Generation Six: A Generation That Will Be Missed

We were first told of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y over three years ago now. We were not long into 2013 when a Nintendo Direct was announced for January 8th. Fans were initially optimistic; Generation VI could soon be announced (ignoring the fact that Black 2 and White 2 were only a few months old at that point).

Pikachu told us that it had huge news to share on that day, and we saw Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie (along with Yveltal and Xerneas) for the first time. We would be able to visit Kalos by the end of the year!

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire was announced in May 2014. The reaction from the fanbase was INCREDIBLY positive; we finally were getting remakes for the hugely popular Hoenn games.

Let's look back on the highlights of the sixth generation of Pokémon!

X and Y

Pokémon X and Y were the first games to have a worldwide simultaneous release. This was huge; trainers all over the world would be starting their journey at the same time.

Mega Evolution was initially one of the most controversial aspects of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y. No other games had tried to play with the evolution formula... until now. Often ignored Pokémon like Kangashkan now had a purpose in competitive play. Charizard, a fan favorite, managed to get two Mega Evolutions. Mewtwo received two as well. Fans questioned whether this would destroy competitive Pokémon battling entirely. The developers knew Mega Pokémon had the potential to ruin competitive battling, so they limited it to one Mega Stone per team.

We searched for Vivillon like crazy during the first few months until we realized that it was literally dependent on where you lived (just like a real butterfly!). This created a huge GTS craze where people would actively trade legendary Pokémon for Vivillon formes. If you lived in Rio, Dubai, or Singapore you now had an amazing bargaining tool. Everyone wanted the rare Vivillon formes, no matter the cost (yes, people traded their beloved shinies for a Vivillon).

If you thought the Shiny Charm, introduced in Generation V, changed the shiny game, you're so incredibly wrong. Increased shiny odds overall, Friend Safaris, a new PokéRadar, Horde hunting, and chain fishing made shinies no longer a rare commodity. Friend Safaris were extremely popular (and people actively still search for Safaris on Reddit even today), as you could only get three Pokémon in a Safari, and it was all dependent on who you were friends with. Yes, that probably sends a bad message, but Pokémon found in a Safari were more likely to be shiny, who wouldn't want to make friends with someone who could potentially give you a shiny Ditto with awesome IVs?

Character customization was easily one of the most popular features introduced in Pokémon X and Pokémon Y. You want a blonde character? That's cool, no problems. A mini skirt? Sure, it'll make your character even better. You want to take off your hat? You're crazy dude. I suppose people in Kalos were pretty sun smart (that, or they came from the Alola region).

We were introduced to one of the biggest freaks of the Pokémon series: a tall dude named AZ. He apparently used the ultimate weapon long before a crazy dude, Lysandre, did. Lysandre instead wanted to use it for evil, unlike AZ, and kill everyone who didn't agree with his ideals. Nice guy he was.

Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

We finally got to revisit the beautiful Hoenn region a little over eleven years after the original 2003 English release of Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire.

Zinnia was easily one of the best new characters introduced in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire. Zinnia kept you guessing, despite being mostly involved in the postgame plot rather than the main story. Together with her trusty companion, a Whismur named Aster, she travelled Hoenn looking for what she needed to save the world (and effectively forced you to follow). The only downside of the Delta Episode was that it was long (you travelled back and forward to at least ten locations) and that Zinnia didn't make any sense until the end. On the other hand, though, you got to experience a whole new level of broken with Mega Rayquaza being in your possession by the end of the plot.

Steven was back, and he was probably even more annoying than before. On the plus side, though, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire finally introduced a feature we've wanted since the start of the games: being able to fly without having to know the move "Fly". Thanks to either Mega Latios or Mega Latias, we could fully explore a region from the sky. We could also encounter Pokémon in the sky, too... and yes, they could be shiny (my golden Swablu can attest to that). Mirage Island also came back. Instead of just one, depending on those you "pass," you could get access to a lot of islands with rare Pokémon every day.

