Pokemonis as popular as it’s ever been and the series is set to see its 9th generation of mainline games release in late 2022. The roster ofPokemonis nearing the 1,000 mark, and, with that, there are more than a handful of creatures that some trainers couldn’t care less about.
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If there’s one thing thePokemonanime wanted to teach viewers it’s that all Pokemon have value, and their value isn’t simply tied to how proficient they are in battle. Sometimes, investing in a Pokemon, regardless of how weak they may appear, can pay huge dividends later on for anyone willing to be patient and kind enough.
8Larvesta
On the surface, Larvesta’s Bug and Fire typings may seem like a combination that would immediately catch a trainer’s eyes, but the need to have it reach level 59 to evolve quickly dispels this interest. One might wonder why it would be worth it, and, well, there are several reasons.
The first is that Volcarona is a stellar design on its own and it sports a special attack that ranks S-Tier when compared to the rest of thePokemonroster. Also, it has the ability Flame Body, which isa must-have for anyone looking to breed Pokemon. The ability drastically reduces the steps needed to hatch eggs, making the whole operation much more efficient.
7Chespin
Pokemon X&Yare generally considered the black sheep of thePokemonseries as the sixth generation is often regarded as a low point for mainlinePokemongames. Despite these feelings the fandom has in hindsight, the Kalos region was still home to some incredible new Pokemon.
The starters are considered a weak bunch as Greninja, the Water-type, is the only one with any real popularity or notoriety. Chespin is the Grass-type starter of the Kalos region and, despite it being a Grass and Fighting-type in its final form and being the closest thing the type has had to Blastoise from the Kanto region, most people forget it even exists.
6Raichu
Here’s the funny thing about Raichu: very rarely are final forms of Pokemon evolutionary lines the ones that are given up on. Thanks to the anime that saw its main character Ash Ketchum refuse to evolve his Pikachu with a Thunder Stone, however, a generation ofPokemonkids followed along.
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Despite Raichu being more powerful and having better stats across the board, it was simply much cooler to have a leveled-up Pikachu despite these shortcomings. Even Alolan Raichu has a tough time getting used in battle as the Pikachu anti-evolution mindset remains over 20 years later.
5Farfetch’d
The reason people gave up on Farfetch’d is twofold, and each reason is separated by over two decades of reasoning. The first is that whenPokemon Red&Bluewere originally released, this Normal-type bird didn’t have an evolutionary line and had a rather weird design. Then, whenPokemon Sword&Shieldwere released, they came witha regional variant of Farfetch’dthat finally allowed the bird to evolve.
Anyone with renewed interest in Farfetch’d quickly learned how difficult it was to evolve it into a Sirfetch’d when it was revealed that trainers must land three critical hits in one single battle with it. This feat certainly isn’t impossible, but for the average player, felt like too much effort for what they felt was a suboptimal return.
4Caterpie/Weedle
This entry is focused on the two small insects most trainers came across during their early hours navigating the Kanto region. Both Caterpie and Weedle were most often used to farm experience in the Viridian Forest as trainers either prepared forthe Pewter City Gym Leader Brockor were trying to run into a rare wild Pikachu.
Either way, most people caught these things and put them in their boxes. Little did they know that Caterpie turned into a Butterfree whose sleep powder came in handy when filling out the Pokedex. Weedle, on the other hand, morphed into a frightening Beedrill who could hold its own in battle during the early to middle sections of the game.
3Feebas
In many ways Feebas functions as the poor person’s Magikarp. It also happens to evolve into a powerful final form, though it requires either for it to be traded while holding a Prism Scale, or to be leveled up to max Beauty.
In many ways, Milotic is the feminine parallel to Gyarados as it also happens to be a large sea serpent that is the final form of a rather pathetic and ugly fish. Magikarp is a bit easier to evolve and has more upside, but that doesn’t mean that Feebas isn’t worthy of investment too.
2Shelgon
Patience is a skill that not everyone has, and though Salamence was arguably the coolest-looking Pokemon inthe entirety of the third generation ofPokemongames, it wasn’t easy to acquire. Trainers had to level up a caught Bagon to level 30 simply to have it evolve into Shelgon, but that was just the beginning.
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Those same people would then need to take that armored middle form and level it twenty more times up to level 50 to land the blue and red dragon of their dreams. Sometimes people just don’t have the patience, regardless of what awaits them on the other end.
1Magikarp
The Pokemon who stands above all others as the prime example of a creature that people gave up on too soon can be found in the waters of the Kanto region.Magikarp is an orange fishthat most trainers ran into and destroyed considering this Pokemon only knows the non-damaging move Splash.
Those who either uses an Experience Share or simply committed to the switch-out method and leveled up their Magikarp to level 20 were treated with the surprise of its final form. Gyarados, a giant Water and Flying-type was the reward for anyone who just didn’t give up on poor old Magikarp.
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