September 9, 2020

The Forgotten Pokémon Favourites : Part 1

Contents

One of the best things about the Pokémon community is that without doubt, we all have such a huge and varied favourite Pokémon.

I’d bet that every single Pokémon has someone out there who would describe it as their favourite. You might find Mr. Mime a little unsettling, but I know someone who loves it and collects them! Think Sudowoodo is a daft Pokémon with no real use? Well, Pokémon GO YouTuber Mystic7 is obsessed with it. There is a Pokémon out there for everyone, and in this new series we share our own favourite, but often forgotten Pokémon.

Whirlipede

Some Pokémon you love because they are cute, others because they are super useful, or because they were Pokémon you caught when you first played a Pokémon game.

Why do I love Whirlipede? Honestly, I’m not entirely sure! I think Venipede and Scolipede are pretty cute too, but I absolutely love Whirlipede. I have a soft spot for Bug types, and I think Whirlipede is a really different design compared to a lot of the second stage evolutions of other bug types.

I know it isn’t meta relevant or useful, but it just has something about it that I think is so fun and different, it’s kind of a spooky bug with its one eye peeking out and I love it. Also, it has a fantastic shiny in my opinion, and I’ll be so hyped for when it is eventually released!

Sewaddle & Leavanny

Sewaddle

Leavanny

Grass types are often neglected because sadly there aren’t many that are really meta relevant.

With a design as cute as Sewaddle, how can you not love it? These Grass and Bug dual types have such great designs, though I don’t have the same affection for Swadloon, sorry little guy! Quite simply, Sewaddle is just darn adorable and that is the whole reason I love it, but for Leavanny, I think its design is so great, and as someone who loves AR photography, it can look so realistic in the real world because of this.

Some Pokémon can look a little jarring in nature without editing, but Leavanny just blends right in, and looks so real, I wish! I didn’t play any of the OG games after Gen II, so I’m learning these newer generations as we get them in GO and as they appear in Sword & Shield, and these 2 have firmly taken a spot in my heart as faves.

Joltik

I know, I know, another Bug type, I don’t know what it is about these bugs, but I love seeing these potentially creepy little critters be so cute.

I think the combination of typings works so well with Joltik, I can just see it’s Electric type animations as lightening spiderwebs, so cool. Joltik is also actually ridiculously small which is another thing I like about it.

A lot of the ‘small’ Pokémon aren’t actually that small, but Joltik measures at only 0.1m making it one of the teeniest creatures in all generations, my heart! Its tiny size only adds to its cuteness, so many of the Pokémon you’d expect to be small are surprisingly big so that Joltik is actually tiny is the best.

Drifblim

Drifloon has one of the creepiest Pokédex entries ever, and if Drifloon is created formed by the spirits of people and Pokémon and stuffed full of souls, then Drifblim must be even creepier!

The way Drifblim moves and its attack animations in GO are just slightly unsettling which is so clever, and seeing a kid’s party balloon eventually evolve into a hot air balloon that can carry away even more souls is great design IMO. My inner spooky kid loves the creepy stuff!

Turtwig

My all-time favourite starter is in my opinion, a truly unappreciated and forgotten fave, Turtwig.

I think Turtwig’s whole evolution line is fantastic, I love using Grotle in Great League, and Torterra in Ultra League and the Grass Ground combo for Torterra is such a perfect combination. Turtwig is definitely a cutie, and I have a soft spot for any Pokémon based on turtles and tortoises.

The evolution line makes sense, starting out with a twig, spreading into the bulkier Grotle with a small woodland area on it’s back, into the mighty Torterra with its large tree, that always makes me think of Discworld. These Pokémon just make sense, they come from the Earth and they care for other Pokémon, often letting small Pokémon make homes on their backs, just beautiful.

The Pokémon I’m Hyped For That Aren’t Released Yet in GO

There are several faves that haven’t been released yet in-game that I am super hyped for, and I hope we start to see soon.

Volcarona

With Gen V having a super slow rollout, who knows when we will finally see Volcarona in-game? I feel like I’ve been waiting forever!

Its release will see it take the spot of Bug type attacker and I honestly can’t wait. It has a beautiful design, fluffy like a moth, and badass in battle too. With Halloween coming we could potentially see a few of the missing Gen V Pokémon released, but Volcarona wouldn’t quite fit that Halloween theme. I suspect it’ll be 2021 before this beauty is in-game sadly.

The other Pokémon I’m eagerly awaiting won’t be seen for a long time because they are from Gen 6 and even later, but it gives me something to look forward to in the long run! They aren’t necessarily meta relevant, but for me, design takes priority in my faves, and I think these families and Pokémon all look fantastic, and I’ll be excited to see their eventual in-game sprites.