A game without wild Pokémon where the only way to catch them is to steal them from other trainers is a great premise that ties into the story and gameplay perfectly. Then also every battle is a double battle which is actually great and makes me wish the main series went that route. On top of that, the game is set in a weirder and grittier take on the whimsical world of Pokémon that I just adore.

So this game has all that going for it, but really it's kind of tedious. The game's region, Orre, is memorable and diverse and all, but there's so little places to explore or really do anything but Pokémon battle. The battles themselves are just like the Stadium games, so they've got all these silly animations that are great, but take up a lot of time. The game's charm can keep you going for a while, but eventually it's starts to wear you down and make me frown.