Pokémon/Characters/Generation I Families

A list of Pokémon who debuted in Pokémon Red and Blue, along with their relatives.

The original generation, at 151 Pokémon, was the largest one until Generation V surpassed it. However, due to the introduction of many relatives of these Pokémon in Pokémon Gold and Silver and Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, it is technically the largest generation - a total of 181 Pokémon are originally from this generation or are an evolutionary relative, and another 2 have very close ties with Pokémon introduced here.

Some patterns now taken for granted first originated from this batch: Grass/Fire/Water starters, early game bugs, birds, and mammals, an Electric rodent, part-Rock fossils, a legendary trio, a 3-stage draconic (if not Dragon-type) family with a late evolution and very high stats, a bonus legendary with stats beyond anything in the game, and a secret Pokémon not obtainable via normal ways with high stats.

For other generations, go here.

Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur (Fushigidane, Fushigisou, and Fushigibana)


Bulbasaur is a green-blue, toad-like creature which has a bulb planted on its back. Its evolution into Ivysaur at level 16, and then Venusaur at level 32, pretty much consists of bodily growth alongside the bulb flowering and eventually turning into a large plant. This family of Pokémon is the first in many aspects: the first Pokémon in National Dex order, the first Grass-type, the first Poison-type (and the first Dual-typed for each type) and the first Pokémon of roughly one-third of the first Pokémon players.

As one of the three starters, Bulbasaur is fairly well-rounded and can be used offensively with little trouble - later in the game, their evoultionary line sees use in more utility-based roles, as its offensive stats (and thus options) are somewhat limited. Still, as a Starter Pokémon, it is quite well-rounded and can be used offensively without much problem.


 * Acrofatic: The Chlorophyll ability doubles speed, boosting the normally-slow and tubby Venusaur to lightning-quick levels when battling under sunlight.
 * Badass: Venusaur is one of the few outright manly Grass-types, and by far the most useful of the Kanto starters in competitive play.
 * Cartoon Creature: Are they toads? Lizards? Dinosaurs? The mammal-like reptiles of the Permian period are a popular guess as well. Bulbasaur's Japanese name translates literally as "isn't it strange?" (fushigi, da ne?), meaning that the ambiguity was probably intended.
 * Character Select Forcing: Bulbasaur almost makes Red and Blue ridiculously easy thanks to its favorable match-ups against a large number of Gyms. In order, it is: super-effective against Brock and Misty, resistant to Surge and Erika, and then super-effective against the last gym leader, with only Sabrina and Blaine standing much of a chance against it. By the time you're in Saffron or Cinnabar, though, you'll have plenty of options for both gyms and/or a team so ridiculously high-leveled that disadvantages wouldn't matter.
 * Dinosaurs Are Dragons: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee allows it to learn the Dragon-type Outrage via TM, a trait shared with plenty of other saurian Pokémon.
 * Disc One Nuke: As mentioned in Character Select Forcing, selecting Bulbasaur means that you've trivialized a good 75% of the game right then and there. Brock, Misty, and Giovanni get stomped by it; a majority of Lorelei and Bruno's Pokémon struggle against it; and Surge, Erika, and Koga have a hard time hurting it effectively. Sabrina, Blaine, Agatha, and Blue are the biggest threats it'll face, but that means that Venusaur's teammates can easily take over for it until they've been neutralized.
 * Early Installment Weirdness: Downplayed. Bulbasaur was the only starter Pokémon that remained dual-type at all stages of evolution, until the Rowlett line was introduced in Pokémon Sun and Moon; most other dual-type starters were initially monotype. Unlike Rowlet, Bulbasaur is also the only one that does not change type through evolution.
 * Energy Ball: A Grass-type move that they can learn starting with Gen 4.
 * Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: They definitely have some saurian traits beyond the name, at least.
 * Final Boss: Venusaur is Blue's ace-in-the-hole during the Kanto games' champion battle if you started with Squirtle.
 * Frogs and Toads: All three have elements of this in their designs, but it's most apparent with Venusaur - not only does it have warts like a toad, but it also hops like one in the Let's Go games.
 * Gonk: Venusaur in particular isn't the prettiest of Grass-types.
 * Green Thumb
 * Kevlard: Mega Venusaur's Thick Fat ability lets it resist the Fire and Ice attacks it would normally be weak to.
 * Land, Sea, Sky: While the Charmander line eventually grows wings and Squirtle's family swims, the Bulbasaur line's firmly associated with the Earth.
 * Life Drain: Bulbasaur learns Leech Seed early on, and can obtain moves like Mega Drain and Giga Drain through breeding and/or TMs.
 * Magic Knight: They're decently hard-hitting from both physical and special attacking standpoints.
 * Mighty Glacier: The evolution line's Speed is soundly mediocre (with Venusaur's base Speed at 80), but thankfully they're built to last and can give as good as they can get. Mega Venusaur plays this up further by giving Venusaur Thick Fat to help it resist two of its main weaknesses, as well as beefing up its offensive and defensive stats even further.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Under sunlight, a Chlorophyll Venusaur can hit like a Mack truck and take hits about as well.
 * Petal Power: Ivysaur and Venusaur both have impressive petals on their bulb/plant, and can learn the powerful Petal Dance and Petal Blizzard as level-up moves.
 * Planimal: Moreso than anything else released in Red and Blue.
 * Poisonous Person: Downplayed in that it doesn't have a large number Poison-type moves to choose from outside of TMs.
 * Poor Predictable Rock: Bulbasaur and friends are unfortunate victims of "Grass-type moveset syndrome" - their level-up movepools mostly consist of Grass and Normal moves for damage-dealing purposes, though TMs can alleviate this somewhat.
 * The Power of the Sun: The most famous user of Solarbeam, thanks to various adaptations and being the first Grass-type of many players. It can also heal itself with Synthesis (which is more effective in sunlight), and Chlorophyll turns Venusaur into a competitive terror: a base 160-speed Pokémon with access to a single-turn Solarbeam, a Fire-type Weather Ball which gives them some much-needed coverage against Ice types, and Growth to give its attacking stats a massive boost.
 * Prehistoric Monster: A lot more vaguely-defined than most examples, but they all give off the vibe of creatures you'd run into while exploring a prehistoric jungle.
 * Rated M For Manly: Venusaur is a huge, imposing monster that looks like a bullfrog and a dinosaur had a badass baby.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: Not only do these guys have red pupils to begin with, but in the Stadium/Colosseum/Battle Revolution games, Venusaur's eyes get heavily bloodshot when it uses certain attacks.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Bulbasaur. Just look at those big puppy-dog eyes!
 * Standard Status Effects: Sleep Powder and Poison Powder are among Bulbasaur's early moves.
 * Signature Move: Frenzy Plant was exclusive to Venusaur before Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness; nowadays it is available to all of the fully evolved Grass starters, as is Grass Pledge.
 * Super Mode: Got two over the years:
 * Mega Venusaur is a freaking tank that not only gets huge boosts to its Defenses, but also gets the coveted Thick Fat to protect it from not one, but two of its weaknesses. Its Special Attack boost also isn't half-bad.
 * Gigantamax Venusaur gets the special G-Max Vine Lash, which continuously damages all non-Grass Pokémon on the field for a few turns.
 * Turns Red: Overgrow boosts Grass-type attacks when Venusaur's health becomes low.
 * Technicolor Eyes
 * Whip It Good: This line heavily relies on Vine Whip in the anime and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Gigantamax Venusaur's special G-Max Vine Lash is also an example.

Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard (Hitokage, Lizard, and Lizardon)


Charmander is a bipedal, orange, lizard-like creature with a flame on the tip of its tail. It first evolves into Charmeleon, a more feral version of itself with red coloring and a horn on the top of its head - when it evolves into Charizard, it regains its original color and grows wings as the single horn becomes a pair. The Charmander line is the first Fire-type and single-type Pokémon in National Dex order, as well as the first to change its type upon evolution. As an evolutionary line of offensive-oriented fighters, they have some crippling weaknesses due to their typing, but may be able to take down an opponent before they can exploit its weaknesses.


 * Acrofatic: Charizard's big belly and stature belies its speed - at 100 base speed, it's way faster than the other Kanto starters, and Mega Charizard X doesn't get a speed cut despite gaining some weight. This is taken Up to 11 with Gigantamax Charizard, who's even larger but tends to make good use of strategies centered around boosting its speed with Max Airstream.
 * The Artifact: Downplayed. Most draconic Pokémon in later games are highly likely to have a Dragon typing, making Charizard somewhat of an exception (though it may help that it's one of the Kanto starters). Once Mega Evolutions were introduced in Pokémon X and Y, however, it did get a Dragon-type by proxy in Mega Charizard X.
 * Awesome but Impractical: Charizard bore the brunt of this hard as time passed.
 * In Generation 4, if you see a Charizard in competitive play, you can safely assume that it's using Belly Drum, Substitute, Flare Blitz (or Fire Punch), a coverage move for Fire-resistant opponents (e.g. Earthquake), and a Salac Berry. This set tries to bring together the boosts from Blaze and Belly Drum to inflict insane physical damage, while also using Substitute both to ensure that it loses enough health to activate Blaze without being KOed too quickly. Using this set effectively requires stellar move prediction, though.
 * While it can still hold its own if set up just right, changes to the competitive metagame in Generations 4 and 5 (Stealth Rock says hello) sadly decreased Charizard's viability. Switching into one of these means they lose half of its health due to the hazard factoring in type matchups. In Generation 5, Charizard's Dream World ability Solar Power boosts its Special Attack to ridiculous proportions (higher than Reshiram), but hampers its already-low survivability by draining 1/8 of its health each turn. Without Stealth Rock, it would very easily be one of the biggest threats on the competitive scene.
 * Averted from Generation 6 on, when gaining Mega Evolutions (and Dynamax forms in Sword/Shield) propelled it back into the meta with a vengeance.
 * Charizard's line also fits this trope very well in the TCG. Chaizard cards usually have extremely powerful attacks (in the 100-200 base damage range) that require tons of Energy and/or have staggering drawbacks; the Base Set Charizard was infamous for this. Despite this, its cards usually fetch ridiculously high prices on the secondary market.
 * Badass: Charizard, needless to say. It's one of the best-known examples in the franchise.
 * Blood Knight: Charmeleon loves a good fight and gets particularly excited when it runs into a powerful opponent. Charizard is this as well, but usually doesn't bother fighting weaker opponents.
 * Blow You Away: Charizard is part Flying-type and can learn moves such as Air Slash.
 * Breakout Character: Charizard, by way of Popularity Power, became one of the most-recognized characters in the franchise's Western fandoms, and is prominently featured in many pieces of Pokémon media and marketing.
 * Dinosaurs Are Dragons: Charmander and especially Charmeleon have a distinctly saurian look to them, and can learn plenty of Dragon moves much like their more draconic big brother.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: The evolutionary line can learn the Steel-type Metal Claw by level-up, which can help in dealing with Rock-types (handy for the Rock-type first Gym if you picked Charmander in FireRed and LeafGreen). Charizard is also the only Pokémon that can learn Metal Claw, Iron Tail, and Steel Wing.
 * Final Boss: If you picked Bulbasaur as your starter, Charizard is Blue's strongest Pokemon in the Kanto games. It's also the ace of Champion Leon in Sword and Shield.
 * Flight
 * Giant Flyer: Not as big as the anime would have you believe, but Charizard's official height is still nothing to sneeze at.
 * Glass Cannon: Charizard's defenses aren't terrible, but it's not quite as good at taking hits as the other Kanto starters, and has a ton of weaknesses thanks to being a Fire/Flying type. On the other hand, it's got a deceptively wide offensive movepool that includes at least one move from 12 of the 18 available types - some of which give it valued coverage against a few weaknesses. It's best utilized as a heavy hitter, which is further emphasized with its Mega Evolutions.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Its Generation V Dream World ability Solar Power makes it even more of one. Granted, it isn't easy to use by any means, but can be devastating if set up properly.
 * Mega Charizard X averts this due to its Fire/Dragon typing, which only has 3 outright weaknesses, and boosted Defense, while its Tough Claws ability further enhances the attack power of certain moves in its arsenal.
 * Mega Charizard Y isn't good at taking physical hits at all and has the same amount of weaknesses as its base form, but thanks to Drought and its huge Special Attack boost, its instant Solarbeams and Drought-powered Fire moves let it hit like a nuke. It is pretty good at taking Special hits thanks to a small buff in its Special Defense, however.
 * Honor Before Reason: According to its Pokédex entry (also used for its trophy description in the Super Smash Bros. series), Charizard will never spit flames at a weaker foe unless directly ordered to do so by its Trainer. Apparently, Playing with Fire is only extended to equals.
 * Hot-Blooded: Visual Pun aside, Charmeleon is described as barbaric in its love of battle, and loves to pick fights with other Pokemon whenever it can. Charizard is cut from a similar cloth, but has a better handle on its bloodlust and won't fight opponents that are weaker than it unless explicitly ordered to do so by a trainer.
 * Incendiary Exponent: Fire-type, and the tail-tip being alight is a vital sign.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons/Our Dragons Are Different: Charizard has the look of a stereotypical Western dragon, if not the actual Dragon-type (it is in the Dragon egg group, though); it also learns many moves of the type, and is often treated as a dragon in-universe, which can be chalked up to this one up to competitive balance and Early Installment Weirdness. Mega Charizard X is Fire/Dragon, and is a terrifying physical brawler thanks to its Tough Claws ability.
 * Jack of All Stats: Mega Charizard X has all-around excellent stats, with both its attacking stats and Defense getting buffed while keeping its decently high Speed and average Special Defense. Its stat boosts aren't as extreme as other Mega Evolutions, but the boost Tough Claws gives to its contact moves help it keep up with them.
 * Non-Indicative Name: Charmeleon looks more like a dinosaur than any chameleon out there, and Charizard resembles a dragon rather than a lizard. Charmander's name averts this, as it refers to the mythical salamander, which was a reptile that lived within flames.
 * Non-Malicious Monster: This evolutionary line was said to occasionally cause forest fires by accident.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Charizard was a well-regarded competitive threat in the early days of competitive Pokemon, but thanks to the advent of Stealth Rock in Gens 4 and 5, other Fire-types (and Salamence) were often preferred due to being easier to use and harder to kill, although in Generation V Solar Power finally gave it a niche that made it usable in the higher tiers. This would be heavily averted with its Mega Evolutions, with both considered to be high-tier (if not outright top-tier) thanks to their abilities and stat boosts.
 * Playing with Fire
 * Evolution Gives You Wings
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy: The best Pokémon to be seen as this. It helps that the one most well-known in the anime constantly displays such behavior.
 * Rated M For Manly: A powerful fire-breathing dragon with three Super Modes, tons of powerful and flashy moves, and an honorable Blood Knight streak? Manly as hell.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Charmander is a cute little fella with a big head and enormous, soulful blue eyes.
 * Signature Move: Blast Burn was exclusive to Charizard before Pokémon XD, and nowadays it is available to all of the fully evolved Fire starters, as is Fire Pledge.
 * Stout Strength: Charizard's got a belly, and is the designated Glass Cannon among the starters. Mega Charizard X is even larger, with its newfound bulk being proportionate to its status as a physical powerhouse. Fatter still is Gigantamax Charizard, which is a top-tier heavy hitter in its own right.
 * Super Mode: Charizard gets three of these: two Mega Evolutions and a Gigantamax form. Mega Charizard X is black and blue, constantly breathing streams of blue flames, and a hard-hitting badass with Tough Claws augmenting its contact moves. Mega Charizard Y on the other hand is sleek and slender to contrast with X's pudgier build, and can nuke the competition with Sunny Day boosted Flamethrowers and Solarbeams running off a monstrous 159 Special Attack stat. And finally, Gigantamax Charizard is a Kaiju with wings seemingly made out fire, and comes packing a beefed-up Fire Spin as its special move.
 * Took a Level in Badass: In Generation 6, Charizard would get not one, but two badass Mega Evolutions, alongside a Gigantamax form in Sword/Shield - all of which would turn out to be top-tier competitive threats.
 * This happened on a smaller scale in the transition from Gen 1 to Gen 2, where it got a Special Attack boost that turned it into a reasonably formidable Glass Cannon after initially being a Jack of All Stats that bordered on being a Master of None thanks to Gen 1's Special stat mechanics giving it a painfully average Special Attack stat.
 * Turns Red: Blaze boosts Fire-type attacks when the user's health becomes low.
 * Undying Loyalty: Charmander. For Charmeleon and Charizard, though... well, you have to earn their respect first, let alone their loyalty.
 * Vertebrate with Extra Limbs: Charizard grows wings.
 * Weaksauce Weakness: Rock-type attacks absolutely ruin Charizard's day. Thanks to Stealth Rock being the bread-and-butter competitive move, this made it hard for pre-Gen 6 Charizard to fight effectively in competitive play.
 * You Have Researched Breathing: Despite being a big flying dragon, Charizard couldn't learn Fly in Red and Blue. Thankfully, this would be rectified in Yellow.
 * Your Size May Vary: Officially, a Charizard is about as tall as an average adult human, standing at around 5'07" (1.7m) in height - but aside from the main games, you'd be hard-pressed to find a human-sized Charizard in any other form of Pokémon media, be it the anime, various manga, or fanart. Charizard are more usually shown to be around 8 to 25 feet tall, depending mostly on how badass the writer or artist feels like portraying it. Keep in mind that Venusaur is actually supposed to be the largest out of the Kanto starter trio.

Squirtle, Wartortle, and Blastoise (Zenigame, Kameil, and Kamex)


A light blue bipedal turtle with a light brown shell, it first evolves into a navy-blue version of itself with feathery ears and tail, and then into a massive, dark blue tortoise with two high-pressure water cannons jutting out of its back. The first Water-types (of many), and the first pure-typed line, these guys are defense-based fighters, but, as a starter, they are quite well-rounded and can play both styles, specially after Gen I, when they started to get support moves.


