Possible Regional Pokemon from Generation 5 in Pokemon GO

Since the dawn of the game, with the release of each new Generation in Pokémon GO we’ve been introduced to a handful of pokemon which only spawn in limited parts of the world. We refer to those as regional pokemon, and you can find the complete and updated list here. Their territories are often as vast as continents or groups of parallels, but can also be as small as New Zealand. Regional pokemon also get historically released as soon as the new Generation drops. Thus, with Gen 5 coming as soon as September 16th as officially announced by Niantic, the question arises: what regional pokemon will we get this time, and where? This list is the best answer that we can give you for now, until all the official details come out.

Please note that this is merely the result of speculation and prediction based on the precedents that Niantic has set so far. According to those, the choice seems restricted to pokemon catchable in the wild that are not part of evolutionary lines, and therefore only occupy one entry in the Pokedex — the only exceptions to this rule are Shellos and Gastrodon, which, however, are only different forms with a shared dex entry. Meta relevant pokemon also aren’t generally made regional exclusive, although a few (like Tropius and Relicanth) are currently useful in PvP as this feature was introduced afterward. And, of course, regional pokemon have to be thematically related to the region that they represent in some way. These were the criteria taken into consideration for the making of this list.

If we had to throw evolutionary lines into the mix, which seems unlikely but can’t be ruled out completely without an official statement on the matter, strong cases would have to be made for Rufflet and Braviary (which scream “America” more than any other pokemon ever) as well as Blitzle and Zebstrika (zebras being one of the most iconic African animals). And among others, Yamask and Cofagrigus would clearly belong to Egypt; Cubchoo and Beartic to Polar regions; Munna, Musharna, Pawniard, and Bisharp are heavily tied to Japanese culture; while Mienfoo and Mienshao reference Chinese kung fu.

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Unlike Cacnea, the other cactus pokemon, Maractus is a pure Grass-type, it doesn’t evolve and it’s heavily related to one part of our world in particular: Mexico. As a matter of fact, while cacti are common throughout most of the Americas, Maractus is more specifically based on the bunny ears cactus, which only grows in Mexico. It also likes to dance to the maraca-like sounds it makes and its appearance resembles traditional Mexican dresses. Even its name references “maracas”, as well as “mariachi” in the Japanese variant!

When to all that we add that it’s very likely to be useless in both raids and PvP, due to lackluster stats and moves with tough competition from other Grass-types, we have the best possible candidate for a Mexican regional if we’re ever going to see one.

No, this is not the evolution of Luvdisc, and yes, that was everyone’s first thought when we first saw it. Alomomola is actually an ocean sunfish, as evident by the binomial name Mola mola, an animal which inhabits tropical and temperate waters from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Mediterranean Sea. However, since its name also incorporates “aloha”, the iconic Hawaiian word for “love”, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Alomomola were to be made exclusive to Hawaii, which currently only has access to Corsola among regionals.

Alomomola is a pure Water-type with extremely defensive stats, boasting the 5th highest HP in the game, but it lacks the movepool to compete with other Water powerhouses in the Great League. Waterfall would be the only fast move to not make it completely suck, but without any low energy charged moves to go with it, it can only hope to get Shadow Ball and/or Ice Beam as viable coverage.

Bouffalant is entirely based on the American bison, commonly known as buffalo, that used to roam the prairies of the Western side of the United States — an association reinforced by its afro, a hairstyle popularized by American black culture. As such, it would be the most natural pick for an American regional, the only issue being that Tauros already exists. We only have to wait and see how Niantic decides to solve this. Bouffalant could replace Tauros, since it’s way more thematically related to the USA... or not.

While a Normal-type is never going to shine in raids, the bulky buffalo might have some use in specific PvP formats, aiming for a “jack of all trades” role similar to Linoone’s. The key is that it has to get Mud Shot, which, thanks to the fastest energy generation in the game, would have great potential if paired with some of the powerful coverage moves that Bouffalant can learn (such as Megahorn, Wild Charge, Outrage, Iron Head, Earthquake, Stone Edge and Skull Bash). On the other hand, no Mud Shot means no party.

Sigilyph’s mysterious appearance seems to resemble the bird-like drawings of the Nazca lines, the famous geoglyphs found in a Peruvian desert, while its colorful and striped patterns are inspired by kachina, spirits venerated by the Pueblo people, native to the Southwestern United States. Although linking its lore to a specific area is difficult, Sigilyph does absolutely look related to both traditional Native and South American cultures and might work as a regional pokemon for some parts or even all of the Americas.

As far as relevance goes, Sigilyph doesn’t cut it as either a Flying or a Psychic attacker in PvE. In PvP, however, it only shares typings with Lugia and Xatu, being a bit bulkier than the latter. That means that it could stand out in some restricted Great League metas, as long, of course, as it gets a decent moveset to boot. Air Slash would be a must, and as far as charged moves go, it’s got options — both good (Sky Attack, Psyshock, Shadow Ball, Ice Beam, Signal Beam) and bad (Aerial Ace, Psychic, Dazzling Gleam, the list goes on). We’ll see what fate has in store for Sigilyph.

