SwSh Greninja, Pokémon of the Year 2020 Unavailable in The Crown Tundra

[thomaswiencek]

Despite that fact that it is Pokémon of the Year 2020, I know that Greninja was cut in Pokémon Sword & Shield, The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. So, do most of you fans worldwide regret Greninja's absence in these games? And do you think that Greninja will return in the future main series video games of Pokémon? Why?

 

[Esserise]

Every missing Pokémon will come back at some point, even if it's not necessarily in Gen 8. They made that clear from the beginning.

I don't really notice Greninja's absence personally, since it's a Starter and would only have been available through some special means anyway (e.g. the Kanto and Alola Starters being gift mons, Hoenn starters being exclusive to Dynamax Adventures). Additionally, by virtue of being a Starter, Greninja is kind of a package deal with Chesnaught and Delphox's families. If you bring one, you're kind of obligated to bring the rest along with it, too, and maybe they just didn't have time for that. You could ask why they decided to add the Hoenn Starters as a special bonus rather than the Kalos ones, but there's not really any way to speak firmly as to the particulars of Game Freak's selection criteria. Although I think that decision, along with the remaining absence of a solid chunk of Gen 1 Pokémon, at least demonstrates that it's not necessarily always a matter of popularity.

 

[thomaswiencek]

My apology, but I’m not even sure whether or not you think that Greninja is as the most popular Pokémon anymore as it used to be, so you don’t think so, do you?

 

[Esserise]

My apology, but I’m not even sure whether or not you think that Greninja is as the most popular Pokémon anymore as it used to be, so you don’t think so, do you?

I didn’t say that, and I’m not sure what part of my post might have implied it. It is clearly very popular, but between being a “package deal” with the other Kalos Starters and Game Freak’s decisions not being based strictly on criteria, it simply wasn’t chosen to be included in Sword & Shield. A future game still could and probably will include it at some point.

 

[Silktree]

It was voted to be the most popular Kalos Pokemon and won by a bigger margin than other Pokemon won in their regions. That is not too impressive when the region only has 72 Pokemon and there aren't a lot of popular choices. (This is a bit like saying that Biden is already the most popular American president ever, disregarding the circumstances.)

So it can stay gone for all I care, but it will return eventually with the other missing Pokemon. Ash-Greninja, though? I don't see a reason to bring it back unless Mega Evolution returns.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Ash-Greninja, though? I don't see a reason to bring it back unless Mega Evolution returns.

Well it’ll be easier to bring back than mega evolutions since it’s not a "mechanic" per se. It’s just an ability, whereas Megas are items. It’s comparable to Power Contruct Zygarde, in terms of the games than it is to Mega Evolutions.

 

[Esserise]

Well it’ll be easier to bring back than mega evolutions since it’s not a "mechanic" per se. It’s just an ability, whereas Megas are items. It’s comparable to Power Contruct Zygarde, in terms of the games than it is to Mega Evolutions.

Yeah, Ash-Greninja is in much closer company with the Ash Cap Pikachu forms in terms of the reason why it's even there to begin with. In the games, it was never treated as being on the same plane as Mega Evolutions - it was just an anime reference that existed for the sole purpose of being one. Deductively, the way its inclusion would most likely work is kind of like how they kept Zygarde Complete Forme in SwSh but not Ultra Necrozma. They're both the "true," ultimate, final forms of third game mascots, but Zygarde's comes from an Ability, which every Pokémon has to have by default, whereas Necrozma's implies the inclusion of an entirely separate mechanic by virtue of requiring a Z-Crystal in order to access it. Thus if Z-Crystals are not going to be included in SwSh, then Ultra Necrozma isn't coming either, but as long as Abilities are in the game, then people will be able to bring over Zygarde that have Power Construct. I am certain that Ash-Greninja would follow the same logic in relation to Mega Evolution - if Greninja can come into the game, then any Greninja can do so, regardless of whether it has Torrent, Protean, or Battle Bond, and because of that, they're going to have to support Ash-Greninja as well (they'll just ban it from the Battle Stadium and such).

In addition to Power Construct Zygarde, you can also think of AG as being along the lines of Own Tempo Rockruff - a special variant of a Pokémon that, because of its Ability, is stored as a different base form altogether.

 

[Puddle]

I'm actually surprised, and a bit disappointed, that not all the starter Pokemon were included in the game. These are the Pokemon that people form the strongest emotional attachments to, and will be the most upset about leaving behind in the previous game. If any Pokemon should have been left out of the game, I think it's the non-native Legendaries, which I feel have lost some of their value now that most of them can be caught in Dynamax Adventures before even getting your first Gym Badge.