 * Arm Cannon: Along with the giant cannon poking out of its shell, Mega Blastoise gets an arm-mounted gun on each hand.
 * Backpack Cannon: Which becomes a Backpack Gun Battery in its Gigantamax form.
 * Badass: Blastoise. It's a big turtle with cannons coming out of its shell!
 * Even more so when it Mega Evolves receiving two shell cannons on its lower arms, and the two on its back merging into one giant cannon!
 * Boring but Practical: A given considering that this is the role of pretty much most Water Pokemon, and amongst the three starters. Venusaur is The Mario with multitudes of useful moves that can let it be a sweeper (especially with its Dream World ability), and a supporter. Charizard is an offensive beast in terms of both physical and special attack, and has a good offensive movepool (Not to mention an ability that INCREASES its offensive power when its HP is low, and a dream world ability that makes it even MORE so.). Blastoise, on the other hand, is a Stone Wall, and its stats, combined with its limited movepool, make it hard to sweep. On the other hand, Blastoise has several support moves, notably Rapid Spin, and a priority move. This turns Blastoise into a capable Anti Lead and an all around useful teammate.
 * Later games would give it a few more fun toys to play with: Sword and Shield give it Shell Smash which can let it potentially become a dangerous physical sweeper, and to coincide with Mega Blastoise's Mega Launcher ability, Blastoise gets moves Dark Pulse, Dragon Pulse, and Aura Sphere.
 * Cute Little Fangs: Wartortle has a pair of these, but loses them upon evolving.
 * Expy: Blastoise bears a mild, but noticeable, resemblance to Bowser.
 * Final Boss: Of the original games and their remakes, where it serves as the cornerstone of Blue's team if Charmander was your starter.
 * Healing Factor: Its Dream World ability, Rain Dish, serves this purpose during rain.
 * Improbable Aiming Skills: According to the Pokédex, the water jets from Blastoise's cannons are accurate enough to hit empty cans from over 160 feet away.
 * Making a Splash
 * Kill It with Ice: Like most Water-types, they can use Ice attacks to cover one of their weaknesses.
 * Mighty Glacier: Quite similar to the Bulbasaur line in this regard.
 * Stone Wall: Its defenses are higher than its offenses, though it can learn several powerful offensive moves such as Kyogre's Water Spout.
 * One of These Is Not Like the Others: Wartortle's furry tail and ears make it the odd ball out. Apparently, beta builds of Pokemon Red and Green show that it would have originally evolved into a Pokemon that kept its fluff and grew it out longer until they decided to merge Squirtle's line with the-then unrelated Blastoise line.
 * Rated M For Manly: Need we say it again? Big badass turtle with CANNONS in its back. Gigantamax Blastoise goes even further by being a GIANT badass turtle with an ENTIRE GUN BATTERY ON ITS BACK.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Squirtle. It's an adorably chubby baby turtle with eyes that are just as big and adorable as the other starters.
 * Super Mode: Gets two of these, with one being a Mega Evolution with a giant cannon on its back and two arm cannons, and a Gigantamax form sporting an arsenal of cannons on its back.
 * Time Abyss: Wartortle is said to live 10,000 years. How long Blastoise lives is not mentioned.
 * Turns Red: Torrent boosts Water attacks when Squirtle/Wartortle/Blastoise's health becomes low.
 * Turtle Power
 * Signature Move: Hydro Cannon was exclusive to Blastoise before XD, and nowadays it is the Signature Move of the fully evolved Water starters. Water Pledge, too, as it is a Water Starter.
 * Super Mode: Mega Blastoise. Its defences are buffed a little, but its Special Attack is boosted to a monstrous 135, allowing it to make use of its special moves, as well as the moves at benefit its ability Mega Launcher.
 * Weaponized Animal: Blastoise's cannons.

Caterpie, Metapod (Trancell), and Butterfree


A green caterpillar with red antennae and an eye-like pattern, its evolution goes along as metamorphosis, first becoming a green chrysalis, then a purple-bodied, blue-winged butterfly. First Bug-types in the Pokédex, and first common Mons, are used fairly commonly early in-game, before being ditched. It is mostly used as a status inducer, but, like most butterfly and moth Pokémon, also learns Psychic attacks, and thus is a good alternative to a proper Psychic Pokémon until one can be obtained.


 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: First Bug-types in the Dex. Plus, Butterfree is 3'07".
 * Big Eater: Caterpie is a Very Hungry Caterpillar, much like the bugs in question are in real life. It can eat leaves bigger than its entire body, and as one of its Pokedex entries indicates, it can eat hundreds of these in one day.
 * Blow You Away: Butterfree; Whirlwind is even called this in Japanese.
 * Com Mons: The early areas of Kanto and Johto are filled with them.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Butterfree's low stats make it easy to underestimate, but do so at your own peril: its Compoundeyes ability make it a hell of a lot more likely to hit with the otherwise inaccurate Sleep Powder, allowing it to set up with Quiver Dance or outright beat you down before you wake up.
 * Crutch Character: Fully evolved at level 10. Outclassed when your starter or anything else evolves. Also subverted; the Standard Status Effects attacks that Butterfree has are useful for quite some time.
 * Magikarp Power: Caterpie and Metapod are fairly useless by themselves, especially Metapod if you catch one in the wild, because it can only use the Defense-boosting Harden.
 * Joke Character: For a fully evolved Pokemon, Butterfree's Base Stat Total (a not-so-whopping 395) is absolutely horrible.
 * Lethal Joke Character: It also has the most accurate sleep attack outside of Spore, and a movepool that is most useful for fighting - believe it or not - BRUNO of the ELITE FOUR! A surprising amount of Nuzlockers will vouch for Butterfree being a surprisingly useful option throughout Nuzlocke challenges done in FireRed and LeafGreen because of this.
 * Flight: Butterfree.
 * Fountain of Expies: All those early-evolving Crutch Character bug Pokémon in later games? They all owe their existence to the Caterpie family. This is the most apparent with the Wurmple and Scatterbug lines, which are both three stage caterpillar -> cocoon -> butterfly families.
 * Kaiju: Gigantamax Butterfree is basically Mothra as a Pokemon.
 * The Load: If you catch a Metapod because you wanted to use a Butterfree, it won't be too long until you realized that you messed up. Badly. A freshly-caught Metapod has no attacks of its own and can only use Harden, meaning that if you want to evolve it you'll have to endure a long, boring switch-training session until it hits level ten. So for the sake of your sanity, just catch Caterpie instead. Please.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Venomoth is a Pokémon that does everything Butterfree does, but (somewhat) better.
 * Palette Swap: Butterfree has the honor of being one of the first Pokemon species to be shown with differently-colored individuals: the anime had a special pink Butterfree that Ash's own Butterfree fell in love with. Sadly, pink Butterfree is not a shiny Butterfree, leading to many a gamer being disappointed that the far different-looking shiny means that they'll never raise one of their own.
 * Psychic Powers: Butterfree, for some reason.
 * Ryu and Ken: With the Beautifly and Beedrill families.
 * Seldom-Seen Species: Caterpie is almost exactly modeled off of am obscure real life caterpillar, specifically the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.
 * Standard Status Effects: Poison Powder, Stun Spore, and Sleep Powder. Other Pokemon get them as well, but Butterfree's one of the more common abusers due to its being too weak to be useful with anything else.
 * Super Mode: Gains a Gigantamax form in Sword and Shield. Its signature move G-Max Befuddle can randomly inflict Poison, Paralysis, or Sleep on its victims.
 * Took a Level in Badass
 * In Gen III, we have CompoundEyes, which raises accuracy by a third. In other words, Stun Spore, PoisonPowder, and Sleep Powder now hit 97.5% of the time. It's stats still suck, but for in-game purposes it's still perfectly usable.
 * Gen V clearly attempted to do this by giving it Tinted Lens and Quiver Dance. However, since Venomoth already had Tinted Lens and also gained Quiver Dance in Gen V, combining CompoundEyes with its Status-inducing moves is still really the only thing Butterfree can do that Venomoth can't do far better.

Weedle, Kakuna, and Beedrill (Beedle, Cocoon, and Spear)


A yellowish worm with a poisonous stinger on the top of its head, it also experiences a metamorphosis, first turning into a immobile yellow nymph, then into a giant hornet with 2 additional stingers as hands. Has many things in common with the Caterpie line and is always found at the same locations (but encounter rates tend to change with versions). Beedrill itself is a physically based Pokémon, also able to learn stat boosting moves and pass them to other team mates. However, those moves are not obtainable at low levels, and thus its usefulness is reduced in comparison to Butterfree.


 * Badass: Mega Beedrill. It looks a hell of a lot meaner than Beedrill, its hand stingers get a lot bigger, and its legs become stingers on top of that! It's also insanely fast and insanely strong.
 * Bee Afraid: Not only is Beedrill a toddler-sized hornet with stingers for hands, but it also attacks in swarms. You're goddamn right to Bee Afraid.
 * Berserk Button: Do not approach a Beedrill nest. Ever. Not unless you want an entire hive of angry 3 foot tall bees with giant stingers for hands to chase you to the ends of the Earth, that is.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Beedrill is a 3 feet tall hornet.
 * Com Mons: Shares its habitat with the Caterpie family in every game they appear.
 * Crutch Character: Same as the Caterpie family. However, Beedrill is quite a bit less versatile than Butterfree, and has fewer attacks to take advantage of in its usable time-span.
 * Magikarp Power: Again, Weedle and Kakuna are pretty much useless, apart from Poisoning opponents. Kakuna especially since like with Metapod, catching one in the wild means that it will only know Harden until it evolves.
 * Joke Character: Like Butterfree, Beedrill's base stat total isn't very high for being fully evolved.
 * Lethal Joke Character: Later games would expand its movepool to include powerful attacks like X-Scissor, Poison Jab, Brick Break, and Outrage which can at least make use of its decent Attack stat. But in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, it truly moves into this territory by way of Mega Beedrill, which is a terrifying force to be reckoned with.
 * Expy: Weedle is a Wiggler, but with a stinger instead of a flower.
 * Flight: Beedril. Well, at least their Pokédex entry says they're capable of this.
 * Fountain of Expies: Much like Caterpie, Wurmple and friends are responsible for setting the stage for plenty of early game Crutch Character Bug types encountered later in the series, with the most accurate imitators being the Spinarak and Wurmple (Dustox) lines due to their shared Bug/Poison typing.
 * Fragile Speedster: Poor defence of only 40, but its mega form is the fastest Poison type around at base 145.
 * Glass Cannon: Very fragile, but can hurt. Mega Beedrill dials this Up to Eleven with its stat distribution: it physical Defense becomes paper-thin while its attack stat is 150, which is on par with multiple legendaries. And then it has Adaptability to boost its STAB attacks on top of that.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: Not in terms of typing or appearance, but in movepool. In Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee, its movepool now includes the powerful Dragon-type move Outrage, possibly as a nod to its status as an easily angered, territorial bee. It's still a baffling addition either way.
 * The Load: Like with Butterfree, do yourself a favor and just raise a Weedle if you want to use a Beedrill. Don't take a shortcut by catching Kakuna, because it will have no attacking moves until it evolves, which will force you to slowly switch train it up to level 10.
 * Min-Maxing: Swords Dance, Agility and Baton Pass to something more effective is also a viable strategy, but...
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Scyther does everything Beedrill does, but better. And also evolves into one of the best Pokémon in the game, that also does everything that Beedrill does, better. Beedrill also had access to the only 2 attacks (that weren't so hilariously weak as to be completely and utterly useless) that could score a Super Effective hit on Psychics - too bad those attacks would often do less damage than the widespread (back then) Hyper Beam, and Scyther, again, could do that better without being also hit by super effective damage from Psychics. As the final nail in the Cofagrigus, Beedrill doesn't really have any niche that can make it useful in spite of its pathetic stats (Ninjask is far superior to it as a Baton Passer, and Scyther and Scizor handily trump it at offense). At least Butterfree's good at abusing Standard Status Effects.
 * All this, however, would change once Mega Beedrill was introduced, and gave it a new lease on life on the competitive scene as a formidable Glass Cannon... or at least it did until Megas were removed from Sword and Shield.
 * Poisonous Person: It begins life as a poisonous caterpillar and keeps that typing all the way until its final stage.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: Just in case the gigantic stingers didn't tip you off, its eyes will. Especially Mega Beedrill's eyes, which look downright angry.
 * Ryu and Ken: With the Dustox and Butterfree families.
 * Signature Move: Twinneedle for Beedrill, although it is no longer exclusive to it as of Black and White.
 * Super Form: Mega Beedrill, which turns Beedrill from a mediocre Com Mon to a force of destruction.
 * They Call Him "Sword": Beedrill's Japanese name is simply "Spear".
 * This Is a Drill: Despite not knowing any drill based moves and the above info. This would change once it finally got one in the form of Drill Run.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Beedrill's movepool got a lot better as time went on, culminating in it learning the 120 damage Dragon move Outrage of all things in the Let's Go games. It also got a massive buff in viability in Gens 6 and 7 thanks to getting a Mega Evolution. Mega Beedrill has a horrifying attack stat that turns downright monstrous thanks to Adaptability, and its speed means that it's a formidably agile Glass Cannon in competitive play.
 * Wrathful Wasps: Again, they're three foot tall hornets with giant stingers for hands with terrible tempers and a tendency to attack in swarms. Mega Beedrill goes even further with this trope thanks to its angry-looking eyes, additional stingers, and massive stat boosts.

Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and Pidgeot (Poppo, Pigeon, and Pigeot)


A brown bird with a cream-colored belly and elements of both pigeons and birds of prey, still in the chick stage, that evolves into a quite large, more mature version of itself with a small red crest of feathers, and then into a human-sized version of itself with the crest now going all the way down its back. The first Normal-types in the Dex, and also often one of the first Pokémon caught by anybody in the Kanto and Johto games. Their stats are fairly balanced and not weak in any particular regard, but, sadly, they are not very strong in any particular regard either; as a result, they tend to be overshadowed by more specialized Pokémon of the same typing. Still, it tends to be a staple of in-game teams, since somebody has to be on Fly detail.


 * Always Accurate Attack: Every move Mega Pidgeot uses is this thanks to No Guard, meaning that it can spam the otherwise unreliable (outside of rain) Hurricane with impunity.
 * Anime Hair: Pidgeot sports a truly majestic, multi-colored mullet. Upon mega-evolving, it's hair gets a lot shorter but makes up for it by not just becoming spiky, but also having one long strand run down the length of its body.
 * Badass Long Hair: Pidgeot. Just get a load of that majestic 'do!
 * Big Badass Bird of Prey: Pidgeotto, and especially Pidgeot, which is well-known for hunting Magikarp. Mega Pidgeot is even bigger, and more powerful than either of them.
 * Blow You Away: Pidgey is one of the most well-known users of Gust, ditto for Pidgeotto with Whirlwind. The line in general gets access to plenty of powerful wind-based attacks, such as Air Slash, Hurricane, and Heat Wave (which is a powerful gust of burning wind).
 * Boss Battle: Pidgeotto is Falkner's ace in the Johto games, and thus the biggest threat in his Gym battle. It's not too threatening in Gold and Silver since it's at a pathetic level 9, but his Pidgeotto in Heart Gold and Soul Silver puts up a better fight due to being at level 13 and knowing Roost to heal itself.
 * Pidgeot is also Blue's ace in games where his best Pokemon isn't a Kanto starter, such as in the Johto games.
 * Casting a Shadow: They can learn the Ghost-type Ominous Wind with the help of a move tutor.
 * Com Mons: Pidgey and Pidgeotto are found in almost all of the routes of Kanto and Johto.
 * Drunken Master: If their ability is Tangled Feet, their evasiveness improves any time they're confused.
 * Flight
 * Foil: To Spearow and Fearow. Pidgey and Spearow are both early-game Tiny Bird Pokemon that become a lot more imposing once they evolve. However, Fearow's a hell of a lot crueler and fouler tempered than Pidgeot, and is rail-thin while Pidgeot's a good deal bulkier. Spearow and Fearow are also pretty fragile but make up for it with their speed and power while Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and Pidgeot are generally well-rounded with Mega Pidgeot focusing more on Special Attack.
 * Fountain of Expies: Every generation has a Com Mon bird Pokémon with respectable stats at the start of the game, and it was Pidgey who got that trend off the ground.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: Most of its Dex entries say that Pidgeot can fly as fast as mach 2. In game, however, its base speed is only slightly above average - infamously, it's lower than that of Miltank, a cow. (Skarmory and Dragonite suffer from similar exaggeration issues.)
 * It was slightly increased to 101 in Gen VI, but itis still far from the fastest thing alive.
 * Giant Flyer: Pidgeot is a flying bird, complete with a compact build, as tall as an emu. Mega Pidgeot's even bigger than that.
 * Jack of All Stats: Pidgeot has quite well-rounded stats - too well-rounded, in fact, leading to...
 * Master of None: Its typing is not good for defense, and it's overshadowed in the offensive department by other Com Mons of its ilk.
 * Non-Indicative Name: Have relatively little in common with pigeons, more strongly resembling finches.
 * Non-Elemental: First Normal-types in the Pokédex.
 * Off-Model: Pidgeot's Gold/Silver/Crystal sprites had a far shorter crest than in the normal design, despite having the signature long crest in Red/Blue/Green/Yellow. Because the back sprites for the first- and second-gen Pokemon were revamped and carried over to the 3rd-gen games, despite the front sprites in that generation being fixed.
 * One-Winged Angel: Rival Trace from Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee gets the ability to Mega Evolve his Pidgeot just in time for the champion battle, and it's his first Pokemon to boot. However, thanks to the Let's Go game's general easiness it's not as big of a threat as you'd expect: it only has three moves, for starters.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Fearow and Dodrio had Drill Peck and better stats in the first 2 gens, Swellow was much better in the 3rd, and Staraptor just nailed the coffin for poor Pidgeot. Although the 4th gen did give Pidgeot a much stronger Flying STAB move than Drill Peck in Brave Bird, 5th gen struck back by giving Fearow Drill Run, which allows Fearow to handle grounded Steels, something most physical based Normal/Flying Pokémon have hassles with. (Plus, Staraptor also gets Brave Bird and Close Combat, letting it both hit hard with STAB and pulverize Rock and Steel-type Pokemon.) Though it does learn Hurricane by level-up as of Gen V, letting it use its Special Attack stat for offense (something that Fearow and Staraptor can't do very well at all.)
 * Come Gen 6, Pidgeot would be the one overshadowing the other Com Mon birds (Except Talonflame) with its Mega Evolution. Not only are Mega Pidgeot's stats better than just about all of them, but perfectly accurate No Guard Hurricanes and Heat Waves are a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to last and thanks to Sword and Shield removing Mega Evolutions, the poor bird is overshadowed once again.
 * Signature Move: FeatherDance, but it could be bred into other Pokémon in its debut, and as of Gen IV was no longer exclusive via level up. Gust, in a way, too, as nothing else could learn it until Yellow (but nowadays it is a common move).
 * Spell My Name with an "S": Pidgeot's Japanese name has been officially Romanized as "Pigeot" and "Pijotto".
 * Super Mode: Mega Pidgeot, which gives Pidgeot a massive boost in Special Attack and Speed, as well as slight boosts to its Defenses. Its ability also gets replaced with No Guard meaning that none of its moves, not even Hurricane, will miss.
 * You Cannot Research Breathing: Cannot learn Peck, since having both that and Gust for its low-level Flying move would be redundant.

Rattata and Raticate (Koratta and Ratta)


A purple rat with a cream-colored belly that evolves into a brown-backed, cream-bellied nutria/musk rat. The first line in National Dex order made up of two rather than three stages, they are one of the most common species in Kanto and especially Johto, being found in pretty much all Routes and a few caves. In battle, they are rather fast (though not absurdly so), but statistically unremarkable otherwise from the get-go. However, they learn strong moves early on and tricky moves later, that, combined with these traits, makes them competent if unconventional fighters.

Overseas, the tropical Alola region has its own Regional variant of these rascally rodents, both of which are black-furred and a lot meaner-looking with Rattata having prominent mustache-shaped whiskers while Raticate is both grotesquely fat and in possession of some seriously chubby cheeks. These changes came from being hunted by the local Yungoos and Gumshoos population, which caused them to adopt a nocturnal lifestyle as well as a newfound Dark/Normal typing in the process.


