Random: In Case You Didn't Know, There Are Now 900 Pokémon

But there are only 150 true Pokémon.

I want more Martial Art looking Pokemons such as Kickboxing, Judo, Capoeira, etc
Or Sporty looking Pokemons such as Baseball, Mountain bike, Jet Ski, Snowboard, etc.

I'm a little surprised that it took them this long to reach 900. 20 years ago, I thought we would have exceeded 1,000 by now, but understandably, they have hit the brakes with respect to adding new species (though the real-world number is higher thanks to the growing abundance of alternate forms, so, we effectively already have over 1,200 Pokémon).

We might eventually have another Gen V situation with 150 or so new Pokémon introduced in a single generation, but it's going to be very difficult in the long-term to keep incorporating all of these designs into the plethora of merchandise and other media this perpetual motion IP keeps cranking out.

We absolutely won't have 1,800 Pokémon (or 2,400 forms) in another 20 years though, and that's okay. I'm having a hard enough time remembering all of their names as it is.

Imagine being a young fan. It would be absolutely overwhelming trying to keep track of (let alone catching) them all. I'd wager that most of us could hardly remember a few chemical elements and yet we could name the first few hundred Pokémon without exerting a brain cell.

@Silly_G 20 years from now; Game Freak celebrates 3,000 total Pokemon, and then promptly cancels the series XD

@Silly_G
HAHA "perpetual motion IP", I love it

I agree with @Silly_G, TBH I thought we would have been over 1,000 by now, Oh well.

I am sure the next game will be Pokémon Extinction to drop the numbers back down. It will go over well with fans as only a few species will survive.

@Euler I think it's fair to count Gen 1 & 2 as true original Pokemon as concept for over 300 designs existed as early as Red & Green's development, many of which exist today and a few lost to time. Gotta flex my (gentwoer?) bias here.

@Euler Or more to see.

@TuxDC I predict Magikarp (which will lose its ability to evolve... same with Feebas), Wobbufet, and Pidgey (also can't evolve) will survive xD

@Domino you can now give one korok seed to each Pokemon.

About a third of all articles on Nintendo Life are Pokemon related. One day I will give a Pokemon game a try.. maybe..

Yeah I can name all 900 in alphabetic order while jumping rope. It's one of my many party tricks to help me impress the ladies.

If only there was a video game where I could catch them all.

@Silly_G Here's the reality of this. We are luckier to go into space than we are getting over 9000 pokemon due to gamefreak keep changing and replacing gimmicks.

Bish I couldn't even catch them all when there were just 150

"Think you can still catch 'em all?"
I know i can't, which is why i quit the series...

With more and more "Timed event exclusives" and "Drop everything you do because you need to play pokemon now to not miss out" nonsense, the series became more and more unappealing to me.

I'm a big fan of revisiting games years later to take in the nostalgia. And why bother if a good chunk of the content will forever be lost to time? No thanks, catch yourself.

Sure but can the switch handle them all in the same area?

I reckon it might not be long before there are more Pokemon than there have been rotations around the sun.

@TuxDC I highly doubt that's going to happen.

@Anti-Matter I see that your Gym would probably be for the Fighting type

I'd rather catch a cold, frankly.

I don't know... count the total number of different species living on Earth

I wasn't 100% sure on this game, I assumed there would be no new Pokémon to collect so I was thinking it would be safe for me to skip it as I have played too much Pokémon in the last few years and wanted a break, but the new trailer made it look pretty darn cool and I already have every other Pokémon and regional variant sitting in Pokémon Home so obviously I need to complete the collection.

At the risk of pulling open a whole can of worms over Dexit: I'd like a game where i get to try to catch 'em all again. (Or at least have a team of my favourites)

It still doesn't feel right, a new game where i'll have to leave behind pokemon i really like (Different ones, this time around, but still...)

I'll still buy one of the BDSP-games (Not sure which, would like some info on version differences before deciding), not sure about Legends: Arceus though, i'm not really a fan of open-world games...

Time to write a Pokerap with all 900 Pokemon...

"At least 900 Pokemon or more to see, to be a Pokemon Master is my destiny!"

They really, REALLY need to trim the fat. There are some Pokemon that no one in their right minds likes, and they need to start saying that certain species have become "extinct". Screw the "fans" and the purists. 1,000 Pokemon is just excessive at this point.

Keep 'em coming I say! The more new ones there are to discover, the more exciting the game is! And regional variants are the best way to keep old Pokémon feeling fresh and exciting (I'd love some to be retroactively added like a Johto Wooloo or a Hoenn Jellicent, and a Meowth for each region!)

