The Disappearance of Pokemon's Recurring Areas

[@JPRPokeTrainer98]

Which area would YOU bring back?

[@shadowdragonlord2295]

Game Corner as an arcade full of mini games.

[@Reitiranossaurobanguela]

Safari Zone Also,isn't the friend's safari technically a Kalos safari zone?

[@jcg7609]

Battle frontier, we need actual post game content that doesn't require me to spend 30 dollars

[@KuroBlitz]

Another great video! The area I would like to see be brought back is an actual Victory Road! Gen 1 was OKish... a fine standard since it housed Moltres but besides that it's just yet another cave (FRLG didn't help here)... and Gen 2 is extremely laughable without any NPCs besides Silver. Gens 3 and 4 were horrendous due to HMs except ORAS. Gens 5 and 6 were actually unique and interesting with open fields and gates, they felt like a legit climb instead of another cave. And Gen 7 did a cool twist with Mount Lanakila since the Pokémon League focusing on Trials instead of Badges gives it some identity and it's the resting place of Icium-Z... but the Trainers are only present in USUM. You would think that Gens 8 and 9 which glorify the Gym Challenge for one and have a storyline named after said landmark in the other would make them more prevelant, right? Paldea's a backyard of Level 7 Sunkern/Tandemaus. I know it's a lategame maze and some many find it tedious but I always saw this last challenge as very tantalizing.

[@Bulbasaur617]

The Battle Frontier. I missed breeding and making other pokemon with an interesting moveset and combinations and having them go up against other trainers in game. It's how it gets me to continue playing Pokemon after the main story. With nothing else after the story or even DLC story, I just stop playing and don't feel motivated to keep playing until the next mainstream pokemon game comes.

[@GumCow]

Honestly hate that Paldea doesn't have a battle facility. I don't like playing competitive and I only battle friends, which is already a rare occurrence these days. The battle facility allowed me to actually try out my teams on opponents with the same levels

[@littlekuribohimposte]

Sadly it does fit Paldea.The region as a whole isn't big into battling. Aside from Nemona,it's really an afterthought for most people. Every Gym Leader has their own thing going and actually battling is just their side-hustle.

[@JM-fr5ge]

Paldea literally has a school and a tournament to test out teams and gain exp and cash. If u want a challenge the double battles for the BBA trainers are up your alley

[@MidoriNatsume]

​@@JM-fr5ge Battle Facilities have fixed levels. Any open level challenge forces you to micromanage your levels if you want any challenge.

[@DannyMcWiggle]

I couldn't agree more! I always loved building high quality pokémon and interesting team composition. Paldea made it so easy to build super powerful teams, I don't like playing online, so I was really looking for to a battle facility to actually get some competition. It feels like having a sports car but only being able to drive it in a school zone.

[@Magikarpador]

it's not a lore thing it's a gamefreak isn't trying thing

[@pich1rilo965]

Unova's Dept Store being in a route instead of a city feels more like a nod to a lot of huge malls in the US being outside of cities.

[@FireFury190]

Yeah because the Palisades Mall isn’t in New York City. It’s in West Nyack.

[@Riolu1209]

@@FireFury190 When I learned a place I go to every other day is in Pokemon I was filled with shock and joy, even if it's in the middle of nowhere in game lol

[@Riolu1209]

Also cuz as New Yorker with an unhealthy internet addiction, I'm obligated to be angry at the misinformation (and slander) about the area I am from! The Palisades mall which is a commercial landmark here in the Rockland Area is NOT in NYC. It is home to West Nyack

[@TheFirstCurse1]

Unova really just had the best EVERYTHING. That department store is THE department store. I love going there.

[@pich1rilo965]

@@TheFirstCurse1 Yo, love your profile pic and name. Haven't played Destiny for about 6-7 years but have very fond memories of that game.

[@hanaruroa830]

Oh i think the reason Kalos had no Cycling Road was because Cyllage City was meant to sorta allude to the Tour De France. The entire city has a large circling road meant for bikes, you get your bike in that city, and various sports are supposed to be popular there, like cycling and rock climbing.

[@magicfish8213]

I mean Lumiose is (i think )the biggest city in Pokemon and biking there is a dream especially since you don't get the bike theme.

[@nerdyfalco408]

The Safari Zone was litterally made for regional variants. It would surely be more interesting getting them in a dedicsted area rather than trading with some rando

[@JayClearman411]

Facts! That an I don’t understand why the safari zone postgame expansion idea in emerald didn’t become a permanent fixture ingame it was an awesome idea. Especially if you could combo that with seasonal an weather changes!! Maybe have the muddy swampland effect be temporary like only during heavy rain. an I love swarms and mass outbreaks! Especially in Pokémon Legends: Arceus there are 2 types of outbreaks: mass outbreaks and massive mass outbreaks.. an how In a mass outbreak, many Pokémon-from the same evolutionary line-spawn in a single location that’s a great touch. Only a single mass outbreak can be active in an area at a time, but multiple areas can have a mass outbreak. Whoever idea that was genius. It would also be very cool if the trainers in the area had some on there team. I also like how Pokémon in outbreaks have increased chances of being Shiny. For example, with the Shiny Charm. Loved how in emerald the television program announcing it will appear the next day. Once the television program has been watched, the outbreak becomes active very cool. Or how you can trigger it by talking to the professor and Lucas sister.

