Pokemon is clearly being ignored by Sakurai and I am very curious as to why that is. With the recent DDD and Zelda reveals we can pretty clearly see that Sakurai is releasing a veteran with most Japanese release dates and yet one of the most represented series in Smash snuck by their big release date with only a hint of a Xerneas Pokeball/Stage. We have hardly seen any screenshots of Pikachu, he's definitely one of the leastrepresented characters in the daily pictures. Heck, Pokeballs didn't even get an official picture with their reveal, they're just being deflected in the Rosalina video.
Even as we continue to get Assist Trophy reveals we don't know a single Pokeball Polemon.My main point here is that Pokemon characters, stages, and Pokeballs are some of the most memorable and beloved content in Smash Bros and Sakurai hasn't shown any love towards them at all. So what gives?
I would not worry about Pokemon, at all. One is the most anticipated newcomer, highly requested in all relevant regions, and prevalent in promotion. This is the only character that I would truly considered "a lock" or "shoe-in" and I am fairly unbiased. He is a veteran, one that was supposed to make it in Brawl, one that was planned for Smash 64. Mewtwo literally has NOTHING going against him. He wasn't even that prominent during pre-Brawl and he was still the most finished character that didn't make it on the disc. Arguably if it wasn't for Sonic, he would have been playable in the game, in which case, he would still be considered an obvious return.
The other was a member of the original 12, still fairly popular in Japan. Her new typing doesn't do much in terms of innovation, but it does give her a new found relevance that wasn't overt in pre-Brawl; where she still made the cut over other prominent characters. She is one of the most easy characters to develop in the game, and one of the most unique (shield break, rest, sing). Many feel as though she might be cut; however, I disagree with this fallacious notion. At this point, she is just as much of a main-stay as Ness. There are no other ideal Pokemon to replace her aside from Meowth. It will be her inherent iconic nature and innate function of serving as a popular veteran for 15 years that dictate her fate.
Lucario is one of the most iconic and popular Pokemon with a unique mechanic. I am not going to lie and say that I am completely positive that he will return, but there isn't much of a plausible reason that he would be omitted either. I view him as the 50/50, he has his merits, but some feel as though he replaced Mewtwo. This is utterly erroneous, but many interpret him as a "flavor of the month" Pokemon. His importance to X and Y is often under stated, it is there though. Sakurai does communicate with GameFreak, so he was entirely aware that he was going to be the prime example of a Mega Evolution in game. So he will be HIGHLY considered, Lucario and Mewtwo CAN co-exist. They might even give Mewtwo an over-haul at that was really the only reason he wasn't too popular in Melee. This would eliminate the very similar projectile moves that the two share.
Pokemon Trainer. This is where I get biased. I believe that Charizard can exist without the gimmicks of Pokemon Trainer. Sakurai has already cited that he believes a character roster of 39 is feasible. In this event, we might have to endure cuts to compensate for some newcomers. This is the obvious Pokemon cut in my opinion, he is well respected and loved, but it is in my personal opinion that this derives from Charizard anyways. This is one of the most relevant and important Pokemon, I would proclaim that it tops Mewtwo. So many believe that he is safe. It all comes down to logic though, cut 3 unique newcomers and piss of 3 fan-bases severely attenuating diversity in the cast, or cut Pokemon Trainer (replace with Charizard)?
Pichu even has an adequate chance if you ask me. He is a Smash veteran after all, and that counts for something. If he has extra time to pad the roster, we might get our troll character back. It isn't too likely, but there is still hope.
Zororark and Genesect are really the only other ideal candidates, unless Sakurai finally realizes that he skipped Meowth, the spiritual successor of Pikachu (inverted Pokedex numbers alluding to cat and mouse) and his rival in the popular anime series.
