The Pokemon VGC tournament scheduled for its London comeback in August is a great way to conclude the era of Pokemon Sword andShield just a few months ahead of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's release. Although Gen 8 was received poorly at launch due to the Pokedex cut, it eventually added more Pokemon via DLC. As for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's expected Pokedex numbers, nothing has been officially stated yet, but there are rumors and alleged leaks on the matter circulating online.
According to the leaks, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will feature Paradox Pokemon, the so-called regional fakes, a handful of regional forms, cross-gen evolutions, and a slew of new creatures. Paradox Pokemon are Pokemon that traveled through time from the past or the future, whereas regional fakes are entirely new Pokemon species that have some characteristics of other existing pocket monsters. This distinction matters because today, a leaker shared the exact number of new Pokemon coming in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
A known leaker that goes by the name of Riddler Khu shared a picture of the regional Pokedex for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, which only includes the new species of Pokemon to come with Gen 9. According to Khu's visual representation of the Paldean Pokedex, a total of 105 Pokemon are in the base game, excluding extra forms, which likely refers to regional variants. In this case, because there seem to be a total of 16 Paradox Pokemon, and 5 cross-gen evolutions, the evolution lines that are exclusive to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are 84.
Still, because Paradox Pokemon supposedly have their own Pokedex numbers, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will likely bring these Pokemon back from other games with significant changes that are not only cosmetic. As for the cross-gen evolutions, they are entirely new Pokemon as well, just with an existing evolution line outside of Paldea. The regional variants that are not included in the leaked Pokedex are allegedly 4, with one being Paldean Wooper, and the remaining three all being regional forms for Tauros.
This means that even not counting the rumored DLC for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Gen 9 will have the highest number of new Pokemon added to the base game since Pokemon Black and White. Only a select few have been revealed thus far, but other leaks did talk about new Pokemon like a Minecraft-like salt Pokemon or a dual-type Electric frog. More official information regarding the Gen 9 games will likely come in a few weeks, possibly revealing both Paradox Pokemon and regional fakes by launch.
PokemonScarlet and Violet release on November 18, 2022 for the Nintendo Switch.
Source: Twitter
