Summary
There aren’t many series that make it to ten games. But the next mainlinePokemontitle will be Gen Ten, which is incredibly fun to say, but I already have my doubts about how fun it might be to play. We haven’t seen anything of it yet (whileLegendsentries are considered part of the main series,they aren’t true mainline entries), so that might sound harsh. All we have isa rumour that it will arrive in 2026, and even that isn’t the most credible leak. But looking at Pokemon’s track record, it’s hard to get too excited.
The tenthMariogame was Super Mario Galaxy. The tenthLegend of Zeldagame was The Wind Waker. The tenthFinal Fantasygame was, quite predictably, Final Fantasy 10. All of these show remarkable growth from the series' origins.Resident Evil,God of War,Doom, andGrand Theft Autoare all yet to reach ten mainline entries, and have undergone significant evolution and reinvention across their lifespan. And then there’s Pokemon. Youstill pick a Water, Fire, or Grass-type starter, still fight eight gyms, still catch ‘em all.
Everything In Pokemon Is The Same As It Ever Was
It’s not just the gameplay formula. Even the narrative is similar - you’re a ten year old kid, naively bright-eyed, who just wants to be the very best, like no one ever was. You have a friendly rivalry with a peer from your hometown, get tangled up in some criminal enterprise storyline while the central narrative never gets more complex than beating gym leaders, then catch a Legendary Pokemon and call it a day. It’s still the same, and approaching Gen Ten makes it feel a little futile.
I love Pokemon, and will definitely play Gen Ten. HeartGold is a contender for my favourite game of all time. I understand that Pokemon is special, and it still brings in record breaking sales even when the games are buggy, shallow, and repetitive. But surely there has to be more ambition for Gen Ten, especially with it launching on the Switch 2. Unfortunately, I doubt there will be.
The Wild Area inSword & Shieldwasan important step forward towards a more free roam Pokemon gamewhere creatures exist in the overworld, butScarlet & Violetbuilt on this in completely the wrong way. Giving us an ‘open world’ Pokemon that still forced us into the standard eight-gym structure and had clearly defined pathways with none of the explorative verve we see in Zelda just made it feel like a much slower version of a normal Pokemon game, with the same tired ideas spread out over larger spaces.
Gen Ten Is When Pokemon Should Take Risks
Gen Ten needs to be special. The problem is Pokemon has been too safe for too long, and now can’t be anything else. Each successive generation should have been attempting something new, adding ideas to what it means to be a Pokemon game. Instead, with a couple of exceptions (Sun & Moon’s trials, for example), we’ve had the same game nine times over. So the tenth game faces a big risk if it is anything other than the tenth time over, but that also means ringing in this major anniversary with a whimper. Pokemon doesn’t want to risk anything because it has a huge playerbase, but that’s the sort of luxury that should be pushing it into new ideas, not away from them.
It’s tough to see Pokemon enduring if it sticks so religiously to the same game it has done time and time before. But then, it has made it this far with only a few minor scrapes. Maybe the problem is me for thinking it could get any better. I hope Pokemon realises what a milestone it is to reach ten mainline games, and does something special to mark the occasion. And it doesn’t even need to be that special, it just needs to be a little different from what we’ve already played. Something creative or forward thinking, something that pushes the boundaries of game design possibilities the way it used to when Gold & Silver somehow crammed two games into one.
Pokemon means a lot to me, and to so many millions of others.I’ve been here since Pokemon Blue. Reaching Gen Ten matters to us, too. If the tenth entry is made with the same hollow attitude that ‘every game is someone’s first’ then there won’t feel like much point celebrating. I hope The Pokemon Company knows that.
