The Pokémon franchise expands every year, with the new Nintendo Switch platform allowing the games to take a more modern approach to RPGs in Sword and Shield, as well as the recent Legends: Arceus. If Nintendo is willing to attempt a modern RPG-style game, trying for an MMORPG isn't too advanced.
There are many reasons why an MMORPG would be great for the community, especially given the number of dedicated fans the games have had since they began over twenty-five years ago. The world of Pokémon is ever-expanding, but also unfortunately limited in certain ways, so the introduction of a Pokémon MMORPG game could be incredibly beneficial to the franchise.
Long-Term Fan Appreciation
The reason Pokémon games rotate between new generations and old generation remakes is surely due to the long-standing passion of older fans. Many players feel nostalgic for old games, old worlds, old styles, and especially old Pocket Monsters, so making them relevant again is a great way to keep older fans engaged.
The recent remakes, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, show how successful reintroducing old content can be, but mixing old and new is where the games particularly succeed. An MMORPG would have access to multiple zones and hopefully the full Pokédex.
Competitive PvP
Sword and Shield offered great end game content in terms of ranked player vs. player modes, but those games were missing a large amount of the Pokédex. PvP Games are extremely popular right now, with games like Fortnite, League of Legends, and Valorant dominating Twitch more often than not.
An MMORPG could offer not only open-world dueling but also end-game ranked PvP. Traveling through multiple zones to gather the strongest Pokémon to compete in tournaments would give players a feeling they've desired since watching the animated series.
Explore Multiple Regions
Gold and Silver offered Pokémon fans the option to travel back to the Kanto region after completing the main story in Johto, which is considered to be one of Pokémon's best regions. Due to that extra step, those games and their remakes are considered to be some of the strongest of the franchise's titles.
Scaling each region to the player's party would be immensely difficult, so the game would have to add level limits for different zones and gyms, making sure that each zone would still be a challenging experience. This would allow for players to develop new teams in each zone as well, instead of just zooming through them with their over-leveled lineups from previous regions.
Player Interactions While Traveling
One of the best parts about Ash's journey in the Pokémon animated series was the friends he met along the way. So why shouldn't the players get the same? Video game NPCs are one thing, but the ability to battle through zones with real players and make friends like many do in MMORPGs is a whole new experience.
To be able to stop and trade items or Pokémon, practice battling, or party up to work together through the game would make revisiting old zones far more bearable, rather than the repetitive grind MMORPG games tend to have while leveling.
The Full Pokédex
None of the major titles on the Switch so far have had access to the full Pokédex, despite the integration of the Pokémon Home app. The app has allowed players to bring together all of their Pokémon from previous generations.
But what's the point of bringing them all onto the newest platform if they're going to sit in a box on the player's phone until a new game allows them to be used. Even the Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl games haven't allowed integration with the app yet. An MMORPG allowing players to bring in their old game Pokémon after completing zones would allow for some great collections.
More Challenging Gym Battles
To be able to journey from zone to zone, different gyms would have to allow different degrees of difficulty for the opposing player's skill level. To re-battle some of the toughest gym leaders would be an exciting experience for long-time fans who are used to breezing through each battle by beating their opponents in one shot.
Pokémon players have developed really advanced skills in competitive play, so the regular gym leader battles are nothing to them. An option to take on more challenging fights would be great fun for players, especially given the rising popularity of PvE content in games like Elden Ring.
Non-Linear Player Choices
One of the biggest reasons for the success of Legends: Arceus has been the availability of side missions and content not based around the main storyline. Pokémon games have been consistently linear since their beginning, with players forced to follow one storyline with very limited choices of their own.
An MMORPG setting would hopefully change that, allowing players to travel between worlds freely, fight gyms and crime organizations as they please, and capture the Pokémon they want.
Built To Last Multiple Years
Much of the criticism around recent Pokémon games has been due to games feeling rushed, and the reason for that is that they've been released yearly. An MMORPG game would be built to last and updated regularly. Surely the graphics would become outdated in time, but Pokémon fans aren't new to retro looks.
A Pokémon MMORPG game would ideally take years to develop with the intention of lasting a long time with updates for new generations and content. Similar to Pokémon GO, the game could release generations over time to constantly keep players refreshed with content.
Player Economy
Another success from Legends: Arceus was the ability to craft items, an RPG element that the title introduced to the Pokémon franchise. Many recent MMORPGs have had crafting gameplay. Rather than buying items at PokéMarts, players could make the items themselves with items found in the wilderness and sell them to others.
With a wide variety of items in the Pokémon games, it could allow for progression systems like the popular crafting in the recent MMORPG, New World.
More Character Customization
A criticism of the Pokémon franchise has been the lack of customization. Recent games have offered the ability to pick between several skin and hair colors for the player's character, as well as added customizable hair and clothing, but the character customization options are still very limited.
At least the games are offering more than just the option to be the male or female variant of that generation's main character, and Legends: Arceus offered some great clothing options, but having detailed character customization is vastly important in RPG games, so an MMORPG would have to do the same.