These 9 forgotten Pokémon could finally land on Switch with Legends: Z-A release

With Pokémon Legends: Z-A announced as a core series game for the Nintendo Switch, it may finally be time for the last few forgotten ‘mons to join the 1,000 plus already in the Switch era.

If Pokémon Legends: Z-A is anything like the first of its kind, Legends: Arceus, we can expect to see new Pokémon, forms, and evolutions in addition to many familiar faces of the franchise. It’s always interesting to see which returning Pokémon make the cut since the growing number of ‘mons makes it harder and harder to feature every single species.

Even though there are now 1,025 Pokémon, Game Freak has done a pretty good job of including most of them across the mainline Switch titles: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!, Sword and Shield, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Legends: Arceus, and Scarlet and Violet. Between all of these Switch games, 1,016 Pokémon have made an appearance, whether they were native to those regions or accessible as transfer-only ‘mons.

As pointed out in a March 5 Reddit thread, this leaves exactly nine Pokémon excluded from all of the main series games for the Switch. The nine Pokémon are:

• Patrat
• Watchog
• Pansage
• Pansear
• Panpour
• Simisage
• Simisear
• Simipour
• Furfrou

Since these nine ‘mons have waited the longest to enter the Switch era, they could have higher priority to be among the returning Pokémon when Legends: Z-A releases.

It seems especially likely for Furfrou, who is briefly shown in the Legends: Z-A trailer and first debuted in Gen VI. The new Legends game takes place in Lumiose City in Gen VI’s Kalos region, so Furfrou would fit right in. On top of this, Furfrou’s Gen VI Pokédex entries state, “Historically, in the Kalos region, these Pokémon were the designated guardians of the king.” Meanwhile, its dex entry from Ultra Sun says, “There was an era when aristocrats would compete to see who could trim their Furfrou’s fur into the most exquisite style.” If Legends: Z-A takes place in the past like Legends: Arceus, there’s potential to expand on this Furfrou and Kalos lore. For example, a Mega Evolution for Furfrou would be amazing.

The Patrat line and the elemental monkeys were all introduced in Gen V, so they aren’t tied to the Kalos region. If, for whatever reason, they don’t return in Z-A, they’ll just have to wait for whenever Black and White get their remake or sequel. In a hypothetical world where Furfrou returns in Z-A and the Patrat line and elemental monkeys return in a new Black and White Switch game, every single Pokémon would be part of the Switch era. And that’s a wild thought, considering there are over 1,000 ‘mons with plenty more to be discovered.