Idea #8: How To Change-Up Battles

This one is a freebie for you, Ken.  Some of my ideas are too simple to withhold details, so as a measure of good faith, I'll occasionally just throw you a bone.  Like now:

Do you remember some of the first art you released for Generation-I? In particular, this image:

This is really dynamic, Ken...but you've entirely ignored it.

You have team battles where two trainers face another two trainers, each release one Pokemon apiece, and when a trainer's Pokemon loses three times, that trainer is out of the battle.

You have double-battles where two trainers each release two Pokemon at a time and you can strategize to either team up on one Pokemon, divide and conquer, or countless other strategies.

Where is our Triple Threat Match?

Now, I don't mean to say that you treat it like the professional wrestling Triple Threat Match, but a three-way match would be hyper tense! Let's look at the above image: Red's got his Bulbasaur out, so Green's Squirtle is in serious trouble, but no more than Bulbasaur is against Blue's Charmander.  This adds a whole new level to the game: three players can play simultaneously, and they seriously have to consider all possible type choices because depending on who picks what, someone is going to be at a serious disadvantage.  It's a 2-on-1 match for everyone involved, and temporary alliances only go as long as an exploitable weakness is out on the field.  Crazy three-way match-ups could include:

Typhlosion - Feraligatr - Meganium

Alakazam - Zoroark - Heracross

Donphan - Gyarados - Electivire

Steelix - Charizard - Cloyster

High-tension everywhere! It would be ridiculously challenging and it would always keep players coming back for more!

There's a free one.  You're welcome.  Pay back the favor.

Hire me, Sugimori!

Idea #7: Where To Branch Evolutions

So, we're all familiar with Eevee and how the thing can turn into pretty much anything under the sun because that's it was gimmick, but I want to draw your attention to other variant evolutions because that is a really cool concept.  It forces the player to make a choice at a certain point or it makes the player really examine his/her Pokemon closely to make sure that the Pokemon he/she eventually wants is the one that evolves.  Let's see a few examples, shall we?

This was one of the first ones we heard about when Generation-II hit the stores.  Oddish levels up and evolves into Gloom, but Gloom will not evolve unless exposed to either the Leaf Stone or the Sun Stone.  It's similar to Generation-I Eevee in the sense that it is entirely reliant on the use of an evolution stone, but Gloom will either keep or drop its secondary Poison type based on the choice made by the trainer.  That's a pretty big choice to make, considering the weaknesses and strengths of having a dual-type versus a single-type Pokemon, and it really comes down to preference and strategy of the trainer.  Here's another:

This evolution tree has a lot of similarities to the Oddish tree, but there's one big difference: it is more reliant on convenience.  Poliwag evolves into Poliwhirl by leveling up, then into Poliwrath when exposed to the Water Stone.  However, if Poliwhirl is holding the King's Rock and is traded to another player, it becomes Politoed and does not take on the secondary Fighting-type.  Now, here are the things to consider:

- Is the player patient enough to find the Water Stone/King's Rock when he/she has the other item already?

- Has the player already used one of the evolution items on another Pokemon, or is saving the one for something else?

- Does the player have the ability to trade with a friend?

It's factor like these that really make the player consider his/her choices very carefully and much further in advance than the Vileplume/Bellossom issue.

This one I especially like, since it doesn't so much boil down to one choice, as much as it boils down to a series of choices.  Depending on the equality or inequality of Tyrogue's Attack and Defense stats, he either evolves into Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, or Hitmontop.  There are really only three ways to ensure that you get the Pokemon you want out of this deal: either load Tyrogue up with the appropriate vitamins before he hits level 20, EV train him very carefully, or keep pressing B when he tries to evolve and hope the stats eventually level out the way you want.  There is a lot of effort needed in raising a Tyrogue, and that's what makes that Pokemon so interesting.

Wurmple is a very weird situation, since the player really has no control over the Pokemon Wurmple evolves into unless the trainer keeps catching Wurmples and goes through trial and error.  There's a sort of randomness to it that both relieves the player of responsibility while simultaneously creating suspense and tension as it gets closer to its evolution level.

