Pokemon that disappointed you in-game despite looking good initially?

[R_N]

I definitely remember wanting to use Tangela in Platinum, then looking up the move pool the nlooking up the TM list and going "oh..."
if it's available in the main game of BDSP it'll probably be better just from years of movepool adjustments and ...well i was going to say infinite us TMs but all the good ones were put into TRs.

 

[Magnus0]

What? Tangrowth in platinum really isn't that bad. It has obviously has great stats, and while grass isn't the best type, it definitely has its moments, especially in gen 4. I might not have a great level-up movepool, with sleep powder and ancientpower being the only 'good' moves it gets, but its TM movepool is amazing. Tangrowth is an amazing user of sunnybeam thanks to access to sleep powder and chlorophyll. This essentially turns it into Jumpluff, a very fast and obnoxious sleeper, but with an actual offensive presence. You can also get giga drain not long after catching it for a more traditional tank set. Tangrowth's coverage movepool is also amazing, having access to moves like earthquake, rock slide, brick break, shock wave, aerial ace and swords dance.

Its matchups aren't that bad either. It's immediately really useful against Wake thanks to sunnybeam. Byron and Volkner are pretty good matchups, because Tangrowth doesn't take much damage from them. A Tangrowth with earthquake would really shine in these fights. Even Flint can be good if you give Tangrowth earthquake, since you can abuse his own sun. Bertha obviously is an amazing matchup with sunnybeam. Sure, it has questionable matchups too, like Candice and Cyrus, but it has enough options to almost always do at least something useful.

 

[Wukong]

What? Tangrowth in platinum really isn't that bad. It has obviously has great stats, and while grass isn't the best type, it definitely has its moments, especially in gen 4. I might not have a great level-up movepool, with sleep powder and ancientpower being the only 'good' moves it gets, but its TM movepool is amazing. Tangrowth is an amazing user of sunnybeam thanks to access to sleep powder and chlorophyll. This essentially turns it into Jumpluff, a very fast and obnoxious sleeper, but with an actual offensive presence. You can also get giga drain not long after catching it for a more traditional tank set. Tangrowth's coverage movepool is also amazing, having access to moves like earthquake, rock slide, brick break, shock wave, aerial ace and swords dance.

Its matchups aren't that bad either. It's immediately really useful against Wake thanks to sunnybeam. Byron and Volkner are pretty good matchups, because Tangrowth doesn't take much damage from them. A Tangrowth with earthquake would really shine in these fights. Even Flint can be good if you give Tangrowth earthquake, since you can abuse his own sun. Bertha obviously is an amazing matchup with sunnybeam. Sure, it has questionable matchups too, like Candice and Cyrus, but it has enough options to almost always do at least something useful.

I never said Tangrowth was bad, it's just disappointing. It's hard for a Pokémon with those stats to be outright bad, but it has a higher BST than Infernape and I just expected it to perform better. Earthquake, Rock Slide and Brick Break are pretty hotly contested TMs, Swords Dance is only useful with the aforementioned moves since Tangrowth's physical move pool doesn't have much else, and the other two moves are low BP.

I ran a SolarBeam/Giga Drain/Sunny Day/Ancient Power set, replacing the last move with Sludge Bomb after Cyrus. I think in the second half of Platinum, Cyrus and especially Cynthia are the biggest challenges, and Tangrowth doesn't perform well against either. Even the matchup you think it should win (Cynthia's Milotic) it loses due to getting out sped and hit by Ice Beam on its low Special Defense. If you choose Infernape it doesn't match up well against Barry either, losing four matchups and going neutral against two.

It doesn't do well during the longer treks of the game, particularly Mt. Coronet to Snowpoint City and Coronet to Spear Pillar. Again its stats are good enough to do something, but I just expected more.

 

[aegon the unlikely]

Lombre in ORAS, dude got OHKOed by a Psychic from Tate and Liza's Lunatone. HOW? And I couldn't get a Water Stone even that late in the game, at least not in any way I knew would work reliably. It says something when Pokemon CRYSTAL is better at getting you that stone haha.

Still a good mon though.

 

[Turdterra]

Lombre in ORAS, dude got OHKOed by a Psychic from Tate and Liza's Lunatone. HOW? And I couldn't get a Water Stone even that late in the game, at least not in any way I knew would work reliably. It says something when Pokemon CRYSTAL is better at getting you that stone haha.

Still a good mon though.

You give a Blue Shard to the guy on Route 124 (he’s in house). He’ll give you a Water Stone in return. Optionally Fisherman Elliot on 106 can give you a Stone after a rematch.

