EachPokemongeneration has its stinkers,that’s for sure. For every Groudon, there’s a Slakoth; that’s just the way it is. And honestly, it makes the world more varied and enjoyable.
But which generation truly has the weakest Pokémon? It would be rather easy to answer this question simply by looking at base stat totals and calling it a day, right? But no, that’s lazy. And in addition, by that metric, Shedinja would be shockingly bad… but anynuzlockerknows that’s not the case at all.
No, many low-base stat Pokémon simply haven’t evolved yet, so calling them the worst ignorestheir potential for future greatness. Azurill may be pathetic, but Azumarill is anabsolute powerhouse!Instead, I want to focus on the Pokémon that don’t have that kind of potential. They were released and left behind to fade into obscurity, never to be competitively viable.
The strongest of the weak will appear first, with the most useless as number one.
Generation 6 - Pokémon X & Y
Pokemon X and Y
You know what’s sad? I actually love Avalugg, and as a concept, it’s absolutely fantastic. This massive, immovable glacier that you can’t knock down. An unstoppable force of nature.
And yet,it fails at everything that Game Freak wanted it to be. You see, Avalugg is meant to be a wall, with monstrous defensive stats. The thing is, ice typing is one of the worst defensive types out there.
It has 4 weaknesses: fighting, rock, fire and steel, which are some of the most common offensive typings and coverage options out there. And what’s more, it has horrible special defense, meaning that it’s going to be toppled by anything with adecent special attack stat.
While it has a pretty great attack stat, chances are, the only way you’re going to be able to get off an attack is through its ability, Sturdy. Whack on Filter or Solid Rock onto this Pokémon, and you might be getting somewhere, but as it is, it’s cheap death fodder.
8Squawkabilly
Generation 9 - Pokémon Scarlet & Violet
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
While Squawkabilly isn’t as egregious as a Pokémon that appears late on in this list, it’s pretty close. In reality, it suffers from a lot of problems: a shallow move pool, fairly bland typing and a lack of evolution. While this little birdy is certainly physically capable, it’s going down to any strong attack that comes its way.Those defenses are shocking.
The only upside Squawkabilly has is a great set of abilities. Intimidate and Sheer Force are no joke, but this Pokémon just doesn’t have the bulk to make them shine. In a region with great flying types like Kilowattrel and Flamigo, it’s hard to justify fitting Squawkabilly on the dream team. And let me add,this guy needs a serious haircut.
Generation 8 - Pokémon Sword & Shield
Pokemon Sword and Shield
Oof, a Pokémon with Run Away as one of its abilities?We’re already off to a bad start.Thievul is one of those Pokémon that you may want to train for the first gym or so, but then immediately abandonwhen you find a stronger dark type, with a more interesting personality.
Funnily enough, the stats aren’t too bad here. Decent special attack and defense, with a healthy amount of speed too. And yet when you look at its level-up moves, your jaw might just drop. All dark Physical moves…on a special attacker? Just what were they thinking?
In fact, Thievul just really suffers from poor move diversity in a region with hard hitters like Grimmsnarl and Obstagoon.Even Morpeko has more visual and type identity! And what’s more, it loses all its charm from its first evolution. When you can’t even win in the looks department, you know it’s all downhill from here.
Generation 4 - Pokémon Diamond & Pearl
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
Ah, the generic regional mono-water fish Pokémon, destined to be forgotten with the others like Luvdisc and Seaking.
Lumineon is a frustrating thing indeed, as in the case of a defensive Pokémon, Water is actually a great defensive typing. You only have to look at something like Milotic to see how that works. But Lumineon doesn’t have the bulk to back it up, or the attacking stats for that matter. In fact, all of its stats are pretty mediocre, with abilities that don’t complement it either.
The problem is, especially in own home region,it gets overshadowed by pretty much every water type.Vaporeon has better HP, Empoleon has better typing, Floatzel is quicker, and Gastrodon has more utility. Lumineon doesn’t shine in any department, desperately trying to find an identity for itself and failing miserably.
Generation 5 - Pokémon Black & White
Pokemon Black and White
Unova has some serious powerhouses, right from the get-go.Watchog, however, is not one of them.
