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Does The Introduction Of Mega's Mean The Death Of Cross-Gen Evolution Lines?

BlackButterfree

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Considering Sylveon was introduced along with the 28 Kalos Mega's, it could be argued that cross-gen evolution will remain very much alive. Then again the presence of only Sylveon implies a good-bye to cross-gen evolution. Although technically, Mega Evolution itself is a type of cross-gen evolution since it's the further evolution of a Pokémon from a past generation.

My personal thoughts are that both will remain. Sylveon was added this generation to show off both Fairy-type and Amie, much like Espeon and Umbreon showed off Night and Day and Friendship in Gen. 2. But since the focus of this gen is Mega Evolution, no other relatives have been added. I don't think any other generation will bring as many cross-gens as Sinnoh or Johto (at 29 and 19, respectively) but Kalos' 1 and Hoenn's 2 also seem relatively low. So I think about 8 cross-gen Pokémon might be released in Gen. 7 to accompany roughly 20 or so Mega's. But that's pure speculation.

And this is not a "Do you like cross-gen evolutions?" thread. So while you're free to let your personal opinions on them shape your opinion in this thread, don't voice them. I don't want to read "all baby Pokémon should be burned" or "God, not another Lickilicky". Thank you.
 
As you state, most generations haven't introduced many cross-gen evolutions, so I can't see any reason to believe they will stop them now.
 
I don't really see why they'd stop it just because of Mega Evolutions. Mega Evolutions are very different from true evos, more of a temporary buff to a single pokemon with a flashy visual effect than anything else. The only reason, IMO, that there weren't many cross-gen evolutions this time around was because there weren't all that many new pokemon, period. Most of the artists' work this time around seems to have gone into the new (admittedly beautiful) artstyle rather than new Pokemon designs.
 
I don't really see why they'd stop it just because of Mega Evolutions. Mega Evolutions are very different from true evos, more of a temporary buff to a single pokemon with a flashy visual effect than anything else. The only reason, IMO, that there weren't many cross-gen evolutions this time around was because there weren't all that many new pokemon, period. Most of the artists' work this time around seems to have gone into the new (admittedly beautiful) artstyle rather than new Pokemon designs.

A lot of people are coming up with Mega's for stand-alone Pokémon like Farfetch'd and Ditto and Lapras, leading more fans to (falsely) believe that Mega's are the beginning of the end of cross-gen evolutions.
 
It's because of the Eviolite. A number of pokemon that later got cross gen evolutions are better than their evolved form. Dusclops, Chansey, Porygon2, and even Murkrow are largely better than their evolved forms. Pokemon like Houndoom, Absol, Banette, Mawile, and Sableye could definitely have used evolutions based on their stats, but because of the eviolite boost it would just make those now NFE pokemon better. I'd much rather have just seen them get rid of the eviolite.
 
It's because of the Eviolite. A number of pokemon that later got cross gen evolutions are better than their evolved form. Dusclops, Chansey, Porygon2, and even Murkrow are largely better than their evolved forms. Pokemon like Houndoom, Absol, Banette, Mawile, and Sableye could definitely have used evolutions based on their stats, but because of the eviolite boost it would just make those now NFE pokemon better. I'd much rather have just seen them get rid of the eviolite.

So you think the Eviolite making certain NFE Pokémon more OP might be a reason why there's probably not going to be more cross-gen evolutions or as many as before? That actually makes a lot of sense.
 
Yeah I really don't like Eviolite. It just makes no sense as a concept.
Also it does limit for cross gens. As we've seen with incense they don't like retconning, so if Eviolite doesn't work on Lapras now, but they then add a Lapras evo for example, and eviolite does then work on Lapras, there's suddenly a whole.

I don't think it will die completely, but I think cross gen evos will be very rare now, only to showcase something like Sylveon. Now any evo they may think of they can just say nah stick it as a Mega evo instead.
 
I don't think it completely eliminates the need for traditional cross gen evos, but it does mean that they need a bigger reason than just needing a power boost to give one to a Pokemon. I think now they'd only give cross gen evos to Pokemon that are incomplete or can undergo some significant change.
 
I don't think Megas spell the death of cross-generational evos as a whole, only that they do spell the death of specific species (e.g. Absol, Mawile) getting cross-generational evos later.

Yeah I really don't like Eviolite. It just makes no sense as a concept.
Name any other held item that yields an equivalent defensive buff...? Though it IS true that any Pokemon that gets an evolution in future Gens will suddenly be eligible for Eviolite.
 
I agree with some of the users here that Eviolite seems to be killing off cross evolutions more than Mega Evolutions are. Personally though, I feel like the Mega Evolution concept was a way for Game Freak to get around the Eviolite problem. So, if Eviolite really is the reason for Mega Evolutions, then that might be a reason to assume the end of cross-gen evolutions. Otherwise, Mega Evolution is just a way for Game Freak to give power-ups to Pokémon they don't really feel need to conceptually get a new evolution.
 