 * Acrofatic: The Totem Alolan Raticate in Moon/Ultra Moon is quite agile, as shown by the way it flips when it comes down to challenge the player.
 * Adipose Rex: Alolan Rattata are basically minions to Alolan Raticates, and are in charge of gathering food for their superiors to stuff their faces with.
 * Armor-Piercing Attack: Super Fang halves the current HP of the target. No exceptions. Well, except Ghosts.
 * Badass Moustache: Alolan Rattata has whiskers that resemble an impressively spiffy mustache. Their ability Hustle also allows them to hit harder than their Kanto cousins which gives them a bit of badass credential... provided that they actually hit their targets, of course.
 * Big Eater: Alolan Raticate are incredibly gluttonous and love to hoarde food that their Rattata minions gather.
 * Boss Battle: In Moon and Ultra Moon, Totem Alolan Raticate is the first Totem Pokemon you fight in the story and the boss of Ilima's trial.
 * Com Mons: Found everywhere in Johto and Kanto. Especially Johto.
 * Combat Pragmatist: They get several Dark-type moves.
 * Crutch Character: Hyper Fang is twice as strong as most attacks you are using by the point you get it, and Raticate has the Speed and Attack to use it effectively, only being hampered by slightly low Accuracy. It gets overshadowed later when other things also get strong moves, but it may even step into being a Disc One Nuke if you play with its additional tricks.
 * Dark Is Evil: Alolan Raticate are basically crime lords in Pokemon form, and their Alolan Rattata minions are likewise petty criminals that break into houses and steal food on their command. This puts them at odds with Yungoos and Gumshoos, which are the Pokemon equivalent to law-abiding detectives.
 * The Don: Alolan Raticate are the Pokemon equivalent to a fat mafioso, as mentioned above.
 * Explosive Breeder: Rattata are notorious amount of offspring they can produce. As their Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee dex entries say, if you see one, there are bound to be fourty others hanging around out of sight.
 * Fat Bastard: Alolan Raticate are obese, greedy rats who are responsible for food thefts by way of their Rattata lackeys.
 * Fountain of Expies: Would serve as the blueprint for other mediocre early-route rodent Com Mons in later games.
 * Fragile Speedster: Not very strong, quite fast... until it gets the fang attacks and becomes a Glass Cannon.
 * Glass Cannon: As mentioned above, Raticate can actually hit pretty hard with Hyper Fang, and gets plenty of other strong moves. Its strength doesn't compare to proper powerhouse Pokemon, but their Guts and Hustle abilities can lit them hit even harder if you're willing to deal with the drawbacks.
 * Kevlard: Alolan Raticate's fatness isn't just for show: it has beefier HP and defenses than its Kanto cousins and can have Thick Fat for its ability, which protects it from Fire and Ice attacks.
 * Lethal Joke Character: The F.E.A.R. (Focus Sash, Endeavour, Quick Attack, Rattata ) strategy has lead to low-level Rattatas being quite deadly. It Only Works Once, though, and the common Sandstorm and entry hazards render it unusable. (Plus, Aron has provided Rattatta with some stiff competition as of Gen V.)
 * Nocturnal Mooks: Alolan Rattata and Raticate can only be encountered at night.
 * Non-Elemental
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Super Fang becoming a tutor move (as well as learned by the more sturdy Bibarel) hurt Raticate. Hyper Fang also gets overshadowed by Strength or Return, learnable by most other Normal-types.
 * The Power Creep of the most recent generations has also hurt Raticate's reputation as a speedy Pokemon, as it's base Speed is only about 97 - which means that Hydreigion is faster than it. Ouch.
 * Playing with Fire: Flame Wheel can be bred on to them.
 * Psychic Powers: Rattata can be bred with Zen Headbutt as an egg move. It can help cover their weakness to Fighting type, but be careful: if Raticate isn't able to KO its opponent, then its own knockout is all but assured.
 * Rodents of Unusual Size
 * Signature Move: Super Fang and Hyper Fang, although no longer exclusive as of Gen IV.
 * Technicolor Eyes: Rattata.
 * You Dirty Rat: In comparison to the Pikachu family, they're much more unpleasant-looking and are often used by Team Rocket grunts. Their Alolan variation take this even further by the virtue of being partially Dark-typed thieves.

Spearow and Fearow (Onisuzume and Onidrill)


An alternative if you don't want to use Pidgey. Unlike Pidgey, however, they are pretty mean and scrappy birds. Spearow is supposed to resemble a sparrow, with a bit of crow mixed in; it has short wings and a short beak. Fearow, on the other hand, has longer wings and a longer beak, and it looks more like a vulture or a crane.


 * Big Badass Bird of Prey: Just as big as Pidgeot (though a lot less bulkier) and just as good a fighter.
 * Blow You Away: Like most Flying types, they get wind-based moves (specifically Whirlwind and Razor Wind), but it's heavily downplayed in favor of simply pecking and slapping their opponents with their wings.
 * Com Mons: Spearow's usually able to be caught around the same time as Pidgey, and both it and Fearow tend to be common sights in regions where they're catchable.
 * Crutch Character: Useful early on since Spearow learns a Flying-type move before Pidgey, making it useful against all the Bug-types you'll meet in the first few areas of the game. However, while it's not the best Flying type out there, it's still pretty good as far as Com Mons go.
 * Delinquent Hair: Downplayed, but Fearow's crest looks like a mohawk.
 * Feathered Fiend: They are this trope incarnate.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Fearow, Onidrill.
 * Flight
 * Fragile Speedster: They're pretty fast, but if they take so much as one solid hit they're likely not getting back up.
 * Glass Cannon: They're pretty good at dishing out punishment, but aren't good at taking it.
 * Jerkass: Spearow and Fearow are known for their unpleasant, temperamental demeanor and as shown in the anime, Spearow in particular will attack humans and other Pokemon at the slightest provocation.
 * Lean and Mean: Fearow is very lean, and very mean.
 * Non-Elemental: Both are part Normal type.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Dodrio is essentially Fearow with better stats. And in Gen 6 and 7, fellow early-route bird Pidgeot would get a Mega Evolution while Fearow got left in the dust.
 * Power Copying: Mirror Move, which lets Fearow use the last move their target used.
 * This Is a Drill: It learns Drill Peck and Drill Run (and the latter coupled with its Dream World Ability... hoo boy). Fearow's Japanese name is even Onidrill.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Its Dream World ability is Sniper. Better? It learns Drill Run, which has an increased critical ratio. Not to mention that Drill Run is a Ground-type move. Rock-, Electric-, and Steel-type Pokémon, prepare to cower in Fearow.

Ekans (Arbo) and Arbok


Effectively purple snakes, Ekans resembles a rattlesnake while Arbok is a cobra. A pure Poison-type with a fierce reputation, the first version exclusive monsters in National Dex order, only widely available in the Red version, while Green, Blue, and Yellow players had to trade for it. This often carries over to later games, where it's still found in only one version or another.


 * Cast of Snowflakes: In-game, no two Arbok are supposed to have the same markings.
 * Death Glare: Along with the common move Leer, they can also learn the much rarer Glare, which is capable of paralyzing its targets.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Surprisingly, the Ground type Mud Bomb is a move they naturally learn. It can also learn other Ground and Rock moves like Rock Slide, Stomping Tantrum, Earthquake, and Rock Tomb.
 * The Dreaded: Ekans and Arbok can naturally have Intimidate for their ability, as well as Unnerve as a Hidden Ability. Fitting, seeing as how many people are terrified of snakes in real life.
 * Eyes of Gold: Ekans.
 * Gasshole: They can naturally learn Belch.
 * Glass Cannon: Attack is its best stat, everything else is rather mediocre.
 * Man Bites Man: Naturally, these snake Pokemon learn a lot of biting moves. Along with... well, Bite and Crunch, they can also be taught all elemental fangs via Move Reminder as well as be bred with the move Poison Fang.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: While far from useless, Arbok's mediocre stat spread pales in comparison to more powerful Poison types like Muk, Weezing, and the Nidos.
 * Poisonous Person: Scary poisonous snakes. Need we say more?
 * Sdrawkcab Name
 * Signature Move: Glare, but only in Generation I.
 * Snakes Are Evil: Ekans and Arbok are used by a lot of Team Rocket members, most notably Jessie and Ariana.
 * You Have Researched Breathing: Ekans and Arbok may be poisonous snakes, but for some reason they can't naturally learn Poison Fang. You have to specifically breed the move onto an Ekans to actually get it.

Pichu, Pikachu, and Raichu
Pichu debuts in Gen II

A yellow mouse-like creature with ruby-red cheeks, brown stripes on its back and a tail that resembles a thunderbolt. It's cute, but it can appeal to both boys and girls, making it the perfect Mascot for the entire franchise. Practically half of all merchandise has this guy's mug on it. It's also gained a baby form in Pichu (which is also heavily promoted), and a few signature items and moves (mainly Volt Tackle). Raichu is its stronger form, but it isn't given as much exposure as its younger forms. Which isn't to say that it's bad per se; it's still a very good Pokémon to take well beyond the beginning of the game. It's one of your best bets when facing Misty.

Pikachu from the Alola region don't evolve into ordinary Raichu, but into a special regional variant that's Electric/Psychic and capable of surfing on its enlarged tail with its psychic powers. Why? No idea, but some people believe it's due an extremely pancake-heavy diet. Just roll with it.


 * Abnormal Ammo: Cramorant from Sword and Shield can randomly scoop up and spit out a Pikachu instead of a typical fish Pokemon at times.
 * Absentee Actor: In a rare change of pace, Pikachu's family has absolutely zero presence in the Gen 5 games. It doesn't matter if you're playing the more restrictive Black and White or the more generous Black and White 2, unless you transfer one from a Gen 4 game, you're not using Pikachu and friends.
 * Action Fashionista: The Cosplay Pikachu from the Hoenn remakes is always female, and can wear one of five different outfits that can give it a special move with each costume.
 * Adaptational Badass: In the games, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that Pikachu isn't bad as far as unevolved mons found early in the story go. In the anime, however, it is shown taking down Pokémon that would be more than twice as powerful as it, base-stats wise. Let's not even get started on Super Smash Bros....
 * Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed in the sense that most Raichu in the anime aren't evil, but are often antagonistic bullies for Ash and Pikachu to thwart.
 * Awesome Yet Impractical: If you never want to evolve your Pikachu like Ash, you're going to have a hard time. In gen 1 Pikachu's middling stats catch up to it in a hurry, which becomes a problem in Yellow since Pikachu is your starter there and can't ever evolve. Gen 2 would somewhat rectify this with the introduction of the Light Ball item which gives Pikachu a much-needed power boost... but you'd better hope it can outspeed whatever it's fighting, because if it gets hit first, there's no way it's staying in the fight with such paper-thin defenses. Thankfully, your starter Pikachu in Let's Go Pikachu has buffed-up stats and perfect IV's, which show that Gamefreak went through great pains to avert this.
 * Badass Adorable: Pikachu is so cuuuute! Raichu is also this trope, but with more emphasis on the "Badass" aspect.
 * Badass Baritone: Detective Pikachu from his spinoff games has an impressively deep, manly voice. In the movie however, it's a lot higher due to being provided by Ryan Reynolds himself!
 * Bare Your Midriff: The female-only Cosplay Pikachu's Pop Star outfit shows off a sliver of her belly.
 * Blush Sticker
 * Boss Battle: Raichu is Lt. Surge's ace and in Yellow, his only Pokemon. Pikachu is also Red's strongest Pokemon whenever he appears, being not only higher leveled than everything else he uses, but also packing a Glass Cannon for extra "oomph".
 * Breakout Character: You wouldn't know it, but Pikachu was originally just a rare, cute Pokemon that was never meant to be the outrageously popular merchandising giant that it is today. Clefairy was supposed to be the series' mascot, until Pikachu proved to have more general appeal!
 * Crutch Character: Pichu and/or unevolved Pikachu can be found early in the Kanto, Kalos, and Alola games and are often the first Electric type you can run into. They can provide helpful type coverage early on, but their paltry stats mean that they struggle to keep up the pace in later fights, encouraging you to either evolve them into Raichu or use a better Electric type. If you find a Light Ball, however...
 * Cute Giant: Gigantamax Pikachu is Kaiju-sized and regains the line's original pudgy physique from Red and Blue. It's adorable!
 * Disc One Nuke: If you're lucky enough to catch a Pikachu with Light Ball in the games where it appears early, you've basically got an electric nuke on your hands. Keep in mind, if it's holding the item in question it hits as hard as RAYQUAZA.
 * Early Installment Weirdness: Pikachu was a lot chubbier and stubbier in the original Kanto games, only to slim down as time went on. Gigantamax Pikachu from Sword and Shield is a throwback to this design and makes Pikachu just as pleasingly plump as it was in the old days (as well as gigantic).
 * The Everyman: Pikachu, to a certain extent.
 * Final Boss: Of the Johto games, where a Light Ball-wielding Pikachu is Red's ace in the hole and the highest level Pokemon you'll fight. Interestingly, he doesn't save it for last, but instead leads with it.
 * Fountain of Expies: There is at least one Electric Rodent Pikaclone in every generation.
 * Genius' Sweet Tooth: This is the prevailing theory for why Pikachu evolves into Alolan Raichu and develops Psychic powers in the process: it eats too many pancakes.
 * Glass Cannon: A Pikachu with a Light Ball strikes really hard, but dies very easily. (If only it was just a bit faster, it could probably be considered a legitimate threat...) Raichu needs Choice Band/Specs to hit as hard, is faster, and may be able to take a single attack.
 * Informed Flaw: Pichu's Pokedex entries make a big deal about how it's too small and young to properly control its electric powers and will often shock and hurt itself when it tries. While this is reflected in its Smash Bros appearances, Pichu will never hurt itself in the games unless you have it use recoil-inducing moves like Volt Tackle and Wild Charge.
 * Kid Appeal Character: Pichu was basically designed to be this. Pikachu too, especially when Pichu isn't around.
 * Lightning Bruiser: If it's holding a Light Ball, Pikachu becomes an utter monster when Dynamaxed or Gigantamaxed: along with the existing attack boosts, its HP is doubled which makes it a genuine force to be reckoned with, albeit not quite on par with other Dyna/Gigantamaxed Pokemon.
 * Making a Splash: Will be able to learn Surf in every generation, one way or another. It's always an unconventional method, though, because the HM won't work.
 * Masked Luchador: Cosplay Pikachu's Pikachu Libre costume is this, and she'd go on to make appearances in Smash Bros and Pokken.
 * Mythology Gag: Gigantamax Pikachu's chubby physique is a Call Back to Pikachu's original design, where it was a lot rounder before Art Evolution resulted in a sleeker design as the years went by.
 * Not Quite Flight: You can obtain a Pikachu with FLY from a Pokéwalker course. According to the card game, it flies via Balloonacy.
 * Out of Focus: Poor Raichu really suffers from being the unwanted big brother to the series' mascot. While Pikachu gets multiple unique moves and variants as well as an item dedicated to making it even more powerful, and even Pichu gets a role in Smash Bros, Raichu gets diddly squat. Thankfully, the devs would throw it a bone by introducing Alolan Raichu in Sun and Moon, as well as its own Z-Move.
 * Pokémon-Speak: Notable because it's the only Pokémon to have its actual spoken name as a cry in the main series games. It originally only had in Yellow to play up its status as being closer to the anime, but X and Y and beyond would adopt this for good while Pichu and Raichu have updated versions of their 8-bit cries.
 * Power Floats: Alolan Raichu is always seen levitating above the ground, surfing on its boardlike tail.
 * Power Incontinence: Pichu shocks itself because of youth and inexperience. This carries over into Super Smash Bros. Melee, where it cripples it so much it's one of the weakest characters in the game (and in tier lists where Kirby isn't at the bottom, is the weakest).
 * Promotional Powerless Piece of Garbage: In HeartGold and SoulSilver, you can obtain a special Pichu with three spikes on one of its ears (Spiky-Eared Pichu). Too bad it can't evolve or be traded to any other game, not even Black and White, which came after these games.
 * Psychic Powers: Thanks to eating a lot of pancakes, Alolan Raichu is somehow part Psychic.
 * Riddle for the Ages: Why is Alolan Raichu part Psychic? No one knows for sure, and even the "Ate too many pancakes" line of speculation is just that: speculation.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: THE. WHOLE. FREAKING. LINE. Pichu is an already cute Pokémon, made even more marketable. Even Raichu has not lost everything here.
 * Series Mascot: Pikachu usurped Clefairy's intended role due to better reception.
 * Mascot with Attitude: See Adaptational Badass and Tsundere.
 * Mascot Mook: Definitely counts as this if you consider its role in the main games alone.
 * Shock and Awe
 * Signature Move: Volt Tackle, from Generation III onwards.
 * Shout-Out: it was based on Pulseman's Voltteccer attack, which in turn was based on Tekkaman.
 * Stout Strength: Gigantamax Pikachu brings back Pikachu's formerly tubby physique, and is a force to be reckoned with if it's holding a Light Ball.
 * Super Mode: Pikachu gains a Gigantamax form in Sword and Shield, which is the original chubbier design but Kaiju sized.
 * Third Option Adaptation: Former Trope Namer in regards to the anime.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Gen II gives Pikachu the unique Light Ball item which DOUBLES Pikachu's special attack stat, taking it from "decent" to "devastating with same type attack bonus." This does mean that you can't evolve Pikachu, however.
 * Tsundere: Pikachu as a whole seem to have a knack for being Type 2 in various different continuities.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Aside from being a literal mouse, it's oddly unobtainable in Pokémon Black and White via normal gameplay despite its status as the series mascot and a relatively common Pokémon in all prior games (even making a few cameos in the game and being heavily promoted in related material).

Sandshrew and Sandslash (Sand and Sandpan)


Sandshrew and Sandslash don't really resemble shrews as much as they do armadillos or pangolins. They're the creatures you'll find in place of Ekans and Arbok if you have the Blue or Green versions in the original set of games. Often found in drier, or at least rougher terrain, these Ground type rodents try to avoid moisture when they can and get their water from their food.

Alolan Sandshrew and Sandslash however? These guys live all around moisture, specifically snow. Thanks to being scared off from their preferred desert environments by erupting volcanos in Alola, they'd retreat to adapt to life on the region's snow-capped mountains. Becoming Ice/Steel types in the process, these guys have developed harder shells and metallic claws that are ideal for ripping through and attaching to ice, as well as burrowing through snow.


 * An Ice Person: The Alolan versions of Sandshrew and Sandslash.
 * Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Sandshrew's hide looks like its been constructed from gold/yellow bricks, almost like those seen in desert ruins. Alolan Sandshrew however looks more like an igloo, complete with a smaller snout that looks like the entry hole of one and white brick-like hide. When it evolves, Alolan Sandslash ditches the igloo aesthetics in favor of humongous spines that look like icicles.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: The original Sandshrew and Sandslash, though if you want to get proper mileage out of them with damaging Ground moves in the pre-Black 2/White 2 games, you'd better be ready to throw a few TM's their way.
 * Everything Is Better With Spinning: Despite being fairly slow, Sandshrew and Sandslash get quite a few high-mobility moves like Rapid Spin.
 * Be the Ball: They're decent Rollout users thanks to also being able to learn Defense Curl, which gives it a respectable boost in power.
 * Rolling Attack: As mentioned above.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Alolan Sandshrew and Sandslash have hides as thick as steel, with Sandslash's spikes even being actual frozen steel. Unsurprisingly, they're partially Steel-typed.
 * Kryptonite Is Everywhere: It's bad enough that Alolan Sandshrew and Sandslash are slow defensive Ice types, because their plethora of common weaknesses mean that they're very much not good at tanking hits. But they're also part Steel, which means that Fire and Fighting moves hit even harder, as well as opening them up to a newfound Ground weakness.
 * Mighty Glacier: Speed is not Sandslash's forte, but it's a physical powerhouse with the Defense to last. Same with Alolan Sandslash, who gets bonus points for its Ice typing making it a more literal example.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Its Dream World ability doubles its speed under Sandstorm. Their Alolan cousins get Slush Rush, which is a hail variant of Sand Rush.
 * Non-Indicative Name: As mentioned above, albeit only in the English releases.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Generation 1 was the only time Sandslash had to shine as an effective ground type, after which it was eclipsed entirely by Donphan, Marowak (in Generation 2), and other faster, sturdier, or more versatile monsters. Generation V brought it Sand Rush, and its long lost cousin Excadrill, which has the colossal attack and slightly better speed to use the ability far more effectively than Sandslash ever could hope to.
 * Picky Eater: Sandshrew.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Sandshrew.
 * Seldom-Seen Species: While they're referred to as mice in-game, they appear to be based on the pangolin, which are heavily-scaled mammals that favor warmer climates.
 * Spikes of Doom: Sandslash. Taken Up to Eleven with its Alolan counterpart.
 * Wolverine Claws: Sandslash has an impressive set of these.
 * You Have Researched Breathing: You'd think that a pair of Ground-type rodents that are famous for their digging prowess would naturally learn Dig... but nope. They didn't for a long time. They didn't even have any naturally-learned Ground moves until the wimpy Sand Tomb in Gen 3, and would need to be taught moves like Dig and Earthquake via TM until they were finally introduced to their movepools in Black 2 and White 2.

