Regional forms

[Adam Levine]

In my opinion, regional forms are one of the best ideas Pokémon has had in a while, because their inclusion does three things at once really well:
1. Regional forms are a sign of Pokémon taking cues from real-world ecology, and it's an approach I'm glad they're taking. Species in the real world can develop any number of adaptations to survive in different environments, and regional forms reflect that.
2. Much like Mega Evolutions, they breathe new life into old Pokémon. Pokémon that could be looked at from another perspective, for example Farfetch'd, Corsola, and Lilligant, have regional forms that epitomize this really well. Considering there are just so many Pokémon and many of them could use some "brushing up," regional forms are as good a way to throw them a bone as buffing them outright, and in my eyes, are a better alternative to introducing a completely new Pokémon that might end up similar to an older one anyway (Conkeldurr and Machamp, for example).
3. They do more with less. Regional forms can generate as much hype as completely new Pokémon do, if not more depending on what Pokémon get them, and can be just as distinct as well with a few type, ability, and movepool changes, but regional forms require fewer resources to develop than completely new Pokémon. While some may hold this against Game Freak as them being "lazy," it's actually somewhat strange to me that Pokémon doesn't have more "monster reskins" that most JRPGs are full of, so technically regional forms could be indicative of Pokémon taking cues from JRPGs as well. I'm kind of a minimalist, and I'd much prefer a smaller national dex anyway; if regional forms were counted as separate Pokémon from the species they evolved from, the dex would be a little more bloated.

Convergent species are weird, though. We only have two lines of them, so there's a lot of untapped potential. While they really only accomplish the first goal I mentioned earlier (taking cues from real-world ecology), there's a lot more they can do. I remember seeing concepts for pillbugs that, when rolled up, resemble Voltorb and Electrode, and insects that mimic Kanto's legendary birds (as a reference to the real-world beetle species whose scientific names are derived from the birds). Convergent evolution could go much further than superficial resemblances, and I can't wait to see what else Game Freak does with this concept. For example, imagine a Pokémon that looks completely unique, but when it evolves it resembles an older Pokémon (so that the "evolution" part of "convergent evolution" plays here twofold).

 

[Sweet Serenity]

In my opinion, regional forms are one of the best ideas Pokémon has had in a while, because their inclusion does three things at once really well:
1. Regional forms are a sign of Pokémon taking cues from real-world ecology, and it's an approach I'm glad they're taking. Species in the real world can develop any number of adaptations to survive in different environments, and regional forms reflect that.

While taking cues from real-world ecology sounds interesting on paper, it is not good from a practical standpoint. From a practical standpoint, as I mentioned before in my first post in the thread, regional variants create more inconvenience than anything. For instance, if Pokémon ever made a future game where Farfetch'd existed that didn't take place in Galar, it wouldn't be able to evolve into Sirfetch'd in that game. To get Sirfetch'd, you would be forced to transfer it. In that sense, it seems that "real-world ecology" becomes more of a hindrance to players rather than a cool feature based upon real-life nature.

2. Much like Mega Evolutions, they breathe new life into old Pokémon. Pokémon that could be looked at from another perspective, for example Farfetch'd, Corsola, and Lilligant, have regional forms that epitomize this really well. Considering there are just so many Pokémon and many of them could use some "brushing up," regional forms are as good a way to throw them a bone as buffing them outright, and in my eyes, are a better alternative to introducing a completely new Pokémon that might end up similar to an older one anyway (Conkeldurr and Machamp, for example).

Regional forms actually do not breathe life into old Pokémon. If anything, regional forms usually either wind up being borderline unused if they're lackluster, or completely invalidate old Pokémon if they're good. For instance, players never cared to use a Pokémon such as Corsola, but Galar Corsola received a ton of use because it had a better typing, abilities, and movepool to make it an effective staller. As a result, this only leaves normal Corsola in the dust. Yet, because many regional variants don't see much use anyway, many of them simply take up space when other Pokémon could have been created. If Game Freak wanted to "brush up" old Pokémon, they could simply buff their stats, abilities, and movepools and have a character in-game, such as a professor, mention the changes. The professor can say, "I found out these specific Pokémon are stronger than people once thought and can do more than what was previously known!" Then the professor can encourage you to catch and train them to see the differences for yourself. Thus, old Pokémon can have new life breathed into them without wasting space on cheap reskins.

3. They do more with less. Regional forms can generate as much hype as completely new Pokémon do, if not more depending on what Pokémon get them, and can be just as distinct as well with a few type, ability, and movepool changes, but regional forms require fewer resources to develop than completely new Pokémon. While some may hold this against Game Freak as them being "lazy," it's actually somewhat strange to me that Pokémon doesn't have more "monster reskins" that most JRPGs are full of, so technically regional forms could be indicative of Pokémon taking cues from JRPGs as well. I'm kind of a minimalist, and I'd much prefer a smaller national dex anyway; if regional forms were counted as separate Pokémon from the species they evolved from, the dex would be a little more bloated.