Team Aqua and Team Magma now had access to an even better weapon than before: Primal Formes. No, they weren't any more competent than they were back in 2003. Primal Formes were cool and all, but you also got a few more Mega Pokémon too. Swampert and Sceptile finally got Mega Evolutions... as well as odd ones like Audino.

Secret Bases were back, and they became even more Super Secret. Except they weren't really. Thanks to the Internet you could explore literally anyone's secret base without having to be right next to them. Your "friends" also could give you rare items such as Dawn Stone, Rare Bone... oh, and a Master Ball. Literally the first item I got from a Secret Base friend. I never let her go.

DexNav was popular, too. You were more likely to get Shiny Pokémon by using it, and it made Pokémon hunting a little easier. Cool stuff.

The Pokémon

We had some of the best... and some of the worst Pokémon introduced in this generation.

Greninja is almost as loved as Pikachu, as far as the fanbase is concerned, thanks to Ash and his insane bond. Talonflame had one of the most useful abilities ever in Gale Wings. It is generally considered the most popular regional bird of all time due to Gale Wings and the fact that it was part Fire-type. People thought Vanilluxe was a stupid design... yet in this generation we were introduced to the Honedge family; Pokémon that were floating swords. At least Aegislash was really good to use in competitive battling!

Mega Evolution was one of the most controversial parts of Generation VI. Mega Gengar, Mega Rayquaza (which was so strong it got its own tier—Anything Goes), and Mega Kangaskan were incredibly broken from the start. At least with Mega Kangaskhan the whole "baby in the pouch" thing FINALLY made sense. I'm still in the camp for it to be a pre-evolution, but whatever. Mawile managed to gain a new typing and a Mega Evolution. It finally wasn't ignored (and you can still barely see its face...). Lucario had pretty much the coolest Mega Evolution simply because it is Lucario. Mega Slowbro left us more than a little confused. How the hell did it stand?? Others, like Mega Steelix, just made their old counterparts so much more amazing.

The new Fairy type made forgotten Pokémon incredible again. Azumarill actually mattered in competitive battling, and Clefable was finally cool enough for OU. For many others, the new type changes didn't matter too much in the grand scheme, but at least they now made a little more sense (like Granbull, the Fairy Pokémon that was considered "normal" in every sense until now).

The Other Games

One of the most popular games introduced during Generation VI was Pokémon Shuffle. Mega Pokémon were your key to completing all the puzzles successfully. Pokémon Shuffle will be continuing into Generation VII as well. It is not known whether it will be renamed or what changes will be implemented for Generation VII.

Pokémon Rumble World was somewhat a failure on the other hand, though. It came out roughly about two months after Pokémon Shuffle, and despite both being free-to-play Nintendo 3DS games, Pokémon Rumble World couldn't keep players interested once they had completed the main game. Pokémon Shuffle, on the other hand, was able to keep providing fresh content, and it still has a pretty big playerbase.

Pokken Tournament, the Wii U game, was originally released as an arcade game in Japan. The game provided an outlet to REALLY battle Pokémon in a way we hadn't really experienced before.

You also can't really sum up Generation VI without making a mention of Pokémon Go. Despite not containing any Generation VI Pokémon, the highly anticipated mobile Pokémon game was able to bring Pokémon back into the spotlight and provided a great launching board to promote Generation VII. Pretty much everyone with a smartphone played the game within the first month of its release—people finally could talk about Pokémon again and not be ridiculed. It was so popular that people who had never heard of Pokémon would actively play it. It was even on the news!

Red, Blue, and Yellow were re-released and became playable on the 3DS as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations.

Other Pokémon Media

Anime-wise, Ash caught yet another regional bird (Fletchling) while exploring Kalos. He also befriended a Froakie. He became so close with Froakie that when it evolved into Greninja it effectively became part of him... and yet somehow in the last 20 years Pikachu wasn't able to get THAT close to Ash. Suck on that Pikachu. Oh, and then he stupidly releases this Greninja that he's bonded for life with. Ash just gets smarter.

Conclusion

Generation VI brought in so many positive changes to Pokémon, and while it's now time to move on, there's no way we can forget (or ignore, in the case of Mega Evolution) the generation that helped bring Pokémon back into the spotlight.

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