Top 10 Evolutions of Pokemon

Usually when the words 'Pokemon' and 'Evolution' appear in the same sentence, the subject is a Pokemon changing form, but today we use the words in a different way -- as we examine the Top 10 Evolutionary Changes in the Pokemon Game Series.

When Pokemon was first introduced in Japan it wasn't called 'Pokemon' it was called 'Pocket Monsters' (actually the direct translation was 'Pocket Monster Trainer') and, when the game was first released, it is very clear that Nintendo had no idea that it had a tiger by the tail...

The first indication that Pocket Monsters was something out of the ordinary was when the game began to appear among adult gamers, particularly during lunch gaming sessions in corporate environments where games were unheard of...

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Prior to 1996 you did not see it; by the summer of 1996 it grew more and more common: two or more adult gamers standing together in a corner or out-of-the-way location outside large concrete and glass buildings around lunch time holding small electronic gaming devices that were linked together by a short gray cable with an audience cheering them on.

By mid-1997 the Pocket Monsters games transitioned beyond the 'fad' that pop-culture observers had pigeon-holed them and became a craze that continues to the present day.

By the time the games were translated into English (and other languages) the name had been changed to 'Pokemon' -- which was a portmanteau for Pocket and Monsters that was thought to be more likely to 'catch on' with Western gamers.

For the first time in the history of the Nintendo Gameboy, the company was spending almost as much promoting to adults as it was to kids!

That the game would catch fire in a way that no other game series from Nintendo would, and make the transition to other forms of media as it matured into a major media empire with TV shows, movies, and manga to start out, it was the games however that shaped the direction of the canon while all of the other media followed behind.

And that brings us to the Top 10 Pokemon Evolutions that not only helped to shape the game but naturally shaped the entire media empire that follows it.

The Top 10 Pokemon (Game) Evolutions

10. Held Items

First introduced in Generation II the Held Item ability was initially created as a means to move items as well as Pokemon between games, but like all truly good and innovative features it too would begin to evolve, until it reached the point at which your Pokemon could choose to use the item that they were holding on their own, during battle, if the need was felt!

When a Pokemon is holding an item like a berry that can restore health or cure a condition and the circumstances arise that make using it a given, the modern Pokemon will use that item! The Held Item system is illustrative of the move towards giving Pokemon in battle more free will and the ability to make battle-based and survival decisions on their own...

09. Multiple Pokemon Battle Modes

The introduction of the original game (Generation I) was startling enough as it was -- a game world in which fantastical creatures could be found, encountered, captured, and then trained to do battle with each other was so well-received by the gaming public that it rapidly jumped the gap between age groups.

Trainers of all ages enthusiastically embraced the title 'Pokemon Trainer' so it was only natural that what was the single most popular aspect of the game would receive its own evolutionary improvements!

The evolutionary road for the Pokemon Battle System follows a well-established path, with each new generation offering new forms easily traced. It all began at the beginning, so here is the evolutionary line in a line:

Single Battles --> Double Battles --> Colosseum Doubles --> Wild Double Battles --> Triple Battles --> Colosseum Triples --> Rotation Battles --> Tag Battles.

08.New Type Discoveries

The discovery of new Pokemon Types was at once a blessing and a controversy as long-term fans saw it as a too-convenient means for 'creating' new Pokemon for each new generation.

The 'discovery of the new Fairy Type in Pokemon X and Y was not the first such discovery to be sure, as despite the heated controversy among serious fans and Trainers, long time Pokeaddicts will recall the days before both the Dark Type and the Steel Type existed!

The evolutionary process of the game knows no bounds!

07. Interactive Cross-Platform Capabilities

Generation I of the games was still hot on the presses when the dev team began to consider possibilities for cross-platform compatibility and play for the series, envisioning gaming opportunities on the much more robust and visually appealing N64 console that eventually took the form of Pokemon Stadium.