[@thenerdbeast7375]

You would think they could replace the game corner with like, the Pokemon version of Chuck E. Cheese's or something; an arcade with mini games based on skill so it isn't gambling.

[@Jlaps941]

It’s surprising because they did already take a step towards this with Voltorb Flip in the non-Japanese versions of HGSS, and then just abandoned the Game Corner in all games after

[@Luis-yh9xd]

I have ideas of what games could be added to the Game Corner such as your typical claw machine or ufo catcher since those are always synonymous with arcades. Another idea is to use the Game Corner as a way to revive smaller dormant spinoffs including Pokémon Pinball and Pokémon Mini. One other thing I would like to add is to have Porygon as the mascot for the Game Corner simply for aesthetics and world building.

[@natbatlightwood5288]

​@@Luis-yh9xd that would be really cool. They could even have the Pokemon Trading Card game in there too, similar to the gameboy colour game actually teach people how to play the game, even have card collecting as a side mission it could be so much fun because then in addition to Pokemon battling you could also compete in card tournaments too. There's allot they could do to re-tool the games corner and still make it useful. They could even replace the gambling coins with tickets like at a real arcade for prizes.

[@Luis-yh9xd]

@@natbatlightwood5288 I do like your ideas of also adding the TCG in the Game Corner as well. I just don’t get why did Game Freak have to get rid of the Game Corner even though there are so much solutions to fix the issue. In my opinion, the Game Corner should’ve been like the rec room from SM64DS. Also one last point I forgot to mention from my previous comment is for the Game Corner to have an online leaderboard for each of their mini games to add replay value.

[@rynobehnke8289]

The thing is the gen 4 game corner was already a mini game. Instead of running on real world slot machine logic like Gen 1 and 2 was it a mimicry game. Time your inputs in line with the directions of the Clefabal on the bottom screen and you are winning every time with the timing getting faster and faster as you build a win steak.

[@icecreamorc]

The safari zone isn't dead they just made it a whole game called Pokémon legend Arceus. It's literally the safari zone complete with bait and mud throwing.

[@CamKoudo]

OMG TRUE!! 😂

[@SimplementeRene]

Wait, hold up, you have a point! 😂

[@prod.r0n4n9]

$60 dollar safari zone

[@CosmicCorviknight]

Hisui is the Safari Zone x 100 with the added danger of being literally murdered by Paras and I love it ❤ I like that the Crimson Mirelands is the same location as the Great Marsh Safari Zone too

[@JaybeePenaflor]

I think that the Wild Area is the Safari Zone of Gen 8.

[@TKnHappyNess]

The Bike Shop is another one. Last appearance outside of remakes would be in Kalos' Cyllage City. Gen 5, you get gifted a Bike, and Gen 8, you get gifted a Bike as well.

[@Kongumon]

The department store in Platunum lets you buy poffins, so you never need to worry about growing berries to make your own poffins.

[@brunoreis4455]

And more, no need to worry about specifically farming the pal park berries since all other berries (and even the almighty starf and lansat) kinda make shitty poffins if you're not cooking with friends

[@Shadow-Joop-157]

If we ever get a region in the Netherlands, they must bring back that bicycle area, there is not a single person here that does not have a bicycle

[@idosomethingiguess3680]

Cycling better be a huge part of the Netherlands region

[@kricketune5114]

​@@idosomethingiguess3680evil tem will just steal bikes instead of pokemon

[@LaySuperMarioLover]

Goed punt! Fietsen is een zeer populaire activiteit in Nederland! Ik woon zelf in de buurt van de duinen, en daar kun je geweldig fietsen! Over duinen gesproken -- GameFreak zou eens een strand-achtig gebied kunnen maken voor een Nederlandse regio, één zoals ze maakten in Sinnoh met Valor Lakefront! Good point! Cycling is a very popular activity in the Netherlands! I live very close to the dunes myself, and there you can make fantastic cycling trips! Speaking about dunes -- GameFreak should make a beach-themed area for a Netherlands-inspired region, similar to Valor Lakefront in Sinnoh!

[@Shadow-Joop-157]

@@LaySuperMarioLover Laatst was er een pokemon tentoonstelling in de Van Gogh Museum en je kunt een wereld kaar zien in de indigo disk trailer dat er uit zag als Nederland. pokemon kiest altijd de regio jaren van tevoren zo ik zou niet verbaasd zijn als de volgende regio gebaseerd is op Nederland Recently there was a pokemon exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum and you can see a world map in the indigo disk trailer that looked like the Netherlands. Pokemon always chooses the region years in advance so I wouldn't be surprised if the next region is based on the Netherlands Voor de duidelijkheid ik ben van Nederland maar ik kan ook Engels zo je kunt kiezen welke taal je wilt spreken

[@LaySuperMarioLover]

@@Shadow-Joop-157 Eh, OK. Ik ben zelf ook NL, dus laten we het op Nederlands houden. ;-) Ik denk dat ik naar die tentoonstelling ben geweest die je bedoelt! Het viel me op dat vooral veel Johto Pokémon afgebeeld waren, zoals Smeargle en Sunflora! Sunflora past zó goed bij Van Gogh's ''Zonnebloemen''! Een andere Johto Pokémon was Murkrow, in ''Korenveld met Kraaien'', en Murkrow's Sinnoh evolutie Hunchkrow stond er ook op afgebeeld!

[@PoolKid75]

Alola had the Hau'oli City Mall and the Thrifty Megamart. Those were the last department stores.

