning mons to the post-game. Pokemon Black and White were initially criticized for following this formula, but many fans have come around to the idea in the years since these games’ initial release. If Pokemon Gen 10 goes this route, it would naturally make sense for past creatures to be added via post-launch updates and DLC, similar to how Scarlet and Violet‘s The Teal Mask and Indigo Disk handled them, potentially allowing the games to eventually contain the entire National Dex over time.
Alternatively, the Gen 10 games could contain only a new batch of 150 Pokemon and no returning mons, which may be a controversial but effective way to manage an oversized Pokedex.
- Released
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November 18, 2022
- ESRB
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E For Everyone Due To Mild Fantasy Violence
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