Great Unovian Melting Pokeball (Pokemon Not Native To Their Region)

Pikachu is a fascinating national phenomenon. I mean, within the Pokemon Universe, Pikachu has its own set of rules. Look at the facts:

-Kanto: Pikachu lives in the Viridian Forest and near the Power Plant.
-Johto: Pikachu is only found in Kanto-based settings, so Pikachu is accessible only post-game on Route 2.
-Hoenn: Safari Zone import.
-Sinnoh: Trophy Garden import.
-Unova: None.
-Kalos: Santalune Forest, Route 3.

Pikachu is only native to two known regions, both beginning with "Ka," which is meaningless. Although in Heart Gold and Soul Silver, Lt. Surge trades his French Pikachu with you, so this was likely foreshadowing or something.

The Kanto-native Pikachu has a sort of "dance" with the two other "P" Pokemon. Yep, Clefairy and Jigglypuff, (Pippi and Purin, respectively). This way!

-Kanto: All three native.
-Johto: None native; access in Kanto locations.
-Hoenn: Clefairy is not a native of the Pokedex (post in ORAS).
-Sinnoh: Jigglypuff is not a native of the Pokedex, can be found post (import).
-Unova: Pikachu is not a native of the Pokedex or region.
-Kalos: Clefairy is not a native of the Pokedex, can be found post (import).

Until Kalos, it was a perfect alignment. All, None, PiJi, PiCle, CleJi. Kalos throws it off, but hopefully the next region will balance it again. By the way, I chose these three because of Magical Pokemon Journey; plus they all have a semi-mascot status. Pikachu the top, Jigglypuff due to the external forces (anime and Smash Bros), and Clefairy the relic. Why these three? Why is it not that only Pikachu or only Clefairy has been a regional native? Probably a developer thing, I don't know.

So the main topic, Pokemon not native to their region. First, how odd that we never see any other Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan in Kanto. In fact, Tyrogue is only a gift from the same Dojo Master from Kanto. Hoenn has no Hitmon, although post-game in ORAS with the DexNav. Sinnoh might be the key, as Tyrogue are found post-game with the Radar. Or Unova; the first game has them in a swarm. Oh, the Friend Safari in X and Y!

But what is it with the Hitmons? They don't miss a region but they never have a home. Also, does it make sense that they hide so much? Listen to these entries.

BW: "It is famous for its eagerness to fight and always nurses injuries from challenging larger foes."
SS: "Even though it is small, it can't be ignored because it will slug any handy target without warning."

ORAS: "Tyrogue becomes stressed out if it does not get to train every day. When raising this Pokémon, the Trainer must establish and uphold various training methods."

These Pokemon are restless, instigators, and foolhardy. What sense does it make for Tyrogue and its ilk to hideout instead of rushing into battle headfirst? Nope, it's "Wiggle grass... wiggle grass... Bueller... Bueller..." I hope we see a Tyrogue-native region soon.

I don't know how much you can trust the Safari Zone. Did you know? Rhyhorn is not a native of Kanto or Hoenn. Both are found in their respective Safari Zones, and nowhere else. Cheap imports. Remember Gold and Silver? Rhyhorn is only found in Victory Road. Which is technically part of Kanto, ironically.

Finally, Sinnoh gave them a region to call their own. Oh, and Kalos has a RHYHORN RACER. Talk about publicity, huh? Meanwhile, Unova only allows Rhyhorn through White Forest or a trade with your Miley/Bieber popstar lover. What have we learned? Odd-numbered generations don't like Rhyhorn and try to make sure you don't get one easily.

Here's the thing, I don't really trust Kanto in general. 

Eevee? Gift. 

Porygon? Synthetic.

Fossils?

"Oh, sure! I'll accept this rare fossil from you for a few minutes and give you a revived Pokemon! Come back for it later!

...Okay, he's gone. Steve, get the Aerodactyl from the back room.

I don't care, any! He could be back at any time, and I need to rush over to Pewter Museum!

And make sure to fill out for a new shipment of Kabutos from Kabuto Island in the Zelpin region!

Oh, don't forget, we're meeting my parents at 6:30; they have a scheme they want to try, making trainers pay to have their Pokemon boink."

We know Kanto is overrun by crime, but maybe the crime here is the lack of culture. Think about it, how many are only gifts? By that, I mean all possible Kanto Pokemon given for free.

-Three starters, 9 family members

-Eevee, 4 family members

-Hitmons, 2 family members

-Fossils, 5 family members

That's 20 Pokemon right there.

