8 Ways Nintendo Can Save Pokémon

Many Pokémon fans have heralded Black and White, released for the DS in 2010, as some of the best games in the series, especially from a storytelling perspective. It dared to ask big, ever-present questions about the morality of trapping animals in small spheres and forcing them to fight each other. Since then however, the series has sort of shied away from truly deep stories.

Scarlet and Violet fixed this a fair bit, with a core set of interesting characters, each with their own goals. Arven, his personal tale of loss and gut-punching relationship with his unwell pet dog knew exactly how to tug on our heartstrings. It felt refreshing, particularly after Sword and Shield was almost entirely devoid of any plot.

Without spoiling it, the game has a wonderful final act that makes the last decade of Pokémon seem limp and sterile by comparison.

Essentially, we need more of this. Pokémon is so established now that you can’t simply have “I’m going to use this new legendary to recreate the Earth” as your story again. The series always does better when we can interact with semi-realistic characters with empathetic goals that end in lessons or moral quandaries.

Real stories that just so happen to take place in a world full of dragons, dinosaurs and sentient magnets.