Nidoran, Nidorino/a, and Nidoking/queen


One of the most notable things about these guys is that the males and females are different species. This is because the first generation of games (Red/Green/Blue/Yellow) didn't assign sexes for Pokémon yet. They vaguely resemble rabbits at first, but they grow to be reptilian upon evolution. Both Nidoqueen and Nidoking are very dependable Pokémon. Nidoqueen is more defensive while Nidoking is more offensive, but both are extremely well-rounded.


 * Badass: Nidoking is a big, burly Kaiju-looking Pokemon covered in spikes, and a formidable fighter. Nidoqueen's got a similar appeal going for her, if a bit downplayed compared to the King.
 * Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism: So much that they count as separate species.
 * Bizarrely, it is also averted, as the differences account pretty much to coloration and horn size. The different species is justified, as they predate gender differences, and even gender.
 * Boobs of Steel: Nidoqueen's got big boobs, and is a rather solid (if competitively overshadowed) fighter.
 * Cartoon Creature: Bulbapedia describes Nidoking and Nidoqueen as "sharing traits of rhinoceroses, gorillas, rabbits and porcupines." Lord knows what species Game Freak was really thinking of when they made these things, if any.
 * Considering Nidoking and Nidoqueen also strongly resemble Baragon, it's likely a Shout-Out of sorts.
 * Confusion Fu: Take a look at their movepool. They can throw anything at you, and have the stats to make good use of both Physical and Special moves.
 * Disc One Nuke: In the games that put you in Kanto or Johto, you can find a Nidoran and get it evolved into Nidoking before you challenge the third gym. The third gym in Kanto is Electric and the third in Johto is Normal. As a Ground-type Nidoking is immune to Electric, learns Double Kick for handling the Normal types, and resists Rock so it can handle Miltank's Rollout better.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Nidoking and Nidoqueen.
 * Jack of All Stats: Nidoking/queen have overall balanced stats, and can learn a very wide array of moves. While this leads to some degree of Overshadowed by Awesome, they're still solid battlers in the games where they're available.
 * Jiggle Physics: Nidoqueen's boobs have a noticeable bounce to them in the Stadium games.
 * Kaiju: Nidoking and Nidoqueen are huge, vaguely draconic monsters that bear a strong resemblance to Baragon.
 * Killer Rabbit: Both Nidorans and Nidorino are literal examples, being tough bunny-looking Pokemon that can poison their opponents.
 * Lunacy: First in the National Dex to require the Moon Stone for evolution.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Sure, they're balanced, but no base stat over 100 means they are So Okay It's Average in competitive play. However, the Dream World variations get Sheer Force, which, coupled with the huge array of moves with secondary effects they learn, makes Nidoking a feasible threat (Nidoqueen, being more defensive statistically, understandably doesn't benefit as much, even with basically identical movesets between the two).
 * Master of None: Prior to Generation V, when it didn't have Sheer Force to give them that extra "oomph."
 * Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Their shiny versions (Except Nidoqueen's, who is mostly green with bits of pink on her body).
 * Poisonous Person
 * Rhino Rampage: They've both got a bit of a rhino aesthetic to them. Kinda.
 * Shout-Out: Both Nidoking and Nidoqueen look like Baragon, a giant monster from the Godzilla films that is quite popular in Japan.
 * Stout Strength: Nidoqueen's got a bulky gut, which only reinforces how sturdy and powerful she is.

Cleffa, Clefairy, and Clefable (Pi, Pippi, and Pixie )
Cleffa debuts in Gen II

These pink cute Pokémon can be thought of as a Distaff Counterpart to Pikachu's family. Their stats don't seem remarkable, but they learn a fantastic number of moves, plus later games introduced an ability that prevents damage from anything other than direct attacks. Their Metronome technique makes them very unpredictable in battle. This family is thought to come from space, as they're found on mountains historically known for being ground zero for meteor strikes such as Mt. Moon and Mt. Coronet.


 * Achievements in Ignorance: If they have Unaware for their ability, they can ignore non-Speed stat boosts just by not knowing about said boosts. It's a good way to kill the momentum of a sweeper packing Swords Dance or Shell Smash-related stat boosts.
 * Ambiguous Situation: Are they actual aliens from outer space, or are they Earthborn Pokemon that are simply attracted to the presence of meteors?
 * Badass Adorable: Clefable is pink, cuddly, and utterly adorable. It's also a top-tier competitive threat and has always been considered to be a fairly good battler.
 * Blush Sticker: Only Cleffa and Clefairy. For some reason, Clefable completely loses this.
 * Confusion Fu: Like the Nidos, massive movepool, and all around decent stats that allows them to run both defense or offense with ease. Their main move, Metronome, also counts because it can let them use any move at random, up to and including signature moves of Legendary Pokemon.
 * Cute Bruiser: Not only does Clefable have respectable Special Attack, but it naturally gets Meteor Mash, one of the strongest punching moves as well.
 * Cuteness Proximity: One of their default abilities is Cute Charm, which has a chance of causing enemies of the opposite to fall in love with them after physically attacking them, which has a chance of preventing them from fighting back altogether.
 * Damn You, Muscle Memory!: If you don't keep their different typing in mind between generations, it's easy to find yourself caught off guard when a Fairy type Clefable tanks your Machamp's Cross Chop, or seeing your Charmeleon's Metal Claw hit a Normal type Clefairy for neutral damage.
 * Epileptic Trees: In-universe, it's widely believed that they came from the moon.
 * Heal Thyself: They learn quite a few recovery moves: they naturally get Moonlight via level up, Wish from breeding the move onto a Cleffa, and Softboiled by way of a move tutor in the original Kanto remakes.
 * Innocent Aliens: Clefairy and friends are all insanely adorable, friendly little Pokemon that may or may not be aliens from outer space.
 * Jack of All Stats: Slighty slow, but good balance.
 * Killer Rabbit: Don't be quick to dismiss the girly and adorable Clefable as a threat, because its great stats, abilities, and vast movepool have made it a longtime competitive powerhouse.
 * Lunacy: These guys are heavily associated with the moon: they're rumored to have come from there, Clefairy evolves when exposed to a Moon Stone, and Moon Blast and Moonlight are moves they can naturally learn.
 * Mascot Mook: This was almost the case for Clefairy, believe it or not! Had Pikachu not proven to be insanely popular, Clefairy would have been the star of the anime and most likely the face of Pokemon franchise. Makes one wonder if we would have gotten a Pink version had Clefairy kept this status.
 * Megaton Punch: These guys can learn the powerful Meteor Mash, which is a devastating Steel-type punching attack. Definitely weren't expecting a kirby-looking alien to have such a killer left hook, huh?
 * Mighty Glacier: Clefable isn't fast, but can hit surprisingly hard and can prove aggravating to KO thanks to support moves like Cosmic Power and Moonlight as well as its defensive abilities Magic Guard and Unaware keeping it in the fight.
 * Non-Elemental: Up until Gen 6, the whole line were pure Normal types. From X and Y and beyond, they're pure Fairy.
 * Our Fairies Are Different: Ignoring their eventual Fairy-typing reclassification, they're fairies that are hinted to be aliens from the moon and have magic that lets them use any move at random.
 * Pink Is Girly: They're all 75% likely to be girls when encountering them in the wild/hatching them from eggs.
 * Retcon: Cleffa didn't exist until Gold and Silver, and the entire line was retconned into being Fairy-typed in X and Y.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Depending on who you ask, even more so than Pikachu.
 * Shrinking Violet: All members of the Clef-line are rarely seen, but Clefable is particularly reclusive.
 * Signature Move: In Generation I, it was the only Pokémon to learn Metronome by level up (aside from Mew).
 * What Could Have Been: As noted in the Pikachu section, Clefairy was originally planned to be the Mascot of the Pokémon franchise.
 * Wings Do Nothing: They're only there for appearance, apparently. They can't fly, nor even learn Wing-associated attacks.
 * They're said to absorb moonlight to enable Clefable (and Clefairy) to float. You'll never get to see this happen in-game.
 * This is Finally averted now that they get one wing-associated attack in Sword and Shield: Double Wingbeat. Took them long enough!
 * Won't Work On Me: Magic Guard works as this for indirect damage: It just doesn't work. Life Orb? The only penalty is not using Leftovers. Sandstorm? Not a problem (for them, anyways.) Stealth Rock? Nope. Toxic? Great, now they don't even have to worry about Paralysis or Sleep. Leech Seed? Enjoy your fat load of nothing.
 * Like all Fairies, they're also completely immune to Dragon moves.

Vulpix and Ninetales (Rokon and Kyukon)


If you didn't pick Charmander, you're in luck, because there's Vulpix... if you're playing the Blue or Green version that is, as they're only found on those versions (Red players get Growlithe instead). Vulpix resembles an adorable six-tailed red fox, while Ninetales is a large golden fox with... nine tails. These Pokémon seem to be associated with powerful magic and dreadful curses, and thus learn plenty of Psychic and Ghost moves.

They also have a unique Alola-native variant that exchanged their Fire typing in favor of Ice and in the case of Alolan Ninetales, Fairy typings that live on Alola's snowy mountains.


 * An Ice Person: The Alolan variants.
 * A Worldwide Punomenon: Ninetales looks like a case of Rouge Angles of Satin until you realize it's supposedly 9 people fused. one could suppose that if they were separated, they would have quite the stories to tale about being being transformed into nine tails.
 * Brown Eyes/Technicolor Eyes
 * Barrier Warrior: Alolan Vulpix and Ninetales are among the best users of the rare Aurora Veil, which greatly reduces Physical and Special damage if it's active, and can only be used during a hailstorm which isn't a problem for them since their Snow Warning ability summons Hail.
 * Berserk Button: Do not touch a Ninetales' tail unless you wish to be horribly cursed for the next thousand years.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Alolan Ninetales is a lot more benevolent than its fiery cousin and has been known to help humans in their time of need, but if you disrespect nature or otherwise anger them, vengeance will be swift and painful.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: Touch one of Ninetales', well, tails, and prepare to be cursed for life. (Specifically 1,000 years - if you're not Immortal, there's no way you're living that long.)
 * Knowing them, they probably know that you're not going to live that long, so maybe it hits your descendants, too...
 * Or you're still cursed in the afterlife.
 * Dropped a Bridget On Him: They are feminine looking and most of them are female, but it's possible for them to be male.
 * Fantastic Foxes: The line is based in part on mythological Kitsune, Japanese trickster fox spirits. Reflected in the Ghost-type moves Vulpix and Ninetales can learn.
 * Fragile Speedster: They're fast enough to befuddle most opponents with moves like Confuse Ray, but their low damage output and lacking defensive stats can and will screw them over in a fight. Alolan Ninetales does fare better thanks to its Snow Warning + Aurora Veil combo, however.
 * Fusion Dance:
 * According to a in-universe legend mentioned in a pokedex entry, 9 saints were united and reincarnated as Ninetales.
 * Another pokedex entry says that nine wizards possessing sacred powers merged into one. Whether this is a Retcon, a mistranslation or a separate legend is not clear.
 * Glass Cannon: Not anymore, but thanks to the way the Special stat was handled in Gen 1 these guys could hit seriously hard with their Fire attacks. Gen 2 and beyond however, it's a Fragile Speedster since its Special stat got converted to its newfound Special Defense stat, leaving it with a mediocre Special Attack stat.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom/Hypnotic Eyes/Red Eyes, Take Warning: Ninetales can control minds with its red eyes. They glow when it does this.
 * Kitsune: They have multiple tails like one.
 * Lady of War: These Pokémon have a strong likelihood of being female, and they are practically the embodiment of grace and ferocity.
 * Light Is Not Good: Both are cute and Ninetales is light colored, but Vulpix is deceptive if nothing else and Ninetales is a extremely vindictive Mon with the potentially Nightmare Fuel inducing power of controlling minds and horrible millenia-spanning curses.
 * Especially if it's the shiny Ninetales.
 * Light Is Good: Alolan Vulpix and Ninetales are a lot more benevolent and are just as brightly colored.
 * Mind Manipulation: Ninetales is said to be capable of this.
 * No Ontological Inertia: Possibly. Both Ninetales curse and it's life span last 1,000 years.
 * Our Fairies Are Different: Alolan Ninetales is a Fairy-typed kitsune with ice powers, and a benevolent protector of its icy home. It's so graceful, beautiful, and powerful that it's been worshipped as a god by the Alolans in the distant past.
 * Playing with Fire: Unless they're Alolan, then they're Playing with Ice.
 * Punny Name
 * Really 700 Years Old: Ninetales lives for 1,000 years.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Both Vulpixes are super adorable, pretty little fox kits.
 * Soul Power: They learn quite a lot of Ghost-type moves despite not being one themselves. Seems to be more of a reference to their Yokai influence more than anything.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Getting Drought as an ability really gave a boost to their usefulness. Said ability was previous only known by Groudon.
 * Weather Control Machine: Both variants can force a weather change just form stepping onto the battlefield. There's normal Ninetales with Drought, which causes harsh sunlight, then there's Alolan Ninetales whipping up a hailstorm with Snow Warning.
 * What Could Have Been: Originally, the line was conceived as a three-stage family, where Vulpix would have had an adorabe three-tailed fox kit pre-evolution. It didn't make the cut for Gen 1, and it was reconsidered for Gen 2... before getting cut from that as well.
 * Won't Work On Me: As if Alolan Ninetales' Ice/Fairy typing wasn't Dragon kryptonite to begin with, it's also immune to Dragon moves.

Igglybuff, Jigglypuff, and Wigglytuff (Pupurin, Purin, and Pukurin)
Igglybuff debuts in Gen II

Another family of pink Pokémon. These Pokémon have balloon-like bodies, huge eyes and a tuff of hair on their heads. They have a high HP stat, and can learn a large number of moves, but their other stats are very average. Their talents include sleep-inducing singing. Jigglypuff is particularly notable for being the only Pokémon besides Pikachu to be a playable character in all three Super Smash Bros. games.


 * Blue Eyes
 * Breakout Character: Jigglypuff is popular enough (in Japan) that it's made multiple appearances in the anime, merchandise, and all games in the Super Smash Bros. franchise.
 * Confusion Fu: Like the Clefairy family, these adorable pink Pokemon have ridiculously vast movepools that cover almost every typing. Unlike the Clefairy family however, they aren't anywhere near as dangerous... unless you accidentally trigger their Competitive ability, though.
 * Determinator: When it starts singing, Jigglypuff won't quit until it puts its target to sleep. However, this can be deadly for it, because it never pauses to breathe and if its opponent won't fall asleep, Jigglypuff runs a very real risk of suffocating to death.
 * Dude Looks Like a Lady: 25 percent of them are male.
 * Killer Rabbit: According to its Pokédex entry, Jigglypuff's cuteness is really a form of self defense, luring enemies in only to put them to sleep and give them a beating. Wigglytuff takes this to a more literal level.
 * Lunacy: To get a Wigglytuff, you've got to use a Moon Stone on Jigglypuff.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: This line gets a lot of sound-based moves: Sing, Uproar, Hyper Voice...
 * Moon Rabbit: Fittingly, Wigglytuff sports a pair of rabbit ears after its Moon Stone-induced evolution.
 * Name's the Same: Both Jigglypuff and Aerodactyl are called "PUD" in Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal.
 * Non-Elemental: Pure Normal types before Gen 6, still partially this after being retconned into Fairy/Normal types afterwards.
 * Our Fairies Are Different: Post-retcon, these fairies are living balloons with a hypnotic singing voice and highly inflatable bodies.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: The Clefairy line is generally regarded as superior, to the point that more critical fans basically call Clefairy "Jigglypuff but good." Ouch.
 * Retcon: From X and Y and beyond, they've suddenly gone from Normal to Normal/Fairy. Also, their baby form Igglybuff didn't exist until Gen 2 and unlike later babies, doesn't have the "Parents need special incense to produce one" excuse going for it.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: All of them, but especially little Igglybuff.
 * Signature Move: Sing, despite being able to be learned by a large number of Pokémon, is strongly associated with Jigglypuff.
 * Won't Work On Me: Ghost moves couldn't do anything to them on the onset, but post-Gen 6 typing retcon, their Fairy subtyping also makes them immune to Dragon moves.

Zubat, Golbat, and Crobat
Crobat debuts in Gen II

The bane of trainers everywhere. These bats are found in almost every cave for almost four generations of games. What makes them so annoying is their speed (where your chances of running away is determined by speed stats) and their ability to confuse or poison you. Crobat is excused from this hatred for not being available in the wild. You'll need to befriend a Zubat or Golbat in order to evolve it. It has one of the fastest speeds in the game.


