"In past games, the enemy was always someone harming Pokémon.
But I started to feel like sticking to the same pattern over and over wasn’t the best approach...
So instead, I wanted to create a character who really loves Pokémon.
That’s how N was born, he loves Pokémon to an extreme degree.
And by flipping the antagonist’s perspective completely, the solid theme of “Pokémon liberation” naturally emerged."
"The concept of liberation is probably a bit hard for kids to grasp.
But as long as the story includes elements like “Chase after that guy!”, I figured even younger players could follow along.
We had to strike the right balance, otherwise, the game could end up feeling like it’s only for adults or only for kids.
We made the story easy to follow, but with some depth, because otherwise, you might have found it boring, right?"
Masuda from an interview