00:00:00
The Pokémon Company just
00:00:01
announced that they are working on a game
that is still in development that I think
00:00:04
is going to change the way
that Pokémon operates forever.
00:00:08
Now, when I say that it'll change
Pokémon forever, you're
00:00:10
probably thinking that I'm only talking
about competitive Pokémon.
00:00:13
But actually,
I think that this game is going to forever
00:00:15
change not only competitive Pokémon,
but the single player experience as well.
00:00:20
Every year on Pokémon Day,
there is some kind of broadcast normally
00:00:23
announcing upcoming titles and things
that The Pokémon Company is working on.
00:00:27
This year is the 29th anniversary,
00:00:28
and many people were really eager
and excited for Pokémon Day because
00:00:31
there's basically been almost no news,
not only about generation 10,
00:00:35
but also about the upcoming game: Pokémon Legends ZA.
00:00:38
Going into the broadcast, myself and, I would guess
00:00:41
most of the fandom, we're expecting that
these two games would be the focal point.
00:00:44
However, what we were not
00:00:45
expecting was the release of a new title
called Pokémon Champions.
00:00:49
This title was, frankly, completely unexpected.
00:00:52
Which is funny,
especially because it could end up
00:00:54
being one of the most impactful
Pokémon titles of all time.
00:00:57
So what is Pokémon Champions?
00:00:59
Well, we don't know that much about it,
but we have a good general idea.
00:01:03
Effectively, as best as I can tell,
this is a modern a Pokémon battle simulator.
00:01:08
One of the first questions
that you might have is like, why?
00:01:11
Why does a battle simulator matter?
00:01:12
Like, maybe you're somebody who just plays
00:01:14
the single player campaign
and you're like "yeah, I mean,
00:01:16
I don't really care about battling,
so, like, it doesn't matter to me"
00:01:19
and you're about to click off this video,
00:01:20
but you shouldn't
because it actually does matter to you.
00:01:22
Pokémon Champions appears to be a game
entirely focused around battling.
00:01:26
This isn't technically
like a brand new idea from Pokémon,
00:01:29
given that we did have like Battle Revolution
00:01:30
and Pokémon Stadium many years ago,
00:01:32
but it is certainly a new idea,
at least in modern times.
00:01:35
That being said,
I think that Pokémon Champions
00:01:37
is going to be very, very different.
It's also new and exciting
00:01:40
because it's doing something
that has never been possible before,
00:01:43
which is allowing players to battle on
their phones as well as on their Switches.
00:01:47
As far as I can tell,
there seems to be cross
00:01:49
compatibility,
but again, it's still pretty early.
00:01:51
I would bet that there's cross compatibility though.
00:01:53
Okay.
00:01:54
But if you don't care about Pokémon
battles, then again, why does this matter?
00:01:57
I think in order to answer this,
we should think about
00:01:59
why would Gamefreak
want to do this in the first place?
00:02:02
Obviously, I don't work at Gamefreak
and so I don't have like access to their,
00:02:05
you know, official reasoning or whatever,
00:02:06
but I have given this a fair
bit of thought,
00:02:08
and there's some things that I realized
after thinking about it
00:02:10
more that didn't stand out to me
as obvious at first.
00:02:13
Right now, the way that Pokémon games are set up,
00:02:15
the single player experience
and the competitive player
00:02:17
experience are closely tied together;
whenever they introduce a new mechanic,
00:02:21
such as Terastallization, Dynamax, Z moves, Mega Evolution...
00:02:25
These mechanics need to be fun
for the single player,
00:02:27
but they also have to be balanced
around the competitive players.
00:02:30
This balance is especially important
because after a game's initial release
00:02:33
window, after the initial hype
has kind of died down
00:02:36
most of the marketing
the game gets will be
00:02:38
from some sort of competitive battles,
often through Pokémon's
00:02:41
own World Championships
and the other events in the circuit.
00:02:44
So, if a game is balanced really badly,
that ends up actually making The Pokémon Company
00:02:47
look bad and lazy
and they don't want that.
