What We Could See in Pokémon ‘Z’…

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Now that Pokémon X&Y have been out for a month, it’s time to start talking about the ‘third game’ of Generation VI. Here are some things that I would personally like to see, as well as a few predictions.

Characters & Story

Comments: Pokémon X&Y gave the main character quite a few friends, and all of them had interesting personalities, but much more focus could’ve been put on other NPCs such as the champion (not giving any spoilers), Lysander, and the last 4 gym leaders. The missions with a certain Pokémon detective were nice, but even they could’ve been more extensive and had more puzzle elements. After Pokémon Black & White, X&Y felt a little underwhelming in the story department and decidedly less epic. Although Team Flare had an interesting goal, the beauty of their plan wasn’t given enough exposure. Their weapon was pretty cool though.

And what about that great cutscene?? A Pokémon war?? I’d love to see that be explored more instead of just told to the player and shown in almost still images.

Prediction: The mysterious AZ will play a much bigger role in the next game and… hopefully… we’ll learn more about the sad past of Kalos. Wish we could play in a non-modern era of the region!

Pokémon

Comments: Many fans were disappointed about the small number of new Pokémon introduced in Generation VI. Whether or not they could or would rectify that in a third game remains to be seen. Personally, I think it was nice to give the limelight to older Pokémon. They really came to life in 3D and reminded me, personally, of why I love the series so much. It was fun to go through the game with a mixed team of old and new friends.

Pokémon “Z” may push this feeling of nostalgia past its welcome, unfortunately. With such a wide variety of Pokémon available in X&Y, it may be hard to make the third game stand out by introducing more catchable ‘mons; especially after the release of Pokémon Bank.

Prediction: New form for the third legendary (sadly a troupe now) and possibly a few others. GameFreak may even patch X&Y to include new Pokémon which debut in the third game…

Mechanics

Comments: Generation VI introduced new battle types, such as Inverse and Sky, but their implementation was lackluster. The third game should really capitalize on these new ways to battle and include them in the plot… not just as optional side events. Maybe a gym leader that forces the player to participate in one of them? That would certainly make players rethink some of their strategies.

One of the most exciting new mechanics of Pokémon X&Y, however, was the addition of trainer customization. FINALLY we get to decide how we look in the game and aren’t playing a generic Japanese (pre-) teen. The system, however, is very limited in its current form and clothing types are repetitive and boring. Hairstyles are also very limited, especially for males. While it was a step forward, it definitely wasn’t the revolution some people (including myself) would have preferred. Especially disappointing for Nintendo fans who may have hoped for some Animal Crossing-esque clothing options. And, seriously Game Freak, why can’t we take off our hat?!

Prediction: New Gym Leader that focuses on Sky Battles or Inverse Battles. Many more hair/clothing options, possibly an added tool to allow players to personalize outfits.

Mini-Games

Comments: Pokémon-Amie was OK. I haven’t used it much because, to be honest, there’s not all that much to do. I hope that they improve the system to include more virtual pet aspects so that you can feel a little more connected with your team. Super Training also didn’t ‘wow’ me and unless I want EV-training, I wouldn’t just play it for fun. The only thing that I really enjoyed, and isn’t technically a “mini-game”, is the Trainer PR Video system. It’s surprisingly customizable and the 10-second limit really makes you think about what you want to put in it.

Prediction: Very few changes to Amie or Super Training, new options coming to PR vids.

Online Functionality

Comments: Wonder Trade is wonderful. I think that is perhaps one of the best new additions to the series and it is genuinely fun to send a random Pokémon to a stranger and see what you get in return. Some trades are more rewarding than others, but that’s part of the fun. Trading and battling is also easier than ever in X&Y and I don’t think I actually have any complaints about the system. It’s just fun. I don’t see Game Freak doing a whole lot to change what they built, because it’s pretty darn good. The Player Search System is a fun little use of the bottom screen and primarily what I use while I’m playing.

Prediction: Online functionality stays the same.