900 and still no flamingo Pokémon... that strikes me as quite odd.

@Chamver They once did a “favourite pokemon” poll (On Reddit, IIRC), only two pokemon (Both pre-evolutions) didn’t get votes, so any cuts will anger and/or disappoint (At the very least annoy) people.

They could stop or slow down with adding new pokemon, but removing existing ones entirely? Bad idea.

Would never even want to try with some/most of the designs anymore. Only ever did that on the original.

@christofilth So their marketing bait got you hook line and sinker? Good Magikarp.

@SmaggTheSmug
Water, Ice and Fighting type are my favorite Pokemons.

WOW the Pokémon franchise have already 900 Pokémon, i remember back when i was younger, when my friends trough Game Freak was out of ideas.

Last time I played a mainline Pokémon was on Unova (Gen V), I even managed to get the event exclusive Pokémon despite entering that region very late in that generation.

Never went to Kalos, ORAS Hoenn or the two versions of Alola because I got my first/only 3DS by the time the Switch was already released. So far I haven't visited Galar.

I'm not sure if I want to play a new mainline Pokémon again, not because I don't want to, but because I don't know if I have time to explore those lands I haven't.

@TuxDC You know, while it'd be a little more 'real' than the Pokemon series is known for, that'd actually be an interesting move to make and would probably drive home the pain of real-life extinction if they pulled some favorites.

I’m still trying to find Pikablu. I checked under the truck, nothing. Tried breeding a pikachu with a blueberry. Nothing. The quest continues…

@MysticX At the same time the number of Pokemon would soon be over 1000, that's an insane number.

If catching them all demands the player having been playing for years or decades and constantly transferring their collection. It becomes a task which increasingly alienates new players (especially bad because there's often a reward behind it).

The top 3 mainline Pokemon games only had 151, 251 and ~400 Pokemon(at launch). And LGPE is soon to be best selling remake.

I'd think there has to be a compromise between having variety and not overwhelming new players. Having all the Pokemon was reasonable when the number was below 500, but it really isn't now.

@Dr_Lugae True, catching ‘em all has become a huge undertaking, for me personally it’s more about bringing along long-cherished pokemon.

My Platinum-event Shaymin, pre-order event Diancie, Primarina who took me through Pokemon Moon, a Gardevoir i caught in Ruby on my GBA, Misdreavus that followed me for over a decade, my recent bestie Cinderace, all with every ribbon i could get for them (Shaymin has several championship ribbons)

I grew to care about these little blobs of data, and it feels bad to set off on a (semi-) new adventure and having to leave most of them behind… (Yeah, i know i’m a sappy git.)

I wonder if Nintendo will ever release a new Pokemon game where "everyone is here" ala Smash on Switch... That would be a lot of programming, especially if all the variants were included too.

I really need to go put in the work and catch them all. Last National pokedex I completed was black 2 bit behind

Oh gamefreak. Why did you keep adding so many. Each gen after 1 should have had between 50 and 100 new ones including pre and new evolutions. This is why there are so many copies and forgettable ones.

Even if I don't end up having the will to catch them all in the end, I'd at least like to have the option to pick what Pokemon I use in each installment, even if that's only in the post-game.

@MysticX I see, yeah there are some Pokemon I've transferred all the way from Ruby/Sapphire and FR/LG that are in Pokemon Home. Like a Shiny Adamant Crobat I used in competitive.

But I think due to Gen I&II not being transferable to Gen III and how long it took for certain Pokemon to even become available again. I'm not massively concerned about using specific Pokemon I caught in the past, I'm already used to making new teams every game and not having some favourites available.

So personally 150-400 Pokemon in a game is pretty fine with me regardless of which ones they are.

I've had a Living Dex since Gen 5. Bring on more Monz!

The question is how many of them gonna be in upcoming games.

The answer to the question is another question: how many species are there that are discoverable, extinct or extant, our planet or beyond?

@MysticX Legends Arceus doesn’t seem to be open world. It works like monster Hunter where you can go to areas that are open but you can only visit one at a time and you have to load into it. Semi-Open I’d call it.

I loved playing that game back in the day, I might have to install the game again just for old time sakes

@kducky11 Well, i'll keep an eye on it, it does look good graphically, i'm sure we'll see more of it before release.

@kducky11 looks open world so far to me. Pretty sure thats what they are going for.

@HXLXIII it had an area selection menu, which could just be a fast travel mechanic but I’d wager they’re closed off areas you select and load into, especially with the base camp that sets up there, which is a ton like monster hunter. It’s a more efficient system that keeps an open feel since the area you’re loaded into is open and can be explored at your leisure.