[@CrazyWeridoRH]

I would include the Graveyard Towers as a recurring area no longer included. Lavender Town’s tower, Mt. Pyre, the one in Sinnoh, all those. They kind of gotten phased out or heavily reduced like the two little graveyards you see in Alola.

[@איתןשי]

Probably soft moronic helicopter parents complained about those

[@PoolKid75]

The Crown Tundra had a graveyard.

[@TheFirstCurse1]

I always liked those areas, especially Celestial Tower in Unova.

[@magicfish8213]

​@@PoolKid75that's probably where they buried all the good ideas for a sinnoh remake

[@MustacheDLuffy]

@@PoolKid75graveyard towers not cemeteries Gen 1 had the Pokémon tower Gen 3 had Mt. Pyre Gen 4 had the Lost Tower Gen 5 had the Celestial Tower

[@antoniopriego5660]

I'd have added the Game Freak office, were NPCs of the devs are. That was one of the first places i thought about It doesn't offer utility or some fun gameplay but it was iconic. It had appeared in all games until Scarlet Violet

[@extremmefan7305]

It was no longer an office as early as XY, though. At that point the inuniverse Game Freak staff were just randomly found in hotels throughout the last three regions before Paldea fully excluded them.

[@antoniopriego5660]

@@extremmefan7305 They were on a hotel as early as Gen4 if I recall correctly It's irrelevant, those served the same function, the thing is that they were somewhere

[@extremmefan7305]

@@antoniopriego5660 Oh right, yea they were in a hotel in Sinnoh as well, my bad. I just thought it was cooler when they based it off actual offices they have in the area, as they did for at least Kanto and Unova. It just doesn't feel the same when you get to meet less of them, and even worse when the only reason there's one is because "it's tradition to have a battle against one member of the Game Freak staff, often Morimoto" (a "tradition" which clearly didn't last, because again Paldea). I liked seeing the dialogue of the other members too.

[@ArtzyZero]

To be fair S/V barely had any indoor locations and the game barely holds itself together, so making one specifically for their NPC's was probably a very low priority. So maybe we'll see their NPC counterparts again in future!

[@TheFirstCurse1]

I thought that it only appeared in the Gen V games. I remember it being a big deal in Castelia City.

[@skateboardmd9163]

Y’all remember route gates? I know they weren’t really major (even being absent for the most of Hoenn), but they were a staple for the DS era and Kanto. I understand they existed for the sake of combatting technological limitations, but I still miss them for how iconic they were, even if useless for the most part.

[@girthquake2390]

I'd bring back the PWT from Black 2 and White 2. I'd have it happen that once you beat the Pokémon League in the new region and are the newest Champion, Professor Tree hands you an invite to Unovas PWT and a plane ticket to Unova. Therefore giving you the ability to tackle every single Gym Leader and Champion in the entire franchise up to that point, plus get to explore good old Unova after and maybe even have a battle against the player characters from both Unova games. Sadly that will never happen. :(

[@youtube-kit9450]

PWT was the goat. Loved the battle tower, but why not just have two different facilities? Imo battle tower PWT and battle factory are the three facilities worth having (battle tower wjth the higher BP yields from later games tho)

[@Jlaps941]

God the PWT was so AWESOME. Everyone glazes over HGSS having 16 gym leaders but the PWT had all gym leaders from gens 1-5 (minus Koga) all with competitive teams, plus all the champions minus Iris. This is the only battle facility I’ve ever beaten because it was so much fun

[@ArtzyZero]

Clay is a business man, I could definitely see him establishing several PWT locations across the world to make it more accessible to elite trainers.

[@passiveinternetuser]

With pokemon masters being a thing we will never get pwt back

[@andrei4617]

Too bad gamefreak is the laziest company in the world and rushes out piece of garbage games way too early. PWT coming back is a pipe dream

[@dood3530]

As someone who doesn't play competitive, the Battle Frontier gave me something to actually do with any teams I build in the postgame. Without that, there's no real incentive to catch and train new pokemon beyond beating the main story.

[@atomappease8843]

I’ve have a fondness for the battle facilities. Mostly due to me wanting to collect every ribbon on a pokemon. With me conquering gen3, 7, 8, and bdsp’s main facilities I’m getting very close. But I swear to god why did gen 4 need each format of the tower need a separate ribbon!

[@EnigmaticGentleman]

Hard same, I just dont want to deal with timers and toxic strats which greatly reduce the amount of viable pokemon (also i love the gimmicks).

[@samyhamraoui3764]

"Battle frontier is useless except if you enjoy battling npcs" he says, i mean... we are pokemon players lol, this is what we do

[@ktvx.94]

Hard disagree with the battle facilities. They're the only place where you can have competitive battles in-game. Now you're locked out unless you pay the online subscription and when SV are no longer current gen it' be gone.

[@SonBlackHeart22]

I rather have battle facilities back over the Safari Zone imo.

