Regional Variants/Alolan Forms Discussion Thread

[Julia Artemis]

So I was thinking of all the generations what Pokemon need the most help to be competitive? Overall I'd say Gen 2 A lot of those Pokemon we're thought of before Pokemon really became a competitive scene and most of the Pokemon that didn't get a mega already really have been forgotten. That's the ones I most want to see get Alolan forms so maybe they can be usable again. Other than that definitely Gen 4 which a lot of those seem ill conceived, but maybe those can wait if they do a remake.

 

[R_N]

So I was thinking of all the generations what Pokemon need the most help to be competitive? Overall I'd say Gen 2 A lot of those Pokemon we're thought of before Pokemon really became a competitive scene and most of the Pokemon that didn't get a mega already really have been forgotten. That's the ones I most want to see get Alolan forms so maybe they can be usable again. Other than that definitely Gen 4 which a lot of those seem ill conceived, but maybe those can wait if they do a remake.

Yeah, gen 2 always felt a little lackluster. I wasn't surprised and pretty glad when gen 2 got a lot of evolutions in gen 4; I think it got the most of the generations. And was a little bummed that they didn't get that many megas
Regional forms for Ledian & Ariados would make so much sense. Bugs feel like something that would easily change to adapt to environments (certainly more than weird pangellions turning into ice but i digress)

They both have aggressively subpar stats (the former even more than the latter), but they could probably be made to work into something more...useful... with the right cross section of stat arrangement, type &/or abilities. I mean ideally they'd get evolutions but thats just...never going ot happen anymore, i guess.
Bug/Fighting Ledian with its 110 special defense moved into attack for instance. Maybe take some points elsewhere and put them in speed.

Too bad alola seems determined to focus on gen 1 pokemon and we already know ariados is static regardless. You'd think gen 2 would get a bunch of focus for the anniversary as much as gen 1 was, since gen 2 was a pretty big deal and definitely still during the pokemania years but alas

 

[Julia Artemis]

Yeah, gen 2 always felt a little lackluster. I wasn't surprised and pretty glad when gen 2 got a lot of evolutions in gen 4; I think it got the most of the generations. And was a little bummed that they didn't get that many megas
Regional forms for Ledian & Ariados would make so much sense. Bugs feel like something that would easily change to adapt to environments (certainly more than weird pangellions turning into ice but i digress)

They both have aggressively subpar stats (the former even more than the latter), but they could probably be made to work into something more...useful... with the right cross section of stat arrangement, type &/or abilities. I mean ideally they'd get evolutions but thats just...never going ot happen anymore, i guess.
Bug/Fighting Ledian with its 110 special defense moved into attack for instance. Maybe take some points elsewhere and put them in speed.

Too bad alola seems determined to focus on gen 1 pokemon and we already know ariados is static regardless. You'd think gen 2 would get a bunch of focus for the anniversary as much as gen 1 was, since gen 2 was a pretty big deal and definitely still during the pokemania years but alas

I can see Bug/Fighting Ledian especially since it always reminded me of Power Rangers or Ultraman so that would make sense. Really the one I'd most want is a Flying/Psychic Noctowl it just feels odd to me that it wasn't that already, so it actually can get decent STAB from moves. Other possibilities are Shuckle which needs some serious changes in its offense so it can do anything and feel Qwilfish, Forretress, Lanturn, and Furret all need help. Also just had an idea that maybe the Johto starters can get Alolan forms and instead of dual typings they could get all new typings. Was thinking Totodile could be dark, Chikorita could be Fairy and Cyndaquil could be Ground. I don't know it was just a random thought I had.

 

[Divine Retribution]

I can see Bug/Fighting Ledian especially since it always reminded me of Power Rangers or Ultraman so that would make sense. Really the one I'd most want is a Flying/Psychic Noctowl it just feels odd to me that it wasn't that already, so it actually can get decent STAB from moves. Other possibilities are Shuckle which needs some serious changes in its offense so it can do anything and feel Qwilfish, Forretress, Lanturn, and Furret all need help. Also just had an idea that maybe the Johto starters can get Alolan forms and instead of dual typings they could get all new typings. Was thinking Totodile could be dark, Chikorita could be Fairy and Cyndaquil could be Ground. I don't know it was just a random thought I had.