00:02:50
But as I'm sure many of you know,
most people who play through
00:02:53
the game don't care at all
about the competitive experience,
00:02:56
so the game is basically forced
to be optimized around something
00:02:58
that only a very,
very small percentage of players
00:03:01
who actually play it
will, you know, experience.
00:03:03
Beyond just balancing issues, though,
the competitive battles
00:03:05
and the single player experience being,
you know, tied together in the same game
00:03:09
actually really limits what you can do
with a single player experience.
00:03:12
For example,
00:03:13
I played through Legends Arceus
when it first released,
00:03:16
and I had a great time with that game.
00:03:17
I really enjoyed that
00:03:18
you could catch Pokémon
like outside of battle,
00:03:20
I thought that was really neat,
00:03:22
and a bunch of the other mechanical
changes they liked as well.
00:03:27
Didn't love Strong and Agile Style,
00:03:28
I didn't love everything, but in many ways
00:03:30
it felt much more like a modern video game
than kind of an updated Pokémon game.
00:03:35
However, as you may recall, that game
doesn't have player versus player battles
00:03:38
because the battle system
was optimized around
00:03:40
making the single player gameplay fun
to experience, rather than being something
00:03:44
that would actually work
if you were to play against your friends.
00:03:47
So imagine Gamefreak had found a new style
of allowing players to experience
00:03:50
the single player gameplay,
and everybody loved it,
00:03:53
and it was pretty much
00:03:53
just a strict upgrade, but it didn't work
with the official competitive format.
00:03:57
What would you do then?
00:03:58
Well, if your new system didn't work
with competitive battles,
00:04:01
that would kind of put you
in a tough situation, right?
00:04:04
Like, of course
00:04:04
you could just cut
competitive battles from the game,
00:04:06
but that would be really bad
for a number of reasons,
00:04:08
I think people would not be happy
with that even-
00:04:10
I mean, I'm biased, of course,
00:04:11
but I think even other players,
you know, enjoy battling their friends.
00:04:15
It would also be bad
from a marketing angle.
00:04:17
So you would reach the conclusion
that you want to include
00:04:19
player versus player battles in your game.
00:04:20
But I mean, you wouldn't
use a different system
00:04:22
for the player versus player battles
than you would for
00:04:24
like the player versus,
you know, the environment battles, right?
00:04:27
And so you wouldn't
actually be able to update your-
00:04:30
your system, even if you found something better.
00:04:32
Basically, what I'm trying to say
is that the single player experience
00:04:34
and the competitive player
experience are actually pretty different,
00:04:37
and they kind of require different things
to be optimized and to feel good.
00:04:40
And by separating these out
into different games,
00:04:43
The Pokémon Company
is then able to have two different systems
00:04:45
that they can work around
to make the best that they can be
00:04:48
and they're able to make changes
independently without them being directly
00:04:51
tied to each other, while
still having them be connected enough
00:04:53
because you can send Pokémon
between the games.
00:04:56
Again, feel free to take this all
with a grain of salt;
00:04:58
this is just why
I think they might have done this,
00:05:00
and why
I think it actually might make sense,
00:05:02
and why
I think it might actually be a good thing.
00:05:03
If I can be honest, when I saw the trailer-
initially, I was actually pretty nervous
00:05:07
because I was like "oh, this is like,
this is a big change",
00:05:09
like "this is going to change things in a big way",
00:05:11
but the more I thought about it,
the more I realized that this actually
00:05:13
could give Gamefreak more control
to make the game better.
00:05:16
And of course, there's no guarantee
that it will be better,
00:05:18
but I do see the reasoning behind
why they would give this a shot.
00:05:21
So, let's talk about impact.
00:05:22
And again, just a reminder there
isn't that much actual information out,
00:05:25
so this is my best guess
00:05:26
based on what I think is likely to happen
00:05:28
and what is likely to come
from these games,
00:05:30
but it could be totally off base,
00:05:31
so you know, don't take it as fact.
This is just what I think.
00:05:33
I think that it is almost certain
that official competitive
00:05:36
Pokémon tournaments will take place
in Pokémon Champions;
00:05:40
perhaps indefinitely,
depending on how they go.