"A lot less" is not always a good thing and neither is generating hype. Practicality should be the most important thing. Wanting to do a lot less with fewer resources entails laziness, which doesn't help the franchise. All it does is encourages Game Freak to keep designing copies of the same Pokémon with minor differences rather than add anything new or meaningful to the table. This ultimately wastes space on Pokémon that invalidate the originals if they're good, simply take up useful space if they're bad, and make things even more convoluted when only the regional variants can evolve. It's an idea that should have never been done. Paradox Pokémon only made this issue worse. If future Pokémon games don't include every Pokémon in the game files, good luck trying to get Paradox Pokémon beyond Paldea.

Convergent species are weird, though. We only have two lines of them, so there's a lot of untapped potential. While they really only accomplish the first goal I mentioned earlier (taking cues from real-world ecology), there's a lot more they can do. I remember seeing concepts for pillbugs that, when rolled up, resemble Voltorb and Electrode, and insects that mimic Kanto's legendary birds (as a reference to the real-world beetle species whose scientific names are derived from the birds). Convergent evolution could go much further than superficial resemblances, and I can't wait to see what else Game Freak does with this concept. For example, imagine a Pokémon that looks completely unique, but when it evolves it resembles an older Pokémon (so that the "evolution" part of "convergent evolution" plays here twofold).

From a practical standpoint, this is even worse than regional variants because, unlike them, they are treated as completely different Pokémon entirely. This means that when playing competitively for example, under rules with restrictions, you can use Pokémon such as Tentacruel, Dugtrio, Wugtrio, and Todescruel on the same team. The same thing applies to Paradox Pokémon as well, which is absurd.

 

[Devalue]

Regional forms actually do not breathe life into old Pokémon. If anything, regional forms usually either wind up being borderline unused if they're lackluster, or completely invalidate old Pokémon if they're good. For instance, players never cared to use a Pokémon such as Corsola, but Galar Corsola received a ton of use because it had a better typing, abilities, and movepool to make it an effective staller. As a result, this only leaves normal Corsola in the dust. Yet, because many regional variants don't see much use anyway, many of them simply take up space when other Pokémon could have been created. If Game Freak wanted to "brush up" old Pokémon, they could simply buff their stats, abilities, and movepools and have a character in-game, such as a professor, mention the changes. The professor can say, "I found out these specific Pokémon are stronger than people once thought and can do more than what was previously known!" Then the professor can encourage you to catch and train them to see the differences for yourself. Thus, old Pokémon can have new life breathed into them without wasting space on cheap reskins.

Appears very hesistant to drastically change stats. Looked at stat changes between some generations.

• Black/White to X/Y: 29 (Butterfree, Beedrill, Pidgeot, Pikachu, Raichu, Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Clefable, Wigglytuff, Vileplume, Poliwrath, Alakazam, Victreebel, Golem, Ampharos, Bellossom, Azumarill, Jumpluff, Beautifly, Exploud, Staraptor, Roserade, Stoutland, Unfezant, Gigalith, Seismitoad, Leavanny, Scolipede, and Krookodile)
• X/Y to Sun/Moon: 26 (Arbok, Dugtrio, Mega Alakazam, Farfetch'd, Dodrio, Electrode, Exeggutor, Noctowl, Ariados, Qwilfish, Magcargo, Corsola, Mantine, Swellow, Pelipper, Masquerain, Delcatty, Volbeat, Illumise, Lunatone, Solrock, Chimecho, Woobat, Crustle, Beartic, and Cryogonal)
• Sun/Moon to Sword/Shield: 1 (Aegislash)
• Sword/Shield to Scarlet/Violet: 5 (Cresselia, Hisuian Zoroark, Zacian, Zamazenta, and Kleavor). None currently in-game.

Spots tons of underperformers in there. Typically only changed by 10 or 20 base stat points, however.

May be trying to avoid the buff/nerf cycle of many multiplayer games. Rises and falls based on the patch in those. Imagine getting bodied by a Delibird with the stats of Iron Bundle or dealing with different Gyarados every generation. Leaves the player confused, especially if they missed the explanation why. Adds the burden of relearning Pokemon to returning players.

Strives for changes between generations with clearer reasons signaling that change. Tried to solve it in a few ways: held items (Farfetch'd's Stick), Mega Evolutions (Mawile), regional forms, Paradox Pokemon, new evolutions (Electivire), new moves (Axe Kick for Medicham), and new abilities (Sharpness for Gallade). Grasps those easier than a warning of "Yeah, watch out for Kricketune now". Were all of those effective? No. Tried, nevertheless.

Wonders if something happened in the jump from Generation 1 to 2 (Special stat split) and 3 to 4 (physical/special split). Affected some Pokemon quite heavily. May not have been happy with that. Probably felt weird to transfer a Sharpedo from Generation 3 to 4. Lived a wildly different life. Shrugs.