Pokémon Switch Wishlist: 7 Features Fans Demand
4. Losses Mean Something
Red is out of useable Pokémon! Nothing really happened!
Yes, it sends you back to a Pokemon centre but other than that... what is the consequence? Nobody is suggesting permadeath belongs in the Pokémon universe; we don’t want our perfect shiny Sylveon to go the way of Gary’s Raticate.
But maybe whiting out has consequences above just fainting. If all of your team faints, one of them could sustain an injury lasting for a set amount of steps or minutes.
As a trainer, you’d need to make the important decision to either keep them in your party as a weakened force, risking their injury getting worse, or sub them out for one of your B party, forcing you to keep a diverse talent pool on hand.
This sort of thing would also go a long way to helping build meaningful bonds with your ‘mons. They already have calm or brave natures; this mechanic could see an injury prone nature introduced. While Charmander hobbling along on crutches might be cute at first, no one would want to end up choosing a Squirtle with worse ankles than Daniel Sturridge.