Yeah I really don't like Eviolite. It just makes no sense as a concept.
Also it does limit for cross gens. As we've seen with incense they don't like retconning, so if Eviolite doesn't work on Lapras now, but they then add a Lapras evo for example, and eviolite does then work on Lapras, there's suddenly a whole.

I don't think it will die completely, but I think cross gen evos will be very rare now, only to showcase something like Sylveon. Now any evo they may think of they can just say nah stick it as a Mega evo instead.

I don't think it completely eliminates the need for traditional cross gen evos, but it does mean that they need a bigger reason than just needing a power boost to give one to a Pokemon. I think now they'd only give cross gen evos to Pokemon that are incomplete or can undergo some significant change.

I don't think Megas spell the death of cross-generational evos as a whole, only that they do spell the death of specific species (e.g. Absol, Mawile) getting cross-generational evos later.

Yeah I really don't like Eviolite. It just makes no sense as a concept.
Name any other held item that yields an equivalent defensive buff...? Though it IS true that any Pokemon that gets an evolution in future Gens will suddenly be eligible for Eviolite.

I agree with some of the users here that Eviolite seems to be killing off cross evolutions more than Mega Evolutions are. Personally though, I feel like the Mega Evolution concept was a way for Game Freak to get around the Eviolite problem. So, if Eviolite really is the reason for Mega Evolutions, then that might be a reason to assume the end of cross-gen evolutions. Otherwise, Mega Evolution is just a way for Game Freak to give power-ups to Pokémon they don't really feel need to conceptually get a new evolution.

To be fair, when I say cross-gen evo's, I also mean pre-evolutions, since either way, it evolves into a Pokémon from another generation. And while Eviolite would certainly make GameFreak a bit apprehensive towards adding evolutions, they could add pre-evolutions to certain Pokémon and then Eviolite still wouldn't work. For example, Solayoh said Lapras. I see Lapras as a FEP [fully evolved Poké], but I could definitely see it getting a preevo. Then the Eviolite still wouldn't work on it, and yet consistency stays the same in the canon. ^_^
 
To be fair, when I say cross-gen evo's, I also mean pre-evolutions, since either way, it evolves into a Pokémon from another generation. And while Eviolite would certainly make GameFreak a bit apprehensive towards adding evolutions, they could add pre-evolutions to certain Pokémon and then Eviolite still wouldn't work. For example, Solayoh said Lapras. I see Lapras as a FEP [fully evolved Poké], but I could definitely see it getting a preevo. Then the Eviolite still wouldn't work on it, and yet consistency stays the same in the canon. ^_^

Pre-evolutions have never been all that useful to begin with, they're mainly just for fanservice. The only times they've been useful is when they have access to new moves or when it's evolved form is a Pokemon that is too strong to be encountered early. For the latter, I can definitely see a couple that they could give baby forms to make them more accessible, such as Druddigon or Lapras.
 
It's because of the Eviolite. A number of pokemon that later got cross gen evolutions are better than their evolved form. Dusclops, Chansey, Porygon2, and even Murkrow are largely better than their evolved forms. Pokemon like Houndoom, Absol, Banette, Mawile, and Sableye could definitely have used evolutions based on their stats, but because of the eviolite boost it would just make those now NFE pokemon better. I'd much rather have just seen them get rid of the eviolite.

A lot of Mega Evolutions are better than their non-evolved counterparts despite losing held items so I don't see why GF can't simply make a regular evolution that would be superior. Dusclops and Chansey wind up on top because their evolutions are also defensive Pokemon--obviously they benefit more from getting defense boosts. Porygon-Z is just a bad sweeper in general with its frail defenses and base 90 speed and the power creep in recent generations. Murkrow has a niche as a Prankster user. What does Honchcrow have that other Pokemon don't do better? I'd bet if it got Prankster like Murkrow, it would have more usage than its pre-evolution.

It doesn't help that some of those evolutions rarely got a stat boost. Porygon only got a 20-point boost with stats being re-arranged, while things like Charmeleon-->Charizard has 129 BST increase, or share the same abilities (like Dusclops/Dusknoir, Chansey/Blissey).

Pre-evolutions have never been all that useful to begin with, they're mainly just for fanservice. The only times they've been useful is when they have access to new moves .

That's just artificial usefulness. These Pokemon are added at the start of a new generation--when Game Freak usually modify existing movepools for Pokemon regardless of whether they got a pre-evo or not.
 
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If Eviolite were that game-breaking, it would make all NFE Pokémon better than their evolutions (not just cross-generational evolutions). But that's the exception rather than the rule since Defense and Special Defense are hardly everything, and generally speaking, evolutionary stat boosts across the board are better. Also, Eviolite takes up an item slot just like Mega Stones.

