Multiplayer battles in Pokémon was an order from Nintendo

[Death Phenomeno]

In the same video where Did You Know Gaming reveals that the first Pokémon games were reduced from the initial idea of 65535 versions to just 2 (or 3 [or 4]), it has also been revealed that battles between human players were almost left out of the game.

What would have become of the franchise if the first games didn't have PvP battles? Would it have become a franchise in the first place?

Video by Did You Know Gaming. Relevant part for this post begins at 6:55. Source:

 

[Nokocchi]

In the same video where Did You Know Gaming reveals that the first Pokémon games were reduced from the initial idea of 65535 versions to just 2 (or 3 [or 4]), it has also been revealed that battles between human players were almost left out of the game.

What would have become of the franchise if the first games didn't have PvP battles? Would it have become a franchise in the first place?

Video by Did You Know Gaming. Relevant part for this post begins at 6:55. Source:

Saying there was "65535 Versions" is a bit inaccurate, though I guess "Only one version but your Trainer ID generates encounter tables and map layouts" is both too wordy and not as eye-catching.

Anyways, I didn't realize that the interview that mentioned that the games originally only had trading for multiplayer content wasn't translated until now, since I knew that factoid for years. I can't even remember where I originally heard it from.

 

[Scorpio]

On the topic of “65535 versions”, I can imagine a 16-bit integer could feasibly be used to determine which Pokémon appear in a certain game, basically mix-and-matching the version exclusives/pseudo-exclusives (aka Pokémon that can be caught in both versions but are much rarer in one and more common in the other). We already have several pairings:
-Ekans/Sandshrew
-Nidoran-F/Nidoran-M
-Vulpix/Growlithe
-Oddish/Bellsprout
-Meowth/Mankey
-Psyduck/Slowpoke
-Grimer/Koffing
-Shellder/Staryu
-Krabby/Horsea
-Scyther/Pinsir
-Electabuzz/Magmar

Additionaly, the fossil you get in Mt. Moon or the Hitmon you got after beating the Fighting Dojo could have been determined via Trainer ID instead of the player getting to choose. As for any more pairings, perhaps some Pokemon had been counterparts with some of the Missingno, or even two Missingno had been counterparts with each other.

 

[Siggu]

Without PvP I doubt the franchise would have got much interest in the first place. The creatures maybe, but not the games themselves.

And it was a good choice to NOT make encounter tables Trainer ID-dependant. Not being able to get a Pokémon for factors you can't control is absolutely horrible.

 

[Zowayix]

Not being able to get a Pokémon for factors you can't control is absolutely horrible.

This is why time-locked event Pokemon are bad.

 

[earl]

I wouldn't be surprised if the games were still wildly popular without pvp- the original tagline in the west was always "gotta catch them all" and I remember pvp being a relatively minor part of the games for me as a child. Obviously it would lose some amount of interest due to the lack of it but honestly what kid even owned a link cable lol

At least once the DS entries came, though, and wireless play was possible I'm sure pvp would have been added.