Spoiler In A Post Dex-It World, Who Are The Essential Pokemon?

[xghost777]

Pokemon Violet is the first mainline Pokemon game I’ve played and beaten since Silver. One thing I’m enjoying is the limited number of Pokemon in the Pokedex. 400 hits a real sweet spot for this game of being a surmountable task and properly filling out the world with regular surprises. I ended up avoiding the ST for the game in large part due to not wanting to know who was in the game and to preserve those “what’s this thing??” moments.

But while I enjoyed this, I also started wondering, which Pokemon I’ve grown attached to will actually make it into the next game, which lead me to this amusing question to think about, who are the essential Pokemon?

For the purpose of this thread here are the criteria:

The Pokemon must have been in the base game of gen 8. This means no updates or DLC.

The Pokemon must then have perfect attendance in Gen IX and up to Gen XIV, ie the next 15-20 years of Pokemon. Traditional numbered gens only. No Legends, No Remakes. So five games.

I’m aware some Pokemon are supported in Gen IX through trading / Pokemon Home that aren’t part of the Pokedex. I do not know the extent of the crossover, but consider any of those Pokemon eligible too if they were in the base release of Gen VIII and continue to appear at launch in future games. Incidentally, if Charizard falls into this group he counts, otherwise as a raid battle that required the Pokeportal update he does not. That said, if these Pokemon required the day one patch to activate (I do not know), consider all of them off the list.

No day one patch additions will count in future games if physical games still exist by Gen XIV. I don’t know what technology of potentially 20 years from now necessarily looks like, but I sincerely hope physical media will still be around lol.

…

This is just for fun, so yes which Pokemon do you think will have perfect attendance through Gen XIV. I don’t know how many Pokemon are eligible at this point, but the three families of Pokemon I’m picking are the Pikachu line and the Eevee line since they are super popular and Ditto since it is so useful for Pokemon breeding.

Bonus question: do you think any gen IX Pokemon will have perfect attendance through gen XIV? I’m sadly guessing no one, but the two I think have the best shot are the Tinkaton line which seems to be an early favorite and Finnizen as I believe thus far is the only dolphin Pokemon in the series.

 

[Linkstrikesback]

Arceus only having about 242 Pokémon already knocks out >2/3rds of species from having perfect attendance, including Gamefreak favourite charizard and breeding extraordinaire ditto.

Pikachu and maybe Eevee are the only safe guesses for Pokémon that will actually be in every single game without counting dlc and updates.

But even then, that presumes BW remakes aren't anywhere near as faithfully reproduced as previous games, because you couldn't actually catch Pikachus or Eevees lines anywhere in those games.

 

[xghost777]

Arceus only having about 242 Pokémon already knocks out >2/3rds of species from having perfect attendance, including Gamefreak favourite charizard and breeding extraordinaire ditto.

Pikachu and maybe Eevee are the only safe guesses for Pokémon that will actually be in every single game without counting dlc and updates.

But even then, that presumes BW remakes aren't anywhere near as faithfully reproduced as previous games, because you couldn't actually catch Pikachus or Eevees lines anywhere in those games.

I know Game Freak called Legends mainline and it did introduce brand new Pokemon, but for the purpose of this thread it’s only the new traditional mainline numbered gen games. Remakes, faithful or not, will not count either. I should have clarified.

 

[zumaddy]

IIRC Starly line has had great attendance on Switch, which is a good thing: a beloved and actually strong 3 stage bird line.

 

[xghost777]

IIRC Starly line has had great attendance on Switch, which is a good thing: a beloved and actually strong 3 stage bird line.

I haven’t played Sword/Shield, but I was very happy to see Starly return in SV from Arceus at least. Great birds.

 

[BassForever]

Pikachu and Eevee and the rest of their lines are probably the only two 100% safe. Anything else is viable to not make the cut.

 

[9-Volt]

Magikarp.

It'll be a part of regional dexes in future games, like forever. It's the ultimate "oh you wanted a early water pokémon? best you could do is this useless fish, pal" kind of pokémon. I even predict some future region dexes missing Pikachu or Psyduck but Magikarp will be there. Always.

 

[damondamon]

I wish I could say it's Popplio line. Seriously, it's Genga imo, the most iconic ghost type pokemon. Can't imagine a pokemon game without him. As for the bonus question: it's hard to say, but I also hope Finizen stays.

 

[Linkstrikesback]

Magikarp.