 * Always-Accurate Attack: They get Swift upon level-up, which is a Normal attack where they shoot star-shaped rays of energy that never miss.
 * Balloon Belly: Alluded to in some of Golbat's Pokedex entries, which mention it getting too heavy to fly effectively if it drinks too much blood at once.
 * Bat Out of Hell: Golbat and Crobat are person-sized vampire bats, and even Zubat is quite larger than most real bats, as well as being poisonous and generally annoying. They're also a popular pick for evil team Grunts, Admins, and even leaders.
 * Big Eater: Golbat is a blood-hungry glutton, with all of its Pokedex entries talking up its monstrous appetite.
 * Blow You Away: Air Cutter and Air Slash are level up moves for them, plus they're part Flying.
 * Boss Battle: Along with Crobat being a staple of villainous teams, it gets a proper spotlight as Koga's ace during the Johto Elite Four battles.
 * Com Mons: Every cave in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and even Alola are filled with Zubat. Except those filled with Golbat. Despite that, Crobat is actually a pretty good Pokémon, with stats on par with the evolved starters.
 * Death or Glory Attack: Zubat can be bred to have the 120 power, recoil damage-dealing Brave Bird, even though it isn't a bird.
 * Eyeless Face: Zubat, but this makes some sense, as it is a blind bat that depends on echolocation.
 * Flight
 * Giant Flyer: Crobat is a huge bat, clocking in at either being six feet tall or having a six feet-wide wingspan depending on how you interpret the Pokedex's info.
 * Goddamn Bats: The game itself even warns you to be wary of them when you first get to Mt. Moon.
 * Jack of All Stats: Pretty well-balanced stats, except for the Speed, with Crobat's being the 6th best in the game.
 * Life Drain: As one would expect from bloodsucking bats, their movepools include Absorb and Leech Life.
 * Magikarp Power: Zubat is much, much weaker than its evolved forms.
 * Disc One Nuke: Crobat is roughly as strong as the evolved starters, and due to how happiness works, can be obtained one level after evolving into the already respectable Golbat with just a little tender loving care. Also, in Platinum, wild Golbat are capturable (but rare) before the first gym, and theoretically one could get a Crobat under level 10.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Fittingly, these guys can learn Supersonic and Screech.
 * Morality Pet: Crobat seems to serve as a sutble example to the evil team leaders that use it, given that Golbat can't evolve unless it loves its trainer. Then again, considering that Cyrus has one, Pragmatic Villainy could certainly be in effect with him.
 * One of These Is Not Like the Others: Crobat is still a poisonous bat Pokemon, but just look at it when set up next to Zubat and Golbat. They look like they could have come from entirely different evolutionary lines!
 * Overly Long Tongue: Golbat in its Red and Blue sprite.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: In Red, Blue, and Yellow, where Crobat didn't exist. Thanks to its mediocre stats and shallow movepool, Golbat wasn't good for much beyond annoying Confuse Ray tactics and was left in the dust by practically every other Flying and Poison type in the game. Ignoring the addition of Crobat in later games, the introduction of Eviolite and a far more expansive movepool led to it becoming a surprisingly viable choice in lower-tier competitive play.
 * Perpetual Frowner: Crobat is always scowling. Always. Even when it's happy!
 * Pet the Dog: This might be the case when you see Crobat on the teams of guys like Maxie, Archie, and Cyrus. Given that they evolve due to having a close bond to their trainer, it either hints that their trainer has a soft spot for them (Which is more likely for Archie and Maxie since they're well-intended and turn over a new leaf), or it could simply be Pragmatic Villainy on their part (Which is more likely for Cyrus, given his sociopathic tendencies).
 * Poisonous Person
 * The Power of Friendship: Arguably the first time it's applied as a game element in the series; it's the only way to evolve Golbat into Crobat.
 * Small Annoying Creature: Zubat, ho boy. There is no worse feeling than watching your Pokémon's health slowly dwindle when its Supersonic keeps causing it to hit itself, all while Leech Life slowly restores any health you've taken away.
 * The Stoic: No matter how happy you make it in Pokémon-Amie, Crobat never stops scowling.
 * Won't Work On Me: Ground moves, on account of their Flying typing.
 * You Have Researched Breathing: They may be bats which entails lots of flying, but Zubat and Golbat couldn't learn Fly until Gen 4.

Oddish, Gloom, Vileplume, and Bellossom (Nazonokusa, Kusaihana, Rafflesia, and Kireihana)
Bellossom debuts in Gen II

One of the archetypal Grass-type families, Oddish and its evolved forms are a good choice if you didn't start with Bulbasaur. Oddish resembles a radish that's blue in color and it walks on two feet. As it matures into a Gloom, it gains arms and becomes very smelly, much like a rafflesia. Finally can evolve into either a Vileplume, or a Bellossom... if you have one of the appropriate stones, that is. Bellossom is somewhat unique in that it shrinks in size and loses its Poison typing upon evolution, as well as losing its legs, which are replaced by a leaf-dress of sorts.


 * Armless Biped: Oddish.
 * Beautiful All Along: Gloom is a lot uglier than the adorable Oddish, but evolution proves it to be an ugly duckling of sorts: depending on the evolution you pick, it either evolves into the nasty-smelling but otherwise adorable Vileplume, or the tiny and adorable hula girl Bellossom.
 * Com Mons: In Hoenn, where they are much more common than in Kanto or Johto.
 * Cute Monster Girl: Bellossom is a tiny plant creature that looks like a beautiful hula girl.
 * Dance Battler: Bellossom. Both it and Vileplume can learn Petal Dance, but Bellossom's hula girl design takes this further.
 * Dude Looks Like a Lady: Male Bellossom exist, and are just as pretty and girly looking as the females.
 * Early Installment Weirdness: Early artwork in the Johto era showed Bellossom with purple skin despite it being green-skinned. Said art is a holdover from Bellossom's original design, where it was indeed purple.
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Gloom's Japanese name is Kusaihana, which literally translates to "smelly flower". Also, Bellossom's Japanese name is Kireihana, which literally translates to "beautiful flower".
 * Green Thumb
 * Hula and Luaus: Bellossom.
 * Irony: You'd think that a Pokémon themed entirely around hula would be found in the Hawaii-based Alola region, but nope: aside from a few artistic depictions Bellossom and the rest of the Oddish family can't be found in the wild.
 * Meaningful Name: A Rafflesia (Vileplume's name in the Japanese version) is the largest flower in the world and produces a highly foul odor, and the flower on its head highly resembles one.
 * This may also go to explain why Gloom smells so bad.
 * Mighty Glacier: Both Vileplume and Bellossom have decent attack stats, but their speed stat is rather lacking.
 * One of These Things Is Not Like the Others: Bellossom looks a lot different than the rest of its family. Originally this wouldn't have been quite the case since it was originally colored purple like the rest in old artwork/Gold's beta build, but as time went on it became green and drove the differences a lot further home.
 * Petal Power
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: As noted above, Bellossom is the smallest form of the family, yet its stats are on par with the alternative evolution Vileplume.
 * Plant Person
 * Poisonous Person: As noted above, Bellossom is the only one that isn't this.
 * Real Men Wear Grass Skirts: Bellossom has an even chance of being male.
 * Signature Move: Petal Dance, but only in Generation I.

Paras and Parasect


Paras and Parasect are an interesting family. It's a cicada-like insect that's in a symbiotic [read:parasitic] relationship with a mushroom that only grows on the bug. Thus, it is capable of using both Bug and Grass type moves. This comes with a cost, though: Upon evolution, the mushroom takes over the insect's brain and it seems that it's the mushroom that is in control of the creature. It's considered a great Pokémon to catch other Pokémon with though, since it has access to Spore, one of the best sleep-inducing moves in the game, and False Swipe, which will never reduce a target's health below one. Just keep it away from heat.


 * Ax Crazy: Dear god. The Paras and Parasect encountered in Legends: Arceus are bloodthirsty little demons that have a huge aggro radius and will chase you down the second they see you. Their aggression quickly became memetic among fans, who were caught off guard by how violent (and annoying) they were.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies
 * Blank White Eyes: Parasect, as a result of losing its mind to the mushroom.
 * Body Horror: A minor example, but those mushrooms growing aren't benevolent or symbiotic: they're parasitic fungi that completely take over its mind upon becoming Parasect. And speaking of Parasect, it loses the tiny mushrooms in favor of one gigantic shroom bursting out of its back.
 * For Massive Damage: Fire-type attacks will do huge damage (it is the only Pokémon family that can have a 5x weakness to a type), as well as flying-type attacks.
 * Without Dry Skin, it "merely" takes quadruple damage from Fire-type attacks. That still hurts a lot.
 * If you're playing Red, Blue, Yellow, or Green, Poison also does x4 Damage, as it and Bug were super effective on each other in those games.
 * Green Thumb
 * Healing Factor: With Dry Skin, they gradually recover health in the rain. It also becomes immune to Water attacks by restoring 25% health if struck by one (akin to Water Absorb).
 * Gen VII buffed Leech Life, as well as increased its availability so much that Parasect now has a more reliable means of recovery.
 * Kill It with Fire: Parsect has always been 4 times weak to Fire, but since getting Dry Skin, it can potentially have a 5 times weakness to the type due to the ability amplifying Fire damage by 25%. This weakness is irritated further under intense sunlight, allowing Paras and Parasect to have a massive 10 times weakness to Fire.
 * Kryptonite Is Everywhere: As if having such low speed and mediocre stats weren't bad enough, Paras and Parasect have been screwed over by their horrible defensive typing since day 1. They have two quad-weaknesses to Fire and Flying, which are very common attacking types in competitive play, and their lesser weaknesses to Rock, Ice, Poison, and Bug are still pretty tough to deal with. And if that wasn't bad enough, they were also quad-weak to Poison in Gen 1. Yes, Paras and Parasect used to have THREE quad weaknesses at one point, and are the only Pokémon this has ever applied to.
 * Mighty Glacier: Downplayed, but it's there: Parasect is as slow as can be, but can hit decently hard with its physical attacks and its defenses aren't half bad. Unfortunately, it gets screwed over by its low health and plethora of crippling weaknesses.
 * Puppeteer Parasite: The mushrooms on Paras's back are influencing its thoughts.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Paras was originally supposed to have a baby form that was cut during the development of Gold and Silver. Its data still exists in the beta build of Gold, and it is painfully adorable. No body horror or parasitic fungi, just a cute baby bug sitting on a mushroom.
 * Seldom-Seen Species: While Paras and Parasect's mushrooms don't look like them, their function is a dead-ringer for cordyceps fungi, which are known to parasitize and zombify the bugs they infect.
 * Signature Move: Spore, of them and the other three mushroom-based families - in fact, the move's Japanese name is Mushroom Spore.
 * There's also Effect Spore, which is a signature ability. Again, only the Paras line and the other three mushroom-based families get it naturally (though Vileplume can get it through the Dream World.)
 * Standard Status Effects: Their greatest strength is being able to inflict Sleep through the reliably accurate Spore, while other Sleep-inducing moves are likely to miss.
 * This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman: Parasect's stats make it a mediocre battler, but it's an excellent Pokémon catcher: thanks to Spore and False Swipe it can reliably bring wild Pokémon down to 1 HP without killing them, as well as put them to sleep and make them even less likely to break out of any Pokéballs you throw.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Dry Skin gave it viability in Rain Dance teams.
 * What Could Have Been: Gold and Silver were originally set to introduce a baby form for Paras that would have been a tiny bug sitting on a mushroom with no signs of parasitation. But like many other baby Pokémon Gamefreak had originally conceived, it was left on the cutting room floor, likely so as not to bloat the cast with too many baby Pokémon.
 * Won't Work On Me: Water moves are useless against a Parasect with Dry Skin: not only does it completely nullify their damage, but it can heal itself with them.
 * Zombie Animal: Parasect is basically a corpse puppeteered by the fungi on its back: the Pokédex states that they do all the thinking for it and that if separated from the host, Parasect will stop moving.

Venonat and Venomoth (Kongpang and Morphon)


A furry bug-like creature that evolves into a moth with poisonous scales. It's kinda unremarkable, apart from the fact that it is a far better choice as a Bug Pokémon than Beedrill or Butterfree, except that it comes far later than both of them.


 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Not only is Venomoth a gigantic moth, but Venonat's the size of a preschooler.
 * Blow You Away: Venomoth, which learns a few wind-based moves despite not being a Flying type.
 * Boss Battle: Venomoth is not only the star player of Janice's team in the Johto games, but also Koga's best Pokemon in Yellow.
 * Flight: Venomoth, in just the same way as Beedrill.
 * Glass Cannon: Venomoth has respectable Special Attack that it can crank up to insane levels with Quiver Dance, but low defenses (Though Special Defense also raises thanks to Quiver Dance...)
 * Poisonous Person
 * Pretty Butterfly: Venomoth may be poisonous, but it's still incredibly pretty.
 * Psychic Powers: They learn the 3 main offensive Psychic moves via level up.
 * Standard Status Effects: Like Butterfree, they learn the 3 powder moves.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Venomoth seems to have simply gotten better and better as time's gone by. Generation 2 brought it Poison STAB (Sludge Bomb), Generation 3 brought it a cool ability called Shield Dust which prevents the enemy's added effects of moves (like Flamethrower's burn), Generation 4 gave it the physical/special split, giving it good special STAB (Bug Buzz+Sludge Bomb), and more importantly Tinted Lens which is a new ability that increases damage if the foe resists Venomoth's attack (ie, x.5 damage becomes x1, x.25 becomes .5), meaning it has fewer safe switch-ins. Generation 5 gives it Quiver Dance, a new boosting move that increases Special Attack, Special Defense and Speed by one stage. And it can Baton Pass it. Venomoth is making quite a fuss in the lower tiers, and for good reason!

Diglett (Digda) and Dugtrio


Based on Whack-a-Moles, these are probably tied with Voltorb and Magnemite for the Pokémon with the simplest design. Diglett appears to be only a half-buried brown nub with a bright red nose. Dugtrio appears to be no different, except that it's three of them. What's also unusual about this Ground type (mostly populated by tanks) is that it's also lighting-fast, but can't take a hit well. It's also got the ability to trap land-based opponents.

Diglett and Dugtrio found in the Alolan region are Ground/Steel types, and have evolved metallic golden whiskers to alert them to threats since their volcanic homes make it harder for them hide compared to their Kantonian cousins. Said whiskers start off as a small amount of individual hairs atop Alolan Diglett's head, but they grow into majestic golden 'dos upon evolving into Alolan Dugtrio.


 * Ambiguous Situation: Is Dugtrio a three-headed creature, or three Digletts working together as one unit?
 * Angry Eyebrows: Dugtrio's sprites tended to sport these in earlier games.
 * Badass Long Hair: One of Alolan Dugtrio's heads sports an impressive golden head of Fabio hair. Seriously, just look at it.
 * Bigger on the Inside: Fanart frequently depicts the tiny, adorable Diglett/Dugtrio as being a surface appendage for a massive subterranean abomination.
 * Crutch Character: Can't defeat Lt. Surge because his Raichu is mopping the floor with your Squirtle? Don't worry; just go to the nearby Diglett's Cave and catch a Diglett (or a Dugtrio should one happen to crop up), then proceed to destroy Surge with a well-placed Dig. It's best not to rely on it too much, however, thanks to the Ground type's common weaknesses and their low non-speed stats causing problems later on.
 * The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: They really go out of their way to ensure that Diglett and Dugtrio is never seen leaving the ground, to the point of giving them special animations for when any other Pokémon uses a non-animated hop (Pokéathlon, Poké Transfer) or just appear in mid-air (When sent into battle in Black and White) anyways.
 * Disc One Nuke: Wild Dugtrio can be caught in Diglett's cave as high as level 30 at a point in the Kanto games where everything you're fighting is hovering comfortably around the late tens/early twenties. If you're patient and careful enough to catch one, have fun watching it steamroll the mid-early game, particularly Lt. Surge who's completely helpless against it. Its low non-speed stats start to catch up to it later on, but STAB Earthquake and Gen 1's always-critical Slash attacks are still nothing to sneeze at.
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Alolan Diglett and Dugtrio, which have a Steel subtyping.
 * Fragile Speedster: In its own right, and especially by the standards of its type.
 * Glass Cannon: Thanks to Dugtrio's respectable attack boost from Gen 7 onwards, it has settled comfortably into this role. The same goes for its Alolan cousin, which hits hard from the start.
 * Multiple Head Case: Dugtrio.
 * Riddle for the Ages: We will likely never see what the rest of Diglett or Dugtrio's body looks like.
 * Signature Move: Despite being a widespread move, prior to Generation III, they are the only ones to learn Dig naturally.
 * Starfish Alien: Diglett and Dugtrio may be this. We just aren't sure. Given that Dugtrio has three heads from a one-headed Diglett, it's not out of the field of possibility.
 * The Unseen: Their lower bodies will never be seen, only implied. They seem to have claws and feet at least.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Gen 7 would grant Dugtrio a much-needed Attack boost, making it a truly dangerous revenge-trapper in competitive play.
 * Won't Work On Me: Electricity for both versions, while the Alolan ones are also immune to Poison.
 * You Will Not Evade Me: Again, Arena Trap.

Meowth (Nyarth), Persian, and Perrserker (Nyaikingu)


These Pokémon are probably some of the most recognized Pokémon in the franchise after Pikachu, due to one individual being a main antagonist in the anime and because that particular one is unique in that it can speak human languages, something very few other Pokémon can do (and most of those use telepathy). It's only natural to have a cat Pokémon as an antagonist when your protagonist is a mouse. These cats are based on Maneki Neko, a lucky cat that's supposed to grant its owner wealth. Persian has a regal air to it and is quite fast, but nothing note-worthy about it otherwise.

Later games would make the Meowth family even more relevant by giving them not one, but two regional variants. Alolan Meowth and Persian are Dark types descended from Meowths that were raised by royalty and treated as such, leading to a subspecies-wide vain streak that would persist long after the fall of the Alolan royal family. Then theres the Steel type Galarian variant, which were literally toughened up to the point of developing metallic fur due to being raised by the setting's equivalent to vikings. Galarian Meowths don't evolve into Persian, but instead an entirely different Pokémon called Perrserker, which is far more brutal and violent than its Kantonian and Alolan cousins.


 * Absurdly Sharp Blade: Perrserker's claws, which resemble retractable daggers. And they're not just for show: thanks to the damage buff their Tough Claws ability grants their contact moves, their slashing and clawing moves hurt.
 * The Artifact: Meowth's relevance in the games and merch would nosedive after Gen 1, with Team Rocket's Meowth in the anime being the line's only prominent representative for a while. But as of Gen 7, Meowth and Persian escaped this status thanks to their family getting two additional regional forms as well as a Gigantamax form.
 * Badass Normal: This housecat made it to Overused in the days of the Red/Blue/Yellow games because of the fact that, due to the critical hit rate being based on speed, Slash always yielded one.
 * Blood Knight: True to its Viking inspiration, there's nothing a Perrserker enjoys more than a good fight.
 * Boss Battle: Persian is the strongest member of Giovanni's team in Yellow, and because this is Gen 1 Persian we're talking about, it can be surprisingly dangerous. An Alolan Persian also serves as Nanu's ace during his boss fight in Sun and Moon and their Updated Rereleases.
 * Breakout Character: Not quite to the level of Pikachu, but Meowth's always gotten a lot of attention thanks to its prominent role in the anime.
 * Can't Catch Up: As early as Gen 2, Persian's competitive viability tanked thanks to a combination of its most dangerous moves, Slash and Hyper Beam, being heavily rebalanced, as well as the series' infamous Power Creep setting in. With such low base stats outside of speed, it can be hard for newer players to imagine it ever being a competitive powerhouse
 * Cats Are Mean: No matter if it's the temperamental Kantonian Persian, the snotty Alolan variants, or the brutal viking cats from Galar, Meowth's got quite the mean family tree.
 * Combat Pragmatist: Their natural movepool is not one made up of orthodox moves.
 * Confusion Fu: They've got a massive movepool. That's par for the course for Normal types, but Meowth and Persian still get more options than most.
 * Dark Is Evil: Or at the very least mean, in the case of the Alolan variants.
 * Disc One Nuke: Even in games beyond Gen 1, Meowth and Persian are still worth keeping around thanks to learning Pay Day at low levels, allowing you to rack up tons of money to spend on powerful items, TM's, and coins so you can buy rare Game Corner Pokémon.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Galarian Meowth and Perrserker, which are Steel types.
 * Fragile Speedster: Persian is incredibly fast, but will shatter like glass if you so much as sneeze on it. Alolan Persian with Fur Coat however are decent physical tanks thanks to their ability halving all physical damage dealt to them.
 * Glass Cannon: In Gen 1. Despite its pitiful Attack stat, Persian's high speed led to Slash always landing a critical hit, which still allowed it to punch holes in enemy teams.
 * Gonk: Alolan Persian have weirdly fat and round-looking faces that are hilariously out of place on their skinny bodies.
 * Horny Vikings: Perrserker's design invokes this thanks to it being a viking Pokémon with a lust for battle, and head fur that looks like a stereotypical horned helmet.
 * Item Caddy: Meowth can have the Pickup ability, allowing them to randomly pick up various items after battle.
 * Mighty Glacier: Perrserker is a physical powerhouse offensively and defensively, but it's exactly as slow as you'd expect a cat with armored fur to be.
 * Nerf: Not intentionally, but Slash and Hyper Beam getting toned down resulted in Persian being heavily nerfed during the transition between Gens 1 and 2.
 * Non-Elemental: The Kantonian varieties.
 * Panthera Awesome: Persian, a housecat.
 * Signature Move: Pay Day for Meowth; the attack has actually been steadingly limited to Meowth and only Meowth over the gens (even vanishing from Persian's learnset in Gen IV). Averted slightly in Gen V, as Purrloin has this as an Egg Move, and in Gen3, where it was possible to get a Skitty with this thorough Pokemon Box. Still, the convenience of having it in their level up movepools means that it will likely always be associated with Meowth.
 * Also averted in Gen 1, where Pay Day was a TM.
 * Slasher Smile: Galarian Meowth and Perrserker are always sporting deranged grins on their faces.
 * Smug Snake: Alolan Meowths, which are snooty and prideful to a fault.
 * Super Mode: Surprisingly, it isn't Persian or Perrserker who gets a Gigantamax Form, but Meowth. Certain Kantonian Meowths transform into a Kaiju-sized cat with a noodly, overly long torso. According to the Pokedex, the coin on its forehead is believed to hold the secrets behind the concept of Dynamaxing as a whole.
 * Weak but Skilled: Their attacking stats are average at best, and their defenses are lacking, but their ability, speed, and movepool make them stand out, specially in Gen I.
 * What Could Have Been: The Meowth family was one of few that were originally conceived as a three-stage family: Meowth was originally the middle stage following an adorable little kitten levitating several coins above its head. But sadly, it was not meant to be: it was cut from Gen 1 and after being reconsidered for Gen 2, was cut from that as well.

