I've had a bit of a crisis lately. I've been playing Pokemon Pisces as of late. It's a wonderful time, bringing plenty of innovations and ideas to what would have otherwise been a rehashing of Hoenn. Despite its quality, I've been having a hard time sticking with it. After some thought on the subject, I've reevaluated the reasons why I even play Pokemon in the first place.
If you dont know, Pokemon Pisces is a fan made sequel to the events of Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald. The game starts off with you, the previous rival character, returning to the Hoenn region after a long while. Having given up Pokemon battling after getting defeated in Lilycove, you spent many years out doing research, just as your father once did. However, upon your return, that familiar urge returns. The one telling you to explore, to battle, to conquer. Luckily, your dad is still the professor and sets you up with a new partner Pokemon before you head off to explore a Hoenn region thats almost completely transformed while you've been away.
I think this is such a cool premise, it allows for a fresh take and a second look at a region, all without having to violate any of what the original games set up and had. Well, in theory at least. Because Pisces greatest draw is not its new story or revamped region, rather it's the new dex of Fakemon.
That's right, Pisces features an entire new dex full of original designs found nowhere else. There are still a few familiar faces from the base games, but the vast majority of times you'll be seeing new faces. New 'mons, new moves, new abilities. It creates a lot of good opportunities to try out new team members and construct interesting teams, which is especially noteworthy given the games above average difficulty and imposed level cap. Needless to say, the core of the game felt good to play.
But then I had to ask myself: why do I keep bouncing off this game? By all metrics, it's a good game! I should be enjoying it, and yet I wasn't really. The music, gameplay, graphics, and story were all good (or at least a non-issue), so what was holding me back? That's when it hit me, Pisces was missing one thing. One very important, crucial thing. Pokémon.
It sounds stupid, but it's true. The Pokémon designs themselves do a lot of heavy lifting in my enjoyment of these games. Through bad games and good, official and fan made, the one thing that kept me going was that team of familiar faces. Even in relatively bad games (Think Sword/Shield, Light Platinum, etc.), what kept me going was a team of familiar faces. Faces that have accompanied me across games, across years of my life. Faces I've bought merchandise of. Faces I see whenever I scroll online. That's what I play Pokémon for, not the gameplay or the story, but for the Pokémon themselves. Not some imposters filling a similar role.
And I know, this is basically an admission of me saying I'd buy anything as long as Pikachu is plastered on it (not literally). But this realization has helped me understand why I keep bouncing off monster taming games. I'm not drawn to them because I like the gameplay loop, or the stories they tell, or anything of that sort. I'm drawn to them because I like Pokémon. The monsters themselves. It's the main reason I keep buying and playing the games, especially in the Switch era. I know they aren't like they used to be, I know there's better stuff out there, but nothing else can be Pokémon, because only they have Pokémon.