Ignored Pokémon Features that Could be Amazing if They Returned!

The Pokémon series has been around long enough to have tried including plenty of features across various games, but they can also remove them just as quickly, which is too bad because often times such features aren't even really given a proper test run to fully test out the limits of what it could mean before they move on to the next fun toy. So let's consider some of the Pokémon features that have been cut off too soon and could make the games far richer if only allowed to fully develop!

[@leorick2454]

I miss the seasons and real time day night cycles, also missed the the hidden areas a lot, like hidden grottos, the secret bases, even just deep water to dive into

[@emperorcubone]

I guess they didn't want us to need a helmet to dive underwater on Koraidon/Miraidon. But the funny thing is when you jump into the water riding them you DO get totally submerged, at least in the animation. Of course the character doesn't react but in reality you'd get soaked!

[@Kizenon]

@@emperorcuboneimagine hidden water caves in paldea

[@toumabyakuya]

I mean, seeing how Mario Kart 8 Deluxe wasn't capable of adding the day-to-night cycle to one single track because of the Switch's limitations, I think that Pokemon couldn't also do the same thing.

[@travisgames2]

I don't miss the real time day/night cycle. That was annoying.

[@leorick2454]

@@toumabyakuya maybe in the switch 2 that comes out soon

[@manaminori7633]

I miss the GTS not being behind a paywall

[@xx_sailor_m3rcury_xx]

this

[@toumabyakuya]

Eh, this was a good thing. Makes it so that GF doesn't need to keep adding it to every single game, instead, the app itself can just be updated and that's literally it.

[@giacomooliva6021]

@@toumabyakuyaso its something us as players have to pay for so game freak can do LESS work?

[@toumabyakuya]

@ And so it can last longer as well. Think about it, if Nintendo was the one keeping the servers running, then it would only last as long as Nintendo isn't losing money from it; meanwhile, if the players are the ones keeping it alive, then it will last as long as there are people paying for it, making the service last longer.

[@giacomooliva6021]

@ nintendo has a projected 1.55bln $ profit margin for 2025 (as per Independent) so in my opinion they can do let players use GTS for free and they aren’t gonna go bankrupt from it…

[@janopsilver]

Not gonna lie... I miss the daycare. It worked so well is SW/SH, and now I have to stuff my pokemon with sandwitches I don't want to make, to not get an egg at the end...

[@emperorcubone]

Oh I much prefer the daycare over the picnic thing we have now!

[@641mamaluigi]

You know I kinda wish they did both, because picnics are convenient to do them anywhere, but the original method was so much more iconic and was much more convenient for obtaining eggs I wouldn’t have removed it 🥚

[@Mystmon]

I think that it was superior to the Nursery, but inferior to Picnics. However, I also do not want them to do Picnics for every single future generation across the board.

[@Watch-0w1]

Lore wise, they doing this while u eating subway,....

[@shadowwizard2383]

Yes give me nursery/daycare over picnics so much easier and have the hot spring from the SM/USUM games

[@641mamaluigi]

I really like berry farming, it was peak in kalos (minus the withering of trees if you missed it) and berry trees had unique models based on the species, and you can grow new kinds of berries with mutations, plus mulch makes it more interactive. Heck there’s even pest control, like you gotta defend your crops from bug Pokémon (honestly they should expand the pool to some flying and rodent-like Pokémon too) Kinda sad that berry farming was reduced to picking a sparkly off the ground.

[@emperorcubone]

I like planting berries, but honestly I never bothered with the mutations and all that. I didn't buy Pokemon to play a farming sim. But I'm glad some people liked it!

[@641mamaluigi]

@ true, but I am a sucker for simulation games, plus you know infinite leppa berries and all that

[@shadowwizard2383]

Yes loved planting berries and at least have a store that sells berries in the game

[@nintavito546]

I miss the medals from Black 2 and White 2.I remember getting one from checking trash cans and I found that hilarious

[@emperorcubone]

I always check the trash cans! But I also accidentally talked to the Medal Guy after like 7 hours of my restarted save file and I had to stand there forever while he showered me with Medals I didn't want. It was so annoying...

[@alucard8433]

I hated the medal guy, i accidently talked to him once and it took me over 30 minutes to get out of that convo

[@nintavito546]

@@alucard8433 I just talk to him ever time I go to the poké center

[@jordy_3d]

One thing I found myself kinda missing recently was a real-time day/night cycle. I've always kinda liked playing a game at night and the game being night-time too

[@emperorcubone]

100% agree; it's so weird to me to be playing in the middle of the day and yet it's night in the game for no good reason. Is it JUST to copy the Breath of the Wild clock? Cause that's dumb...

[@Rosalikesghosts]

I only dislike it cos I like not having to change my clock and I stay up late alot and don't remember to play during the day. I totally see where you're coming from though

[@jordy_3d]

@@Rosalikesghosts For that reason, I'd like an item or portal or something to play in the same world but shifted by 12 hours. Still realtime, but also accessible

[@petrnovak7235]

@@jordy_3d I dunno. The inverted time in Moon bothered me so much, that just for that reason I chose US when the Ultra games came. But if this was optional, activated and deactivated at a whim, then, maybe it would work? Still better than this quickened time we got in PLA and SV (and I am afraid will also get in ZA).

[@petrnovak7235]

@@emperorcubone I thought it was to copy The Sims time, since the length of the day in SV is exaxctly the same as in Sims games. But maybe that's just me Sims fan projecting something that's not there. But it's too big of a coincidence to me.

[@MayMay-20000]

I really miss pokemon refresh, just anything that allows me to interact with my babies outside of battle is like a drug for me, I liked that it was a more direct interaction

[@emperorcubone]

The personal interactions were good, but also it let you heal status conditions for free! You can't beat that...