Now, here's my question: why don't you do this more often with Pokemon? I mean, instead of just creating new ones that are completely independent, it would be fun and engaging to create more branches, especially in Pokemon the players may not expect to have these options...

...like old starter Pokemon.

Heresy, I know, but think about it for a second:

These are the Galapagos Islands.  When we think of weird evolutionary traits in the animal kingdom of our world, we think of the Galapagos Islands.  Why don't you create a place in the Pokemon world the works similarly to the Galapagos? You already have the mechanics and coding in the game when you developed the means for Eevee to evolve into Glaceon and Leafeon, so why not make certain Pokemon evolve into previously unknown forms because they were isolated in an island ecosystem?

And it's really easy to come up with ideas, too, especially for the starter Pokemon.  When they get to their third stage, just tweak the secondary types.  Maybe Charmeleon evolves into a pure Fire-type Pokemon without wings like Charizard, or maybe gets even bigger wings and more draconic features to become a Fire/Dragon Pokemon.  If Lance is going to pass off Charizard, Gyarados, and Aerodactyl as "dragons", maybe we can put some validity into that charade.

I know you've been favoring Fire/Fighting with the newer Fire-type starters, but I think players would be even more drawn into that crucial pick-your-starter dilemma if they knew the choice wasn't just between three final forms, but six, or maybe even nine.  Who knows, we could go crazy with it!

Of course, you'd need to really find good alternative type combinations for the starters' final forms, and that's where I could come in.

Hire me, Sugimori!

Idea #6: What To Do With Eevee

Eevee...

God, where do I begin with this one? Eevee was such an integral part of Generation-I.  It was the third of your four what-should-I-do choices of that generation (the first being what starter to pick, the second being which fossil to choose, and the final being which Hitmon___ to take) and it told volumes about the kind of person that player was.

Now, we've gone from just those three "eeveelutions" to this:

You've got a _____eon for every Special Attack type, excluding Dragon, but there are rumors going around that you're planning on including a Dragon-type eeveelution.

I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but let it go.  Don't give Eeevee any more forms.  I know you have a lot of possibilities, but sometimes it's best to quit while you're ahead.  If you don't stop now, you could end up with this:

I know these possibilities have crossed your mind at some point, but it's a bad idea to go down this road.  Before you start drawing up concept art, ask yourself: do you really need an Eevee that...

...evolves with a Moon Stone?
...evolves with a Sun Stone?
...evolves with a Dawn Stone?
...evolves with a Dusk Stone?
...evolves with a Shiny Stone?
...is a Ghost-type?
...is a Bug-type?
...is a Fighting-type?
...is a Rock-type?
...is a Ground-type?
...is a Steel-type?
...is Flying-type?
...is a Dragon-type?

You haven't even given Eevee the chance to let it evolve from just straight-up leveling! Now, that would be interesting.  Say Eevee will automatically evolve into something at level 30, regardless of friendship or what item it's holding.  That will put some serious pressure on trainers to gain the friendship of their Eevee very quickly if they want an Espeon or an Umbreon.  Likewise, it would be interesting the other way around.  What if this Pokemon was awesome, so you kept your Eevee in your party all the time and grind the hell out of it to get it to that high level.  However, in having it spend too much time with you, it could accidentally evolve into an Umbreon or an Espeon, so you now have to deliberately distance yourself from your Eevee so that it will evolve the way you want.

The more evolutions you give it, the more you cheapen Eevee.  You already cheapened it by making it a Game Corner prize in Generation-II...don't give people an excuse to just catch Eevees for their evolutions.  Put some punch into regular, good 'ole Eevee first and the fans will love you for it.

You like that idea, don't you? You see, not all of my ideas are "put this in the game".  Some of them are "don't put this in the game."  I go both ways.

That sounded weird...

...hire me, Sugimori?

Idea #5 - Which Pokemon Deserve Evolutions

An easy way for you to make your new-Pokemon-quota is make Pokemon that already exist evolve past the point they usually did, which is a very valid form of Pokemon generation and it's often great to see Pokemon we love grow into something new and spectacular.  The question, though, is why you felt certain ones deserved an addition form and certain ones didn't.  Let's take a look, shall we?

