Pokemon Gen 10 has an easy solution to the growing Pokedex problem

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After Pokémon the series finally crossed the 1,000 creature mark Pokemon Scarlet and Violetit's clear that the franchise will have to account for the ever-growing Pokedex in future titles. While this sheer size of the National Dex has caused problems in the past, such as the “Dexit” controversy in Gen 8, future Pokémon games can soften the impact of a massive Pokedex by following an already popular trend within the series. With the increase in regional variants in recent generations, Pokémon Gen 10 could lean on this concept to avoid overloading the National Dex with too many brand new mons.

Since their introduction in Gen 7, regional variants have been a great way to give older mons new life with new design and writing to get players interested in them again. While each generation that featured regional variants focused mainly on adding brand new creatures, it's common for some of the regional variants to overshadow other mons in a generation, as they're a great way to cash in on the nostalgia while still feeling new. as such Pokémon Gen 10 could put more emphasis on regional variants and introduce fewer brand new mons as a way to save Pokedex space while creating a new experience for players.

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Pokemon Gen 10 should favor 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 variants

The number of brand new Pokemon added

Aloha

18

86

Galar

25

89

Hisui

19

7

Paldea

3

120

The main advantage of adding more regional variants rather than brand new mons is that the Pokedex considers the regional variants as part of their original version. As such, regional variants do not expand the overall 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 brand new mons under 100, and doubling regional variants would help Gen 10 stick to that pattern.

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

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

While some Pokémon While fans might be disappointed by a generation with fewer brand new creatures, going all-in on regional variants could offer 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 mons like Alolan Muk and Alolan Ninetales have over their original counterparts. Giving more forgotten creatures a chance to shine with a new form would be a great way to honor the franchise's legacy going into Generation 10.

Recent generations have also put a lot of emphasis on highlighting mons from early generations as a way to appeal to fans nostalgic for the early days of the franchise. Giving these critters a new design through a regional variant is a great way to balance their classic feel with a new twist. Gen 3 and Gen 4 mons were somewhat of a blind spot for regional variants, so Gen 10 targeting those generations for new forms would be a logical way for Game Freak to help the generation feel fresh without going overboard with brand new designs.

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