Looking Towards Generation 6

With the highly anticipated release of Pokemon X and Y just around the corner, fans young and old are ushering in the Sixth Generation. Weather you love it or hate it, the Generation Six is hands down the most innovative era this wildly-popular series has ever seen. In fact, the newest Kalos-based games seem like a breath of fresh air from the normal, cut and dry Pokemon game formula, and even feel like a brand new, reinvented series.

With so many fresh new changes, it’s hard to not be excited for X and Y. With all new 3D Pokemon models, roaming-camera battle scenes, a beautiful overworld, customizable player characters, brand new attack animations, a fun, interactive way to bond with your Pokemon, the first added type in almost 15 years, and the legendary MegaEvolutions, this Generation of Pokemon is addressing changes many fans wanted to see for years.

I for one was sick and tired of the boring, immobile, sprite based battle scenes, where Pokemon using Tackle would move maybe a centimeter across the screen, retreat, and then a white crashing animation would appear over the target. While Black and White made a step in the right direction with a looping sprite animation, but I felt like it was never enough. I found myself playing the outdated console games like PBR and Colosseum, just so I can have a taste of beautiful, fluid attacking animations, where if I commanded my Monferno to use Mach Punch, you bet your ass he ran across that field and punched his opponent square in the face! Nothing made me happier in the release trailer for X and Y to see Froakie dart across that screen and show that Patrat who’s boss!

I am not, nor will I ever be, a crazy pre-gen Poketheorist, who blows up forums with “OMG LIGHT TYPE AND SOUND TYPE ARE SO GUNNA HAPPEN,” “I THINK YOU’RE GUNNA HAVE THE CHOICE TO CHOOSE TO JOIN THE EVIL TEAM,” or any other ridiculous, farfetched new game mechanic, but I did hop onto the character customization bandwagon the first day I saw the trailer. Much to my surprise and happiness, my suspicions were soon confirmed. I am extremely looking forward to this feature, as it makes Pokemon feel more like an RPG, and makes your character feel more ‘you,’ and not some cookie cutter, boring default character.

I am excited to see and use Pokemon-Amie. As a Pokemon fan for over 10 years, I have always found the bond between a trainer and his virtual friend eerily heartwarming. Now with this new Nintendogs-esque feature, a trainer can play with his or her Pokemon, further strengthening their friendship, while reaping the benefits of a higher critical hit ratio, recovering from status effects, and even holding on to 1 HP after taking damage from a move that would normally knock your Pokemon out.

I, along with many progressive Pokemon fans, welcome the Fairy type. It helps make more sense of Pokemon’s typing, adds more depth to Pokemon teams, and best of all, silences the roar of the mighty Dragon, who once ruled the Pokemon battling scene. While not much else is known about the Fairy type at this point, a full type effectiveness chart is set to be released in CoroCoro this upcoming week, which I will be covering extensively.

And finally, the best for last. MegaEvolutions, the most controversial mechanic Game Freak has ever established, has started a war among the already divided fandom. The ‘GenWunners,’ generally older fans who are famous for hating the newer installments of the series, and the ‘GenLuvers,’ fans who love and embrace both, and have no problem with anything new or old, have been fighting for a few years now. In fact, a lot of the ‘Gen Wars’ have died down recently, but this tremendous news launched it to a whole new level. While the GenWunners whine “Fourth evolutions? C’mon Game Freak, you’ve officially run out of ideas,” GunLuvers like myself do nothing but embrace this revolutionary addition to our favorite game series. I’m not saying that MegaEvolutions were needed, but I love the idea of taking an older Pokemon and giving it a new spin. Maybe you have a Pokemon you always wished evolved, like Mawile or Kangaskhan, and now instead of a boring regular evolution, you are given an uber powerful ‘Mega Evolution!’ It’s a great idea, and the marketing will make Nintendo a boat load as well.

A fan made art of 6 of the new MegaEvolutions

Well, those are all the major additions coming to Pokemon in the upcoming games, Pokemon X and Y for the 3DS and 2DS. With so many revolutionary changes coming to Pokemon, X and Y seem less like a new installment in the series, and more like an awesome reboot. What do you guys think? What are hopes, opinions, and thoughts on X and Y? Leave me a comment below!