Top 10 Pokemon ''Features''

CaptainShyguy

CaptainShyguy

Well-known member
Blue Star (2,000 Posts) Legacy User (Gold)
So, first thing first, for the past couple of weeks, since I finished my last countdown and started college, I've been thinking about my next countdown. I wasn't too sure on what to do and after this week, I think it's safe to say I want to do something Pokemon related. Before I explain what I mean by ''features'', I must say this countdown won't be updated daily like those before. The reason being I've been really busy lately and it might be really hard to keep up with it daily. I'm expecting to be done with it by the end of September/start of October.

Now, what do I mean by ''features'' right? Since Pokemon games exist, they've had a bunch of post-games features, side quests or just fun stuff that made the whole playthrough more pleasant. I won't be counting things such as the Poke-nav, Poketch, Poke-amie and etc. Things will probably be a lot more clear once I start the countdown I guess.

This could also be counted as things I'd love to see comeback for the next Pokemon game(s). So yep, expect the first entry tomorrow or somewhere around wednesday... lol.
 

10. Pokemon Contests (R/S/E, D/P/Pt, OR/AS)
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Now, to kick off the top list of features, at the bottom comes the Pokemon Contests in all of its forms. Pokemon Contests were first introduced in the 3rd generation games with Ruby and Sapphire. Whether you like them or not, the contests test the player's skills in another type of ''battle''. Having 5 different categories, it's not always easy to ace them.

Since the R/S era, it has changed and evolved a lot. How it was made in the remakes was simply well done. Even though I don't visit it that much often, I must admit it's actually really fun. It gives the player something different to do and gives Pokemons another purpose. Simply trying to impress the public can be stressing and I think that's one of the most fun parts of Pokemon Contests. Pokemon is a game of strategies and the contests do just that, except like I said earlier, in a different manner. It's cute, funky while still being challenging for the player. Training your Pokemons for this is different than training your Pokemons to fight against others. Having skills here is just as great. Really cool feature.
 

9. Safari Zone (Kanto, Johto (HG/SS), Hoenn & Sinnoh regions)
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The famous or infamous? idk, but yeah, the Safari zone comes at the 9th spot. Whether you like it or not, the Safari zone always brought to players a huge variety of Pokemons to catch. The chance to make an even better team. Exploring every corner of whichever safari you're getting into and discovering all kind of Pokemons, some of which can only be found in this area. Some safaris are bigger than others and can be harder to navigate through, but seriously, for what you can get here, it's really worth it. To add even more challenge, you're limited with a certain amount of Safari balls or/and steps.

Now, this entry does not include the Friend Safari as it is not the same thing at all, even if it has the word safari in its name. At least, in my opinion it is not the same. Like, if you don't have that many friends, the Friend Safari is practically useless.
 

8. Apricorns and even more Ballz~ (Johto region)
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Tbh, as simple as it can seem, I believe the addition of apricorns was something amazing. Having a variety of pokeballs to choose from was always a little pleasure for me. I love having certain Pokemons in certain type of balls. Like let's say, I love catching myself a Gastly with a Dusk Ball and so on. The apricorns in the Johto region just made it all more fun, at least to me it did. Also, apricorns weren't just used to make more Poke Balls, they could also be used to make Apricorn juice. This juice was mainly used for the Pokeathlon though. If it were to come back, I could easily see it working with Contests or any other type of competition. Really fun.

More balls, more fun.
 

7. Black City/White Forest/Nimbasa City Sports Dome
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I decided to include the Nimbasa City Sports Dome in this entry and I'll explain why. First of all, if there is something future installments lacked, it was definitely the possibility to train against high level trainers. Pokemon B&W and B2&W2 offered this in a really great manner. When it comes to Black City, you can go against some of the toughest trainers in the game giving you the possibility to train your Pokemons faster. While in White Forest you had the possibility to catch some rare Pokemons. To top it all, you could also get some interesting items. When Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 came out, the addition of the Black Tower/White Treehollow was made and it just made things altogether, more interesting. With that said, I don't think I need to explain why the Nimbasa City Sports Dome are included in this entry.

I'm not going to lie, in Pokemon XY, it was a lot of trouble trying to train Pokemons fast. Even though ORAS countered the lack of strong trainers with Secret Bases and Trainer Rebattles, I sometimes still find myself looking for something more. If an area like Black City/White Forest was included in the next Pokemon game, I would be just so pleased.
 

6. Gym Leader Rematches
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Something I always loved doing in Pokemon games is battling against gym leaders once more. Having a rematch against the leaders was extremely fun, seeing how their teams have evolved and how strong they got was just pure fun. Like, let's just say, seeing Brock go from a level 12 Geodude to a level 64 Golem was in someway an amazing feeling (no, this example isn't taken directly from a game). Not only did it bring memories from when you were about to challenge your first gym or finish the 8th one, but it is also a great way to gain a lot of experience for your pokemons. To top it all, the unique gym battle themes just added a little something more you don't get when you battle a regular trainer.

It doesn't matter how they do it in next games, I would love to see this come back. As long as it's not like in the Battle Chateau too, that was slightly disappointing. Then again, it did give a little good training. Something like the Battleground would be really welcomed.
 