00:05:42
The reason
I think this is because, I mean,
00:05:44
this is a game
totally built around battling,
00:05:46
and so to not
have your official tournaments
00:05:49
use the battling simulator, to me
seems like a missed opportunity,
00:05:52
and also like,
why are you doing it if that's the case?
00:05:55
And I think this could be
a really good thing.
00:05:57
Just speaking personally for a second.
00:05:59
On the one hand, this is kind of scary
because this would be like a big change
00:06:01
for competitive players;
00:06:03
like, we've always have played
in the newest mainline game,
00:06:04
and so moving to a game
that could exist in parallel
00:06:07
to the to the mainline games, there's room
for that to not go great for us, right?
00:06:11
But at the same time,
I think that having a dedicated
00:06:13
environment just for battling
could also lead to better rulesets,
00:06:17
maybe actual balance patches,
because right now, like,
00:06:19
we don't get balanced patches ever.
00:06:21
Like when a Pokémon is broken at
the moment, it's just like,
00:06:24
deal with it
and find other Pokémon that can beat it,
00:06:26
and so, perhaps it would be easier to fine
tune Pokémon that are overperforming,
00:06:31
like a certain, you know, Fire type
starter Pokémon in an environment
00:06:34
where it doesn't affect
every single player who's just,
00:06:36
you know, playing through the game
with their beloved kitten or whatever.
00:06:39
Another upside of moving to a simulator
is that I mean,
00:06:41
we don't know
exactly how it's going to work,
00:06:43
but it is very likely
00:06:45
that the way in which you get Pokémon
in game is going to be different.
00:06:48
If the entire focus of the simulator
00:06:50
is just to,
you know, battle with your Pokémon,
00:06:52
then it is likely
that getting good Pokémon
00:06:54
to battle with will be easier than it is
in the mainline games.
00:06:57
And maybe this is farfetched, but
I think that it is not crazy to think that
00:07:01
if The Pokémon Company is making their own
battle simulator, that they are looking
00:07:04
at the success of the existing Pokémon
battle simulator that is unofficial,
00:07:08
that being Pokémon Showdown,
00:07:10
I'm sure the Pokémon company
isn't thrilled about Pokémon Showdown,
00:07:13
but at the same time, it can't be denied
just the impact that it's had;
00:07:16
And frankly,
it is the easiest way to battle
00:07:18
against your friends or other strangers online,
00:07:20
because it's so easy to just boot it up,
you know,
00:07:22
put in the Pokémon you want to use or play
random battles and start battling.
00:07:26
So it's possible that, of course,
it's still a grind
00:07:28
to get your Pokémon in Pokémon Champions,
but personally, I doubt it.
00:07:31
And if this is the case where you can kind
of, you know, just pick the Pokémon
00:07:34
you want to use
and not have to go through the trouble
00:07:36
of breeding for the right IVs,
giving them the right EVs, you know,
00:07:39
knocking out wild Pokémon
to get the TRs that you want-
00:07:43
I don't like that mechanic-
00:07:44
then I think it can really lower
the barrier
00:07:45
to entry to a lot of players
who would be interested
00:07:47
in playing competitively
but are daunted by the idea of,
00:07:51
you know, going through all the trouble
to get their team in game
00:07:53
when they don't even know if it'll be good.
00:07:54
In theory, a battle simulator could also
add features that don't currently exist in
00:07:58
any mainline games, such just the ability
to intentionally lower one of your IVs,
00:08:02
which can be a real cause
for headaches at the moment,
00:08:04
especially when you're dealing
with legendary Pokémon.
00:08:06
This is not an exaggeration,
00:08:07
when I was preparing for Worlds,
I needed to get a Calyrex-Shadow,
00:08:10
and it took me over nine hours
to get the Calyrex, and I got lucky.
00:08:14
That's just to get one Pokémon.
00:08:15
And I'm lucky that I had the time to do that,
00:08:17
but, like, not everybody does- right now,
00:08:19
we just don't know enough to say whether or not the
00:08:21
battle simulator will just let you, like,
pick the Pokémon
00:08:23
you want to use and,
you know, putting all the details in like,
00:08:25
yeah, just be just be done with it
right then and there.
