Evolutionary Items and Their Limits

A fellow player in my raid group recently inquired about the use of evolutionary items, particularly those introduced in the second generation and are currently in use in Go. It made me think about the usage of these items in general across Pokémon. As it turns out, it became apparent that many of these items are of limited use, for evolutions or otherwise. This limitation surely deserves some contemplation.

A good example is the Metal Coat item. After seven generations and 800+ Pokémon, only a grand total of two Pokémon evolve with its use: Onix (to Steelix) and Scyther (to Scizor). The item has little use or benefit beyond evolution. Many evolutionary items are of the same fate, though some are not as limited. This leads to wonderings about their existence, especially considering that it may just be possible to see evolved Pokémon like these in the wild and naturally, just like how in the real world animals seem to just be present naturally without intervention. This leads into a consideration of "natural evolution".

While different games implement evolution in different ways (or not at all), it's not hard to see how natural evolution can take place: external stimuli drives Pokémon to undergo changes in their genetic makeup and to trigger evolution at the right time. Leafeon and Glaceon, both of which are "Eeveelutions", go through a process that more or less embodies this principle, rather than evolving by way of a Leaf Stone (which had existed from the beginning) or hypothetically via an Ice Stone. Similar things happen in the real world, but not as instantaneous as this.

The evolutionary items then seem to be a cop-out for this natural process, perhaps because it was not feasible prior. And yet now, it seems to be. Given that practically no other Pokémon use items like Metal Coat for the same purpose, a shift to a "natural" method may be imminent and practical, which again will be different for different games. Demise of the items then follows as a result, which can possibly be a good thing for less complexity.

It's hard to deny the fact that evolutionary items seem somewhat constrained in their use, and that they may never seem to breach this limit. It has been shown that a "natural" kind of evolution is possible, and this just may be the next step. It will likely mean that the items will be deprecated, but that would seem just about as natural as Pokémon evolving in their own environment. And if that ever happens, at least we won't have to wonder about the limits of their use any longer.

One year ago: 3D, 2D, and Everything in Between