I like the option to use Rental teams in Gen 7 & 8. An excellent alternative if you want to try your skills in the Battle Tree/Tower or in online battling, but don’t have the time or effort required to make teams of your own, or want to try a team created by someone else that they made rental.
Somewhat related, another thing I like is how they utilized QR Codes in Gen 6 & 7. Using them for Secret Bases in OR/AS was a really great concept. Gen 7 used them for rental teams, Dex entries for Pokémon you hadn’t seen, unlocking Island Scan and for events. I wish they had used it more for events but I am still happy they did it for some events at least, notably Magearna which is a mythical event that will never expire since it was distributed through a QR Code.
One thing I randomly noticed in Sword today was that at some point, they upgraded Marnie during the daily rematch against her. I’m not sure when that happened, but it must have been related to the Crown Tundra in some way. There were two things that got upgraded. First of all, her team is now at higher levels than before which is excellent as it means more Exp. and therefore even better training. But that’s not the only thing. The background when battling her also got upgraded! Now, the background is that of Spikemuth instead of just a generic white background, and that is really cool. It also seems that Klara/Avery got a slight upgrade (which happens after participating in the Galarian Star Tournament according to Serebii), their levels are slightly higher and they got a Galarian Slowking added to their team, so that’s also good.
I have more to say about art styles, because I keep coming up with new things I like about this subject. One other art style I like is that for the Detective Pikachu movie. While I was a bit doubtful towards it at first, it grew on me over time and I think it worked fine for the movie. I never want to see them use that art style in a Pokémon game, though. But it was fine for the movie.
And speaking of the movie, I liked it. I watched it last year so it was a while ago, but I remember that I thought it was pretty good. Not quite great, but still good. I enjoyed it.
A random minor thing I noticed recently. A completely unintentional Pokémon reference in a different game. I recently started playing Final Fantasy VI Advance, and in the beginning of the game when you play as Locke and a group of Moogles, one of the Moogles is named Cosmog! That totally caught me off guard and I almost missed it. But it can’t be an actual reference to Cosmog from Pokémon since FFVI was released long before Cosmog debuted in S/M. Either way, it was really cool.
One thing I have thought of recently is this: if a Pokémon is rare/difficult to find in the game/generation it debuted in, there’s a pretty good chance it will be easier to find and not as rare in the next generation or sometimes even the next game. There are many examples of this, even if it isn’t always true. And it is true for the DLC for S/S as well. One example there is the Dreepy line. Dreepy and its evolutions are extremely rare in the base games, but considerably more common in the Crown Tundra. Wild Dragapult can be found roaming around on the overworld in many areas and weathers, and wild Drakloak seems to be relatively common in the grass in one area as well.
Speaking of the Dreepy line, one thing I noticed about Dragapult is that the tip of its tail is ethereal. That was really cool. I had never seen it before but I noticed it during the Crown Tundra after using a Dragapult on my team there.
Let’s say nice things about my least favorite generation/region! Or? I’m not sure if this actually counts towards that this time since it isn’t exactly my least favorite regarding this. Do you know what I really like that’s Johto-related? The G/S/C chapter of Pokémon Adventures! It is my favorite version of Johto, and one of my favorite chapters of the manga as well. I like pretty much everything about it. The overall story is excellent, and an example of how it is possible to make something good out of the Johto story. Team Rocket feels like an actual threat, and I think the Mask of Ice is amazing as their leader. The way they handled the Rocket admins was great as well. The legendaries and everything they do make sense; they play a very important part in the chapter and they are handled very well. The characters are great too, both the three dexholders, the Gym Leaders and all other important characters. I also feel that the Johto Pokémon get the most of the spotlight while the Kanto Pokémon doesn’t steal it from them. To summarize, I’d say it is the Johto I always dreamed of but that the games never gave me.
Hopefully future games will give Relic Song via Level-up to Meloetta.