Okay, I understand that Tangela wasn't incredibly popular, since they were hard to find and not worth training because of their lower stats when compared to other Grass-types...but Tangrowth doesn't really add anything to the table design-wise.  It just looks like he hadn't gotten his hair cut in a long time.

Togetic was fine where he was.  Togekiss doesn't do anything but pander to that select few players that only catch the "cute" Pokemon.  Certain Pokemon that evolve through friendship are certainly worth the effort, like Crobat, but Togetic wasn't worth the hassle Togepi put most of us through, and it looks like this is also just some form of compensation for our trouble.

This is not necessary.  This is...this is not necessary! Why is this? Why does this exist? It saddens me that Porygon became a three-form Pokemon when there are so many other Pokemon out there that would have fantastic additional forms.  Let me list them for you, in alphabetical order:

1.  Absol
2.  Aerodactyl
3.  Audino
4.  Castform
5.  Chatot
6.  Dewgong
7.  Donphan
8.  Dunsparce
9.  Emolga
10.  Farfetch'd
11.  Fearow
12.  Floatzel
13.  Forretress
14.  Grumpig
15.  Heracross
16.  Houndoom
17.  Hypno
18.  Jynx
19.  Kecleon
20.  Lapras
21.  Miltank
22.  Minun
23.  Mr. Mime
24.  Pachirisu
25.  Parasect
26.  Persian
27.  Pinsir
28.  Plusle
29.  Primeape
30.  Quagsire
31.  Qwilfish
32.  Raticate
33.  Sableye
34.  Sandslash
35.  Seaking
36.  Shuckle
37.  Skarmory
38.  Smeargle
39.  Spinda
40.  Stantler
41.  Sudowoodo
42.  Sunflora
43.  Swellow
44.  Tauros
45.  Torkoal
46.  Wobbuffet

Now, if you evolved each of these Pokemon and gave us one new Pokemon from one of the unused type combinations I had listed previously, you would have 78 new Pokemon.  Of course, you could always evolve these Pokemon here into something of a new type combination, but that will be up for discussion after you hear my ideas of what the possible evolutions for these Pokemon could be.  I'd love to tell you now, but you'd have to do me a favor first...

Hire me, Sugimori!

Idea #4: How To Address New Types

So there's a rumor going around that you're planning on making a new Pokemon type.  Some have said it's Light, others say it's Plasma...whatever.  Can I just remind you of the chart we all basically had to memorize in order to accurately strategize against the gyms and Elite Four in your games, let alone other players?

This is a dumpster fire: sure, it might be interesting to look at, but over-exposure may cause the looker to become sick, disoriented, and possibly inhale poisonous fumes.

Why bother making a new type and adding a whole other L-piece to this chart? You'll have to figure out what's it strong against, what's it weak to, what are its immunities if any, and will you placate those jerks who want more versatility with their Dragon-types?

Are you aware that of the current Pokemon types available, and not counting reverse combinations, there are 32 unrepresented combinations of type? And let's be clear about this: there are some type combinations that only have one Pokemon that has it, such as Terrakion for Rock/Fighting or Zekrom for Dragon/Electric.  You can certainly expand on most of them, but for now, let's focus on the combinations you don't have yet:

- Bug/Dark or Dark/Bug would turn even the most powerful of Psychic-types inside-out

- Bug/Dragon or Dragon/Bug should have been the combo for Flygon, and it takes away all those pesky x4 effectiveness type-attacks

- Bug/Ice or Ice/Bug would be a very interesting combo provided you don't run into a Magcargo

- Bug/Psychic or Psychic/Bug should have happened with Butterfree, for crying out loud, since it knows more Psychic moves than Bug moves

- Dark/Electric or Electric/Dark would be such a strange dichotomy, and it would cover your light-versus-dark motif

- Dark/Psychic or Psychic/Dark would be brutal, open up the concept of "evil Pokemon", and it would give everyone a reason to get Pokemon with a strong set of Bug-type attacks

- Dragon/Fighting or Fighting/Dragon would have limitless possibilities for design, and dear lord would they all be awesome