Shuckle doesn't need any buff to its offenses, what it needs is a movepool and ability that cater to its stats. It really needs Magic Bounce or Oblivious (with the latter making more sense flavor-wise but being less effective from a competitive standpoint) to stop it from being total Taunt bait, and it would greatly appreciate both reliable recovery and a fixed damage move like Seismic Toss. Some sort of hazing or phasing move would be nice too, but alas, if you are given the moon do not ask for the stars to go with it. Furthermore its titanic defenses are undermined by an abysmal HP stat that sits among the lowest in the game, so some sort of buff to its HP wouldn't go amiss. However, simply buffing its offenses slightly and turning it into just another subpar wall with limited offensive presence and a rather horrible defensive typing would kill any kind of niche Shuckle could potentially have. Thematically, a purely defensive passive Pokemon like Shuckle is a neat idea, but in practice it just doesn't work as it's too easy to shut down and is basically set-up bait for anything with a boosting move.

 

[Sulfurian]

Yeah, gen 2 always felt a little lackluster. I wasn't surprised and pretty glad when gen 2 got a lot of evolutions in gen 4; I think it got the most of the generations. And was a little bummed that they didn't get that many megas
Regional forms for Ledian & Ariados would make so much sense. Bugs feel like something that would easily change to adapt to environments (certainly more than weird pangellions turning into ice but i digress)

They both have aggressively subpar stats (the former even more than the latter), but they could probably be made to work into something more...useful... with the right cross section of stat arrangement, type &/or abilities. I mean ideally they'd get evolutions but thats just...never going ot happen anymore, i guess.
Bug/Fighting Ledian with its 110 special defense moved into attack for instance. Maybe take some points elsewhere and put them in speed.

Too bad alola seems determined to focus on gen 1 pokemon and we already know ariados is static regardless. You'd think gen 2 would get a bunch of focus for the anniversary as much as gen 1 was, since gen 2 was a pretty big deal and definitely still during the pokemania years but alas

Gen 2 felt like you were encouraged to have some kanto pokemon on your team, and the johto pokemon didn't really stand out. Honestly Tyranitar was too good for the gen it was in. Most Johto pokemon who actually stand out were either legendaries, new evolutions of kanto, or heracross. Then again many people forget Skarmory was actually gen 2.

 

[Julia Artemis]

Gen 2 felt like you were encouraged to have some kanto pokemon on your team, and the johto pokemon didn't really stand out. Honestly Tyranitar was too good for the gen it was in. Most Johto pokemon who actually stand out were either legendaries, new evolutions of kanto, or heracross. Then again many people forget Skarmory was actually gen 2.

I know I did! Also so was Slugma, kind of....

 

[TyLogic]

Gen 2 felt like you were encouraged to have some kanto pokemon on your team, and the johto pokemon didn't really stand out. Honestly Tyranitar was too good for the gen it was in. Most Johto pokemon who actually stand out were either legendaries, new evolutions of kanto, or heracross. Then again many people forget Skarmory was actually gen 2.

I sometimes forget as well. However I like Togepi, Marill and Mareep.

 

[glacialcat]

Gen 2 felt like you were encouraged to have some kanto pokemon on your team, and the johto pokemon didn't really stand out. Honestly Tyranitar was too good for the gen it was in. Most Johto pokemon who actually stand out were either legendaries, new evolutions of kanto, or heracross. Then again many people forget Skarmory was actually gen 2.

Big problem with this was probably the gyms...

Falkner: Pidgeotto? Why not Hoothoot, Noctowl, Togetic, Murkrow, etc etc.
Bugsy: Scyther? Not Heracross? And no Ariados or Ledian, Forretress or Scizor? (Though the later two I imagine they avoided because they didn't want to introduce Steel so early)
Morty: Gengar line, no Misdreavus?
Chuck: Again only G1 Pokemon. Could've used Hitmontop or Heracross.

Combine this with going to Kanto at the end of the game, cross gen evolutions, etc, and you get a generation that feels much more like "Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow: 2" than "Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal" to me.

Given that G4 had a lot of connections to G2, specifically introducing many evolutions for G2 Pokemon, I hope that whenever a G4 remake game comes out it has "Sinnoh Forms" of a lot of G2 Pokemon.

 

[Taodragon]

Gen 2 seemed like it was trying to be more of a sequel to Gen 1 then its own Generation like 3 or 5. A lot of elements in Gen 2 did more to continue what Gen 1 set, which included things like Team Rocket, Red, Blue, and so on. It lent well to the franchise at the time since it built on the very popular first games, but it did kind of hurt it in the long run since that meant a lot of its own personal elements got lost in the shuffle to push Gen 1 again.

Honestly, Gen 2 could use some love for its Pokémon, the evolutions were a step in the right direction, but a lot of its Pokémon remain forgotten compared to many of their successors and especially their predecessors.

