Hypothetical changes to Pokemon X and Y
Every Pokemon game has something that doesn't work for me. Even though I know I'll never make a fangame or anything, it's still fun to think about how I'd change them to my liking. None of these are 'what Game Freak should have done'-- many would be very impractical from a game design standpoint!
Region Design and Story
This should be fun :]
First things first: I do not care for Calem/Serena (the rival, not you). I think their dialogue is bland, and while they have a character arc, it's not very strong or consistent. For this reason, I'm rolling their role into Shauna's.
Sina and Dexio are weird. They show up with little introduction, and there's a running gag about how obvious they are in their superhero costumes, but they don't appear enough for it to work.
Lastly, I'm switching Anistar and Snowbelle City. Wulfric's defensive ice team suits him, but isn't very good, so his battle fails to leave an impact. Additionally Meanwhile, Anistar City has a certain majesty to it that would make for a memorable final Gym.
- Place a few rustling bushes along Route 1, and move the catching tutorial to one of them. Possible encounters are Bunnelby, Scatterbug, and
- Remove Caterpie and Weedle from Santalune Forest. They appear elsewhere and aren't exacly underrepresented Pokemon.
- On Route 3, replace Dunsparce with Surskit. Masquerain is not remotely strong enough to be locked behind Surf and backtracking.
- Remove Skiddo and Gulpin from Route 5. The former is to spread out new Pokemon, the latter is a good fit for some later routes.
- From Rout 6, remove: Croagunk, for the same reason as Gulpin; Roselia and Psyduck, as they appear on earlier routes; and limit Illumise and Volbeat to Horde battle encounters.
Bosses (Gyms, Team Flare, and the Elite Four)
Alright, time for the battles! I don't have much to say against regular trainers: their pokemon choices are diverse but make sense for their trainer class, and while they're not absurdly difficult, there are quite a few battles that can catch you off guard. Their only problem is that many late-game trainers only carry one or two Pokemon. Boss battles, on the other hand... leave something to be desired. Oh well, that's why I'm writing this! One more thing: the actual Pokemon X and Y have a whopping 39 boss battles. As such, I'm leaving out a couple minor ones.
Viola (Santalune Gym)
Viola's not bad as a first Gym Leader, but her Pokemon's movesets could be better.
 |
Viola | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pokemon | Moves | Level | Ability | Held Item | ||||
 |
Surskit | Bubble | Infestation | -- | -- | 11 | Swift Swim | -- |
 |
Vivillon | Struggle Bug | Gust | Powder | -- | 12 | Shield Dust | -- |
Powder is a more interesting move than Stun Spore, and I think it would be funny. While I'm at it, I'm also adding Surskit to the list of possible encounters on Route 3. I never liked how Masquerain is locked behind Surf.
Tierno (Route 5)
I was originally going to leave this one out (It's just a Corphish), but I like this version more.
Right before the battle starts, Tierno and Trevor have a short conversation about Horde Battles. It's meant to teach the player about them, since this is the first time they appear, but it only mentions multi-hit moves and attracting a Horde Battle with Honey. However, Tierno's fight could introduce one of the neat features about them: the chance for Hidden Abilities.
 |
Tierno | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pokemon | Moves | Level | Ability | Held Item | ||||
| Scraggy | Low Kick | Feint Attack | Leer | Sand Attack | 12 | Intimidate | -- | |
| Corphish | Swords Dance | Vice Grip | -- | -- | 14 | Hyper Cutter | -- | |
Tierno & Trevor (Route 7)
Shauna replaces Calem/Serena here, just like she does in other battles.
Grant (Cyllage Gym)
If it's not broken, don't fix it.
Korrina (Shalour Gym)
Shauna (Courmarine City)
Ramos (Courmarine Gym)
 |
Ramos | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exeggutor | ||||||||
| Jumpluff | ||||||||
| Gogoat | ||||||||
Aliana (Power Plant)
Clemont (Lumiose Gym)
Celosia & Bryony (Pokeball Factory)
Valerie (Laverre Gym)
Wulfric (Snowbelle Gym)
 |
Wulfric | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pokemon | Moves | Level | Ability | Held Item | ||||
| Abomasnow | ||||||||
| Piloswine | ||||||||
| Beartic | ||||||||
| Avalugg | -- | |||||||
| Glalie-Mega | Glalite | |||||||
Behold, my only reason for adding the Snorunt, Beldum, and Buneary lines: I like Mega Glalie more than Mega Abomasnow.
Shauna & Tierno & Trevor (Route 19)
 |
Shauna | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pokemon | Moves | Level | Ability | Held Item | ||||
| Furfrou | Fluffy | |||||||
| Goodra | ||||||||
| Gothitelle | Psychic | Shadow Tag | -- | |||||
| Chesnaught/ Delphox/ Greninja | Overgrow/Blaze/Torrent | -- | ||||||
 |
Trevor | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pokemon | Moves | Level | Ability | Held Item | ||||
| Kangaskhan | ||||||||
| Rotom-Wash / Mow / Heat | Thunder Wave | Hydro Pump / Leaf Storm / Overheat | Shock Wave | Levitate | ||||
| Cryogonal | Levitate | |||||||
| Mawile | False Swipe | Sweet Scent | Intimidate | |||||
| Gourgeist-Super | Frisk | |||||||
| Florges-White | ||||||||
Trevor's just here to show off rare Pokemon, and happens to carry around a few that are good for catching Pokemon.
 |
Tierno | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pokemon | Moves | Level | Ability | Held Item | ||||
| Swanna | Feather Dance | |||||||
| Roserade | Petal Dance | Poison Point | Persim Berry | |||||
| Scrafty | Dragon Dance | Intimidate | ||||||
| Grumpig | Teeter Dance | Psyshock | Energy Ball | Round | 50 | Thick Fat | -- | |
| Crawdaunt | Swords Dance | Crabhammer | Hyper Cutter | Metronome | ||||
Fun fact! Scraggy is the only Horde Pokemon on Route 5 whose Hidden Ability will always trigger in a battle, making it ideal for that little tutorial. Less fun fact! This means that Tierno's Dragon Dance Scrafty is technically illegal. However, there's a theme to follow, and the only other option was Rain Dance. I'm not giving it Rain Dance.
Olympia (Anistar Gym)
Shauna (Victory Road)
Siebold (Pokemon League)
Malva (Pokemon League)
Wikstrom (Pokemon League)
Drasna (Pokemon League)
Diantha (Pokemon League)
Battle Chateau
Side Mechanics
PR Studios
Pokemon-Amie
Rhyhorn Racing
This is a mechanic that was axed during development (I found out about it on The Cutting Room Floor), but I think it would be fun! The way it