Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have been a long time coming. Fans have wanted remakes of the fourth generation Pokemon games for many years, and finally those games are here. It's great to be back in the Sinnoh region again, reviving nostalgic locations and giving fans new chances to catch and battle with the region's signature Pokemon. That latter benefit is especially valuable, since not every Pokemon from Diamond and Pearl is particularly easy to find in other games. Shellos, for instance, is a little hard to come by historically, often only available through trading or breeding a Gastrodon. Now, Shellos is back in action.
Shellos has always stood out from other Sinnoh Pokemon thanks to its two forms: the white and pink West Sea Shellos, and the green and blue East Sea Shellos. This Pokemon's two forms were remarkable at Diamond and Pearl's debut, since there weren't nearly as many Pokemon with multiple forms at the time. Nowadays, thanks to regional Pokemon forms, it's a much more common phenomenon. Shellos doesn't have any regional forms with new types yet, but interestingly, it might actually have a ton of regional forms waiting in the wings. That's because of Shellos' Pokedex entry, which has some vast implications in the current state of Pokemon.
Examining Shellos' Pokedex Entry
Shellos' Pokedex description in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond appears to be the same as it was in the original Pokemon Diamond. The description states that Shellos' colors and physique "differ from region to region", with two versions of Shellos known to exist in the Sinnoh region. Back when Shellos first appeared, that was a charming but pretty unremarkable description. Even now, the Pokedex description is pretty easy to overlook, but fans should keep an eye on it. Thanks to all the Hisuian, Galarian, and Alolan versions of famous Pokemon that exist in the franchise now, Shellos' description suggests that it has regional variants all over the Pokemon world.
It's not impossible that Shellos and its evolution Gastrodon have all kinds of forms that players just haven't seen yet. In Pokemon's Gen 5 and 6, both Shellos and Gastrodon were a little hard to come by, potentially suggesting that a regionally unique Shellos population was just hiding somewhere players couldn't get to. If Game Freak revisits old regions in upcoming games, it could certainly justify new regional variants of Shellos with the help of the Pokemon's lore. Perhaps more importantly, though, Pokemon's Gen 9 game has a ripe opportunity to introduce a new Shellos variant.
Imagining New Forms of Shellos
Shellos and Gastrodon are pretty simple Pokemon concepts. As sea slugs, they could be adapted into all kinds of new forms that make sense for certain environments. For instance, if the Gen 9 Pokemon game features some major swampy areas or coastal kelp forests, it could introduce Water/Grass type versions of Shellos and Gastrodon that are colored green and brown to blend in with their environment. Alternatively, red and gray versions of Shellos and Gastrodon that live among high temperature deep sea vents would be a fantastic opportunity to finally introduce some Water/Fire type Pokemon aside from the Mythical Volcanion.
Frankly, it's surprising that there haven't been any regional forms of Shellos yet. It's a charming Pokemon that's easy to modify, and it seems to fit into just about any Pokemon region to date. Game Freak ought to revisit the Sea Slug Pokemon and its evolution in the next game and experiment with it. It'd be great to see Shellos preserve the East and West Sea tradition in a new region, sharing statistics but differing in aesthetics. Pokemon fans would get two regional forms for the price of one. There's no word on what Pokemon's next generation of games will be like, but one has to hope that it'll involve Shellos in one way or another.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are available now for Nintendo Switch.