As you can probably guess, this pokemon is based on a snowflake. While there are many parts of the world where it consistently snows, we already have Pachirisu as a regional pokemon that can only be found in the cold, northern parts of Asia and North America. However, Pachirisu’s region bypasses northern Europe, which is where Cryogonal could fit. It might just as well be tied to a more limited area (Scandinavia, Iceland, you name it) or work the same way as Pachirisu, but in the most southern parts of the world. Just please don’t make it Antarctica exclusive, Niantic!

Like the other entries above, Cryogonal doesn’t have stats high enough to be even somewhat relevant in raids, where Mamoswine dominates the Ice-type front. In PvP, where a lot more pokemon see use, its mono-Ice typing and, most importantly, the lack of Avalanche will likely set it back from things like Glalie and Froslass — especially considering that it doesn’t get much in the way of coverage moves either, with Poison Jab, Flash Cannon and Night Slash being the only viable ones.

Gen 3 and Gen 4 introduced us to the concept of “rotating regionals” in Pokémon GO. They are pairs of counter-part pokemon that appear respectively one in Europe, Asia and Australia, and the other in the Americas and in Africa, with the dividing line running from the Atlantic Ocean through the Mediterranean and Arabian seas. The name comes from the fact that most of the couples switch regions, or migrate, from time to time.

This group currently consists of Zangoose and Seviper, Solrock and Lunatone, and Illumise and Volbeat — although the last couple hasn’t shown signs of migration as of yet. Shellos functions in the same way too, but with an exception since the regions of its East Sea and West Sea forms are divided by the Prime Meridian instead.

This voracious little bass/piranha, much like Shellos, is a pokemon that comes in two color palettes, blue and red. In the main games, the only other difference between the two lies in their abilities, which means there will most likely be no difference at all in Pokémon GO. 

Basculin would be the most obvious choice for this spot among Gen 5 Pokemon, especially given the fact that it’s going to have no practical uses in any aspect of the game. Whether it’s gonna follow the classic dividing line or the Shellos one is up to speculation, though.

Two pure Fighting-types based on a judo and a karate fighter respectively, with the former being more defensively oriented in terms of stats and the latter leaning more on the offensive side of things. They were not version exclusives in Gen 5 games, although in each of them one was considerably rarer than the other, and they would make a solid parallel regional duo, following the footsteps of Solrock and Lunatone.

Their usefulness will probably be quite limited anyway. Sawk has decent stats for raids but probably will be just as C-tier as Toxicroak since it can learn Counter but not Dynamic Punch. Similarly, the thicker Throh would be built for Great League PvP, if it only could get Counter to go with Power-Up Punch and its high tankiness. Thus, it would need Poison Jab plus some interesting coverage move (among the likes of Body Slam, Rock Slide, Earthquake, Grass Knot and elemental punches) to possibly still make it at some point.

Just like between mongooses and snakes, there’s an obvious rivalry between anteaters and ants. Combining that with the fact that — unlike the rest of counter-part pokemon in Gen 5 — they don’t evolve, Heatmor and Durant could very well find themselves in the same situation as Zangoose and Seviper, although they were not version exclusives in the original games.

Neither of them looks to be a performer on paper, with their stats being way too low for raids and a bit too offensive for PvP. Durant has the incredible Bug/Steel typing on its side, but it would need a unique moveset to stand out from powerhouses like Forretress and Wormadam Trash in the Great League. Shadow Claw, Rock Slide, Crunch would all be interesting options, while if (more likely) Niantic decides to give it Bug or Steel moves with its trademark Dig as the only coverage, it’s gonna remain a small irrelevant ant.

There are other non-legendary pokemon without evolutions in Gen 5 that, however, we think are less likely to become regionals in Pokémon GO, and here’s why.

While Emolga (Unova’s Pikachu clone) is apparently inspired by the Japanese dwarf flying squirrel in particular, flying squirrels aren’t necessarily associated with Japan as there are many other species living all over the world, and Japan already has Farfetch’d as a regional pokemon.

Similar things can be said for Druddigon, as it parallels the red-headed rock agama, a colorful lizard found in most of Africa, which by now is Tropius’ territory. Besides, this pure Dragon-type also takes influences from European elements such as gargoyles and trolls and its name sounds Welsh of all things.

Audino was a very common early game pokemon in Black and White, and it’s a kind of nurse rabbit, which doesn’t give any hint towards specific parts of the real world.

Flatfish are also present in different variants at pretty much any latitude, and, believe it or not, the derpy flatfish pokemon Stunfisk has the potential to be very powerful in PvP thanks to its incredible bulk and a diverse movepool. If that holds true, Niantic might not want to make it that exclusive in the first place.