Pokemon Past & Present Should Be The Next Duo Of Mainline Games

Take the time travel angle of Legends: Arceus and run with it.

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Pokemon Legends: Arceus has done a fantastic job of showcasing where the series could go from here. Hisui is a graphically primitive yet narratively fascinating place that provides the world of Pokemon with a new foundation, a mythology that can be continually built upon with further entries in the Legends bloodline or perhaps something else entirely. However, one part of the new game stood out to me more than any other, and that’s how it makes use of time travel and a fish-out-of-water protagonist.

I wrote before launch that making Arceus a traditional sequel to Diamond & Pearl would feel like a tiresome copout, and I still feel that way, so I’m glad the finished game decides to do something a little more creative with a teenager falling out of the sky from another world. At times major characters will simply ignore the wider circumstances, while others will make a concerted effort to dive into exactly who you are and whether this bright-eyed kid can even be trusted. Hisui is a hostile place, and Arceus isn’t afraid to express how the absence of modern technology and societal conventions completely changes how Pokemon operates.

Despite these changes, your existing knowledge of Pokemon is continually referenced in dialogue options where you can make it clear you’re some sort of mega genius or equally oblivious to everyone else. It’s a refreshing perspective, and one with so much potential if Game Freak decides to make a return to double-barrelled entries in the same vein as Sword & Shield. Normally the differences between these versions are minimal. You’ll have different legendary creatures, a few different Pokemon, and maybe a few gym leaders are swapped around to bait the hardcore fans to purchase a second copy. It is the same game when it comes down to it, and we’d be silly to argue otherwise.

With the introduction of time travel and different period eras in Legends: Arceus, previously meaningless differences between games could grow infinitely more pronounced. So I pitch to you – Pokemon Past & Present. Taking this concept to the extreme would ultimately result in two entirely different games, especially if the region is depicted between a space of time so massive that entire buildings, ecosystems, and aspects of society spring up in the meantime. But that’s what would make the concept so fascinating. Let’s take an existing region like Galar as an example. It takes clear inspiration from the United Kingdom with its focus on a variety of different climates and a love of sport, while many of its larger cities feel inspired by our Medieval past and the iconic impact of the industrial revolution.

The Galar we know and love is a picture of the modern world with small snippets of the past peeking out from distant fields and ingrained architecture. Imagine if one game of the two generational releases took us into the past where this region was completely different. The layout remains untouched, but many of the characters and creatures we meet have changed, or are evolving into a state we will soon recognise as familiar.

Marnie could exist in one game as a shy teenager, while the other might follow her as a confident middle-aged adult ruling over the Pokemon League. You could establish a level of consistency throughout both games that justify double-dipping, all while ensuring the core experience remains familiar yet innovative all at the same time.

Regional variants could even change with the times, while cities that are sprawling metropolises in one game could be little more than a bustling hamlet in the other. Each story and the worlds they encourage us to explore would inform one another seamlessly, perhaps even encouraging players to delve into them simultaneously as they seek to piece together aspects of the layer and where certain characters sit in the grand scheme of things. I’d obviously love for the wider mechanical changes introduced in Legends: Arceus to be a part of this idea too, but that would mean it would need to make a few advancements of its own first.

From a distance this idea is absolutely too good to be true, and Pokemon has shown time and time again that it isn’t exactly willing to subvert our expectations. When it does, it still feels confined to the past in a way that holds it back from greatness. But that won’t stop me from dreaming big, and the idea of Past & Present is something that could change the series forever. It would be a lot better than Pokemon Top & Bottom, shortly followed by Pokemon Vers. Actually make those too, just hurry up and hire me Game Freak.

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