Pokemon Gen 10 has a simple solution to a growing Pokedex problem

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After the Pokémon the series has finally passed the 1,000 creature mark Pokemon Scarlet and Purpleit's clear that the franchise will have to deal with an ever-growing Pokedex in future titles. While this enormous size of the National Dex has caused problems in the past, such as the “Dexit” controversy in Gen 8, the future Pokémon games can reduce the impact of a huge Pokedex following an already popular trend within the series. With the increase in regional variations in recent generations, Pokémon Generation 10 could lean on this concept to avoid overloading the national Dex with too many completely new mons.

Since their introduction in Generation VII, regional variants have been a great way to give older mons a new lease on life with a new design and typing to freshen up players' interest in them. While each generation that has featured regional variants has primarily focused on adding new creatures, it is common for some regional variants to outperform other monsters in a generation as they are a great way to capitalize on nostalgia while still feeling new. As such, Pokémon Gen 10 may place a greater emphasis on regional variants and introduce fewer brand-new monsters as a way to conserve Pokedex space while still creating a new experience for players.

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Pokemon Gen 10 is expected to prioritize more regional variants over the brand new Mons

The Pokedex includes regional variants in the same entry as their original form

Region

Number of regional variations

Number of brand new Pokemon added

Alola

18

86

Galar

25

89

Hisui

19

7

Paldea

3

120

The main benefit of adding more regional variants over the brand new mons is that Pokedex treats the regional variants as part of their original release entry. Therefore, regional variants do not extend the total size of the Pokedex, which would help keep the total size of the national Dex as close to 1,000 as possible. With the exception of Gen 9, most recent generations have kept the number of new mons below 100, and doubling the regional variants would help Gen 10 stick to this pattern.

Gen 8 in particular is a good model for Gen 10 to follow, as it featured 25 new regional variants and their evolutions in Pokémon Sword and Shieldand then I added another 19 inches Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Generation 9 moved away from this pattern by including over 100 new mons with only 3 regional variants: Paldean Wooper, its evolution Clodsire, and Paldean Tauros (however, this mon has three different forms). While Pokemon Legends: ZA could add more regional variants to Gen 9, it would still be wise for Gen 10 to take the opposite approach and add a number of regional variants closer to those of Gen 8 to help reduce the increase in the total size of the national Dex.

Regional variations represent the perfect middle ground between unique, new designs and classic creatures

While some Pokémon While fans may be disappointed by a generation with fewer brand-new creatures, going all-in on regional variants could give players the best of both worlds. Regional variants have the potential to completely change how players perceive certain creatures, as evidenced by the reversal in utility that monsters like Alolan Muk and Alolan Ninetales have compared to their original counterparts. Giving more forgotten creatures a chance to shine in a new form would be a great way to honor the legacy of the franchise as it enters its tenth generation.

Recent Generations have also placed a heavy emphasis on spotlighting early Generations' mons as a way to appeal to nostalgic fans of the franchise's early days. Giving these creatures a new design via a regional variant is a great way to balance their classic look with a new twist. Generation 3 and 4 mons have been somewhat of a blind spot for regional variants, so Generation 10 targeting these generations for new forms would be a logical way for Game Freak to help the generation feel fresh without going overboard with design brand new.

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