[@jakk2631]

Cant you still in sv? During a picknick?

[@violetaconcha2175]

​​@@jakk2631Meh, you can, but It doesn't feel the same way. In the picnic you can interact (It shows an animation of the mon, usually clipping) and bath. In Pokémon refresh, you could feed your mons, pet them (with them having a bad spot) and being able to wipe, brush, comb or dry them. Also, you could heal them if you rubbed an universal medicine. I played SV before Sun and Moon, but the latter felt, idk, more personal.

[@Compucles]

Healing status conditions for free is the *only* good thing about any of those personal interaction features. Otherwise, they're just annoying and better off ignored as much as possible. It was bad enough when I was forced to use Pokémon Amie to evolve Eevee into Sylveon in X/Y.

[@lhkatti8022]

​@jakk2631 Specific Pokémon could also give you a high five in SM/USUM

[@pahhw1533]

i miss the oras pokemon detector where you could find pokemon with egg moves, items or hidden abilitys in the wild

[@emperorcubone]

Man Dexnav was super cool! But I never really expected it back since the Pokenav was always a Hoenn thing. I guess Alola tried a bit with the Island Scan feature, but that didn't go over as well as they seemed to think it would...

[@josephbiddle1637]

Yes! The DexNav or something like it should be more widespread. I have been trying to make a Pokémon breeding roster in Pokemon Home to prevent me from holding on to every foreign or high IV Pokemon I get from Wonder Trades. And trying to get a hidden ability Plusle took me over a month in Violet. Every Plusle I found in Tera Dens had the regular ability (even though they CAN house hidden ability Pokemon like the hidden ability Minun I found in one) and I didn’t want to waste one of my very limited Ability Patches on it. In ORAS, I could just use the DexNav until I found one with the hidden ability. My point is the DexNav made hunting for IVs, hidden abilities, egg moves (which were a pain to get before the Mirror Herb), and even shinies so much easier and more fun.

[@petrnovak7235]

@ Yeah, PokéNav was Hoenn thing. But we now have Rotom Phones and they could easily make something similar as Rotom Phone function. Though it's questionable how much sense this would've make now that all encounters are visible. But maybe something like a compass to some special Pokémon (meaning Pokémon with hidden ability, egg move, shiny etc.) could work.

[@chrisd1982]

Absolutely, the dexnav was such a great feature, before oras I would only catch Pokémon I had a use for, the dexnav got me catching everything in sight and it does add to the game

[@zephon6745]

I miss the search function on the Pokedex. That lets you search for a certain type, name. It would make it easier to find a Pokemon habitat.

[@emperorcubone]

Yeah, it's kind of odd that it's harder now.

[@susear5939]

Fr/Lg did it very well. You could search Pokémon and also see their habitats on the map after registering them. If I remember correctly, even Gen 2 had this feature.

[@josephfitzpatrick4716]

Fishing. . .

[@emperorcubone]

Yeah... but fishing was more of a core part of the Pokemon experience, not really a background one. I agree it needs to come back! But it wasn't an "ignored" feature.

[@sabercat5490]

Yeah fishing could be a way to catch Pokémon that live in the water much faster.

[@jasontompsett-ince7164]

Inverse battles were such a good idea. Wish it came back.

[@Rainfire-forgets-to-animate]

This would be the biggest buff ever for arourus 😭

[@waltterikoponen8426]

I always loved pokemon amie, refresh and camping! So I would love to see a mix of them all in future game... Picnics are really dull and lifeless so I wont miss it, other than maybe the sandwiches? Pokemon camping was so fun and it was so nice to see my pokemon talk, play and spend time together! And I could do it too even if im just in one place :) And the fact that the pokemon would even become best friends with eachother is just adorable! I just want pokemon camping back with refresh's beans and the tools! And maybe even bring back the sandwiches, curry, pokepuffs and poffins for a cooking minigame and you could feed them like in amie/refresh! And the tools would be just like in refresh but the enviroment of the camp would affect. Like, if it's muddy and your pokemon are playing/racing eachother, they would get muddy and you could use the towel. And maybe even add more and let some pokemon wanting to be muddy like ground types! Sorry for the long comment, but I had ideas and I wanted to write it down :D

[@emperorcubone]

I vastly prefer the older still of Amie interactions over the weird picnics we have now! it's just a bit awkward, I can't put my finger on it...

[@ivanbluecool]

Honestly more double battles in base game would be cool. Why have it added if you don't wanna promote it? Especially against the main bad guy groups as they would definitely gang up on you

[@RantRadio]

That was my gripe with S/M & USUM.. They would purposely avoid giving you double battles but instead make you battle 3 or 4 team Skull members one after the other with no healing space in-between

[@josephbiddle1637]

Yes! Double battles give you so many more options for strategy and a lot of moves are just straight up useless in single battles. I would be satisfied if they just gave us more double battle gym leaders or other required battles.

[@ShinyGoldSteelix]

I think we need HMs back, though in a reworked form. They made your team into an integral part of exploring the world, and allowed for a lot of hidden puzzle areas that gave you neat rewards. However, I also understand the frustration that was eating up so many move slots with mediocre moves. I propose the following mechanic instead. Field Moves: Each pokemon has a special move slot dedicated to non-combat moves. A pokemon can only know one move at a time (maybe two at high levels) but can learn different moves during your adventure.

[@bladedicedragon]

Ehhh but what about the good moves like fly and surf and waterfall

[@Compucles]

Why does it matter if it's your specific Pokémon using the move or not? It works just as well having specific Ride Pokémon using the moves and solving those hidden puzzle areas. Interacting with your specific team members to do it adds nothing to the experience. Plus, you'd still be forced to use limited choices of your Pokémon for specific field situations instead of having the freedom to mix up up your team of 6 (and especially *not* being forced to make a team change at certain points) however you want throughout the game.