 

[Bakugames]

Might be wrong, but you can get water stones on the training minigame too iirc

 

[Turdterra]

Might be wrong, but you can get water stones on the training minigame too iirc

Only in the Super Secret iirc. But you get get all the evo stoned the moment you unlock the Training, just gotta pray for good RNG to hand you the one you need

 

[aegon the unlikely]

You give a Blue Shard to the guy on Route 124 (he’s in house). He’ll give you a Water Stone in return. Optionally Fisherman Elliot on 106 can give you a Stone after a rematch.

Oh yeah, I knew all that, but I didn't have a Blue Shard (didn't have Dive yet) and although I fought Fisherman Elliot, I didn't get the stone (not sure if I rematched him though). At least GSC has the DST modification thing going on to trigger phone calls for the stones.

 

[Wukong]

A few years ago, I decided to play through Pokemon Emerald with the one starter I hadn't used: Treecko. I remember trying Emerald as a kid and getting stuck with it pretty early but I didn't remember how or why.

It didn't take long for me to remember. The Treecko line's strongest move by level up until level 29 is PURSUIT. With HMs it's Cut and with TMs its a 5 hit Bullet Seed. So its power output until mid game is pretty miserable, and it's only accentuated by its poor defensive type and generally middling matchup vs most major fights before the point where it usually evolves.

Now granted, when it finally gets Leaf Blade and becomes Sceptile, it is pretty strong, but it evolves around the time you fight Winona and while it is damn strong for the stretch from Tate and Liza until endgame and gets access to solid moves by then, it comes online too late for me to really like it, especially when compared to its more consistent counterparts.

Not bad, just pretty underwhelming

I just finished an Emerald playthrough with Sceptile and I'll go as far as to say it's the most disappointing Pokémon I've ever used in a game. Seriously. I always liked Sceptile for its design, I think it has the second best starter design after Infernape. But looks aren't everything.

The biggest problem with Sceptile is clearly the Grovyle stage. Many people point out Wattson which is definitely a tough matchup. But the problems start earlier. Brawly is actually an awful matchup. Emerald Brawly is surprisingly tough for a second Gym leader with Machop and Makuhita hitting relatively hard, targeting Groyvle's low Defense, and Meditite supporting well with screens. I was only using Grovyle at the time since the rest of the Pokémon I wanted on my team were only available after the third gym. So by this point Grovyle was around level 23 with a pretty horrible move set of Bullet Seed/Absorb/Cut/Pursuit. I unfortunately had to cheese this fight using healing items which made me feel terrible. Comparatively, Combusken and Marshtomp handled this fight alone with few problems in my playthroughs with them.

Some people might point out that Brawly is an optional fight for that point of the game, which I'm aware of. However, if I skipped that battle my Grovyle would not have reached level 29 and learned Leaf Blade in time for the route 110 rival fight. Unless I grinded, which I hate as much as using healing items in battle.

The route 110 rival battle without, and even with, Leaf Blade is a horrific matchup. Not a single matchup is free. Lombre is neutral on paper but can screw you with Nature Power Stun Spore. Wingull hits hard with Wing Attack against Grovyle's low Defense. And Combusken is a train wreck of a matchup. In comparison, choosing Combusken or Marshtomp ensures one free matchup on the rival's team, one neutral, and only one disadvantageous one. In this notoriously difficult fight, Grovyle has the worst matchup spread of the three by far.

Sceptile obviously has a strong late game in Emerald due to the plethora of Water types. But that does not make up for its extremely poor early-mid game. Arguably the worst in game starter performance I've experienced, aside from maybe Meganium and Serperior in their respective games. But comparing to Blaziken's A tier and Swampert's one of the best ever S tier performances, Sceptile's C tier performance in Emerald is a huge letdown. Much more so than another pure Grass type Tangrowth I posted about earlier, because I expected so much more from Sceptile.

 

[Chadlad50]

Mawile is a Pokemon that I really like and I really wanted to use it before noticing it's God awful stats. It's Mega Evolution is baller but I'm pretty sure you dont get Mawilite in Pokemon X until post game which stinks.

I also picked Treecko in Alpha Sapphire since I vastly prefer Sceptile to Swampert or Blaziken, hopefully he doesn't let me down. I hate how all the cool Pokemon are stuck with mediocre stats or movepools.

 

[Pikachu315111]

I also picked Treecko in Alpha Sapphire since I vastly prefer Sceptile to Swampert or Blaziken, hopefully he doesn't let me down.

It served me well in my playthrough:

Pro-tip: DO NOT EVOLVE TREECKO UNTIL IT LEARNS GIGA DRAIN (at Level 21). It ONLY learns Giga Drain as a Treecko for some stupid reason.

