Key Takeaways
- Gen 10 may break the 3-year development cycle and release in 2026.
- Adding a fifth move slot could be a ground-breaking gimmick for Gen 10, adding a lot of depth to gameplay both in and outside of battles.
- New moves in the fifth slot could be obtained through various methods in the game, such as breeding, Raids, events, trading, and more.
Pokemon Gen 10 is on many fans’ radar, though it’s hard to pinpoint exactly anything about the games at this time. The most likely “surprise” from Gen 10 is that it may break Pokemon‘s three-year development cycle and launch in 2026 instead of next year, releasing alongside the 30th anniversary of the series on the all-but-confirmed Nintendo Switch 2. Still, Gen 10 has the weight of the world on its shoulders after the middling reception of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet due to performance, so it needs to go big in every aspect it can. One such aspect is its gimmick, which could be a total game-changer with a relatively simple change, breaking a series-long tradition.
Pokemon games have broken a lot of traditions so far, even some of the most unthinkable, like Pokemon Legends: Arceus changing how tall grass works. This is a good thing for an almost 30-year-old series that needs to feel refreshing with new titles, and it’s most likely something that Gen 10 will pursue as well. Mega Evolutions were arguably the most loved gimmick in the entire series, and they’re coming back with Pokemon Legends: Z-A, which means that Gen 10 needs something new and yet equally groundbreaking – a fifth move slot.
Why Pokemon Gen 10 Would Be Wise To Break a 30-Year Tradition With Moves
Adding a Fifth Slot For Pokemon Moves Could Make For an Incredible Gimmick
It’s hard to imagine Pokemon games adding a fifth move slot after the series has been adamantly using four in each of its mainline games, even the most daring and different, like Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Yet, Gen 10 could capitalize on this surprise factor to lay the foundations of its gimmick, allowing players to teach all or maybe some of their critters a fifth move. To make things more interesting, maybe these 5th-slot moves could all come from the same list of techniques, sharing some unique traits.
While a move-related gimmick was added not too long ago in the form of Z-Moves, these techniques were used by critters and functioned in a similar way to Mega Evolutions in Gen 6, in the sense that Pokemon had exclusive animations and effects for them. Unlocking a fifth slot for moves would in and of itself be a dramatic change to the pace of battle and strategic team-building in the games, but making these attacks (or even protection techniques) cohesive either in terms of themes or types could be even more interesting. For example, a move available to Grass-type Pokemon could let them deal Water-type damage to Fire critters instead.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus had a move-based gimmick with Agile Style vs. Strong Style attacks, altering the damage dealt negatively or positively, but also altering the critters’ “initiative” in battle positively or negatively, respectively.
A Fifth Slot For Pokemon Moves Would Open Up Endless Gameplay Possibilities
These fifth-slot moves could either be reserved for special occasions, such as story fights against rivals and Gym Leaders or Raid battles, or they could be made available at all times. Another possibility would be to make these moves attainable from defeating and/or catching Pokemon from Raids, either unlocking the moves through breeding and similar means (like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s Mirror Herb) or simply making the moves available to critters sharing those types or themes. These could be sound-based moves for Pokemon like the Jigglypuff line, including Screaming Tail, or maybe camouflage moves for mons like Kecleon and Sceptile.
The sky is the limit for a move-based gimmick, and making players involved in the methods of obtaining new moves for their critters, maybe even including rare ones or event-exclusive ones, could be a fun way to break this 30-year tradition of four move slots. The fifth slot wouldn’t be entirely game-breaking for competitive either if properly balanced, for example posing limitations to Pokemon moves like Protect and Detect in order not to make it just an easier process to make good teams. Regardless of the shape this may take, it seems an interesting idea that would be quite in character for Game Freak to test as a full-blown gimmick after the many concepts introduced in modern games, breaking the mold of what Pokemon games can do.
