Well, we certainly got a new Pokémon trailer, didn’t we? It showed off a lot of great information too! Some of which has me really excited for the new game, not going to lie. However, with the new addition to battles, terastalizing, being revealed, there seems to be a split on how people feel about it, with things like “gimmick” getting tossed around. Don’t get me wrong, it is something of a gimmick, given we we likely never see it outside this game, but hey, gimmicks can still be fun, so I’m excited.
Still, it got me thinking about all the changes and gimmicks that have come before in the Pokémon series so I thought it might be time for a walk down memory lane though each generation, taking a look at the adjustments along the way. Not all of these are particularly gimmicks, depending on how you may define that, but I’m still going to talk about them anyway. Additionally, this time we are just going to stick to things that matter inside a Pokémon battle as well, there will be time for outside of battle gimmicks another day. This is also not going to be completely exhaustive, just a basic overview, so there might be some here and there that get left out. So, let’s get into it!
Generation 2
Generation one set the standard that generation two of Pokémon would build off of. None of these are really gimmicks since all have persisted throughout the series to this point, but they’re still worth taking a look at. First up was the special split. Special used to be a single stat in the first generation, but this time it was split into both special defense and special attack, which allowed for more room for variation in Pokémon base stat blocks. Instead of a single number for those to be calculated off of, there were now two, which led for opportunities to great things like glass canons with Pokémon that attacked using the special types (remember, normal and special were by type in the early generations rather than by move).
Speaking of types, two were added here, dark and steel. This was mostly to balance out the psychic type that had dominated the first generation in effectiveness. This was another good move, giving more types to play around with and balancing things out somewhat.
Breeding was also introduced this generation, which might be more notable for the quite weak baby pokemon, however, this was the first place that breeding Pokémon with specific IVs to make them stronger and more competitive was possible. (Though the IV system was very very different from what we know now.) Ah yes, the start of the Pokémon eugenics scene. Breeding was more difficult back then, though, with IVs actually getting in the way at times if the Pokémon were too close in them.
Lastly there was the friendship mechanic, which was really the most applicable in the moves Frustration and Return getting boosts depending of the level of friendship that you had with your Pokémon.
Generation 3
In the lead up to Generation three, one of the biggest selling points was that double battles were being added to the game. This is yet another thing that has persisted, even becoming basically the standard for competitive Pokémon battling! However, at the time, there was no way of knowing if they would stick around or not. They were integrated across the main campaign of the game as well, even being part of one of the gym battles. They’re well loved for good reason. In case you’re curious about taking this to the next level, there’s actually a Pokémon rom hack that turns the entire game into double battles too!
Natures and abilities were also introduced in this generation, making Pokémon feel more individualized than ever. This opened up a lot of room for strategy as well, giving a chance for your Pokémon to get out of tighter scrapes on the back of these new mechanics.
Generation 4
The biggest thing that we were given when it come to battling in generation four is the way that what’s known as the “physical-special split” happened. This was perhaps one of the biggest shakeups that ever happened in the Pokémon battle system, and given the way that it’s persisted, it’s hard to consider it a gimmick, but we’ll talk about it given that it’s the one biggest thing that happened in this gen. This was where every Pokémon was given a designation of being either a physical or special move, so this was no longer solely decided by the move’s type, but instead if the supposed action of the move made physical contact or not.
The reason that this was a big chance is because it changed the way you might select moves for your Pokémon to use, since you were going to bias towards physical or special based on your Pokémon’s stats, both base stats and individual. It also meant that a fire type that had a low special attack before was opened up to more offensive utility with the ability to take advantage of a potentially higher physical attack stat.
Generation 5
Triple Battles were generation five’s response to double battles and rotation battles were an extension of them. In triple battles the placement of your Pokémon in the lineup of the three was important as not every position could hit every enemy position. Rotation battles put one in front and two in back to be rotated, basically giving you the chance to swap Pokémon without having to use a turn to do so. Rotation battles are generally the more fondly remembered, it seems, but triples had their fans too. These were fun, but highly underutilized within the games, cropping up in very few places, almost entirely optional, really. They only stuck around one more generation before being quietly done away with, leaving them a generation five gimmick.
