Rare Article: TCG n' VGC

If some of you follow my Twitter or even listen to me on the podcast, you have probably figured out that I have been in love with the Pokémon TCG recently. There is are a couple reasons why, but I want to assure all of you that this article isn’t really a TCG article, but more so, an article about where I would like to see the video game line of Pokemon to go.

Like most video games, there is an end. To some, that is called the replay-ability factor. Let’s look at Pokémon Black and White. You play through 8 gyms and you’re pretty much done. You collect all the Pokémon, breed for IVs, EV train, etc. Up to that point, you’re following a story and probably complaining that you’re sick of carrying a Zebstrika on your team, but honestly you’re just waiting for a better electric Pokémon to come along.

Black/White did something different compared to the last games. They introduced the Dream World. Everyone was so excited about Pokémon with new abilities. Gen V, like all Gens, introduced new moves as well. This multitude of changes keeps the game fresh. I’m at a point right now where I am over the Dream World, and I keep thinking to myself, what can a new version of Pokémon do, why isn’t it out yet, where is Pokémon Stadium 3... All in all, the game gets stale. Not because it’s a bad game, but your friends stop playing, other stuff comes out, or life takes away too much time.

How does this all differ from the Pokémon TCG? For those of you that don’t know, the Trading Card Game is refreshed every three months with new cards. When this happens, the format can stay pretty similar or drastically change. Recently, a card called Pokémon Catcher came out about 3 months ago. This drastically changed the entire game. People started running 4 Catchers in every deck and those who did not ran Vileplume to Trainer-Lock out people from using Catcher. To think, Vileplume, a card that has been out for over a year now is something that everyone wants to trade for because one new card came out. To me, that’s awesome that something in a game can change so quickly.

Another awesome component of the TCG is that the game can have extremely cards of the same Pokemon. Right now in the format there are about three different Victini, two different Yanmegas, and no Charizards. Crazy to think about? Absolutely. Yet, in the next set of cards to drop in about three months from now, we are going to see a Mewtwo that will change the entire format again.

So come with me on this journey. This voyage of a Pokémon video game that instead of being updated once every 2 years, to something that can be downloaded via an update every 3 months. Maybe add a couple new moves, new abilities, on a couple Pokémon a rotation. It would even be possible to change base stats on Pokémon that come through. Think about having an extremely fast Dragonite be catchable for a 3 month period before the next rotation in whichs, a really bulky Pinsir drops.

I think over the last 12 years, the Pokémon Trading Card game has advanced for the better, even to the point of listening to the fans, yet the Pokémon Video Games have been gathering more dust than needed, and it’s something that can easily be fixed. I’m not saying it’s anything to worry about, because both games are more popular than ever. I just wanted to share my dream.

-SBJ