It'll be a part of regional dexes in future games, like forever. It's the ultimate "oh you wanted a early water pokémon? best you could do is this useless fish, pal" kind of pokémon. I even predict some future region dexes missing Pikachu or Psyduck but Magikarp will be there. Always.

Magikarp isn't really the dead weight it used to be because of the way EXP is shared now. In gen 1 where getting a magikarp to 15 meant switching it in and out repeatedly, where it then had to use the very weak tackle to get to 20, or waiting until you got the EXP all in Fuschia city after catching 50 pokemon. Gen 2 made you wait until you had the red scale from the Gyarados, and then every generation it got easier and earlier to obtain from there, meaning it pretty much lost the problem of being a useless fish that was the original design intent, because you just put it in a slot and forget about it for a little bit now.

 

[Heron]

I mean, just a list of the pokemon who are in the base games of gen 8 (Sword/Shield) and 9 (Scarlet/Violet) is already pretty small.

If the Charmander / Charizard line can be cut, anyone can be.

I have the pokemon that could potentially fit the criteria given as:

• Rookidee -> Corviknight line
• Swovet -> Greedent
• Chewtle -> Drednaw
• Bounsweet -> Tsareena line
• Wingull -> Pelipper
• Growlithe -> Arcanine
• Delibird
• Snorunt -> Glalie / Froslass line
• Mudbray -> line
• Snover -> Abomasnow
• Wooper -> Quagsire/Clodsire line
• Combee -> Vespiquen
• Bronzor -> Bronzong
• Ralts -> Gardevoir/Gallade line
• Drifloon -> Drifblim
• Stunky -> Skuntank
• Gastly -> Gengar line
• Magikarp -> Gyarados
• Shellder -> Cloyster
• Basculin
• Rolycoly -> Coalossal line
• Diglett -> Dugtrio
• Noibat -> Noivern
• Arrokuda -> Barraskewda
• Meowth -> Persian / Perrserker line
• Pichu -> Raichu line
• Eevee line
• Applin line
• Croagunk -> Toxicroak
• Shellos -> Gastrodon
• Impidimp -> Grimmsnarl line
• Hattena -> Hatterene line
• Salandit -> Salazzle
• Pawniard -> Bisharp
• Bonsly -> Sudowoodo
• Gothita -> Gothitelle line
• Chubchoo -> Beartic
• Rufflet - Braivary
• Sneasel - Weavile
• Riolu -> Lucario
• Mimikyu
• Cuffant - Copperajah
• Marinea - Toxipex
• Toxel -> Toxicitry
• Hippoptas -> Hippodown
• Hawlucha
• Silicobra -> Sandaconda
• Axew -> Haxorus line
• Sinistea -> Polteagueist
• Indeedee
• Oranguru
• Passimian
• Falinks
• Snom -> Frosmoth
• Pincurchin
• Bergmte -> Avalugg
• Stonjourner
• Eiscue
• Rotom
• Ditto
• Larvitar -> Tyranitar line
• Deino -> Hydreigon line
• Goomy -> Goodra line
• Dreepy -> Dragapult line

Outside of the obvious Pichu, Eevee and Ditto choices, I think none of the rest of these will make it 15 years without being dropped, but the ones with the best chance would be:
Gastly -> Gengar line - THE iconic ghost pokemon
Ralts -> Gardevoir line - Gardevoir is one of the most popular pokemon
Magikarp -> Gyarados - Fits a specific gameplay niche of allowing players in the know access to a powerful pokemon early

 

[Derachi]

they gotta keep Hawlucha around forever or I WILL be sad

 

[Red Monster]

Pikachu and Eevee are locks. Gastly and Magikarp are seemingly locks, it would be surprising if a game didn't feature Gyarados or Gengar. Charmander seems to be a lock too. Maybe Zubat? That's about it.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Pikachu and Eevee are locks. Gastly and Magikarp are seemingly locks, it would be surprising if a game didn't feature Gyarados or Gengar. Charmander seems to be a lock too. Maybe Zubat? That's about it.

Charmander and Zubat definitely aren't locks considering they have missed games and have been outright replaced once

 

[xghost777]

I mean, just a list of the pokemon who are in the base games of gen 8 (Sword/Shield) and 9 (Scarlet/Violet) is already pretty small.

If the Charmander / Charizard line can be cut, anyone can be.

