My Dream Johto Remake: Movie 2000 Integration, Gym Mega Forms, & Fixing the XP Curve!
Hey fellow Pokémon FANS! I’ve been thinking a lot about how Game Freak could give us the ultimate, definitive remake of Johto. We all love this region so much, but let’s be honest—it definitely has some classic flaws that hold it back, like that notoriously slow level curve. I made this concept with so much love for the game and the community, and I really think these features would make it a masterpiece! Check this out:
First off, we need to fix the pacing. Right now, by the time you reach the Elite Four, your Pokémon are just so weak and you're forced to mindlessly grind. Instead, they should add way more trainers along the routes that give massive experience boosts to keep things moving.
They could also do some incredible implementations at the Lake of Rage. Imagine a ton of high-level trainers standing around the lake and out in the water with genuinely tough Pokémon to beat. It would be a fun challenge and the perfect spot to grab great EXP right before the final stretch. Then for the post-game, they could add rare Pokémon from other regions—like finding Feebas hidden deep in the Lake of Rage or inside a dark cave—to give us something awesome to hunt for.
Next up: making gym badges actually feel like an achievement. The Gym Leaders need to be way more difficult, and they should absolutely have brand new Mega Evolutions for their main Pokémon! Picture facing off against Whitney and she pulls out a devastating Mega Miltank to destroy your team, or reaching the end of the line with Clair and her final ace is a brand new Mega Kingdra. Adding fresh Megas across the board would completely shake up the battle meta.
But here is my absolute favorite, craziest idea: completely reworking the Whirl Islands to mirror *Pokémon The Movie 2000*!
Instead of the old layout, you have exactly three islands set up in a perfect triangle referencing the legendary birds—Ice Island for Articuno, Lightning Island for Zapdos, and Fire Island for Moltres. Then, right in the center of the big lake between them, there’s a massive, raging whirlpool.
This is where they bring back the Dive feature from the Hoenn region! You use Dive right at the whirlpool to plunge straight underwater. You get to roam around a deep, dark, dimensional, and incredibly mysterious underwater trench. At the very bottom, you find a hidden cave entrance just like the one before entering Sootopolis City. You go inside, and that’s where you finally wake up Lugia! Once you do, a massive cinematic video triggers—just like the iconic Rayquaza scene in Emerald where it separates Groudon and Kyogre. If you think about it, that high-stakes storyline and the cinematic features are exactly what made Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald so universally loved. Bringing that energy to Johto would be unbelievable.
Let's make this a reality and hope Game Freak comes out with something like this! What do you guys think? Would you play a Johto game built like this? Thank you for reading this and let’s get the directors attention!!! 🙏🏼