This generation also introduced an expansion on abilities, once again stepping up a generation three feature, by giving some Pokémon Hidden Abilities. These were abilities like any other, but getting a Pokémon with them was harder as you couldn’t just get hidden ability Pokémon in the wild, they had to be obtained by certain methods (which has changed in each generation since). These stuck around as well, but at the time they were very much a gimmick to incentivize use of the online features of this generation, such as the Dream World or Global Link.
One gimmick that you might have forgotten or never even encountered in this generation was the Wonder Launcher. That’s because this was only available during multiplayer battles if both players involved had it enabled. Each turn players would gain one point and these points could be saved up to be spent on items in battles. It gave the chance to use items in battle, but tried to balance it for fairness with the points system. However it had the side effect that the battles could go on for quite a while. This seems to be a little remembered gimmick of this generation, perhaps because it wasn’t very widely used.
Generation 6
Obviously, the biggest gimmick that this generation introduced was Mega Evolution, a one time per battle way to make a fully evolved Pokémon evolve even further for changes in form, stats, ability, and even type. It was the ultimate power boost for the time at the price of only the held item slot on your Pokémon. That was the problem, though, it was perhaps a little too much of a power boost, as some of these Pokémon could be downright broken. The other downside was that it was limited to only certain Pokémon, many of those only available after the main story was complete. From a lore perspective it was clearly intended as just a one game gimmick since it was set up to only be possible in Kalos, but when it went over well, it was allowed to be added into the generation three remakes and then managed to hang on one generation longer before being phased out, much like three Pokémon battles. Some still long for it to return though.
Primal reversion was basically an extension of mega evolution just for Groudon and Kyogre to make them a little extra special in the remakes. Boosted stats, adjusted abilities, ect. It was basically a mega evolution in everything but name.
Sky Battles and Inverse Battles were also a gimmick only found in this generation. Sky battles were, frankly, rather limiting, allowing only the use of Pokémon that were able to fly. This limited options and if you didn’t have a Pokémon on your team that could, you were simply locked out of these. Inverse battles were a little more open to be played as any Pokémon could enter. What this did was reverse the type matchups of Pokémon. Grass was now weak to water, dragon now beat fairy, you get the gist. However, the reason these might have never caught on is that they were available with only one NPC in X and Y and once per day.
Generation 7
Z-moves were the gimmick of the seventh generation of Pokémon, the biggest one anyway. These were also one time use in a battle, but unlike mega evolution, they truly were a single shot after your character did a little dance and pose. They weren’t quite as overpowered as their predecessor and this time they were opened up to all Pokémon as well. However, nowhere it is more clear that they were meant to be a one and done gimmick than in the way that you could buy a vibrating wristband to wear while playing the game.
Battle Royal was also a battle type that was introduced during this generation and stayed there never to be seen again. This was a four way free for all battle that seemed to take inspiration from players trying to do this in double battles. However, these weren’t very strongly received given that the whole thing ended when only one of the Pokémon fainted instead of being a last man standing fight.
Generation 8
Generation eight has perhaps one of the most reviled Pokémon battle gimmicks in Dynamax and Gigantamax, which ultimately boils down to… Pokémon go big! This is really a love it or hate it mechanic that saw a lot more hate as mega evolutions were taken away the same time that it was introduced. It can be visually very fun and does provide a nice power boost, but for some people it was just a bridge too far. It was also a simple power boost in most cases, which many found to be unstrategic.
This generation also brought in the raid battles, which was a four on one battle between players and a very big Pokémon. These are fun and a way to get Pokémon with some pretty special quirks now and again, but on higher ranks, it can be downright impossible without real players to stand at your side since the AI partners aren’t very good for much.
The future?
So far, generation nine has shown us the new terrastalizing gimmick and it’s been divisive as well, with some finding it fun and some finding it even sillier than dynamaxing. However, depending on the specifics of how it works, it could open up some interesting avenues for strategy, especially when giving the chance to change Pokémon type rather than just give them a boost. There are a lot of potential applications, but we’ll have to wait to see exactly how those turn out.
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[…] that long ago, I posted about some of the gimmicks that could have been fond in Pokémon battles over the years, some of which stayed on for a long time, and some of which were just a flash in the pan that only […]