Keeping a Balance for the World Championships

After some time of being absent, the Pokémon World Championships are set to commence again, with the traditional games that are and have always been part of the festivities, as well as the fledgling newcomers of Pokémon Go and Pokémon Unite. Everything is gearing up for that occasion, including in one particular way: the games (at least, some of them) may be trying to keep a balance of elements in the lead-up to the occasion. It's a fascinating thing that happens for them - for the ones that are a concern - and they have some worth to be pointed out.

Pokémon Go is the game that is doing this currently and in an obvious manner, in a way. The current Go Battle League season, the one that corresponds to the Season of Alola, is in an "interlude" season: no moves were adjusted at its start a month and a half ago, and no ratings are shown at Rank 20, making higher ranks inaccessible. In addition, the formats rotate weekly instead of biweekly and feature the return of certain specific formats. Admittedly, these are all being done more to accommodate an overhaul of the backend of the PvP system, but it can't be denied that the side effect allows to keep a balance for the championships, which continues to progress. Pokémon species are still being added, but they're likely (and ought) to not have grand effects, at least not now and not yet.

Those who play Pokémon Unite might be said to be enjoying or to have enjoyed a greater degree of stability, as the only practical threats to stability are Pokémon that are introduced in the run-up to the Championships, and the battle system in the standard arena is relatively stable. True to that, two Pokémon that have been influential of late are Hoopa for its teleportation mechanisms and Duraludon for its strength, though the latter has been recently toned down and the former requires one's expertise and others' willingness in some ways. Likewise, it might just be a matter of when something will shake up, but it could be easier to sidestep (and mitigate if necessary, as in the above).

For the traditional games (VGC main series, TGC, Pokkén), their stability has practically been proven even during the time of the World Championships absence, so not much is an apparent concern. The only thing that might be of a concern is what comes next after the current iterations - for example, the Scarlet and Violet ninth-generation games - but that is likely a concern for the forthcoming edition after the current one. Sticking with mostly the current state of affairs is part of their balance.

It seems then, after all that, much of my argument might be considered to have fallen flat on its face. At the same time, however, it can't be denied that some balance has to be kept for the World Championships, and that may be effectively what is happening or what has happened, even if that may not be the primary intent. At least, that ought to make for fairer World Championships, both en route and when it finally comes up.

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