... if Mega Pokemon are BAD? ...

uh oh... I have an opinion on the internet!?

I am a simple man, I am NOT a competitive pokemon player. I play pokemon in a self insert/power fantasy/ casual monster tamer RPG as I imagine it was intended to be. And no other gimmick gave me that feeling like Megas.

They only added the "Mega Evolution Hurts the Pokémon l" aspect AFTER their debut. It was never in the XY anime to my knowledge, and its a factor that never comes up outside of Pokedex Entries. Its literally just the Alola dex being metal as hell.

"Everyone needed rayquaza on their team to win in competitive" ... so like zacian. And incineroar. And urshifu.

The only reason they started saying megas hurt the pokemon is because they wanted to try and get us to hate it. It didn't work.

Mega-Evolutions are basically Pokémon going Super Saiyan. It's no surprise why its a popular mechanic.

Basically, Megas are popular for a few reasons. 1. They were the first gimmick so they had the strongest impression. 2. Rule of cool dictates that making a super form for a Pokemon hypes people more than a big move or growing in size or a funny hat. 3. When doing Megas there was less concern with game balance and more interest in generating hype and getting people more invested with already strong and popular Pokemon.

I think a big reason that Megas are viewed more favorably than their contemporaries is the fact that, when Mega Evolution was introduced, there was no indication that it was a 'gimmick'. As you mentioned, Gen 2 brought breeding and the Special split, Gen 3 abilities, Gen 4 the Phys/Special split for moves, and Gen 5 hidden abilities. I'd argue that people (rightly) assumed Mega Evolution was the big upgrade to Pokemon, which was reinforced when we saw it 5 games in a row (or 4 if you don't count Let's Go) and still makes appearances in the spin-off games. Z-Moves and Dynamax fall into the same trap that Mega Evolution did. Because while every Pokemon can Dynamax, only certain Pokemon can Gigantimax. Every Pokemon can use a Z-Move, but some Pokemon are more special than others and have exclusive Z-Moves. There hasn't been a big core change to the Pokemon formula that has lasted more than one generation other than Mega Evolution. Terastallization does seem like a good change to the formula, but with the current pattern that I see, I don't have high hopes.

While I DO love regional forms, the ARE NOT a viable replacement to make a pokemon relevant. That's like having a siamese cat, then saying "He ain't good enough" and replacing him with a tabby cat. You aren't fixing the problem by adding a new pokemon, but rather making the original EVEN MORE irrelevent.

To me, mega evolutions feel like a pokemon turning into the ultimate version of itself whereas dynamaxing feels like them transforming into something *different*. It's like the difference between an Oozaru and a Super Saiyan (ignoring the canonical power difference).

I'd say regional variants do nothing for the pokemon it's based on: Having an Alolan Raichu isn't going to make good old Raichu more interesting and/or desirable. Paldean Taurus is a f'n badass, but it doesn't change the fact that the original Tauros still kinda sucks. People who used Mega beedrill would never use the original beedrill if it got a regional variant instead of a mega evolution.

isn't having a small pool of mega Pokemon the best reason for people to want more mega Pokemons?

Take pre-existing loved Pokémon, make it have a stat increase somewhere, give it a strong ass ability and make it look cool asf. Not surprised it's popular lmao.

I personally think Megas would have have been popular no matter what, but them being the first real generational gimmick hurt z-moves, dynamax and terrastalising. It cursed them to being compared to the more popular temporary gimmick. I know a lot of people that love a mega form of a pokemon even when they never cared for the base form previously. IDK anyone that loves Beedrill with Acid Downpour, 100 meter tall Beedrill, or a Beedrill that's been turned Grass from Tera specifically. They're just Beedrill. But loads of people love mega Beedrill and look at it separately from base Beedrill. They're more comparable to regional forms than the other regional gimmicks (except the mons with gigantamax forms). If your favorite pokemon was Alolan Ninetales and you were told it was never ever going to return after the Alola games, it'd only makes sense that you would wish it would come back, even if the original Kanto version would still be in the game. The same can be said for mega forms. Also, because they are technically temporary, they don't make the base form obsolete. I love Tyranitar and although I think Mega T-tar is a slight downgrade, because I can just not mega when I want, I can appreciate it as it's own thing. It's like I have 2 very similar mons sharing a slot on my team.

I mean, if the biggest argument against mega is not every poke has one, then the obvious solution would be to just make more. Just go nuts.

Its a super form. That's why they're so popular. Because the concept of Super Forms in general are popular. People LOVE Super Saiyan. People LOVE Super Sonic. Avatar State, Black Suit Spiderman, Golden Armor Wonder Woman, Fierce Deity Link...Mario, Naruto, Scott Pilgrim, Star V Forces of Evil, Amphibia- there are SO MANY franchises that try their hand at experimenting with the general concept of "Super Form", not necessarily always as a transformation but the basic premise of the idea of a form distinct from the characters usual form that improves their abilities and attributes, giving a significant boost to what they can do. Mega Evolutions are Pokemon's "Super Form", that's why they're the most popular.

Personally, i just think Mega Evolution is FUN. It's just so cool to see a Pokemon undergo an awesome transformation and being able to revert back so we can see it happen again and again, kinda like superhero transformation sequences. Sure, regional variants are permanent, but they're just not as cool and flashy

I think the issue with comparing regional variants to megas is that regional variants are permanent you can see it as kind of outright replacing the design where as megas only lasting for that battle allows you to keep the old design while still having the power up

"Megas had their own Dex entries." I mean, not in Gen VI.

sounds like your only point is that is that there aren't enough megas. so the only way to fix it is to go all in with more megas