After 27 years of playing Pokemon games, I'm convinced that no one will ever cut this feature, which I must secretly hate

I started playing Pokemon first time on my birthday thanks for the copy Pokemon redabout 27 years ago. It hooked me for life and became not only my favorite series of games (and cards) ever, but one of my favorite things in the world. I felt he understood me Pokemon games in a way that real people couldn't, and I put so many hours into it over time Pokemon TCG and Pokemon video games that I can't even count. From a random Nuzlock Pokemon red running as my first experience that happened because I was afraid my Pokémon would be hurt and disappointed in me if they passed out in battle, to the shiny hunt of Latios in Pokemon Legends: ZA today, which I was lucky enough to find after only 94 resets, I reckon Pokemon one of the best things that ever happened to me.

That's not to say I don't have any gripes or pet peeves when it comes to that Pokemon games. For example:

I hate how Legends: ZA shear PLAConnection cable
i wish Pokemon Scarlet and Violet had a more pleasant experience after the game, like Dynamax Adventures
I'm sorry Pokemon Sword and Shield for being so good when the Crown Tundra DLC came out because it ruined all future DLC for me and I don't see why the game couldn't have been so good before the DLC even came out
In my opinion, PokemonZ-Moves and Ultra Beasts were some of the worst concepts in a series that incidentally came out with one of my favorite settings and regional Pokedex ever.

The list could go on and I can't see Pokemon red and blue through rose colored glasses because now I think they weren't amazing games even though they started it all. All this to say that I experienced all the subtleties Pokemonand even though it's my favorite video game series, I think it could be even better. Especially if starting Pokemon wind and waveCompetitive battles started to cut out viable legendary pokemon, or at least created supported non-legendary formats.

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Pokemon Gen 10 is basically confirmed to “steal” these legendaries: ZA Features

Pokemon Legends: ZA and its Mega Dimension DLC made many changes to the series' classic formula, and Gen 10 is sure to take advantage of these features.

Why Legendary Pokemon Should Be Story Highlights, Not VGC Fodder

I believe this is a somewhat unpopular opinion, or at least something that doesn't catch on much in online discussions, but I've never liked the concept of Legendary Pokemon. Like, sure, trap Mewtwo inside Pokemon Legends: ZA in Lysandre Labs is a great story tool, much like fighting Rayquaza in Gen 3 after he defeats Groudon and Kyogre. Legendary Pokémon are fine when used in this way, but as soon as I catch them, I immediately box them because I just don't like the idea of having this godlike creature on my team of regular mons who feel more like partners than an omnipotent being ever could.

More importantly, I strongly dislike the fact that VGC always ends up with rulesets where legendary Pokémon are viable in competitive battles because most of the time they distort the meta around them, they become “must-haves” to use, and you have a lot of scenarios where it's just, I don't know, Zacian vs. Zacian, which breaks the immersion completely. Legendary Pokemon most of the time have amazing stats and moves that make them incredibly strong, so it's hard to justify using, say, Sirfetch'd on Terrakion. In addition, many legendaries have unique or very powerful abilities chosen from the common selection, so they end up having an edge over most other creatures. It's not just Legendary, as Mythical Pokemon are sometimes legal too.

How competitive Pokémon evolved from Gen 8 to Legends: ZA

For example, Pokemon Legends: ZARated season 5 has a completely different meta compared to season 4 which allowed all the non-legendary mons from the base game and DLC as opposed to all those creatures with the addition of a dozen legendary or mythic Pokemon. There are many similar scenarios in the history of the series:

Pokemon Legends: ZA's Xerneas dominated all of Season 2 once it was legal thanks to its stats and moves, rendering many of the Pokedex unusable in the rankings. This reduced the number of viable options and created a meta where players could run in circles, all four of them using Xerneas, with those who got an early KO winning the matchup because Xerneas were too hard to take down from afar or impossible to reach up close.
Pokemon Scarlet and VioletKoraidon dominated tournaments and won the 2025 World Championship when paired with Lunala in a meta where each team had a combination of Koraidon, Miraidon, Lunala, Zamazenta, and Calyrex Shadow Rider, given that the rules allowed for two or more legendaries per team. The meta was and still isn't diverse, with most teams using Landorus, Incineroar, Bloodmoon Ursaluna, Urshifu, Chien-Pao, Raging Bolt, Rillaboom, Chi-Yu, and Flutter Mane. Some teams even have four Legendaries at once, like Michael Kelsch's Worlds 2025 team with Zamazenta, Calyrex Shadow Rider, Ogerpon, and Chien-Pao alongside Dragonite and Amoonguss.
Pokemon Sword and Shield's Regieleki was one of the most used legendaries in the game in VGC alongside the usual suspects – Zacian, Landorus, Kyogre, Groudon and Calyrex Shadow Rider. Once limited legendaries became viable, they began to dominate the leaderboards and every team had to include at least two to have a chance to win. GMax Venusaur, Charizard, and Rillaboom were used alongside them, with Zapdos and some Ultra Beasts also rearing their heads, but most of the battles were decided by the chosen Legendaries.

The best Pokemon Scarlet and Violet strategies were early meta

The list goes on again. These are just the three newest competitive formats in the series, and Gen 10 will be no different. Sure, legendaries are banned to begin with, and it makes sense to eventually add more Pokémon to each rule set, but restricting legendaries and legendaries in general are always meta-warping, no matter what. Why Use Tailwind Prankster Murkrow v Pokemon Scarlet and Violet if you can use Koraidon or Miraidon? They're completely different animals, literally, but there's a magic in the early VGC meta where you can use weird strategies and still win.

How legendary Pokemon are ruining the series

You can tell me that off-meta or anti-meta Pokemon win all the time, and while that is somewhat true, it's the exception and not the rule, nor is it that common the later it gets at any given moment. Pokemon competitive game durability. I would honestly play Pokemon VGC still if there weren't so many Legendaries in the meta because I think by default they make meta comps more boring and less interesting. Having one legendary, two at the most, could be fun, but stacking four of them into battles where you take four of your team's pokemon instead of all six means it's still going to be the same stuff most of the time. It's uninteresting to play and uninteresting to watch if you ask me. I would say that it is also uninteresting to build such teams.

Competitive Pokemon should be a celebration of all the critters and the strategies you can create with them, rather than a showdown of unique divine creatures fighting each other. Where are the unique builds like Booster Energy Iron Jugulis going first with Tailwind against Prankster users like Whimsicott or even Wolfe Glick's Perish Trap team? They get representation in game life, but at some point they're just replaced by legendary slop, and these unique, fun builds are mostly limited to EV spans to specifically outlive a given move by a certain month, or boil down to what kind of held item one uses.

My perfect Pokemon game hasn't been made yet and probably never will be

To me, Legendary are just the death knell for variety and fun in competition, and I wish there was an officially supported ruleset of equal importance in the later stages of VGC. Pokemon generation where you can use all the pets in the game without legendaries or a very limited number of them. What I grind shiny Gimmighoul in Pokemon Legends: ZA because if Gholdengo is barely usable for one season before the Legendaries take over? Sure, I now have shiny Gholdengo, which I didn't have in Gen 9, but I wish there was more variety so I could train and battle my hordes of shiny critters, even test new strategies without feeling like I'm giving away wins. Give me a Thick Club Earthquake Marowak that blasts a Pokémon that isn't weak to ground, moves over Mega Mewtwo Y or Xerneas and destroys everything any day of the week.

Pokemon Fan Art imagines two mega evolutions for Marowak

Unfortunately after 27 years of playing the most Pokemon games ever made, I can't honestly say there will ever be a time when Legendaries won't be a key part of competitive play, or that there will be an officially supported mode with the same recognition as dual battles in VGC where you just use the base game + DLC mons. There will be phases in future games where this is possible, and I will love them dearly, but these brief eras will always culminate in legendary dominance, for better or for worse.