00:08:28
It very well could still be some kind of,
you know, process:
00:08:30
maybe you need to use resources
that you get,
00:08:32
I don't we don't know anything, right?
00:08:33
But it is very likely in my opinion,
00:08:35
that it'll be much faster
and therefore it'll be much easier
00:08:38
to get new people
to give competitive a shot,
00:08:40
which, as somebody who really cares
about the growth of competitive Pokémon,
00:08:43
I think is a good thing.
00:08:44
One last thing that I want to say
about accessibility is that it seems like
00:08:47
from what they've said, you can connect
Pokémon Champions to Pokémon Home,
00:08:50
so it seems all but confirmed
that you'll be able to transfer in Pokémon
00:08:53
that you've used in other Pokémon games,
and then be able
00:08:55
to battle with them in Pokémon Champions.
00:08:57
So if you have a Pokémon
00:08:58
that's been your beloved partner since,
you know Ruby and Sapphire,
00:09:02
you'll still be able to battle
00:09:03
with them in tournament and against
other players in Pokémon Champions.
00:09:06
I suspect that this game
has been in development
00:09:08
for a little bit,
but there is a more recent release
00:09:10
that has had really resounding success
00:09:12
that could, in theory,
have influenced this title as well.
00:09:15
I don't know for sure,
00:09:16
maybe it influenced its development,
maybe it didn't,
00:09:18
but regardless, I think it can tell us
something about how this will perform.
00:09:22
I am talking about Pokémon TCG Pocket.
00:09:24
For those of you who don't know, Pokémon
TCG Pocket is a mobile app
00:09:27
which is, effectively, a simplified version
of the Pokémon Trading Card game.
00:09:31
Rather than having six prizes
to choose from, you have three prizes,
00:09:34
the Pokémon overall are a lot weaker.
00:09:36
and the games are overall a lot faster.
00:09:38
From what I can tell, Pokémon TCG Pocket
appears to have been a resounding success,
00:09:42
and I think it's working really well
as a bridge between general Pokémon fans
00:09:45
and people who are actually competing
at Trading Card Game tournaments.
00:09:49
The Trading Card Game is also at an all time high right now
00:09:51
in terms of popularity,
00:09:52
and I don't think that's necessarily
because it's
00:09:54
seeing the benefits of TCG Pocket
just yet,
00:09:56
but I also don't
imagine that it's hurting.
00:09:58
If Pokémon Champions is good
and it's easy to play
00:10:01
and it's easy
00:10:02
to kind of pick up and get into,
even if you don't have
00:10:04
a background already
in competitive battling,
00:10:06
I think that it could spike competitive
Pokémon's popularity in ways that like-
00:10:10
I mean, I can't even really articulate
because I can't even really fathom them.
00:10:14
Part of the reason why I'm so excited for
this game
00:10:16
is because I think it's filling a need
that we've had for a really long time.
00:10:20
Back not that long ago,
during like Sun and Moon,
00:10:22
I'm talking like 2017 to 2019,
00:10:23
competitive Pokémon,
especially official competitive Pokémon, VGC,
00:10:27
was not popular.
00:10:29
Basically,
most videos would cap out around
00:10:31
like 10,000 views on YouTube,
and if you got 10,000 views, you're like
00:10:35
"I did it, like, that's everybody who cares about
competitive Pokémon, good job me",
00:10:39
and part of the reason
why competitive Pokémon
00:10:40
was struggling so much during Sun and Moon
is because there was no bridge.
00:10:44
Pokémon as a franchise
is extremely popular.
00:10:46
I mean, it's the highest
earning media franchise in the world,
00:10:49
but all these people playing
00:10:50
Pokémon had no idea
that competitive Pokémon was even a thing,
00:10:53
and in many ways
00:10:54
it was actually kind of hard
to find information;
00:10:56
like there was nothing mentioned
in the original games about it,
00:10:59
and the official competitive format uses
all double battles, whereas
00:11:02
the single player experience
is almost entirely single battles.
