The first major task players are given at the start of every mainline The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's compendium, players would have a more substantial role in recording a Pokémon's information.
At the start of every mainline Pokémon game, trainers meet the local Pokémon professor and are given their first Pokémon and an empty Pokédex. The professor then explains that he would be extremely grateful if the trainer would record every Pokémon they encounter along the way. However, the bio entries and photos of every Pokémon are automatically filled when a Pokémon is encountered. While the trainer is technically fulfilling their duty, they don't have an active role in providing any of the Pokédex entry's information. Some players may question why the professor even needs the trainers in the first place.
Pokémon games have a very heavy focus on capturing creatures and using them in battle, but there is a lot of potential to expand on some of the franchise's established elements. The Pokédex is one glaring feature that needs a gameplay overhaul, and revamping the way players document Pokémon could add a fun and engaging layer to future Pokémon titles. Since Pokémon games are Nintendo-exclusives, why not take a page from the BOTW playbook?
The Pokédex Needs To Be More Like BOTW's Compendium
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has a compendium that is very similar to the Pokédex. However, it requires a bit more work to fill out than just encountering enemies or animals. Link has to actually take pictures of what he wants to record using the Sheikah Slate's built-in camera. This means players have to play the role of a photographer - much like in the game New Pokémon Snap - to capture shots of every enemy, animal, item, and weapon in Hyrule to fill out their compendium. Luckily, the compendium fills out the bios, saving the players from writing their own descriptions of each creature.
As Pokémon games further dip into 3D environments, having players take photos of Pokémon in mainline titles is becoming a real possibility. It would be more meaningful to have trainers take their own Pokédex photos, and would add a lot of content to an already massive collectathon. Pokémon Snap is solely based on the idea of filling a Pokédex by "capturing" Pokémon with a camera. But merging both Pokémon Snap and the mainline Pokémon games doesn't seem like a far-fetched idea. If Super Mario Odyssey and BOTW were able to integrate photo modes, then Pokémon should have no problem doing the same. Also, it wouldn't have to be any different than how Breath of the Wild's compendium operates, making it easier for Game Freak to adapt Nintendo's pre-existing mechanics to the world of Pokémon.