I have the pokemon that could potentially fit the criteria given as:

• Rookidee -> Corviknight line
• Swovet -> Greedent
• Chewtle -> Drednaw
• Bounsweet -> Tsareena line
• Wingull -> Pelipper
• Growlithe -> Arcanine
• Delibird
• Snorunt -> Glalie / Froslass line
• Mudbray -> line
• Snover -> Abomasnow
• Wooper -> Quagsire/Clodsire line
• Combee -> Vespiquen
• Bronzor -> Bronzong
• Ralts -> Gardevoir/Gallade line
• Drifloon -> Drifblim
• Stunky -> Skuntank
• Gastly -> Gengar line
• Magikarp -> Gyarados
• Shellder -> Cloyster
• Basculin
• Rolycoly -> Coalossal line
• Diglett -> Dugtrio
• Noibat -> Noivern
• Arrokuda -> Barraskewda
• Meowth -> Persian / Perrserker line
• Pichu -> Raichu line
• Eevee line
• Applin line
• Croagunk -> Toxicroak
• Shellos -> Gastrodon
• Impidimp -> Grimmsnarl line
• Hattena -> Hatterene line
• Salandit -> Salazzle
• Pawniard -> Bisharp
• Bonsly -> Sudowoodo
• Gothita -> Gothitelle line
• Chubchoo -> Beartic
• Rufflet - Braivary
• Sneasel - Weavile
• Riolu -> Lucario
• Mimikyu
• Cuffant - Copperajah
• Marinea - Toxipex
• Toxel -> Toxicitry
• Hippoptas -> Hippodown
• Hawlucha
• Silicobra -> Sandaconda
• Axew -> Haxorus line
• Sinistea -> Polteagueist
• Indeedee
• Oranguru
• Passimian
• Falinks
• Snom -> Frosmoth
• Pincurchin
• Bergmte -> Avalugg
• Stonjourner
• Eiscue
• Rotom
• Ditto
• Larvitar -> Tyranitar line
• Deino -> Hydreigon line
• Goomy -> Goodra line
• Dreepy -> Dragapult line

Outside of the obvious Pichu, Eevee and Ditto choices, I think none of the rest of these will make it 15 years without being dropped, but the ones with the best chance would be:
Gastly -> Gengar line - THE iconic ghost pokemon
Ralts -> Gardevoir line - Gardevoir is one of the most popular pokemon
Magikarp -> Gyarados - Fits a specific gameplay niche of allowing players in the know access to a powerful pokemon early

Wow, I really appreciate the list. I did some googling before making this thread, but couldn’t find it laid out so well. I made your post a threadmark!

Seeing it laid out, I think I’m going Pikachu line, Eevee line, Ghastly line, Magikarp line, Lucario line, and Ditto. Dark horse pick would be Mimikyu.

 

[Serif]

Would be funny if the next game had a Rotom phone but no Rotom .-.

 

[Red Monster]

Charmander and Zubat definitely aren't locks considering they have missed games and have been outright replaced once

Zubat has been in every game since Gen 5, hasn't it?

I agree about Charmander though. That one is iffy.

edit: I guess not! I didn't play SwSh so I didn't know they cut Zubat. Wow.

 

[Weebos]

Zubat has been in every game since Gen 5, hasn't it?

I agree about Charmander though. That one is iffy.

edit: I guess not! I didn't play SwSh so I didn't know they cut Zubat. Wow.

Zubat is also not in Scarlet/Violet.

 

[WestEgg]

Diglett and Dugtrio seem to get thrown some kind of cool bone every recent generation. Sun and Moon gave us Alolan forms, there was a big Dugtrio temple thing in Sword and Shield, and there’s a whole new reference line to them in Scarlet and Violet through Wiglett/Wugtrio. Much like myself, I think some people at Gamefreak seem to really like Dugtrio.

 

[NabiscoFelt]

Zubat has been in every game since Gen 5, hasn't it?

I agree about Charmander though. That one is iffy.

edit: I guess not! I didn't play SwSh so I didn't know they cut Zubat. Wow.

It's not in S/V either for that matter

Zubat fits neither of the criteria

 

[Weebos]

[cut for space lol]

If you wanted to include Legends Arceus, this list would be whittled down to:

• Growlithe -> Arcanine
• Snorunt -> Glalie / Froslass line
• Snover -> Abomasnow
• Combee -> Vespiquen
• Bronzor -> Bronzong
• Ralts -> Gardevoir/Gallade line
• Drifloon -> Drifblim
• Stunky -> Skuntank
• Gastly -> Gengar line
• Magikarp -> Gyarados
• Basculin
• Pichu -> Raichu line
• Eevee line
• Croagunk -> Toxicroak
• Shellos -> Gastrodon
• Bonsly -> Sudowoodo
• Rufflet - Braivary
• Sneasel - Weavile
• Riolu -> Lucario
• Hippoptas -> Hippodown
• Rotom
• Goomy -> Goodra line

And then BDSP would further cut Basculin, Rowlet, and Goomy.

