Day 10: If you could change one thing about the Pokemon games, what would it be?
I would make the game less linear. I can handle not being able to use my in-game team competitively. I can handle steamrolling through everyone who opposes me in the game. I would much rather be able to make choices.
Pokemon doesn't seem like it should be a linear game in the first place, because you are traveling to get gym badges and then battle the E4. If it were real life, there wouldn't be anyone but myself to tell me which order I have to get the gym badges. In game, though, you are rarely given a chance to skip a gym to battle another one first. This would make the game a lot better, and it would encourage exploration. Currently I know that, if I try to explore past a city before beating a gym, there will be a person or obstacle to say that I can't go past until later. Therefore I do not explore.
Furthermore, this could lead to a varied plot. What if the game establishes two powerful trainers always battling each other? Then what order you could get the gym badges could determine who wins, and then who you have to face as the champion. What if there actually is a strong villainous team? Then, if you don't get a certain gym badge within a given range, they might succeed in a scheme and then they might actually conquer whichever region it is. Of course, there would be stuff to hint at where their next scheme will be, you just have to notice. Then, you would have to be the attacking side, saving the world from the villains that control it. What if the game gave you a choice? What if you could side with the villainous team? That could be fun, conquering the world with the villainous team, and laughing at the world's poorly executed attempts to resist the player character's unfathomable power. It could lead to all sorts of variations on plot, which would dramatically improve the game.
Not only that, but there could be more than eight gyms in a region. Because you can now choose the order in which you battle the gyms, you can choose which gyms to battle. Furthermore, that could lead to more varied difficulty if they make some gym leaders stronger than others, and give the gym leaders a better AI. That would also give some more post-E4 content, as you could battle the gym leaders you didn't battle in the main game post-game. That would also improve replay value, as different gyms could mean different challenges or storylines. What if the E4's pokemon and types were determined by which gym you battle in which order? Then, that would improve replay value even more. With just 10 gyms, there would be almost 2 million possible combinations. With 15 gyms, there is over 250 million possible combinations. With 20 gyms, there would be over 51 billion possible combinations. The replay value would be enormous, especially if the plot changed depeding upon the order in which you battled the gyms, and which ones you battled.
Furthermore, that could give the player character more choices. What if you join the villainous team? What if you choose to start your own villainous team? What if you choose to become a gym leader or E4 member? What if you choose to sit back in the champion room and wait for challengers? Any of those decisions could significantly change what happens. What if your champion and you lose? Instead of rushing back to the pokemon center immediately, you could be sent back home and have to gain eight new gym badges from tougher gym leaders and then defeat the E4 again to re-battle the guy who beat you and take your title as champion back from him. Furthermore, what if you choose to ignore the villainous team(s) and continue your journey. Would you face the leader of the team as champion, and the four below him as E4? Or would there even be an elite four to challenge? The possibilities are endless.
Sure modifying the IV system could help competitive battlers, and a harder game could make it better for some, but those are merely things I want. This would be a great idea. Sure, they might not include all of the parts a listed (siding with the villains and conquering the world might not happen, unfortunately) here, but it would significantly improve replay-ability and make it so you won't have the same experience with different foes and partners from a different region in different Pokemon games.