Four Stage Pokemon

[Devalue]

Locked Pokemon to a maximum of three stages since the very beginning. Would you be okay with Pokemon with more stages than that? Are there any you have in mind? Are you concerned a favorite of yours might get a (new) bad-looking evolution?
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Sounds like a good idea. Helps Bug Pokemon in particular. Typically saddles them with a quick evolution, but weak stats by endgame. Fixes that with a very late evolution.

For specific Pokemon:

• Beedrill. Probably taps into the Mega Evolution here. Imagines something a little sleeker for diving into prey. Alternatively, some change to its big spike hands.
• Butterfree, Beautifly, and Vivillon. Looks pretty similar to each other. Could use some more differences. Lengthens Butterfree's wingspan and adds some of Caterpie's elements to it. Focuses on Beautifly's mouth as a clearer weapon. Incorporates some of Vivillon's pattern into its main body.
• Poliwrath. Adds to its lower half (but not, like, big muscle frog). Should be good at jumping. Expands the swirl out to more of its body too. Perhaps a small touch of red for a bit more of a wrath-y feel?

Holds a little concern on a Pokemon like Luxray going bad. May not be high on the list for a new evolution, at least.

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

I have no issue with 'even further beyond' forms for Pokemon, but we already had a perfect version of this with Megas. I just wish they actually stuck with them instead of treating them like a damn 'one and done' gimmick. Make it so you don't need to give the pokemon a held item, allow any of your team to Mega (as more are added), but keep the 1 per team of 6 limit. Now all Pokemon have the possibility of a (non permanent) extra form, and the series doesn't have to keep revolving door gimmicks to find one that sticks. (if there will ever even be one that does...)

 

[ReKoil]

I'd be okay with it if they actually did it with three stage lines where the final evolution is lackluster, as in, mons like Beautifly/Butterfree.
GF's track record is against them on that though. They gave Megas to legendary Pokemon and pseudos, which didn't need them at all.

 

[Corveone]

I think the three stages limits is fine, wouldn't want that to change. Plus, knowing GF many of the 4th stage evos would end up going into Pokémon that are already perfectly capable with three stages, which could potentially increase the power gap and thus making some of the weaker Pokémon even less viable if they aren't among the lucky ones to get a new evo. Some of my favorites actually don't even have a third stage.

 

[Squirtkipfan01]

They had that and its name was mega evolution. Which they dropped after 2 games(no i dont count the slapdashed inclusions from sun and moon). And even if they did they would give it to pokemon who dont need it like charizard. I guess in short; yeah id be down to see 4 stages but not from current game freak

 

[Sheep]

I can see Beedrill getting something but I think that's just my mega evolution brain thinking that, lol. I honestly feel like, rather than introducing forms that will be gone in 1-2 generations, we should just get new evolutions instead that have a much higher chance to carry over. But maybe they think having 4-stage Pokémon is too overwhelming..? I don't entirely disagree, to me 3 is pretty much a perfect ceiling and I'd prefer 4-stage mons to be rare if we had them, definitely like them more than megas etc though since those won't last.

 

[CoolKid575]

No, Megas were the perfect compromise for this. A 4th stage that can only be activated once per battle. Otherwise, 3 stages are perfectly fine and a good cap, although I wish GF would give a little more love to 1st and 2nd stage Pokemon considering that's what you use for the majority of most Pokemon games.

 

[Gruffin]

I wouldn't mind, but I would rather have more branching evolution paths instead (like Kirlia evolving into Gardevoir or Gallade, Poliwhirl evolving into Poliwrath or Politoed, etc) for players to have a choice on what kind of build they want; it's more exciting that way and avoids the problem of having to take longer for a Pokemon to reach their full potential if they were to have a 4th form.

 

[Explorer of Time]

There's only a handful of Pokemon I'd consider giving a fourth stage: Beautifly, Dustox, Beedrill, Butterfree, Vivillon, and Raichu. Five of these are Bug-types that have a nigh-useless cocoon second stage, and the sixth was designed as a second-stage, had its planned third stage scrapped in development, and was itself retroactively turned into a third-stage because its evolutionary line got a baby in Gen 2.