It’s the staple Team Plasma fodder that you knock over and forget almost instantly, rarely finding a place on your team. The thing is, where Stoutland exists right next to it, why on earth would anyone choose Watchog instead? Its abilities are downright atrocious, and its stats are pretty horrible to boot.
That isn’t to say that all the Route 1 rats are bad. I mean, you can compare this to Raticate and see that even there, it fails to shine. Raticate has better abilities, better stat allocation and a stronger move pool. What’s more, I really despise Watchog visually. It’s just an ugly Pokémon that could certainly do withanother evolution or extra typingto make it shine.
4Farfetch’d
Generation 1 - Pokémon Red & Blue
Pokemon Red and Blue
Another Normal/Flying type regional bird?Is this Déjà vu?I feel like we’ve already been down this road before, right?
Many of the Pokémon in Generation 1 have been given some sizable buffs throughout the franchise’s lifespan. Gigantamax forms,Mega evolutions, and even specialised Z moves. And yet poor Farfetch’d was so unsalvageable, they had to create acompletely new regional formand reinvent it from scratch.
The original Farfetch’d is in an impossible situation, especially in Generation 1. Not only does it have absolutely awful stats, only improved slightly in Gen 7, but it has the typical Normal/Flying type combo that pretty much all the Gen 1 birds have.And it loses to all of them.Let me tell you, no one is picking Farfetch’d over Pidgeot or Dodrio.
It is saved slightly by its Stick held item, improving critical hits, but it’s nowhere near enough to make Farfetch’d viable. If only Madame, the Gen 2 beta Pokémon, had come to be. Perhaps our little duck wouldn’t be in this dire situation.
3Pyukumuku
Generation 7 - Pokémon Sun & Moon
Pokemon Sun and Moon
Wobbufett, is that you? Oh no, it’s just a sad little sea sponge.And I mention Wobbufett for good reason.This Pokémon emulates Wobbufet’s strategy, but in the worst possible way.
You see, Pyukumuku can’t actually use attacking moves, instead relying on things like Counter, Mirror Coat and Pain Split to punish unwary opponents. But the reason that it works for Wobbuffet is that it has a really high HP pool and low defenses, so you can maximize the reflect damage dealt.
Pyukumuku is the opposite. High defenses, low HP, so you don’t reflect much damage at all. In addition, Innards Out isn’t as good at trapping as Shadow Tag,and it doesn’t get Destiny Bond, which is part of why Wobbufett is so scary.
You can try and use this little fella as a toxic staller, but there are just so many better options. Feel free to chuck this one back into the sea.
Generation 3 - Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire
Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire
There were quite a few dudds in Gen 3, but for me,none more so than Delcatty.It’s funny, because in the originalPokemon Ruby and Sapphire, Skitty is a ridiculously rare Pokémon. You’d think you’d be rewarded for searching high and low. But no.
The problem is, Delcatty doesn’t do anything well. It has poor attacking stats and poor defense, while really needing something like the fairy type to make it,at the very least, functional. It has a massive move pool, TM-wise, but without the stats to back it up, even hard-hitting moves will flop like a wet noodle.
Even a powerful ability like normalize, which, oddly enough, is the signature ability of Skitty and Delcatty, isn’t enough to push it past mediocre. While I love the theme and the design, this Pokémon is a trophy and nothing more.
If you actually want Delcatty to be usable, give it a whirl in Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky. At least it can shine in the spin-offs!
Generation 2 - Pokémon Gold & Silver
Pokemon Gold and Silver
When I was young, one of my favorite movies was the third Pokémon movie. You know the one with the Entei and the incredibly powerful Unowns, changing the very nature of the earth itself? The Unowns together seemed like a truly unstoppable entity, alegendaryforce capable of taking on the very gods themselves,
You can imagine my dismay when I solved the puzzles in the Ruins of Alph and got my hands on one of these energetic Alphabeti Spaghetti-like critters and realised just howunlegendaryit really was.
Unown is unusable,a gimmick Pokémon in the worst possible sense.While I thought Ledian or Delibird could fit here, at least they can learn different types of moves. Unown just knows Hidden Power. That’s it! I mean, I can appreciate the idea, and it’s fun trying to collect all 28 of them, but they should at least be usable in battle.
When you add the terrible stats, on top of the fact that you need to manually test out in-game which type Hidden Power is, you just have all the ingredients for the weakest Pokémon ever made.