Wrap-up

I liked Pokémon X&Y. A lot. Definitely my favorite games of the series so far and I can’t wait to see how Game Freak improves on them in the third installment. Have any complaints that you’d like addressed in their follow-up? Something you thought was missing in X&Y? Leave a comment! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

NL would also like me to add that his prediction for the third game’s title is “Pokémon Zero” which plays upon both the Z and also 3D coordinates (0,0), the origin point. What do you think?!

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2,799 thoughts on “What We Could See in Pokémon ‘Z’…”

  2. OMG!!! I LOVE CONSECUTIVE FISHING!!! I tried it for the first time and I caught a shiny Remoraid in 47 tries. My bro caught a shiny Clauncher in 3 tries!

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  5. This is just my opinion on why Pokemon Z/XZ &YZ/XY/ whatever else there is, are more likely to be released than a Hoenn sequel/remake. (THIS ONLY MY OPINION)

    I personally think that Hoenn remakes/sequels are very unlikely because:

    1: Hoenn used to have the exclusive Regirock, Regice and Registeel but since BW2, Hoenn now has no Pokemon that make it exclusive anymore.

    2. Too much water. Surfing on a Lapras in Hoenn would be great but there’s just too little land compared to how much water after the 6th gym. You have to surf this water for the 7th gym, climax of the story, 8th gym, victory road, Rayquaza, the regi’s puzzle and I think but I can’t remember, the Battle Frontier.

    3. Even though Hoenn is mentioned in Pokemon X & Y, there’s no point in saying that has any relevance because EVERY region is mentioned in the game.

    4. A new region is mentioned in the game by a person in a hotel differently each time you speak to him before he gives you the strange souvenir. He mentions a town, a facility and a champion and always ends by saying “oh, never mind, you’ll see it in due time” or something like that. And after you receive the strange souvenir, he mentions that he doesn’t come from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh or Unova.

    5. Bad enemy team/s. Team Magma and Team Aqua’s plots were quite stupid and I know people will tell me that there’s no logical point in enemy teams in games in general but if you think about it, Team Rocket’s, Team Galactic’s, Team Plasma’s and Team Flare’s plans all made sense and with each team, the plot has been getting better and better. After Team Flare, bringing Team Magma and Team Aqua back would be a step backwards.

    6. The dead Battle Frontier. I know I’ll really get insulted for this because people liked the Battle Frontier and I never really used it because I didn’t see the point but the reason I put this point up is because Pokemon has gotten ridden the Battle Frontier for 2 generations now and it’s been replaced by facilities that do the exact same thing as the main facility of the Battle Frontier, the Battle Tower.

    In conclusion (and again,this is only MY OPINION), for Hoenn to have a decent remake/sequel, it would have to replace it’s enemy team and increase it’s landmass and since it’s wild Pokemon found would be changed as well to keep it within generation 6, this would make an almost entirely new region which wouldn’t be Hoenn.

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    • Surfing zone was one of the best things about Hoenn region. Don’t ever touch it, please and I think their intentions make Team Magma and Team Aqua unique in a good way.

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    • None of those reasons have factual evidence behind them, they’re purely opinionated. The fact that Hoenn is mentioned multiple times is a clear hint that a remake is on the way. You’re trying to tell me they won’t remake the game because the teams plot is stupid? How does that make sense?

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      • Again, I said it was only my opinion and even though Hoenn is mentioned multiple times in Pokemon X & Y, every region is mentioned multiple times so if you think that since Hoenn is mentioned multiple times it has a remake, you’re pretty much saying that every region including Unova has a remake on the way.

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        • Sure, regions are mentioned all the time, but not as constantly as Hoenn has. It can’t be made more obvious that these are all hints, and it’s not like hints have never been added to games before either.

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    • Reasons why Hoenn should get remakes

      Best region: the Hoenn regions is by far the most interesting and beautiful region. Most others are very boring with very similar routes over and over again.

      Diversity in routes and cities: the water routes add some diversity to otherwise very stale and boring routes. Not to mention the diversity added to most of the major cities ( fortree, mosdeep, sootopolis, pacifidlog)

      Better villain plot than team rocket and team galactic: team rocket didn’t really have a defined plot. While Team aqua/magma plot seems very far fetched, how can you honestly say Team galactics is any better…

      The battle frontier: best addition to a pokemon game since forever. No other battle facility even compares.

