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Warning: spoilers about the end of Black and White are ahead.
Well, it’s nearly been a year since the Japanese launch of the fifth generation of Pokémon games, Pokémon Black and Pokémon White versions, and the games have really been explored and played out to the fullest by thousands of loyal fans. In hindsight there is nothing actually in the game that hasn’t been talked about on the internet, which only leaves room for one thing: speculation! Yes, speculation about the next game in the series, Pokémon “Gray” has been an ongoing topic on many Pokémon forums and speculation on possible Ruby and Sapphire remakes aren’t far behind.
The highly speculated-on third version to Pokémon Black And White is a frequent topic of discussion on all the big Pokémon forums. Many people are guessing what its name will be: Cobalt, Spectrum, even Pokémon Pink has been suggested! However after reasoning most people are unanimous that the name of the next game will be Pokémon Gray, to tie in with the colour pattern of this generation.
What will Gray hold for us? Many want it to be less of a third version and more of a sequel, as at the end of Black and White it is clearly shown that N flies away with his respective legendary dragon and that Ghetsis has escaped along with the Shadow Triad. Kyurem’s seeming lack of prominence in the plotline also begs to wonder if he’ll be an important factor in the new game, possibly acting like a Rayquaza or Giratina from past games. Much speculation is also centred on whether he is in fact the hollow husk and leftovers of the ancient dragon that Reshiram and Zekrom once split from, or even perhaps the withered form of the ‘Great King’ referred to in the Abyssal Ruins. How the Musketeer Quadrant and the Genies fit into this also hasn’t been particularly exploited, and we have no hints as to how they’ll fit into the storyline. All of this leaves a new game very open with a lot of room to change things up from the norm.
Surprisingly, speculation on Ruby and Sapphire remakes is almost as big as a sequel to Black and White. Older fans are arguing whether it should be a sequel to the original games or a remake, and the newer crowd are looking forward to some interesting gameplay and access to some Hoenn Pokémon! Nonetheless there are many theories and wants by fans flying around, and unsurprisingly as these games were some of Pokémon’s most revolutionary! The introduction of a redefined IV system, the introduction of Natures and Abilities, and even those darned Contests and Double Battles which you learned to love; all improvements from their Gold/Silver/Crystal predecessors.
One of the biggest hopes of many fans is a plotline more intertwined with the legendary Pokémon and specifically the Regi side plot, as now with the trio leader Regigigas it could be an important event in the game. Rayquaza’s role too is speculated at, as he could either be in his dormant Ruby and Sapphire role or his role in Emerald as a peacekeeper between Kyogre and Groudon. Nonetheless in a region supposedly heavily entwined in its mythology there was a real lack of it in the originals, and many hope it rectifies this by taking a more Platinum like approach, using both the Weather Trio and the legendary Golems or Eon duo.
One of the features in the original Ruby/Sapphire games that were quite unused was the Double Battles. Although there was numerous more in Emerald, in the original it mostly constituted of Liza & Tate, Little Girls dressed in pink and Brother and Sisters swimming in the ocean. For one of the new features it was quite underused. My hope is that in the new generation it could become more commonplace, with battles ranging from Team Aqua and Magma grunts to more Veteran double battles, which could only be found once in Meteor Falls in the originals.
The speculation surrounding Pokémon Gray and the Ruby/Sapphire remakes has been highly speculated on and extremely interesting to me as a reader, and this will only continue as more clues and pieces of information are released. However one thing that everyone can agree on is that the future of the Pokémon games looks very fun and interesting. The workers of Game Freak are most likely looking upon drafts of these games and thinking the same thing.
Thanks to Psystrike for help with this article.
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