BDSP Pokédex speculation

[RileyXY1]

I feel they're more likely to be added to another method, like Poke Radar or maybe become regular encounters in postgame locations. Given the claim of being "faithful", their chance of being in the Sinnoh Dex is unlikely.

That's a vague term and we don't know what they mean by that, especially considering that we only have one trailer out so far.

 

[Daenerys]

Well, they are already available on many routes pre-National Dex, just locked behind an obscene method that can't exist anymore thanks to the change in hardware. The easiest solution is to add them to the normal table of wild encounters for their respective areas.

I mostly meant why would they have to be added to the Sinnoh Dex itself. These are faithful remakes so I expect that they'll keep the original D/P Sinnoh Dex or maybe the Platinum one and not add a bunch of random Pokemon to it unless said Pokemon are directly related to Sinnoh Dex Pokemon - i.e. they will almost certainly add Sylveon because of its relation to Eevee which is found in the Platinum Sinnoh Dex.

 

[RileyXY1]

I mostly meant why would they have to be added to the Sinnoh Dex itself. These are faithful remakes so I expect that they'll keep the original D/P Sinnoh Dex or maybe the Platinum one and not add a bunch of random Pokemon to it unless said Pokemon are directly related to Sinnoh Dex Pokemon - i.e. they will almost certainly add Sylveon because of its relation to Eevee which is found in the Platinum Sinnoh Dex.

They already exist on the routes, just locked behind an obscene method that won't return thanks to the change in hardware. The easiest solution is just to add them to the table of normal encounters for those areas.

 

[swiftgallade46]

They already exist on the routes, just locked behind an obscene method that won't return thanks to the change in hardware. The easiest solution is just to add them to the table of normal encounters for those areas.

I think ya mean *obscure. Obscene means “extremely inappropriate”.

Anyway, the question is why add them to the Sinnoh Dex? They could be added to encounter tables post “National Dex” or just postgame in general. Or they could add them in a different part of the game/different method altogether.

 

[RileyXY1]

I think ya mean *obscure. Obscene means “extremely inappropriate”.

Anyway, the question is why add them to the Sinnoh Dex? They could be added to encounter tables post “National Dex” or just postgame in general. Or they could add them in a different part of the game/different method altogether.

Well, that might be too much work, and the other methods that could return are already stacked with Pokemon as is. Plus it would put the Sinnoh Dex on par with BW2 Unova or SM Alola in terms of Dex size.

 

[swiftgallade46]

Well, that might be too much work, and the other methods that could return are already stacked with Pokemon as is. Plus it would put the Sinnoh Dex on par with BW2 Unova or SM Alola in terms of Dex size.

Yeah, I mean, fair enough. I do want them to expand the regional Dex I’m just not sure that’s really the most likely route for them to take.

I don’t think it would be a crazy amount of work to add them into a different encounter method. Being stacked with Pokémon isn’t really much of an issue either, honestly. Lately we’ve had routes with tons of different species encounter-able.

 

[RileyXY1]

Yeah, I mean, fair enough. I do want them to expand the regional Dexc I’m just not sure that’s really the most likely route for them to take.

I don’t think it would be a crazy amount of work to add them into a different encounter method. Being stacked with Pokémon isn’t really much of an issue either, honestly. Lately we’ve had routes with tons of different species encounter-able.

Well, the newer titles have different Pokemon available in different grass patches. I don't know if that would work for Sinnoh.

 

[Bolt Strike]

Well, that might be too much work, and the other methods that could return are already stacked with Pokemon as is. Plus it would put the Sinnoh Dex on par with BW2 Unova or SM Alola in terms of Dex size.

Pokeradar is usually only one Pokemon per route actually (and when they're not, it's either 2 counterpart Pokemon or a Pokemon and its evolution), and they could easily double up like they did with the DexNav for ORAS. If they want a quick and easy way to fold Dongle encounters into the other encounter methods, that would be the best way to go about it.

