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I was ecstatic to see the trailer Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon when I watched the Pokemon Direct. Even though I have skipped a few titles. I have been a fan of the series since Pokemon Yellow. With the new core games coming around the Holidays this year I was thinking of what would be neat to have in them. I want to point out this is not an expectation article. This is more of a personal wish list of things I hope to see, and while most of the items on this article may not be in the new games, it doesn’t hurt to dream.

Version Location Differences

Will we see some Sun/Moon theme cities?

Aside from Pokemon exclusives between two versions of each generation. The games were very much the same. In Pokemon Black & White, this was changed a bit with Opelucid City. This city contrasted between the two versions with Black’s sporting a science fiction, high-tech theme while White’s is a preserved village from an ancient civilization. Not only that but Black & White also had version exclusive areas: Black City and White Forest. I thought this was a novel idea to make the two (Black & White) more different from each other than just having few Pokemon that can be caught in a version. Perhaps the same can be done in Sun & Moon with the towns, and cities remain identical. However, they have some slightly different artistic style to them based on the version the player has. There could also be version exclusive areas like in Generation V as well.

Apricorn Poke Balls

Sure, a few were duds but Level Ball was the best.

In Generation II’s Gold, Silver, & Crystal Versions Apricorns were introduced. And that was a special kind of item that exclusively grew on trees in the Johto region (so far). After picking them the player can give them to Kurt the Poke Ball smith, in-order to forge them into Apricorn Balls with unique capture mechanics. These balls were exclusive to Generation II and the Generation IV remakes (HeatGold & SoulSilver) and were substituted with special Poke Balls in Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire (Gen III) and onward. In Pokemon X & Y, however, players were teased with the Apricorn Balls on display at the Poke Ball Boutique in Lumiose City. While not on sale these balls had to be included in the Generation VI so the games would have the models for Pokemon caught in HeartGold and SoulSilver. The models will have to be included in Sun & Moon as well, but it would be nice to chuck a Heavy Ball at a Snorlax again.

Returning Features From Past Games

Not sure if you’ll have a run-in with Gigi.

Each generation came with activities to do while on the journey or post Elite Four. The popular ones that have been around or made a comeback are the Pokemon Contests, Battle Arenas (Battle Tower, Battle Resort, Battle Subway, etc.) and Secret Bases. Some of the past features could make a comeback in Sun & Moon as well, such as Pokestar Studios and Bug Contests. One feature that I think will certainly return is the customizable trainer. It’s a fantastic feature to have a custom trainer to represent the player. If it does return there could be different styles depending on the version. Though it’s possible that some of the past features won’t return it would be neat to be able to make a short 3D Pokekaiju movie.

A World That Does Revolve Around Pokemon

Pure epicness!

In the Pokemon Sun & Moon trailer, we’ve seen a quick shot of concept art for a fire truck with a Blastoise in the back. It’s apparent that Pokemon will be relevant in people’s livelihood in the games, such as the Machoke moving team in the Generation III/Gen VI remake games, or the guy in Vermilion City using a Machop to prepare the foundation of his building. Of course, we had Hidden Machines for getting around obstacles (it would be nice if we didn’t have to resort to HM Slaves) and in Pokemon X & Y we could ride some of these monsters.

I honestly want to see more out of the Pokemon world: actually seeing a Rhyhorn Race, exploration with your personal Pokemon such as the underwater expedition in Black & White, and much more. We train in a Pokemon world, so we should have more things to do than battle and enter contests. And with the Eon, Flute introduced in OmegaRuby & AlphaSapphire, which let’s you soar the Hoenn Region on Latios/Latias opposed to having a Pokemon knowing the move Fly, we won’t have to force any more critters to be HM Slaves.

Post Game Content

Going around Kanto after beating the Johto League was great, but will we get content like this again?

After Generation I. the developers added post game content when the player beats the Elite Four. Generation VI had Episodes along with the unlockable Battle Resort. The Looker Episodes in Pokemon X & Y were okay. It was a simple detective story that had plenty of action, even another battle with Malva (Elite Four member) as part of a side-quest. The Delta Episode in Pokemon OmegaRuby & AlphaSapphire, on the other hand, was ridiculously amazing. You try to save the world from a meteor by using the Link Cable (which turns out to be an inter-dimensional device) with Zinnia (Lore Keeper) only to smash it to bits to prevent a possible dimensional annihilation.

This of course leads an even better plan: Summon Rayquaza and have it mega evolve just to ride it into space so you can drill through the meteor thus destroying it. And for an encore, you get to battle Deoxy. Which busts out of what looks like the Phantom Zone from the Christopher Reeve Superman movies (If people could joy puke rainbows, then I would flood the apartment for sure). I’m not asking for an episode to tops this, but I hope we get one that’s just as good. Though it would also be interesting if the episode took place in another region. However, instead of having to explore a previous region this could be a mini one, a sort of Orange Islands (kind of like in the anime).

Again, this is just a personal wish list of mine. What I mention in the article may not actually happen in the game. I won’t be disappointed because many of these are most likely not going to happen. Nevertheless, this year is the 20th anniversary of Pokemon’s original release since Red & Green, so they might have something fantastic in the works. However, if anything I have mentioned in this article makes it in the new games, then I’m a Xatu’s uncle.

***Disclaimer***
This is a personal opinion of the writer, and it doesn’t necessarily represent the other writers (nor The Gaming Ground´s) opinions.