Unpopular Pokemon that you like

[MiniorHasFallen]

Of all the Pokemon I have ever viewed as favorites, the only ones that were any kind of popular were Dewott, Zoroark, and Chandelure. But as for my unpopular picks...

• One of my earliest favorites was Chimecho, an already weak and rare Pokemon that served as little more than a Pokedex filler. Its cuteness and rarity compelled me to catch that poor thing.
• My next one was Cryogonal, another Pokemon I wanted to catch due to its rarity. After my first White playthrough, I developed a genuine appreciation for it, due to its geometric design. It also proved quite viable with its limited-but-efficient support/stalling moveset.
• Next was Minior, one of the Pokemon I wanted to save during the Dexit era's peak. It was missing from the Switch (until New Snap, a few brief cameos in Detective Pikachu Returns and most likely the Indigo Disk, if the datamines are correct), so I was worried about its future. In fact, I used it as the namesake for my DeviantArt account, and I occasionally run Shell Smash strategies with my Minior in Monotypes.
• Finally, a lengthy screed about my remaining hidden gem: Furfrou, which I use in my Mono-Normal team.
  • My lengthy screed on Furfrou's (bleak) future

    It's pretty underrated as hell, seeing as how (as of now) its last appearance was Pokemon GO. (I caught a shiny Furfrou in GO and took him HOME out of a panic.) During the last year of Gen VIII, I hoped it would make it to the SV base game, but nope! It won't make it to the DLC! In fact, Furfrou has never appeared in any Switch game, not even spinoff games! (So much for my Furfrou at HOME.) I figured that if The Pokemon Company wants nothing to do with it, I'll try to save it. (And if that fails, I'll be pretty damn sure to avenge it.)

 

[KalosianPorygon]

Wait... Minior is unpopular? I love this space rock thing, it's a cute rock candy with the best Shiny in the series! It's one of my favorite Rock-type Pokémon alongside Cradily and the Glimmet line!

 

[Samtendo09]

Wait... Minior is unpopular? I love this space rock thing, it's a cute rock candy with the best Shiny in the series! It's one of my favorite Rock-typ Pokémon alongside Cradily and the Glimmet line!

I’d think it did generated hype back in SM pre-release materials and... Let’s say it didn’t quite live up to the hype due to a combination of rarity, difficulty of finding one and the Meteor forme causing more harm than good for it.

Still, I love the Pokémon for it’s concept and adorable Core design.

 

[MiniorHasFallen]

I’d think it did generated hype back in SM pre-release materials and... Let’s say it didn’t quite live up to the hype due to a combination of rarity, difficulty of finding one and the Meteor forme causing more harm than good for it.

Still, I love the Pokémon for it’s concept and adorable Core design.

I never knew that Minior was hyped. The moment I joined the fanbase, Gen VII was ending and Dexit was going to follow.

 

[Karxrida]

I had an opportunity to talk with some of my college friends about this topic, specifically in regards to unpopular starter Pokémon (yes, they do exist), and as a longtime Totodile fan, even I have to admit… Chikorita’s not that bad, guys. This Pokémon consistently gets a bad rap among newer fans and veterans quick to dismiss its pure Grass typing, rather plain looking design, and its lack of offensive firepower. But that’s just it. Chikorita’s simplicity in design and gameplay execution are probably my favorite things about it. One of my friends who’s much less involved with these older generations than myself said Chikorita was one of the worst Pokémon of all time, although I couldn’t quite tell what context he was talking about. Its design seems perfectly fine to me, and I also don’t hate its Shiny unlike what they did to Cyndaquil’s.

I mean, let’s take a look at this little guy a bit closer. Let’s get the immediate concern out of the way first- it’s a Grass-Type in a region where Grass-Types supposedly perform terrible in. But do they really? The list of available Grass-Types in the Johto games is a bit larger than one might expect at first glance, and what they lack in “important type matchups”, they make up for in offering impressive utility and surprisingly solid stats. Prior to its evolution into Meganium, I would even go as far as to say that I think Bayleef is the best middle stage of the three starters. Its damage generally outdoes Croconaw because of its inability to use physical STAB for most of the main story, and it’s also less explosive but generally more consistent than Quilava in both the originals and especially the remakes where Quilava players have to over-rely on Fire Blast’s accuracy and PP issues. Leech Seed in particular is a great tool for any Grass-Type, and the bulky Chikorita line especially makes great use of it in matchups where, even if you can’t break through your opponent, your opponent might also struggle to break through you, too.

tbh I've never gotten the impression that the Chikorita was outright unpopular, especially since it was a prominent presence in the anime. People just acknowledge that it's bad. It's like saying people hate Snivy when they clearly don't.

Also I'd like to know how you're easily getting Leech Seed on Chikorita in Johto when it's an egg move. Just grind your Cyndaquil/Totodile at that point for better results.

 

[bdt2002]

tbh I've never gotten the impression that the Chikorita was outright unpopular, especially since it was a prominent presence in the anime. People just acknowledge that it's bad. It's like saying people hate Snivy when they clearly don't.

Also I'd like to know how you're easily getting Leech Seed on Chikorita in Johto when it's an egg move. Just grind your Cyndaquil/Totodile at that point for better results.

That's on me; my point about Leech Seed being helpful still applies, but similar to the time I thought this thing learned Sleep Powder I could have sworn it actually did have Leech Seed as a level-up move at some point.