[@adantelee5017]

The closest thing we have to a Safari Zone in more recent games is the Friend Safari from XY

[@Reitiranossaurobanguela]

True

[@rotciv557]

The most recent Safari Zone we've seen is all of Legends Arceus

[@JJJJ-bz7en]

@@rotciv557 i mean no, because you can still actually battle pokemon, get outbreaks, have an actual story mode and such, and safari zone is just an add-on, not a main focus 💀 it’s actually not even really close like at all

[@rotciv557]

@JJJJ-bz7en the entire gameplay loop that the SF provides is inherently baked into the Legends formula, yes you can still fight but the game encourages the player to do so without fighting through the usage of non-battle items to aid in said capture (just like how the SF gives you rocks/mud and bait/pokeblocks to aid the player). The other points you make also aren't marks against the Legends games essentially being the Safari Zone manifested as an entire game since they could be considered evolutions on the original formula, not deviations from it. The only deviation is the fact that you CAN fight the wild Pokemon. The entire concept behind Safari Zones is worthless in modern Pokemon, them instead taking said concept and building a new game around it was an honestly genius move for them to make.

[@phil2160]

It would be Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu / Eevee

[@cavik977]

Honestly I always hated the Safari Zone, the reliance on luck when you already have limited resources in the form of steps and safari balls made it frustrating if you wanted certain Pokémon

[@youtube-kit9450]

Yup. Same with game corners. Unneccessary RNG shitfest. F that stuff. Heck, half the features people miss imo are nostalgia-riddled nonsense.

[@lacytaylor1501]

Both the safari zone and the game corners were kinda bad. You dump money into both and you can't even guarantee you'll walk out with something you want. It's probably why both were removed at the same time because they both were gambling to a degree one just much more obviously than the other, on top of the fact it was becoming easier to obtain rare pokemon and such with internet and backwards compatibility with the older generation in some form.

[@pn2294]

It’s only bad if you choose to obsess over it.

[@shardtheduraludon]

@@pn2294I’m not “choosing to obsess over it”, I just want a Scyther ;-;

[@shardtheduraludon]

@@lacytaylor1501 Literally every time I go into the Game Corner, I just dump all my money into coins and buy stuff using that. I have never actually used the Game Corner for the Game. It’s just “the expensive TM store” to me

[@dkfunentertainment3778]

Since it is much easier to get competitive Pokémon thanks to the mechanics being much more apparent, I really battle frontiers and their brains to come back. I would love to finally beat these things because as a kid, I could not do it because I didn’t know what I was doing.

[@SSBBPOKEFAN]

You did NOT just call the Veilstone Game Corner bad. That place is probably the only GC in series history where actually playing for coins is a viable way to get coins. And Simon Says with efairy is always fun.

[@Jlaps941]

The Game Corner in the Western and Korean versions of HGSS also makes playing for coins viable since there’s actual strategy and skill to Voltorb Flip, unlike the slot machines

[@brunoreis4455]

​@@Jlaps941the only slot machine so far that I can say it can be fun for skill, is the fire red leaf green ones, since you can get the timing for the 777 (bought porygon like this) now the emerald one and sinnoh, call it skill issue but it SERIOUSLY feels like the game skips some frames on purporse so you don't get 777 as consistent as the fire red and leaf green ones (the original from r/b/y I didnt played so cant say)

[@robertlupa8273]

@@brunoreis4455 Fun fact: the Veilstone slot machines are rigged so that you _can't win_ unless there's a Poke Ball or a Pokemon on the touch screen.

[@rynobehnke8289]

@@brunoreis4455 Gen 1 and 2 off set your inputs by a random amount to make it unlike to win like real slots. Gen 4's work as a sort of mimicry game as if you stop the wheels while Clefable points at them will you Garantie a win.

[@missedthebandwagon976]

Voltorb Flip became an obsession as a child. I can't tell you how many times I would boot up an old file on HeartGold, just to see what kind of team I had going, only to find that my progress stopped at 2-3 gym badges, because that was when I made it far enough into the game to play Voltorb Flip, and then my 10 year old trainer could not be pried away from the fun counting game.

[@ironmuro]

I'd bring back the Battle Facilities, If done right they are a good test of one's team before goin into online battles. Like the Battle Tree in the original Sun and Moon was genuinely difficult , so much so they had to go and nerf it in the Ultra games.

[@captndingpot3981]

I want them to bring back Voltorb Flip so badly. Like Picross, it was a fun puzzle game. I wish they brought it back for ORAS's game corner instead of completely scrapping it.

[@Jlaps941]

It was cool being able to earn coins based on actual skill and strategy rather than stupid mindless luck with the slot machines

[@nellewoodruff6337]

All they had to do was rename it as an arcade. They already changed gambler to gamer, so they wouldn't be far off, and the censors would be satisfied

[@luansoares990]

if there's a thing that was staple in the series until gen7, it was the bicycle/surfing themes every generation have it's iconic riding/surfing theme, but in gen8 they killed this trend i know that gen9 has the riding variantions of the towns/areas but isn't the same thing as before

[@willcooper8028]

Love the new set! Try putting a light in front of you to one side-about a 45 degree angle. Your face looks a bit dim against the bright background, and it would really only take one light on one side to brighten you up a whole lot.

[@JPRPokeTrainer98]

duly noted, I will keep playing around with it lol

[@randmperson2]

Honestly, out of all of these the only one that I've missed is the Battle Facility in Paldea, which hopefully will just be a one-off and will return in whatever the next generation may be. The Safari Zones and Game Corners were all just an RNG slog with very little strategy involved, the Cycling Routes were just a way to artificially create a roadblock until you unlock the Bicycle, and the Department Stores lost their use when GF made the rarer items/TMs available in other ways.