[@ShinyGoldSteelix]

@@bladedicedragon They don't need to be removed from the combat movepool. TBH calling them Field 'Moves' might be a poor label

[@ShinyGoldSteelix]

@@Compucles You'd have a more personal connection to the Pokemon helping you explore, rather than the ones the game hands you that will be the exact same every playthrough. It also gives Pokemon something to do that isn't battling, something that's been absent since Alola. Restricting your team is kind of a feature here, but there could easily be ways to make it less of a mandatory roster and more of a team building puzzle. Like having more than one option of FM per Pokemon, and the option to re-train those moves while in towns. Or the critical path could be designed with minimal FM use, and FMs instead decide what and how much side content you want to access.

[@Legacysong2012]

Finally, the first rational take on HMs I have seen outside myself, though the latter half was wrong. The only HM moves that weren't great moves were the non-attacking ones. All the rest were great. There was also never a need for HM slaves, not one single game that had HMs required an HM slave

[@Gazzarix]

I would love for vs recordings to return so we can share with our friends

[@emperorcubone]

Supposedly Pokemon is all about connecting with friends, like with trading and battling, so that would be a good idea!

[@Anubis_Uzumaki]

Always felt that they should have made more multi-type moves than just Flying Press.

[@SonicMeters]

I miss the daycare I barely breed but I love it

[@prateekasolkar1438]

A game where the villain inverts the type chart during the climax and your job is to restore it by beating the boss and legendary would be a cool element in my opinion

[@speedreaper666]

Tbh a showdown inverted type chart meta could be absolutely insane

[@shadowwizard2383]

Yes combo moves were great and should of been expanded. The fame checker or league cards or just magazines with more info on important characters. VS seeker where you can rebattle NPC or have them call you for a rematch.

[@twixthehyena]

I *LOVED* the inverse battles! I would literally do them every day when I was playing X and Y!

[@k2basior]

Anime Clemont should've been an inverse battle specialist.

[@emperorcubone]

I think you have to be a Psychic trainer; I guess he just bent the laws of the universe to his will and concentrated really hard to invert all the types...?

[@MrLurchMedia]

Re: the Hidden Grotto segment, I'm pretty confident they're fixed locations. You can find and enter them at the same place on a route every time, whether they've refreshed or not.

[@typemasters2871]

Some things I would like to see return DexNav/Fishing/Methods to encounter specific Pokemon easier to accomplish Berry farming, a way to passively make as many berries as you wish

[@LegendaryCaptain]

Omg i remember hidden grottoes i was OBSESSED with trying to get that drought vulpix and multiscale dragonite

[@RammerHammer]

I don't think it would ever happen, but I think it would be really neat to have a pokemon game where every gym is based on a certain battle gimmick instead of a type, and all the gym trainers and pokemon use pokemon from the surrounding routes on their team like N did in Black and White. Something like the 1st gym is singles, 2nd gym is doubles, 3rd gym is triples, 4th gym is rotation battles, 5th gym is inverse battles, 6th gym is sky battles, 7th gym is horde battles, 8th gym's ace has a Z move on their ace, the elite four all have a Gigantamaxxing ace, and the Champion can use Mega Evolution. Like I said, I dont see this ever happening because it would be a nightmare to code and balance, but its a neat idea

[@jpcsdutra]

As much as I'd like more combo attacks, it's easy to see why the idea never took off or was revisisted. The pledge moves are only learned by starters. So from the get go you need two starters on your team. It's not a set up most (or anyone) would be running on a normal run. And then the moves had to be used in a double battle. You can count on your fingers how many of those you get access to outside of the post game. And then when you do get to the post game, the Battle Subway is so unforgivingly hard that you're not walking in there with 2 starters with Pledge moves. For combo moves to factually make sense and make a return, we would need another entry in the Colosseum/Gale of Darkness part of the franchise... and let's be honest, they won't do it. They won't make an entire game based on doubles either. I'll absolutely agree on Inverse Battles though. Inverse battles should be a whole Battle Frontier facility on its own. Could go on about these things forever because most features should have been built upon and not just lost to time, specially because every entry had more money and resources put into them, and most of the logic of the coding was already figured out (of course there's the effort of porting to another engine), but once again we go back to arguing about self-imposed time limits.

[@emperorcubone]

It's interesting how you used your argument about attack combos as a backdoor to pitch a new Colosseum game, but I'm not mad about it!

[@nerddwarf]

I was going to point out that the Gen 5 Evolution Stone Elemental Monkeys can learn the Pledge moves after they evolve... ...but they couldn't until Gen 7... I swore that I used the Pledge moves with my monkey

[@quinceekingston4335]

I liked ride pokemon in let's go where you can ride more than just one or hidden bases. I also liked that you could get your own house in platinum

[@emperorcubone]

It was great to be able to ride so many random Pokemon, like Starmie or Kangaskhan or Onix! I get that over 1,000 is a lot of potential ride animations, but they could still offer a dozen or so instead of JUST the mascot motorcycles...

[@doot1269]

I really miss being able to decorate my own little space or make my own mini gym. I hope secret bases come back properly (not like bdsp). More ride pokemon could also be cool, especially if they picked a variety of pokemon from across all gens (flying on a golurk or surfing on a wailord would look so funny), but as long as they still have a non-party option like a bike, the riadons or the legends ride pokemon, I wouldn't want to be forced to field one of the same couple pokemon each time just to be able to cross the open world in a reasonable time, not after getting used to the freedom of not needing hms lol

[@juanmoreno3071]

The eon flute was so fire, wasted so much time just flying around

[@emperorcubone]

I ADORE soaring; it made travel so much more fun than just instantly flying!

