Pokémon DLCs could potentially give us a long sustaining continuous game that keeps interest for years to come.



In doing my article for why the announcement of the Sword and Shield DLCs aren’t necessarily a good thing, I started to think about how the DLC concept could be utilized and perfected into making a long sustaining singular game. All of this stems from the fact that the new DLCs will utilize the train in the Galar region to take you to the new locations introduced in the expansion passes.



The Pokémon games have always had a repetitive formula to releasing games. New title with new Pokémon, then remake or sequel, then back to new title new Pokémon. Of course it’s a formula that has worked forever and will continue to work, but I’m proposing a way for them to give us everything while also keeping up with making the money they would on releasing an entirely new game. What if I told you that there was possibly a way where we could get every single core Pokémon game in one?



It seems impossible because there would be too much data to have in one single game, however there may be a way to pull this off through DLCs. It is widely assumed that with the core games moving to the Nintendo Switch that we will eventually receive remakes of Diamond and Pearl. If we follow the remake release schedule, they would be the next ones due for a remake. There are many people that are excited for this potential, but some who wish they would remake some other region for the Switch which ultimately puts you in a spot where you can’t please everyone. Well, there could be a way.



Now to start off, this idea could work with the release of a new game entirely to support this idea or if possible you could have Sword and Shield be the basis or launchpad for this idea to work. Bear with me if this isn’t the clearest explanation but I’ll try my best. I’m also not going to go too much into how or if this could work with data and various other reasons but I’m going to just assume there could be a way to pull this off with the announcement of the DLCs for Sword and Shield being made and showing part of the point I’m going to make.



I’m going to start this with a connection to the Kalos region. Many people have made a connection with Galar and Kalos saying that they could be sister regions similar to that of Johto and Kanto. They both have a train system that could potentially take you from one to the other and some of us were escorting or hoping that they would take advantage of this. My theory takes this into account and proposes the Kalos region as being the first step in this new ultimate Pokémon game.



The new DLCs are essentially a sequel addition to the original Sword and Shield. I think it’s safe to say that if they had decided to release sequels this year, that this is most likely what we would have gotten, but instead of spending the time to develop all new games, they created DLCs for the content to simply be added rather than split those who play the original with those who wanted the sequels. This keeps all of your fans that purchased the originals without losing any going into the sequels. That’s one of the most important points to make here. It would benefit them more to build off of one game rather than have an original, a sequel, and a remake of an older game because not everyone is going to want to have to purchase a new game to have to play through it again for some extra content.



Again, I don’t know if this is actually possible but what if instead of just releasing some new content at a $20 price tag, they released an expansion at a $59.99 price tag, the cost of an entirely new game. Now you’re wondering what kind of content would warrant the price of a new game. What if that expansion pass was not just an expansion of new content, but instead the expansion of the Pokémon world through Sword and Shield. If possible, they could release an expansion with the Kalos region in its entirety which would of course warrant the cost of a new game.



The new DLCs coming out have shown that you don’t have to buy them for the Pokédex to expand and allow new Pokémon to be available and this can be utilized here as well. Releasing a Kalos region expansion would give you access to that region as a Switch remake that would give you the opportunity to play through a whole other title in the series while also expanding the Pokédex for those who don’t buy it or don’t buy it immediately.



This may sound a little confusing at first but I’ll break it down some more. You would buy the expansion pass for the Kalos region which would give you essentially a train ticket in Sword and Shield that would allow you to travel to the Kalos region. I know many of you are thinking about what would be the point in playing through it with your Galar Pokémon that are all overpowered for a new region. Well I have an idea for that. There could be a type of region lock that would be in place for when you go to the Kalos region. Essentially you would get on the train and leave all of your Galar Pokémon behind so that you could start over from scratch like you would any other game. Once you get to Kalos you would pick a new starter and play through like you normally would until you defeat the champion.



The champion would essentially be the point where the region lock would become unlocked. Once you defeat the champion then your boxes would allow full access to all Pokémon for both regions. You may be asking about “what if I want to take a break and go back to Galar?” Well then you would simply get back on the train and back to Galar where your Galar file would come back with those Pokémon but not carry over your Kalos Pokémon until the champion is defeated in Kalos.



I like the concept for several reasons. Not only would we get a remake of a previous game, but we would also still all be connected through Sword and Shield. You wouldn’t lose anybody that didn’t purchase Sword and Shield and you could gain more fans who want to play through older regions. It makes the game overall more expansive and larger while also appealing to those who don’t want to purchase the expansion. Like the new DLCs, the Kalos expansion would still open up the Pokédex in Galar to allow those players to still be able to receive those Pokémon via trade or other means. It also gives players a chance to start over in a new region while putting in many hours of gameplay and the chance to build some incredible teams.



I started with Kalos because it’s the one that seems to connect the easiest to Galar, but it wouldn’t stop there. Kalos could be the year one expansion, while year two could include Kanto or Sinnoh for example. Each year if it was possible could include a new region for you to explore through and old Pokémon to encounter. It would keep all of your fans of the original Sword and Shield while also bringing in those who wish to play through the older regions.



Ultimately the only hitch in this idea is whether or not it would actually be possible to pull off a project this big through DLCs. It would make the Pokémon games one of the largest connected set of games through one singular game that it may be impossible. Having the titles now on console does make this a little more possible though. I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt about the DLC announcement at first, but now I see a lot of potential in where they could take the series going forward.



I worry that their process of making new games every year is a way for them to lose fans, but it was the DLC announcement that really sparked my curiosity of what they could potentially do if it is possible. It would be a win for the fans and for the company because we would get plenty of extraordinary content in what would be a first for the industry and they would still get their profits off of selling the expansions at a full game price.



Of course this is just a speculative theory that may have no merit or possibility of happening, but it is something I’ve thought about and think could be a huge leap ahead for the Pokémon game franchise. If you all have any other thoughts or suggestions, comment below and let me know what you think.



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