With the addition of 23 new Pokemon this week, Pokemon Go is quickly running out of “Gen 3” Pokemon to add.
Last October, Pokemon Go began the process of adding over 130 Pokemon first seen in Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire to the game. Unlike the addition of “Gen 2” Pokemon in 2017, these new Pokemon were added to the game in waves.
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So far, we’ve gotten four waves of Pokemon, consisting of 100 different species of Pokemon:
October 2017: Ghost-Type Pokemon.
Early December 2017: 50 Pokemon, including Starter Pokemon.
Late December 2017: Water and Ice-Type Pokemon.
January 2017: Ground and Rock-Type Pokemon.
That leaves 35 more species of Pokemon that need to be added, which includes a mix of common Pokemon and powerful Legendary Pokemon.
Here’s a look at what Pokemon still need to be added to the game:
Flying-Type Pokemon
Surprisingly,ย Pokemon Goย has held off on adding a handful of relatively common “Gen 3” Pokemon to the game.ย Most of these Pokemon are Flying-Type Pokemon, so we’re guessing thatย Pokemon Goย will be adding them together as part of a Flying-Type wave…possibly when Rayquaza presumably gets added as the game’s next Raid Boss in February.
The missing Flying-Type Pokemon include:ย
Swellowย and Tailow:ย The “Gen 3”ย equivalent to Spearowย or Pidgey. Expect to see a lot of these Pokemon when they get added.
Wingull and Pelipper:ย A pair of Water/Flying-Type Pokemon, these two should be pretty common in Water-Type spawn areas. While Pelipperย is great in the main series games for its ability to trigger rain, it’ll be pretty underwhelming inย Pokemon Go.ย
Surskitย and Masquerain:ย Surskitย and Masquerainย are a pair of Bug-Type Pokemon. Surskitย is a Water/Bug-Type, while Masquerainย is a Bug/Flying-Type. Masquerainย actually has a pretty decent Attack stat, but it has unfavorable type matchups and won’t be too useful in gym battles.ย
Swabluย and Altaria:ย Swabluย is a Normal/Flying-Type Pokemonย and evolves into the Dragon/Flying type Altaria. Swabluย will probably be pretty common inย Pokemon Go, but players will have to do a bit of grinding in order to get an Altaria, as it takes 400 candies to evolve. We’re not sure why that is, but it might be to keep the Dragon-Type Badge hard to obtain.ย
Tropius:ย Tropiusย is a large Grass/Flying type. While it looks intimidating (and has okay Defense and Stamina stats), it has a really underwhelming Attack stat and won’t be much use in the game.ย
Unusual Pokemon
Pokemon Goย is also holding off on a handful of Pokemon. Like Ditto, Delibird, or Smeargle, we might have to wait a bit to see these Pokemon as they could pose a problem translating toย Pokemon Go‘s more simplistic style.ย
These Pokemon include:ย
Nincada, Ninjask, and Shedinja:ย Nincadaย and Ninjaskย are just your basic underwhelming Pokemon, but Shedinjaย is one of the strangest Pokemon in the game. Shedinjaย is a Bug/Ghost-Type Pokemon formed from the empty husk of Nincadaย when it evolves. Shedinjaย only has 1 HP but it can only be damaged by attacks that it has a natural weakness too. We have no idea howย Pokemon Goย will pull that off, so we might be waiting a bit to see these Pokemon in the game.ย
Kecleon:ย Kecleonย has the “Color Change” ability in the main series games, which allows it to change types whenever it’s hit by an attack. Without this ability, Kecleonย is a pretty boring Pokemon, so we’ll see if Pokemon Goย developers figure out a way to work this in.ย
Castform:ย One Pokemon that should definitely see its ability transfer toย Pokemon Goย is Castform. Castform’sย type changes based on the weather, which is convenient asย Pokemon Goย now has its own weather feature. Expect this to be a big curiosity when it gets added.ย
