A Lack of Galar

At the time of writing, we are having a Pokemon GO event based in Paldea, the region you visit in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. This event is part of the Ultra Unlocks, which were, well, unlocked during GO Fest. Ultra Unlock events tend to bring out new Pokemon and large bonuses. During this Ultra Unlock for example, we had a x4 stardust and x4 catch experience bonus, which was pretty damn awesome. However, I feel like we’re missing something.

We’ve missed out the whole Galar region.

To me, this is a bit of a shame. I really enjoyed playing in Galar in Pokemon Shield, and I would like to see more of it. Sure, most people don’t feel the same way, but I assume almost everyone likes their first step into Pokemon, regardless of region. Pokemon Shield was pretty easy and simple (I beat the whole game without losing a fight), but it was still fun. I enjoyed the British theme (mostly because I’m half British) and I didn’t get too annoyed by anyone. Sure, Hop was a bit annoying but all rivals are annoying, and at least Hop realizes he’s not an amazing trainer and wishes to help Pokemon more than battle them, then gets a part time job studying with the new professor.

That being said, the bigger reason for people disliking Sword and Shield is because of Dexit and a cut from the amount of Pokemon that featured in later games. But aside from that, I still think Sword and Shield are fine.

However, back in the road of Pokemon GO, we’ve had very little when it comes to the Galar region. The Galar Pokedex in Pokemon GO consists of a handful of regionals, two route 1 Pokemon, one other normal Pokemon, four legendary Pokemon and one mythical Pokemon that came out to advertise the Pokemon movie where it basically debuted.

See, not that many Pokemon. And to make matters worse, outside of Zacian and maaaaybe Zarude, none of these Pokemon are of any real good. The two legendary good boys in particular came out without a way of accessing their vastly superior battle forms.

What’s more surprising though is that we don’t have the Galar starters, even though the Paldea starters have just been released. Galar was a long time ago, all things considered, so I find it odd that we don’t even have the three starter Pokemon. Sure, they wouldn’t be that useful until they got their Community Day moves (Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant and Hydro Cannon), but it’d be nice to at least be able to catch them. I want a Rillaboom so I can have my team from Pokemon Shield recreated in Pokemon GO, and Rillaboom is the last Pokemon I need.

I can see why we’re currently doing Paldea though. There is a DLC coming out soon for Scarlet and Violet, and Pokemon GO is one of the many ways the Pokemon Company can advertise it. Get people hooked on the free game and maybe they’ll want to buy the DLCs for the latest games that cost money. But this is still a bit weird because the Pokemon we’re getting from Paldea are all from the base game. On the one hand, you want to advertise your new Pokemon in the DLC, on the other hand, you don’t want people catching new Pokemon in the free game, you want them to spend money.

The question is, when will they release more Galar Pokemon? Surely they have to at some point. We’re already getting Baxcalibur, the pseudo-legendary Pokemon in the Paldea Part 2 event, but we haven’t received anything from Galar. Is Galar just going to get ignored? Certainly feels like it.

So yeah, Niantic, give us some Galarian Pokemon. Some new ones, not the Pokemon from other regions that have a Galarian evolution. Please?