 

[Chadlad50]

It served me well in my playthrough:

Pro-tip: DO NOT EVOLVE TREECKO UNTIL IT LEARNS GIGA DRAIN (at Level 21). It ONLY learns Giga Drain as a Treecko for some stupid reason.

Kinda like how Shroomish doesn't learn Spore until level 40, 17 levels after it's supposed to evolve. Why does Gamefreak do this

 

[Hugin]

Kinda like how Shroomish doesn't learn Spore until level 40, 17 levels after it's supposed to evolve. Why does Gamefreak do this

Spore Shroomish is probably intended as a reward for competitive players who bought the guide rather than anything in-game. I'm disappointed it's not in SwSh, I'd be interested to see if Spore is on Breloom's Relearner moveset.

Totem Gumshoos in my gift-only run of Ultra Sun is proving problematic. There's basically no good STAB for it until Maile City, which is 3rd island and well past the point I should have boxed an early-route normal. I can see potential cheese with it and various options late-game(U-turn, Yawn, etc), and it's undoubtedly better if you use Z-moves so that Last Resort works, but it mostly stole me a Thick Club and has otherwise died.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

Kinda like how Shroomish doesn't learn Spore until level 40, 17 levels after it's supposed to evolve. Why does Gamefreak do this

Amoonguss learning Spore at level 62 in BW1 says hi. And this is speaking as someone who has actually gotten Spore Shroomish for in-game purposes. Don’t do it.

 

[Chadlad50]

Luckily I hate Amoonguss so I don't think I'll be using it in a playthrough anytime soon

 

[MrFish777]

For me, probably Noibat from one of my Ultra Sun playthroughs.

I am a big fan of Noivern, and I needed a flying type with a decent special attack stat, and noibat was avaliable quite early in the game, so I didn’t think twice and stuck it on my team.

Turns out contrary to my thoughts even with Proper IVs, EVs (due to pokepelago) and nature, it got killed by almost every enemy pokemon, and didn’t have that high of offenses to strike back. So I carried an unreliable stone for the rest of the game until it evolved, and even then it struggled to have a spot on my team.

 

[Pikachu315111]

For me, probably Noibat from one of my Ultra Sun playthroughs.

I am a big fan of Noivern, and I needed a flying type with a decent special attack stat, and noibat was avaliable quite early in the game, so I didn’t think twice and stuck it on my team.

Turns out contrary to my thoughts even with Proper IVs, EVs (due to pokepelago) and nature, it got killed by almost every enemy pokemon, and didn’t have that high of offenses to strike back. So I carried an unreliable stone for the rest of the game until it evolved, and even then it struggled to have a spot on my team.

Not to mention Noibat takes a LONG time to evolve, Level 48! And note you either catch a Noibat in Verdant Cavern at Level 8/11 or you trade for it with a Lillipup on Route 5 (which you can catch on that Route... at Level 13/16). So eitherway you have 30+ levels to get through before evolving into "average" territory.

 

[Siggu]

For me, probably Noibat from one of my Ultra Sun playthroughs.

I am a big fan of Noivern, and I needed a flying type with a decent special attack stat, and noibat was avaliable quite early in the game, so I didn’t think twice and stuck it on my team.

Turns out contrary to my thoughts even with Proper IVs, EVs (due to pokepelago) and nature, it got killed by almost every enemy pokemon, and didn’t have that high of offenses to strike back. So I carried an unreliable stone for the rest of the game until it evolved, and even then it struggled to have a spot on my team.

Basically the same experience I had with Rufflet. Even as 'early' as Malie City, it was getting OHKOed by neutral attacks (e.g. Guzma's Masquerain's Air Slash; heck, I almost lost that battle because I insisted on having Rufflet KO something) and needed Z-Moves to do anything resembling damage. But I wanted to use Braviary, so I endured.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Basically the same experience I had with Rufflet. Even as 'early' as Malie City, it was getting OHKOed by neutral attacks (e.g. Guzma's Masquerain's Air Slash) and needed Z-Moves to do anything resembling damage. But I wanted to use Braviary, so I endured.

Yeah, I lucked out in my White 2 and caught the special Braviary on Route 4. Braviary was a pretty good Pokemon, of course I'm saying this having caught it at Level 25 so at that time was probably one of my strongest Pokemon being a fully evolved normally late-evolver. Don't remember if I took with me to the League or eventually all my other Pokemon caught up and possibly surpassed it I looked for another Pokemon (I don't think so, it would have likely been my Flyer and I like keeping those on my team).

