Fire Emblem is a damn good franchise and the latest iteration, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, was a fine showcase of the series at its best. It features an awesome story, compelling gameplay, a school almost as exciting as Hogwarts and a score that we’re constantly humming in our heads. Still though, Fire Emblem could be better. It’s time for a Fire Emblem x Pokemon crossover.
When I think of Pokemon, I think first of the actual creatures themselves and then the world in which they inhabit. The regions are always exciting and the Pokemon that live and breathe uniquely within each of those regions is always fascinating, even if the designs can get a little weird.
Despite that, after an annual release of traditional Pokemon games each year, I desperately yearn for something else.
I’ve rattled my brain countless times attempting to come up with the perfect crossover for Pokemon, but nothing has ever stuck. That is, until I started playing Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
Three Houses is the first Fire Emblem game I’ve ever played. I haven’t played nor seen a second of any other game in the series. The closest I’ve come to a Fire Emblem game before Three Houses was in Super Smash Bros.
Nonetheless, I found myself looking for the next Switch title to purchase after putting in over 30 hours into Super Mario Maker 2 and after universal praise for the latest Fire Emblem, my decision was made.
Well, I’ve just hit 25 hours in the game and I can’t shake the thought of this exact game but instead of the students doing the fighting, we have Pokemon commanded by those same students do the dirty work.
I know this idea is perfect because it basically already happened in 2012 with Pokemon Conquest, which was the last strategy RPG I played before Three Houses. Conquest sees you essentially reunite a kingdom of warriors and lords through the use of strategy combat via your Pokemon.
Unlike some games, cough cough Let’s Go Eevee, Conquest allowed you to evolve your Eevee and didn’t rely on weird Veevee Volley and Bouncy Bubble moves to actually make Eevee worth using.
Instead of the traditional turn-based combat Pokemon has relied on for decades, Conquest sees you maneuvering your Pokemon around a grid-based map, much in the same way as Fire Emblem.
Come to think of it, Pokemon Conquest was basically Fire Emblem: Pokemon except it lacked one thing: Intelligent Systems.
Conquest was developed by Koei Tecmo and takes place in their Nobunaga universe. The game’s Japanese title literally translates to Pokemon + Nobunaga’s Ambition. For this reason, the game takes place in a universe that’s already been created. This is where Intelligent Systems comes in.
Instead of relying on a universe with laws and rules already decided, Intelligent Systems could create a brand new world, something they’re quite good at, and fill it with Pokemon.
Of course, there would need to be the standard heroes and villains we’ve come to know and love of Fire Emblem, but each of those characters could instead rely on the power of their Pokemon to gain ground in conquest, war or whatever situation they’re in this time around.
Honestly, this Fire Emblem x Pokemon crossover could easily come as a What If-like DLC to Three Houses. Byleth can go to a foreign region where he or she discovers Pokemon.
They can let those at the monastery know and Byleth can serve as the honorary professor of Pokemon training. From that point, Byleth, the knights, the professors, and students can all fight using Pokemon instead of their own weapons.
Now, this would require GameFreak to allow Pokemon to actually die rather than faint as Fire Emblem doesn’t usually play around with such trivial matters as the line between fainting and dying — if you die, you die.
Speaking more specifically to the combat, the world of Pokemon is already made to adapt to the combat of Fire Emblem. Instead of wyverns and horses, mounted characters could ride atop a Pokemon (think Charizard and Rapidash).
All of the other Fire Emblem classes are ingrained within the world of Pokemon too. They just differ in name.
Decidueye is definitely an archer. Gardevoir is a sword master. Delibird is absolutely a thief and Chancey is a priest. I mean, I could do this all day. Even their moves translate well.
Where Fire Emblem could really improve upon the Pokemon series is the story. Let’s be honest with ourselves: Pokemon has never been known for its story but Fire Emblem sure has.
Imagine a story about Pokemon on the caliber of a Fire Emblem story. We’d laugh, we’d cry, we’d plot our revenge, we’d reset our Switch to keep a character alive and we’d do whatever we must to make Nurse Joy fall in love with us.
What I’m trying to say in all of this is that Fire Emblem and Pokemon are a match made in heaven in more ways than one and we, as fans of both series, desperately want to see this would-be series come to life.
It’s time for a Fire Emblem x Pokemon crossover. Who’s with us?
For more information about Pokemon, Fire Emblem or this dream crossover when it happens (we’re trying to will it into existence at this point), be sure to stick to Twinfinite.
