Please Stop Giving Gen 1 Pokemon Regional Variants
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is set to launch this month, with Pokemon starting 2022 off with a bold statement of intent. Hopefully the following months feature a couple of great spin-offs, an explanation of whatever Pokemon Sleep is, and maybe, just maybe, we kick off Gen 9. It feels, especially from the leaks, like Legends: Arceus is going to be a major shakeup to the Pokemon formula. Spin-offs have always been more creative, but this is not a complete change of genre like New Pokemon Snap or Mystery Dungeon. Even if it’s not technically a mainline game, it’s still a story-based RPG, and that means outside of nerds who care about the distinction, this will be a ‘main’ Pokemon game. Also, it’s being developed by Game Freak, so checkmate. All these new ideas are exciting then, but please, stop with the Gen 1 regional variants. Please.
Regional variants were introduced in Gen 7 with Sun & Moon, and were a way to give underappreciated Pokemon a new lease of life. The theory behind them was that certain Pokemon have evolved (in the Darwinian sense, not the Pokemonian sense) to adapt to their new environments. In Alola’s icy mountain regions, for example, Vulpix and Sandshrew, both previously Fire- and Ground-types respectively, changed to Ice-types in order to thrive in the wintery climes. Sandshrew also gained the Steel typing, while upon evolution Ninetales gained the Fairy typing to further diversify the roster.
Related: Who Is Pokemon Go's Bulbasaur Community Day Even For?Vulpix and Sandshrew, while Genwunners, were pretty solid picks. They’re well known, meaning everyone gets on board with the regional variant idea, but also way down the pecking order in terms of personal favourites. Unlike Megas, which often went to fan
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