00:11:05
So, even though you had this
huge existing player base
00:11:07
and you had this, you know, established
00:11:08
competitive scene
with tournaments, with prize money,
00:11:10
with all these wonderful things
about it, with broadcasts,
00:11:12
there wasn't really a clear way
00:11:14
to get people who cared about Pokémon
to care about the competitive scene.
00:11:18
with Pokémon Champions,
00:11:19
that could totally change, especially if
traditional player versus player
00:11:22
Pokémon battles are taken
out of the mainline Pokémon games
00:11:24
and instead
put directly into Pokémon Champions.
00:11:27
In the battle, footage
that they showed of the game,
00:11:29
it was a double battle,
which again is the same format
00:11:31
that we used
in the official competitive format.
00:11:33
Now, while
we're on the topic of popularity,
00:11:35
there is actually something
that I'm pretty worried
00:11:37
about and pretty concerned about when I-
00:11:38
when I think about this game
and the impact that it could have.
00:11:41
Pokémon tournaments at the moment
have exploded in popularity.
00:11:44
For context, tournaments used to struggle
to get 100 entrants, and the tournament
00:11:48
that I just went to last
weekend had over a thousand.
00:11:50
And that's a good thing, right?
The game is growing,
00:11:52
people are interested...
but there are some logistical problems.
00:11:55
The structure the tournaments use
00:11:56
use has had to change twice
in the last two years already
00:11:59
because the amount of players
00:12:00
interested in playing has grown so much
that like the old tournament structures,
00:12:04
which are built for fewer players,
couldn't handle them,
00:12:06
and tournaments at the moment
are selling out in seconds,
00:12:09
meaning that lots of people
who would love to play just can't play.
00:12:12
And of course, you might think
"well, just, you know, open more slots,
00:12:14
come on, like it's not that hard",
00:12:16
but the problem is that The Pokémon
Company is running these huge tournaments,
00:12:19
and they've booked venues
sometimes years in advance.
00:12:22
And if the game suddenly spikes
00:12:23
in popularity,
which currently it is already doing
00:12:26
without this game,
they aren't able to just,
00:12:28
you know, quickly
change venue sizes or change venues.
00:12:31
My suspicion is
00:12:31
that The Pokémon Company
is several years ahead of where
00:12:33
they would have
00:12:34
liked to be in a best case scenario,
and that's actually causing some problems.
00:12:37
That being said, I mean, there's
nothing really that we can do about this.
00:12:40
Like, I mean, none of the fans can do anything,
00:12:42
none of us creators can do anything about it,
00:12:44
we kind of just have to hope that, you
know, The Pokémon Company finds solutions,
00:12:47
but yeah,
00:12:48
like for the tournament
00:12:49
that I was at this past weekend,
one of my best friends tried to sign up,
00:12:52
was there the minute that
registration opened and didn't get a slot,
00:12:55
and there were over a thousand slots
and he didn't get in in the first minute.
00:12:58
So, it's not necessarily something that is,
you know, cause for panic,
00:13:01
but if the game really does explode,
if we see even something
00:13:04
similar to TCG Pocket and the impact
that that's had, I think that
00:13:08
it could become very difficult for people
who want to play, to actually play.
00:13:11
Now, the trailer for Pokémon Champions
00:13:13
didn't really show off
that much specific information.
00:13:16
It gave us a really good general feel
for what the game would be,
00:13:18
but it didn't have many specifics in it,
which is why I've, you know,
00:13:20
really tried to preface a lot of this
by saying this is my speculation.
00:13:23
That being said,
00:13:24
there was something extremely interesting
that they did make sure to show off,
00:13:27
and that was that there were two different
generational mechanics
00:13:31
present in the same battle.
00:13:33
In the trailer, we see Charizard
Mega Evolve to Charizard X,
00:13:36
and we see Dondozo on the opposite side Terastallize.
00:13:39
This is very, very interesting,
00:13:41
and frankly, I want to say that
this isn't really speculation,
00:13:44
because if you couldn't have battles
00:13:45
with both Terastallization and Mega Evolution,
00:13:47
I don't think that they would
show it in the trailer.
