Trainers, Niantic has just thrown us the biggest curveball they could have; Regional variants are to come to Pokémon GO soon (we don't have an exact time yet, but Niantic made it sound like it may be a few weeks).
WHAT ARE THEY?: For those of you who didn't play Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon, you're probably very confused as to what we are talking about. Alolan forms are new variants of Generation 1 Pokémon that have new moves and typings. GAME FREAK introduced them to bring new life into forgotten Pokémon in terms of design and competitive viability.
The following Pokémon are those with Alolan forms / regional variants. To see more, click on the Generation 7 tab under the Generation Preparation menu:
HOW WILL THEY WORK?: Niantic provided no details on how the regional variants would be handled in Pokémon GO, but we have an idea. Since these Pokémon changed their form based on environmental conditions (think Darwinian evolution), we expect these forms to be region exclusives. As a hypothetical example, Pikachu would evolve into Alolan Raichu only if in Hawaii.
If Niantic follows our idea, this would make many players upset that they cannot get their hands on all of them without travel or special events. While that would be annoying and somewhat unfair, you can still get the Kanto form for your Pokédex. And, if Niantic does it right, everywhere in the world would have access to at least one of the Alolan forms. Alternatively, these forms could be available globally, but exclusively in Raids or certain weather conditions.
WHY NOW?: As we said above, these regional variants were introduced in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, the first main-series games of Generation 7. Considering Pokémon GO is only on its Generation 3 stage, it begs the question of why are these regional variants being introduced now?
While we aren't complaining about having the opportunity at catching new Pokémon, it just seems strange. Why are we getting 18 Pokémon from Generation 7 and skipping over all of Generations 4, 5, and 6? Maybe it will make more sense once we get more information.
Thanks for reading, Trainers!
WHAT ARE THEY?: For those of you who didn't play Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon, you're probably very confused as to what we are talking about. Alolan forms are new variants of Generation 1 Pokémon that have new moves and typings. GAME FREAK introduced them to bring new life into forgotten Pokémon in terms of design and competitive viability.
The following Pokémon are those with Alolan forms / regional variants. To see more, click on the Generation 7 tab under the Generation Preparation menu:
- Rattata
- Raticate
- Raichu
- Sandshrew
- Sandslash
- Vulpix
- Ninetales
- Diglett
- Dugtrio
- Meowth
- Persian
- Geodude
- Graveler
- Golem
- Grimer
- Muk
- Exeggutor
- Marowak
HOW WILL THEY WORK?: Niantic provided no details on how the regional variants would be handled in Pokémon GO, but we have an idea. Since these Pokémon changed their form based on environmental conditions (think Darwinian evolution), we expect these forms to be region exclusives. As a hypothetical example, Pikachu would evolve into Alolan Raichu only if in Hawaii.
If Niantic follows our idea, this would make many players upset that they cannot get their hands on all of them without travel or special events. While that would be annoying and somewhat unfair, you can still get the Kanto form for your Pokédex. And, if Niantic does it right, everywhere in the world would have access to at least one of the Alolan forms. Alternatively, these forms could be available globally, but exclusively in Raids or certain weather conditions.
WHY NOW?: As we said above, these regional variants were introduced in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, the first main-series games of Generation 7. Considering Pokémon GO is only on its Generation 3 stage, it begs the question of why are these regional variants being introduced now?
While we aren't complaining about having the opportunity at catching new Pokémon, it just seems strange. Why are we getting 18 Pokémon from Generation 7 and skipping over all of Generations 4, 5, and 6? Maybe it will make more sense once we get more information.
Thanks for reading, Trainers!