 

[xghost777]

If you wanted to include Legends Arceus this list would be whittle down to:

• Growlithe -> Arcanine
• Snorunt -> Glalie / Froslass line
• Snover -> Abomasnow
• Combee -> Vespiquen
• Bronzor -> Bronzong
• Ralts -> Gardevoir/Gallade line
• Drifloon -> Drifblim
• Stunky -> Skuntank
• Gastly -> Gengar line
• Magikarp -> Gyarados
• Basculin
• Pichu -> Raichu line
• Eevee line
• Croagunk -> Toxicroak
• Shellos -> Gastrodon
• Bonsly -> Sudowoodo
• Rufflet - Braivary
• Sneasel - Weavile
• Riolu -> Lucario
• Hippoptas -> Hippodown
• Rotom
• Goomy -> Goodra line

And then BDSP would further cut Basculin, Rowlet, and Goomy.

Yeah this is why I felt this would be a boring question and wouldn’t have been worth asking if I had included Legends Arceus since the list gets cut down too much and faithful remakes are obviously inherently limited (Arceus was awesome and refreshing for the record). The thinking is really about who can we expect to normally encounter, trade, and battle real people (perhaps competitively) with in the future. At what point too is it not a proper Pokemon game when these essential Pokemon are missing. I wasn’t sure walking in, so I’m really surprised Charizard got cut already for example.

 

[hologram]

I think the whole point of Dexit is that no one is safe. Obviously Game Freak has their favorites, and Pikachu (and likely Eevee) will probably appear in every mainline game, but otherwise, forget about it.

And in my opinion, that's a good thing! It's perfectly normal to have favorite Pokémon, but I think it's good to mix it up and not always rely on your favorites. I was pretty shocked how many people, during pre-release, who seemed to be considering not getting the game solely because <insert Pokémon here> isn't present. Dexit was three years ago at this point, after all

 

[Brock Reiher]

Pikachu, Charizard, Eevee, Lucario

 

[Linkstrikesback]

I think the whole point of Dexit is that no one is safe. Obviously Game Freak has their favorites, and Pikachu (and likely Eevee) will probably appear in every mainline game, but otherwise, forget about it.

And in my opinion, that's a good thing! It's perfectly normal to have favorite Pokémon, but I think it's good to mix it up and not always rely on your favorites. I was pretty shocked how many people, during pre-release, who seemed to be considering not getting the game solely because <insert Pokémon here> isn't present. Dexit was three years ago at this point, after all

Ditto is probably the safest any Pokémon can be presuming breeding eggs remains a mechanic. It fills a unique mechanical niche which gives it a reason to exist that nothing else does, and it's hard to imagine that changing.

 

[hologram]

Also FYI @xghost777 Pokémon Home support has not yet been added to S/V, and any Raid exclusives would definitely require the patch. so nothing outside of the dex (and the small handful on in-game trades) will count

That means Charizard is already out!

Ditto is probably the safest any Pokémon can be presuming breeding eggs remains a mechanic. It fills a unique mechanical niche which gives it a reason to exist that nothing else does, and it's hard to imagine that changing.

Ah yeah forgot about Ditto

 

[Yoshifan31]

All Pokemon are equal and it’s nonsense that some are getting cut in the first place. This is what leads to stuff like that one tweet saying that the Switch can’t handle voice acting in a Pokemon game. You should always be able to literally catch em all. If they want to force people to use different ones just have a huge banlist for VGC, for single player you’re already limited to the ones available in the game until you beat the league

 

[aus89]

Given my profile image this will come as no surprise but Heracross has been in every gen and every mainline game except X (was in Y), Sun and Moon (was in USUM) and Sword (was in Shield Expansion pass) - so he must be up there alongside Scyther and Pinsir as some of the key strong bugs

 

[BradenAndEggs]

Munchlax and his friends.

 

[BassForever]

Ditto is probably the safest any Pokémon can be presuming breeding eggs remains a mechanic. It fills a unique mechanical niche which gives it a reason to exist that nothing else does, and it's hard to imagine that changing.

I also forgot ditto, it, pikachu, and eevee are likely the trifecta of "will always be in every mainline game".

