Your controversial opinions

[Enzo]

I personally think Eevee doesn't need gender differences whenever it's a secondary mascot or not. Although it does match up to Pikachu's, I find gender differences unnecessary for Eevee, since its evolved forms, even Sylveon, doesn't have a gender difference and that addition doesn't match the design language for Eevee, unlike Pikachu's (and normal Raichu's) which has been established since Gen 4.

I really thought I was alone on this one lol.

Like, okay, gender differences are fine as a concept and it's pretty much harmless, but it's just because it's been over 20 years Eevee debuted and now they decided to make it a thing? And it's even more stupid once you realize it's a gender difference only Eevee gets it because none of it's evolutions get it, which is so weird to me.

So they are over 20 years late, it's not a big, noticiable difference, considering there's people today who are yet to notice it, adds nothing to the Pokémon and it begins and ends with the base form since it vanishes upon evolution. So what was the point?

 

[GiratinasEmbodiment]

Like, okay, gender differences are fine as a concept and it's pretty much harmless, but it's just because it's been over 20 years Eevee debuted and now they decided to make it a thing? And it's even more stupid once you realize it's a gender difference only Eevee gets it because none of it's evolutions get it, which is so weird to me.

So they are over 20 years late, it's not a big, noticiable difference, considering there's people today who are yet to notice it, adds nothing to the Pokémon and it begins and ends with the base form since it vanishes upon evolution. So what was the point?

Discounting Nidoran being two different species, gender differences were only introduced in Generation IV. Slow compared to its contemporaries, yes. 20 years slow, not so much.

And the point of the gender difference is the same as the point of Eevee's previous cry being abandoned for anime-style #PokemonSpeak. Pikachu is the mascot and sole starter of one version, Eevee is the mascot and sole starter of the other version, so they gave Eevee and Pikachu more in common for Let's Go than they had previously - heart-shaped tail marks for the females, anime-style cry at odds with every other Pokémon in the game, no evolution for your starter, and the rival evolves theirs with a Thunder Stone. Your mileage may vary on whether it was the right call, but it didn't exactly come out of nowhere.

 

[Enzo]

Discounting Nidoran being two different species, gender differences were only introduced in Generation IV. Slow compared to its contemporaries, yes. 20 years slow, not so much.

And the point of the gender difference is the same as the point of Eevee's previous cry being abandoned for anime-style #PokemonSpeak. Pikachu is the mascot and sole starter of one version, Eevee is the mascot and sole starter of the other version, so they gave Eevee and Pikachu more in common for Let's Go than they had previously - heart-shaped tail marks for the females, anime-style cry at odds with every other Pokémon in the game, no evolution for your starter, and the rival evolves theirs with a Thunder Stone. Your mileage may vary on whether it was the right call, but it didn't exactly come out of nowhere.

The first point: Okay. I forgot that it wasn't something introduced in the first gen, but my point still stands. Besides, it means it was created 15 years ago. It definitely been a while.

Second: Okay, I see it. Making Pika and Eevee more of ''equals'' for the sake of the titles. So while I admit it it wasn't something that exactly came out of nowhere, it was still pretty pointless for all the reasons I said. At least on Pikachu's case, it's something that continues on onto Raichu. Here? None of the evolutions got it. So even if you make the point of ''It was for Partner Eevee, a mon that was designed to not evolve!" then why did they extended it for all of the good ol' plain regular Eevees as well?

It just ended up making partner Eevee look even less special, since the only possible visual clue you got to set it apart from the others is gone and the problem with the evolutions not getting it got worse too: there's no more ''It wasn't supossed to evolve'' to try and back it up.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

I will admit that I'm glad that the Eeveelutions themselves were spared the gender differences because I just know that they would have probably gotten really dumb stuff such as female Umbreon's rings being shaped like hearts instead of circles, female Espeon's head gem also being heart-shaped, female Jolteon's quills being made all smooth because girls cannot be spiky, female Flareon's fluffiness being toned down in favor of a more "pet salon-groomed" appearance because girls are not allowed to look messy or unkempt, female Vaporeon's fins being made to look softer and longer, female Leafeon having flowers (and it'd likely be pink ones so that the fact that it's a girl Leafeon is as hammered in as possible) all over, male Glaceon having shorter "hair" because boys should not have long hair, and male Sylveon either lacking the head bow/ribbons or just not having any at all because for some godforsaken reason this non-human creature must abide to human-centric gender norms and stereotypes. In other words, just about the most gender-conforming heteronormativity you can possibly imagine. Sorry if I sound bitter, but to me GameFreak doesn't really have a good track record when assigning gender differences to their creature designs unless the males and females are treated as separate species altogether.

