Graduation of Regionals?

Trainers in Pokémon Go will no doubt recognize the concept of regional Pokémon. They're Pokémon that are to appear only in a specific part of the world. Because of their nature, one can only get them if one goes to the specific region of a certain Pokémon, or to trade with a friend who has done exactly that. With that issue in mind, a possible way to obviate this for certain Pokémon is to have them "graduate", or be available to everyone, or at least more Trainers than they were previously. It's a proposition that could reliably deal with their issues.

The reason for proposing this is that more and more Pokémon have been gradually added, and this includes regional Pokémon. In this latter case, it expands travel needs in order to get a chance to capture them, including for many of the ones before. With current conditions going around, travel isn't necessary the best idea or is practically even out of the question. Even if current conditions can somehow dissipate quickly, travel for Pokémon or otherwise would still not be a good idea. Therefore, to have some regional Pokémon "graduate" would be a better idea to allow them to be caught by more Trainers.

More to the point, this has happened once. Plusle and Minun were once regional, based on the east and west hemispheres, and they were supposed to switch at one point. That never happened, and they ended up becoming generally available (in effect, "graduating"). Meanwhile, other cases of regional Pokémon availability beyond their regions have been temporary through certain means (7 km Eggs, for example), or in the case of some regional switching, with a "grace period" of general availability before the switch fully occurs. The point is that it may be a good idea for this to occur again with no strings attached.

That does lead to the question of just which regional Pokémon should "graduate" and be available for more Trainers. Pachirisu seems to be a good candidate, as it is the signature Electric type of the fourth generation, and yet it's only available only near the Arctic. Heracross is another good one, as it has a Mega Evolution that should ideally be available for everyone. Tropius, due to its continued appearance with many Trainers at different times, is yet another one that may be fitting. This is only a short list for the purpose of this post, of course, and there are likely to be more with fitting reasons for them.

There is nothing really wrong with the concept of regional Pokémon, certainly. It's a great way of drawing people who like Pokémon and therefore their Trainers to come and visit the specific regions in question for the purpose of that and more. But in light of current conditions and demand for greater availability, it may be wise to allow some Pokémon to forego their regional status and be more widespread in availability. Upon such a "graduation", it may allow for more and better things that involve them and future Pokémon that may possess the role.

One year ago: The Music of Shuffle

Two years ago: GTS and Wonder Trade in Pokémon Go?

Three years ago: 1000 Episodes!!!