Psyduck (Koduck) and Golduck


One of the most recognizable Pokémon, Psyduck is an eternally confused yellow duck-thing (some call it a platypus, though). It's got a headache that can somehow enable it to tap into mysterious psychic powers. Golduck is less silly though.


 * Action Initiative: With a bit of help from the move-tutor, Golduck can use Aqua Jet.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Psyduck can have the powerful Fighting-type move Cross Chop bred onto it, and it was a staple in Golduck's competitive movesets in earlier games.
 * Confusion Fu: It's not overly strong, but Golduck can be a decent threat in low-tier competitive play thanks to having a wide range of Special and Physical moves to work off its decent attacking stats, as well as Calm Mind and Hone Claws to boost whatever kind of attacks it decides to go with.
 * Everything's Better with Platypi: Psyduck's bill is evocative of one, and its headache-induced dopiness makes it an endearing little guy.
 * Jack of All Stats: Save for Golduck's fairly decent Special Attack, its stats are rather average.
 * Making a Splash
 * Non-Indicative Name: Despite being called PSYduck and being able to learn a few Psychic moves, Psyduck isn't a Psychic type. Golduck also isn't gold or even yellow-colored, which has led to a somewhat common conspiracy theory that their names were accidentally swapped in development and Gamefreak just rolled with it.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Water is the most widespread type of all, so there will always be a better alternative to these guys. Even before the Power Creep really set in, they've always struggled to stand out among the pack.
 * Psychic Powers: Despite not being Psychic-type at all.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Psyduck isn't conventionally cute, but its innocent dopiness has won it plenty of fans. It's also considered to be this in-universe, because it's one of the only Pokémon considered cute enough for you to walk with in Sinnoh's Amity Square.
 * Weather Control Creatures: It's under a different name, but one of their abilities is essentially Rayquaza's Air Lock.
 * Youkai: Golduck is based on the Kappa.

Mankey and Primeape (Okorizaru)


Mankey and Primeape resemble puff-balls as much as they resemble pig-snouted monkeys and apes. They're fighting-types that always seem to be angry at something. In the Yellow version, this is the guy you want to use to fight against Brock, since Pikachu really cannot do squat against him.


 * Ass Kicks You: Possibly how Primeape uses Iron Tail, since Mankey's tail is lost upon evolving.
 * Awesome But Impractical: Anger Point is an amazing, if situational ability that will jack up the Pokémon's Attack stat to insane levels if it takes a Critical Hit. Unfortunately, it's just not worth it on Primeape because it'll very rarely, if ever survive a critical hit thanks to its paper-thin defenses. So as fun as it might be to try to unleash a furious killing machine on your enemies, just stick to Defiant.
 * Ax Crazy: Oh yeah. Their horrible tempers and penchant for maniacal brutality essentially make them Trevor Phillips in Pokémon form.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Primeape's main fighting style.
 * Confusion Fu: Primeape's surprisingly vast movepool covers every typing except for Fairy, and includes very "out there" attacks like Seed Bomb and Gunk Shot.
 * Cross-Popping Veins: Primeape.
 * Everything's Better with Monkeys: If they're on your side, most definitely. Mankey and Primeape are excellent Fighting types and really synergize well with Charmander and Pikachu in the Kanto games, since they can cover the Rock types the former is weak to and the latter struggles to hurt.
 * Fragile Speedster: Primeape is the third-fastest Fighting type (among the Fighting-types, only Infernape and Step Forme Meloetta are faster,) but it can only take one hit... if said hit is absurdly weak and/or comes from a type that Primeape resists.
 * Glass Cannon: High powered moves coming from a high attack spell this.
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: Mankey and Primeape spend most of their lives in perpetual fury, going aggro on anything that even looks at them sideways.
 * Maniac Monkeys: Foul-tempered monkey Pokemon that will obsessively hunt down anyone who pisses them off and beat them half to death? Yep, they're this trope alright.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Not in-game, but from a competitive standpoint the Power Creep has not been kind to Primeape, who finds itself heavily outclassed by a lot of Fighting types.
 * Peaceful in Death: It's said in Pokémon Sun that the only time a Primeape's rage subsides is in death, where its expression is noted to look especially serene and peaceful.
 * Status Buff: Two of its abilities. Anger Point maxes out its Attack if it gets hit by a critical attack, and Defiant increases its Attack by two stages if one of its stats gets reduced by the opponent, including Attack - a great way to turn Intimidate users's strategy on its head.
 * Unstoppable Rage: Hoo boy. Mankey is very prone to this, and this is pretty much Primeape's default mood. You can still get a Calm-natured Mankey.
 * Implacable Monkey: Once it's gotten riled up at something, Primape will never stop chasing the offending party until it has caught up and beaten the everloving crap out of it.
 * Heck, Pokedex entries state that in tree colonies, if one Mankey goes nuts, they all do.

Growlithe and Arcanine (Gardie and Windie)


These Fire-type dog-like Pokémon are based on Shisa. They vaguely resemble lions and tigers along with their more canine features. Arcanine has one of the highest stats for a non-legendary (ironically, this doesn't stop its official moniker from being the Legendary Pokémon) and access to a wide variety of moves, making it one of the best choices as far as Fire-types are concerned. Back when the ancient Sinnoh region was known as the Hisui region, it was home to a special variant of Growlithe with a Rock subtyping. These Hisuian Growlithes had longer fur, fluffier, yet rock-hard hair and lived together in pairs. Hisuian Arcanine, meanwhile, boasts impressive red and black coloration and is said to be almost playful in the way it dances around its foes in the heat of battle.


 * Action Initiative: Arcanine can learn the rare Extremespeed, which is Quick Attack on steroids.
 * Big Badass Wolf
 * Blinding Bangs: Hisuian Growlithe.
 * Boss Battle: In Legends: Arceus, a Hisuian Arcanine is one of the five Noble Pokemon you fight during the story.
 * Canis Major: Arcanine is 6'03".
 * Confusion Fu: Not originally, but nowadays Arcanine has quite the diverse movepool. Along with its typical Fire and Normal moves, you now have Electric, Ground, Dragon, Fighting, Grass, Dark, Flying, Fairy, and Steel moves to look out for.
 * Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Ho boy. Arcanine can learn a ton of these: Take Down, Double Edge, Wild Charge, and Flare Blitz are traditional examples that hurt it at the expense of dealing huge amounts of damage, but there's also the stat-lowering Close Combat/Overheat and the Confusion-inducing Outrage/Thrash.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Hisuanian Arcanine's edgy, jagged appearance and Red and Black and Evil All Over aesthetics make it a lot more intimidating than its Kantonian counterpart, but it's still a loyal and friendly Pokémon.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Hisuanian Growlithe and Arcanine. Their typing seems to be a result of adapting to live in a rugged volcanic environment, and they have igneous rock components in their fur.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: Despite all the Pokédex entries rambling on about how it's probably the fastest Pokémon in existence, it's really not that hard to find something with a higher base Speed stat than Arcanine. Even its direct counterpart, Ninetales, is faster than it.
 * Worth noting that ExtremeSpeed was its Signature Move in Gen II, so it held some merit.
 * Heroic Dog: Growlithe and Arcanine are known for being gentle and loyal to their masters, and will fight their hardest to protect them.
 * Informed Attribute: Arcanine is famed for its insane speed with it being considered to be one of the fastest Pokémon in existence. Yeah... no. There are PLENTY that are faster, though its Pokédex entries may be referring to its Extremespeed move, which used to be exclusive to it until it wasn't.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: Despite not being draconic in appearance or otherwise, Arcanine can learn quite a few Dragon moves: Dragon Rage, Dragonbreath, Dragon Pulse, Outrage...
 * Jack of All Stats: Its stats are very well rounded, with it particularly specializing in Attack.
 * Lightning Bruiser: It can hit like a truck, is fairly speedy, and has pretty good defenses.
 * Mighty Roar: They're heavily associated with the Roar move, which forces the Pokémon on the receiving end to flee the battle in terror, or switch out to a random Pokémon in a trainer battle. Most wild Growlithe are packing this move by default, and it's not uncommon for an attempt at catching one to fail miserably because you were scared by an adorable puppy roaring at you.
 * Panthera Awesome: While they're dogs first and foremost, their orange coloration and stripes are definitely meant to be evocative of tigers.
 * Playing with Fire
 * Poor Predictable Rock: Not anymore, but Arcanine suffered from having a terrible movepool in early generations, where it got Fire moves, Normal moves, a few token Dark moves, and Dig.
 * Precious Puppies: Growlithe, both Kantonian and Hisuian versions.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Comes with the territory since Growlithes are adorable little puppy dogs, but just look at the Hisuian version! It's so fluffy!
 * Signature Move: ExtremeSpeed for Arcanine, in Gen II only.
 * Took a Level in Badass: It seems like every generation makes sure to give Arcanine some handy new moves to move it up another level.
 * Undying Loyalty: Like any pup worth its salt, Growlithe is unfailingly loyal to its trainer.
 * What Could Have Been: Thanks to the 2020 Nintendo Gigaleak, it's been revealed that Growlithe would have originally had a pre-evolution that was smaller and even cuter than it!

Poliwag, Poliwhirl, Poliwrath, and Politoed (Nyoromo, Nyorozo, Nyorobon, and Nyorotono)
Politoed debuts in Gen II

These water Pokémon are based on tadpoles and frogs. They also happen to be Satoshi Tajiri's favorite Pokémon, and as such, they get plenty of showcasing. They're blue in color and have swirling bellies that can make their opponents sleepy by simply undualating it. Politoed is very different in that it's a fully mature green frog.


 * Armless Biped: Poliwag.
 * Awesome Moment of Crowning: The player needs a King's Rock (shaped like a crown) for evolving Poliwhirl into Politoed.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Poliwrath, as a Fighting type.
 * Body Horror: Not immediately obvious, but that cute swirl pattern on Poliwag, Poliwhirl, and Poliwrath's bellies? That's no mere pattern, it's their intestines. Which swirl around in battle. Ugh...
 * Boss Battle: Poliwrath is Chuck's strongest Pokémon in the Johto games and their remakes.
 * Frogs and Toads
 * Hypnotic Intestines: The swirl pattern they show on their bellies is perfect for making opponents fall asleep.
 * The Hypnotoad Literal examples, since they're toads with prominent hypnotic abilities.
 * Jack of All Stats: Politoed and Poliwrath have fairly balanced stats, with Poliwrath favoring the physical side of things while Politoed is more specially-inclined.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Politoed can learn Hyper Voice.
 * Making a Splash
 * Psychic Powers: Oddly enough, they can learn Psychic and Psywave along with the usual Ice moves Water types get.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Poliwhirl's evolution into Poliwrath; a meekly toad becomes a part-Fighting type which specializes in punching things into submission.
 * Poliwrath and especially Politoed got excellent Dream World abilities.
 * Weather Control Creature: Politoed can now have Kyogre's Drizzle ability.
 * Truth in Television: Poliwag and friends' intestines being visible from the outside isn't just some kind of weird cartoony quirk: that's actually a thing with certain species of tadpoles in real life.
 * Wolverine Publicity: Aside from the Adventures manga where it was Red's starter, Poliwhirl has never been particularly important when compared to the likes of Pikachu, Charizard, Greninja, or tons of legendary Pokémon. And yet, Poliwhirl was very prominent during the early days of Pokémon merchandising, mainly due to it being Satoshi Tajiri's favorite.

Abra, Kadabra, and Alakazam (Casie, Yungerer, and Foodin)


The first psychic type you might encounter, Abra and its kin were one of the best Pokémon in the game in the days of Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow, mainly due to how broken Psychic Pokémon were at the time. Abra was notable for teleporting away as soon as it appeared, so you only had one chance to catch it before it ran. Once caught though, its lightning fast and hits very hard with its special attacks.


 * Awesome But Impractical: The Abra line can learn all three elemental punches, which gives it a surprisingly flexible movepool... too bad its Physical Attack stat is absolutely miserable.
 * Awesome Yet Practical: But in Gen 2, where you can buy them as TM's early in the game, and they run off their monstrous Special Attack stat? They work amazingly.
 * Badass: Alakazam's no-nonsense glare and impressive mustache give it quite the intimidating presence, and its status as one of the series' most powerful Special Sweepers makes it a force to be reckoned with.
 * Badass Grandpa: Mega Alakazam looks the part thanks to its majestic white beard, and if you thought Alakazam already hit hard? You've seen nothing yet.
 * Badass Mustache: Grows one as it evolves.
 * Baleful Polymorph/Was Once a Man: According to the Pokédex, a boy with psychic powers transformed into the first Kadabra.
 * Boss Battle: Alakazam is Sabrina's ace in any game she appears in, and is quite the dangerous opponent.
 * Disc One Nuke: Alakazam's basically a diet Mewtwo in terms of power, but that's in no way, shape, or form a putdown: it is obscenely fast and powerful. Abra are always encountered very early in the games where they're available, and they evolve into Kadabra at a paltry level 16. You can immediately evolve Kadabra by trading it, meaning that you can have a top-tier competitive threat that will nuke everything that doesn't resist its attacks as early as before the second gym. And in the Sinnoh games, it doesn't take a lot of grinding to have one before Roark, the very first gym leader. Even if you don't have the means to get an Alakazam, Kadabra is still a reliable battler and is only slightly weaker than Alakazam.
 * Metal Slime: But good luck catching an Abra!
 * Magikarp Power: And good luck evolving it, as it lacks damaging moves. However, with some TMs, Abra becomes a dangerous creature itself, as it already has respectable Special attack and Speed.
 * Eyes Always Shut: Abra. The only glimpse of an Abra eye is the Gold sprite, where its left eye is half-open.
 * Foil: Alakazam to Machamp. Both have similar stats and methods of evolving (trade), but opposing types and ways of fighting.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: Abra supposedly teleports while sleeping, but putting it to sleep is the most effective way to catch one.
 * Glass Cannon: Incredible speed and special attack, pathetic HP and defense. The Special defense is passable, but the low HP hinders it somewhat.
 * Heal Thyself: Fortunately it learns Recover.
 * Heavy Sleeper: Abra spends most of the day asleep, and can teleport away from danger even if sleeping.
 * Intelligent Gerbil: Alakazam has an IQ that exceeds 5,000, making it the smartest Pokémon in existence.
 * Improbably High IQ: Not the first (or last) time that the Pokedex is ridiculously overblown, but given the way the IQ scale works, Alakazam's stated intelligence just breaks it into tiny whimpering pieces.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Thanks to Special Attack and Special Defense being treated as a singular Special stat in Red Blue and Yellow, Gen 1 Alakazam could tank Special hits like they were nothing in addition to outspeeding and overpowering so many other Pokémon.
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: Kadabra is based on Uri Geller (its Japanese name is even a corruption of his name), a man who claimed to be able to bend spoons with his mind. Geller was not impressed, and sued Nintendo over it (he lost).
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: A very minor example. The Psychic type's various nerfs, the Physical/Special split (and the Special Defense/Special Attack split before that), and the rise of Stone Wall powerhouses like Snorlax, Blissey, and Skarmory among others all led to Alakazam being less of a dominant force in competitive play as time went on. But with that being said, it has never dipped below the UU tier and has always had a presence in OU gameplay, which is a lot more than can be said about similar powerhouses like Tauros and Starmie.
 * Took a Level in Badass: In Gen V, thanks to getting the Psyshock move and (even more so) the Magic Guard ability, which essentially makes it a Glass Ninja version of Reuniclus.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Signature Move: Kinesis for Kadabra and Alakazam.
 * Super Mode: Its Mega Evolved form, Mega Alakazam. With a monstrous 175 Sp.Atk and 150 Speed, Alakazam is primed for sweeping in this mode. It also has 105 Sp.Def (after an error correction between Gens VI and VII), and a more useful 65 Defense, and can copy the opponent's ability when sent out in this mode.
 * Synchronization: Can have the ability Synchronize, which allows them to inflict Burn, Paralysis, and Poison statuses back on opponents who hit them with them.
 * Teleport Spam: Abra is known for teleporting away before you can catch it.
 * Theme Naming: Even the pre-production names of Abra and Kadabra (Hocus and Pocus, respectively) have a theme.
 * Won't Work On Me: Any variant of indirect damage, due to its Dream World ability Magic Guard.

Machop, Machoke, and Machamp (Wanriky, Goriky, and Kairiky)


In the same way that the Abra kin represents brains, the Machop line represents brawn. These Pokémon are fantastically strong and use their muscles very effectively when it comes to manual labour. In order to get the four-armed Machamp, you need to trade it into another game.