I think the whole point of Dexit is that no one is safe. Obviously Game Freak has their favorites, and Pikachu (and likely Eevee) will probably appear in every mainline game, but otherwise, forget about it.

And in my opinion, that's a good thing! It's perfectly normal to have favorite Pokémon, but I think it's good to mix it up and not always rely on your favorites. I was pretty shocked how many people, during pre-release, who seemed to be considering not getting the game solely because <insert Pokémon here> isn't present. Dexit was three years ago at this point, after all

And nah fuck that, it's 2022 I'm fine with day 1 not having all 1000+ Pokemon in the game, but there should be a team that continues to update a mainline pokemon gen in a gaas style until everything is available. This is especially true if we're gonna get paid dlc which helps to pump even more money into these games.

If not that gf needs to make an official pokemon vgc game ala Stadium or Battle Revolution that allows all Pokemon from Home a place to go and do stuff in. It's absurd how there are Pokemon if you transferred them from gen 7 to Home, are still trapped in home with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Considering home is a paid monthly service, it's extortion of the player base to have Pokemon still stuck there after almost 5 years.

 

[NabiscoFelt]

All Pokemon are equal and it’s nonsense that some are getting cut in the first place. This is what leads to stuff like that one tweet saying that the Switch can’t handle voice acting in a Pokemon game. You should always be able to literally catch em all. If they want to force people to use different ones just have a huge banlist for VGC, for single player you’re already limited to the ones available in the game until you beat the league

Nah managing 1000+ mons in a single game, even if 600 or so are transfer only, sounds like just an insane workload. Maybe I don't understand game development or something but I feel like even the 400 we have now is kinda crazy, how many other 3D RPGs are running around with 400 unique monster models?

I do agree that some sort of battle simulator based out of Home would be a pretty neat idea though

 

[Hauke_von_Arding]

There is a reason why the Digimon games don't feature EVERY Digimon and never added all of them post launch ever. It are just to much to all be in a game from now and support them all. Pokemon is a large franchise, but come on.... No other monster collector game or similiar game is doing this.

 

[ZephyrPhoenix]

Pika and Eevee are certainly guaranteed locks. They're basically the franchise's mascots.

 

[Brock Reiher]

Also FYI @xghost777 Pokémon Home support has not yet been added to S/V, and any Raid exclusives would definitely require the patch. so nothing outside of the dex (and the small handful on in-game trades) will count

That means Charizard is already out!

Aren't they in the games code though, even if you can't legally obtain them without the update? Like I would say Lugia is still in base Ruby and Sapphire even though you couldn't legally catch it, in contrast to how Venusaur is not currently in Scarvel.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Nah managing 1000+ mons in a single game, even if 600 or so are transfer only, sounds like just an insane workload. Maybe I don't understand game development or something but I feel like even the 400 we have now is kinda crazy, how many other 3D RPGs are running around with 400 unique monster models?

I do agree that some sort of battle simulator based out of Home would be a pretty neat idea though

even developers though GF having all the pokemon until SS was absurd. there really wasn't any game that had so many unique monsters like Pokemon

 

[Chaos Theory]

Tentacruel and Fearow

 

[Zellia]

Pikachu and Eevee. If we're not counting Legends, then Ditto will be around as long as breeding is, and Charizard will continue to be an event thing. Other than that, maybe Magikarp.

 

[hologram]

Aren't they in the games code though, even if you can't legally obtain them without the update? Like I would say Lugia is still in base Ruby and Sapphire even though you couldn't legally catch it, in contrast to how Venusaur is not currently in Scarvel.

You could definitely make that argument, I'm just going by xghost's rules stated in the OP

 

[thoughthaver]

charizard

 

[thoughthaver]

Nah managing 1000+ mons in a single game, even if 600 or so are transfer only, sounds like just an insane workload. Maybe I don't understand game development or something but I feel like even the 400 we have now is kinda crazy, how many other 3D RPGs are running around with 400 unique monster models?

I do agree that some sort of battle simulator based out of Home would be a pretty neat idea though

not that many. smt series including persona does serious asset re-use and really dont add that many new monsters. playing smt v and p5 concurrently will have you meeting a lot of familiar faces and models. dq also doesnt do that many new monsters and they do recolors to pad the monster count. and yeah pretty much every series with a large monster roster cuts a lot of them between games. thats what makes the whole "every pokemon is equal keep em all in" schtick so funny. pokemon was the holdout and that was because sprites made it easier to transfer pokemon across generations. eventually the straw was gonna be broken on the camels back. they should have communicated it better but it had to be done.