Discounting Nidoran being two different species, gender differences were only introduced in Generation IV. Slow compared to its contemporaries, yes. 20 years slow, not so much.

And the point of the gender difference is the same as the point of Eevee's previous cry being abandoned for anime-style #PokemonSpeak. Pikachu is the mascot and sole starter of one version, Eevee is the mascot and sole starter of the other version, so they gave Eevee and Pikachu more in common for Let's Go than they had previously - heart-shaped tail marks for the females, anime-style cry at odds with every other Pokémon in the game, no evolution for your starter, and the rival evolves theirs with a Thunder Stone. Your mileage may vary on whether it was the right call, but it didn't exactly come out of nowhere.

Here's the thing, for the Let's Go! games that was perfectly fine. It's carrying the female Eevee's heart-patterned tail over to become commonplace that people have an issue with. At least with the starter Eevee from Let's Go! it can be chalked up to being another thing that makes it stand out among its kind (and, I suppose, it also makes it so that you don't have to continually go through the rather long intro sequence at the beginning of the game if you wanted your Eevee to be a specific gender, since you'll know which one it'll be right away). Beyond the Let's Go! games, though, Eevee's gender difference just feels rather unnecessary.

 

[Enzo]

I will admit that I'm glad that the Eeveelutions themselves were spared the gender differences because I just know that they would have probably gotten really dumb stuff such as female Umbreon's rings being shaped like hearts instead of circles, female Espeon's head gem also being heart-shaped, female Jolteon's quills being made all smooth because girls cannot be spiky, female Flareon's fluffiness being toned down in favor of a more "pet salon-groomed" appearance because girls are not allowed to look messy or unkempt, female Vaporeon's fins being made to look softer and longer, female Leafeon having flowers (and it'd likely be pink ones so that the fact that it's a girl Leafeon is as hammered in as possible) all over, male Glaceon having shorter "hair" because boys should not have long hair, and male Sylveon either lacking the head bow/ribbons or just not having any at all because for some godforsaken reason this non-human creature must abide to human-centric gender norms and stereotypes. In other words, just about the most gender-conforming heteronormativity you can possibly imagine. Sorry if I sound bitter, but to me GameFreak doesn't really have a good track record when assigning gender differences to their creature designs unless the males and females are treated as separate species altogether.

Yeah, I'm also half glad they didn't because I just know they would either go into sexist territory or make it so it's such a small difference it wouldn't even matter that much (C'mon, the tail thing on Eevee is not even that noticiable at first glance)

But still, on the other hand it is dumb they didn't gave it to the evolutions tho. Why go and make an alteration on a + 20 years old design, expand it so said addition is not locked behind one title, and yet not give it to the evolutions of that being, you know?

 

[BigBadButterfree]

Idk, I feel like if they did gender differences among the Eeveelutions, it would be more like all the smaller differences introduced in gen 4. Stuff like, the ruffs around the original 3's necks would be bigger on the male. Longer ear hair on Espeon and longer dangly things on the female Glaceon's head. More leaf cracks in the male Leafeon's tail. Shorter ribbons on a male Sylveon. You know, stuff that ultimately doesn't matter.

I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion but I really wish they brought back more gender differences (and, as said above, I wish they carried over to forms like megas and Gigantamax). I'm just all for more variation among individuals, even if it's small.

 

[Esserise]

male Glaceon having shorter "hair" because boys should not have long hair

Since when is this something the series has ever gotten even remotely close to suggesting

Literally in the most recent games alone: Leon, Gordie, Piers, Avery… hell, even Mustard, goofy as his styling is

 

[Neyo]

Literally in the most recent games alone: Leon, Gordie, Piers, Avery… hell, even Mustard, goofy as his styling is

Don’t forget Bede.

