What would your ideal new ride/companion Pokémon be like?

[bugfacts]

I feel like there’s a pretty decent chance that the Generation X games will carry forward enough of Paldea’s environmental design philosophy that it’s not unreasonable to assume we will get new bespoke companion Pokémon who serve as our primary means of traversal.

And even if not, I don’t think Koraidon and Miraidon are the last example of it we will ever see! Someday, sooner or later, we’re going to get another game with more ambitious Pokémon-based traversal. I think. I hope. Lol.

So! With that premise in mind, what would the ideal version of this look like to you?

Did Koraidon or Miraidon fall short in any key ways? Are there aspects of Legends Arceus’ ride Pokémon you wish had carried over or might return? Do you think they will go back to having multiple different companions ala PLA and SuMo/USUM? Or do you think we’ll get another “Jack of all trades” creature who can do it all? What would you prefer? And what do you want it to look like?

 

[Bolt Strike]

So this is a scenario where what I want to happen and what I think will happen is two different things.

What I want to happen is something more like how LGPE handled riding Pokemon, just let you ride whatever Pokemon you want. Any Pokemon that makes sense to use a field move can. That would bring it closer to how it originally worked with HMs and bring back the spirit of HMs without reviving the moveset issues.

What I think will happen? Jack of all trades. I think they want that to be the new normal. It's just the simplest thing for them to do development wise, rather than modeling and rigging multiple Pokemon for use with field moves, just have one (or two if they want to use version exclusive mascots again) that can do it all to save time and money. This is Game Freak we're talking about here, they're going to go the cheap, disappointing option for this.

As far as what I want to see them improve on that's within reason for Game Freak to do, bring back Diving. Modern adventure games typically have underwater mechanics of some kind and it would help with water spawns that irritatingly swim underwater where you can't get to them. It would also be a step forward for the mechanic if they can make diving seamless like most adventure games. Like, if you can dive/resurface to whatever depth you want at will instead of RSE and BW/BW2's "press B to warp to an underwater map" method. Not exactly a bold step for the industry in general (other adventure games have been doing this for 20 years, so this would be more of another "welcome to 1996" sort of moment) but definitely a massive step forward for Pokemon.

 

[ninazrdl]

I want my bicycles back. Bicycles are waaaaaaaay better than riding pokemons, both gameplay wise and story wise.
Gameplay wise, they are slimmer, more agile, they don't get stuck in weird places, you don't have to get off the bicycle and walk and get on it again. Also they are nice looking. Remember how you can choose the look of your bicycle back in SS time? Great time. The SV motordragons are chubby, they get stuck everywhere, on all sorts of different places, they can't get into small alley ways, they are so huge and the PC is so small that it looks hopeless.
Story wise, pokemons are friends, not tools, right? I understand in Legends Arceus people ride pokemons, because it's history. Just like our ancestors rode horses or camels or whatever, depending on where they were. But just like how modern camel riding and donkey riding are considered to be animal cruelty, we shouldn't be seeing more people riding pokemons as the time goes. The idea of "you can ride your pokemons" just doesn't move me in any good way. For futuristic stages like ZA, I think it makes more sense to use normal machines like other sci-fi to deal with the daily obstacles. The La Rousse city from the movies look futuristic? Why not go down that route.
I am fine with taking pokemons a walk like the Let's Gos and SS DLCs did. I would like to see more things like that, maybe a dialog when the PC interacts with them, or a minigame like feeding them snacks or grooming them or something. I would like to hold some small pokemons like the Togepi in anime series too.

 

[Eitarou]

Friends also help each other in times of need, so I can’t imagine why someone wouldn’t use their 500 pound dragon to traverse over rough and dangerous terrain. They can take it; we the player cannot.

 

[Daren]

Disclaimer that I skipped S/V, but I did like the idea behind having a Pokémon help you travel, and it allows a Pokémon connected to the player to have some actual story significance.
Considering the generally very positive reception I saw over Koraidon and Miraidon I won't be surprised if the concept stays for a while--if not always with a legendary. Let's Go arguably set the whole concept up, after all.