Forget character customization – let me dress up Pokemon in Gen 10

Pokemon Gen 10 has the chance to introduce a feature that is already prominent in Pokemon Unite and Pokemon Go – let us dress up our ‘mons in fancy outfits.

The Pokemon series has always had an iffy relationship with character customization, despite it being a highly-requested feature among players. We’re lucky if we have more than a handful of haircuts and skin tones for the protagonists, never mind clothes.

As the recent Pokemon Go avatar controversy has shown, fans are passionate about creating a character that reflects their vision for the Pokemon world.

But what about the Pokemon themselves? Pokemon Go has included event ‘mons wearing outfits but these are extremely rare in the mainline games. Most of the time, it’s restricted to alternate versions of Pikachu, all donning different outfits.

The Pokemon Company

Right now, the main visual customizations for Pokemon are Shiny variants, gender differences, and cases of Pokemon like Spinda, which have a unique gimmick.

I want the ability to put on individual clothing and throw on full outfits. Any customization will help my Pokemon feel unique to me, especially when I pit them against other players.

As discussed by fans online, players badly want the ability to customize their favorite Pokemon’s aesthetic. This would also tie in perfectly with a return for Pokemon Contests, should Game Freak ever decide to bring them back.

Now, how feasible this is is another matter. Pokemon Scarlet & Violet struggled with landscape textures, so adding clothing for hundreds of Pokemon might be too much. Then again, what was Terastallization other than adding fancy hats to every Pokemon in the game?

Pokemon Legends Z-A isn’t coming out until 2025, so it might be a few years before we see Gen 10. This will hopefully give the developers time to put out a quality product, which will hopefully include the option to dress up my Pokemon and make them truly mine.