[@CalebBlack92]

I miss the safari zone. I wish they’d make a game with a safari zone but instead of the normal way to encounter Pokémon, it’d work like Legends Arceus. I think it would help it stand out. SOS battles would be nice too. Why can Pokémon only call for help in one region

[@sho8998]

I like inverse battles, and how some of the more popular fangames have brought them back, but I feel like if they come back, it will likely be in its own area or in some special challenge mode if they decide to bring that concept back from gen 5.

[@emperorcubone]

I don't need every battle in the game to be inverted, just maybe like one per city or something so that it's not swept under the rug like it is now...

[@PapaDalbec]

RANDOM POKEMON ENCOUNTERS IN THE GRASS WOULD BE GREAT

[@Rose-yx6jq]

Yeah. Gen 8 had that good mix.

[@emperorcubone]

I agree; I found it enjoyable in the old games when I'd randomly stumble across a Pokemon I didn't know was on that route! I feel like they could find a way to do both...

[@sabercat5490]

Why would we need those when open world is a thing.

[@Rose-yx6jq]

@@emperorcubone there should be one or two Pokemon you can only find via these random encounters.

[@Watch-0w1]

I hate it....

[@toumabyakuya]

4:24 Yeah no, please GF, never do a "Mirage Island" ever again. Getting there is harder than finding a full odds Shiny in Gen 3! Mirage Island was a terrible idea! An entire location shouldn't be hidden from the player based on their ID. There are better ways to do this (like the Turnback Cave).

[@emperorcubone]

Obviously the methods for such locations appearing can be tweaked a bit, but it could still be a mystery UNTIL you get there, then it would tell you and you could unlock it any way you want!

[@toumabyakuya]

@@emperorcubone Eh, locations like the Hidden Grotto are fine, I just don't want a location that is so rare to find that I could go my entire life without managing to find it. I just want a fair chance to encounter it, that's all.

[@Compucles]

@@emperorcubone Maybe, but it still shouldn't rely on such ridiculous random luck that hardly anyone can get there in the first place regardless of effort.

[@kaitouluminous7114]

I want a pokemon game where you play as a coordinator instead of a gym trainer. If they take the time to develop it they could make it like anime contests. Also secret Bases are so fun & 100% something a kid would do while explore a region

[@toumabyakuya]

Sadly, the competitive scene is simply too ingrained in the main games and important for GF to just ignore it for one full game.

[@rodrigonascimento1800]

Its funny how you mentioned Inversed battles, I actually wrote a fanfic about a trainer in Sinnoh and Cyrus being the villain again coming out of the Distortion World with all of his Pokemon being affact by it and having the inverse battles effect

[@jameshamilton6381]

That's a cool video topic: breaking down the inverted type chart and the top 6 types.

[@Lupinemancer87]

Speaking of Flying Press, I think it'd be cool if they introduced new signature moves specifically for certain Pokemon that would be both types of said Pokemon. So a signature move for Delphox would be both Fire and Psychic and would do damage based on which foe was weak to which type.

[@sabercat5490]

I want gambling...I mean the Game Corner to come back instead of this auction house.

[@emperorcubone]

At least Voltorb Flip, come on guys!

[@Luis-yh9xd]

The best way that Game Freak can bring back the Game Corner is for a majority of the games to be skill based with some luck based games and have the aesthetic resemble more of an arcade (with Porygon as a mascot) than a casino to avoid the gambling references. As for the games in question you could have your typical claw game and Voltorb Flip as options but imo, this could’ve been a perfect opportunity to remake some obscure spinoff titles such as Pokémon Pinball and Pokémon Mini as games to play in the Game Corner. They could also add online scoreboards as an incentive to add replay value.

[@toumabyakuya]

@@Luis-yh9xd Eh, if I bad don't remember, not even this was enough for PEGI. They would still increase Pokemon's age rating.

[@Ninja_Geek]

Wow. I can't believe I had forgotten how fun the inverse battles were. I spent too much time there when I was first playing through XY.

[@emperorcubone]

Poor Inverse Battles; even its fans forget about it...

[@BeIlG]

the route pokemon dex thing from oras! it was incredible! i also want less open world in the future. i like the routes this way.

[@Roky1989]

Combo-effects sound rad af

[@midi5467]

Definitely make Inverse Room an actual move. That's far too interesting to ignore

[@emperorcubone]

Right? Once I thought of it I felt like it was an obvious inclusion!

[@amberwelch393]

The dexnav in ORAS was a lot of fun, I spent so much time building up levels to find hidden abilities and/or egg moves, not sure how they'd implement it on the switch but I'd like to see it or something similar again

[@josephbiddle1637]