 

[GiratinasEmbodiment]

I will admit that I'm glad that the Eeveelutions themselves were spared the gender differences because I just know that they would have probably gotten really dumb stuff such as female Umbreon's rings being shaped like hearts instead of circles, female Espeon's head gem also being heart-shaped, female Jolteon's quills being made all smooth because girls cannot be spiky, female Flareon's fluffiness being toned down in favor of a more "pet salon-groomed" appearance because girls are not allowed to look messy or unkempt, female Vaporeon's fins being made to look softer and longer, female Leafeon having flowers (and it'd likely be pink ones so that the fact that it's a girl Leafeon is as hammered in as possible) all over, male Glaceon having shorter "hair" because boys should not have long hair, and male Sylveon either lacking the head bow/ribbons or just not having any at all because for some godforsaken reason this non-human creature must abide to human-centric gender norms and stereotypes. In other words, just about the most gender-conforming heteronormativity you can possibly imagine. Sorry if I sound bitter, but to me GameFreak doesn't really have a good track record when assigning gender differences to their creature designs unless the males and females are treated as separate species altogether.

I have no idea what you're talking about, because none of that has precedent. Almost all of the Pokémon with purely-aesthetic gender differences (which is to say, the ones that are NOT functionally different between male and female) have been either insignificant and easily-missed (Gyarados' whiskers, Dodrio's necks), or reflective of the real-world creatures from which they are based (Pyroar and Luxray's mane differences). The two biggest exceptions are Wobbuffet, which is a species that is #PlayedForLaughs and might have even been intended as reference to/foreshadowing for the anime (I remember Jessie ruining a Contest performance with overkill makeup but I can't remember which region that was in), and Frillish/Jellicent, which are coloured after the gender symbols and based on archaic royal depictions, respectively. Even female Pikachu's tail only looks heart-shaped after seeing Cosplay Pikachu have an actual heart emblem on it; in Generation IV and V, I thought it was meant to indicate battle-damage like Gible's fin notches.

Second: Okay, I see it. Making Pika and Eevee more of ''equals'' for the sake of the titles. So while I admit it it wasn't something that exactly came out of nowhere, it was still pretty pointless for all the reasons I said. At least on Pikachu's case, it's something that continues on onto Raichu. Here? None of the evolutions got it. So even if you make the point of ''It was for Partner Eevee, a mon that was designed to not evolve!" then why did they extended it for all of the good ol' plain regular Eevees as well?

I think the reason it was extended to common Eevee in Generation VIII is mostly because the starter Pokémon can't be separated from its OT in Let's Go. (Which is a separate discussion to have on whether or not that's a good thing.) Your Partner Pokémon learns the Secret Techniques, it serves in lieu of a Dowsing Machine, and the partnership is just adorable besides. So you're not allowed to trade it away or transfer it to Bank. And it's a lot easier to have the "this is just my old one for a new Generation" sentiment if they look identical.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

I have no idea what you're talking about, because none of that has precedent. Almost all of the Pokémon with purely-aesthetic gender differences (which is to say, the ones that are NOT functionally different between male and female) have been either insignificant and easily-missed (Gyarados' whiskers, Dodrio's necks), or reflective of the real-world creatures from which they are based (Pyroar and Luxray's mane differences). The two biggest exceptions are Wobbuffet, which is a species that is #PlayedForLaughs and might have even been intended as reference to/foreshadowing for the anime (I remember Jessie ruining a Contest performance with overkill makeup but I can't remember which region that was in), and Frillish/Jellicent, which are coloured after the gender symbols and based on archaic royal depictions, respectively. Even female Pikachu's tail only looks heart-shaped after seeing Cosplay Pikachu have an actual heart emblem on it; in Generation IV and V, I thought it was meant to indicate battle-damage like Gible's fin notches.

Well, the fact that female Eevee's tail pattern very blatantly evokes a heart's shape when viewed from certain angles or the silhouette of a flower if viewed from above doesn't really give me a lot of confidence that the Eeveelution's potential gender differences wouldn't follow a similar theme. As for Pikachu's tail, it may have looked like battle damage to you, but that doesn't mean that's what it was intended to be, and Cosplay Pikachu all but confirms that yes, it was supposed to be a heart, especially since the indentation always looked a bit too rounded to be battle damage. That said, I could buy female Raichu's tail as being battle-damaged. And speaking of blatant heart shapes on female Pokemon, we also have female Heracross's horn. I will concede that such kinds of gender differences aren't that common, but they do kinda get on my nerves a little regardless.

