Great idea for a thread! I'll take the honour of inaugurating it!
I would like to gush a bit over these guys, under the interpretation that "Pokémon" in the title can be plural as well as singular:
In case the sprites don't load, these are
cross-generational evolutions. Specifically, ones that add a third stage to their evolution families. I really like to see Game Freak return to previous, underwhelming Pokémon, and add a bit of oomph so they stand out above their earlier power level.
In many cases, this gives a sorely needed improvement to the individual Pokémon that receives the evolution. For instance, Togetic had a cute design, but was slow, rather weak, and had a thoroughly underwhelming level-up moveset. Togekiss doubles the base Speed and adds moves and Sp.A to really hurt whatever it's aiming at. Likewise, Roselia went from a mediocre Grass/Poison type to a fearsome special attacker. Annihilape gave bulk and a great secondary STAB to what used to be a rather unremarkable Fighting-type.
However, what I like the most is how these final evolutions change our
perception of the whole evolutionary family as we play the games. For instance, as previously mentioned, you had little reason to bother with Roselia in Gen III. Grass/Poison Pokémon were already a dime a dozen, and the only thing Rosealia had going for it was availability. But it was a small and boring Pokémon that didn't evolve, an easy pass for anybody but the Pokédex completionist. However, come Gen IV and Roserade, and suddenly you see Roselia in a whole new light:
When it evolves, it will be awesome! So you rush to catch it and use it with great anticipation, even though it may stay a Roselia for most of the game because you take forever to find the Shiny Stone. But the promise of that future reward makes it fun to use regardless. See also Swinub in Gen VII, which remains a Piloswine until you find the Move Relearner at the very end of the game. But it's a Piloswine
with potential, which makes it more fun than using Piloswine in FRLG, for instance.
Likewise, I never thought twice about Teddiursa until Legends Arceus. I considered Mankey useless dex filler in USUM, but rushed to catch it in SV. Boring ol' Applin suddenly became a coveted team member once The Indigo Disk DLC dropped. Porygon is a huge waste of time and money in RBY, but a must-catch in Platinum (if you've got anybody to trade with).
Sure, not all of these cross-generation evolutions are bangers. Design-wise, some of the Gen IV ones really missed the mark and made previously badass final stages into mere skipping stones along the way to their new goofy, yet strictly speaking better evolutions. Some weren't really necessary either, like Rhyperior that just slapped a blanket +10 BST on all of Rhydon's stats except Speed. Dusknoir managed to make Dusclops better by
not evolving, as Eviolite gives it way more utility than the meagre stat boosts it gains upon evolution. And let's not forget Obstagoon and Mr. Rime, evolutions that do nothing to improve their mediocre family members but boosts entirely
new forms of those family members instead. It's
something, I guess, but Hoennese Linoone and Kantonian Mr. Mime could have needed those boosts.
Still, though, there's
something about three-stage evolution families that make them extra special. In this regard, I like to picture Pokémon evolution as a bridge span between one design and another. The same way single bridge spans can't span too far, you can't make a very long leap in design with a single evolution, because the Pokémon need to look somewhat similar to feel connected. But you can make a longer bridge if you use multiple spans. For instance, cute, little Rookidee can't evolve straight into the dark and spiky Corviknight, because they look nothing alike. But they can be related if you put Corvisquire in the middle, which resembles both. So when you add another span to an existing bridge, you can go
so much farther in the same direction than you could before (the analogy breaks down a bit here, because in real life, there rarely is a need to make existing bridges
longer than they already are, but you get the idea - it's all about reach, or something). Little Teddiursa already evolved into a big, terrifying bear, so its additional evolution could present an equally large leap in badassery as the one between Teddiursa and Ursaring. The end result was the Ursaluna that we know and love today, and it's awesome.
Too bad Game Freak promptly pedalled back on this awesome evolution in the next games, where Teddiursa is exactly as whelming as it was previously, but I hope for Ursaluna's triumphant return in another game soon. A tiny bit of me is quivering in fear that they will do the same to Annihilape and Kingambit come the next games, however, since Game Freak never let anything come in the way of bafflingly bad design decisions previously.
But
if they realize that cross-generation evolution is an awesome idea in general, and don't shy away because they confuse the complaints over execution in Gen IV as criticism on a conceptual level, who knows what other Pokémon will receive the same boon in the future? What Pokémon are we currently leaving on the wayside, writing off as a boring or underwhelming catch that isn't worth bothering with, but we'll rush to catch them in the future? I can't wait to find out.