I have two features that I want back, and two that I want to keep. First, the two that I want back, but they go together under one banner, control over the regional variant. 1) In Alola, you could evolve a Pokémon with a split regional evolution in certain areas. For example, if you had a Pikachu or Cubone and wanted the Kantonian evolved forms instead of the Alolan ones, you just had to evolve them in the Ultra Wormholes instead of the archipelago. But in the Switch games, that option is gone. If you want a Hisuian Sliggoo/Goodra in Scarlet or Violet, you have to transfer one from Hisui or have one from the limited time Massive Mass Outbreak event. And if you want one bred with perfect IVs, you have to breed a Goomy in S/V, transfer it to Legends Arceus to evolve it into Hisuian Sliggoo/Goodra, then transfer it back. And to get a perfect IV Alolan Raichu, you have to transfer it from one of the Alola games on the 3DS, assuming you have Pokémon Bank, or use a ton of Bottle Caps on one from the limited time Massive Mass Outbreak event, the traded ones from Let’s Go, or the SWSH DLC trades. 2) And for every other regional variant, the ones that hatch one way or the other, S/V made a really stupid change. They changed the system from the female or non-Ditto breeding partner being the Pokemon (and form) of the offspring to the offspring being the form native to the area UNLESS the non-native variant breeding partner holds the Everstone. The same item that locks in the nature. Yes, you can use mints to effectively change the nature, but the minted nature doesn’t pass down to offspring, just like Bottle Capped IVs. The original nature/IVs of the Pokemon before the mint/bottle caps get passed down. There was no good reason for this change when the original version was far easier to work with. As for the two changes I want to keep, the first is non-story-required trainer battles being purely OPTIONAL. I mostly skipped the trainers in Paldea and enjoyed getting to just ride past them until I wanted to battle them. Then I went back to finally complete BDSP and I was absolutely fuming at getting forced into battles every two minutes because roadblock trainers were EVERYWHERE. Especially on the foggy route because I didn’t find Defog beforehand and didn’t want to backtrack to go get it, so I already couldn’t see a thing. I just wanted to get through to the next town, but I was constantly getting stopped by trainers that I didn’t want to deal with. The other is actually the picnics or at least something like them. The daycare is fine, but the inclusion of the Mirror Herb instantly made me like picnics more. I like being able to quickly and easily pass multiple egg moves over to a Pokémon via the Mirror Herb and picnics (with more than 2 slots). Yes, making a sandwich every time I want to collect eggs for 30 minutes and the repetitive A-mashing are rather tedious, I’ll give it that. The picnics are not perfect. But I much prefer using the Mirror Herb and not being forced to pay to get my Pokémon back from a breader that is slower than the picnics. Ideally, I would want both. Like if SWSH let the curry-making function the same way as sandwich making. Then you could use the method you prefer.

[@rockowlgamer631]

I like the idea of Inverse battles, though I do wish that the immunities would be kept in that type reversal chart. Ground immune to Flying, Electric immune to Ground, Psychic immune to Dark, Dragon immune to Fairy, etc. Cause then Bug, Ice, and Grass types become more prominent. Plus abilities would be even more useful such as Flash Fire helping any Fire type pokemon becoming immune to what would now be a weakness to themselves.

[@emperorcubone]

Yeah the no immunities prat is especially weird to me; I get how doing x.025 damage might be difficult to program, but immunities just seem like a simple on/off switch.

[@jbcatz5]

Preach about inverse battles. Maybe if we got the Z version it’d have been promoted and used more, as a way to give Z Version some USP and a challenge to those less enamoured with the difficulty drop X and Y had compared to previous games. An Inverse League run would completely revitalise the gyms and league, a rechallenge with post-game level team line-ups.

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

The 24-hour cycles, overworld Ability effects, seiteki nikei custom character options, fishing, trainer rematches, optional HMs and ride Pokémon together, mirage places, and Loto-ID deserve to come back.

[@emperorcubone]

Yeah, I really don't understand why Gen 9 got rid of a ton of ability effects out of battle; surely Stench could still drive away wild Pokemon, or reduce their spawn rate even in an open world setting...

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

@ Removing those takes away Pokémon value and strategy, especially when there is no Loto-ID. It even makes trading Pokémon almost meaningless. It is as if the people who made the game were inspired by Daisuke from the anime where he deserted his Pokémon into getting strong.

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

@ What can work in a far draw distance Pokémon game is to have the tall grass sections randomly generate wild Pokémon when entering to allow the Abilities work their use, and pick the overworld wild Pokémon to tag and face.

[@samuelohare6884]

I would like the pal pad to return, maybe in the next core games, it can be tied to your friends list

[@susear5939]

Events linked to the real time clock returning would be so welcome. One of the reasons I came back to the Johto games daily. Purchase rare items from a vendor in the Goldenrod underground from 8-10am. Sleep in and you miss it. Watch Clefairy dancing on Mt. Moon at 8pm on Mondays. Finding the Lake of Rage drained on Wednesdays.

[@Blvssfvl]

They should bring back diving, better than high jumping

[@emperorcubone]

But what is high jumping, if not the opposite of diving...?

[@invenblocker]

I miss berry farming. I miss it so much.

[@emperorcubone]

Even just the simple planting of berries in BDSP did scratch an itch...

[@daccrowell4776]

How about something a lot simpler: in-field rematches? This could easily be improved on by giving the NPC a specific set of Pokemon from which to draw, such that some remain permanently in their lineup, but others can rotate through the lineup based on anything from random selection to specific type-counterparts. An example: let's say NPC Steve battles with three. But Steve has a possible "pool" of six others, plus his evolving starter. So you might see a lineup of Charmander, Nidoran-M and Yanma the first time, the next gives you Charmeleon, Nidoran-M, and Scyther, then Charizard, Nidorino and Yanmega for the one after that. This should be fairly easy to implement. We've had trainers with shifting lineups, with evolving Pokemon, and changing movements before, so none of the basic code for the feature would be unfamiliar to the developers. I think we can do without the random phonecalls, but some sort of "tripwire" could initiate these rematches...which, again, we've seen before. Super-basic. And the evolution and switch-ups would keep players guessing as to what these NPCs are about to toss out next. This would also spice up the grinding and potentially result in better stat improvements over time. Hopefully they're paying attention to these threads and suggestions. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. But I think this is very doable, wouldn't require a ridiculous amount of coding, and would be a clear improvement...especially for anyone doing a lot of postgame for breeding, stat ups, etc.

[@TrvisXXIII]

My brain is hardwired to watch this in a top 10 list format lol

[@chrisd1982]

For me it's more a feature I'd like a break from and that would be battle gimmicks, some have been fun but I just don't want one every generation, if they want to make the battles more interesting then make better enemy AI and maybe use the fast and strong style options from legends arceus, however I definitely agree with the explorer areas hidden and otherwise, I feel the problem with Scarlett and violet in this area is they made everything so vast and open it can be a bit overwhelming where as a lot of the fun of exploring older games would be when you doubled back after unlocking a HM to finally see what across a body of water or behind a strength bolder you previously passed

[@emperorcubone]

Haha, yeah; the closer we get to Gen 10, the more I'm hoping that its gimmick might be "No Gimmicks."

