LogFAQs > #971195259

BigOlePappy posted...

Maybe, but every Bulbasaur only has access to the same moves.

The other 1007 Pokemon, however, have access to different moves. I get the notion of offering more build variety, but Pokemon really is not lacking in build variety when you look at it on a team-wide scale and not just your individual Pokemon. Even if you are just looking at Bulbasaur, you've got 20 natures, 15 level up moves (not counting what the evolutions can learn, which adds further options and also variation in terms of choosing when to evolve), a couple dozen TM options, 2 abilities, 5-10 plausible EV training options, dozens of hold items... In practice, only the 3-4 best configurations tend to get used, but that's going to be true no matter how much variety there is, since it's never going to be possible to balance everything perfectly. What you're proposing is just more of what's already there, gated behind an extra interface to pretend they didn't just choose to buff Bulbasaur with some stat boosts and new abilities/moves.

Plus, again, divergent evolutions already do this. You can choose which Eeveelution you want, or what your Snorunt or Kirlia becomes. That doesn't apply to every Pokemon, obviously, but I'm inclined to say that it's common enough to satisfy the basic idea of "I want to make a choice of what sort of Pokemon this ends up being when it's finished."