I agree that evolutions that add less than 100 base stat points should be a thing of the past. But there are several Pokémon with a BST lower than 430 which could see an even bigger stat boost than Mega Evolution could give them. Also, cross-generational evolutions have the potential to Mega Evolve, as is already the case with Scizor. Mega Blissey and Dusknoir would probably be better than their pre-evolutions.

The Outrage said:
Murkrow has a niche as a Prankster user. What does Honchcrow have that other Pokemon don't do better? I'd bet if it got Prankster like Murkrow, it would have more usage than its pre-evolution.
Honchkrow is in Smogon's UU tier (sitting pretty comfortably there usage-wise), where Murkrow is never used. This discussion explains its viability.
 
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competitively, i guess this has some import (cross-gen evos have the notable perquisite of not occupying a mega slot), but honestly i personally couldn't care less

i don't know. i mean intuitively i would think that mega evolution isn't really going to be the death of cross-generation evolution lines, but at the same time i'm sort of struggling to see the purpose behind not making would-be (future) cross-gen evos mega evolutions? here's my perspective and it's purely a flavor-based one: cross-generation evolutions would likely be saved for things that look conceptually and/or outwardly very different from their pre-evolutions. looking at some mega evolutions, they mostly just look like larger versions of their normal forms with some modifications and some color differences. if we were to witness a change as different as, say, the one from shelgon to salamence, i highly doubt that such a drastic change would be temporary!

i think mega evolution will largely be used to replace cross-gen evos, but i think the latter method of evolution will still see some use. we'll see i guess
 
i'm sort of struggling to see the purpose behind not making would-be (future) cross-gen evos mega evolutions?
You listed two very good reasons: design changes and the Mega restriction (you can add an item slot to that). This isn't something that you should struggle to see; it's fairly apparent. Mega Evolution was clearly not designed with particularly mediocre Pokémon in mind.

I'd be content if the list of cross-generational evolutions were finalized with Farfetch'd, Dunsparce, Corsola, Qwilfish, Delibird, Spinda, Castform, Luvdisc, Volbeat, Illumise and Chatot. Granted, it would be acceptable if a few of them were just given the Mawile treatment (meaning a Mega Evolution with a really good ability), but such a solution should be used rarely.
 
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The thing is the treatment Mawile was given could have pretty well just been an actual evolution. Leave its stats the same but throw an extra 30 or so points on attack while not necessarily giving it Huge Power. Wouldn't take up a mega slot, and you could still boost its attack by something like a Life Orb if you wanted. The mega itself already looks enough like it could stand on its own as a regular evolution because it's not some drastic change in design. The thing just grows another head and looks a bit more ornate. Mega Sableye will likely be shit compared to actual Sableye because you're removing it from its niche. Sableye is arguably one of the best pokemon with Prankster. Getting rid of that, even with the stat boost, it'll probably just become some other pokemon that doesn't see much use even with Magic Bounce.

Giving megas to single stage pokemon has been in my eyes the worst thing done with megas. Those pokemon could have been better off with a new evolution entirely, but giving an evolution to a pokemon that alone could be great with just a bit higher defenses may be more alluring as an eviolite candidate once that evolution exists.

I'm not saying eviolite's the only thing that led to us seeing megas, but I think it's made the people making the games significantly more hesitant about coming out with those cross generational evolutions. The fact that mid to high base 400 pokemon like Mawile and Absol almost certainly will never be getting actual evolutions now just makes it seem more likely to me that all other pokemon in that category like Torkoal, Girafarig or Heatmor will only have the option of megas. The only thing that would make them seem appealing enough to take up the mega slot would then just be a really useful ability as is the case on Mawile, Kangaskhan and Pinsir. It could happen, but personally I'd just rather them get actual evolutions so you can just tool around with those pokemon in the game rather than having to only mega them in battle.

The high 300/low 400 pokemon haven't been touched yet, so I'm still hopeful for pokemon like Corsola, Qwilfish and Chatot. It's just that right now I could see that group going either way.
 
The high 300/low 400 pokemon haven't been touched yet, so I'm still hopeful for pokemon like Corsola, Qwilfish and Chatot. It's just that right now I could see that group going either way.
Mawile and Sableye are part of this category, but they're just two Pokémon. I don't think we can infer anything from them, especially as Sableye is useful as-is (and Mawile is its counterpart).

The mega itself already looks enough like it could stand on its own as a regular evolution because it's not some drastic change in design.
Are you saying that Mega Evolution changes are more drastic? Crazier perhaps, but you can still easily identify the original Pokémon.
 
Yes and no. Since megas were introduced I think it was to give a evolution to a Pokemon but without ruining their look as they were a fan favourite, an example being Lucario.
As to whether they'll ever do any other evolution I don't know as it took Magmar and Electabuzz several generations to get a evolution. I don't think they'll stop pre-evolutions because of megas though and they may do some more evolutions further down the line.
 
Please note: The thread is from 10 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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