Thematic Battles

Most Pokémon battles are typically free affairs, meaning that one is free to use most different kinds of Pokémon. That somewhat explains the National Pokédex brouhaha that brewed last week. But what if battles were more constrained by other requirements, forcing Trainers to use a more limited yet perhaps harmonious subset of Pokémon? The result would then be called "thematic battles", and it would be a story worth telling.

Admittedly, though, competitive VGC battling for the main series of Pokémon games has implemented this to some extent. Each year, the format changes to allow or disallow certain groups of Pokémon, most notably Legendary Pokémon. The current format, VGC 2019, even has three sub-formats that differ in the usage of specific Pokémon. Apart from that, however, there is still a broad spectrum of Pokémon that Trainers can choose from to battle one another, so there isn't really a "theme" in the strictest sense; if there is, it usually has been interpreted by the players, with some variations thereof. The point is that there may or may not be a theme, but what is there is a broad range of possibilities.

Meanwhile, in competitive PvP battling for Pokémon Go, thematic battles are thriving well, thanks in large part to the tracker and competition helper that popularizes them. The theme for the month of June is "Rainbow", which restricts all Pokémon to be from the first or second generation (no Alolan forms either) and to have at least one type of Fire, Electric, Bug, Grass, or Water - hence, a "rainbow" with their traditionally assigned colors. A prior theme was "Kingdom", which is easily remembered because of the clash of "dragon fire and cold steel", which obviously suggests the type restrictions, with "cold" referring to Ice types. Their uniqueness may also be the thing that keeps them going.

Evidently, one benefit of a theme is that it "levels out the playing field", in a way, by making everyone work from the same limited pool of resources. By packaging everything in a theme concept, it also promises excitement by itself. One big downside is that some people might not want to work with limited resources; some of these people might also be the ones who have called for National Dex inclusion. As well, the meta game for these limited resources might reveal itself fairly quickly, but this is a blessing or curse depending on the player in question. Thus, thematic battles may or may not suit certain players.

However it's regarded, the concept of thematic battles present something quite different to the table. On one hand, they may become restrictive and challenging. On the other hand, that may just make them festive and exciting. Whether it's VGC or PvP, this concept is worthwhile to be explored and developed so that Trainers are not only challenged by battling freely but also by battling harmoniously.

One year ago: Losing Touch and Keeping in Touch

Two years ago: Pokémon Exclusivity