I highly doubt we're getting a major Dex expansion like BW2 or USUM. They had the opportunity to do that with ORAS as well, but they opted only to add in cross gen evos. That tells me that they seem to view the Dex as part of the nostalgia and don't want to mess with it too much. If we're getting any major Dex expansion it'll probably just be for all of the post game Pokemon (say we get 300-400 Pokemon total instead of just the main game) and we'll be stuck with the same 150-210 Pokemon we were in the originals before we beat the Pokemon League. This doesn't seem to be the kind of game to shake up the dex to any significant degree, that's more likely to happen in LA.

Well, the newer titles have different Pokemon available in different grass patches. I don't know if that would work for Sinnoh.

DPPt already did that to some degree, some of the routes had North/South or East/West splits with different encounter tables (e.g. Rt. 210, Rt. 211).

 

[GhostLucario]

I don't see why the dex would have to be expanded to include other pokémon not originally in it. Every game since Emerald (except LGPE IIRC) has had pokemon that are obtainable in the game without being in the regional dex (for example with the Safari Zone expansions in Emerald and HGSS, the Sevii islands in FRLG, the swarms, radar and trophy garden in DPP; swarms and areas added in the postgame in BWB2W2; Dex Nav and Mirage spots in ORAS, Friend Safari in XY, the island scan in the Alola games etc)

They could add all those dual slot mons in a DexNav-esque app in the Poketch, update the radar/swarms to include them etc. There's no limits to what they can do and expanding the dex isn't actually necessary. They've added pokemon not in the dex to the games for decades now.

 

[Jimothy]

I mean, this discussion is more so about the available Pokémon programmed into the game, “dex” is shorthand. No one cares if they’re numbered or not.

 

[Kallyle]

I mostly meant why would they have to be added to the Sinnoh Dex itself. These are faithful remakes so I expect that they'll keep the original D/P Sinnoh Dex or maybe the Platinum one and not add a bunch of random Pokemon to it unless said Pokemon are directly related to Sinnoh Dex Pokemon - i.e. they will almost certainly add Sylveon because of its relation to Eevee which is found in the Platinum Sinnoh Dex.

The option I just bolded would be a very bad decision even in the context of the "They're remaking DP, not Platinum" argument, as that would be straight up going back on the criticism the lackluster DP Pokédex selection received. If anything, that would turn potential customers away from BDSP a lot more than their apparent faithfulness in graphics and story. That would also be the opposite of the quality of life improvements the site claims will be in these games.

 

[Greninjaman]

The option I just bolded would be a very bad decision even in the context of the "They're remaking DP, not Platinum" argument, as that would be straight up going back on the criticism the lackluster DP Pokédex selection received. If anything, that would turn potential customers away from BDSP a lot more than their apparent faithfulness in graphics and story. That would also be the opposite of the quality of life improvements the site claims will be in these games.

I do agree. If the only thing that makes these remakes different from the original is a new coat of paint, it won't sell that well. Add in things to make them different to the originals, people will be more likely to buy them.

 

[Bolt Strike]

I don't see why the dex would have to be expanded to include other pokémon not originally in it. Every game since Emerald (except LGPE IIRC) has had pokemon that are obtainable in the game without being in the regional dex (for example with the Safari Zone expansions in Emerald and HGSS, the Sevii islands in FRLG, the swarms, radar and trophy garden in DPP; swarms and areas added in the postgame in BWB2W2; Dex Nav and Mirage spots in ORAS, Friend Safari in XY, the island scan in the Alola games etc)

They could add all those dual slot mons in a DexNav-esque app in the Poketch, update the radar/swarms to include them etc. There's no limits to what they can do and expanding the dex isn't actually necessary. They've been added pokemon not in the dex to the games for decades now.

Because of Dexit, that's why. Everything that's in the game is in the regional dex (there are a handful of exceptions for event Pokemon and transfers and stuff, but that's it), that's the policy going forward. Also, they've been trending towards post game Pokemon being in the regional dex anyway. BW2, SM, and USUM all had significant chunks of Pokemon in their dex that were post game exclusive and little to nothing else.