00:13:49
So we can assume that there will be multiple
00:13:52
generational mechanics
present in these battles,
00:13:54
or at least that they have the option sometimes
00:13:56
to use these generational mechanics
in the same battles together.
00:13:58
This is another advantage of having a game
solely dedicated to just battling
00:14:02
where they're able to bring in older mechanics
00:14:04
without it affecting the single player experience.
00:14:06
I think it is somewhat
00:14:07
likely that the other central mechanics
of Z moves and Dynamax
00:14:10
also make a return as well, though,
again, it's just speculation.
00:14:13
I think that this is a really, really cool concept.
00:14:16
This is a huge advantage of having a game
just dedicated to battling
00:14:19
where, you know,
there could be some rulesets
00:14:20
where it's just Mega Evolution
or some ruleset where it's, you know, just
00:14:24
Terastallization or some where it's
Megas and Terastallization,
00:14:27
but the other advantage, in theory,
is that they're actually able to mess
00:14:29
with the numbers
a little bit and fine tune
00:14:31
all of these mechanics
to be somewhat comparable in power.
00:14:34
In a vacuum,
00:14:35
Dynamax was the strongest mechanic because
it doubled your HP and gave you a huge boost to your power,
00:14:39
but maybe in the simulator
that could change it to be,
00:14:41
I don't know, a 30% increase to your HP
and a 20% increase to your power-
00:14:45
Just throwing out random numbers, right?
00:14:46
Something that gets it more in line
with the Mega Evolution.
00:14:48
It's possible that, you know, multiple
00:14:50
Pokémon on your team can be affected
by, you know, multiple of these mechanics,
00:14:53
but it's also possible
that you would have to choose each battle
00:14:55
whether you're going to Mega Evolve,
or whether you're going to Terastallize,
00:14:57
Dynamax or use a Z move,
or that you can mix and match.
00:15:00
I think that this really opens up
some interesting gameplay,
00:15:03
and with all these different mechanics
and all the different combinations,
00:15:06
I think it'll keep the game
really fresh, having access to all these
00:15:08
different tools
that you would never have all of them
00:15:10
in one mainline game
when they are balanced correctly.
00:15:14
And when you think about rotating
00:15:15
in Pokémon, and rotating in mechanics,
and out mechanics, and out Pokémon,
00:15:18
maybe you ban legendaries for one season,
00:15:19
maybe you only have,
you know, Z moves for one season,
00:15:22
whatever,
00:15:23
I think the game could stay really fresh
for a really long time,
00:15:26
even if there aren't new Pokémon
being added.
00:15:28
Of course,
00:15:28
there was one line in the trailer
that is kind of related to this,
00:15:31
which is that
they said that not all Pokémon
00:15:33
would be available in this game, at least at first.
00:15:35
There might be some people
00:15:36
who are concerned about this, like yeah, not all
00:15:38
Pokémon are going to be in the game, at release at least,
00:15:40
but I don't think this is inherently a problem.
00:15:42
Counterintuitively, having more Pokémon present
00:15:45
in a competitive format
actually decreases diversity,
00:15:47
because when you get certain Pokémon
that are just so strong,
00:15:50
they end up crowding out a lot of the weaker Pokémon;
00:15:52
for example, Pokémon like Scrafty and Hitmontop,
who used to be really effective Pokémon,
00:15:56
have basically seen zero usage
once Incineroar was released,
00:15:59
and there's actually a lot of Pokémon
00:16:01
that having Incineroar in a game
just kind of crowds out.
00:16:03
I'm sure that eventually most Pokémon
will be added to Pokémon Champions-
00:16:07
I mean, I'm not sure, but I would suspect.
00:16:09
But I think it's actually a good thing if Gamefreak considers
00:16:11
curating the rulesets
to make them more interesting
00:16:13
for competitive players,
rather than just being like,
00:16:15
"here's every Pokémon, like, enjoy Landorus,
enjoy Incineroar,
00:16:18
you know, enjoy Calyrex".
