Pokemon France

Let them have Kalos

You know it's been a long time since anything new has actually touched the Pokemon franchise in terms of it's actual structure. No, I'm not talking about the periodic addition of 100 or so new Pokemon, that's regular enough, nor am I talking about the odd gimmicks that the games have married themselves to now; Mega evolution, Z-moves and Gigantamax. I'm talking about a fundamental change to the way the game markets and sells itself to the fanbase, that's been static for practically ever. Of course, I've talked about it before, but Sword and Shield marks the first time that the Pokemon Company and Gamefreak have actually gone and made full blown DLC for their games to continue the adventure after the fact, and it's been a really strong way to prolong the lifespan of these games to the point where fans haven't just forgotten about the title in their hunger for the next one. The first DLC, The Island of Armor, gave a whole bevy of quality-of-life improvements which made the traditional endgame a lot more fun and the second DLC stands to offer it's own endgame entirely.

But the real question right now, for those with their heads in the future, is what will happen to the Pokemon cycle after the Crown Tundra DLC. These packs were all that was promised in the DLC bundle pack that was sold at the beginning of 2020, but as Nintendo are a company well renowned for having all their franchises be behind of the industry trends, this could just as easily be a prelude to a new DLC bundle pack at the start of 2021. (And if you don't believe that's a possibility, just look at Super Smash Bros. Ultimate wherein the game keeps getting new fighter packs announced even when some key members of the staff are reportedly eager to move on entirely from that project.) So the end doesn't necessarily mean that end and Pokemon Sword and Shield's lifespan could be artificially inflated even longer. This would definitely be in The Pokemon Company's best interest too, as Sword and Shield is their best selling game since Gold and Silver, (And the third best selling Pokemon game of all time) so they'd be crazy not to want to capitalise on that until the well runs dry.

So then with that knowledge to mind and accepted, what could the future possibly look like for Sword and Shield DLC? This is something that I'm particularly curious about, because I always imagined there would be more DLC for the pure benefit of bringing the entire National Dex into the modern game. (Which even after the Crown Tundra, they'll still be 200-odd Pokemon out from doing, not including Mythicals.) How can Gamefreak frame these DLC packs in a way that doesn't just look like booster packs for the current lacking Pokemon roster like they kinda are? So far they've offered a training island to the east and a legendary island to the north, logical reasoning would dictate two more DLC in the south and west. But what if in actuality the team were to go South of Galar, and push a little bit further? What if we were to go so far South that we were no longer in Galar anymore, but hit a whole other landmass? Why, then the question would have to be what that landmass is. What's directly South of England, the landmass that Galar is based on, afterall? Why that would be France, or as it's better known in the Pokemon universe, Kalos.

That's right, Pokemon X and Y bought players to the far away land of Kalos which was clearly based on France, and since then people have been wondering just when they'd get to return. Kalos did have some unique characters and attractions to it, such to the point where it's even directly mentioned by an NPC in Wyndon, the capital of Galar. So this is a location that Gamefreak definitely want fans to remember about, and bringing us right next door opens up the possibility for the most ambitious piece of Pokemon DLC ever to occur. (Which, again, isn't saying much as the practise literally started this year, but I'll take what I can get) Now this doesn't exactly come out of the blue or my head, rumours have started to spring up about the possibility of a trip to Unova for an extensive endgame DLC and I'm left pondering just how likely that is to be strictly from the clues left by Gamefreak themselves. So let's analyse.

Firstly, let's start by saying that it wouldn't be entirely unprecedented for a Pokemon game to feature an entire previous region as an endgame. Just look at that Gold and Silver game I mentioned. As the very second generation of Pokemon games that was a title that certainly had a lot to live up to, and they decided to handle that by introducing original Kanto region in it's entirety to this game's final act. This was complete with references, Pokemon, and adventures, all topped off with a closing climactic battle against the protagonist of the first game alongside a level 100 Pikachu (in a thinly veiled reference to the anime.) Now am I saying that I'd expect that same level of endgame content in a modern Pokemon game? No; because honestly we deserve more at this point. But I'd take another retread of an old area, especially if it's done in the style of Sword and Shield which would be vastly different from Kalos as it appeared in X and Y. (Familiar and new, a good combination.)

There is even a reference in the recent DLC itself that hints at collaboration with other regions, even if it doesn't ultimately pan out. (This is spoilers for Honey's questline in The Isle of Armor) One of the later rewards for dishing out Watts to the dojo Mom, Honey, is that she decides to get in contact with champions from other regions in order to be sparring partners with you. This sounds super exciting until she gets distracted and ends up having to reveal her own Pokemon battle competence which results in her scrapping the idea of other champions and deciding to be your sparring partner herself. Kind of a bait and switch there by Gamefreak and one which didn't really make sense to me at the time. Why imply that there'd be some connection with the wider Pokemon universe only to renege on that at the last moment? What does that benefit you, the story or the player? Perhaps it was truly meant as a prelude to the big DLC next year? Yes, I'm grabbing at straws but so help-me I don't have a choice!

Finally there is blatant speculation! And I'll admit that while the rest of my points have been things that I've thought up or had pointed out to be in the past, these tidbits are simply what's been doing the rounds recently. (And, not-so-recently, in some cases.) Firstly, Pokemon X and Y were 2 games that are infamous for being somewhat unfinished at launch, which resulted in there being a lot of unexplained threads and a whole redundant train station in the game which never led anywhere. Then there is the aesthetic similarities between caves in Kalos and Galar, to the point where they almost look like parts of the same the same cave system. (What do you mean 'creative laziness'?) And then there's some small stuff about Matsuda posting pictures with a french train or something to Twitter, I dunno the thread got a little too conspiratorial at that point.

So these are the rumors going around for the past week as speculation rises, but you wanna know the funny thing? These were the same rumors being drummed up before Pokemon Sword and Shield launched, a whole year ago. That's right, none of these points are new, and even the Reddit post that's been doing the rounds is post launch. Now people are arguing that the points were so good that plans must have been shifted for this endgame to be pushed into DLC, but this just all reeks too much of "Zombies DLC for GTA V" for me to get any level of excited for it. It's hardly uncommon for a rumor to pick up speed and feed upon itself long enough to seem like a forgone conclusion, but I personally see no solid evidence and so am forced to put this whole conspiracy of an impending mega-DLC in the 'very unlikely' folder. (Really did the full 360 on you there, didn't I? Bet that change of heart caught someone off guard.) That being said, I'd love to be wrong Gamefreak.