- Dragon/Grass or Grass/Dragon has just the same overall effectiveness as Dragon with Flying or Ground...although it wouldn't have an immunity and it will still be a slave to Ice-types, it only takes a quarter of the damage from Water-type, Grass-type, and Electric-type attacks, which is ridiculous

- Dragon/Poison or Poison/Dragon was speculated for either Xerneas or Yveltal, but if that turns out not to be true, I mean come on...this is a dangerous Pokemon right here

- Dragon/Rock or Rock/Dragon would level itself out fairly nice, and to be honest, it would have been great from Druddigon

- Electric/Fighting or Fighting/Electric makes so much sense, and it really only gives an edge to Psychic-types; Flying-types get to inflict regular damage, but you've got that whole slew of Electric-type attacks to respond with

- Electric/Poison or Poison/Electric would be super-interesting, possibly to use as a new "radioactive species" of Pokemon...make them come from New Jersey; I should talk, I'm from there

- Electric/Rock or Rock/Electric would tear Flying-types to pieces, and even with x4 damage from Gorund-type moves, trainers won't send an Electric-type against a Ground-type anyway because of the immunity, so it doesn't much matter

- Fighting/Flying or Flying/Fighting is another one of those weird combos where you pair a type up with the one it's super-effective against, but end up being a unique, special kind of practical if you hate Bug-types

- Fighting/Ground or Ground/Fighting sounds more like Scraggy's bag to me, but it could have easily fit any number of Pokemon out there and would have been really great, provided you aren't an idiot and used this against a Flying-type

- Fighting/Ghost or Ghost/Fighting could be terrifying, like a malevolent poltergeist, as opposed to weird zip-zappy Rotom who becomes a blender...I'm talking about a ghost that HATES you and everything you stand for

- Fighting/Ice or Ice/Fighting was a tremendous missed opportunity for Beartic, and it would ruin a Sneasel's day in a heartbeat

- Fire/Grass or Grass/Fire would be no crazier than a Water/Grass Lotad, except in this case, it's not an aquatic plant we're basing the Pokemon off of, but a burning one; you could use ash or charcoal as the main motif of that Pokemon

- Fire/Ice or Ice/Fire is such a classic clash that combining them into one would be devastating; besides, dragons of mythology usually breathe either fire or cold (excluding D&D dragons) and that could open up a few cool design choices for us (because by now, I know you want to hire me)

- Fire/Poison or Poison/Fire would be an opponent's worst nightmare, since burning and poisoning are now in the realm of possibility at the same time

- Fire/Water or Water/Fire already have their start with the move Scald, so let's just close the gap and create a Pokemon that is similar to the prawns that live in those thermal vents on the ocean floor

- Ghost/Grass or Grass/Ghost would be another cool combo, and would complete the starter type triptych set by the likes of Litwick and Jellicent

- Ghost/Psychic or Psychic/Ghost would be absolutely horrifying, but a Ghost-type attack or a Dark-type attack would really ruin its day, and that might actually give people more utility out of the Dark-types in their team; also, a Fighting-type opponent would be a walk in the park, and I know this because I used to teach Psychic to my Haunter/Gengar in Gen-I and that was really useful against Team Rocket, who either used Normal-types or some kind of Poison-type

- Ghost/Rock or Rock/Ghost is no more farfetched than Ghost/Ground, and you open up design possibilities like cairns and seer-stones

- Ghost/Steel or Steel/Ghost...do I really have to say anything about this one?

- Ice/Poison or Poison/Ice would be just as nasty as Fire/Ice, because you've got the possibility of freezing or poisoning your opponent

- Ice/Rock or Rock/Ice would...actually, Rock/Ice would be pretty bad, but let's face it, you've come up with worse than that

- Ice/Steel or Steel/Ice would cut out a lot of the weaknesses Ice usually has, and it finally gives the Fire-type Pokemon something to be excited about other than a Scizor, Parasect, or Abomasnow

- Poison/Rock or Rock/Poison would be a really crazy combination and it would give Rock-types a leg up against Grass-types

- Poison/Steel or Steel/Poison sounds so ridiculous that it has to work, and the only way to really take something like that down is with a Ground-type

- Poison/Psychic or Psychic/Poison should prove to be fairly formidable, considering moves for a Pokemon like that would open up possibilities for simultaneous confusion and poisoning, which is always fun

- Psychic/Rock or Rock/Psychic has quite a few types that are super effective against it, but this is an easy way to justify a Psychic-type earlier in the game for the player

What would these 64 potential Pokemon look like? I've got a few ideas in mind, and if we do them all, you're more than halfway there to your next new-Pokemon-per-Generation quota.  There's really only one way to get these character concepts out of me, though...

