The Pokémon games have never really been known for their stories, but when Pokémon Black and White first came around, its story certainly made some good points. It approached the idea that maybe Pokémon don’t fight to fight one another, or be captured and ‘raised’ against their will. There was a nice back and forth between N and Team Plasma and the main character and his companions. With Black 2 and White 2 being the first ever ‘true’ sequels in the series, and Team Plasma still running amok, you’d think that the story would be just as interesting as its predecessor. It is not.
It’s nice to see Cheren and Bianca after the two year timeskip, as Cheren is an up and coming Gym Leader and Bianca is a full on Assistant to Professor Juniper, but Team Plasma seems to have resorted to Team Rocket levels of involvement. The most interesting development regarding them is the fact that they’ve split up into two groups; with one side still siding with N and making an effort to atone for what they’ve done in the past, and the other who is dead set on stealing other Trainers’ Pokémon. One of which belongs to the younger sister of the new player character’s rival.
Additionally, the game’s legendary Pokémon Zekrom, Reshiram and Kyurem have yet to make any kind of appearance, despite their fused forms being the only thing on the game’s box art. To be fair though, I’ve only made it to the 7th Gym Leader, and things may pick up afterwards. Something I fully expect to happen, seeing as how the 7th Gym Leader is all about the Dragon Types.
Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 are still highly enjoyable Pokémon games and are much more appreciated that the Pokémon Grey many of us we’re probably expecting to get, but after the many questions and ideas Black and White brought up, it’s a bit of a shame to see the story in its sequels be so dull and only marginally interesting. Again, the story may pick up after the 7th Gym, but as it stands now, Black 2 and White 2’s story leaves much to be desired. Even more so when taking Pokémon Gold and Silver into account; as those took place after Red and Blue and saw a few of the characters the player came across moving on with their lives. Finding Blue to be the new Viridian City Gym leader and confronting Red in Mt. Silver proved that things can continue to develop to an interesting point, even after you think everything is said and done. Pokémon Crystal even made Suicune a key part of its story, as it had it, and to a further extent Eusine , popping up every-so-often.
I want Black 2 and White 2 to engage me and get me thinking about the Pokémon themselves again, but this may be a sign of how the series needs a breath of fresh air; the next step in the series’ (I’m sorry for this) evolution. The battling is fine, the collecting of the Pokémon is fine, some of the side stuff you can do is fine; it’s the story that needs working on. The same ‘kid sets off on a journey to fill the Pokédex and confront Team-whatever’ plot is starting to lose its luster.
I will admit, though, that being able to finally catch a wild Eevee is nice (as rare as it can be), so maybe now I can have that all Eeveelution team I’ve dreamt of.
