Back when mega evolution debuted in Gen 6, no members of Kalos’s roster had mega evolutions that were designed alongside their base forms (probably with the exception of one pretty diamond-pokemon, but theirs released in ORAS). With ZA, we have more mega evolutions for old pokemon, but no mega evolutions for pokemon that were released in the same game (because there were no new pokemon, of course). We did see a few megas for mons from Paldea, but that’s the closest we’ve gotten next to Diancie.
Pair that next to Z-moves, gigantamax, or terastal, and we see that each of these generations have pokemon from that generation who feed directly into these mechanics, like part of their designs inherently included these mechanics off the bat. With mega evolutions, we are always rethinking what an existing pokemon is, not trying to make a new one feel whole. I think this applies both to how they treated mega evolution on its release and also to the depth of what mega evolution as a concept is.
Maybe it’s part of the reason I’m not a huge fan of the SwSh starters or wasn’t all that interested in the concept of gigantamaxing. Z-moves and terastalizing are cool, but they’re kinda surface-level in my opinion. Maybe I’d be more into gigantamaxing if it didn’t feel like a rehashing of mega evolution.
Anyway, just my thoughts on why megas are our beloved, overpowered friends that we collectively cherish so dearly.
by Minister-Muffin