Hire me, Sugimori!

Idea #3: How To Choose Your Character

Thanks to Generation-III, players could now choose between a male and a female character...which is nice.  Now, you've opened up your market to interest female gamers, which is a very important demographic to hit.  However, there's one slight issue with the choices you've given us so far...

The characters are a little too white-bread.  I understand that Pokemon is a children's game, but you need to understand how your target demographic has shifted over the years.  Let me explain:

- Pokemon Red & Blue was released in the United States on September 30, 1998.  I was 9 years old when that game hit the shelves.
- Pokemon Yellow was released in October 1999.  I was 10.
- Pokemon Gold & Silver was released in October of 2000.  I was 11.
- Pokemon Crystal was released in July of 2001.  I was 12.
- Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire was released in March of 2003.  I was 14.
- Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen was released in September of 2004.  I was 15.
- Pokemon Emerald was released in May of 2005.  I was 16.
- Pokemon Diamond & Pearl was released in April of 2007.  I was 18.
- Pokemon Platinum was released in March of 2009.  I was 20.
- Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver was released in March of 2010.  I was 21.
- Pokemon Black & White was released in March of 2011.  I was 22.
- Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 was released in October of 2012.  I was 23.
- Pokemon X & Y will be released in October of 2013.  I will be 24.

Pokemon has been around for 15 years and your most loyal fan-base has yet to see content geared towards their current demographic.  Now, granted, we can't have violent or sexual content plaguing a game that is still ultimately geared for children, but here's a recommendation:

As opposed to starting off as characters who are innocent, naive children like those pictured above, what if we got to pick one of these choices instead:

That's right! Antagonist background as an option! Why not? Some of the most popular and top-grossing games of all time include some kind of morality spectrum.  If you're worried about trying to justify the plot for an antagonist character, then you can modify the plot to accommodate for a morality climax wherein the character decides to be good instead.  That way, you can teach the kids how it isn't good to be bad.

Wow, that's a really simple message, but you know what...it doesn't hurt to reinforce it.  Ideas for the morality climax? Oh, I've got tons of them and none of them are like the morality climaxes in other games like Mass Effect or Knights of the Old Republic.  Do you want to hear them?

Hire me, Sugimori!

Idea #2: How To Incorporate Old Regions

There's so much pressure on you to come up with new regions and new Pokemon within those regions, but those new locations do not have to be the first environment the character encounters.  Look at the world you've created so far:

That's a pretty big world so far, and sure, expansion is great...but one of your greatest features included in Generation-II was the fact that you could go back to Kanto and fight all the gym leaders there.  I applaud you for getting all those familiar faces back in Generation-V with the Pokemon World Tournament, but we also like exploring the old regions and discovering how it changed over the years. It's been several years since Red took on the Elite Four...why can't we go back?

Here's an idea, for your consideration:

When the professor at the very beginning of the game asks you what your name is, what time is it, and whether you are a boy or a girl...how about the professor also asks you what region you are from, and based on your response, you start off in the starting town in that region? Your mom tells you that she received a call from that professor and, depending on where you are, the local professor has Pokemon for you.  That way, everyone gets a choice of how they start their adventure geographically.  Each region could have a different combination of the existing starter Pokemon, and each region has different plot that gets the player to the brand-new region where this new professor asks you to run an errand of some kind (you know, like they always do) and you go off on your merry way.

Example:

In Kanto, you'd start in Pallet Town, you get to choose between Charmander, Piplup, and Turtwig, and you would get a ticket for the S.S. Anne that will take you to the magical seventh region.

See, not that difficult! And after you beat the main plot in the new region, you can access an airport that will take you to the largest city in all of the regions, then you can visit there and do all sorts of interesting things.  Want to know what kind of things?

