At the time of writing, there are a total of 893 unique species of Pokemon. When regional variations and Mega Evolutions are taken into account though, that number rises to almost 1,000. It’s a staggering and sobering total, but as long-time fans of the series will know, it all began with far fewer.
The original Pokemon titles contained just 151 Pokemon, with each new generation of games adding more and more creatures to the Pokedex over time. Some, however, introduced far more Pokemon than others. While new Pokemon alone do not a great game make, they can certainly play a big role when it comes to attracting new fans to the franchise.
8 Generation VI – 72 New Pokemon
With so many new Pokemon having been added to the series in the fifth generation of Pokemon games, expectations were high for Pokemon X & Y. While the games certainly delivered through their content though, the number of new Pokemon left a lot to be desired.
Only 72 were added; less than half the number of additions in the previous generation. This number doesn’t tell the full story though as it fails to take Mega Evolutions into account. They may not have been ‘new’ Pokemon per se, but they arguably had a far greater impact on the series’ meta than a few additional Pokemon would have.
7 Generation VII – 88 New Pokemon
The seventh generation Pokemon games arguably struck a much better balance than their predecessors when it came to expanding the roster. There were 88 new Pokemon added in total as well as 18 new Mega Evolutions. They also added more Legendary Pokemon than any other generation (11) as well as 18 Alolan variants.
When all this is taken into account, the contributions made by Pokemon Sun & Moon and their Ultra versions are a lot more substantial than they might appear at first glance. Much like the Mega Evolutions introduced in the previous generation, the idea of regional Pokemon has gone on to become a series staple of sorts.
6 Generation VIII – 89 New Pokemon
As was the case with the two generations that proceeded it, the impact that gen 8 has had on the series can be a little misleading when taken at face value. Sure, 89 new Pokemon may be a little below average, but this number does not include Galarian forms, nor does it account for Calyrex’s two fusions either. While Sword & Shield do giveth though, so too do they taketh away.
Dexit, as it was dubbed by series fans, saw more than half of the existing Pokemon excluded from the base versions of Sword & Shield. While many of these have been reintroduced through DLC since the games’ release, there are still plenty of missing Pokemon whose fates remain unclear at this time.
5 Generation II – 100 New Pokemon
Nobody really knew what to expect in terms of new Pokemon when Pokemon Gold & Silver were first announced. With that in mind, one hundred seemed like a fair number at the time; especially considering that all 151 of the original Pokemon also featured in the games (not to mention the entire Kanto region).
In hindsight, however, Gold & Silver are perhaps the weakest games in the series when it comes to innovation and new Pokemon. Despite this though, they remain two of the more popular Pokemon games. Of course, it certainly helps that they were fully remade some ten years on from their initial release.
4 Generation IV – 107 New Pokemon
The number of new Pokemon introduced in Pokemon Diamond & Pearl comes in at a fairly respectable 107; with many new evolutionary forms of older Pokemon included in that number. There were also several new baby Pokemon added and nine new legendary Pokemon (the same number to have featured in the first two generations combined).
The games also brought back the real-time gameplay system from Gold & Silver and incorporated it into several evolutionary lines. There were plenty of other changes to the series formula too; many of which can still be found in modern Pokemon games.
3 Generation III – 135 New Pokemon
Pokemon Ruby & Saphire are arguably two of the most important Pokemon games ever made. They added 135 new Pokemon to the Pokedex and also introduced the idea of baby Pokemon. This allowed the team at Game Freak to add to older evolutionary lines without disrupting the balance of power at the top and is just one of the many things that make the gen 3 games stand out.
As well as baby Pokemon, gen 3 also introduced 121 new moves to the series; more than any other generation since the very first Pokemon games. Ruby & Saphire also revamped the berry system, altered the way that passive damage is dealt and laid much of the groundwork for modern day multi-battles.
2 Generation I – 151 New Pokemon
Given how much emphasis is placed on the series’ catch and collect mechanics, it should come as little surprise that so many Pokemon were introduced in Pokemon Red & Blue. In total, there were 151 of them, but getting hold of all of them was incredibly challenging for most.
Although glitches that allow players to encounter a Mew in the wild have since been discovered, back then, the only way to obtain one legitimately was by attending a special event. This idea was carried forward into future generations of Pokemon games with many other Legendary and Mythical Pokemon requiring special trades or items to obtain.
1 Generation V – 156 New Pokemon
Considering Pokemon Black & White are the only mainline Pokemon games to have ever received direct sequels, it may not be too surprising to learn that there are more new Pokemon in gen 5 than in any other generation. The thing is though, all 156 of the new Pokemon actually featured in the original games. What the sequels did add was a long requested mechanic.
The idea of fusing two Pokemon together is one that had fascinated series fans for quite some time and so to see it finally realized in Black 2 & White 2 was really quite something. It may have only worked with three Pokemon, but knowing that fusion was possible certainly opened up a lot of doors for other potential pairings.
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