Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are three months away from launch, and despite The Pokemon Company releasing three trailers thus far, information about the game is generally scarce when it comes to official sources. Many interesting bits of news surrounding Gen 9 came from alleged leaks and rumors that appeared online since the announcement trailer in February, and some of them also come from trustworthy sources. Among them is Riddler Khu, a leaker with a proven track record who typically shares insightful information via Twitter, who recently revealed that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will get four Legendary Pokemon that may all share the Dark type.
A few weeks ago, Khu talked about the expected size of the Paldean Pokedex by making comments about Gen 9's Paradox Pokemon and "regional fakes" taking a lot of space, stating that they are numbered as if Pokemon X and Y included Pokedex entries for Mega Evolutions. This led many fans to believe that they should expect around 100-to-120 new Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, especially seeing how Gen 6 through 8 all featured less than 100 new pocket monsters each.
Today, Khu stated that players should expect 45 evolution lines, 5 cross-gen evolutions, and a total of 16 Paradox Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. This doesn't count regional forms, such as the rumored three variants for Tauros and Paldean Wooper, as well as the various regional fakes, which are going to be probably around the same number of Paradox Pokemon or even more, based on Khu's comments. This is valuable information because it gives a hint about the Pokedex size in Gen 9, which will most likely go above 100 new critters.
Having 45 new evolution lines means that, while some will be pocket monsters that don't evolve, a good chunk of them will have at least one stage when they do evolve, if not two, such as the three starters for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Counting an average of at least 90 new Pokemon from the 45 evolution lines alone, the 5 cross-generational evolutions, the 16 Paradox Pokemon, and possibly 10-to-20 regional fakes, the Paldean Pokedex will likely amount to 120-to-130 critters. This is something The Pokemon Company only did in Generation 1, 3, and 5, meaning that it hasn't happened for the past 12 years.
Among other interesting recent leaks, a new dual-type Electric frog Pokemon was hinted at for Gen 9, which could be quite compelling if its secondary type is not Water. This is because all existing frog or toad Pokemon are Water-types, and it would make sense to create a unique design after so many years, considering the last frog-like pocket monsters ever released were from Gen 6.
PokemonScarlet and Violet release on November 18, 2022, for the Nintendo Switch.
Source: Twitter
