I was watching Trainer Tips one night, and his topic is the possibility that there will be a migration on Region Exclusive Pokémon in the future. Of course, Nick did not take the possibility seriously, and I can't blame him. Still, there are some people that are hoping for that to happen. Some people even think that having some Pokémon being region-locked is making the Pokédex completion being favored to the rich, so a migration will balance the scales. I, of course, disagree.
First off, for those who are not aware. Region exclusive or region-locked Pokémon are those Pokémon that can only be seen on a certain geographical area. One example is Tauros, which can only be found in the US and some parts of northern Mexico and southern Canada that are bordering the US. As of now, you can not get Tauros in any other way, even thru eggs. Some other region exclusive Pokémon are Farfetch'd (East Asia), Kangaskhan (Australia), Mr. Mime (Europe), Heracross (Latin and South America), and Corsola (Tropical Regions).
You might be thinking, "That is sort of unfair. What if I don't live on those area? Does that mean that I need to go to other countries just to complete the Pokédex? This sucks!" Yes, fair point, but let me tell you why I think we need Region Exclusive Pokémon.
It makes Pokémon GO very realistic. One of the game's tagline is "Pokémon in Real Life". In real life, you cannot see all animals in each countries. There are certain animals that only live on certain places. Pokémon are not that different. Each Generation of Pokémon are on different regions. That's why the first Generation only has 151 Pokémon. They don't know that there are also different Pokémon in other regions. If you watched the anime, in Black & White, people are surprised when they see Pikachu, because they don't see Pikachu on Unova.
But you may rebuttle, "How will we complete the Pokédex if we can't go outside our country?" Trading. Pokémon Go programmed Region Exclusive on the hopes that people use them to trade with other people. In the original games, some Pokémon can only be obtained through Trading, and even some evolutions are dependent on Trading. If Niantic had implemented trading since Day 1, we wouldn't even have this discussion.
I know what you are thinking, "But there's no trading, so they have to do the migration." Trading will definitely come to Pokémon Go sooner or later. As soon as Niantic finds a way to make trading not susceptible to cheating, they WILL implement it. It's just a matter of when. Why am I that confident? Trading was the reason why the original Pokémon Games was a hit. It's the only game that mixes video games with social interaction during that time. The original games have 2 versions that have version exclusive Pokémon, so you need to trade with other people to complete the Pokédex, which itself was a new feature at that time. It would be a huge mistake for Niantic to not release trading, and Niantic is smart enough to know that.
Some of you may still think that region-exclusive are favored to the rich, and actually you are right. Please consider that even though it is favored to those who can afford to go to other countries, region-exclusive Pokémon are not that strong. The strongest one is Heracross yet it is double weak to the common Flying-type. Most of them are there for bragging rights. Plus, Niantic does not even get money from region exclusive Pokémon. They don't get money from airports because of travelling players.
Let's say you still don't agree, what happens when they do migrate region exclusive Pokémon? Well, region-exclusive Pokémon lose their meaning. The game loses its meaning. When you can complete the Pokédex without effort of going outside your comfort zone, Niantic basically killed the meaning of the game, to make people go outside and explore the world outside, not just in the physical aspect, but in the social aspect as well. Pokémon was programmed in a way that it makes it essential to find friends, because you can not complete the game alone. Niantic got the essence of the original games and successfully implemented it in Pokémon Go. If the region exclusive Pokémon are not region exclusive anymore, the essence is lost, and it's not a Pokémon game worth its name.
If you really want to complete the Pokédex but you agree with me that migration is not an option, don't worry. When trading comes, you can trade with a friend that has travelled, and when you do, YOU are the winner. You got a region exclusive without spending a single cent. Let's just thank Niantic that they made a game faithful to the essence of the original games. Be happy you get to be a trainer in real life, because now, we can really catch 'em all.
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