The upcoming Mega implementation is bad design, for Pokemon GO
Locking Mega Energy to specific Pokemon, while also making Mega Evolutions temporary and cost Mega Energy every time you Mega Evolve, is bad design.
According to the articles that are coming out regarding Mega evolutions, Mega energy is specific to each pokemon, like candy. You have to fight Mega Blastoise to get Mega Blastoise Energy.
Additionally, Mega Evolutions will be time-limited, likely no more than an hour based on this screenshot, and will require Mega Energy each time you want to Mega Evolve. Although the Mega Energy required will be "significantly" less after you Mega Evolve the pokemon once.
Both of these points work to maintain Pokemon lore. In that you need a Mega Stone that is specific to that Pokemon, and that Mega Evolutions are temporary. But the way both of these mechanics work in tandem, it is terrible design with the way Pokemon GO is implemented. Since users *have* to battle lots of one specific Mega Pokemon in order to keep mega evolving that specific Pokemon, this presents a number of problems.
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- Problem 1 is raid spawns
Casual players, or Rural players without a lot of gyms, may not see Mega Raids often enough to stock up on Mega Energy. Let alone Mega Energy for the specific pokemon they need. Which brings us to problem two:
- Problem 2 is the raid pool
We're going to start with the three Kanto starters, and Beedrill. So already there's three, maybe four pokemon that can come out of a Mega Raid Egg. What happens when that pool grows? It's going to be harder and harder to find specific pokemon you want, and maybe harder and harder to find groups who want to battle that specific Mega pokemon, if its been out for a while and people have stocked up on that pokemon's Mega Energy. Additionally, there are so many Megas that eventually, some will need to be rotated out. Which brings us to problem three:
- Problem 3 is energy scarcity, or FOMO
Once a Mega Pokemon is gone from the raid pool, you can't get any more Mega Energy for it until Niantic brings it back. You're stuck with the amount of Mega Energy you have for that Pokemon. Players will start hoarding that energy and not use it, because they can't get more. Once Mega Blastoise rotates out, why should I Mega Evolve my Blastoise and help my raid group now, when he might be so much more useful in potential future raids? And this is all assuming the player got enough Mega Energy to Mega Evolve even once, which I can already foresee being a problem for casual and rural players.
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All three of these problems can be solved if either:
a) Mega Evolutions don't require additional Mega Energy to keep Mega Evolving after you unlock Mega Evolution for that pokemon once,
or b) Mega Energy is generic, like Rare Candy, and can be applied to any Pokemon
And even though those solutions don't really fit into the current "lore" of Mega Evolution, it would be a better design for Mega Evolutions in Pokemon GO.