With most of the Generation III Pokémon released in Pokemon GO, some players are setting their sights in Generation IV. While, yes, it is still too early to even talk about Generation IV, this article is not about the meta of the next generation. Instead, we’ll be talking about what to expect with the release of Generation IV itself. It’s important to know that Generation IV is different from all other generations, and that in and of itself will affect how Generation IV will be released in Pokémon GO. How is Generation IV different?
Cross-Generation Evolutions
Generation IV will introduce the most new evolutions among all generations, with 22 new evolutions. Not only that, it’ll add 7 new baby Pokémon. That means there will only be 64 new Pokémon in the wild. To put it to perspective, Generation II added 74 new Pokémon in the wild. Generation IV will put the least new Pokémon in the wild to date. Even if we add some of the new evolutions of Generation IV in the wild, only 4 of them evolve with no items. The only advantage for the players here is that they will probably not release this Generation in batches, like the way they released Generation III. They will more likely release Generation IV like they released Generation II, with the baby Pokémon being released first.
They might even release the evolutions separately as well. For more info on this, you can check the articles Candies you should save for Generation 4 and Guide on Cross Generational Evolutions right here on this site.
New Evolution Items and Methods
With new evolution comes new evolution items. Generation IV introduced the following items and the respective Pokémon it evolves:
| Item | To Be Evolved | Evolution |
|---|---|---|
| Shiny Stone |
Togetic
|
Togekiss
|
Roselia
|
Roserade
|
|
| Dusk Stone |
Murkrow
|
Honchkrow
|
Misdreavus
|
Mismagius
|
|
| Dawn Stone |
Kirlia
♂only |
Gallade
|
Snorunt
♀only |
Froslass
|
|
| Razor Fang |
Gligar
|
Gliscor
|
| Razor Claw |
Sneasel
|
Weavile
|
| Protector |
Rhydon
|
Rhyperior
|
| Reaper Cloth |
Dusclops
|
Dusknoir
|
| Dubious Disc |
Porygon2
|
Porygon-Z
|
| Electirizer |
Electabuzz
|
Electivire
|
| Magmarizer |
Magmar
|
Magmortar
|
Not only that, Generation IV released new methods of evolving, one of which is location-based evolution, meaning these Pokémon will only evolve on specific locations. This may or may not be implemented in Pokémon GO, but it is very likely that they do especially because of a Generation IV Pokémon we’ll be tackling later. If they do implement location-based evolution, it might be implemented by being : (a) biome-based (b) weather-based. There are four Pokémon in Generation IV that evolve this way:
| Location | To Be Evolved | Evolution |
|---|---|---|
| Special Magnetic Field |
Magneton
|
Magnezone
|
Nosepass
|
Probopass
|
|
| Moss Rock |
Eevee
|
Leafeon
|
| Ice Rock |
Glaceon
|
Another new method of evolving is move-based evolutions, in which Pokémon need to learn a certain move to evolve. Most of these Pokémon require learning Ancient Power to evolve, but among those Pokémon, only Yanma can learn it on Pokémon GO. On the other hand, the other moves required are Double Hit and Rollout, moves which is are not even in the game. They can either forgo this method entirely, add Double Hit, Rollout, or Ancient Power to the following Pokémon’s moveset, or just make the required move different. Either way, there are five Pokémon that evolve this way:
| Move | To Be Evolved | Evolution |
|---|---|---|
| Double Hit |
Aipom
|
Ambipom
|
| Rollout |
Lickitung
|
Lickilicky
|
| Ancient Power |
Tangela
|
Tangrowth
|
Yanma
|
Yanmega
|
|
Piloswine
|
Mamoswine
|
“Smeargle” of Generation IV
Much like Smeargle, there will be Pokémon that won’t be released alongside the bulk of Generation IV. Burmy is a Bug Pokémon that changes appearance depending on its location. It has three formes: Plant Cloak (on grass/outside), Sandy Cloak (on desert/beach), and Trash Cloak (on a building). If it’s male, it evolves to Mothim, a moth Pokémon, but if it’s female, it evolves to Wormadam, a Pokémon with similar appearance with Burmy. Wormadam also has the three formes, but the last forme Burmy has will be Wormadam’s permanent forme.
| Burmy | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
| Sandy Cloak | Plant Cloak | Trash Cloak |
| Bug | ||
| Wormadam (evolves from Burmy ♀) | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
| Sandy Cloak | Plant Cloak | Trash Cloak |
| Bug Ground | Bug Grass | Bug Steel |
| Mothim (evolves from Burmy ♂) |
|---|
 |
| Bug |
Region Exclusive (sort of)
If there’s a Pokémon that is considered a shoo-in for being Region Exclusive among Generation IV Pokémon, it’s Shellos and it’s evolution Gastrodon. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, there are two variants of Shellos: West Sea and East Sea.
| Shellos | |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| West Sea | East Sea |
| Water | |
They would most likely release Shellos the same way they release Volbeat and Illumise. If the East/West names are considered, West Sea Shellos will be available on North America, South America, and Africa, while East Sea Shellos will be available on Europe, Asia, and the Pacific. The best thing about this is that everyone can still have a Pokédex entry for Shellos and Gastrodon.
Legendary and Mythical Pokémon
There are tons of great Legendary and Mythical Pokémon in Generation IV that will be a welcome addition to your team. I’ll just name a few that stand out.
Palkia will finally make good use of the Water Dragon typing (I’m talking to you Kingdra!). With only Dragon and Fairy as its weakness, Palkia will definitely be difficult to defeat. The only problem is that it’s not really known as a Water attacker in the main series games so if it won’t get Waterfall as a Fast Move, you’ll most likely go to Kyogre on the Water attacker department. Meanwhile, its Dragon typing, while being awesome, will also be in competition with other great Dragon Pokémon. Even it’s counterpart, Dialga, might even fare better, with it’s Steel typing complimenting with Dragon pretty well. If they do release Palkia with a Water moveset, Palkia will see more use over Dialga, especially for those who don’t have a good IV Kyogre.
Darkrai will very much be the fan-favorite among the new Mythical Pokémon, but let’s talk about his counterpart, Cresselia. Don’t get me wrong, Mewtwo, Latios, and Latias might have better overall stats among Psychic Pokémon but don’t sleep on Cresselia. Do you remember why Lugia and Articuno took a lot of players to defeat? Defense. Raid Bosses with high Defenses tend to need more players to defeat. That’s where Cresselia comes in. It has higher Defense and HP than Articuno, but has less Attack so it will more or less need the same amount of people to defeat.
Lastly, we’ll talk about literally the grandaddy of Pokémon: Arceus. Its stats are one of the most balanced among all Pokémon. If they don’t nerf Arceus, his Attack will be on par with Dragonite, while his Defense and HP will be a notch below Cresselia. Imagine a Pokémon with significant bulk that can also hits like a truck. Sure, it’s not Mewtwo levels of Attack or Lugia levels of bulk, but the fact that all of his stats are above average is not something to scoff at. Calling him a god might not seem that strange anymore.
Overview
It’s no secret that Generation IV will bring about the biggest change so far, but you wouldn’t know how big until you really think about what Pokémon will Generation IV bring to the game. It might not bring a lot of new Pokémon like Generation V, or bring the coolest-looking Pokémon like Generation III, but just having the most new evolutions and the most explosive Legendary Pokémon will make you think that Generation IV is possibly the biggest change Niantic will ever bring to the game… until Generation V arrives.
