Most generationalPokémongimmicks are strictly one-and-done affairs. We see them in their flagship games, as well as any other games that release near them like remakes, and then we never hear about them again.
Such was largely the case for Mega Evolution, which first appeared in X and Y, showed up in Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, and the Let’s Go games (which are technically part of the following gen, but whatever), and gets some minor usage in spin-offs like Pokémon GO.
However, with the upcoming release of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, which returns us to the Kalos region, we have a unique opportunity.Mega Evolution is slated to make a comebackin this game after quite a few years, and we already know there are some new additions to the Mega Dex.
Ergo, this is the chance for some downright ridiculous new Mega Evolutions across the National Dex, perhaps for some Pokémon that are either under-represented or have latent meme potential.
The only rules here are that these Pokémon can’t already have Mega Evolutions, and have to be in their fully-evolved forms.
Gene Splicing
Since the very first generation of Pokémon, Ditto’s one and only gimmick has been its ability to shapeshift into a slightly-weaker duplicate of the Pokémon it’s facing off against. It’s a neat trick, but not particularly helpful in the grand scheme of things. That’s a shame, asDitto is generally pretty popular, design-wise. A Mega Evolution would give the lovable little snot a little more firepower.
Now, the tricky question is how Mega Evolving a Pokémon that does exactly one thing would work. I’ve got two ideas: firstly, Ditto could transform into a more genetically-stable creature, something with a solid, animal-like body. Maybe, when using its Transform move, it could merely copy its opponent’s moves while maintaining its own stats and typing.
Alternatively, we can go for an “anything you can do, I can do better” approach. Mega Evolved Ditto could automatically transform into a mirror of its opponent, but slightly stronger, or even transform into the next evolutionary stage up where applicable. Admittedly, all of this would be pretty challenging to implement, but I say it’s a challenge worth undertaking.
9Vanilluxe
Hot Fudge Sundae
I have a friend who absolutely despises Vanilluxe on a fundamental level, thinking it’s a stupid design for a Pokémon. I’d say that’s reason enough to earn it a spot on this list, coupled with the fact that the Vanillite line hasn’t been showing up as often lately. I don’t dislike the Vanillite line myself, but it and its evolved forms are indeed very silly Pokémon, and that’s the name of the game here.
The nice thing about Pokémon with really dumb, obvious designs is that it’s not difficult to extrapolate from those designs to create something new. Case in point: Vanilluxe is a double-scoop ice cream cone. What’s the next step up in the frozen dessert echelon? A full-on hot fudge sundae, that’s what.
A Mega Vanilluxe could have its usual two heads (or more) piled up in an icy bowl, with a dollop of white-hot fudge or fudge-analog burning away on its head. It could even become a dual Ice/Fire type, one of those rare instances of diametrically-opposed dual typing like Scovillain.
Spell It Out For Us
Remember in the third Pokémon movie when a big gaggle of Unown were powerful enough to conjure forth Entei and warp the very fabric of reality? What the heck happened with all that? After Gen 2, Unown all but fell off the face of the Earth, save for some occasional appearances in a random cave or whatever. I say it’s time for these little typos to really show us what they’re made of.
I think the best way to design a Mega Evolved Unown, at least to save a hypothetical designer a lot of work, is to have all the Unown shapes evolve into the same thing: a big, writhing mass of assorted alphanumeric characters. It would kind of be like Wishiwashi, transforming from just a single Unown unit into a bunch of them, even if there’s only one physically present.
For added fun, maybe a string of Unown could pop out of the writhing mass and spell out a word whenever a move is used. It’d probably be too hard to have unique words for every type, but I bet it could write out some little exertion words like “hi-ya” or something.
Payback Time
Wobuffet has always struck me as a Pokémon that you’re supposed to hate. It’s off-kilter and obnoxious, popping up of its own volition and not doing anything. It looks like a punching bag because it wants you to smack it so it can then counter you back.
I’d say it’s a given that any Wobuffet out there has endured its fair share of punishment over the years, but what if the spark of Mega Evolution ended its patient, obnoxious demeanor?
My idea for a Mega Evolution here can be succinctly summed up in three words: really buff Wobuffet. A Mega Wobuffet should be at least twice its regular size and absolutelyrippedwith muscles. All the smacking and countering has given it not just abs of steel, but arms like Burmese pythons.
On a practical level, it can keep its usual Psychic typing, but we could also throw Fighting in the mix. It’d be a shame to give it a pair of positively yoked arms and not have them use them to their fullest potential, after all.
6Klinklang
Fitted Like Clockwork
I think the Klink line is one of those Pokémon families you either adore or despise; no middle ground. This, ironically, makes it a great candidate for a Mega Evolution, because it would drive the internet at large absolutely insane with spicy discourse. That just begs the question, then, how exactly are we going about this?
Klinklang’s shtick is that it’s made up of like four Klinks of varying sizes and shapes, interlocked into an intricate clockwork pattern. The problem is that the gears are just floating in the air, not doing anything besides spinning.
The best approach would be to give the gears something to do, something to power. To that end, I’d suggest some manner of simple clockwork automaton, with a bunch of Klinks powering its movements.
