Serebii Founder: Pokémon Gen 10 Must Ignore the Community to Reach Its Full Potential

As the Pokémon franchise nears its landmark 30th anniversary, the global community is vibrating with anticipation for the arrival of Generation 10. It has been nearly four years since the debut of Scarlet and Violet, and with Pokémon Day looming, enthusiasts are looking for any sign of what comes next. To understand what the next chapter needs to achieve to truly resonate, we spoke with Joe Merrick, the founder of the legendary Pokémon encyclopedia Serebii, to discuss his vision for the series’ future.

When discussing the potential success of Gen 10, Merrick emphasizes that technical polish is a high priority for many. “The game needs to hit 4K resolution at a steady 60 FPS using DLSS—that would be enough to win people over,” he explains. “A visually stunning presentation would likely pacate the broader audience.” He adds that the introduction of full voice acting for cinematics would be a significant upgrade, though he jokingly notes that the fanbase would inevitably “find something else to complain about” regardless of these improvements.

The rumored capabilities of the Nintendo Switch 2 offer a promising foundation for Gen 10, potentially moving past the optimization hurdles that Scarlet and Violet faced on the original hardware. Given how much smoother the previous titles run on beefier hardware—eliminating lag and distracting pop-in—the next generation has a chance to set a new standard for performance.

However, Merrick’s personal hopes for Gen 10 go beyond just graphics; he wants to be genuinely surprised. “I’m looking for something that feels fresh,” Merrick says. “I don’t want a repetitive loop. If they continue to experiment with non-linear storytelling—much like the three-path narrative in Scarlet and Violet—I think the game will be on the right track.”

Recent installments have proven that Game Freak is willing to take risks. Scarlet and Violet transitioned the series into a fully open world, Legends: Arceus took a bold step into the franchise’s past, and the upcoming Legends: Z-A is expected to further iterate on real-time elements.

Merrick hopes this culture of innovation persists into Gen 10. “They should stick with the open-world format they pioneered in Scarlet and Violet,” he suggests, while stressing that the execution needs to be far more refined this time around.

Despite the potential for a masterpiece, Merrick remains skeptical that the vocal portion of the fanbase will ever be fully satisfied. “Meeting the expectations of Pokémon fans is an impossible task,” he remarks. Because of this, he believes the developers should prioritize their own creative vision over community demands.

“I think they should—as controversial as it sounds—ignore the community noise,” Merrick says. “Looking back, the games often feel less restricted when the developers aren’t just checking off boxes requested by the fans.” In his view, giving the development team the freedom to follow their own instincts is the only way for the franchise to maintain its creative spark.

Source: Polygon