 

[Hugin]

The thing about Chikorita is that it's got a bunch of different issues, rather than just one. It's a defensive mon, when offensive ones generally do better in-game. People also usually specifically want their starter to be an offensive powerhouse, since it's the only mon you'll have early game, and Chikorita isn't. Chikorita has good defensive stats, but as a pure-Grass, those defenses only go so far vs SE moves. Now, lots of Grass-types are slow and defensive, but they usually can leverage recovery+damage moves(Leech Seed) or status conditions(Sleep Powder, Spore, Stun Spore) to stall. Chikorita gets Poison Powder and Razor Leaf as basically it's only traditional Grass abilities until very late-game(lvl 50, Erika). Instead you're expected to use dual screens to survive the oppt's hits, which is rarely worth it in-game. And that's before we get into the matchups. The Johto gyms are particularly unkind to grass(special shout-out to Morty), but there's also the evil teams who tend to run Houndoom+Poison types, the Champion's pure-flying team, and a lot of damn Magnemite.

I think a lot of the issues with Chikorita can be seen in how grass starters have been built since then. They've all had at least one good offensive stat, a strong STAB, most have gotten much better coverage...for all we joke, GF does occasionally learn from their mistakes. I think it's actually noteworthy that we haven't really had a Bulbasaur, meaning a Grass-type Starter that can spam Status and recover damage to outlast the oppt, since Gen 1.

 

[Band]

Iron Bundle is one of the coolest (heh) paradox forms and you can't change my mind. I love the metalic finish, especially on the shiny form. It bums me out to see only the past paradoxes get praised when I feel like some of the future forms are genuinely incredible designs too! That goes for Iron Thorns, Iron Moth, Iron Valiant (though this one is popular) and Iron Crown too. Iron Jugulis is bad though...

theyrecool

 

[MiniorHasFallen]

Iron Bundle is one of the coolest (heh) paradox forms and you can't change my mind. I love the metalic finish, especially on the shiny form. It bums me out to see only the past paradoxes get praised when I feel like some of the future forms are genuinely incredible designs too! That goes for Iron Thorns, Iron Moth, Iron Valiant (though this one is popular) and Iron Crown too. Iron Jugulis is bad though...

View attachment 573472View attachment 573473

theyrecool

View attachment 573476View attachment 573478View attachment 573477

Iron Bundle is my brother's favorite Pokemon, but he also likes Iron Jugulis. Meanwhile, Iron Moth is one of my favorite Paradoxes in terms of design. While Flutter Mane is my favorite Ancient Paradox, I prefer Future Paradoxes.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Iron Bundle is my brother's favorite Pokemon, but he also likes Iron Jugulis. Meanwhile, Iron Moth is one of my favorite Paradoxes in terms of design. While Flutter Mane is my favorite Ancient Paradox, I prefer Future Paradoxes.

That's certainly an unpopular (Pokemon) opinion. I feel Iron Jugulis would be much more like if all the head and the "wings" weren't attached to the body, give it a bit more of a unique appearance. Well, actually, what would have made it REALLY popular if they went back to their tank design idea, but when it came to the Future Paradox Pokemon it felt like they were stuck between wanting to do something interesting but at the same time restricting themselves to the original Pokemon's body design. The Ancient Paradox Pokemon were allowed to be exaggerations of their base designs, all the Future Paradox Pokemon also needed to be allowed to do a bit of exaggeration (or go completely robot). Iron Bundle, Iron Moth and Iron Valiant is a good example, both aren't just robots but they do have exaggerations which adds on their base design. On the flip side, Iron Treads, Iron Thorns, Iron Leaves, and Iron Crown look like they're robots built into the shape of their Pokemon and not the Pokemon given a metallic finish.

Obviously the two I left out, Iron Jugulis and Iron Hands, I felt would have worked better with more exaggeration. They tried, Jugulis has the floating side heads and Hands has the big floating hands, but if the artists weren't also restraining themselves to keep the Hydreigon and Hariyama silhouette I feel they could have come up with at least more memorable designs. I already explained my thoughts for Jugulus above, though for Hands I think they should have just gotten rid of the feet entirely and make it a nearly immobile base with two giant floating hands that freely floated around it (dare I suggest maybe even having a third or fourth hand for good measure); sort of think Probopass.

Paradox mons are a mix bag for me, if forced I prefer the design aesthetic of the Ancient Paradox but my favorite Paradox is Iron Valiant.

 

[pika pal]

I think the big thing the Future Paradoxes struggle with is that a lot of their distinct traits don't come through unless you watch them in motion for a while. The Past Paradoxes a lot of the difference is in their body shape and traits you see in art alone, while Iron Bundle at a glance is mostly Delibird with a Robo-skin; HOWEVER, Iron Bundle in motion shows things like the cannon it lugs around and its 360 degree separate-able head.

The Future Paradoxes are not very elaborate profiles but as designs there's a lot more work put into them when they move. The issue there is still images are more easily spread and that's on top of the games themselves not doing much to emphasize the animation.

 

[Kaltau]

Fine, I’ll do it. I’ll finally do the Hoppip run I’ve always wanted to do. Jumpluff to the moon, here I come!

 

[Cancel cult]

zubat was my favorite pokemon for a long time. i will spare you the details, but my first real exposure to pokemon was through the cards, and the first pokemon card i got was zubat.