5. Secret Bases/Underground (R/S/E, D/P/Pl, ORAS)
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I unfortunately never got to experience the secret bases in the third gen main games, so I can't really say much about those. Though, once in Pokemon Pearl, which was one of my first Pokemon games, the underground sure played a main part of my game. I can still remember the amount of hours I spent down there. Stealing flags for my own fun, but also digging for fossils and other useful items, such as stones to help me evolve certain Pokemons. It was just great pure fun.

Once Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were released, the secret bases were back once more. Retaking the original idea from the R/S/E games and making them just better. Offering various type of small services for you and your pokemon, such as massages, making some goods or even take care of an egg. Plus, traveling around conquering flags and training is amazingly fun.

Now if only in a next Pokemon game, these two type of secret bases were made into one major secret base feature, that would be amazing. Imagine having the possibility to train, dig up fossils, stones and any other possible item, plus the special skills and such. It would sure be worth and keep the players busy for even longer.
 

4. Pokemon World Tournament
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Something awesome that Black 2 and White 2 had was the Pokemon World Tournament. You get the chance to battle every single gym leader from every region up to the 5th gen, but not only that. You also get a chance against every champion too. Plus some other type of tournaments! The whole thing is probably one of the most challenging facilities across every Pokemon game. I sure know I had a whole lot of trouble and the best of all? Losing isn't even frustrating! All of the Pokemons are set at the same level, obviously, otherwise it'd be too easy. Even though you do gain any experience from this, the whole strategy part is what makes this facility amazing. The nostalgia is also really strong. Even though the original Pokemon games were remade and so were the Gold and Silver version, listening once again to the gym leader and champion themes was amazing. By the time, Ruby and Sapphire did not have any remake, so it was for many the first time listening to remixes. Finally, the 4th gen remixes, just awesome.

All of that made the Pokemon World Tournament one of the most memorable facilities and I would love to see it comeback with 6th gen gym leader and champions and perhaps even include the Elite four.
 

3. Battle Frontier
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I think one of the major disappointment I had with the latest Pokemon games was the lack of Battle Frontier or something that actually comes close to it. The Battle Maison gets old really fast and it's kinda boring. What the Battle Frontier offered back in Emerald, Platinum, Heart Gold and Soul Silver was probably some of the most unique facilities. It is extremely challeging, it is actually fun to go through as each facility has a different set of rules. In both incarnations (3rd and 4th gen), you've got the Battle Tower which is the typical battle, but once you go further, you better prepare yourself. You have to accommodate your strategy according to what you're given and that is what makes it hard.

Once again, I never really got to experience the 3rd gen Battle Frontier, but I know for one it was really challenging. When it comes to 4th gen, I did experience it. I never managed to beat them all as back then my strategies were just attack and attack, but to win you need more than just attack. The Battle Tower is hard, Palmer uses some really strong Pokemon and even though I managed to get to the 49th battle, I lost. The Battle Arcade was the most fun to me, the music is amazing and I love the charismatic Frontier Brain. There's also the Battle Castle, the Battle Hall and probably the most challenging of them all which is the Battle Factory. You never know what to expect and you have to use rental Pokemon. So that says it all.

Both versions of the Battle Frontier are challenging, fun and are actually worth the trouble. The Frontier Brains are unique and fun. The whole facility is far more superior than the Battle Subway or Battle Maison.
 

2. Kid's Club
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What even was the point of this? Hours and hours of fun! This is probably one of the features that doesn't appear in any of the main games and well, now with the capacity of the 3DS, I could totally see this working on a next main Pokemon game. These minigames were extreme fun, whether it was those from Pokemon Stadium or Pokemon Stadium 2, you just didn't really get bored with these games. I still remember the fun I had playing in Sushi-Go Round or the frustatrion I could get in Thunder Dynamo or Clefairy Says. Gosh, hard mode actually was hard, or at least, that's how it felt back in the days.

Implementing a ''Kid's Club'' in a next Pokemon game would be the perfect way to get away from the competitive side of the game and just take some time off from all that intense training. I still dream of the day something like this comes back.
Whatever is the number 1 feature, stay tune for it! Tomorrow~~~
 

1. The Pokeathlon
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Indeed, the Pokeathlon comes at the top of this list! When you see the previous entry (The Kid's Club) and this one, it just means one thing. Minigames just work perfectly for Pokemon games. I don't know any other feature in a Pokemon game that is just greater than the Kid's Club or in this case, the Pokeathlon. It's just endless fun truly. I easily spent a lot of my time in the Pokeathlon when Heart Gold and Soul Silver were the last Pokemon games. It's really just totally addicting.

There are about 10 games you can play, each chosen according to the competition you'll take part in. The categories are Power, Speed, Skill, Jump and Stamina. The amounts of point you accumulate is rewarded to you and winning first rewarded you more points. With those points you got the possibility to buy prizes and that's always a great thing. So not only are the minigames really fun to play, but you could also play them to your advantage. Either for buying stones, or apricorns.

There's a reason why Heart Gold and Soul Silver are some of the best games to date even with two new generations now. They were some of the most complete games, having the Pokeathlon, the Battle Frontier, 16 gym leaders you could rematch later on, apricorns and so on. Now imagine if it got all of that plus some other great features. It would definitely make the ultimate Pokemon game. The newer games lack postgame content and that's where they fail in my opinion. All I've got to do now is cross my fingers and hope for interesting features in future games.
 
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