Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl have only just been released (and quickly forgotten), and Pokemon Legends: Arceus isn’t even out yet, but fans of the monster-catching series are already looking toward Generation 9. After all, it’s been over two years since Sword & Shield launched, and since then we’ve only had two side games and a remake to keep us happy. Don’t get me wrong, side games are great and New Pokemon Snap was an exceptional example, but there’s nothing like a proper main series entry.
We don’t know anything about Gen 9 yet, despite a Mythical theory suggesting that it might be set in India. But whether it’s India or Italy, there’s one thing I want in the next generation of Pokemon games, and that’s new monsters – and a lot of them.
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However, not all of my colleagues agree with me. Things got quite heated in the site Slack channel and we all said some things we regret, but most of us have made up now. All of us, in fact, other than me and news editor James Troughton, who went so far as to say that Gen 9 should include only old monsters. Which is so wrong it’s baffling. If you want to read his rationale, you can do so here, but he’s wrong.
Every new Pokemon game comes with new monsters – even Pokemon Go has its own (incredibly terrifying) monster now. But I want Gen 9 to have only new critters. That’s right, no Pikachu, no Mew, no nothing. Even my favourite Pokemon like Jolteon, Gengar, and Raikou will be left behind. It’s time to move on.
I don’t have anything against old Pokemon – some of my favourite Pokemon already exist! In fact, all of my favourite, and least favourite Pokemon, currently exist. I just think we need to change things up every now and then. Like seriously, what’s the point of every generation including a Pikachu clone and Pikachu? Ruby & Sapphire included two Pikaclones as well as the OG, in case you hadn’t had enough electric mice on your team. Why does every generation include a new, boring Water-type fish as well as Magikarp? The answer, at least in the latter case, is nostalgia.
It’s great being able to catch your favourite Pokemon in a new game, and to see them rendered in a new art style or on a…