Hopes and Expectations: Pokémon Generation Ten

The timing is good for me working on this as we have just have the announcement that the second half of the Pokémon Scarlet & Violet being announced for December it leaves February 27, 2024 otherwise known as Pokémon day without a big announcement. I think this is where we will get the first confirmation of Generation Ten. While I don't know what form this will take be it the next mainline game or a new legends spin off (which if it is Unova and the original dragon please) so I wanted to cover some hopes and expectations for the next mainline game. 

Hopes: A Smooth Running Game

Should be an expectation but you never know. While I did enjoy Scarlet you cannot lie it was full of performance issues and could do with a graphical upgrade. Gamefreak seem to rush these games out and if they want to keep the same release schedule they should hire more staff to work on the game but a stort for another time. I do hope they have learned from the reception of Scarlet & Violet to work on the fundamentals. If you compare the environment of Xenoblade and Scarlet you can see that Pokémon seems to lack care on their surroundings make the world feel fresh and detailed. Again a hope because we don't know how the company will work on this generation but let us hope they take their time. 

Expectation: A Japanese Region

With it being the tenth generation I expect it to pay homage to many of the generations before it. Starting with the fact that I think for the first time since generation four the main series game will be set in Japan. I don't have anything to confirm this but I feel it is very likely that a tribute to the original generation by having a region either based on somewhere in Japan or resembles Kanto in some aspects of its region.

Hopes: More Variation In Type Combinations 

Despute having over 1,000 Pokémon now to contend with we still have not yet seen all possible type combinations. The likes of Ground/Fairy, Bug/Dragon, Ice/Poison & Fire/Fairy to name a few have not been used as of yet which could give way to some interesting ideas. I'm not sure who the new Pokémon are created be it a concept first or typing first but it would be nice to tick a few more unqiue type combinations off so we can see how these Pokémon would work in game and how those new type combinations could be used. 

Expectation: The Game Will Be Padded with Kanto Notalgia

I'll cover the Pokédex later on but one thing for sure in Generation Ten will be some callbacks to previous generations and one I expect more than others is from Kanto. Maybe we will see Red & Blue again like we did in Sun & Moon even older or Professor Oak will have another cousin who will appear. I do think we will get some either character or set designs maybe a classic gym design used I'm not overly sure. One thing I do expect is a number of callbacks to older games. 

Hopes: Convergent Pokémon Continue

One of my favourite things from Generation 9 was the convergent Pokémon and feel the idea wasn't fully used. While we got the convergent Pokémon lines of Toedscool, Wiglett & Poltchageist it seems a real fun start. I do hope this doesn't end up like how Mega Evolutions were and instead like regional variants where they keep coming back. I would hope however with this line of Pokémon it isn't lazy to just do 'what if this water Pokémon was actually on land' I would just like to see more variety with such a fun concept. 

Expectation: Lots of Homages to the Generation One Pokédex

Much like generation five I can see a lot of comparisons to the generation one Pokédex being made (please see this image https://shorturl.at/ivyV4). With it not being a complete redo of the original 151 I do see more being added to this. I find it a mixed bad, showing what classic ideas being an infulence is fun as long as we get fresh ideas alongside it. I'd love to see a new line take inspiration from Gyarados and have a pretty much useless fish evolve into another great leviathan. Getting 10 full generations into a series is pretty big so I expect quite a lot of tributes to what started it however it would be nice if we could get more love for other older generations mainly generation two. 

Hope: Pseudo Legendary Isn’t a Dragon Type

One of my main hopes is a change to a norm. I’ve spoken a lot of how I expect generation 10 to be filled with nostalgia bait and call backs to generation 1 but now I want to outline a hope of mine. Pseudo legendaries are those that have a base stat total of 600 and normally their final evolution doesn’t kick in until a high level. My main issue is bar Metagross all of these Pokémon are part dragon type. While I understand it’s easier to design this type of Pokémon to be a dragon I would like to see some variety. Basically, I want a King Kong inspired Pokémon and the best way to do it would be as a Pseudo legendary. It’s a hope as I would expect another dragon type but we will see.

Expectation: Open World/Region Concept to Continue

One of the strengths of Generation 9 was the open region. The way you could go wherever you wanted right away was a highlight and I preferred it to a straight line. I would hope they introduce level scaling as while you could go anywhere there was still a set path to do everything due to gym leader or Pokémon levels. Having some form of variety in the way you can take the world based on levels would be nice. Going around the entire map doesn’t need to be changed just how you can take on the stories of the games so it doesn’t feel like those parts of the game don’t lend to the open world.

This covers the majority of what I hope to see and what I expect to see. Generation ten is a big milestone and I expect it to not only build to the future but honour the past of which is no easy task. As someone who really only cares for new Pokémon I imagine being the tenth generation they would like the pull out all the stops for a landmark generation but I guess we will see at somepoint soon.