The desire to expand that side of the game series eventually lead to actual games in which Pokemon could be moved in and out (sometimes only out) that would eventually include every version of the traditional Nintendo console.

Pokemon Stadium I & II for the N64, Pokemon Colosseum and XD: Gales of Darkness for the Game Cube, and Pokemon Battle Revolution for the Wii -- not to mention Pokemon Box Ruby and Sapphire for the Game Cube, and My Pokemon Ranch for the Wii!

06. Abilities and Natures

The introduction of both Abilities and Natures early on in the series helped to flesh-out the distinct personalities as elements in your Pokemon and their identities, and the recently expanded system has created a decided link between the two, which offers predictable performance enhancements for your Pokemon based upon either, both, and a combination of the two!

05. Weather and Seasons

While weather and seasons were an implied presence in the early generations, improvements to the Nintendo handheld game consoles finally advanced to the point that weather and seasons could be included in the games -- and it was not long after that that both weather and seasons became elements for both encountering specific Pokemon, and as a mechanism for evolving specific Pokemon!

04. Pokemon World Tournament

Originally introduced to the world of Pokemon in Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 as an event hosted by Clay in the heavily evolved Driftveil City, what was previously the Deep Freeze facilities for the port has become the in-game manifestation of the real-world equivalent of the Pokemon World Championships.

The introduction of PWT allows gamers who have no opportunity to attend the PWC with the in-game opportunity to participate in a reasonable facsimile thereof, including the ability to download and battle the actual teams that won the actual PWC and how cool is that?!

03. Happiness

The introduction of Happiness as an Evolutionary Trigger achieved something unique in the series that had only been hinted at in the past in the form of Pikachu's interactions with Ash -- that Pokemon not only retain their emotional state as well as their feelings towards other Pokemon and Trainers, but their level of Happiness (like) towards their own Trainer.

Happiness adds a new dimension to Pokemon, transforming them into a something more than just a tool to be called up to do battle.

02. Dreamworld

Introduced in Pokemon Black & White and carried forward into Black 2 & White 2, the Dreamworld is a newly discovered mechanism that allows Trainers to send their Pokemon -- via the Internet -- to a newly discovered world of Dreams.

Pokemon who enter the Dreamworld can meet other Pokemon, interact with them, and obtain items (some special), visits that were made possible thanks to the new C-Gear kit that all modern Pokemon Trainers are equipped.

Journeys into the Dreamworld can be thought of as directed dreaming -- offering an entire new land that hints at the future of the games and their potential for online multi-player interaction.

01. Mega Evolutions

The evolutionary process has long been an established foundation for the world of Pokemon -- with the usual evolutionary chain consisting of three distinct forms for most Pokemon (though a small minority of Pokemon have only two forms).

The most common forms of evolution for Pokemon are the continuation of form as an increasingly larger and more complex appearance (a classic example of this type of evolution is Pidgey > Pidgeotto > Pidgeot with a more contemporary being Flabebe > Floette > Florges) and the less common being metamorphosis, in which the Pokemon takes on an entirely new form completely unlike its original form (a fine example of this type is the classic example of Caterpie > Metapod > Butterfree or the more contemporary example of Scatterbug > Spewpa > Vivillon).

With the newest generation of the games X and Y comes a new and previously unknown FOURTH evolutionary form -- Mega Evolution.

Found only in the Kalos Region, this newly discovered form of Pokemon Evolution makes use of a combination of sympathetic objects -- called Stones -- which typically requires the Pokemon that is to be Mega Evolved to be holding the 'Mega Stone,' while an object containing a 'Key Stone' is then used to generate a condition of resonance that triggers the new evolution.

Despite only being available in the Kalos Region, Pokemon from other regions have been found to be able to evolve using this fourth evolutionary stage, making the Mega Evolution the most significant Evolution of the Game -- and of Pokemon!

So there you have it, our Top 10 Evolutions of Pokemon - Let us know what you think with a comment below.