[@CamKoudo]

I mean isn't the wild area technically just one giant Safari Zone? At least that's the copium I'm going with 😂

[@Indie_Calls]

1. Safari Zone. It just makes sense for there to actually be rare Pokémon in the sense that their numbers are dwindling, and having a nature preserve dedicated to keeping their numbers healthy while limiting captures for visiting trainers. 2. Department Store. Maybe it's to make getting certain items feel more rewarding to find due to scarcity, but that same concept could've been incorporated to the Department Store. For example, maybe having certain stones be available on certain days and have someone explain, "Oh! Importing this specific stone is a nightmare, so we only have them in stock on this specific day." It gives a logical reason, and also adds lore to the area. 3. Battle Facilities. Not everyone will agree and that's okay, since everyone replays for different reasons. I personally think there's no replayability to newer Pokemon games due to the loss of battle facilities, ORAS felt underwhelming as a result of the missing Battle Frontier as all the post-game content went to the Delta Episode. Maybe it's because the battling is all done online now, and there's tournaments with that in mind, but it doesn't mean the Battle Facilities should be axed in favor of online battles. 4. Game Corner. If Voltorb Flip was a kid-friendly way to avoid implying gambling, then more mini-games of that nature can be implemented. Heck, the Pokeathlon in HGSS could've even treated as the spiritual successor to the Game Corner and hand out prizes similar to the Game Corner. 5. Cycling Road. It isn't the craziest feature to add or remove, but it does add variety to the routes so that they're not all just connecting paths between cities and towns + patch of grass. I think Gen 3 did it best by having the option to either go through the grass or take the cycling path, one not compromising the other ("Perfectly balanced, as all things should be").

[@jaernihiltheus7817]

To add to 3: When done in a Battle Frontier (or PWT) style, as opposed to a solitary Battle Tower-like facility, not only do they add post-game content but said post-game content is a genuinely different experience to that of online play.

[@quantasium]

The purpose of the Safari Zones was to give players access to Pokémon from previous generations. Now that the video game franchise has shifted to an open world concept with a larger Pokédex and DLC, the Safari zone has become an outdated concept.

[@thetexican98]

So what about the Gen 1 safari zone then?

[@quantasium]

@@thetexican98 The gen 1 safari zone had a lot of extremely rare Pokemon that could only be found there or were hard to find outside of it. You could get a lot of powerhouses like Tauros, Scyther and Dratini.

[@CamKoudo]

Oh yeah I guess the DLC is technically the new Safari Zone lol

[@jmac28211]

@@quantasiumAnd that’s the purpose of it. Its purpose is to allow a spot for rare pokemon to be obtained. If those are from other generations, so be it.

[@jamiesontb]

Gen 5,6,7 weren’t open world buddy

[@JEZ346]

Ever since Legends came out I felt that its style of gameplay would work well for a revival of the Safari Zone in the main games no Pokemon, bait, mud, and Pokeballs it seemed like a good way to integrate the Legend style gameplay into the main games before we knew it would become it's own series.

[@macrocosmos33]

Kalos had the Friend Safari. That was the actual demise of the Safari Zones.

[@gimok2k5]

Honestly, the Department store is the one thing I was missing in Scarlet/Violet. Even if it was just a shop that contains all other types of shops in one and not offering anything unique would be an upgrade over having to hunt through a billion different shops in different corners of a city just to get one round of shopping done.

[@cinnamintie]

I feel like you forgot a lot of recurring locations. We have our haunted towers (lavender town tower, mt pyre, lost tower, celestial tower) and our recurring GameFreak HQs across games. Can also give points to recurring facilities (contest halls, pokecenters/marts/leagues) and of course our recurring victory roads. There's recurring professor labs, particularily the labs responsible for the reigon's PC. There's recurring museums for a good while. I think the GTS was recurring for a bit. There's plenty of stuff if you think on it.

[@ZulaCrash]

Kinda off topic, but I was in a international food store today and bought Psyduck Juice.

[@MichaelSerrett-xu5to]

Did you try it if so what did it taste like

[@ZulaCrash]

@@MichaelSerrett-xu5to Can said it was sparkling water with grape taste, sadly I couldn't taste Psyduck's essence in it.

[@ldmtag]

I would bring back a department store and make it actually like a store: 1. Available items change, they get sold out and freshly brought. 2. Every TM is available, not just a couple a$s ones. Useful TMs are considered rare and sell for higher price. MUCH higher price! 3. It sells mostly clothes, just like normal shopping malls do. 4. Prices might be higher, but you can buy the vast majority of all items. 5. There's gonna be a shop with weird souveniers where you can buy stuff we usually sell: star dust, nugget, big mushroom, rare bone, pearl string, etc. Some fat guy would complain that a certain item isn't in stock and offer you greater deal for it, but woul only buy 1 of that item, cos even that was way too expensive for him. 6. There's gonna be some non shopping related facility like a movie theater or some minigame thing, cos real life shopping malls have them.

[@BeanoNintendo]

The Safari Zone's original purpose was to allow trainers to catch Pokémon not native to that region so, now that regional forms are a thing, I think it would be the perfect location to house those.

[@rockowlgamer631]

Bring back gen 3 version contests, I miss those alot. Plus it saves me from having to do a trade to get a milotic.

[@justjoannak]

This

[@TheLucarioMaster-uw4fb]

And Fun fact: I always thought Carnivine was a steel type because of its cry. It liturally sounds like it should be a steel type

[@rockowlgamer631]

All because it sounds like one doesn't mean much.