Hire me, Sugimori!

Idea #1: How To Recycle Starters

Okay, let's take a look at the starter Pokemon you've revealed for Pokemon X and Pokemon Y:

You've got Chespin, Froakie, and Fennekin as the Grass-type, Water-type, and Fire-type starter Pokemon.  You seem to be recycling some designs here, if I'm not mistaken.  Let me explain why these look a little familiar:

Color them differently and color me unimpressed.  You really had some very original ideas when it came to the starter Pokemon for the first few generations, but then you started to reuse old ideas and your audience has lowered their expectations of you when you say, "Hey everybody, I've created new Pokemon!"  Granted, you've made some fantastic choices with Pokemon outside of your starter  pigeonhole, but with you limiting yourself to just those three types, you're bound to hit a wall every now and again.  This is your sixth wall now, and with that, you've pretty much boxed yourself in.

Did you see what I did there?

You see, a geometric cube has six sides...as opposed to...another kind of cube? Regardless, it was clever.  However, there are already a lot of goodies in that box, so it's just a matter of figuring out which ones to use and how.

Before there was Chespin, Froakie, and Fennekin, you had 21 starter Pokemon that people loved so much because you made them utterly unobtainable in later games that they would play through the first bits of the game in order to trade all of them into one game.  Believe me, I've done this; I've bought the extra game, the extra Gameboy, and the link cable because I wanted Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander on one Gen-I game.  If only you had made that easier for us way back when.

Wait a minute...

You already did! You gave us all three Gen-I starters accessible in a single game and we all loved that! Sure, you made it all about the anime, but that doesn't mean you have to scrap the concept that we should be able to access more starters.  I mean, you don't have to make a game with every starter accessible to a single player for free, but what if you just made a game where you could access one starter from a previous generation?

Wait a minute...

You already did! You allowed us to pick one starter from Johto at the very beginning, then one from Kanto and one from Hoenn later on in the same game!

However much of a successful fan-service that may have been, all you did was force us into the same three decisions we had made previously in the last games.  Might I recommend an alternative for a future game?

So, it's in the future, but not by too much, and Pokemon professors are more aware of how many Pokemon are actually out there.  There's been communication between the professors, they travel, they catch different Pokemon, they give some time for new migratory patterns to develop and new habitats to form, so when an up-and-coming trainer comes up and asks for a Pokemon to start off with, you give  the player a choice they didn't expect they would have to make.

Everyone who has ever played Pokemon Red or Blue (or FireRed or LeafGreen for that matter), knows who they would pick if they were given the choice between Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander...but what if the Pokemon on that table looked like this:

I'm not so certain that would be as easy a decision to make.  So, instead of recycling old Pokemon designs to shell out new starters, why don't you try recycling the old starter Pokemon to create new starter choice combinations?

Hire me, Sugimori!

Dear Ken,

I know that's probably a bit more informal than it should be, but it got your attention, didn't it?

You probably have very little to no idea as to who I am, but I know who you are to a more than suitable degree to understand what you are capable of on a creative level.  You create Pokemon...or rather, you are in charge of creating Pokemon.  That's a pretty sweet job.  I wish I had that job.

How do I know you are still in the Pokemon-creating business? Well, I saw this little ditty online today:

I have to say, sir, I'm impressed...but just barely.  There's a lot of recycled ideas going on around the Game Freak offices and I'd like the opportunity to explain why you should probably hire me to help you guys out.  Mostly, it's because of the ideas I would bring to the table.  What ideas exactly? Well, that's what the blog is for, sir.

If anyone knows Ken Sugimori, let him know that I'm here and then tell him that I have some great ideas.

Granted, I won't be able to tell you all of my ideas, because let's face it: you'd use it if you had it all.  No, I'm just going to give you a teaser of the wellspring of knowledge that is my brain, just like you gave us a teaser for Pokemon X and Pokemon Y.  If you want all of my ideas, there's only one way to get them:

Hire me, Suigmori!

That, or find where I live, abduct me, and torture me for the information.  That, however, would be unenjoyable for me and very dishonorable for you.  We have to think of your honor here.  Don't abduct and torture me.