 

[Chadlad50]

Turns out contrary to my thoughts even with Proper IVs, EVs (due to pokepelago) and nature, it got killed by almost every enemy pokemon, and didn’t have that high of offenses to strike back. So I carried an unreliable stone for the rest of the game until it evolved, and even then it struggled to have a spot on my team.

I was also gonna use Noibat but I ended up just going for the 1% Bagon on route 3(? Can't remember) and ended up getting it, glad I did that cause he was a beast through and through

 

[DrumstickGaming]

MAN PERSIAN SUCKS LET’S TALK ABOUT IT

like, even in Gen 1 this is garbage. What’s the first thing you think of when you think Persian? That’s right, Gen 1 Slash, which, oh yeah, it doesn’t get until like LEVEL 51-

And then later gens did basically nothing but make it a poor man’s Ambipom. It has the Speed but literally no offenses to make use of it.

Persian is so awful Game Freak has experimented with it twice. Once for Alolan Persian (which is actually kinda cool with Fur Coat + Parting Shot) and then with that…Perrserker thing that has an actual movepool, just without the Speed.

Later games did interesting things for Kanto stuff like Hypno getting Nasty Plot or Arbok getting Coil. But neither had to literally reinvent the wheel because they sucked so bad. Poor Persian!

 

[Plague von Karma]

Being a Poison-type is like being dropped on your head at birth in RBY, so let's riff on Weezing.

I don't know why Weezing was made when it literally breathed to be outclassed by Muk in RBY. It feels like it came a generation too early; I can see it being a Steel-type if it was made in Gen 2. However, even there Magneton rightfully shoved it to the wall to take that privilege and say "it's just a prank bro".

"So what's with the Muk thing, PvK?!", I hear you scream from the rooftops. Well, it's true. The only real moves Weezing has over Muk are Haze and Smokescreen, while Muk gets Acid Armor (!), Mega Drain, and Body Slam, as well as a few other nifty tricks like Minimize. Weezing is meant to be a bulkier version, but when Muk gets the best Defense-boosting move in the game...well, you get the idea. Couple that in with the fact you get both in the same place - Grimer sooner in Yellow - and you have a recipe for "why the fuck would you use it then?". So you have two Pokemon with the best Poison STAB in Sludge, and one may as well not exist. That's pretty fucking dire.

It's nice that they became more distinguished in later generations, though. Weezing really needed Levitate and the Haze buffs to truly come into its own come ADV. It's come super far since then, too!

 

[The Mind Electric]

Being a Poison-type is like being dropped on your head at birth in RBY, so let's riff on Weezing.

I don't know why Weezing was made when it literally breathed to be outclassed by Muk in RBY. It feels like it came a generation too early; I can see it being a Steel-type if it was made in Gen 2. However, even there Magneton rightfully shoved it to the wall to take that privilege and say "it's just a prank bro".

"So what's with the Muk thing, PvK?!", I hear you scream from the rooftops. Well, it's true. The only real moves Weezing has over Muk are Haze and Smokescreen, while Muk gets Acid Armor (!), Mega Drain, and Body Slam, as well as a few other nifty tricks like Minimize. Weezing is meant to be a bulkier version, but when Muk gets the best Defense-boosting move in the game...well, you get the idea. Couple that in with the fact you get both in the same place - Grimer sooner in Yellow - and you have a recipe for "why the fuck would you use it then?". So you have two Pokemon with the best Poison STAB in Sludge, and one may as well not exist. That's pretty fucking dire.

It's nice that they became more distinguished in later generations, though. Weezing really needed Levitate and the Haze buffs to truly come into its own come ADV. It's come super far since then, too!

I was about to say "at least Weezing can be used as a bomb" but I checked and Muk actually also gets Explosion via TM and has higher attack. Weezing literally cannot even kill itself better than Muk.

 

[Plague von Karma]

I was about to say "at least Weezing can be used as a bomb" but I checked and Muk actually also gets Explosion via TM and has higher attack. Weezing literally cannot even kill itself better than Muk.

It's really hard not to laugh at how the one thing it does over Muk is removing the opponent's status...which you really, really want to keep in this generation.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

Ironically the Poison type improved the most since RBY, at least aside from Weezing and Alolan Muk (yeah that derails the argument but shut up)…is arguably Kobra itself, Arbok!

No really. While it suffers in games where Poison Jab via TM is not a commodity (like, all of them lul), it got some okay tools. Glare, Intimidate, Coil…like I mean sure it’s just Arbok but it’s not terrible. I wouldn’t recommend this thing as a Poison because it’s natural movepool is beyond terrible but it at least has some nifty support options and Coil.