Pokémon X & Y are games that I beat twice as a kid and have not really thought about since. When some of my friends asked me if I wanted to run through these games before Pokémon Legends ZA released, I said “Why not?” In my head, I thought it would be fun to revisit a game from my childhood. Throughout my playthrough, I learned a lot of things about myself, specifically that I somehow got worse at Pokémon. Let’s talk about that.
Mega Evolution and the Familiar Pokémon Formula
The gameplay of Pokémon X & Y follows the same procedure the series has had since 1998. You choose your starter Pokémon, this time being Froakie, Fennekin, and Chespin, and then you’re able to traverse the Kalos region with your newfound friends. From there, you collect the eight gym badges, stop the evil team of this region, and fight the Elite Four and finally the champion. Despite the wash and repeat, Pokémon X & Y adds a lot of new interesting aspects to the core gameplay to freshen things up a bit.
Mega Evolution is the biggest thing that GameFreak added to this game. It was so big, people have wanted Megas back ever since 2013. It really feels like a “you had to be there” moment, as I don’t know if I could accurately describe the hype of 13 year old me and the Pokémon community at that point in time. I always thought that it was a cool gimmick, but didn’t truly understand the extent of its usefulness until 2025 when my competitive Pokémon player friend explained it to me. Regardless, Mega Evolution led me to make a few riskier plays than I normally would because of the boosted stats. I’m not ashamed to mention that Mega Venusaur carried me through my time in Y. Mega Evolution also brought some Pokémon back into the spotlight, like my favorite Pokémon, Sableye. It’s a nice way to revitalize some aspects while not needing to create too many Pokémon for the new PokéDex.
The online aspect of these games felt like both a downgrade and an upgrade. A downgrade was that nothing would compare to showing a Pokémon to a random person and trade through what I believe was called LIVE GTS. If you know what it’s called, please let me know so I can sleep at night. The upgrade was that Wonder Trade was a banger. I remember spending hours just trading, trying to get a shiny or legendary Pokémon. It’s probably the reason why my copy of Pokémon Y corrupted twice, on two different cartridges.
The Friend Safari is the last aspect of gameplay I want to talk about. Stepping away from the traditional Safari Zones, X & Y introduced the Friend Safari, a more social version of its predecessor. Each 3DS friend code was tied to a specific type and three Pokémon. While I had friends, and I promise I have friends, I remember spending a lot of time on GameFAQs collecting different Friend Safaris to get the full effect.
Exploring the Kalos Region
What I can say is that Kalos is for sure a region. While I am aware that the region is based on France, I don’t know if I caught that when I originally played the game at 13. At 25, I guess I can see where GameFreak was going. It’s easy to see French references using Lumiose Tower or the different Furfrou coats, but most other things I had to do a quick Google search for.
The pacing of X & Y feel like practically every other Pokémon game I’ve played. Maybe I’ve just been playing this series for a bit too long, but I didn’t care too much about the story of this game. You’re a kid who just moved to town and made friends with all the other kids within the neighborhood. Now, you’ve become the leader of the group somehow, and it’s up to you to make sure all of your friends are fighting fit enough to continue this journey with you. The rest of the game follows your basic Pokémon storyline of getting stronger and becoming the new champion of the region.
Linking to the story, let’s have a chat about Team Flare. Again, I felt like there were no stakes for whatever they were wanting to do in or to Kalos, Revive Xerneas or Yveltal, the legendary Pokémon of life and death respectfully? Apparently it’s nothing that the power of friendship can’t handle. I was just a bit let down by this aspect of the plot. As a kid, I paid no mind, it was another Pokémon game and I was having fun. As an adult, it’s a little harder to miss that.
Friends, Rivals, and the Faces of Kalos
I liked the player character, not because of their model or anything like that, but for the amount of customization that has been added to this game. It’s a detail that GameFreak has thankfully kept around for the majority of games to come.
The friend group that follows you around Kalos? I don’t think I cared much for these characters during any phase of my life. I appreciate that GameFreak was willing to take a gamble with this concept, but unfortunately I feel like they fumbled it. There was also no set rival because of this change. It felt more like a group merely battling one another rather than someone actually testing your strength throughout your shared journey.
Professor Sycamore isn’t my favorite professor in the world of Pokémon, but he consistently ranks high. Between being laid-back, giving you a choice between Froakie or Fennekin, and giving you a Kanto starter? He’s really making sure I was ready for my journey throughout Kalos. And am I happy he did, because I don’t think this game would have been beaten easily without the help of my Venusaur. Just ignore the fact that it was twenty levels above the rest of my team.
Lysandre is definitely a character in this game. While I did think his design was decent, I don’t think he was developed as a character enough. I think this leaked into Team Flare as well. Lysandre hated all the ugliness in the world and wanted to make money. Which is a weird thing to pair with both the Pokémon of life and destruction.
The Series’ First Step Into 3D
Pokémon X & Y were the first handheld games to utilize 3D graphics for the Pokémon, and I honestly found them to be lackluster. I even remember complaining about this when I first played the game. I missed the amount of personality that was conveyed through the sprites in Black & White 2. One point I remember was being confused that Cyndaquil, Quilava, nor Typhlosion had the iconic flames on their back. While these models have gotten somewhat better within the recent years, they were still a letdown thirteen years ago.
When it comes to the OST of this game, I really enjoyed it. It’s not surprising to me though, I feel like I usually enjoy the music that comes from these games. I don’t know if anyone else feels this way, but whatever Pokémon music plays, it always feels nostalgic.
Why Pokémon X & Y Still Matter
Pokémon X & Y won’t ever top the series in multiple different regards, but there’s something there that makes me think about it periodically. This series is one that I’ve been playing for twenty years at this point, and X & Y are one of the quieter entries. Despite that, the quieter entries deserve to be played because they help us remember why we fell in love with the series in the first place.
Play Every Pixel 