Pokémon Gen 10 needs to actually look decent this time, says Serebii's Joe Merrick

Pokémon expert Joe Merrick weighs in on the franchise's future

The Pokémon franchise celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, and fans are hungry for news on what the 10th generation has in store. It’s been almost four years since the release of Scarlet and Violet, and with Pokémon Day on the horizon, information on the next entry feels imminent — but what does the game need to do to succeed? We spoke to Joe Merrick, creator of the venerable Pokémon resource site Serebii, about what he believes the ideal Gen 10 looks like.

When it comes to the success of the next Pokémon game, Merrick believes looks matter for many players. “It needs to be running 4K 60 through DLSS, and that's all it needs,” he says,“It needs to look pretty, and that will just placate everyone.” Voice acting for cutscenes would sweeten the deal even further, although he knows fans would subsequently “find another tree to yell at” following those additions.

With the Nintendo Switch 2’s hardware, there’s a lot of potential for better performance of Gen 10 compared to that of Scarlet and Violet on the original Nintendo Switch. The upgraded Switch 2 version of the game did show massive improvements, successfully running at 60 FPS and fixing a myriad of lag and pop in issues.

Merrick himself is looking for something different in Gen 10, however: he just wants to be genuinely surprised by the franchise that he loves. “I want to just get something new,” Merrick says. “I don't want it to just be the same thing over and over. And so with the game as it is, I think if they just continue shaking things up — the way they had the three different storylines in Scarlet and Violet, if they continue stuff like that, that'll be good in my view.”

The most recent Pokémon games have certainly demonstrated a willingness to experiment. Alongside its three storylines, Scarlet and Violet introduced the idea of an entirely open world, Legends: Z-A switched up the longstanding turn-based combat to real-time, and Legends: Arceus was an incredible blast from the past.

For Merrick, this is a trend he hopes carries on into Gen 10. “Continue with the open world, continue with how they started with Scarlet and Violet,” he says, with one important distinction: they need to nail it this time around.

However, even if the next iteration of Pokémon game meets a high standard in every regard, Merrick is doubtful that criticisms would end. “You can never meet Pokémon fan expectations — never,” he says. In that same vein, Merrick says one of the best things developers could do for the franchise is follow their own path regardless of player outcry.

“I think they should just — and I hate to say it — ignore the community,” Merrick says. “I think that's the best lesson from going to the past, because when they listened to the community more, it kind of makes the game feel a bit less open in my view.” In other words, when the development team is left to their own devices, rather than beholden to player preferences, that’s when the Pokémon franchise can truly shine creatively.