"Unpopular Opinion: Pokemon X/Y actually had a great story, but it’s godawful pacing held it back"

I know a lot of people look down upon the story of Pokémon X/Y, especially when compared to the two gens it is sandwiched between, but hear me out here. Out of the last three gens, the story of X/Y actually had the most emotional impact on me. There’s a lot of potential here- I love the backstory of the Great War 3,000 years ago and how the remnants manage to play their part today. This homeless looming man you met turns out to be the great king from 3,000 years ago. The innocent looking stones near Geosenge Town turn out to be the graves of Pokémon from the war. The literal ultimate weapon from 3,000 years ago erupts from the ground of Geosenge Town and threatens to kill everyone. And the cutscene where AZ talks about Floette almost brought me to tears because the storytelling was so beautifully presented.The problem with all of this is that it is barely foreshadowed throughout the game so all of these plot twists and reveals just come out of nowhere and lack a true punch. Team Flare just seems like a bunch of bumbling idiots so the declaration that the world is about to end just seems ridiculous. You literally only meet AZ once before the climax, and there’s not much focus on this Great Pokémon War until the climax itself. There’s also almost zero focus on Geosenge Town or the stones until the climax.If the writers decided to have AZ interact with you more often and focus a little more on the mysteries of Kalos’s past and Geosenge Town throughout the story, the end effect could have been much better. This would allow you to contemplate all these mysteries and their connection before the climax, making the reveal of the actual significance of these things much more impactful. AZ’s capture seems meaningless to us if we don’t know his character. Had he really interacted with us this entire game and endeared himself to us it could’ve felt a lot different. In addition, Lysandre needs a complete makeover. It’s cool to play the “evil team leader is someone you never suspected the whole time” card for once, but then they dressed Lysandre so obviously that it made the entire story feel comical.Honestly, I wish they hadn’t messed up the lead up to the climax in X/Y so much because there’s a lot of substance there that could’ve felt impactful to people had the build up been done better. What are your thoughts? via /r/pokemon http://bit.ly/2KzrblN