      In conclusion this ins only an opinion, but I think this is why. Hoenn deserves a remake, with updated graphics and gameplay.

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      • …In what universe is team Galactic’s plot worse than Team Magma’s/Aqua’s (see what I did there)

        Although honestly, Magma and Aqua just wanted to change the landscape, no power for them, no real motive. Whereas team Galactic has the ultimate motive, total control of the universe, made in their image.

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        • My point was mainly in contrast to the point above. Basically I was trying to make a point, that these are all just opinions, and everyone has different ones, nothing more, nothing less, but these should not be used as justification for why something should or should not happen…

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          • Fair enough, I feel like an idiot for not appreciating the satire. Obviously you now know my opinion on the matter. As for Hoenn getting remakes, I’m neutral on the matter. I feel all regions deserve a remake, that being said, I’m still waiting for a Sinnoh remake.

        • Although in answer to your question, both plots were in essence to destroy something in order to make something different so that they could increase their control over said new creation. You see the similarity?

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      • I agree. Technically Galactic would be doing the same thing as Magma and Aqua combined; it’s just a bigger production and is more dramatic.

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      • I found Hoenn to be one of the more boring regions when compared to say, Johto, Sinnoh and Unova, and updated graphics won’t help it very much at all.

        When comparing cities in regions, I have to say that Unova wins for me, because each time I entered a town or city, it didn’t feel like a boring or “meh” experience.

        Again the villain plot was horrible compared to even Team Rocket’s. Team Rocket wanted to be rich and rule the world in Kanto and then in Johto their goal was to reunite Team Rocket by getting Giovanni back. Team Galactic’s goal was even better in my opinion because Cyrus’ goal was to end the world and then create it in his own image which is a great plot. Team Aqua and Team Magma were absolute morons and near the end of the plot itself, they finally realized that they had completely f***ed themselves and this was represented pretty well in the anime as well.

        The Battle Frontier does rank pretty high implements considered but here is a list of implements that were WAY better than the Battle Frontier:

        Double Battles
        The Judge
        Battle Institute
        Abilities
        Trainer Customization
        Breeding
        Super Training
        Pass Powers in BW and O Powers in X & Y
        Friend Safari
        Mega Evolution
        Consecutive Fishing
        Pokeradar
        etc…

        The list can go on and on about much better implements than the Battle Frontier which is more of a side quest for bored-to-death people more than anything.

        I gonna to pick on the one point you did not defend. All that water. There’s no defending that the Hoenn Region was more of a small ocean island than anything. And as I said in my previous comment, for Hoenn to have a DECENT remake/sequel, you have to replace the enemy team, widen the variety of Pokemon and legendaries and also change the region quite a bit, so you’d be creating an entirely new region with vaguely familiar cities. Even after that, a 7th Generation or a Pokemon Z looks ten times much better.

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        • You make some very fair points, and I respect you for them. However it doesn’t change the fact that to me Pokemon Emerald was the best Pokemon game I have played (with x/y coming very close). Maybe I can pin this down to it being one of the first games I played, or maybe I simply like the Hoenn region and pretty much all the Pokemon introduced.
          Of course there have been a lot of features introduced in the games after Emerald, however I cannot think of any games other than Emerald ( be it gen 4 or gen 5) where my playtime clocked into over 100hrs. In DPPt, what do I do after I have completed the game, in BW, BW2, what do I do after I compete the game.
          XY has introduced something I have wanted for ages, easy connectability, to allow easy access to multiplayer features. It’s this reason and this reason alone, that I have currently 150hrs of playtime on my Pokemon Y.
          We can argue for days, about the story, region, villainous teams, but at the end of day, I won’t change your opinion and you won’t change mine.

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          • This is not continuing on the argument but these are the play times I have had on some of the best games I’ve owned.