In-game trade Farfetch'd "Ch'ding" (nickname for "Chandler Ding"?) is likely a native of sister region Johto. Lickitung also only appears through a trade. Oh and so does Porygon, a "trade" of gaming coins. What do we have, three more? 23? Hmm. Oh, Jynx. 24. Keep in mind, Japan!Blue has some Pokemon catchable. And Yellow. But what matters is the Red/Blue/FireRed/LeafGreen canon.

Sinnoh is notorious with this. Of the 107 Pokemon introduced, 29 are relatives of past generations, plus Regigigas, plus nine starters, plus two fossils. It's embarrassing.

That's why I like Unova. Many of the Pokemon have locations, nests and clear investment in the region. Not all, but there are zero relatives of the past, only two gifts, the nine starters (keep in mind, only X and Y have catchable starters), and the four fossils (discovery of fossils in a region does not mean the location of origin or nests). Unova has wonderful biodiversity, only trumped by Kalos. Although it has the Melting Pokeball aspect.

When only two years pass, the region floods with new Pokemon previously unseen. Why? Beats me. But it's better than Platinum. "Fire-type there, fire-type there, WATER WATER WATER." I think what a region needs to impress is culture, and that largely plays a part with its Pokemon.

Look at Kanto. We know NOTHING about its Pokemon of the past. Mewtwo is a clone, the birds are from Johto, Mew has a home in Emerald. With imports and whatnot, is Kanto really nothing more than a culturally void wasteland, where Pokemon need to be imported to impress? There's no tree-towns or bridges or three different dexes. No Gods or Demons or cultural traditions. In fact, by Gen II, the Lavender Tower, probably the most culture in the region, is turned into a radio tower. Genius.

It's soulless, and don't talk to me about "Oh, early on, they didn't know that Pokemon would go this far, so of course it's a dull region!" FireRed/LeafGreen made absolutely certain that the player's experience would be as identical as possible to the Red/Blue one. Know what that's called? Pandering. Like the Kanto region itself.

My theory is that Pikachu is their major export. To the Safari Zone in Hoenn, the Trophy Garden in Sinnoh, and to Santalune Forest to make it look like a"natural" habitat. But if they ever address the War Theory (Surge: "Pokemon saved me in the war!"), then I could end up eating my words. For now, I'll stick to the facts: There's 150 or less to see.

Evolution Oddities

How long has it been? Huh, not even a year since the last one. Evolution. Pokemon. Pokemon Evolution. Sometimes, as hard as it is to believe, evolution can be weird. Whether the upgrades are downgrades or the method makes no sense, evolution baffles the mind. So yeah, that's the topic.

A few guidelines. No Mega Evolutions. That's a different animal and I haven't play the Gen III sequels yet. No oddities based on stats or the meta game; I'm not part of that proponent. Component? Also, nothing mundane. This mostly means Bug types, but it also applies to over-discussed topics. Conversely, nothing about certain methods. I don't know why the Nidos evolve with a Moon Stone. Nobody understands the Nidos; they bypass any and all kinds of logic. Finally, if I didn't list yours and it fits the guidelines, leave a comment below.

First, my personal favorite, Golbat into Crobat. Crobat was the first cross-generation Pokemon to be listed in the Pokedex, even before Pichu. That's no small feat! How does it evolve? Like Blissey and the Baby Pokemon (and the new Eeveelutions, but not the same), it evolves through happiness.

Happiness. What do you think of when you think of happiness? Smiling, enjoyment, a grimacing bat.

Hmm.

Oh my.

Yeah, that was a lucid decision.These creatures have, like, nothing in common. The odd choice to invert the main palette is weird enough, but Crobat, after being happy enough to evolve, looks more pissed than ever. Its mouth is smaller too. Now how can a fang specialist get anything done?

Crobat best fits into the "if it were an animal, it would be screwed in the wild" category of odd evos. Another Pokemon that fits this category is Vigoroth into Slaking, since its ability leaves it more open to danger, although its increased strength probably prevents anything from killing it.

Aesthetically, two big downgrades are Graveller into Golem and Haunter into Gengar. In both cases, the Pokemon loses a huge battle tactic. Let's forget that most evolutions in the first generation looked either nothing or too close to their family members. Losing two arms is probably a huge blow to the Rock/Ground type, and I'm guessing a bit jarring. Although it's arguably not as bad as how Haunter feels about certain changes, according to an old Nintendo-approved Pokemon 4koma only released in Japan. Which I have!

