Since its beginning, the Pokemon series has followed a generational formula, with new generations coming along every few years. Each new generation brings a whole host of new Pokemon, as well as adding various features and mechanics to the games.
From generation one back in the very beginning, all the way up to modern Pokemon in generation eight, the series has been continually evolving, much like the Pokemon it centers around. Each generation has made meaningful additions that remain beloved aspects of the games to this day, so ไhere are the best thi♚ngs each generation of Pokemon added to the series.
8 Generation One:𒉰 Pokemon Itself ꦐ
Generation one arguably didn't add anything to the Pokemon series, since there was no Pokemon series to add anything to. It did, however, give us the Pokemon series to begin with. While it wasn't quite as polished as we know it today, the fundamentals introduced in generation one have remained unchanged for decades.
Catching and battling Pokemon, evil teams, a rival character, eight gym leaders, an elite four, and a champion. So much of the formula we know and love comes straight from gen one, so there's arguably no generation that's made more important contributions to the series than that.
7 🌳 Generation Tw🤪o: Breeding Pokemon
Something that was heavily emphasized in the original Pokemon games was their social aspect. Want an Alakazam or Gengar? Trade for it. Want the other starters? Trade for them. A big problem with this approach, though, was that acquiring a Bulbasaur to go with your Squirtle would require a friend to give up theirs.
Gen two solved this by allowing Pokemon to be bred, meaning pretty much every non-legendary species was now essentially renewable. An hono꧂rable mention must also go to held items - another long-standing staple of the series that was introduced in generation two.
6 Generation Three: Abilitꦺies
Generation two's held items were a big addition to the battle system, but generation three really stepped things up a notch with abilities - inherent powers each Pokemon had that could boost their moves, debuff enemies, and provide other helpful effects - 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:some can even be used outside of battl𒁃e.
Abilities were a great way to make Pokemon species more unique, and boost the power of otherwise-underwhelming mons. There are even Pokemon designed around abilities, the most famous example being the 1HP Shedinja and its Wonder Guard that prevents it💛 from taking damage from anything othe🦹r than super effective moves.
5 🐓 Generation Four: T꧋he Physical/Special Split
Generation four is widely regarded as one of the best generations, and brought a ton of exciting stuff to the Pokemon table. An honorable mention has to go to following Pokemon, a fan-favorite feature that was seen for the first time in Heartgold and Soulsilver, as well as 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the shiny-h♊unting staple Masuda method, but it's undeniable that the physical/special split had the biggest influence.
Prior to gen four, all moves of a type were either physical or special. For example, all fire moves were special, so fire-type physical attackers like Flareon were simply not very good. Gen four split moves within types, meaning 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:all types now had both physical and specialജ moves, and the issue of Pokemon being non-viable due to their stats was a 🧸thing of the pa🌜st.
4 Generation Five: Hidden Abilities ﷽ ﷺ
Building on the abilities introduced in generation three, generation five added hidden abilities - additional, often stronger abilities that Pokemon could have. It wasn't easy to get hidden ability Pokemon, however - in generation five, you'd have to venture into the Dream World, or Hidden Grottos, to catch one.
Once you had a hidden ability Pokemon, it was easy to get more, as hidden abilities can be passed on through breeding. Just like how the original introduction of abilities was a welcome buff to some weaker Pokemon, hidden abilities brought a much-needed increase in power for many lackluster lines.
3 ♍ Generation Six: 3D 𝓰
Generation six was one of the biggest shake-ups the Pokemon franchise has ever seen, adding all kinds of exciting new content - shiny hunting methods galore, the reworked XP share, and the beginning of the QoL features that would come to be such a welcome part of modern Pokemon. It also introduced the beloved Mega Evolutions, but given that they were removed after generation seven, they're sadly ineligible for this list.
The most influential change that stuck around from generation six was simply the move to 3D. It wasn't the prettiest when it made its debut in X and Y, and many maligned the jump, but without it, we wouldn't have had the fantastic Legends: Arceus, nor would we be getting the long-awaited open-world Pokemon game in Scarlet and Violet. 3D in traditional games got over its teജething problems, too, as Sword and Shield looked great, and we also got beautiful 3D reimaginings of Kanto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh.
2 Generation Seven: Regionalꦫ💧 Variants
Regional variants were an inspired way to revisit old designs - essentially rela💫tives of existing species that evolved (in the Darwinian sense, not the Pokemon sense) differently due to living in different environments.
We've had so many fantastic designs in Alola, Galar, and Hisui thanks to regional forms that it's now hard to imagine Pokemon without them. Of course, a shout-out must be given to ride Pokemon. While a little clunky, this system finally removed HMs after years of fans complaining about the needܫless field moves - good ri🌸ddance!
1 🍸 Generation Eight - Quality Of Life ✨
Like every previous generation, gen eight added a lot - Dynamax Adventures are arguably the most fun co-op Pokemon has ever been, and the Wild Area served as the precursor to the open-world direction Pokemon is now moving in. However, perhaps an underrated feature that deserves a mention is how good quality of life has become. Between bottle caps and hyper training, nature mints, ability patches and capsules, and the crafting machine, it's finally possible to have complete control over your Pokemon's stats and movesets.
Granted, not all of these items were introduced in generation eight, but a majority were, and combined with all the charms that make breeding, catching, and shiny hunting easier, it's clear Game Freak is finally trying to make all aspects of Pokemon more accessible to a wider audience - a welcome shift from the days where IVs and EVs were just unintelligible behind-the-scenes numbers.
