>>56398973Even in Gen IV, Regigigas, Cresselia, Heatran, Phione, Darkrai, Shaymin, and Arceus aren't part of either regional Sinnoh Pokédex, they're National Pokédex Pokémon. There's the idea that Pokémon aren't native to the region that corresponds to that Generation, like how Togepi was a gift egg in Gen II and FRLG, but was available in the wild in Sinnoh. But that's why "Generation" is a more useful way of grouping Pokémon than region. Pikachu appears in the wild in Kanto, but not in Johto or Unova, and only in special locations with exotic Pokémon in Hoenn and Sinnoh.
Before USUM, Game Freak had never put new numbered Pokémon into a Pokédex mid-Gen, only forms. And ever since the move to the Switch, the way they've had to tackle Generations has changed. There was Sword and Shield, but it was far easier on them to do an expansion pass than a third version. They had to outsource Diamond and Pearl remakes, and both BDSP and PLA have very limited compatibility with SwSh. HOME compatibility has become the metric for what defines a mainline game at this point. Gen IX cemented the new release method of new content of the base pair, third versions are gone, and next year PLZA is going to be a mainline game, but much like PLA, it's likely not going to be traditional since we know that Lumiose City is THE setting rather than all of Kalos. LGPE took a more casual GO-focused approach to things too. But I think it's fair to say that a new Generation begins when a metric fuckton of new numbered Pokémon all appear at once with new starters in a new region rather than maybe 10 at a time.
Also yes, I did mean 20th anniversary, my bad.
