So I posted the other day about how much I appreciate dex orders that aren't straightforward, but I'd like to make one addendum.
Perhaps this is giving it too much undue importance, but I do often think that being the final "regular" species in a listing before the legendary section begins is a position of privilege. It definitely does feel like it should be a high-status position that not just any Pokemon should be in, and that's why it often goes to that generation's pseudo-legendary line, because they're the most powerful non-legendary species in the game*. The end of the listing tends to be where I look first when I look at a full list of all the new Pokemon from a new game, because I find legendaries, mythicals, and the rarer end-game species the most interesting to look at.
Giving the final spot to the pseudo emphasises that it's on par with the legendaries; it illustrates that it's rare and powerful and important. Gen IV, of course, famously plonked Garchomp in the middle of the Sinnoh Dex, leaving Weavile to be the final non-legendary - well, Weavile sort of works. It's quite rare and only used by Cyrus, so fair enough. In National Dex order, it's Rotom that comes before the legendary section, which fits Rotom as a rare, semi-legendary species**. I'm not sure why that was done but what with Garchomp being Cynthia's signature mon, it's not as if you'd miss the fact that it's a very powerful species.
So it irks me when a new generation doesn't put its own pseudo-legendary in that position of prominence. It diminishes them in my view; it's almost like the developers admitting that other Pokemon are more popular. But it should, at the very least, be a Pokemon from the new generation, which is why Weavile is acceptable in place of Garchomp.
Take Unova for instance. In the original Unova listing, Volcarona is the final non-legendary species. There's some debate over whether Volcarona meets the criteria to be a pseudo-legendary but it's certainly special enough, lore-wise and as Alder's signature Pokemon, to qualify for the "top spot". Hydreigon squeaks in behind Larvesta as the penultimate mon in the dex, which seems a reasonable compromise.
But then in B2W2, both mons get displaced. Volcarona gets put in the middle of the dex - which feels reasonable, given its much earlier accessibility in B2W2, and Alder's diminished importance from the story - but Hydreigon misses out on being the final non-legendary in the Unova Dex by a succession of other Pokemon, including the Slakoth line, Croagunk and Toxicroak, Carnivine, and (ignominiously) the Jigglypuff line. The final regular slot in the dex goes to the Tyranitar line. Why exactly does Tyranitar get to be the final non-legendary in the Unova dex? Fellow pseudo-legendary Metagross is here too, but further back at #264. To add insult to injury, Tyranitar and its pre-evolutions aren't even found in Unova during the story of B2W2 - it and Pupitar are only found on Route 15, which is blocked off until after obtaining the National Dex. Nor can Yanma, Lickitung, Corphish, Carnivine, or the Slakoth line, come to that (Jigglypuff too, but Igglybuff can be obtained from the Dream Radar). Why are these species in the Unova Dex at all?!
In Alola, Kommo-o gets similarly shafted. It's way back in the Alola Dex, missing out on the top spot to... Dragonite? No, Aerodactyl, in fact. Which is even more bizarre because Aerodactyl isn't that special in Alola - you just get given one for no cost by some random NPC as soon as you arrive on Poni Island. Funnily enough, much like Tyranitar in Unova, in USUM Dragonite can't even be caught before the Elite Four! (It can in SM, but USUM removes it for some reason.) Tyranitar, Metagross, Garchomp, and Goodra are all here too, but they're all earlier on in the listing - apparently Dragonite was just too important to push down the list.
For Goodra it's absolutely tragic. The way the Kalos Dex is split into three means that there's less overall cohesion and so Pokemon are largely ordered based on where they're encountered, which for Goomy is quite early on; so it's number 19 in the Mountain Dex. Out of 151. Hardly fitting for Kalos's pseudo-legendary! This example annoys me because despite the split dex there's still what feels like an attempt at artistry - the Central Dex closes with Axew, Fraxure, and Haxorus; the Coastal Dex concludes with Lapras; and the Mountain Dex finishes with a string of dragons - Altaria, Druddigon, Hydreigon, and Dragonite. All Pokemon that feel worthy of concluding a dex before the legendaries appear - except why couldn't Goodra have concluded the Mountain Dex? Even in the National Dex Goodra misses out on the top spot in a similar manner to Garchomp, though - as with Weavile - Noivern feels like a justifiable substitute given that it comes later in the game and takes longer to evolve.
I guess my point is that each generation's pseudo deserves to be the final non-legendary in their listing (at least in their debut game), simply by virtue of existing. If it's the most powerful Pokemon, this should be reflected in the numbering. It can be fun to mix it up as Kalos and Sinnoh did, but I feel pretty strongly that they shouldn't be displaced in favour of older pseudo-legendaries that have had their time in the spotlight. And ultimately I know that Pokedex numbering isn't as important as being properly showcased. Tyranitar is #248 out of 251, but that didn't stop it from infamously being grossly overlooked in its own generation in favour of Dragonite. But these things all work together. Tyranitar feels special because of its elevated Pokedex position, and I remember working very hard to finally obtain one.
So yeah, does anyone agree or am I just utterly nuts for putting this much thought into it?
*I only remembered while writing this that Kanto and Johto mix it up, having the legendary trio come before the pseudo-legendary line. So I guess in those examples, it's Snorlax and Blissey which fit the bill. But still.
**It's testament to Rotom's uniqueness that, even in 2022, people STILL think it's a legendary. A bloke in my local Pokemon Go Whatsapp chat was stubbornly insisting that it was a legendary the other week, even with multiple people contradicting him.