 

[Trainer Yusuf]

Gen 2 felt like you were encouraged to have some kanto pokemon on your team, and the johto pokemon didn't really stand out. Honestly Tyranitar was too good for the gen it was in. Most Johto pokemon who actually stand out were either legendaries, new evolutions of kanto, or heracross. Then again many people forget Skarmory was actually gen 2.

Most of the Gen 2 Pokémon were deliberately made unavailable in Johto itself. Most of them are actually Kanto-native, for all intents and purposes.

HGSS Safari Zone and additional routes fixed this a bit, but still the main idea was not changed.

 

[goodpeople25]

Big problem with this was probably the gyms...

Falkner: Pidgeotto? Why not Hoothoot, Noctowl, Togetic, Murkrow, etc etc.
Bugsy: Scyther? Not Heracross? And no Ariados or Ledian, Forretress or Scizor? (Though the later two I imagine they avoided because they didn't want to introduce Steel so early)
Morty: Gengar line, no Misdreavus?
Chuck: Again only G1 Pokemon. Could've used Hitmontop or Heracross.

Combine this with going to Kanto at the end of the game, cross gen evolutions, etc, and you get a generation that feels much more like "Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow: 2" than "Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal" to me.

Given that G4 had a lot of connections to G2, specifically introducing many evolutions for G2 Pokemon, I hope that whenever a G4 remake game comes out it has "Sinnoh Forms" of a lot of G2 Pokemon.

Hitmons were more Bruno's thing and thus hitmontop was still represented. (And that kinda holdover from gen I, plus Chuck had the waterfall thing to consider) And yeah it being a sequel was kinda the point. Also something to note is that the gyms were all types that wern't gyms in gen I and that only having the one game some Kanto pokemon weren't very represented in gym battles either. (didn't help that the elite four types of kanto which did overlap, were mostly rare types, dragon and ghost both just had a three stage line and 1 other)

 

[Kaasuti]

Sorry to change the subject back to Alolan muk guys, but he's so damn beautiful. I'll be looking forward to the explanation of why they have gained the Dark typing and why they look the way they do now.

So having one on my team!

 

[RedJirachi]

Alolan Muk reminds me of something from my childhood that I have forgotten. Also paint

 

[JVLightningLover]

Alolan Muk reminds me of something from my childhood that I have forgotten. Also paint

Nickelodeon Gak?

https://66.media.tumblr.com/478a9e83616ee0b2537b327f80316aa6/tumblr_nnsovbsgR41ro8ysbo1_500.gif

Or perhaps Trix yogurt?

https://anagingaccount.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/trixyogurt.png

 

[Erron Black]

Alolan Muk reminds me of something from my childhood that I have forgotten. Also paint

perhaps it's this? XD

Sorry to change the subject back to Alolan muk guys, but he's so damn beautiful. I'll be looking forward to the explanation of why they have gained the Dark typing and why they look the way they do now.

So having one on my team!

"When the population of the Alola region increased, dealing with their garbage became a serious problem. As a solution, Grimer were imported from other regions. They fed primarily on garbage, so their body composition changed—as did their form. What appear to be teeth in this Pokémon’s mouth are in fact residual toxins from the garbage it eats, which have hardened and crystallized."

 

[Endless]

I have to admit that I don't feel the Dark typing is really that justified.
Sure Alolan Grimer and Muk are very toxic, but their primary role is to help keep Alola clean, they aren't purely pests like the standard variants who are pure Poison.
I assume it's because they sometimes eat manufactured products if they run out of garbage, but that explanation is a bit weak since they aren't doing it out of gluttony like say Alolan Rattata, but because they feel sharp pangs of hunger if not constantly eating.

 

[Bamboosle]

I have to admit that I don't feel the Dark typing is really that justified.
Sure Alolan Grimer and Muk are very toxic, but their primary role is to help keep Alola clean, they aren't purely pests like the standard variants who are pure Poison.
I assume it's because they sometimes eat manufactured products if they run out of garbage, but that explanation is a bit weak since they aren't doing it out of gluttony like say Alolan Rattata, but because they feel sharp pangs of hunger if not constantly eating.

I feel like that the toxins they store in their bodies and some of them crystalizing into poisonous threats changed them into dark typing. That's how i read it.
The pangs of hunger plus their quest to more food could be just the extra bit that makes them dark type.

 

[Trainer Yusuf]

^That seems to be a reference to how drug addiction drives hunger. Alolan Muk seems to be in general a reference to recreational designer drugs.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

An Alolan Cloyster would be interesting. It could replace the Ice typing with Steel and learn Metal Burst and Flash Cannon. It never looked like an Ice type and Steel could make it a wall. It could take on a giant clam design similar to Shelder but much bigger and with a jagged edge on its shell.

 

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Are we assuming stats will differ too with Alolan forms?