00:16:20
If you're upset about not every Pokémon
being in the game, I totally get it,
00:16:22
I understand
00:16:23
people want to use their favorites,
but for me personally,
00:16:25
I think that the idea that they are
willing to not just put every Pokémon in
00:16:29
is actually a good thing,
at least for enjoying competitive play.
00:16:32
I'm sure also,
just like the mainline games,
00:16:33
that they will always be adding
more Pokémon in, so that
00:16:35
by the time, you know, it's been out for a little bit,
00:16:37
I'm sure the vast majority of the Pokémon will be present,
00:16:40
but again, that is speculation.
00:16:41
Perhaps the only Pokémon legal will be,
you know, Electric types,
00:16:43
and we'll have to play a really weird format.
00:16:45
One big elephant in the room is monetization,
00:16:48
and this is one that I think is interesting,
00:16:49
but unfortunately I don't really have anything to say, I think.
00:16:52
It is likely that the game will try and make money,
00:16:54
whether that's through a one time
purchase, whether it's through,
00:16:57
you know, Nintendo's Online features,
which I'm sure you'll have-
00:17:00
I'm pretty sure you'll have to pay
for that, I can't imagine otherwise-
00:17:02
whether it's through, you know, maybe you have to-
00:17:05
maybe you have to, like,
I don't know, buy the ability to
00:17:07
to make your Pokémon stronger...
I don't know, right?
00:17:10
I think it is likely that the game will be monetized
00:17:11
in some way, and I have no idea
whether or not that will feel predatory,
00:17:14
whether or not that will feel, you know, exploitative.
00:17:17
I don't imagine that it will be Pay-To-Win, personally,
00:17:20
it might be pay to save time
in a worst case scenario.
00:17:23
But I do think that generally,
it seems like people have felt that
00:17:25
the monetization policies in Pokémon
mobile games are not the worst out there.
00:17:30
Like I know in TCG Pocket
00:17:31
there's a lot of ways
00:17:32
that you can effectively pay for- play for free
00:17:34
and with Pokémon Unite, which is
the other big example that I'm familiar with,
00:17:37
I think a lot of the game
you can accomplish via grinding.
00:17:39
Like of course it will take a little bit more time,
00:17:41
but I don't think it's like a crazy example,
00:17:43
and a lot of the purchases
that you can make are for cosmetics.
00:17:47
It would be really funny if,
00:17:48
you know, we had cosmetics for- for Pokémon in official battles.
00:17:51
I'm not sure if that will happen, I really- I really have no idea.
00:17:54
What I will say is that I am tentatively optimistic about this.
00:17:56
I'm sure that you will have to pay
some for it, but I also don't really mind.
00:18:00
Like I would pay for a Pokémon game.
Anyway, that's my opinion.
00:18:03
I kind of have-
00:18:04
I have some faith that they won't have
super predatory monetization practices,
00:18:08
but we have no information about this,
00:18:09
so like, with the other ones I felt like
I had educated guesses, with this...
00:18:13
I've got nothing, so you know, we'll have to see.
00:18:16
The last thing that I want to talk about
00:18:17
before we wrap up here
is the impact that this could have.
00:18:20
Obviously, a lot of this video
has been speculative, right?
00:18:22
And I don't normally like speculative content,
00:18:24
but because this is such
a monumental announcement,
00:18:26
I felt like I should talk a little bit
and try to give what I hope has been,
00:18:29
you know, level-headed,
00:18:31
realistic expectations
00:18:32
based on what we know right now-
very well could be off the mark;
00:18:35
but this is just my best guess at being reasonable.
00:18:37
But I want to take a second to kind of
talk about what this could mean.
00:18:40
Of course it's possible
00:18:41
the game flops and nobody plays it,
and it's just kind of a flash in the pan,
00:18:45
but I think that this could be a real
turning point for Pokémon going forward.
00:18:48
In a perfect scenario,
00:18:49
I think it is totally possible
that the existence of this game
00:18:52
not only makes competitive play drastically better,
00:18:55
but also makes the single player
experience better as well.
