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When fans discovered EV’s and IV’s, Game Freak slowly transition from continuing to hide their existence, to acknowledging their existence, to providing re-challengeable NPCs you could IV train against blind, to providing in-game measures of EV’s.
Similarly, breeding has become streamlined within just as few generations, from blindly pairing egg groups together, to the destiny knot and everstone and long stretches of bikable paths, to egg moves heritable from either parent. And let’s not forget how rapidly shiny-hunting has gone from a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle to a pastime with it’s very own general on /vp/ thanks Shiny Charms and the Masuda Method.
Now that Nintendo and Game Freak are acknowledging balltism (and have already made up to 2 Johto balls available per game in the latest gen), I suspect that we will only continue to see more opportunities for color-coordinated teams with each game.
And yet, hardcore fans so itch for the next challenge that a fanmade term for self-imposed difficulty such as Nuzlocke has become a common term even to some casual players.
So, what do you think will be the next hyper-autistic pastime in the Pokémon metagame?
Fullest collection of ribbons?
Oldest date hatched/encountered?
Most transfers across generations?
Shortest lifespan between capture and championship?
Highest total maxed PP’s?
And, what do you think Game Freak will do to make Pokéballs lost to time more plentiful again? Special distributions of breedable Pokémon with favorite balls? The return of the Pokéball Boutique? A new version of Ball Capsules? Repaintable balls?