[@TheLucarioMaster-uw4fb]

@@rockowlgamer631 it looked like one to me

[@Wurmze]

@@TheLucarioMaster-uw4fbI was surprised klawf and skeledirge weren’t steel type. Still don’t understand why skeledirge went from being so round to so angular

[@TheFirstCurse1]

That is so hilarious. I never would have thought that someone thought it was Steel type, but the cry does sound like that. If you were blind you'd say "Now that is a Steel type!".

[@TheFirstCurse1]

​​@@WurmzeKlawf doesn't look like that at all and while I can kind of see Skeledirge, it's clear that it's a Fire/Ghost type.

[@jericho86]

I liked the galar Battle Tower because the NPCs were just good enough to check my stupid ideas before I took them online.

[@zackaryw8407]

The shopping district in Mesagoza is pretty much like a department store. You’ve got a variety of shops clustered close together, each providing different goods or services.

[@ShredAimlessly92]

With how easy it is to get into competitive now, I feel like a dynamic battle facility is the next step. Imagine a battle tower, but you can download top ranked teams from the competitive side of the game, teams that won events, and battle them as NPC’s. or better yet, the Pokemon company could hold contests to submit teams to be pushed out over the download for each month, so you aren’t just battling premade teams, you’re battling teams other people made. And then track those wins and losses for each team on some kind of leaderboard online. There’s so many opportunities that they just haven’t tapped into yet.

[@clothieredward]

I will never understand why Game Freak didn't add a battle facility into Scarlet and Violet. Maybe they thought that the battle-focused trainers of the Blueberry Academy would fill in the void but it's not the same.

[@Sonario648]

Also Scarlet and Violet: *dies with no building interiors*

[@CaptainObliviousV]

Despite addressing the Pokémon availability issue, HGSS’s Safari Zone still had its oddities. Namely Houndour can be found there… once you’ve gotten to the post game. And while it is cool to be able to find Misdreavus and Murkrow there, good luck using them as they are until Kanto because they thought it was a good idea to lock all the new stones and other evolution items for the Sinnoh cross-gens behind the post game as well (meaning only the “level up while knowing move” cross-gen evos can be used in the main story). The only no strings attached normally post game Johto Pokémon you can find there is Larvitar, though it is very underleveled.

[@SleepyBasin]

I loved the Battle Tree in SM - seeing characters like Red and Blue reappear but older was awesome and kept me playing

[@LaySuperMarioLover]

IMO, Unova should've had a Safari Zone, considering almost all of Unova is heavily populated with towns and cities akin to America, which Unova is based on. I know that GameFreak made a nature preserve in this region where you can catch that Shiny Haxorus, but it just doesn't feel the same. You'd think that with so many busy cities, there'd be a zoo, or an open National Park-like area of some kind, where wild Pokémon roam free and you can catch them in exchange for 50 PokéDollars or something. At least Kalos has the Friend Safari. Sure, that one's in the post-game, but the gimmick of that one feels very special, at least to me. Exchanging data with friends playing the same games as you and unlocking each other's Friend Safari was always exciting, and the music of this place hits so hard IMO! It's like you're on an actual safari with a Jeep and binoculars and stuff! Sure, it's very different from the Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh Safari Zone areas, but the new gimmick is very inventive for the time X&Y released, and I'd argue it still is!

[@Volkaroar]

It's not really a replacement, but I think the whole concept of the tour de france cycling was limited to just the layout of Cyllage City in X&Y. The whole city is basically just one giant race course with an established method to travel (I'd say route, but routes exist in Kalos so not exactly the same lol). It can be done with roller skates or by cycling

[@typemasters2871]

It is interesting how department stores were fazed out around the same time the Pokemon Centre and PokeMart could combine into one building instead of two Game Corner (replacing gambling with mini games) and battle facility would give the games more gameplay after you finish the main game and post game, instead of having the options be boiled down to “you can play online battles or you can shiny hunt”

[@digitalwarrior5862]

out of all the ones you mentioned, i personally bring back both the battle frontier and the safari zone. the Safari Zone made it easier to capture Rare and Powerful Pokémon and depending on where it's location and the Players Progression and the difficulty of the game, the Safari Zone can really help each player make there Ideal team to take on upcoming challenges. out of all the Battle areas Game Freak and The Pokemon Company made, the Battle Frontier in the Hoenn and Sinnoh Region were the most effort and though out of all them and added a lot of unique challenges and really helped pushed the player in the Post Game in terms of Skill, Strategy, Team Composition and Strength. this is why i want both the Safari Zone and Battle Frontier to come back

[@tpsam]

There's a reference to the tour the France in XY The second gym the rock type they have NPC and lino himself talking about how we just missed the race and that tall road climbing up the side of the mountain connecting the city to the gym and further up to the cave that leads you to the battle castle where you rank in nobility and the Pokémon daycare That road is directly inspired by a famous mountain very important in the tour de France race

[@TurquoiseStar17]

My understanding is the Game Corner was killed because of a European rating system called PEGI. Essentially, any video game there with "gambling references" is automatically given a higher age rating. So instead of having to bump it up for one market, they nixed it entirely.

[@furby9284]

Victory Road is definitely another huge one that’s been completely absent for a few generations now.

[@dannigro8794]

There was no point in the safari zone in Pokémon let’s go. Only because it was smarter to have the rare Pokémon implemented in other areas.

[@pn2294]

Smarter how?

