I'm digging into the Emerald Battle Frontier for the first time, and one little thing that stood out to me is the fact that there are apprentice trainers in the Tower lobby who will ask you for team-building advice over the course of several days, then eventually show up in the Tower itself as either an opponent or a multi partner with a team built from the advice that you gave them earlier. Was that sort of concept ever further iterated upon later?
It's notable to me because the player character's growth and eventual expertise in Pokemon battling isn't usually something that feels like it's properly acknowledged throughout the quests in these games. You thwart the local mafia, catch supremely powerful and one-of-a-kind legendary creatures, and topple the Pokemon League and become the regional champion. You should be a renowned celebrity whose notoriety increases throughout the adventure, yet barely anyone acknowledges your feats in the end, and your status as Champion rarely ever persists after the credits. It often doesn't feel like you make a proper impact on the world when it's all said and done.
So, it's interesting that the Frontier houses a collection of trainers who are very much aware of your expertise and seek you out because of it. Doubly so when these battle facilities themselves tend to be extreme narrative contradictions in the first place that don't really concern themselves with making any logical sense for their existence. (The trainers therein are supremely more capable and challenging than any you'd meet throughout the quest, as the facilities exist solely as an endgame challenge to hardcore players, so the fact that everyone in here has access to supposedly-one-of-a-kind legendaries and could smoke the Pokemon League with their eyes closed is just kind of handwaved away. Yet the developers put in the time here to add something to make the player feel that their status is being properly acknowledged in at least this one little way.)
It's notable to me because the player character's growth and eventual expertise in Pokemon battling isn't usually something that feels like it's properly acknowledged throughout the quests in these games. You thwart the local mafia, catch supremely powerful and one-of-a-kind legendary creatures, and topple the Pokemon League and become the regional champion. You should be a renowned celebrity whose notoriety increases throughout the adventure, yet barely anyone acknowledges your feats in the end, and your status as Champion rarely ever persists after the credits. It often doesn't feel like you make a proper impact on the world when it's all said and done.
So, it's interesting that the Frontier houses a collection of trainers who are very much aware of your expertise and seek you out because of it. Doubly so when these battle facilities themselves tend to be extreme narrative contradictions in the first place that don't really concern themselves with making any logical sense for their existence. (The trainers therein are supremely more capable and challenging than any you'd meet throughout the quest, as the facilities exist solely as an endgame challenge to hardcore players, so the fact that everyone in here has access to supposedly-one-of-a-kind legendaries and could smoke the Pokemon League with their eyes closed is just kind of handwaved away. Yet the developers put in the time here to add something to make the player feel that their status is being properly acknowledged in at least this one little way.)
Some of the NPCs in Victory Road don't really make any sense in the first place. One of them is explicitly impressed that "you beat Giovanni of Team Rocket?" when, like, wouldn't everyone in that tunnel have had to do the same just to get in? Was Viridian Gym sporadically operated by a substitute leader for every NPC trainer but not for you whenever you happened to show up?I feel Moltres being in Victory Road somewhat fails cuz the sprite for it is....literally the same as all other bird mons using fly
Similarly, you'd think the NPCs would notice and be way more excited, rather than only 1 mentioning it offchance when talking about Blaine. I feel the best thing is to have it interacted with, it roars, then flies off, which leads you wanting to find it in the overworld later