            Sapphire: 137 Hours
            Emerald: 178 Hours
            Diamond: 163 Hours
            Pearl: 74 Hours
            Platinum: 837 Hours
            Heartgold: 279 Hours
            Soulsilver: 94 Hours
            White: 335 Hours
            Black: 121 Hours
            Black 2: 369 Hours
            White 2: 78 Hours
            Fire Emblem Awakening: 378 Hours
            Pokemon X : 427 Hours
            Pokemon Y: 139 Hours

    • What if, in Pokémon Ruby’s remake, there is and abundance of water and lakes where there used to be land(and a lot of manmade floating cities, tunnels, etc.), thus creating new water type pokémon. So, in Sapphire’s remake, there might be a lot of land where there used to be ocean. (thus revealing and creating new land pokémon) Just a thought.

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  7. Does anyone have these following Vivillon patterns;

    Sun
    Ocean
    Jungle
    Sandstorm
    River

    I would accept trade requests if you have any of those as long as its not legendary. But if you want legendary, then I need three of the patterns above. Thanks!

    Just reply here I’ll get back at anyone as soon as I have the pokemon they want.

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  9. I’m bout to go to gamestop and buy Version Y (i only own X) – and im gonna use my X to help me trade over an early team. Having trouble deciding between two pokes tho lol.

    Team will be:
    -Fennekin as my starter.
    -Larvitar lvl 1 shiny – holding tyranitarite
    -chespin lvl 1 shiny
    -noibat lvl 1 shiny

    and now for fifth its hard. i’m debating between my shiny lvl 1 abra or gastly. which whould should i use for 5th?

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  12. I freaking loved Pokemon Amie, it’s definitely my favorite addition to the series.

    I agree on the customization aspect though, as someone who picked the female trainer, I was disappointed that all of the clothes I might have worn in real life were only for the male trainer, and if Animal Crossing was cool with either gender having access to both gender’s clothing items, I don’t see why Pokemon shouldn’t be (other then possibly having to tweak the models slightly… I think I’m going to end up playing as the male trainer in later games if they don’t fix it so that I can wear jackets that actually cover my stomach, the ones they made would be fine if they just made additional options for people who don’t dig that look as much as others)

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      • By using Instacheck. That program that you get guaranteed shinies by trading eggs with other people who have the same Trainer Value/Shiny Value as you. I think it’s no fun because after a while, I would imagine you would be like,”Oh yay… A shiny. Woohoo.”

        It’s much better to work for the shiny than to get it through illegitimate yet legitimate ways. That’s just my opinion though.

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  16. I’ve heard some speculation about an expansion to X&Y due to the rail at Couriway Town and the handful of hints to another land sprinkled throughout the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if Z was actually a large expansion to X&Y, which I honestly would prefer than to a completely new game because the stuff to expand on X and Y seem to be somewhat minimal.
    With tech as it is now, and the 3DS capable of downloads and updates, it would make more sense to sell an expansion that gave you a whole new town (or two) and another miniature story arc that ties in with AZ’s storyline (particularly with the leak of possibly being able to get his Flabebe).
    To tie in with some of your predictions (and how it could possibly be an expansion than a new game)…
    Mechanics: If there is a new town or two where you can visit via the Couriway Town rail/train you would get a new set of clothing stores and possibly new hair options too. Although I wouldn’t suspect adding a new gym for Sky/Inverse battles I could easily see a Battle Maison set up where the specialties are Sky/Inverse battles.
    Pokemon: This town could easily hold more stones for mega evolutions to incorporate that. As well as new areas to find new pokemon.
    Story: I would love to learn more about AZ as that wasn’t really covered in the main story arc too much. (Also learn to how he’s so freakin’ old and ridiculously tall….)
    Mini-games: I’m hoping that they come back with the Contests as that’s one of the things that I really enjoyed in previous versions as the Pokemon Amie and Super Training really didn’t interest me too much, either.