 

[xghost777]

Aren't they in the games code though, even if you can't legally obtain them without the update? Like I would say Lugia is still in base Ruby and Sapphire even though you couldn't legally catch it, in contrast to how Venusaur is not currently in Scarvel.

Yeah the idea is without work or outside help, the Pokemon are readily available to interact with. From @hologram ’s post above Pokemon Home isn’t day one available and events/mystery gifts are internet/time limited so they’d be excluded for most people.

 

[Bowser Sr.]

I honestly think only Pikachu and Eevee are truly unbeatable at this point. If THE CHARIZARD can get punked out of Arceus, then you need to be a pretty hefty heavy-weight to avoid the hammerfall.

 

[YoboD]

Mimikyu is the best, and thus clearly the most essential Pokémon.

 

[winstein]

Pikachu and Eevee are the safest bets, due to their status as the mascots.
Charizard, to a lesser extent, could fit for a similar mascot status.
And of the legendaries, Mewtwo and Mew are the original powerful legendary and mythical legendary respectively, so they are likely to be frequent attendees.
By virtue of its mascot imitator status, I think Mimikyu is safe, and Ditto would be the crucial element for breeding because, well, it's the only way for male and genderless Pokemon to produce offspring.

I do think that Gengar is, by virtue of being a favourite of Sugimori, likely to stay unless some winds of change happen during development.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Tye]

Not enough mentions of Lucario here. Pikachu, Eevee, Magikarp, Ditto, and Lucario (and the rest of their respective evolutionary lines, of course) are the top 5 safest Pokémon, I’d say.

 

[NabiscoFelt]

Pikachu, Eevee, and Ditto are the safest bets for any "mainline" entry. The first two because they're mascots, the third because it's mechanically necessary

I think the Ghastly and Magikarp lines are the next most likely to remain but I think we'll see them dropped for at least one of the Gens between this and Gen XIV. Probably replaced with similar lines though if they are

 

[Lord Azrael]

I haven't actually checked the stats but my friend and I noticed that it really feels like Game Freak loves the Axew line

Bagon and Larvitar too maybe? Feels like they got straight A student attendance

 

[BassForever]

not that many. smt series including persona does serious asset re-use and really dont add that many new monsters. playing smt v and p5 concurrently will have you meeting a lot of familiar faces and models. dq also doesnt do that many new monsters and they do recolors to pad the monster count. and yeah pretty much every series with a large monster roster cuts a lot of them between games. thats what makes the whole "every pokemon is equal keep em all in" schtick so funny. pokemon was the holdout and that was because sprites made it easier to transfer pokemon across generations. eventually the straw was gonna be broken on the camels back. they should have communicated it better but it had to be done.

How many active monster collecting series are out there besides Pokemon? Also of those series how many do people give an actual shit about the unique monsters? Yokai Watch got level 5'd and even in game many of the yokai were just reskins, SMT/Persona I feel like the monsters are a means to an end and not a major draw like in Pokemon. We haven't had a traditional Dragon Quest Monsters game in like a decade, and those games also have a ton of reskins. There's really nothing on the market like pokemon for people to make that comparison for.

 

[Illucio]

Outside the obvious ones like Pikachu and Eevee.

The weird ones are Magnamite, Drifloon and Basculin.

Psyduck is in every game because its Masuda's favorite Pokemon.

 

[Hauke_von_Arding]

How many active monster collecting series are out there besides Pokemon? Also of those series how many do people give an actual shit about the unique monsters? Yokai Watch got level 5'd and even in game many of the yokai were just reskins, SMT/Persona I feel like the monsters are a means to an end and not a major draw like in Pokemon. We haven't had a traditional Dragon Quest Monsters game in like a decade, and those games also have a ton of reskins. There's really nothing on the market like pokemon for people to make that comparison for.

Digimon has some popular games, especially since the revival with Cyber Sleuth. Even their Visual Novel Strategy Game sold half a million. And they allways just feature just a part of the whole Digimon collection.

But's exactly the point. People are to spoiled by Pokemon featuring all of the monsters in every single game. But it's absolutelly not realistic to bring everyone back each game.

 

[meatbag]

How many active monster collecting series are out there besides Pokemon?

As with a lot of genres, indies have mostly been supplying the creature collector genre. Coromon, Temtem, Siralim, etc.

That said, none of them (understandably) have the scope and quality of the Pokemon bestiary.