Pokemon GOonce had a very small Pokedex, only offering thePokemonfranchise’s first 151 monsters. Now, players can find the vast majority of Pokemon inPokemon GOthanks to constant updates from Niantic that have brought monsters from every region into the game. There’s still quite a few Pokemon left to add, and Niantic is releasing them little by little, but as a rule, most ofPokemon’s earliest regions now have a complete Pokedex inPokemon GO.Oddly enough, though, the Hoenn region’s Pokedex still isn’t complete. That’s becausePokemon GOstill hasn’t added Kecleon after over five years of operation.
Kecleon’s extended absence is strange, but there’s likely a good reason for it. In the corePokemongames, Kecleon’s signature Ability is Color Change, which allows it to change its type from Normal to the type of whatever move last affected it. This makes Kelceon stand out in the base games, but raises issues inPokemon GO,which doesn’t have Abilities. Luckily,there’s another gimmick PokemoninPokemon GOthat could serve as a great blueprint for Kecleon: Smeargle. By imitating Smeargle’s unique way of copying moves inPokemon GO,Kecleon could finally enter the mobile game without sacrificing its core mechanic.
How Kecleon Can Copy Smeargle
Smeargle has been inPokemon GOfor years, but it’s generally not found simply roaming around in the wild. Instead, when players take a snapshot of a Pokemon, there’s a chance thata Smeargle will spawn nearby. Unlike most Pokemon, though, this Smeargle won’t have a random set of moves. Instead, the newly spawned Smeargle will copy the Fast and Charged Attacks of the Pokemon that the player photographed, referencing Smeargle’s signature move Sketch. Sketch wouldn’t be particularly good inPokemon GOif it didn’t take effect until players brought Smeargle into battle, so learning moves from a Pokemon snapshot is a clever, efficient way to integrate the Painter Pokemon’s signature move.
That simplePokemon GOmechanic seems like it could work for Kecleon, too. Niantic could design Kecleon so that its type changes when players find it under a specific circumstance. For instance, if Kecleon is found by taking snapshots, its type could permanently change from Normal to the pictured Pokemon’s primary type, or the type of its Fast Attack. Alternatively, Kecleon might spawn after playersbattle a Team Rocket Gruntor participate in a Raid, changing its type to imitate the last Pokemon the player used. With a mechanic like that, Kecleon can preserve its core function without needing to go into battle, just likePokemon GO’s take on Smeargle.
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Kecleon’s Arrival is Long Overdue
Even if it doesn’t want to replicate Smeargle’s abilities, Niantic has plenty of ways to bring Kecleon into the game. Maybe players could simply spend Kecleon Candy and Stardust to change Kecleon’s type, taking notes fromFurfrou’s form change mechanic. The bottom line is that Niantic has plenty of ways to make Kecleon work inPokemon GO,so it’s really just a matter of picking a mechanic and introducing it alongside the missing Color Swap Pokemon.
Pokemon GOcertainly still has a lot of missing Pokemon to add alongside Kecleon. Plenty of Alolan Pokemon and Galarian Pokemon aren’t inPokemon GOyet, and it doesn’t seem like Niantic is a hurry to add them all. Nevertheless, Kecleon’s absence is significant because it should’ve been added a long time ago. Kecleon’s absence from the Hoenn Pokedex is a major annoyance forPokemon GOcompletionists who expected to get every Hoenn Pokemon years ago. Niantic promisesit has Kecleon release plans in mind, but it has yet to make good on those promises. Hopefully, Kecleon makes its way toPokemon GOsoon alongside a clever way to preserve the mechanic that makes it special.
Pokemon GOis available now for Android and iOS devices.
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