If we want to get really stupid with it, we could go for a distinctive shape of automaton. An obvious choice would be a nutcracker, maybe adding dual Ice typing in the process. Though for maximum meme potential, we could also go the Ghost route and make it some manner of raggedy animatronic. You know the reference I’m making, I don’t need to spell it out.
Pull A Silver Chariot
For those familiar with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, you may recallPolnareff’s Stand, Silver Chariot, becomes exponentially faster when it sheds its armor plating, enough to create shadow clones as it moves. Considering armor plating and the shedding thereof is central to its whole identity, I don’t think it’d be a leap to apply a similar principle to a Mega Evolved Skarmory.
This hypothetical Mega Skarmory could shed most of the armor around its body, leaving it with an even more slim and lithe profile than usual, perhaps with some skeletal accents to really sell the vibe. Considering that, maybe Mega Skarmory could also adopt a partial Dark typing in lieu of its Steel typing, becoming Dark/Flying for the duration of its transformation.
Besides just being a cool idea, I think Skarmory is one of those Pokémon that nobody’s ever really been sure what to do with. It’s never gotten an evolution or regional variant, despite the fact that a metal bird screaming through the skies at high speed is kind of inherently cool. The big bird has earned it.
4Cofagrigus
Show Me The Mummy
The Yamask line, Cofagrigus especially, was definitely one of my favorite Dex additions in Gen 5. It’s one of those concepts that feels kind of obvious once it’s right in front of you; haunted sarcophagi are textbook ghost stuff, the perfect subject for a Ghost Pokémon.
The evil face and spooky hands are just the cherry on top. Much like the base design itself, though, a prospective Mega Evolution also has a pretty obvious concept: a cursed mummy.
If Cofagrigus evolves, there’s only one way it can happen. The sarcophagus has to open up, revealing a fully ambulatory, bandage-covered mummy, complete with shadowy, cursed energy leaking out of every gap between wraps. Its head can just be its usual face on top of a humanoid body, but if you really want to sell it, we could go for some kind of headdress or mask.
In fact, here’s a fun idea: harken back to Yamask and its human-faced mask. Mega Cofagrigus could be wearing the mask it carried as a Yamask, or at least carry it around in one of its spooky appendages. It’s on the hunt for faces, and yours might just be next. Tell me that wouldn’t make a perfect spooky PokéDex entry.
3Spiritomb
108 Spirits, 108 Menaces
Speaking of Ghost Pokémon, the central conceit behind the criminally-underused Ghost Pokémon Spiritomb is that it’s a conglomeration of 108 malevolent spirits bound to an Odd Keystone as a body.
Now, I don’t know about you, but when I think of a multitude of living spirits bound to a single body, I think of Mortal Kombat’s Ermac, complete with torrents of souls and spooky telekinetic abilities. You can see where this is going.
A Mega Spiritomb should make proper use of the many spirits making up its being. Rather than a wacky face bursting ineffectually from its Odd Keystone, maybe the spirits could take a fuller shape, either humanoid or beastly, encasing the Odd Keystone as a core. Perhaps we could swap out its Dark typing for Psychic so it can use more overtly mysterious abilities befitting a Legion-like entity.
If that idea doesn’t work, we could go whole-hog on the Legion concept and just have it be a floating cloud of numerous faces bursting and struggling against one another like the Legiondemon in Shin Megami Tensei. That might be a bit too scary for the kids, though.
Dare We Glimpse Beneath The Surface?
If we’re talking about ridiculous Pokémon discussions, it rarely gets more ridiculous than the eternal mystery of the Diglett line, especially Dugtrio. It’s supposed to just be a mole, but what kind of mole has three heads of varying elevations?
Not unlike Mega Kangaskhan letting its baby out of the pouch, I think it’s about time for these three heads to be at least a little more proactive, even if we can’t get them out entirely.
The odds of the designers finally revealing a Dugtrio’s body in full are admittedly pretty low, but we don’t necessarily need to uncover thefullmystery, just a part of it.
In addition to its heads, a Mega Dugtrio should have a couple of large claws poking up out of the ground next to it, shovel-shaped like its mole-y origins. This would just raise more questions about the creature’s overall proportions, which is exactly what would get people talking about it.
Besides the claws, we could also add some kind of accessory to Dugtrio’s heads just for laughs. Maybe its three noses could become star-shaped like a star-nosed mole. Nintendo does love its stars, after all, and they’re a convenient shorthand symbol for indicating that it’s powered up somehow.
My Personal Self-Indulgence
I think everyone has at least one Pokémon that they’d like to see Mega Evolved that absolutely nobody else cares about. In my case, my bit of self-indulgence comes from a recent addition to the National Dex, Lokix, whose bouncy legs and grasshopper-like body is a very transparent Kamen Rider reference. If I can only have one freebie, let it be this.
Through the lens of Kamen Rider, our hypothetical Mega Lokix could opt for either an old-school or new-school approach. For the former, give him larger, shinier eyes, more distinct arms for punching in addition to his bouncy legs, and most importantly, a long, flowing red scarf. Yes, it does need to billow majestically in the wind at all times, even if you’re indoors.
If we want a more modern approach, we could pattern our Mega Lokix after Kamen Rider Zero-One (look it up). Give him bright, neon-colored armor plating, a more upright, humanoid body, and maybe slightly larger, more muscular-looking feet just to really sell those kicking abilities. Let me have this.