[@N7Scavenger]

I really wish sky battles had continued, and personally I’d have liked to see them expanded to something on the water too. I kind of miss HMs making you consider which pokemon were in your party for reasons other than battle, and I think those battles would be a good way to split the difference where your ‘ideal team’ shifts a bit depending on where you are

[@emperorcubone]

Well Scarlet and Violet did kind of do the water battle thing, they would just need to restrict any Pokemon that used those floatation devices. But then the next logical step is Underground battles!

[@BeantheSnom]

3:19 I found out this existed from the Pokémon Sun and Moon Official Strategy Guide 6:25 That's not Invert Colors, you mis-clicked 8:19 That's Flip Horizontally 8:38 It's an entire dedicated format on Pokémon Showdown with entire strategies and an entire metagame

[@pokeperson1000]

Hidden grottoes don’t randomly spawn in, they always exist. The step count is for whether or not something spawns in them.

[@heroicgangster9981]

the elemental pledges definitely should’ve been a thing in pokemon games alongside pokemon contests. i hope pokemon games embrace pokemon contests again whenever they do a game like Scarlet/Violet again. Because I think the pokemon world would benefit from a path of pokemon training that isn’t always about pokemon battling. The pledges feel like they would’ve fit perfectly with how the animes conducted combination attacks, and tbh could be a fun way to shift from having one attack affect the terrain entirely. I’m not predicting pokemon showcases will be in legends z-a. but it would SO MUCH SENSE if they are

[@cosmoreed3461]

X and Y berry garden. Complete with the mulches it makes it easier to get some of the rarer berries

[@Ghostabo]

Don't diss triple battles, the world (and the hardware) just wasn't ready enough

[@Justic_]

They didn't really forget the Pledge-moves or that they're combo-moves, otherwise we wouldn't still have them in the game while they've been cutting moves here and there, with their full combo-functionality still intact. As for why they're not making new combo-moves like that, it might also have to do with how complicated they are gameplay-wise, while still being rather niche. Like, iirc, they're both used when the fastest moving participant is going to use its move, but I think it's only the slower moving ones move that's going to be actually executed, so one of the Pokemon doesn't get to use its move at all, and unless its partner is a special nuke, the damage can end up pretty disappointing, so historically, it only really worked out in certain combinations. Added onto this only really being something you can use in doubles, it makes sense that they haven't introduced any more combo-moves like this since. Also, in comparison what Zekrom and Reshiram have going on with Fusion Flare and Fusion Bolt is much closer to Defense Curl Rollout still. Also, Hidden Grottos don't have a "chance" to appear like Mirage Island, they're always at their given location in BW2, and they also are always filled once per day, it's just that what you're gonna find there is randomized, if it's gonna be an item or a Pokemon, and which item or Pokemon it's going to be. In that sense you could compare them to raid dens or mass outbreaks nowadays.

[@seanteggert5505]

there are alot of things I miss, from other games: from Diamond/Pearl its the underground, mining for fossils and nuggets were a fun and rewarding minigame, it really covered my finances and the vs seeker that allowed us to rebattle defeated trainers for more exp and money. IN heartgold/ soulsilver its no doubt the pokethon, they were more intresting than the pokmon contests in hoenn and sinnoh, and it made me feel like an Olympic legend rather than just being a pokemon champion. man those were the days.

[@FutureGroupsofRufus]

I would like to see the Pokeathol return, plus easier access to the evolution items would be great.

[@RantRadio]

Dexnav, night/day cycle, seasons should just be a standard for EVERY pokemon game as a baseline. I refuse to pay for anything less, which is why I haven't purchased or played pokemon since USUM.

[@emperorcubone]

Well they do have day and night in modern games, but instead of being tied to the internal clock its on an accelerated cycle, which is honestly a lot more annoying when it's noon but the game is at night...

[@Compucles]

@@emperorcubone It's better than needing to find time to play at a certain point of the day to find certain Pokémon. Actually, different encounters rates at different times of day is stupidly annoying in the first place, so the best games in the series for the mechanic are the ones that have the cycle without tying anything exclusive to it, at least beyond certain evolutions that are now basically stuck requiring a certain time of day. Although, the accelerated cycles do make it so Dusk Balls are no longer OP.

[@AnimeGirl4891]

I would love for the seasons to come back

[@jameshamilton6381]

Inverse battles would be a great generational gimmick.

[@RoninCatholic]

That first feature could be feasible to implement if there were FAR fewer moves, total. Like one or two boosing moves per stat, 2-5 damaging moves per Type, and just thinking THOROUGHLY about how they'd all interact if they go off on the same turn or one turn apart. This is also why I don't like Flying Press being a dual-typed move, it opens up too much question into why a HUGE swath of other moves aren't dual-typed. In other words, a game made from the ground up to take advantage of the concept will be much more workable than tacking a new feature inconsistently onto Pokemon or expanding a minor feature tucked away as a special interaction on one to five moves as-is.

[@emperorcubone]

I'm not saying ALL Ground type attacks would interact with say Poison, but just Ground "Pledge" or something like it; I just want them to try combining all the different types together, I don't need it for every move out there, so it wouldn't require a total rework of the system, just 15 more dedicated attacks...

[@Rosalikesghosts]

I didn't know you still uploaded... Blasted KZbin Algorithm!

[@emperorcubone]

Every week! (I too have noticed an algorithm shift...)