 * Bare-Fisted Monk: With four fists!
 * Bicep-Polishing Gesture: Machoke; on some sprites, Machop, too.
 * Boss Battle: Machamp is the star player of Bruno's team in the games you fight him in. Same with Bea in Sword and Shield, only hers can Gigantamax!
 * Foil: Machamp to Alakazam, as mentioned above.
 * Lady Looks Like a Dude: Their male-female ratio is 3:1, yeah, but females don't even get any visible difference.
 * Lizard Folk: Machop and Machoke have a noticable reptilian flair in their design, a feature that Machamp doesn't quite share with them.
 * Mighty Glacier: They're not that fast, but their defenses are solid.
 * Mr. Fanservice: Ignoring the lust they inspire in Bara fans, Machamp is shown to be popular with human girls in-universe, where an amusing sidequest in the Alola games involves you shooing off some love-crazed fangirls fawning over an uncomfortable Machamp's muscular build..
 * Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Machamp.
 * Name's the Same: Both Machamp and Dragonite are called "GUAIL" in Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: In early games, despite being a physical counterpart to the Abra line, due to Psychic (its prime weakness) being overpowered. Since then however, because of nerfs to Psychic, an expanding of its movepool, and a new ability that's Difficult but Awesome, this has gone away.
 * Pec Flex: Machoke in its Crystal sprites.
 * Power Limiter: According to the Dex, their belts.
 * Signature Move: The only ones to learn Submission naturally in Generation I.
 * Smarter Than You Look: It's stated that Machop is actually quite intelligent. This likely applies to its evolutions, since Machoke are often used for construction and moving work while Machamp are employed as Ride Pokémon in Alola, showing that they can be trusted to carry out manual labor and transportation without making any stupid mistakes.
 * Super Mode: Certain Machamp have access to a Gigantamax form, which wears a proper pair of pants instead of trunks, a more impressive belt, and has Dynamax energy coursing throough its veins to the point of it registering as near-literal Volcanic Veins.
 * Super Strength: As expected from the Superpower Pokémon.
 * Machop can hold a sumo wrestler aloft on one finger, Machamp can lift dump trucks without effort, and Machamp can punch a man with enough force to send him flying away. Ridiculous strength much? The pokedex entries could be exaggerating though.
 * Wrestler in All of Us
 * You Will Not Evade Me: A variation of this trope involves their second ability No Guard, which ensures that all of their attacks hit their target. It does unfortunately have the reverse effect of ensuring that all the opponent's attacks hit them, too.

Bellsprout, Weepinbell, and Victreebel (Madatsubomi, Utsudon, and Utsubot)


This family of carnivorus plants were exclusive to the Green and Blue versions of the original games, in place of the Oddish family. Much like them, they're Grass/Poison-types. Weepinell evolves into Victreebel via Leaf Stone.


 * The Artifact: Victreebel's name has been stuck with a misspelling of "bell" thanks to Gen 1's ten-letter limit for names, despite the limit being bumped up to twelve in later games.
 * Big Eater: It can digest pretty much everything it can swallow, except for itself.
 * Character Name Limits: Victreebel is missing the second "l" that Weepinbell had room for.
 * Foil: To the Oddish line. Oddish is exclusive to FireRed and Red while Bellsprout is exclusive to Blue and LeafGreen. And despite both of them being Grass/Poison, the Oddish family's stats skew towards them being Mighty Glaciers while Bellsprout's family is made of Glass Cannons. The similarities were almost furthered in Gold and Silver where Weepinbell was set to get a new split evolution like Gloom before it was left on the cutting room floor.
 * Glass Cannon: They're pretty hard-hitting, but good luck getting them to survive a clean hit.
 * Green Thumb
 * Hidden Elf Village: Apparently, they live in huge colonies in jungles.
 * Man-Eating Plant: It's implied that Victreebels have eaten any and all explorers who stumble upon their secret society in the jungles.
 * Poisonous Person
 * Seldom-Seen Species: Based off of pitcher plants.
 * What Could Have Been: Like with Gloom, Weepinbell was supposed to have a split evolution in Gold and Silver. It looked like a giant Bellsprout with leaves on its head, and would have evolved by using a "Poison Stone", but it was ultimately left out of the final product.
 * Whip It Good: Vine Whip and Power Whip are part of their movepools.

Tentacool and Tentacruel (Menokurage and Dokukurage)


Whenever you go surfing on the seas of Kanto, Jotho, Hoenn, and Sinnoh, you're bound to encounter these Jellyfish Pokémon. Lots of them. Luckily for you, you could handle these guys in the same way one handles Zubats: Electric and Psychic moves will normally do the job.


 * Badass Arm-Fold: Tentacruel's sprite in Red and Bue shows it crossing two tentacles like a pair of arms while it glares at its opponent.
 * Combat Tentacles: Puts them to good use with moves such as Wrap, Bind, Constrict, and Wring Out.
 * Com Mons: Go for a surf, and you'll be mobbed by hundreds of these guys. Like with Zubat and its evolutions, this does not mean that they're weak: Tentacruel is an excellent Special wall and Tentacool can hold its own in battle until it evolves.
 * Life Drain: Surprisingly, they get access to the Grass type Mega and Giga Drain by way of TM's.
 * Making a Splash
 * Poisonous Person
 * Squishy Wizard: While Tentacruel can tank special hits for days, the same can't be said for physical hits. It does, however, get Barrier to patch up that particular weakness.
 * Stone Wall: Tentacruel has spectacular Special Defense, and although it is mainly used as a wall, it also packs respectable speed and firepower.

Geodude, Graveler, and Golem (Isitsubute, Golone, and Golonya)


Simple in design, Geodude and kin look like your typical rock monsters. High physical attack and defense, but terrible speed and special stats. They're useful in the early game, but fizzle out later on unless you can trade a Graveler and evolve it into the mighty Golem.

Sun and Moon would introduce an Alolan variant made of magnetic rocks. Appropriately given Rock/Electric typing, these guys appear to sport facial hair thanks to their magnetic bodies attracting iron filings a'la Probopass.


 * Action Bomb: Learns Selfdestruct and Explosion.
 * Badass Beard: Alolan Golem, who combines this trope with Badass Moustache for good measure.
 * Be the Ball: Not only are they roud and near-perfectly spherical, but they can learn Rollout on top of that.
 * Com Mons: You can find Geodude in almost any cave, tunnel, or mountain, same with Graveler.
 * Crutch Character: Its powerful attacks tend to make mincement (or pancakes, if you have a Geodude, Graveler, or Golem that knows Rollout or Bulldoze) out of other common mons, but the line's many problems (low HP, low speed, low resistance to Special attacks) can seriously cripple Graveler, whose own set of problems (mediocre Attack, overhadowed Defense, inability to evolve without another Game Pak/Card) make it a lot less viable than its fellow trade pre-evolutions Machoke, Haunter, and Kadabra. If you don't have the means to evolve Graveler into Golem, it's best to train up a different Rock type (unless you really like Graveler, of course).
 * Disc One Nuke: Geodude is available right at the start of the Johto games, and is an excellent teammate no matter which starter you pick. It steamrolls Falkner and Bugsy, and is one of very few Pokémon capable of going toe-to-toe with Whitney's disgustingly powerful Miltank (especially if it's female, which makes Attract useless). It's got good matchups against a lost of other important trainers, is powerful or resilient against just about every Pokémon used by Team Rocket, and gets Magnitude (essentially a weaker Earthquake) very early on.
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Fastball Special: According to the Pokédex, Rhyperior has been known to unintentionally shoot Geodudes at its opponents.
 * For Massive Damage: Grass-type moves are the best way to defeat them. Water-types work well, too.
 * Golem: Averted; see below.
 * In Name Only: Golem is not related to the Golems of Hebrew legend.
 * Lady Looks Like a Dude: Female Alolan Golems have beards just as long and impressive as their male counterparts.
 * Mighty Glacier: Slow, but they're heavy hitters that can easily take a punch. If the punch is not watery or covered with leaves, that is.
 * Or if that punch just happens to be a Fighting type move. Which, disregarding special punches, they all should be.
 * Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Graveler has four arms.
 * One of These Things Is Not Like the Others: Geodude is a living rock with an impressive pair of arms. Graveler is a bigger living rock with two pairs of arms. Golem is a rocky turtle with one pair of stubby little arms... wait, what?
 * Shock and Awe: The Alolan variant.
 * Silicon-Based Life
 * Turtle Power: Golem, who's a threatening physical powerhouse that looks like a spherical, monstrous turtle.
 * Weaksauce Weakness: Taking advantage of their 4x weaknesses to Water and Grass is an easy way of defeating them.
 * You Will Not Evade Me: Alolan Geodude, Graveler, and Golem can have Magnet Pull as their ability, which prevents Steel types from switching out against them.

Ponyta and Rapidash (Gallop)


These equine Fire-types didn't really get much use when they were first introduced back in the Gen I games; they could only be encountered once the player got to Cinnabar Island (they were found in the Pokémon Mansion in Gen I, but relocated to the Sevii Islands in the remakes), and by then, most players had a better Fire-type. The trend continued for the Gen II and III games, but it changed with Diamond and Pearl, when it was literally the only other Fire-type for those who didn't pick Chimchar. Later on, Platinum introduced the Magmar, Houndour, and Flareon lines to the region, but Ponyta is still the first Fire-type you can catch in Sinnoh.

Galarian Ponyta would be introduced in Sword and Shield, which are Psychic types with pastel-colored manes meant to be more in-line with traditional fairy tale unicorns. The comparison is furthered with Galarian Rapidash, who gains a Fairy subtyping upon evolving.


 * Character Select Forcing: An infamous example in Diamond and Pearl. If you didn't pick Chimchar but want to use a Fire type, we hope you like Ponyta because that's all you get!
 * Cool Horse: Rapidash, both the original and Galarian variants. Ponyta can qualify, too, but it's more cute than cool.
 * Flaming Hair: Ponyta and Rapidash can only allow those they trust to ride with them. Anyone else would get burned by their mane.
 * Fragile Speedster: Yeah, the hooves are harder than diamond, but still...
 * Glass Cannon: Fragile, but it can hit fairly hard thanks to having a respecable 100 Attack stat.
 * Horn Attack: Rapidash can put that impressive-looking unicorn horn to good use with attacks like Poison Jab and Megahorn... but oddly enough, not Horn Attack itself.
 * In a Single Bound: Ponyta is said to be so fast, it can jump over France's Eiffel Tower and Australia's Ayers' Rock in one leap... or so their pokedex entries say.
 * ...Which explains the Bounce attack.
 * Multicolored Hair: The manes of Galarian Ponyta and Rapidash are a soothing mix of pastel blue and purple.
 * Off-Model: Galarian Ponyta is an infamous example of this trope, thanks to one being shown without a tail during the livestream where it made its debut.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: A problem that's plagued the Ponyta line since its debut: while they aren't terrible, they're mediocre Pokémon overall and are usually encountered a lot later than Fire types that are better than it.
 * Playing with Fire
 * Psychic Powers: The Galarian Ponyta line.
 * Rearing Horse: Ponyta's Platinum sprite.
 * Technicolor Fire: Shiny Ponyta has brilliant blue flames, while shiny Rapidash burns an eye-catching grey/violet (depending on the game).
 * This Is a Drill: Rapidash can learn Horn Drill.
 * Unicorn: Rapidash is a fiery unicorn, while Galarian Rapidash is more of a traditional fairy tale one. Galarian Ponyta also counts, while the original variant doesn't.
 * Won't Work On Me: Fire attacks if it has the Flash Fire ability. And thanks to being a partial Fairy type, Galarian Rapidash laughs in the face of Dragon attacks.

Slowpoke, Slowbro, and Slowking (Yadon, Yadoran, and Yadoking)
Slowking debuts in Gen II

It's kinda hard to pinpoint the exact inspiration behind this family of Pokémon, but they certainly have a lot of unusual attributes: The most notable one being its intelligence, which is unusually low for a Psychic-type Pokémon (For Slowpoke and Slowbro at least). They spend their days by the riverside in a lazy attempt to fish. They only seem to get Shellder to bite their tails and apparently this counts as an evolution. Slowking is highly intelligent, though, but that's only through its method of evolution: It requires a King's Rock and somehow, a Shellder to bite its head and release toxins into its brain.

As if the Slowpoke family wasn't weird enough, Sword and Shield's Isle of Armor DLC would introduce even stranger Galarian variants. Starting off as pure Psychic types, Galarian Slowpoke gain a Poison subtyping when they evolve due to the venom of the Shellder biting down on them reacting strangely with special spices that build up in their bodies as a result of their diet. Galarian Slowbro has its Shellder bite it on the arm, turning it into a dangerous marksman subjected to bursts of lightning-quick reflexes. Galarian Slowking, however, has been completely taken over by the Shellder biting on its head, and acts as a creepy Black Mage muttering incantations in the heat of battle.


 * Awesome Moment of Crowning: Like Poliwhirl, in order to evolve Slowpoke into Slowking, the player needs the King's Rock.
 * Beware the Silly Ones: Slowbro may be a total dope, but it's still a heavy hitter who gives as good as it gets. Galarian Slowbro takes this further, with the Shellder biting on its arm turning it into a deadly sharpshooter who fires streams of poison with surprising accuracy. Even Slowpoke is a top-tier competitive threat in Little Cup gameplay thanks to having the stats and movepool needed to be an excellent tank.
 * Boss Battle: Galarian Slowbro is the most powerful Pokémon used by Avery and Klara, your rivals in Sword and Shield's Isle of Armor DLC. The Post-Galarian Star Tournament however will see Avery with a level 70 Galarian Slowking as his strongest, barely beating out his Slowbro by two levels.
 * Cartoon Creature: It's easy to tell what kind of sea creature inspired any given Water type... except for Slowpoke. Good luck trying to make sense of whatever the heck it's supposed to be.
 * Delayed Reaction: Slowpoke and Slowbro are so stupid, that if you hit them they won't comprehend the pain until several seconds later.
 * Disability Superpower: Slowbro and Slowking are constantly having venom pumped into their bodies by the Shellder that's attached to them. And that Shellder venom is what makes them so powerful, and Slowking so intelligent.
 * The Ditz: Intelligence isn't exactly Slowpoke's strong suit. Ditto for Slowbro.
 * Easy Amnesia: Slowking forgets everything it has learned if the Shellder on its head comes off.
 * Evil Sorcerer: Galarian Slowking's definitely meant to invoke the image of one, being a sinister spellcasting Poison/Psychic type and all.
 * Friendly Rivalry: Fellow intelligent Psychic type Oranguru are known to leave their jungle habitats and track down Slowking relaxing on the Alola Region's beaches so they can challenge them to a duel of wits.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: A trainer doesn't really need a Shellder to evolve a Slowpoke.
 * Genius Ditz: While Slowpoke & Slowbro are indeed ditzy, they're still Psychic types, being able to send harmful psychic waves to opponent with their minds.
 * Healing Factor: They can have Regeneration as an ability come Generation V. (They also got Slack Off in Generation IV, but that's more along the lines of Heal Thyself.)
 * Informed Species: The "Shellder" attached to Slowbro and Slowking looks nothing like a Shellder. Seeing as how it was meant to become its own Pokémon in Gold and Silver, it was likely set to get a species retcon before it got left on the cutting room floor.
 * Irony: The characteristically "stupid" Pokemon can become incredibly intelligent, perhaps even the smartest Pokemon. It does it when a clam bites it on the head while it's holding a special rock.
 * Making a Splash
 * Mighty Glacier: Slowpoke and Slowking aren't going to win any footraces anytime soon, but they're incredibly resilient and hard-hitting.
 * Playing with Fire: They can be taught Flamethrower and Fire Blast (somehow).
 * Poisonous Person: Galarian Slowbro and Slowking.
 * Promoted to Playable: This was almost the case for the Shellder attached to Slowbro and Slowking: the beta build for Gold and Silver had it listed as its own Pokémon before those plans were abandoned for whatever reason.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Reset Button: Removing the Shellder on Slowbro (supposedly) causes it to devolve. Removing it on Slowking causes it to lose its memory of what it has learned.
 * Super Intelligence: Slowking.
 * Super Mode: Mega Slowbro. Despite looking even dopier than the normal Slowbro due to the Shellder growing to gigantic size and nearly devouring the entire Pokémon, it's an excellent tank that is entirely immune to critical hits thanks to its Shell Armor ability.
 * Surrounded by Idiots: Slowking tends to lead Slowpoke and Slowbro groups. Contrast their intellects.
 * The Symbiote: Slowbro and Slowking have a mutually beneficial relationship with their Shellder companions: the Shellder gets a meal, and their hosts get a significant boost in power and/or intelligence. Galarian Slowbro meanwhile gets temporary bursts of intelligence and amazing reflexes while Galarian Slowking as the Shellder become intelligent to the point of taking the reigns from Slowking.
 * Uplifted Animal: Slowking.
 * Urban Legend of Zelda: According to the Pokédex, Slowbro and Slowking will revert back to an ordinary Slowpoke if they lose their attached Shellder. There is no way for this to happen in the games, though that hasn't stopped the usual band of curious players from trying.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: What happens to the Shellder if it is removed is not explained.

Magnemite, Magneton, and Magnezone (Coil, Rarecoil, and Jibacoil)
Magnezone debuts in Gen IV

Magnemite and its kin are robotic lifeforms that use electromagnetism to float through the air. In the Gen I games, they were pure Electric-types, but later generations made them part Steel-types as well. A Magnemite evolves by simply forming a cluster of three to make a Magneton. In Gen IV and later games, it evolves further by being exposed to a special magnetic wave that's given off in certain locations. But don't try to evolve Magnezone further by forming clusters of other Magnezones. It doesn't work.


 * Animate Inanimate Object: Living magnets, but with proper metal bodies and a few visible screws here and there.
 * Boss Battle: Magneton is Wallace's most powerful Pokémon in most of the Hoenn games, and both it and Magnezone are among Colress' most powerful Pokémon in Black 2 and White 2.
 * Cyber Cyclops
 * Disc One Nuke: Magnemite can be found right before you take on Roxie, the second Gym Leader in Black 2 and White 2. Magnemite is completely immune to Roxie's Poison moves, and will stomp or wall almost every Gym Leader and Elite Four member.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Retroactively, they're the first Steel-types in the series.
 * Faceless Eye: Magnemite and Magneton are basically steel eyeballs with magnets. Magnezone has more proportionate eyes, but still no face.
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: They're one of few Pokémon with access to Tri Attack, which uses all three elements (albeit as a Normal-typed move) to potentially burn, freeze, or paralyze the target.
 * For Massive Damage: Ground-type attacks, but thankfully, they can learn Magnet Rise to offset this.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: You wouldn't expect a Pokémon that can naturally float to not have Levitate.
 * They use Magnetism. Shaking earth may disrupt magnetism. Though, they can use Magnet Rise to make themselves immune to Ground-type moves for five turns, so... yeah.
 * Maybe the move just makes them exert the force even harder.
 * Magnet Hands: Literally, with the trope taking effect as the Magnet Pull ability, which attracts fellow Steel-types...
 * You Will Not Evade Me: ...and traps them as well.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: ...and themselves, too.
 * Mighty Glacier: Having high special attack, as well as the most number of elemental resistances (12 out of 17) does say something...
 * No Biological Sex
 * Poor Predictable Rock: One of this lines' biggest weaknesses. As powerful as they are, their movepools leave a lot to be desired since they're confined to Electric and Steel moves, as well as a few token Normal moves and the Bug-typed Signal Beam.
 * Retcon: They were introduced as pure Electric types, but gained a Steel-subtyping from Gen 2 onwards.
 * Shock and Awe
 * Signature Move: The only Electric-types to learn Zap Cannon naturally, prior to Generation V. And even then, there's only one other.

Farfetch'd (Kamonegi) and Sirfetch'd (Negigaknight)


Back in the Gen I games, there's a girl who's willing to trade this Pokémon for a common-as-dirt Spearow. It was literally the only way to get this Pokémon, so this might have been a once in a lifetime opportunity, right? Sort of. As it turns out, rarity doesn't really equal power. Based on a Japanese proverb, it's a duck that bears a leek. In other words, an extremely rare and extremely fortunate occurrence... although this doesn't apply for the duck.

