Pokémon fan has shared their pitch for an Animal Crossing-style game that would blend farming, friendship, and battles within the world of Pokémon. While Nintendo prepares for the 2022 launch of the very first open-world Pokémon game, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the company has yet to create something that mixes cozy games and Pokémon training. With the success of both franchises, the idea is something that's received a lot of love online.

Pokémon is one of the biggest names in gaming, whether players are catching pocket monsters in Pokémon GO or taking off on a full-fledged mainline adventure in titles like Sword and Shield, there's never been more to the series. This year the franchise commemorates its 25th-anniversary, with year-round events and celebrations. The festivities will continue with the release of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl remakes, honoring the 2006 Nintendo DS classics. The remakes will be called Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and will bring the beloved adventures to Nintendo Switch this November.

Related: Animal Crossing Player Builds An Amazingly Cozy 70s-Style Living Room

Stardew Valley fan AlternativeQuality2 had some suggestions for the next Pokémon game, sharing with Reddit their pitch for a spin-off adventure featuring farming, home designing, and mining (via Dexerto). Describing their ideal game as a mixture of Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, and Pokémon, the user even suggested that as well as creating their own towns, players could even design their own battle Gyms. While the game would focus more on the traditional Pokémon theme of friendship rather than fighting, the gamer said: "You could still do battles both with CPU and online players, but in the lulls between you’d be allowed to work together with your Pokémon buddies to grow crops, mine for goodies and build up your homestead (maybe even into a whole town!)."

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The post has over 8.5k upvotes at the time of writing, showing there's definitely a market for such a game. User SkysEevee even imagined how pocket monsters could help on a farm:

"Maybe your starter can help you (grass ones help plant, water helps water the plants, fire can harvest or speed growth up; or pikahcu/eevee just supportive) A professor may need help so you go into the caverns to decipher old runes or to make a report on the pokemon that live in the area."

Life simulations and farming games have seen an increase in popularity thanks to AAA titles like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but also because of the indie genre, which has seen success with cozy games like A Short Hike, Spiritfarer, and Littlewood. Many believe the increase in popularity for wholesome games is partially due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has not only seen an increase in people playing video games, but also an increase in people looking for non-aggressive and non-violent titles to play.

Wholesome Direct is a space dedicated to showcasing games that stray away from violence in favor of "uplifting, thoughtful, compassionate and cozy video games", and this year was recognized as being one of the most impactful shows of E3 2021. The event revealed a mixture of new and upcoming games with a focus on cooking, building, exploring, and more. A third of E3 games this year were non-violent, so it seems that a Pokémon and Animal Crossing-esque game would fit right in with this new wave of cozy and wholesome titles.

Next: Pokémon Go: All July 2021 Field Research Tasks (& Rewards)

Pokémon: Arceus Legends will release January 28, 2022 on Nintendo Switch.

Source: AlternativeQuality2/Reddit (via Dexerto)