Latest news with #Gen10
Digital Trends
03-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
Pokémon Gen 10 needs to be a reboot
2026 will mark the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise, which is a sentence that makes me woefully uncomfortable with my age. Personal insecurities aside, most of the Pokémon community believes this is the perfect year to announce the 10th generation mainline title for the Switch 2. Gen 9, Scarlet and Violet, will have been out for four years by then, and it would give this year's Pokémon Legends: Z-A a little time to breathe. I've never been a big fan of the annualization of Pokémon games, but that's a topic for another day. I grew up as a diehard Pokémon fan starting with the GBA titles, but slowly fell off the series over time. Part of that was age, sure, but when I realized there was another monster-catching RPG coming this year that had me feeling all those old sensations of excitement and wonder again, I knew it wasn't just nostalgia. As a thought experiment, I wondered what Pokémon Gen 10 could do to get me excited for this once beloved series again. The answer was a simple one. Pokémon needs to be rebooted. Back to basics All of the major modern problems with Pokémon can be attributed to bloat. I don't blame Pokémon for ending up in the situation it finds itself in — it is a victim of its own success at the end of the day. After the original generation, we all loved the fact that the next games not only had a new roster of monsters to catch, but all our old favorites were back. Pokémon is a game about building bonds and becoming attached to your little creatures, so it would be antithetical to the game's themes to force us to sever our bonds with each game. But 30 years later, the benefits of that system are now heavily outweighed by the drawbacks. Recommended Videos When I say Pokémon needs a reboot, I'm mainly talking about the roster. As of Gen 9, there are over 1,000 Pokémon. If Gen 10 introduces about as many as each gen tends to, I wouldn't be surprised if we have 10 times the number of Pokémon we started with. GameFreak has already faced backlash for failing to include all previous Pokémon (or allow them to be transferred) since Sun and Moon, and while newer hardware and the ability to add more as DLC have offered some reprieve, the issue has only gotten worse with time. We all remember the 'Dexit' controversy when Sword and Shield came out, right? A lot of this comes down to the team wanting to push the games further. Transitioning off of handhelds opened up a world of possibilities that GameFreak wanted to take advantage of, but the baggage of the series weighed it down. I won't handwave all of the Switch-era Pokémon games' technical issues on there simply being too many Pokémon, but I would be surprised if it wasn't at least a big contributing factor. What I do feel more comfortable claiming is that Pokémon models and animations did suffer due to the sheer volume the team had to work on. Gen 10 is the perfect excuse to make a clean break. Cut all the existing Pokémon out and introduce a new, fresh roster of 100-200 Pokémon max. Maybe Pikachu can get a cameo or something, but if one legacy 'mon gets featured, it just opens a can of worms for everyone else to complain why their favorites can't show up too. Put all the love and care into a new, tight lineup rather than going for quantity. They could even streamline the type system which has gotten a bit bloated as well. Pokémon should be constantly innovating (round of applause for resisting the urge to say evolving). I would lose my mind if you told me there was an open world Pokémon game when I was 7. Granted, I would also freak out if you told me there were over 1,000 Pokémon, but we've seen how that monkey's paw finger has curled. The current state of the series' technical performance is embarrassing enough, but the games themselves are losing some of that magic. I want to be excited and surprised by what I will find in the tall grass again. I want to feel like I'm really on an adventure with a bunch of new friends I've named and built a bond with. Legends came close to giving me that feeling, but recognizing every Pokémon and fighting against technical issues kept it from being as revolutionary as it could've been. Gen 10 has a lot of pressure on it just by the nature of its number and the fact that it likely will come out on the 30th anniversary year of the franchise. That's on top of the expectations a mainline Pokémon game has to contend with after Scarlet and Violet did major damage to the series' reputation (though admittedly not reflected in the sales). A radical change like a reboot is a gamble, but it also feels like the perfect excuse to shed the weight of the past and focus on a new future for Pokémon.
Hindustan Times
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Is Charmander getting a new evolution? Pokémon fans divided as Gen 10 buzz builds
A rumored Gen 10 Pokémon game, "Pokémon Gales & Tides", is trending online, according to a post by the Hidden Power Podcast Twitter account. Leaked details include island exploration, a 'Gigaxis' battle gimmick, and starters like a Fire Goat, Water Octopus & Grass Snail. But fans are stuck on one thing: a ground-type Charmander variant. Posted anonymously on 4chan, the leak describes 16 main islands, 150+ smaller ones, and Guardian Pokémon fusions. Yet the spotlight is on Charmander — usually a Fire-type — getting a sandy redesign. Fans groaned. 'Stop making new Charmanders every region,' one tweeted. Another joked, 'Of course they'd give Charizard another form.' ALSO READ | What is Palme d'Or? Honorary Cannes award presented to Robert De Niro Another X user commented, 'Only believing this because a regional variant for the Charizard line sounds exactly in line of what Pokémon would do lmao' According to Gaming Bible, most agree the leak is likely fake. 4chan rumors rarely pan out. The user even admits: 'This is just random waffling.' Skeptics note Game Freak hasn't hinted at Gen 10 yet. The blog writer on Gaming Bible has even vowed to 'eat a Pikachu plushie' if proven right. The author also said, 'But if I predicted that the moon would explode every day until the end of time, eventually I'd be right. People really do just be saying anything over on 4chan, because it's a completely anonymous messaging board.' Charmander, the fiery starter from 1996's Pokémon Red/Blue, became a global icon. Its evolution into Charizard, a dragon-like fan favorite, boosted its fame. The anime's loyal Charmander episode (where Ash saves one in the rain) deepened its emotional appeal. Over 25 years, Charmander got Mega Evolutions (2013), Gigantamax forms (2019), and plushies galore. Despite its overexposure, it remains a symbol of Pokémon's magic. Yet fans debate: Does it need another remake?