 

[Esserise]

I also feel like the sexism critiques are a little overblown. There are 100 Pokémon with gender differences, and I think only 6 of them go for something stereotypically feminine. Pikachu, Eevee, and Heracross implement hearts in their designs, and like @GiratinasEmbodiment said, you have Wobbuffet’s lipstick (which to me reads as deliberately absurd because Wobbuffet is a funny Pokémon) and Frillish/Jellicent being pink. It’s not like Game Freak are stamping hearts and bows all over every female variant in sight. And on the flipside, there’s lots of Pokémon (particulary Fairy-types) that have cutesy stuff like that and yet can be of either gender. I should be clear that I don’t want to sound like I’m ascribing any progressive altruism to Game Freak here, but for the most part, I really don’t think they’re super-dogmatic about gender roles and aesthetics like that. It’s certainly a pit that they do fall into on occasion (Brendan and May’s Contest outfits…), but it feels kind of exaggerated in this discussion.

At any rate, there’s also plenty of precedent for a Pokémon with a gender difference evolving into a Pokémon that doesn’t have one. It’s usually when cross-gen evos are involved: Crobat, Ambipom, Honchkrow, Gliscor.

Honestly I’d be more willing to bet that the reason they didn’t come up with variations for the Eeveelutions is because there’s a whopping 8 of them and they’re all pretty iconic. (Plus, any future Eeveelutions would have to follow suit for consistency.) Eevee can get a voice-acted cry and a subtle little design tweak to commemorate its elevation to co-mascot alongside Pikachu, and then in future games that becomes a small immortalization of Let’s Go’s place in the series. But coming up with minor modifications for the Eeveelutions would just be going overboard, I think. (In general, I think it’s fairly clear that they’re basically done with the “subtle” gender differences? None of the Megas or regional variants have them even if the base Pokémon do. Eevee seems very much like a one-off exception.)

 

[GiratinasEmbodiment]

As for Pikachu's tail, it may have looked like battle damage to you, but that doesn't mean that's what it was intended to be, and Cosplay Pikachu all but confirms that yes, it was supposed to be a heart, especially since the indentation always looked a bit too rounded to be battle damage. [...] And speaking of blatant heart shapes on female Pokemon, we also have female Heracross's horn.

The roundedness came across as more of a "bent and battered" type of damage compared to Gible's "took a bite out" chunk missing. That said, clearly, I'm just blind to heart shapes, because I assumed Heracross' difference was supposed to be a shovel-head figure that just came out looking weird because it was positioned too far down the horn (presumably to match the placement of the male's prongs). And my morbid mind associated "shovel" with "grave-digging", so female Heracross came across as the bigger badass compared to the male.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

The roundedness came across as more of a "bent and battered" type of damage compared to Gible's "took a bite out" chunk missing. That said, clearly, I'm just blind to heart shapes, because I assumed Heracross' difference was supposed to be a shovel-head figure that just came out looking weird because it was positioned too far down the horn (presumably to match the placement of the male's prongs). And my morbid mind associated "shovel" with "grave-digging", so female Heracross came across as the bigger badass compared to the male.

...you know, this is actually a pretty amusing and fun interpretation of Heracross's horn, so big kudos for that XD

 

[BigBadButterfree]

I guess with Heracross, that's one of the few instances I'm glad they went with a difference more... Whimsical/random than scientific. Because if they based that off of its real-world inspiration, kinda like how other bugs give the female a bigger abdomen, then female Heracross would simply have no horn. And... That wouldn't be very exciting or impressive, would it?

 

[Esserise]

Disregarding the gender connotation, I actually am quite fond of both Heracross horns. The original pronged look is definitely cool, but while I doubt this is what GF had in mind, the Pokédex often talks about Heracross slipping its horn underneath an opponent's belly and then flipping them over, so my mind saw the female's shovel-esque horn tip and just figured, "Well, that makes sense - that shape would be better for achieving that kind of scooping action."

 

[Rocket Zigzagoon]

Idk, I feel like if they did gender differences among the Eeveelutions, it would be more like all the smaller differences introduced in gen 4. Stuff like, the ruffs around the original 3's necks would be bigger on the male. Longer ear hair on Espeon and longer dangly things on the female Glaceon's head. More leaf cracks in the male Leafeon's tail. Shorter ribbons on a male Sylveon. You know, stuff that ultimately doesn't matter.