00:18:58
More than that,
00:18:58
I think that this game could be a really,
really good and needed gateway
00:19:02
to introduce people to how wonderful
it is to battle with competitive Pokémon.
00:19:06
Speaking personally, Pokémon tournaments
have just straight up changed my life;
00:19:10
even before I was doing YouTube,
00:19:11
getting to meet so many incredible
people, traveling around the world...
00:19:14
It's not an exaggeration to say that-
I mean, it really did change my life.
00:19:17
And I don't think that I'm the only one;
00:19:19
I think many of us
00:19:19
who play competitively feel similarly
about the impact that this game has had.
00:19:23
Part of the reason why I feel so motivated
00:19:25
to make YouTube videos in the first place
is because I feel like I was so lucky
00:19:28
to have this chance to have these incredible experiences,
00:19:31
and I want other people to at least know
00:19:33
that they're out there
if they're interested.
00:19:35
So for me, I think that this game is a really,
00:19:37
really great thing, and I think that it could really help
00:19:39
to introduce more people to this world, which I love so dearly.
00:19:42
Also, it's just really crazy
to see how far the scene has grown.
00:19:46
When I first started playing,
there were like
00:19:47
350 people who played competitive Pokémon global.
00:19:50
Like, that was it,
00:19:51
that was the entire global player base,
00:19:53
and now,
00:19:53
I mean, it could be in the hundreds of thousands
00:19:55
who are playing in some way, shape or form.
00:19:57
A game like this existing back when I first started
would have been unthinkable.
00:20:01
Like, if you came in and you were like
00:20:02
"hey guys, Pokémon is going to make a battle simulator"
00:20:04
you would have been laughed out the door.
00:20:06
So it's really cool to be living in a time where, yeah,
00:20:08
I mean, it's not a joke anymore.
00:20:09
Like it's it's coming. It's happening.
00:20:11
I'm trying to have leveled expectations.
00:20:13
If you don't know very much about this
beyond the fact that it's coming,
00:20:15
there's lots of things that could change; it could be bad.
00:20:17
And yet, despite that,
this feels like one of those moments
00:20:20
where, at least for me, this is a game
that could actually legitimately change my life.
00:20:24
Like, this could be a before Pokémon Champions
and after Pokémon Champions kind of thing.
00:20:28
So I don't know. I'm
excited, I'm optimistic, I'm hopeful.
00:20:31
I- I guess I can just say that
00:20:32
I'm really, really eager
00:20:34
to see what they come out with
and to learn more information.
00:20:36
That's mostly what I wanted to say,
00:20:38
the last thing that I will say is- this is my Wolfey prediction.
00:20:40
Okay, this is now-
00:20:41
I saved this till the end because I- you know, it's- it's purely speculative.
00:20:46
Okay?
00:20:46
This is me putting my tinfoil hat on
00:20:47
and this feels a little less grounded
that in everything else that I've said.
00:20:50
But here's my thought, okay? Here's my prediction.
00:20:52
Normally, there's a new Pokémon game every three years.
00:20:55
However, during the Direct today, they didn't say
00:20:57
anything about generation 10, which means effectively
00:21:00
we could expect Scarlet and Violet to last for at least one year
00:21:03
longer than it would normally running
for four years rather than three.
00:21:06
The problem is
00:21:07
they are quickly running out of formats
to do with Scarlet and Violet,
00:21:10
so my tinfoil hat theory
00:21:12
is that we're going to play one more
World Championships in Scarlet and Violet,
00:21:15
and then in the fourth year, before generation 10
00:21:18
comes out, Pokémon Champions will come out,
00:21:20
and then we'll play one World Championship in Pokémon Champions before generation 10,
00:21:23
maybe two, depending on when it comes out.
00:21:25
That's my theory. Anyway, thanks for watching.
00:21:28
I know this was a different kind of video than I normally do,
00:21:30
but I wanted to talk about Pokémon Champions
00:21:31
because I just think it's so monumental-
Thanks for watching,
00:21:34
see you next week,
00:21:34
back to regularly scheduled, more edited content.
00:21:37
Bye bye.
