3 Things I Hope They Change in Pokemon Sun and Moon

Pokémon was the first video game franchise I fell in love with. Pokémon Red and Blue were released at a time when I was just beginning to understand how video games worked and it was a magical time in my life. I lost so many hours to those original games, and I’ve played each subsequent entry in the series since then.

Sadly, I feel like Pokémon has been stumbling a bit more lately. Pokémon X and Y specifically, failed to grab my attention as much as previous games had. With Pokémon Sun and Moon releasing later this year, here’s 3 things I hope they change in the newest installments of this franchise that I adore.

Make the Postgame More Expansive

One of my biggest complaints with X and Y was that it didn’t contain enough content after finishing the main game. After defeating the Elite Four in X and Y I expected there to be a new area or two that I could travel to. Sadly, this never happened.

I still vividly remember only booting up my copy of Pokémon Y 2-3 times after beating the Elite Four. While there were a few things to do after the game’s completion, such as catching the legendary Zygarde, the game as a whole was probably the most lacking entry in the series as far as postgame content goes. Hopefully, Sun and Moon will entice the player to continue adventuring around the region of Alola after completing the main story.

Add a New Type

Pokémon X and Y saw the introduction of the Fairy type. This new type was needed to help nerf Dragon types, which had long been one of the more powerful types in the game. As a result however, many now think that Fairy type is a bit too overpowered. While Fairy type is weak against Steel and Poison, those two types don’t have many offensive moves in the game.

While adding a new type to the metagame would drastically shake things up, it would also help nerf the overwhelming Fairy type. Rumors have been circulating that a Space typing could appear in this game since the theme after all, is the sun and moon. If a new type can be added without hurting the metagame as a whole, then I think they should do it.

Make Pokémon Challenging Again!

My favorite thing about the Pokémon games when I was younger was that they were hard. I would often get stuck at a gym leader or the Elite Four and I would need to go train my Pokémon in the wild before coming back and fighting again. While grinding like this isn’t the most enjoyable thing in the moment, the amount of joy I felt after beating a tough opponent was unparalleled.

The last few entries in the series, and most specifically X and Y, were almost comically simple. The addition of the Exp. Share item now affecting your entire team instead of just one specific Pokémon has led to unbalanced leveling. It’s not any fun fighting opponents who consistently have Pokémon 5-10 levels lower than your own. The main reason I don’t think they want to make the games too challenging is because much of their fanbase consists of children. If the game is too hard, then these kids won’t want to play it. If I could beat the original Pokémon games when I was a child, then today’s kids can do the same. I’m not asking for Game Freak to make Sun and Moon on par with Dark Souls, but it would be nice to feel challenged in a Pokémon game once again.

What do you want to see changed in Pokemon Sun and Moon? Let me know down in the comments!