Clamperl, Gorebyss, and Huntail:ย Clamperlย is a Water-Type Pokemon that has divergent evolutions based on what type of evolutionary item you use on it. The Deep Sea Tooth transformsย Clamperl into Huntail, while a Deep Sea Scale evolves it into Gorebyss. These new evolutionary items are programmed into the game already, so we’re not really sure why they weren’t added already.ย
Chimecho:ย Chimechoย was originally supposed to be a Mythical Pokemon, but Pokemon developers changed their mind and switched it at the last moment. There’s a possibility that Chimechoย will be super-hard to find, as players will get 1,000 Stardust every time they capture one of these Pokemon.ย
Volbeatย and Illumise:ย These will likely be the next pair of regional-exclusive Pokemon, similar to Plusle and Minun, Seviper and Zangoose, and Lunatoneย and Solrock.ย
Psuedo-Legendary Pokemon
Pseudo-legendary Pokemon is a fanmadeย term referring to the most powerful Pokemon that can technically be caught and evolved in the wild. In the main series games, a Psuedo-legendary Pokemon’sย final form has base stats that total up to 600, making them far more powerful that just about any other Pokemon in the game.ย
So far,ย Pokemon Goย has two pseudo-legendary Pokemon: Dragonite and Tyranitar. However, that’s going to double with the introduction of Metagross and Salamence, the two most powerful non-Legendary “Gen 3” Pokemon.
Bagon, Shelgon, Salamence:ย Salamenceย is a powerful Dragon/Flying-Type Pokemon that is expected to rival Dragoniteย as the strongest non-Legendary Pokemon in the game. Salamenceย packs more punch that Dragoniteย but has a weaker movesetย and worse defensive stats. However, it should still be a mainstay on many players’ teams.
Beldum, Metang, Metagross:ย Metagrossย is probably the best non-Legendary “Gen 3” Pokemon that still needs added toย Pokemon Go. As a Steel/Psychic-Type Pokemon, Metagrossย has very few weaknesses. It also has fantastic Attack and Defense stats, which means that it’ll be great in gym and raid battles.ย
Mythical Pokemon
We’re not sure howย Pokemon Goย will handle Mythical Pokemon, as both Mew and Celebi are still missing from the game. There’s two Mythical “Gen 3” Pokemon: Deoxys and Jirachi.
Deoxys:ย Deoxysย is notable for having multiple forms, each of which optimizes one of its stats. At its base level, Deoxysย has the strongest Attack stat in the game, although it has suboptimal Defense and Stamina stats. We’ll see how Pokemon Goย handles Deoxys’sย multiple forms.ย
Jirachi:ย Jirachiย is a Fire/Steel Pokemon meant to resemble a shooting star. Jirachiย has great all around stats, so it should be a fun Pokemon to use inย Pokemon Go.ย
Legendary Pokemon
There’s still a ton of Legendary Pokemon left to add from “Gen 3,” which should keep raiders busy until the summer. Some of these Legendary Pokemon will be great additions, while others are disappointingly underwhelming.
Here’s the Legendary Pokemon that you’ll see soon on top of manyย Pokemon Goย gyms.
Rayquaza:ย Rayquazaย is expected to be another top-tier attacker in the game, thanks to itsย greatย movepool. With the potential for a pair of Flying or Dragon-Type moves, Rayquazaย will still be invaluable to trainers, even if its CP isn’t quite as high as Groudonย or Kyogre.
Latios and Latias:ย A pair of Dragon/Psychic types, these Pokemon will be useful due to their relative lack of weaknesses and their well-rounded stats. Latiosย is the stronger of the pair, as it has a stronger Attack stat. Latias’sย great Defense stats are a bit wasted due to its inability to be placed in gyms.ย
Registeel, Regice, and Regirock:ย The Legendary Golemsย are all pretty weak and won’t be anything other than PokeDexย filler for most players. Regirock’sย 2261 max CPย puts it in the same range as Wailord or Forretress, neither of which are seen as particularly useful Pokemon.ย