‘Pokémon Go’ Gen 2 Update: Will There Be Region-Exclusive Pokémon?

One of the more interesting aspects when Pokémon Go was first released was the existence of r egion-exclusive Pokémon.

These four Pokémon could only be found on certain continents, making it very difficult to “catch ‘em all.” However, if you just happened to be in one of the other regions outside of your own, it is a fulfilling experience to finally catch one of these elusive Pokémon.

So with the Generation 2 update around the corner, should players expect more region-locked Pokémon? We don’t know for certain, but it’s very likely Niantic and The Pokémon Company will continue this feature to promote the traveling and walking aspect of Pokémon Go.

But what four new Pokémon could be region-locked when Generation 2 comes out? We came up with our best guesses.

WHO IS LOCKED, RIGHT NOW?

The four aforementioned Pokémon that are region-locked in Pokémon Go are Mr. Mime (Europe), Tauros (North America), Farfetch’d (Asia) and Kangaskhan (Australian).

What these four have in common is that they don’t evolve in their respective generations. Going off of that, the Johto Region has plenty of “stand alone” Pokémon that don’t evolve that can possibly be region-locked in the new update. (Note: those confirmed NOT to be region-exclusive are crossed out.)

Girafarig

Qwilfish

Miltank

Skarmory

Sudowoodo

Sneasel

Gligar

Stantler

Smeargle

Unknown

Shuckle

Heracross

Murkrow

Dunsparce

Aipom

SO WHO COULD BE REGION-EXCLUSIVE?

Another criteria for the region-locked Pokémon in Pokémon Go are that they don’t evolve in this generation and in future generations. Some Johto Pokémon actually evolve in later generations so we’re going to exclude Sneasel, Murkrow, Aipom and Gligar from this list.

So who does that leave? Well, Miltank has strong ties to Tauros as farm Pokémon. So it’s possible that Miltank becomes exclusive to North America like Tauros was.

Skarmory was shown in the Gen 2 update trailer so it wouldn’t make sense to show it and then make it exclusive to one region, so it’s out. Unknown is one of those special Pokémon that have a gimmick like Ditto and the inclusion of badges for catching a lot of them would suggest that it won’t be exclusive either.

Heracross will likely join Scyther and Pinsir as big Bug types that are available everywhere.

Taking all of that into account, we came up with these four Pokémon to be region-locked when the Gen 2 update is pushed out in Pokémon Go.

North America - Miltank

Europe - Smeargle

Asia - Dunsparce

Australia - Girafarig

UPDATE: Stantler has been confirmed as NOT a region-exclusive.

UPDATE 2: Qwilfish and Girafarig confirmed NOT to be region-exclusive

Of course, this is our prediction and if there are Pokémon that are region-locked when the next update comes, then we will update the reader as well.

But in the meantime, let us know your thoughts on whether we’ll be getting region-exclusive Pokémon again and who you believe them to be in the comments section below.