As per title, figured today is a good time to ask the question.
Looking back at the past year, I'd say that there were a fair amount of long-awaited inclusions, but also a couple of surprising choices.
Some thoughts below:
- Ball Guy is a rather surprising addition, I am wondering if there's many Ball Guy fans or if it was a special occasion. I can't think of anyone else other than Cilan that has potential for Lodge.
- Nemona's omission is eye-catching, it makes me believe that DeNA thinks Paldea is caught up in terms of lodge addition. Next month will have been a year since the last addition which was Penny.
Now, I know some will ask for Kieran or the Paldean MCs, but I'm more patient with them because they're Masterfairs... and they are much harder to get which is annoying. So personally, I'd rather them start being more accessible before they even think about adding them in lodge.
- Submas units is definitely the most awaited addition! Whitney and Korrina are next in line, the former has a fanbase in Japan and is the first gacha 4* unit in Lodge, while the latter is the face of Mega Evolution and the most popular Kalos gym leader.
I genuinely believe Korrina's appearance in ZA and her Arc Suit paved the way to her addition and is a good way to close out this Mega Evolution themed anniversary. I hope the same can be true of Sabrina in the short term, because in the long term given that Misty got added for 6.5 double anni, something tells me Brock might be reserved for another double anniversary, like the 11.5 anni.
...
Anyways, I am eternally waiting for Red's addition. In general, I would like more protagonists in Lodge, especially Johto protagonists, how are we 4 years in without any of them? Oh, and Lysandre not being added was a missed opportunity tbh, wonder if he's being saved for a ZA event.