"There are also lots of different ways to enjoy Pokemon, not just by battling," says Pokopia lead, who points to Ruby and Sapphire for ways to "scale the Pokemon games in general"

A screenshot of Pokemon Pokopia showing Ditto and Bulbasaur growing more grass in a blocky, green field.

As Pokemon prepares to release its very first life sim, the Animal Crossing-esque Pokemon Pokopia, long-time series developer Shigeru Ohmori says that he's interested in seeking "new possibilities to scale" the games in ways that don't just focus on battles.

The Pokemon series turns 30 years old this month, and in that time, there have been a whole load of spin-offs as well as the main series titles that see you going around, catching and battling, and becoming the very best like no one ever was. In those three decades, however, battles of some sort have remained a focus in most games – there are exceptions, of course (looking at you, Pokemon Snap), as well as facets of the main games that explore different concepts, like the Pokemon Contests introduced in Ruby and Sapphire. Going forward, it sounds like we could expect even more variety.