[@ZeroDarkness-]

Inverse battle would be fit if they make it for pokemon in Distortion world like place or kind like Mirror universe (like if playing Scarlet/Sword/Black/Sun then the inverse battle happen if Scarlet/Sword/Black/Sun player can visit Violet/Shield/White/Moon World and Virsa Versa)

[@nocturnalglalie4380]

Inverse room should be a move Eternal trick room and inverse battles should also be side formats in both special competitions and battle areas

[@emperorcubone]

Or at least some weird area in the games where all the speed is flipped for some reason, like a random cave with slow Crobat but fast Muk!

[@nocturnalglalie4380]

@ I feel like it would need to have some NPC that told you you were entering that area on each ends of the area, it would be populated with classic very slow and very fast pokemon like shuckle and electrode, and there could be trainers that use strategies that work in eternal trick room. An area like that with inverse would be even cooler, with a bunch of 4 times weak and 4 times resist wild Pokémon and trainers using them. This would work better than a battle area in my opinion. Also, there were BSS competitions with inverse battles in gen 6 I believe, so I think both of them would be cool tournaments or special seasonal formats, as well as pickable rulesets for 6v6

[@Mario87456]

They really really need to bring back the game corner in some form, just done in a way where you can play all sorts of fun minigames to earn game tokens, like for example one could revolve having a Pokémon surf on a surfboard.

[@toumabyakuya]

Sadly, that wouldn't fly through Pegi's radar. They are the reason why it doesn't exist anymore.

[@Mario87456]

@ Oh yes it would, if you make it explicit that it’s an arcade then it won’t be a problem.

[@toumabyakuya]

@ No, it wouldn't. PEGI would still give it a "Mature" rating. PEGI doesn't care about the name of the location.

[@Mario87456]

@ You really don’t know that, if it doesn’t resemble gambling being mere minigames then it won’t be a problem.

[@toumabyakuya]

@ I wouldn't be so sure if I were you. PEGI can be quite the stickler for the rules.

[@MorningPants]

You forgot the OG combo move: Defense Curl and Rollout

[@emperorcubone]

Well I did use it as an example of how a setup move and then attack is different than two damaging attacks clashing.

[@boogliejooglie3700]

The pledge moves came out in Gen 4- I was completely wrong I just misremembered them being in Gen 4 The pledge moves are some of my favorite moves ever

[@emperorcubone]

Pretty sure that's fake news...

[@boogliejooglie3700]

@emperorcubone my apologies I was wrong but I misremember them being in Platinum and HeartGold and SoulSilver

[@chaosfantasy0064]

What game did that Xerneas image come from. 6:06

[@emperorcubone]

New Pokemon Snap, baby! I love that game!!

[@chaosfantasy0064]

@ Oof, should’ve known. 😅

[@synthellaart1587]

I would like to be able to actually go into buildings and stores again. Okay, but seriously, seasons should have a comeback. And certain events on certain weekdays like in gold and silver. Just... let time progression actually mean something again. I also liked the whole telephone gimmick in gold and silver. Would be cool to exchange numbers with certain trainers and call them for a rematch or something later. Secret bases of course. Let me visit the bases of other trainers and let other trainers visit me. I also loved the whole underground thing in Diamond and Pearl, having something like that to explore and search for treasures was a lot of fun. Add more variety to the tunnels and combine that with something like the Dynamax Adventures and it's amazing. At least in my opinion. And also let me choose more clothes again, please, the uniforms in Scarlet and Violet were just horrible and ugly. And I miss contests. But like they were done in Ruby/Saphire. Thinking about possible combinations of attacks for contests was interesting and added a new challenge in my opinion. The way they worked in most of the later games was just... bad. Especially in the Pearl And Diamond Remake. And - not sure if this counts as a feature - I loved that the gym battles in Sword and Shield took place in these big arenas. Made the battles feel more epic. The cards were cool as well.

[@emperorcubone]

I know it was a joke, but building interiors are definitely a feature I miss!

[@venousbog]

I’ve been watching you since day one and I don’t think I’ve ever commented before. Hi

[@emperorcubone]

Oh wow, well thank you for watching for so long! Feel free to comment whenever you want. :)

[@TaMightyM00se]

I may be alone on this but I would love it if the main games now would add the catching feature that was introduced in LA but only if we got an open world game like S/V. But for all future open world games, do what Legends did when I shiny pops up and add a sound effect to let you know a shiny has popped up. I spent so long trying to find a shiny slowpoke in scarelt.

[@emperorcubone]

I hate the way shiny Pokemon work in Scarlet and Violet! Do you know how many times I found a shiny in Legends just by the sound!? I literally couldn't even see them on-screen but I knew they were there, whereas in Paldea I have to use a microscope on every Pokemon I pass because the effects only happens after a battle starts. I'm paranoid I've lost so many shiny Flabébé because it's too small to tell...

[@zerokura]

Never heared of inverse battle before. But with alot of games when i beat the game i forget about it. But i never got to that house properly.

[@emperorcubone]

See? A brilliant idea that fans never even knew was there! What a waste of potential...

[@inuboy2005]

Better games NOT made by Game Freak (Stadium, Colosseum, XD) are the feature I think needs to come back most.

[@toumabyakuya]

Colosseum and XD is debatable, but Stadium?! Yeah no. Unless you literally like to play a game that is 100% gameplay and no story, at which point I have to ponder why do you even play Pokemon to begin with.

[@Frokken]

I really miss random encounters. I dont mind having some Pokemon that poke out of the grass, but having the ability to run into whatever i want is really boring

[@emperorcubone]

It's strange, but I AM hearing that more and more. Everyone was so excited for overworld encounters but apparently Sword and Shield had the sweet spot with a mix of both!

