Game Freak has been heavily leaning into regional variants to pad out their new Pokemon lineups since the seventh generation. It's proven itself as an interesting way to revisit and redesign old Pokemon, and even add new evolutions. The most recent title, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, added a lot of new variants and exclusive evolutions.
With the ninth generation of Pokemon right around the corner, regional variants aren't confirmed but are more than likely going to happen. Let's look at a few Pokemon who could really use an interesting variant to help them stick out more.
9 Shuckle
Shuckle's a weak little guy with a surprisingly vocal following. He has absolutely no viability in the games whatsoever unless you're really into the idea of every single battle taking an obscene amount of time to get through. He's cute, though, and that's drawn people to him, even though he's still not considered one of the top-tier turtles.
Fans have been asking for some kind of update to Shuckle for a while now. Back in the sixth-gen, they were begging for a mega evolution. Now that those are a thing of the past, it seems reasonable to give him a regional variant.
8 Plusle & Minun
There have been many Pikachu clones over the generations, but Plusle and Minun were the first. Just like the others that followed, they were admired for a time and then forgotten once the next clone rolled into town. So they've been fairly irrelevant for years now.
We've yet to see any of the clones get a regional variant, so Plusle and Minun would be a good start. Hopefully, they'll do something original with it, though, rather than continuing to copy Pikachu's style and just making them tiny Alolan Raichus or something.
7 Spinda
Spinda is a strange case. It's definitely a Pokemon that feels like it should have an evolution of some kind. By itself, it's nothing special, a cute little bear that kind of looks like if you took a Teddiursa and spun it around a dozen times.
At a very minimum Spinda could use one of those retconned evolutions, like the ones they did in Diamond and Pearl. Just add in a new item to trade while Spinda holds it and let him evolve into something players can actually use. A variant that gives him a more interesting type would be nice, too.
6 Relicanth
Every once in a while, Game Freak will throw a new fish Pokemon into their games just to have some fodder that you run into 90 percent of the time that you surf or fish.
Relicanth is somewhat harder to find than Magikarp and Basculin, but the concept's still the same. It's a fairly boring fish. The problem is, Relicanth's original Pokedex entry says it has existed for millions of years without ever changing its form. It could really use a form change, though, so maybe they could backtrack on that quote.
5 Phione
Phione is one of Game Freak's biggest design blunders. It's a Pokemon that, by all means, looks like - and should be - the baby form of Manaphy. It's even exclusively attained by breeding Manaphy. Yet, for whatever reason, Phione does not evolve into Manaphy.
This makes Phione effectively worthless for anyone except the people trying to collect every Pokemon. And even then, those people will just get Phione, throw it in a box, and never think about it again. If Phione's going to be separate from Manaphy, they might as well give it some design distinction and maybe its own evolution.
4 Carnivine
Carnivine is probably the least thought about Pokemon from the fourth generation, and far from the best grass-type. They tucked the goofy-looking vine away back in the Safari Zone in the far corner of the map and never thought about it again.
He's fairly unimpressive on his own. A standard grass type that can't evolve or learn any special moves. A rework of Carnivine with a new typing and maybe even an evolution would do the Pokemon a lot of good, potentially. And there's no shortage of varying fauna from around the world for design inspiration.
3 Sigilyph
Sigilyph is one of the most interesting designs on this list. Sadly, its strange and colorful look doesn't equate to raw power. Sigilyph is fairly weak as far as stats and abilities go. Something that could be rectified with an evolution.
Its Pokedex entry always mentions that Sigilyph is the flying guardian of an ancient city, so maybe it could evolve into a much larger and bulkier guard that was meant for protecting the entrances on the ground. A new region could open up the possibility of rediscovering an ancient evolution method for the Pokemon.
2 Stonjourner
Pokemon Legends: Arceus added a ton of new regional variants. Or maybe they should more accurately be called time variants? Either way, the only generation that is now lacking in any variants is Gen 8.
While this generation introduced many Galarian forms of Pokemon from earlier gens, none of the originals from Gen 8 have had a chance to get variants of their own yet. Stonjourner would be an interesting pick for its own variant because its body and type could morph depending on the prevailing style of rock in the region.
1 Klefki
Klefki actually holds the interesting distinction of being one of the few non-evolving Pokemon with any battle viability. Chalk that up to its interesting typing and ability. Pretty impressive for the Pokemon that is literally just a set of keys.
Still, it would be interesting to see Klefki evolve into something. Plus keys, locks, and general home security vary in their look and style throughout the world. A Klefki variant that plays on the way a specific region does keys and locks would be a nice touch and homage to the cultural setting.