Why the Kalos Pokédex sucks

[SeanWheeler]

Pokémon X and Y is a great game overall. But what is not so great about it? The Pokédex. Generation VI has introduced only 72 Pokémon. And how many Pokémon were put in the Kalos dex? 457. Enough to split into three Pokédexes. Look at the numbers. 72 new Pokémon. 457 Pokémon in the Kalos dex. The new Pokémon only take up 16%. And with the total in the National Dex as of Gen 6 being 721, the Kalos dex takes up 63%. I mean really? That's more than half the National Dex. Almost two thirds. And we are left with only 264 Pokémon exclusive to the National Dex. That is only 13 plus the total number of Pokémon in Gen 2. Now let's analyze the Pokédex of each region. Kanto and Johto would have all the Pokémon in the National Pokédex back in their generations because the series just started. Then when we got to Hoenn, there were 202 out of 386 Pokémon. That is 52%. The distinction between regional and national Pokédex was just introduced and we already got a lower percent than Kalos. FireRed and LeafGreen's Pokédex is the original 151 Pokémon. 39%. Diamond and Pearl expanded on the National Pokédex to 493 Pokémon. The Sinnoh dex originally had 151 Pokémon (30%), but Platinum expanded the Sinnoh Pokédex to 210 (42%). HeartGold and SoulSilver's Pokédex had 256 (52%). Then came Generation V with 155 new Pokémon to add up to 649 Pokémon. Black and White had only the new Pokémon (23%). Then the sequels put some older Pokémon in so the Pokédex would have 300 (46%). Now let's look at Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. 211 out of 721 (29%). You get it? The Kalos Dex is just too big. And numbers aren't the only reason it sucks. There is also how rare National Dex Pokémon are in X and Y. There is not much post-game areas. While there is a Poké Radar, it doesn't find new Pokémon, making it useless. While you can catch Kanto legendaries in the post-game, they show up in the Kalos Pokédex. And the only place to catch National Pokémon is in the Friend Safari, and you need to register a friend and they got specific types of Safaries. Meaning if you don't have the right friend, you can't catch the Pokémon you want. And there are 145 Pokémon that aren't available in X or Y. That is 54% of the National Pokémon. And the way to transfer Pokémon from previous generations wasn't available until Christmas. That means for 74 days, the National Pokédex was impossible to complete. Having the biggest regional Pokédex despite the smallest number of new Pokémon and National Pokémon being hard to obtain is why the Pokédex in XY sucks.

 

[Esserise]

I am pretty sure that their intention is never for you to be able to complete the National Dex within a single game, so there are probably always going to be some that are left out (it is a convenient incentive for getting people to buy the second games in the generation, just like how ORAS contained the Pokémon that were missing from XY). In Gen V, you couldn't complete the National Dex at all without dipping into the Gen IV games, and doing that was super-tedious due to some of the requirements. Even in Gen IV, you couldn't complete the National Dex without going into Gen III, unless you got the event Regigigas. (Though this is all, of course, assuming you're doing it without trades.)

With specific regard to Kalos's regional Dex, I am very much a fan of it. I am a firm believer that there should be fewer new Pokémon per generation now, and that they should make more use of the over-half of a thousand Pokémon that already exist. Plus, I like having a wider variety of choices, and I like not running into the same things over and over whenever I go into the grass.

 

[$aturn¥oshi]

Alola will have less regional Pokémon overall split across four dexes, but introduces slightly more species than Kalos.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

The only thing I find disappointing is the lack of gen 7 pokemon. The huge pokedex does give people several options when it comes to making a team.

 

[Alolan Coconut]

I loved the fact that it was such a big dex, it gave me enough options to build up a team and it makes the Pokemon World feel way more connected.

Completing the National Dex has never been a priority to me and tbh: the Friend Safari isn't all that crucial since the GTS is way more user-friendly since Gen VI.

On a sidenote: the Kalos Pokemon that they did introduce, I was very happy with.

 

[AmphBoss]

I must disagree, I love the fact that the huge regional dex gives me great replay value using different teams & giving me access to pokemon I haven't really used before because they were available too late/ not at all/ ridiculous requirements to get them.

I also really liked the new pokemon introduced & I'd prefer the trend of small dexes of good pokemon to continue. Just as long as they mix up what old pokemon you get access to.

I agree with your point on the friend safari being tough but there are plenty of places online to swap friend codes to get the mons you want.

 

[Aezuica]

I liked the idea of the Dex being split into three parts, but I agree, I too don't find the concept of having 100> new Mons satisfying. Normally each Region has ~150 , but Kalos just took that amount down to below half. However, the Mons introduced are interesting and some of my favorites(ex. Greninja, Aegislash, and Yveltal). Not to mention, they introduced a new typing since (?)Gen 2.

