Pokémon has been rocking and rolling for over 20 years at this point, and much of the franchise’s success is tied to fans falling in love with the concept of evolving its wildly varied and inventive cast of creatures.
Despite evolution being at the core of the series, there are more than a handful of Pokémon that don’t evolve into or from anything else. Even among those introduced in Pokémon Sword & Shield, there are new Pokémon that deserve cute base forms trainers can fall in love with before training and evolving them into capable and confident Pokémon.
10 Tropius
Tropius takes two things almost all kids love — fruit and dinosaurs, and combines them into a lovable Pokémon that’s often overlooked. From a design perspective, there’s plenty to play around with when it comes to creating a pre-evolutionary form. Being partially Grass-type and having fruits on its chin, a base form could show these elements in their growth stage. Having the leaf-like wings and fruit beard appear as sprouting or budding vegetation could make the base form a pudgy ball of dinosaur-inspired adorableness.
9 Carnivine
The Pokémon Company loves to make small adorable plants that happen to be Grass-type Pokémon that evolve into much more vile, toxic, and odd creatures. Carnivine is the special case in which they skipped straight to the final form and presented fans with an odd creature based on the Venus Fly Trap. The 4th generation of games are rumored to be receiving remakes in the coming years, so fans are hoping in this return to the region that Carnivine is shown some love via a pre-evolutionary form.
8 Skarmory
It’s pretty rare in Pokémon to come across a Flying-type bird that doesn’t evolve from or into anything else. Along with being one of the first Steel-types in the franchise, Skarmory came onto the scene in Pokémon Gold & Silver to pretty unfavorable reception. Many trainers didn’t see the need in capturing a defensive-minded bird that’s rather off-putting to look at. It needs to have a form that can be endearing to people, and as they learn to love its pre-evolution they can become comfortable with the eventuality of it transforming into a terrifying metal bird.
7 Lapras
Lapras is a majestic sea creature that many fans consider to be mystical. Some people would argue that Lapras is fine the way it is and doesn’t need a pre-evolution. Though that’s a completely reasonable point of view, there’s no harm in discussing why Lapras could use it.
Lapras is a Water and Ice-type, with the latter typing being more scarce in the Kanto region. A pre-evolutionary form would add another Ice-type to the Kanto region, and cross off one of the last single-form Kanto natives to not receive an evolution or pre-evolution in any form.
6 Lunatone/Solrock
In the 4th generation of Pokémon games, fans were introduced to a pair of Rock and Psychic dual-types known as Lunatone and Solrock. Not only were they weird early signs of what would eventually be known as Pokémon Sun & Moon, but the two being direct references to objects in space was welcomed wholeheartedly. A pre-evolution that can evolve into either of them could easily work, and it could be based on what time of day you level up the creature as they directly relate to the sun and the moon.
5 Stonjourner
Stonjourner is the first of two Galar region native Pokémon to make the list, and was recently released to the world via Pokémon Sword & Shield. This sturdy Rock-type is one of the rarer Pokémon to come across in the English countryside, and fans have invested time and effort into getting their hands on it. Its stats are pretty impressive and solid enough to give it room for a more regressed form via a pre-evolution. The Big Rock Pokémon could use a form that most people know as the Small Rock Pokémon.
4 Genesect
If you’ve been on the Pokémon forums long enough, then you’re already under the assumption that Genesect has a pre-evolutionary form, and it’s Kabutops. This has never been confirmed in any official capacity, but a quick glance between the Bug and Steel-type machine known as Genesect and the fossil Pokémon from the Kanto region will resonate as one and the same. Since it will likely never be revealed, it’d be neat to have a pre-evolutionary form that delves more into the origins of Genesect and how it came to be.
3 Oranguru/Passimian
Pokémon is a franchise predicated on dividing the availability of new Pokémon between versions and forcing players to either socialize or buy both versions. Passimian and Oranguru were a pair of primates that could be captured in Pokémon Sun & Moon, respectively.
The idea of giving them a sole pre-evolution between the two and letting it evolve into either of them makes it easier for new players in the future and adds another interesting evolutionary setup where trainers get to decide which path to take.
2 Duraludon
Duraludon is a new Steel and Dragon-type introduced in Pokémon Sword & Shield and is native to the Galar region. It’s an interesting design for a creature, and those lucky enough to see one Dynamax will be treated to the sight of a giant skyscraper looking creature. It’s pretty odd that Duraludon doesn’t have a pre-evolution considering it’s a dragon and a creature given the ability to Dynamax. Its less appealing design makes more sense if it evolves from something small and cute.
1 Kangaskhan
Over the last 20 years of the Pokémon franchise’s existence, there is a singular Pokémon that has been at the center of fan demand for a pre-evolution. The Pokémon in question is Kangaskhan, who many believe to be the unconfirmed mother of Cubone. So the way it works is that if a baby Kangaskhan’s mother dies while it is young, it becomes a Cubone, and eventually a Marowak. The Pokémon Company has refused to confirm this, so what needs to happen is they need to finally unveil the Normal-type baby pre-evolution form of Kangaskhan. The template’s literally already there, after all.
NEXT: 15 Pokémon (Desperately) Still In Need Of An Evolution