Speaking of Golem and Gengar, how about trade evolutions? One theory states the reason for certain Pokemon evolving is because they want to impress you to the point of taking them back, as they feel abandoned. I'm not buying into that one too much. Okay, maybe Machoke and Kadabra could qualify, as they seem to have a superiority complex (given the brain /brawn). But when Pokemon evolve, they don't like YOU anymore. Why change who they are if they don't want you? But it is the most sound explanation, so maybe it just needs a bit of fine-tuning.

A big star in this category is Bellossom. You know the drill. They're shorter than Gloom, they don't have the Poison type, making them the only single-type to evolve from a dual-type. Frankly, I wonder why they exist. Smoochum to clarify "No, Jynx was always purple, ha ha!" Politoed, because a tadpole evolving into a tadpole with arms evolving into a bulkier tadpole with arms didn't make much sense. Tyrogue to tie the Hitmons together. Bellossom to... to... replicate nature?

My biggest gripe with Bellossom is her lack of the Poison type. I thought with the new game, she'd gain a Fairy type. "Finally, it all makes sense now!" It makes no sense now. We have multiple Fairy Pokemon with Grass-elements to them, and only two are Grass/Fairy, neither are Bellossom. So now she has leftover moves that she receives no STAB with. Okay, I know STAB because it spells "stab". Maybe a Mega would help the poor plant.

I always thought this one was strange simply for existing. Porygon, the scapegoat for the Electric Soldier seizure disaster, has an evolution, which ALSO has an evolution. Certain Pokemon seem to be distanced by the Pokemon Conglomerate, like Qwilfish and Stantler, neither of which has an evolution, mega, or new niche since their introduction. This is in comparison to Luvdisc, Delibird and Unown, who, despite the changin' world, never grow along. Luvdisc's possible evolution Alomamola, new Fairy typing or mega? Nothing. Delibird's new hidden ability? A duplicate. Unown using Fairy-type for Hidden Power? Fairy cannot be a Hidden Power. It's like they're being taunted.

Yet Porygon, who was blamed for so much panic, has evolved twice and grown. Maybe it's because it was never the issue, and that despite the calamity, Porygon is an amazing Pokemon, and those that start bad get left behind, no matter what fancy traits they may gain.

If there's one thing the developers haven't learned, it's that a good Pokemon evolution needs timelessness. Where to start? In Generation II, Eevee could evolve into two new forms based on the time of day. In Gen III, the day/night cycle was removed, making the only source of time-telling the clock in the bedroom. That was Ruby and Sapphire. In Fire Red and Leaf Green, you were screwed. Fortunately, the DS had an internal clock, so the cycle returned with multiple new Pokemon to take advantage. Happy end, yes? No. Heart Gold and Soul Silver, despite having a forest and a ice cavern to accommodate, did not include a Mossy or Icy Rock to let Eevee evolve into its new forms. This also affected Magneton and Nosepass. Since then, each game has an area to accommodate location evolution. And Sylveon can evolve just fine in the Gen III remakes. For now.

Other issues include Feebas, weird enough in its own right. Not only super hard to find, Gen III made Feebas evolve into Milotic through high beauty. The only Pokemon to evolve through contest stats, Gen IV included contests, to the annoyance of all. Gen V, mercifully, disbanded contests and gave it a scarf instead. Come the remakes, Feebas can now evolve in both ways. Once a spoiled Pokemon, always a spoiled Pokemon.

Generally, the developers have amazing ideas, but one non-idea showed that they were learning. In Gen V, season were introduced. What did it do? Change the scenery, certain very minor activities, open or close areas, and change the appearance of two Pokemon. When I heard about seasons, I thought they were going to play into an evolution, maybe an attack. Nope. After the Gen V sequels, the seasonal elements were removed, opting for an Autumnal area, a few snowy roads, a beach, and that's it. Testing the waters is smart; don't create a Pokemon around a possible feature. You can remove the feature, but not the Pokemon.

Sometimes, evolution can be pointless, like Rhydon into Rhyperior. #notallrhyperior Sometimes it's essential. Like, almost always. I think an evolution is better than mega because you get permanent security. But at the end of the day, it's not how big or strong your Pocket Monster is, but how you use it. So go ahead! Take out your Weedle and face against a Luxray with pride!

Hey, ever notice like, no one ever keeps Pocket Monsters in their pockets? I think everyone uses belts. It should be Beltmon.