Pokemon Legends: Arceus is one of the most well-received games in the history of the franchise, and part of its success has to do with how it changes the classic formula of Pokemon games. Despite the fact that Pokemon Legends: Arceus changes a lot of existing systems from mainline titles in the series, and that it also introduces new concepts that could very well become staples of the series, it also reprises mechanics like regional forms and additional evolutions. For example, the starters of the Hisui region all have Hisuian forms for their final evolution, and so do many of the noble Pokemon in the game.
Some existing Pokemon, however, got a new evolution in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, such as Ursaluna evolving from Ursaring or Basculegion evolving from Basculin. This is not necessarily an issue per se because evolution is one of the main gimmicks of all Pokemon games, but it can also cause some issues with balancing the competitive scene and also the designs of some of the new evolutions.
A Reddit user by the name of scsal01 started a thread on the platform asking fellow trainers what Pokemon they think don’t need an evolution in future releases, with examples like the Milotic line or single-stage Pokemon like Zangoose, Turtonator, or Drampa. A player stated that Spiritomb is one of the critters that don’t need an evolution because it already feels complete, especially given how difficult it is to obtain in the games. Another popular pick is Tropius, which was introduced as a single-stage critter in Gen 3, and it was delivered as a Grass/Flying-type whose design is that of a massive herbivore.
The issue with Pokemon like Tropius is that it would desperately need a stat buff or a new evolution to ever be viable outside the base game, but this can also be hard to balance for naturally bulky Pokemon like Dusclops because the Eviolite exists. As such, it makes sense that other popular picks for not having evolutions are Wobbuffet and, particularly, Shuckle, for this specific reason. However, if the Eviolite were to be removed from future games, this could open up room for more evolutions in mainline Pokemon games.
This is one of the reasons why regional variants are a great addition to the Pokemon franchise, as they can partially fix the issues with the base forms both design-wise and in terms of stats, while also making a sort of new creature out of them. The community is always open to the idea, to the point that fans often make art to create more forms for existing Pokemon - and a recently shared form for Starmie shows just as much.