    So I’m shooting for an expansion (which I’m sure they will still want money for but that’s to be expected). Or I suppose it could also be both an expansion and a game. 😀

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  19. One thing also, lots of cliffhangers in XY…well more unanswered mysteries
    One thing came to mind that would sorta relate to a ‘Pokemon Z’
    When you go to the house on the Laverre Trail and get told the scary story, something interesting was said
    Along the lines of ‘horde of faceless men’
    A horde has 5 Pokemon….what new pokemon looks like it has 5 faces…? If you’re still stuck, it begins with Z

    (Edit: May mean nothing, along with most theories/speculations)

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  21. I am very confused. I’m breeding two Skiddo, one with Hp and defense iVs and one with attack ivs with a destiny knot. Why the heck am I getting every other EV? They all have speed, hp, defense or sp. Defense…

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    • Since the Destiny Knot takes 5 out of the 12 total IVs available, it’s a toss up with which IVs it takes from each parent.
      For instance, it could take the HP, Sp. Atk, and Speed from one Skiddo, Atk and Sp. Defense from the other, and then the Defense is randomly generated with a slightly higher chance of being perfect since the one parent has perfect Defense.
      Basically, it’s completely random. Sometimes you get lucky early on or you’ll have to grind out a few batches. Remember to keep substituting new offspring with better IVs with the current parents for maximum efficiency.
      Hope this helps you out somewhat

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  22. You know if you count the Mega evos as new there would be a total of 102 new Pokemon. That includes the 3 event legendaries and the LAti@s mega evos.

    That would make it 2 more than the total of new Johto Pokemon which only had 100.

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    • Not included what megas haven’t been put out yet. However they are just form changes, so they don’t exactly count as seperate pokemon.

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    • theres still:

      -5th rock in fossil lab which could be for mega deoxys or new deoxys form
      -strange souvenir which depicts a new pokemon
      -parfum palace which has the face of a new pokemon in the garden.

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      • -locked doors in power plant
        -Alexa’s boss’ letter on her desk stating that she’s off to catch a mystical Pokémon in the mountains
        -Lava Dome Pokémon mentioned to be in Janlune Plaza
        -Locked gates in the Power Plant
        -Another mystery of another ghost girl (Japan’s in love with spirits)

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        • Lava Dome Pokemon = Heatran event. He’s classified as the Lava Dome Pokemon.

          the Power Plant has 3 locked doors, I think these could possibly contain Diancie & friends since they are based off energy creation.

          Alexa’s letter = definitely a new legend for next game.
          The ghost girl scared me. Almost as bad as the old man’s scary story which had no relevance to the main story. Also find it odd how he mentioned he was attacked by a HORDE of faceless men, keyword being horde because that is a new mechanic this gen and he went out of his way to describe these faceless men that attacked him.

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          • I was thinking that too, but it’s possible that Volcanion could be the new Lava Dome Pokémon. There was a Heatran event in B2W2 so I don’t see why they would do it again.

            Who knows what’s behind those doors. The legendaries could be there. Perhaps new Mega Stones. Heck, the meaning of life could be behind those doors!

            Alexa’s letter = perhaps she’s trying to catch Diancie.

            I was afraid I spoiled the ghost girl for you. I’m so glad you knew about her already. I wish I had encountered her without being spoiled. She still scared me. That guy was just making up the story, but it’s so weird how they had that event be forced upon you even though it had nothing to do with the plot. Pokéstar Studios much?

  23. Would like to point out, the coordinates for the origin in 3 planes (3D) would be (0,0,0), not (0,0).

    Also naming the third game after a point on the graph makes less sense than the 3 planes. Why would Nintendo make the reference to planes X and Y for a THREE-DIMENSIONAL game, without a game for the Z plane? The origin can be in both 2D and 3D graphs, so why cause confusion with 2D? It doesn’t make logical sense (the analogy for Pokemon Gray does not apply to this).

    Other than that, i’m hoping for more pokemon (not likely), more mega evolutions (very likely), more customization, a different story, maybe a different beginning town (like B2W2), no new gym leaders are necessary but maybe switch up the order a bit (like fighting girl before rock guy, etc,) and a DECENT post game.

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  24. Another minor change I would like to see in the next games is more logic. I know what you’re thinking, “Logic in a Pokémon game? Preposterous!” but bear with me. For example, when there’s a blackout in Lumiose City, you can clearly see the lights on in the buildings in the background at night.

    Reply

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