Pokemon Black/White Wishlist

Well, with Pokemon Black and White on the way, many a PokeNerd have been making lists of things that they want to be featured in the game. Of course, some of their lists are so long and demanding that, come the time the games finally come out, they can't help but be disappointed when even the littlest feature that they wanted implemented is MIA.

...Of course, I have my own list of things that I'd like to see in these games. I know that I can't have everything, and maybe even half of the things on my list will not come to be, but when a new game is announced in one of my favorite series, I can't help but be a little hopeful, right?


1. Vs. Seeker - Because rematching trainers with the phone just isn't as effective (and having them call you for some mundane crap gets annoying). This time, make it so that it can be used indoors and inside caves.

2. Pokemon Following - Heart Gold and Soul Silver got it right, what with making your lead Pokemon follow you at nearly all times. It should be brought back in Black and White, except have it optional and don't have it where it's always your lead Pokemon. Some of us want to train a different Pokemon than the one that's following us all the time.

3. Dowsing Machine - Screw the Itemfinder, Heart Gold's and Soul Silver's Dowsing Machine is probably the best item detector in the series yet. It's interface is very easy to use, as it gives you the exact location of the hidden item, and I've probably found more items with it than I did in previous games combined. This one defiately needs to come back.

4. Secret Bases - Secret Bases were very fun in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald; it's one of the few things that they had over Diamond and Pearl. Yeah, D/P had them too, but the Underground bases just weren't the same. I enjoyed usin Secret Power on the overworld to find a base that was suitable for me, and then decorating it to my liking. I also liked trading records with other games so that their bases would appear in my game, and I could battle thier trainers inside. They need to bring that back; that is, they need to make Secret Power an overworld move again, because right now, it's kinda just sitting there.

5. Pokeathlon - The Pokeathlon in Heart Gold and Soul Silver is very fun to play. Having each of the Pokemon have their own stats is pretty nice, and the games themselves are very fun, and a nice break away from battling. They also are a nice way to make use of the DS's touchscreen. I would be very delighted if this or something of this nature made a comeback in Black/White, but I feel that they may opt for the boring contests instead, as the Pokeathlon was obviously put in HGSS as a replacement for Contests, which didn't exist back in the original Gold and Silver.

6. Battle Frontier - It seems that this may be reserved for the third entry in the generation, to justify buying what is essencially the same game again. Personally, I'd like to see this facility brought back with the onset of the new generation.

7. Gym Leader Rematches - Like the Battle Frontier, it seems that rematching Gym Leaders is reserved for third entry, though HGSS also got them. Maybe Black and White will allow us to refight its Gym Leaders right out of the box; I hope so, and I hope they don't go the Emerald route and make them all Double Battles.

8. Day/Night - I don't really have any doubt that these games will feature the Day/Night system. However, the third generation games didn't have them (though Fire Red and Leaf Green were understandable), so anything's possible. So, for good measure, I'm putting this on my list.

9. Photographs - Heart Gold and Soul Silver has a little feature where you can take photos of you and your party throughout your journey, and then view them later on your PC. This one isn't as important for me to be included in Black and White, but it would be nice to see where our journey took us.

10. Improved Game Corner - Okay, so Europe fucked the Game Corner up for the rest of the world outside of Japan when it came to the slots; all non-Japanese versions of Heart Gold and Soul Silver got instead a mini-game called Voltorb Flip, which is described as a mix between Minesweeper and Picross. To be honest, as frustrating and luck-based the game is (even if you know what you'r doing), I prefer it over the slots. However, since we are no longer gambling, we can no longer buy coins, and that makes getting some of the very expensive prizes very difficult. I'm not sure why th Eurpoean Union all of a sudden has a problem with gambling in Pokemon, and I feel that in Black and White, the Game Corner should include both the slots (for old-times sake) and Voltorb Flip, as well as a way to buy coins. If the EU doesn't like it, then they could always replace the slots with those Game Machines that the European Platinum got; at least then they'd still have the Voltorb Flip and buyable coins (hopefully).


Whether or not all of these features will be implemented remains to be seen, though I'd be happy if even half of the stuff on my list (not counting Photographs and Day/Night) make a comeback in the 5th generation games.