 

[Lufenium]

I personally enjoyed the large variety that the Kalos dex offered.

 

[Sakuraa]

I was fine with the smaller amount of Pokemon introduced and I loved the massive dex. It gave so much variety when creating teams. The only issue I had with XY were the distribution and encounter rates of the newer Pokemon. Some routes literally only had one or two new Pokemon available and a lot of times they would be the hardest ones to find.

 

[Zeb]

I love large regional dexes. When I'm playing I hate having to fight the same Pokemon over and over again. Think about Unova and Tranquil and Watchog being so common, it starts to really get boring. Having such a varied dex helps not only in terms of keeping gameplay fresh, but in helping the region feel more interesting as you play through. I really don't want to be finding Zubat in every cave or Tranquil in every patch of grass.

I think the problem of there being too many in a route and things like that can just be solved by including a few more areas and spreading them down more. They could have also included things like swarms where some of the rarer Pokemon became more common for a day. (They could have split swarms by Central, Coastal and Mountain, so three swarms in a day by the time you reach the mountain portion.)

The main thing that disappointed me about the Kalos dex was how it included pretty much every Bug/Flying and Normal/Flying line in the game. It would have been nice to see some other choices like say Darmanitan, Galvantula, Sawsbuck, Camerupt, Mismagius etc to offer just a teeny bit more variety than there was. (Kanto also had significantly more Pokemon included than any other region, but I guess this is just something we're going to have to accept going forwards.)

The Kalos Pokemon themselves are fine. I'm a pretty vocal supporter of them. 72 Pokemon but like 80% of them I really like and rank within my favourites. For such a small group of new Pokemon they felt really unique, well designed and inspired overall. So I can't complain personally.

 

[Silktree]

I do think that 300-350 is the sweet spot assuming that the region isn't bloated in size. That said, 457 is preferable to 150-210 by a long shot.

 

[Guzma]

My problem is how there were more Gen I Pokemon than any other Pokemon.
Gen I - 112-113 (might have slipped up but around that range)
Gen II - 63
Gen III - 77-79 (might have slipped up here, too)
Gen IV - 51-53 (might have slipped up again)
Gen V - 78
Gen VI - 72
Holy shit, there's more Gen III and Gen V Pokemon in XY than Gen VI Pokemon, too. Still too much of a focus on Gen I, though.

 

[Esserise]

Gen III - 77-79 (might have slipped up here, too)

In fairness, this one makes sense considering the subsequent Hoenn remakes.

 

[Guzma]

One thing I won't complain about, though - they were wise enough to include the Scyther line this time. It's almost enough to make me forgive them for including Miltank instead of cool Pokemon like Joltik and Eelektross.

Almost.

In fairness, this one makes sense considering the subsequent Hoenn remakes.

I think it'd make more sense to have less Gen III Pokemon for that same reason, since you'd be able to catch most of them in the remakes.

 

[Esserise]

I think it'd make more sense to have less Gen III Pokemon for that same reason, since you'd be able to catch most of them in the remakes.

Oh, that's kind of what I was saying. Gen III's portion of the Kalos Dex is much smaller than Gen I's, which makes sense because many of them would be available in the remakes. I wasn't thinking of Gen III's portion as being particularly large, although I suppose it is. But, they at least altered the positioning of some of them to make them more accessible (i.e. Bagon and Absol being available so early on).

 

[Guzma]

Oh, that's kind of what I was saying. Gen III's portion of the Kalos Dex is much smaller than Gen I's, which makes sense because many of them would be available in the remakes. I wasn't thinking of Gen III's portion as being particularly large, although I suppose it is. But, they at least altered the positioning of some of them to make them more accessible (i.e. Bagon and Absol being available so early on).

Having Dragons like Bagon and Axew be available before the second gym was brilliant, honestly. Being able to use Haxorus through most of the game? Yes, please!

 

[SeanWheeler]

Kanto is having the most representation in Kalos? Are there Genwunners in the development team?

 

[Guzma]

Kanto is having the most representation in Kalos? Are there Genwunners in the development team?

No, they probably just overreacted to the complaints about the original Unova dex not having any old Pokemon until the post-game.

 

[SeanWheeler]

No, they probably just overreacted to the complaints about the original Unova dex not having any old Pokemon until the post-game.

Then why Kanto? If they overreacted to the Unova dex, wouldn't the regions be more equal?

 

[Guzma]

Then why Kanto? If they overreacted to the Unova dex, wouldn't the regions be more equal?

Because they were pandering to Gen I nostalgia. That's also why everyone's favorite not-Dragon Charizard got two Megas.