[@DrTyranitar]

The fact that SV lack any sort of battle facility is absolutely terrible. I love playing competitive formats, but playing versus other players, especially when just testing, makes me incredibly anxious. Gen 10 better bring Battle Tower back. Also Safari Zones are ass. Struggling to find a low encounter rate mon, only to have it come down to luck whether you actually get to catch it or not is awful game design.

[@jbcatz5]

Was the “weapons away” bit for Safari Zone an intentional shout out to the banned episode of the anime?

[@Samlli]

Removing all of these features really contributes to the empty feeling you get playing the most recent games. Even when the iteration of the feature isn't great, it still gives substance to the towns and routes they're on.

[@Arcanine1995]

Loving the new set up dude :)

[@Zactoshi]

I would bring back Ash-Greninja ☝🏽🤓

[@Reitiranossaurobanguela]

LOL

[@Zoroark_Master]

You funny guy

[@JPRPokeTrainer98]

🤓

[@zexalbrony4799]

Wouldn't we all. Either that or Serena. :)

[@Niall_Sene]

Satoshi - Gekkouga ☝️🤓

[@VillainousHanacha]

Even though the prolonged tutorial for using it is a little annoying, I still think that HGSS's safari zone is the best iteration of the idea. It (mostly) solved the primary problem of Johto mons not being available in Johto proper, and you can't beat just how customizable it becomes, especially in the post game. No other safari zone offers as many different species as HGSS's. Also from a thematic perspective, the fact that you have so much control over it makes it feel special and personal (as opposed to the Great Marsh). It's probably the "recurring" thing in these games I miss the most (that and the PWT, but that specific battle facility was not recurring).

[@Dinotymek]

3:05 RoyalPear: "And i took that personally"

[@wallygropius4451]

I don't miss the Safari Zone. The catching mechanics were tedious.

[@maddiemcnugget1076]

As someone who lives close by the Pallisades Mall that the route 9 mall is referencing... I didn't know that!

[@VillainousHanacha]

It makes more sense when you realize that Icirrus City is more or less where Ridgefield is and Opelucid City is more or less where Harlem is

[@plentyofpaper]

The recurring areas aren't all dead. You just tend to take them for granted if they still exist. Pokemon League. Daycare Center. Cemetery. Villain team hideout. Victory Road. If you want to get broad, you could cluster weird side events like Pokemon Contests, Pokestar Studios, which the game corners could qualify as.

[@Rose-yx6jq]

I actually miss the Safari zone so much. In my fan-made region that I'm still working on based on the state of Texas I actually put a safari zone in their based on Big Bend National Park. Because I thought that was the perfect place to put a safari zone.

[@mystikx2205]

I love how the Crystal Game Corner gives you the option of getting a Lv40 Larvitar, so you can literally steamroll Surge with a Pupitar when you first get to Kanto.

[@thepokemonqueen]

i kinda disagree with you on the "the last time a feature is included is when its being killed off/becoming an afterthought" point, particularly about the great marsh because i feel like its integrated with pastoria city well - on the same level as the kanto safari zone in fuschia city. it matches the surrounding routes in terms of aesthetics, its integrated more into the story (the team galactic grunt bit is more memorable than the gold teeth bit imo), and the npcs and town decor match well too

[@shynihunterpt]

Hoen Department Store! Its probably my favorite building, always love to buy the items for secret bases. You could even play the lottery game, it was fun!

[@FireFury190]

8:40 WTF I DIDN’T KNOW THAT. Also no as someone who lives close by it and works at the Target there, the Palisades Center Mall is not in New York City. It’s in West Nyack.

[@kamentrainerhorn2073]

Neat intel, dude. Keep up the good work.

[@kiranhande4822]

Doesn't JPR look like the human version of Mark Zuckerberg? Also, love your vids dude!!

[@rjd1922]

Bug Catchers also disappeared after regions stopped being based on Japan. It makes sense since bug catching isn't a common children's hobby in the rest of the world, but it would have been a cool call-back to bring them back in The Teal Mask.

[@cosmicsvids]

You forgot victory road. was removed in galar.

[@JoannaTheAnnabelle]

Yes! Victory Road is one of my favorite parts of the adventure. Making my way through a cave and battling high level trainers along the way. It's nice. I like having some buildup to the Elite Four like that, instead of just some boring path..

[@dobadobadooo]

Battle facilities are without a doubt the area I would bring back, to the point that I'm not sure I'll even bother getting the next mainline game if they refuse to bring them back. Sure, it can be fun to play online, but unless it's against my friends I don't really get much out of it. Playing against an various NPCs with competitive teams is like the most fun part of the postgames for me, especially now that it's become easier than ever to build a super strong team even without breeding.

[@dood3530]

It's so ironic that they started making it easier to build a competitive team at the same time they started flubbing the battle facilities: the main motivation for any solo player to build a good team in the first place. I'm in the same boat, seriously considering not getting the next games if they don't have any battle facilities.

[@Wurmze]

I’m a completionist but I draw the line at the battle facilities, they’re so boring. But I still think they should be there for those who do like them

[@michaelfragoso6572]

For the game corner they can just turn it into an arcade with a variety of mini games Meanwhile for the safari zone there can be different Pokémon everyday plus they can make it so we can transfer Pokémon go Pokémon into the game just like pal park And should make a battle frontier area in the post game so it can occupy players until they release new DLC areas

[@CosplayCore]

I think it would be interesting to see Safari Zone return again as a customizable area… but with further customization to allow a wider range of Pokémon to visit. Like… you could pick 4-5 different areas to have different terrains but also add an elemental item of some sort to a pedestal in each to change the secondary typing that is attracted to that spot. For example, if you have a pond area (water type), attracting Goldeen, Basculin and/or Krabby maybe, you could add a Grass element item to the pedestal in that area to attract Lotad and Ogerpon as well?

