Looking Back:
In Pokémon games, you've always been allowed to carry six pokémon at a time. When starting a new game, it's very important to fill up your party as quickly as possible. Trying to do any serious fighting or exploring without a full party is a bad idea (unless the pokémon you have are seriously over-leveled). That said, it's extremely rare to encounter a random trainer we more than two or three pokémon. Gym leaders are the same and even members of the Elite Four tend to top out at five. From a gameplay standpoint, it makes sense. Battles with random trainers would be much longer and harder if they all carried six pokémon around. From a logical perspective though, it's ridiculous. What's some kid with a couple of weak pokémon doing hanging out and challenging passersby in the middle of nowhere? And when it comes to gym leaders, who are supposed to be these ultimate super amazing trainers, shouldn't they have a full team on hand at all time? Maybe most people in the pokémon games are like Ash in the anime who, despite being a "dedicated pokémon trainer" will almost never catch a pokémon unless it practically begs him to do so. |