 

[swiftgallade46]

Because of Dexit, that's why. Everything that's in the game is in the regional dex (there are a handful of exceptions for event Pokemon and transfers and stuff, but that's it), that's the policy going forward. Also, they've been trending towards post game Pokemon being in the regional dex anyway. BW2, SM, and USUM all had significant chunks of Pokemon in their dex that were post game exclusive and little to nothing else.

I mostly agree, but I think the exceptions are larger than you’d think. For one thing, it could be argued that entire two sets of DLC Pokémon were not part of the regional Dex. Beyond that (and you did touch on this, but I believe it’s a bit more significant) there were a ton of Legendary and a few starter Pokémon that were obtainable in-game but never given Dex entries in the game itself at all.

The D/P storyline Dex definitely needs to be expanded. But I could also see a Dex expansion being unlocked once you reach the post game. Just not the full National Dex.

 

[Bolt Strike]

I mostly agree, but I think the exceptions are larger than you’d think. For one thing, it could be argued that entire two sets of DLC Pokémon were not part of the regional Dex. Beyond that (and you did touch on this, but I believe it’s a bit more significant) there were a ton of Legendary and a few starter Pokémon that were obtainable in-game but never given Dex entries in the game itself at all.

The D/P storyline Dex definitely needs to be expanded. But I could also see a Dex expansion being unlocked once you reach the post game. Just not the full National Dex.

Regardless of whether the DLC dexes could be considered part of the Galar Dex, they were mostly catalogued in the IoA/CT Dex. Likewise, if the post game Pokemon aren't in the Sinnoh Dex, they'll probably be in a Battle Zone dex or something (although many of the post game additions were found in mainland Sinnoh through post game encounter methods, so maybe not). So the regular old Pokemon they add to BDSP's post game will most likely be in some sort of dex.

 

[Daenerys]

The option I just bolded would be a very bad decision even in the context of the "They're remaking DP, not Platinum" argument, as that would be straight up going back on the criticism the lackluster DP Pokédex selection received. If anything, that would turn potential customers away from BDSP a lot more than their apparent faithfulness in graphics and story. That would also be the opposite of the quality of life improvements the site claims will be in these games.

I think that's a huge exaggeration - many fans will buy the games purely out of nostalgia just like many of them bought the Let's Go games despite those being vastly inferior to pretty much every other core game up until that point.

And tbh if people could survive there being no Hoenn BF in ORAS and no fix to the 'too much water' complaint also, then they should be able to tolerate a DP style Dex in BDSP IMO.

 

[Norzan]

Yeah, Pokemon has reached a point that only a catastrophic disaster can turn away players from a new game, remake or otherwise. Dexit happened, something that literally removed half of the pokemon (you know, the reason why people play a pokemon game), and that still hardly mattered when it came to sales.

I think something as small (by comparison to something like Dexit) as a remake having the same poor Dex of the game that is being a remake of will hardly matter in the grand scheme of things. Some people will be bothered, a lot won't.

 

[RileyXY1]

Well, the Torchic, Jigglypuff, Shroomish, and Skitty lines might be added to the dex because they are allowed in Amity Square, the only non-Sinnoh dex Pokemon allowed inside in fact, unless they completely change how Amity Square works or ax the location entirely.

 

[Unovia]

I see BDSP having the Platinum Dex with some basic additions for continuations to lines that have continued since, like Sylveon. I also see the Fairy Type being included in the game.

 

[SeanWheeler]

I really don't see them cutting the National Dex. They can expand the Sinnoh Dex a bit from Platinum. But if they cut the National Dex, that could be a big PR disaster. The chibi overworld models were mocked, people cancelled pre-orders Sword and Shield pre-orders when GameFreak said the National Dex isn't coming back, and many people were disappointed in the Battle Frontier not being in ORAS. And since Diamond and Pearl used the National Dex in it's postgame, what faithful remake would cut it? Especially when it was missed so much? So whatever doesn't make it to the Sinnoh Pokédex, it would still be in the National Pokédex.