Opinions opinions lol. This gen designs have been awesome overall. One of the best imo

...I have absolutely no idea where you got those XY numbers from. It sold 4 million on its first weekend (4 million is 10 million less than BW), and Nintendo just announced it surpassed BW in sales. Also, the 3DS is the lowest handheld install base Nintendo's ever had.

About Ash-Greninja... it might be popular among 6-year-olds. That doesn't make it any less stupid. It's an alternate form of Greninja that was "created by the bond between him and Ash" (the corny shit already starts there) and supposedly makes them both connect feelings to each other or some crap. It was stupid in the anime, and it's even more stupid in the games. Also, lol "not as good as regular Greninja"... that thing's instantly going to be banned to uber, and maybe even more.

And the legendary thing... well, may I explain more on that.

In the first two generations, the legendaries were just mythical creatures that were there minding their own business. They weren't shoehorned into the story at all. Then, from the third generation all the way to the start of the sixth generation (XY), the main cover legendaries were always meddled into the story, because the villain team always had something to do with them and it was up to you to stop them.

But in OR/AS, you're literally halted midway through your adventure to go to some random island and capture Latios/Latias because it "likes" you or some shit and you're its "chosen one", and then at the end of the game you're rewarded with the thing that lets you fly on them because of your "amazing bond" with them despite the fact that, if you were like me and didn't give a crap about them, you had them boxed from the moment you captured them and never looked back. Then of course there's the Delta Episode, where it's revealed that there's a traditional civilization that had Rayquaza as a sort of guardian, and every once in a while there was a certain person from that place that was chosen by Rayquaza to do some shit... until OR/AS come along and some random 10-year-old kid that's not even from Hoenn (let alone the place where those people lived) is chosen, just because.

All that stuff is just stupid. Mega Evolutions were fine in XY story-wise because they never specified your bond with a certain Pokémon, therefore not making things dumb - it gets dumb when they specify a certain Pokémon and it's one you don't give a crap about and only obtained because the game forced you to.

My criticism comes from the fact that Pokémon has changed too much and doesn't feel like itself anymore, and that much is obviously true because the series does have a new director and he has stated he's trying to implement his own vision and interpretation on the franchise.

One might like it or not (I absolutely despise it, and I'm definitely not alone on that feeling), but denying that Pokémon has changed is denying the truth.

Also, Ash-Greninja is stupid.

Gumshoos is actually a smart concept. Based off of a "gumshoe", which is a detective. Its stance also gives it that detective-like appearance.

Only problem is everyone thinks he's a Trump clone lol

lol you remind me of the SM3D World haters when the initial trailers released. You have extremely nitpicky criticisms, wait until the game arrives lol.

Also the XY anime is one of the best animes out of the Pokemon series (barring championship episode), and I think Ash-Greninja is a great concept. And so does many other adults, not just 6-year-olds like you claim. Calm down with your assumptions boi.

All the people who doubted the resurgence of Pokemania be like...

Nice use of Skyy. lol

Congrats to Sun and Moon. Still on the fence about, but if I get it, it'll be Moon.

I think this discussion has mostly run its course, but I have to point out your point about change is very inconsistent.

Ever since Pokémon began, it has always remained mostly the same. Changes in how IV's and EV's work, the addition of Natures and maybe even Abilities, double/triple/rotation battles, new villains, 2D to 3D (merely aesthetic change), night and day cycle, and even new types... those are either natural evolution kind of changes (such as graphics), subtle changes (like IV's) or additions to the battle system to make it more balanced and/or more varied (types and abilities).

Case in point, the biggest changes in Pokémon from 1996 to early 2013 were the additions of the Dark, Steel and Fairy types as well as the addition of Abilities. That's not a lot of big changes, if you ask me - and that's because Pokémon has always been an "evolutionary" series, in the sense that every game just keeps building content on top of the last one.

The first truly big change in the history of Pokémon ever since its beginnings was Mega Evolution. Back then, it was also the only one, with the rest of the game (X/Y) remaining mostly very true to everything the franchise had ever been.

Now with Sun/Moon, there were A LOT of huge changes like Mega Evolution (UBs, Z-moves, Alola Forms and the lack of gyms altogether), to the point where it just becomes weird and hard to accept for a lot of people. I actually know a lot of friends who were super hyped for Sun/Moon and eventually grew to the point of disgust just like I have, and that's because all of them, and myself, feel like they no longer know the same franchise.

Having new villains, new regions based on other places, new extra features... all that stuff is fine. I'd probably be very hyped for Sun/Moon if it simply didn't have the Alola Forms, Z-moves and Ash-Greninja, and instead had focused its trailers on an interesting new story about Ultra Beasts and Team Skull, while still being on Alola and not having gyms. Not having gyms and having these UBs would already be a big enough change to make this game VERY different from the rest of the series, actually.

The problem isn't that they're changing the formula and creating new, different content - the problem is that they're changing stuff we already know and love and turning those things into something completely different that we don't know and love.