With Pokémon Legends: Arceus released and many calling it a true evolution of the Pokémon core series (including me), it would make sense that Game Freak use as much as possible from this game when it comes to crafting Generation Nine. Multiple projects are obviously in the works at the same time, meaning those concepts are of course going to make their way into that new game, but I felt I could give a few of my ideas for what that could look like.

Now, while I won’t be going into the detail of the world – such as names of locations, I do have an idea of where. The idea of a region being based on a whole country never really sat right with me. For Alola it worked, since the Hawaiian Islands are small enough that they can be a region. But Galar being a massively condensed UK – and Kalos the same for France, means there is so much being missed from the source material.

And speaking of Galar, very little of Wales was used in the construction of the region, so it would make sense to use it for the next. And not only because it allows me to use the Elan Valley area again. The county of Powys has many areas that would make a fine region of the Pokémon world, though I’m not going to cover them all. One thing to note is that all the cave systems of the real Powys are in the south. Here, things are different.

The other cave systems become more spread out across the region, with the longest being part of the Pokémon world’s version of the Brecon Beacons National Park. That park covers the entire south of the region, split into two parts. The west side of the park features hills, an area based on the Four Waterfalls, and three villages. The Pokémon found in this area are suited for the beginning of the game, with the occasional higher levelled critter to avoid.

The east side of the park – which can easily be accessed at the beginning of the game (open world, after all), features more mountainous terrain than the west, has another two villages, and is where the longest cave system resides – which leads the way to the location of the Pokémon League. As such, the Pokémon here can be at their highest levels – especially within the cave.

At the northern point of the park is where the first town resides. Should you follow the river from the starting village, you’ll reach it easy enough. It is at this first town – based on Brecon – that the real adventure begins. Which allows me to get to the questlines you’ll be following. There’s three of them. Allies, Rivals, and League. Let me talk of how this works.

To start with, you’ll only have the Allies questline active. This is where you’ll meet the professor of the region, his main assistant, and learn of the task they are here for – which you will then be a part of. That task is not to complete the Pokédex. Oh, you’ll get one for survey reasons, and you’ll get some rewards the more you complete of it, but that is not the only reason the professor is here.

During the Allies questline, you’ll meet someone who becomes a rival to you, which then opens up the Rivals questline. This questline features those who you’ll be competing against in the League, as well as a few other characters. You’ll bump into them, helping them out and getting into battles with them, and also joining them when the time comes for action.

It is through that first rival you meet that you become interested in entering the League, since that is what they intend to do. However, until you go to Brecon and sign up to enter, you won’t have access to the League questline. The League in this game still has you face off in battles against leaders to gain badges, but the way it works is different. It would be very awkward battling in the Gyms of the past, after all, so there’s no puzzles contained within a building.

Instead, you’ll be tasked by the leader of that town to do something for them. A show of skill. Usually, that would be heading to somewhere to get something. For Brecon’s leader, he’ll task you with heading for one of the villages on the east side of the National Park – which might seem dangerous, but it’s a test. You’ll get distraction items to use, with different items working best with different Pokémon, so you need to figure out what those are.

Once you complete the task, you’ll then be invited to challenge the leader. Just like the badges you earn limit the levels of the Pokémon you can reliably use in battle, so too do they increase the levels of the leader’s teams. See, since this is an open world, it doesn’t make sense to railroad you to a certain area. Oh, there’ll be natural blockades in place (such as the river mentioned earlier) so you can’t just rush straight to the north of the region, but you have a choice in which challenge to go for first.

Now, the towns and villages should feel like urban areas, even if they are not as large as they would really be. For Brecon, there would be a main road with a few side roads for the section of it south of the river, with the north being split into two sections. The east side would be thin and long, with the west being fuller in shape. These urban areas would have plenty within them, including numerous side quests.

Since the urban areas would have plenty of houses within them, it would be a lot of work to make them all enterable. So, while you can go onto doors and knock on them, most people won’t let you in (or there’ll be no-one home). Some people will let you in, and they’ll usually have something for you to do – even if it’s just a chat. The side quests will task you with anything, such as finding items or Pokémon (or people) or battles.

Some will provide the means to explore places before you’re meant to, though you’ll easily know which those are. One such side quest in Brecon would involve the bridge that splits the south from the north. It’s been closed off owing to a rampaging Pokémon. People are trying to control it, so it’s no worry to you. Unless you want to help. See, if you don’t help, the bridge will become open again once you beat the Brecon Leader, with you missing out on the reward.

There’s not much more to talk of with this idea of mine, but you’ll note I haven’t talked of a villain faction. I’ve hinted at it, as what would Pokémon be without a villainous team wanting to do bad in the world? Both the allies and rivals questlines will see you dealing with the villain team, whose motives you will come to learn throughout the game. Along with the dealings you’ll have with them in the main questlines, some side quests will also feature dealings with them.

One returning feature from Legends: Arceus I would see return is the alpha Pokémon. There’s not much difference between them and the regular Pokémon, after all. Larger and a bit more power. I wouldn’t have the strong and agile style moves return, though the turn order dependant on speed stat difference is something I would. That’s because there’s something else I would want to see added – though how feasible it would be I have no idea.

Battles now take place in the world, with no transitions (or at least obvious ones) between battle and exploration. Such an open space for battle means positioning can matter. Oh, not in terms of the environment, though there’s certainly something in allowing it to matter. Instead, since there’s multiple Pokémon you can face off against in one battle, it would make sense if the weaker ones could stay back behind the stronger one for protection.

The same could also apply to your own team. You’d be allowed a maximum of three out at once, so you could bring the stronger member of your team forward who would take the brunt of the attacks. All of the team would still be able to attack, and those staying back could still be attacked, which would be similar to the strong and agile style system. You can sacrifice a turn to attack a Pokémon staying back, avoiding the protection that a Pokémon out front would be able to give.

So with my concept turning a county of Wales into a Pokémon region, providing a few questlines and a lot to be doing in the region, I’m sure this could be a great one for Generation Nine to follow. Whatever we get, I’m hopeful the start of this next generation of Pokémon brings further evolution of the formula of the core series. And perhaps we’ll be seeing it very soon. Either that or a modern day expansion for Legends: Arceus to show how its gameplay works in such a time.

Images Taken From:
Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Original Screenshots)
Google Street View
Bing Maps