I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion but I really wish they brought back more gender differences (and, as said above, I wish they carried over to forms like megas and Gigantamax). I'm just all for more variation among individuals, even if it's small.

If I can remember, Game Freak did experiment gender differences on most of the Pokemon at that time during the development of Gen 4 games. One of those including shorter ears for all Eeveelutions existed at that time (ie: female Espeon had short housecat ears instead of long caracal ears, which I liked), but not Eevee itself. If Game Freak were to bring back gender variations in BDSP, I think all Eeveelutions, even Leafeon and Glaceon, could get similar treatment, because what's the point of not sparing Eevee itself from gender difference retcon while the Eeveelutions were spared instead?

Maybe female Sylveon would lack notches on their ears compared to males. Or having bob-tails instead of chinchilla tails.

And if I can remember, one of the staff at Game Freak did said not all female Eevee will have heart-shaped tail patterns. That would meant some female Eevee would retain their standard spiky/star tail patterns. Sadly this has been defied by Game Freak and/or TPCi upon the release of Sword/Shield, to the ire of certain fans.

 

[Proxima Centauri B]

Game Freak is really holding themselves back. They could honestly do so much more but they are too afraid.

There are not nearly enough Pokemon species and Regional Varients and other forms is a lame attempt to not make new Pokemon species. There is no number they need to stop at. There are millions of life forms on Earth so in the Pokemon world theres no reason for there to only be 900 considering its similar to Earth.

 

[KirbyBulba737]

Game Freak is really holding themselves back. They could honestly do so much more but they are too afraid.

There are not nearly enough Pokemon species and Regional Varients and other forms is a lame attempt to not make new Pokemon species. There is no number they need to stop at. There are millions of life forms on Earth so in the Pokemon world theres no reason for there to only be 900 considering its similar to Earth.

They aren't stopping.

 

[Neyo]

There are not nearly enough Pokemon species and Regional Varients and other forms is a lame attempt to not make new Pokemon species. There is no number they need to stop at. There are millions of life forms on Earth so in the Pokemon world theres no reason for there to only be 900 considering its similar to Earth.

There are a few problems I have with this argument.
1. Logical development. It takes time to create, balance, and figure out a new Pokémon. You have to determine it’s base stats, movepool, typing, name, and location. There’s only so many they can create in a single game, and it costs a lot to make one.
2. Desirability. Do you really want to see thousands of Pokémon? There is a point of feasibility, and a creative limit. As you said, there are millions of life forms on earth, and a lot of those are just variations of the same body plan. I don’t know about you, but I’m not that interested in seeing dozens of slightly different spiders in the Pokédex.
3. Enjoyment. Will having hundred of new Pokémon in a single game make said game more enjoyable? It’ll likely only be a flavor coating over the actual product. Having tons of Pokémon isn’t relevant when balance and pacing get thrown out the window.
IMO, having a small dex with good designs and a decent spread of types is much better. Like Kalos, for example.

 

[Proxima Centauri B]

They aren't stopping.

I think they want to stop at 1000 thats the big magic number they are so afraid of,I think they shouldnt be though. There are fans like myself that actually enjoy catching and collecting them and that carries the game experience for me and other people. I find the battling aspect alright and we all know they are lacking in story as they arent story driven games, They also usually dont add much other stuff to do,so you are left mostly with catching Pokemon.

A small dex is just simply less content that they dont make up for with much else. Your left with just the barebones gym journey and E4 and not much else. I actually did enjoy Sun and Moon becase they did make the story a big part of the game but had a smaller dex which the story did make up for a bit.

Simply put,if they stop making new Pokemon,they are goint to have to add some more things to do and tbh Game Freak just doesnt like to do that. Id really hate to see these games suffer for it. What is going to happen if they stop adding Pokemon? Once there are 10 Charizard forms its going to get very old for a lot of people. Even kids are going to get bored of seeing the same creatures eventually if there arent new ones anymore and I see there being a significant drop in sales.

I wouldnt mind having a ton of creatures. The variety is what I find fun. I play new games to catch new Pokemon,and I am really just not intersted in remakes and catching the same stuff over again. I have Pokemon Bank, there is no need to. Maybe others see differently but nostalgia doesnt do that much for me.

And to be honest,I am sick to death of Kanto Pokemon and you know if they stop with new mons they will probably become the focus of everything,