[@MezmerKaiser725]

Sadly not a recurring area, but the PWT in B2W2 was nicely done and quite challenging, but now there would so many gym leaders, elite four members, and champions to include that I doubt they'd do it again

[@aROARahVyePer]

How did you miss the entire city dedicated to cycling in the Kalos region? It was basically the Cycling Road of the region with its large slopes.

[@harrycalara544]

As a proud New Jersian, I can tell you Unova's department store being in the middle of a route makes perfect sense.

[@katfrog1]

The sinnoh game corner is great, there's a lot of depth that you kinda either missed or ignored that gets fun to try to master

[@timmyvdb3]

You actually forgot victory road and traditional rock tunnels. Both were half assed in Gen 8 and basically removed in Gen9.

[@elladrinn4318]

department stores got replaced by malls, check mauville in oras, that mall in ultra sun/moon on 1st island (cant remember its name). Gen 8 re-introduced veilstone department store and gen 9 has............I hate the inefficient use of having 1 store for x item, another store for y item etc.....

[@kevandre]

It is a little weird that there's no cycling road in Kalos, but there IS a whole town based around biking there so maybe close enough?

[@jgrant3654]

I mean....isn't the wild area basically a safari zone that's just less regulated...? 🤔

[@pn2294]

No, there are no Safari Balls

[@theknightwithabadpictotall7639]

@@pn2294 Don't forget to mention you battle the Pokémon

[@davion4777]

To be fair, getting rid of the Safari Zone was probably one of the best things ever happened to Pokémon.

[@UltimateFunBilly]

Have you noticed only the Game Corner has an explanation for its disappearance? The rest just randomly dipped

[@techguypaul]

I feel like the Wild Area in Galar is the spiritual successor to the Safari Zone. Then they just made the entire game like that.

[@TheChoujinVirus]

the funny thing was the Battle Facility thing's death was actually due to players themselves

[@DarkcIoud1111.]

I always liked the Department stores as I could just go there and buy most versions of the Pokeball or multiple good TMs. The one in Gold/Silver was great as they sold the elemental punches. Later games would make it so that they would sell the Dusk, Net, and Repeat ball at one store, then sell a different set of 3 more in various other cities, but good luck remembering which ones.

[@koreyensing1834]

Dude I love that North Wilkesboro Wall Art for the studio! Looks sick. Also what car is the NAPA Fender from? (I'm also a pokemon & nascar fan lol)

[@NaughtWalter]

It's not really a recurring area but I would want to see the underground from Sinnoh implemented in other regions. Before the Gen 9 open world it was a cool minigame for getting unlimited rare items like stones, treasure, shards, fossils, etc.

[@Tristan_Shuler]

9:34 can anyone tell me what these next series of clips are from? Where the Pokémon are going through various scenery, but their sprites change to be their generation. I can’t remember what it’s from and it’s killing me.

[@tktyga77]

Maybe a side game accessible to Pokémon Home (that updates as needed like Pokémon Home does) & the ilk with all of those recurring areas combined with minigames one can interact with the mons outside the battling & Pokéamie & successors, with exclusive items & bonuses included? Being put in storage with nothing to do doesn't sound particularly fun for either the players or the mons, after all

[@stevenpip7339]

9:22 there's a bike ramp in Cyllage City in Kalos

[@TrvisXXIII]

One of the last few consistently great Pokémon content creators, JPR

[@Shamazya]

Honestly, good riddance to the Game Corner. It has decent prizes that you have to engage in tedious games of chance. Do an arcade with mini games instead.

[@alfiesmullet1311]

Maybe one of the future legends games will be about building one of the safari zones and going around to collect rare pokemon for it

[@missedthebandwagon976]

I'd love if the Safari Zone was brought back. It's just fun world building. This entire society revolves around Pokémon, so setting up a game where you try to catch as many rare ones in a short time makes perfect sense. Plus, the anime said that it was actually a way of protecting the Pokémon and their habitats, to prevent people from over catching in this area. It had a lot of thought put into it. Plus it made these Pokémon more memorable. Yeah, catching a Legendary can be hard, even if you've got a ton of Pokéballs and status conditions, but Chansey is a whole 'nother beast. Poison or Sleep can't help you here. It'll run from you, and you can't whittle it down like a Roaming Legendary. You just have to get...very...Lucky.

[@FirstLast-mn4re]

What about the Friend Safari in Kalos? Its definitely different from the actual Safari Zone, but technically gen 6 had a location titled Safari Zone.

[@armorbearer9702]

I would bring back the department store. It was a fun place to explore and is a perfect place to place unusual stuff to buy. It would be cool if there was one floor that had rotating vendors.

[@lucideirune1635]

The game corner was the reason for a while why gens 1-3 were not being put on NSO. When they announced a mature rated section for NSO, it made my day bc even if it receives an AO rating, it still has a chance of being on NSO. Even if the games receive the AO rating bc of the gambling, I think it will mostly be users in their 30s playing the older games anyway..