[@Compucles]

More Pledge-like combos would be interesting, but the Pledge moves themselves aren't very good. Their combos were practically useless in single battles unless you built a team specifically around them, and there were better options for most Pokémon in double battles, as well. Speaking of Flying Press, dual-type moves *are* a great idea that we should have more of. I'd even like to see some moves get grandfathered in to being dual typed like the elemental punches. Why the heck isn't that mechanic featured more prominently in this video?! Hidden areas that can only be found rarely by luck are stupid. It may be gratifying to the rare few who actually get lucky, but it's extremely annoying for the rest of us. The condition needs to be either predictable or a common enough occurrence (like the Unova grottos) so that most people can find it as long as they do their research. Inverse Battles are too complicated to make more widespread. Limiting it to a recurring battle in the same location was fine. The most it would be worth expanding would be for a battle facility in another Battle Frontier or Battle Revolution type area. The only problem is that they dropped the idea completely. Breakable terrain, I agree. Seasons are only worth bringing back if they actually do something interesting with them. Just being used as a recurring palette swap for the terrain and a mere palette swap for Deerling/Sawsbuck that made no mechanical changes between the forms was just lame.

[@lilharm]

we definitely need more multitype attacks

[@emperorcubone]

Oh I agree for sure! My point was that at least there are still fans the bring up Flying Press and how it would be cool to have more (as you proved my point) but there's not that kind of love for attacks that interact...

[@djmk211]

You go to Snowpoint Temple and catch Regigigas or you go to Snowpoint Temple and say "No Regigigas, I'm not here for you!" and catch a Steelix. I choose the Steelix for obvious reasons as it's my favourite. 0:52 5he best part because Steelix

[@commonviewer2488]

I miss the Wonder Launcher

[@markzman2970]

I actually enjoyed doing the inverse battles, but i only remember dping it in ORAS, I have to admit i qiite enjoyed doing the various other kinds of battles like the sky battles, rotation and triple battles

[@jonathanwhitcombe7384]

Seasons, medal box, hoard battles & gts.

[@Illumisepoolist]

I have an idea for missing type users of the Blueberry Academy.

[@emperorcubone]

There's either a lot of those, or none of them, since there's really only the Elite Four, but also all the other Gym Leaders come to visit and battle, so which do we count...?

[@Legacysong2012]

Make a list about what features would be amazing if they brought back, and don't even mention the biggest mistake the Pokemon Company ever made, taking out the feature of HMs that should be brought back immediately and never removed again

[@emperorcubone]

Well to be fair, most everyone complained about HMs when they were around, so I don't think most people missed them. Besides this was more about features that are gone, but were also overlooked when they WERE in the games, and HMs were very in your face...

[@paulduhamel5050]

For anyone that cares for ROM hacks, there is an inverted pokémon Platinum version, where the type chart for the entire game is reversed.

[@The_One_In_Black]

I thought the Inverse room move already existed - am I mistaking a rom hack for reality?

[@emperorcubone]

It probably does exist in the romhack for sure, but there would be no need to create the move in the real games because there's only been two spots ever to use the Inverse Mechanics...

[@The_One_In_Black]

@emperorcubone I double checked and yeah, must have been a hack I was remembering. I was so sure there was a move in PSV to trigger a temporary battle.

[@petrnovak7235]

The thing I miss most are Mega Evolutions. Say what you want, but they were the best gimmick in Pokémon history. They gave us hope when they expanded them in ORAS, but then, they stalled them in gen 7 and abandoned them in gen 8. Yes, they will bring them back in Legends ZA, but what will happen after that? Well, let me be an oracle here and predict they will be forgotten again in any future game, unless we will get an actual XY remakes. I hope I am wrong, but they did this with any other gimmick, so, why things should be different now?

[@emperorcubone]

I tend to disagree, and think that Megas were on the weaker end of gimmicks (at least in execution certainly) but really they never should have started making one-off gimmicks anyway, since they knew it would divide fans every time...

[@toumabyakuya]

Eh, Megas were badly executed. They were fine when old and/or lesser remembered Pokemon got them, but then they started to give them to too many popular Pokemon and some of those even got two (really, neither Charizard nor Mewtwo deserved to get two Megas) or a pretty broken one (Rayquaza's didn't need to be itemless). So that mechanic simply cannot return.

[@rjd1922]

I think seasons will come back in Legends Z-A, because how else would there be Ice-type Pokémon in Lumiose City?

[@emperorcubone]

I guarantee they have a shop for EVERYthing in Lumiose!!

[@nebuchudnessar]

Poképelago I hate leaving mons “abandoned” in the box it’s one of the reasons I don’t catch ‘em all the jobs in swsh were fun too but less so, also let me pet my Pokémon.

[@emperorcubone]

I loved the Pokepelago! It was a great thing for them to do when they weren't on your team...

[@lawrencelopez9839]

so you want elemental reactions like in genshin? might be nice

[@jaykettavong4109]

I find Pokémon trying to come up with a new shiny hunt method so annoying each time it more different then the last I I usual breed them back in the 3Ds days the switch so hard to try cause swsh one nearly broke me when I tried it out 😢

[@user-ki7ux9mz6l]

why do you always scream into the mic? We can hear you perfectly fine...

[@JuliaCCCP]

Fishing

[@aiden6255]

i liked triple battles :(

[@emperorcubone]

I thought they were a worthy inclusion, I was more slighting the game itself for not fully utilizing them as a feature either(and they're Definitely better than Rotation Battles!)

[@xandercarr72]

Pledge moves have had a legit vgc nieche in multiple formats, sucg as SV reg h

[@Harbluia]

You know what feature SHOULDN'T return??? Mega Evolution... because it's stupid.

[@emperorcubone]

I lean more to your side, but bold of you to invite all the criticism from the direhard fans...