Farfetch'd found in the Galar region are considerably stronger. Here, they're pure Fighting types that wield massive leeks that are far bigger than their bodies. And should they score three critical hits in one battle, they're rewarded with a powerful evolution: Sirfetch'd, a knightly duck who wields its trusty leek sword alongside a sturdy leek shield. Between them and Farfetch'd's own respectable Attack boost, it's certainly come a long way from its days as a pure Joke Character, hmm?


 * Bare-Fisted Monk: They aren't literal examples since they're swordsmen, but Galarian Farfetch'd and Sirfetch'd are pure Fighting types.
 * BFS: The leeks wielded by Galarian Farfetch'd and Sirfetch'd are a lot more impressive than those used by typical Farfetch'd. They're at least twice the size of their wielders!
 * Blow You Away: Learns your typical Flying-type wind attacks, like Air Cutter and Air Slash.
 * Confusion Fu: One of Farfetch'd's strengths is its surprisingly vast movepool compared to other Flying types. It can learn moves like Leaf Blade, Solar Blade, Poison Jab, Night Slash, and Throat Chop. The Galarian variant combines those moves with an arsenal of Fighting attacks.
 * Cool Sword: Sirfetch'd isn't content to wield an average leek like both versions of Farfetch'd. It's partially peeled and styled in a way to resemble an ornate longsword!
 * Crutch Character: It is stronger than Pidgey or Spearow. But Pidgeotto and especially Fearow greatly outclass it, and its usefulness drops like a stone come the mid game and beyond. Fortunately for it, later games would rectify this with stat buffs and a powerful regional variant with its own evolution.
 * Darker and Edgier: A mild example with Galarian Farfetch'd, who's a lot more stern and aggressive-looking than its Kantonian cousin, not to mention darker-colored. Fitting, given its inspiration.
 * Disc One Nuke: If you exploit the mechanics behind Galarian Farfetch'd's evolution, you can get a Sirfetch'd, a Pokémon with a whopping 135 base Attack stat very early in Sword and Shield.
 * Edible Bludgeon: The leek in its wing.
 * Oral Fixation Fixation: Prior to Generation IV, it can often be found between its beak.
 * Endangered Species: Thanks to its delicious meat and the fact that it comes pre-packaged with a leek, so to speak, its been suffering from a major population decline due to overhunting. There've been efforts to breed them en masse in order to save the species, and judging by the amount of Farfetch'd that can be encountered in the wild in all post-Kanto games, it's safe to say that those breeding efforts were a success.
 * Feather Fingers: This allows them to swing leeks around like swords.
 * Flight: Yes, tiny little Farfetch'd can fly you from place to place.
 * Green Thumb: Appropriately, it gets a few cutting Grass moves to complement its weaponized leek: Razor Leaf, Leaf Blade, and Solar Blade.
 * Improbable Weapon User: It's not every day you see someone fight with a weaponized leek.
 * Joke Character: One of the franchise's most infamous examples of this trope, at least before Gamefreak decided to throw it a few bones.
 * Meaningful Name: According to this article, the above Japanese proverb also means something to the effect of "a sucker is born every minute". Fitting, since in its game of origin, you can only obtain it by giving away a Spearow, which will evolve into the much more formidable Fearow.
 * Mighty Glacier: Sirfetch'd hits hard, and it can take a few solid hits as well. But the weight of its weapons means it's doomed to be on the slower side of things.
 * Muscles Are Meaningful: Sirfetch'd's bulky build complements its sky-high Attack stat.
 * Non-Elemental: Most Farfetch'd are partially Normal-typed. Not so much with the Galarian variant.
 * Perpetual Frowner: Galarian Farfetch'd is always sporting a humorless scowl. Again, fitting given the inspiration.
 * Shout-Out: Galarian Farfetch'd is practically Guts in the form of a duck, complete with perma-frown and gigantic sword.
 * Throw the Dog a Bone: Despite being conceived as a Joke Character, Gamefreak has slowly worked to make it up to Farfetch'd. The Stick/Leek item introduced in Gen 2 would give its attacks a higher chance of landing a critical hit, then Gen 7 would give it a sizable boost to its pathetic Attack stat, bumping it up from 65 to a respectable 90. And the comes Gen 8, which introduced a Fighting type Galarian variant with a powerful evolution.
 * Took a Level In Badass: The introduction of Sirfetch'd and Farfetch'd's own Attack buff ultimately helped it leave its Joke Character reputation behind.
 * What Could Have Been: Gamefreak already toyed with the idea of giving Farfetch'd an evolution long before Sirfetch'd: leaked data from an early build of Gold and Silver had one present in the game's code, and it had proportions more in line with a goose while possessing feathers around its eyes that looked somewhat like a Domino Mask. Ultimately, it was abandoned for reasons only known to Game Freak, presumably due to them wanting to commit to Farfetch'd's Joke Character status at the time.

Doduo and Dodrio (Dodo and Dodorio)


Doduo and Dodrio are an intriguing species. Their most famous attribute are their mutliple heads. Otherwise, they mostly resemble ratites. Like ostriches, they excel at running rather than flying... although, they can somehow fly without visible wings. Perhaps they just jump really, really high and |fall with style?


 * Armless Biped: Or in this case, wingless biped.
 * Balance Buff: Got its Speed boosted to 110 in Gen VII, and it got Swords Dance and Jump Kick, finally giving it coverage against those damn Steel and Rock types!
 * Blow You Away: One of the weirdest ways to pull this one off.
 * Body Horror: Dodrio's third head didn't just materialize out of nowhere, one of Doduo's heads split itself in half.
 * Flight: Can learn Fly for some reason, despite being a flightless bird.
 * Fragile Speedster: Dodrio is fast with 110 Speed, and it hits hard, but its defenses are pretty lacking.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: They're flightless, yet flying-type and can (somehow) learn Fly. Don't ask...
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: One of the few Pokemon that can have Tri Attack.
 * In a Single Bound: Apparently, they both "fly" this way (The Japanese name of the move can also be translated "Great Leap"). Remember that these guys can take you from Lavender to Cinnabar if needed.
 * Multiple Head Case
 * Non-Elemental
 * Not Quite Flight: Officially, it doesn't fly so much as it jumps really, really high and really, really far.
 * Single-Minded Twins: Played straight with Doduo; averted with Dodrio, as they have three heads and three distinct personalities, despite sharing a body.
 * What Could Have Been: Doduo was among many Pokémon to have scrapped baby pre-evolutions in the beta build of Gold and Silver, with "baby Dodou" looking like a walking bird's nest complete with three heads resembling hungry baby birds. It's safe to say that it was likely scrapped because the concept of a three-headed creature suddenly losing a head and getting a new one over the course of its life didn't really make much sense.

Seel and Dewgong (Pawou and Jugon)


These pinniped Pokémon kinda resemble harp seal pups. They seem to prefer frigid marine environments best. Dewgong is named after a real sea mammal called a dugong (which isn't a seal, but a kind of sea cow). Seel is probably notable for being the only Pokémon whose name can be spelled on a calculator.


 * Action Initiative: They've got a surprising amount of priority moves: you can breed Fake Out onto them, and they naturally learn both Aqua Jet and Ice Shard.
 * Healing Factor: They seem to have a natural inclination towards this. Seel/Dewgong with Ice Body will recover health in a hailstorm, while ones with Hydration will heal status effects in the rain. They also learn Aqua Ring in order to gradally recovery health over several turns, and are good Rest users thanks to Hydration allowing them to instantly wake up after healing.
 * An Ice Person: Dewgong. Seel is also strongly associated with cold areas.
 * Jack of All Stats
 * Master of None: Yeah, they have this problem, too.
 * Kevlard: While not particularly chubby, they can have Thick Fat as an ability to half the damage dealt by Fire and Ice moves.
 * Making a Splash
 * One-Hit Kill: Surprisingly, these adorable pinnipeds get two: they can get Horn Drill through breeding, and Sheer Cold through leveling up.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: To Lapras, pretty much from day one.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Seel's got an endearingly adorable little puppy dog face, and even after evolving Dewgong's still very cuddly-looking.

Grimer and Muk (Betbeter and Betbeton)


Poisonous blobs that seem to appear wherever pollution is. They were born from toxic sludge that were exposed to x-rays or something and are now living. These Pokémon are surprisingly eco-friendly in spite of their Walking Wasteland status, because they can absorb poisonous material from the environment and put it into their own bodies.

This, in fact, is what led to the creation of the Dark/Poison Alolan variant: the mass importation of Grimer and Muk to deal with the Alola Region's pollution problem resulted in them becoming eco-friendly, in a sense. They're even more dangerously poisonous than the Grimer and Muk from Kanto due to the high levels of toxins present in the crystals growing on their colorful bodies, but their lack of odor and trash diet still afford them plenty of respect from Alola's natives.


 * Action Bomb: While their counterparts Koffing and Weezing are more famous for it, Grimer and Muk can learn Self-Destruct and Explosion.
 * Action Initiative: Despite being slow and cumbersome blobs of poison, they can get the jump on their opponents if you breed the priority move Shadow Sneak on them.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Grimer and Muk get a surprising amount of mileage out of punching/Fighting moves. Their arsenal includes Brick Break, all three Elemental Punches, Shadow Punch (by way of the purified Shadow Grimer from XD: Gale of Darkness), Dynamic Punch, Poison Jab, Focus Punch, Power-Up Punch...
 * Berserk Button: Alolan Muk hates being deprived of its favourite food: trash. If it is, it will wreck its Trainer's furniture in a bid to eat something!
 * Blob Monster
 * Confusion Fu: They've got a surprisingly vast arsenal of moves to throw at its opponents, which includes Fire, Ice, Electric, Ground, Fighting, and Ghost moves. They also got a few good Dark moves before the Dark/Poison Alolan Grimer and Muk were a thing.
 * Cute Little Fangs Alolan Grimer's mouth crystals look like a pair of Ugly Cute buckteeth.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Alolan Grimer and Muk might be partially Dark-typed, but they're friendly in demeanor and protect the environment by eating garbage and other pollutants.
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: As mentioned above, their arsenal includes all three Elemental Punches.
 * Mighty Glacier: Good Attack, good HP and Sp.Def, serviceable Defense that can be patched up with Acid Armor... crap Speed, though.
 * Muck Monster
 * Nice Guy: Well, nice creature, at least. Alolan Muk is uncharacteristically quite and friendly for a Pokémon that contaminates everything it touches. Then there's Ash's Muk in the anime, who is a huge cuddlebug.
 * Poisonous Person: By far the best example in the series. If a Grimer slides along some grass, expect the soil to be so contaminated that not even weeds will grow there. Muk's toxicity is more extreme than that; one drop of its essence can turn a pristine lake into a stagnant cesspool in minutes, and touching it causes immediate illness (and, in some cases, death).
 * Of course, that makes you wonder what happens with Oak in the anime... and now we know why Ash gets a reset every season.
 * The Alolan variant of Muk is even more toxic; its body apparently contains over 100 different types of poisons, and the crystal adorning its body have such high concerntrations of toxins within, they are extremely difficult to dispose of. That said though, because the toxins ae contained within Alolan Muk's body, it doesn't give off the foul stench that Kantonian Muk is renouned for.
 * Walking Wasteland: Dear God.
 * What Could Have Been: Baby Grimer was almost a thing in Gold and Silver. A leaked beta build shows that it was a cute little blob with what looked like a purple pacifier in its mouth, or alternatively a button nose like with Diglett. But it ended up as one of many casualties in the mass culling of baby Pokémon between the beta and finalized versions, likely due to how many there originally were.

Shellder and Cloyster (Parshen)


Cheeky bivalve Pokémon with extremely sturdy shells. Their highest stat has always been their defense. It's just pointless to hit it with physical attacks; try hitting it with Special ones instead.


 * Action Bomb: When you factor in Shell Smash's Speed boosts, Cloyster might just be one of the scariest users of Self-Destruct and Explosion yet.
 * An Ice Person: Cloyster; Shellder also learns several Ice attacks naturally.
 * Badass: Cloyster is an imposing, spiky oyster with quite the cocky grin on its face. And that cockiness is warranted: its been a top tier threat since Gen 1, and as of Gen 5 has consitently been able to hang out with the big boys in the Uber tier, which is essentially a playground for ridiculously powerful legendary and psuedo-legendary Pokémon.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: You can breed Rock Blast onto Shellder, which is another move that greatly benefits from Skill Link.
 * Making a Splash
 * Off-Model: One of many examples in Gen 1. In its original sprites, Cloyster's shell is split horizontally, not vertically.
 * Overly Long Tongue: Shellder's tongue. Just look at that thing!
 * Purple Is Powerful: You really don't want to be on the receiving end of this thing's Icicle Spear.
 * Signature Move: Shellder's Icicle Spear, before Generation IV. But even afterwards, it's easily the most prelevant user of the move thanks to Skill Link.
 * Stone Wall: Cloyster has the highest defense in Gen 1...
 * Mighty Glacier: ...and it also has decent attack stats too.
 * Glass Cannon: "Cloyster used Shell Smash!"
 * Teleport Spam: Yes, Shellder of all Pokémon can learn Teleport through a TM in the Gen 1 games. Not practical in the slightest, but it's definitely a cool and stylish way to get a Cloyster out of a bad matchup in the Gen 8 games.
 * Took a Level in Badass: As of Gen V, Cloyster has arguably taken the most levels in badass out of all old Pokémon. Its Icicle Spear now has 25 base power (meaning that factoring in STAB and Skill Link allowing it to always hit five times with every use, its power is higher than that of Outrage) and has a better side effect. This also applies to all his multi-hit moves. Finally, he gets the move Shell Smash, which despite reducing its defense and special defense, raises its attack, special attack, and speed twice.
 * Vagina Dentata: It may not have been on purpose, but Cloyster shares some similarities to, well, you know.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: In one game, there's a couple with this Pokemon and an Onix. Seemed Gamefreak noticed.

Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar (Ghos, Ghost, and Gangar)


This family was once known for being the only Pokémon who were Ghost-types and arguably the best ones to deal with Psychic-types... in theory, as they were also part Poison-type with a weakness to Psychic-type attacks. Due to balance issues, they didn't really do their job all that well. However, each generation made them better and better. Gen II gave them strong Ghost-type attacks it can use, Gen III gave them Levitate and an immunity to Ground-type attacks, Gen IV gave them new toys to play with by making them work off their best stats. Even with the introduction of other Ghost-types, they're still one of the best.


 * Action Bomb: Being made of gas, they can learn Self-Destruct and Explosion.
 * Badass: Gengar has the honor of being a high tier Pokemon in all eight generations so far, and it managed to duck the ever-encroaching power creep that knocked fellow formerly consistent competitive powerhouse Starmie down from OU to NU.
 * Handicapped Badass: In Gen 1, despite Psychic types' immunity to Ghost, Gengar still managed to be OU in that generation.
 * Boss Battle: A few Ghost specialists tend to have a Gengar as their most powerful Pokémon, specifically Agatha in Gen 1, Morty in Gen 2, and Allister in Gen 8.
 * Casting a Shadow: Since this was before the Dark type existed, they usually have Ghost-type moves with a more sinister feel to them, like Night Shade and Shadow Ball (The latter move didn't exist until Dark types did appear, but it should make a point).
 * In later generations they get Dark moves too, namely Sucker Punch, Payback and Dark Pulse.
 * Confusion Fu: Besides the Ghost, Poison, Dark, Normal and Psychic moves you'd expect given its typing, it can learn a few Electric, Fighting, Fairy, Grass, Ice and Fire moves too, as well as a wide variety of status attacks.
 * Cute Little Fangs: Gastly!
 * Dark Is Evil: Often painted as such in their Pokédex entries, with Gengar in particular having a consistently murderous streak.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: With that being said, they also tend to skew towards being harmless pranksters and are used by good rainers way more often than evil ones.
 * Doppelganger: Gengar is known to mimic people's shadows. It's all in the name!
 * Evil Counterpart: To the Abra family, a position the anime reinforces with Ash recruiting a Haunter to battle Sabrina's Kadabra. Their stats are also very similar—compared to Alakazam, Gengar trades a few points of Special Attack and Speed for (slightly) less horrible HP and physical stats.
 * Also of note, their original cards in the Pokémon TCG—Alakazam's Pokémon Power lets it move damage counters around on the player's Pokémon, Gengar's Pokémon Power moves around damage counters on the opponent's Pokémon.
 * Their Mega Evolutions are similar, too; their Sp.Atk and Speed increase tremednously, while their defensive stats also get cranked up a little, becoming Special oriented monsters.
 * Glass Cannon: Just like Alakazam, Gengar has high Special Attack and Speed but pitiful defenses. However, it has the advantage of three type immunities (Normal, Fighting, and Ground via Levitate pre-Gen 7), and more status attacks to disable enemies like Hypnosis and Confuse Ray, so Gengar is a bit more durable.
 * Half the Man He Used To Be: Subverted: Mega Gengar does have legs still, we just don't see them because they've sunk below the ground.
 * Larynx Dissonance: In the games, Haunter and Gengar have very deep cries, yet have a 50/50 chance of being female. Gastly only faces this Trope in the anime.
 * Living Shadow: Gengar.
 * Nerf: Downplayed in the sense that losing Levitate in Gen 7 made them vulnerable to Ground types once again, and they hardly benefit from Cursed Body due to their paper-thin defenses, but they're still potent competitive power houses in spite of said nerf.
 * Our Ghosts Are Different: They're really more like clouds of noxious gas...
 * Overly Long Tongue: Haunter's licks are said to cause paralysis, convulsions, and death, and both its evo and preevo are quite well endowed in that department, too. As in larger than its body in the case of Gastly.
 * Poisonous Person
 * Purple Is Powerful: So powerful in fact, that Mega Gengar was almost the first Pokémon to be banned from Smogon's Uber tier upon its debut, which was a banlist at the time.
 * Raymanian Limbs: Haunter's hands.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: Gengar again.
 * Shock and Awe: They learn a surprising amount of Electric moves, such as Thunderbolt and Thunder.
 * Signature Move: Night Shade, but only in Generation I.
 * Slasher Smile: All of them, and they almost never stop smiling.
 * Soul Power: The only Ghost-types until Misdreavus came along.
 * Super Mode: Gengar is one of few Pokémon with access to both a Mega Evolution and a Gigantamax form. Mega Gengar is a three-eyed abomination sharing a few cues with Haunter's design, and gains ridiculous boosts to its Speed and Special Attack while getting Shadow Tag as an ability, which prevents enemies from switching out until either they or Gengar are knocked out. Gigantamax Gengar on the other hand is a gigantic living gate to the afterlife with a cavernous gaping maw, and its signature move G-Max Terror also prevents foes from switching out.
 * Supernatural Is Purple
 * Took a Level in Badass: For a while Gengar was unable to take advantage of its typing because Poison and Ghost-type moves are physical. Then Generation IV came and Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb became special moves. Oh Crap.
 * Ugly Cute: Gastly, to an extent.

Onix and Steelix (Iwark and Haganeil)
Steelix debuts in Gen II

Onix are massive snakes made entirely out of boulders. Sounds pretty Badass, right? Too bad its only good stat was defense and its typing left it with a ton of weaknesses. It was a pretty terrible Pokémon. They fixed it by having it evolve into a massive snake made entirely out of steel. It isn't super-amazing, but it's still a huge improvement over Onix.


 * Adaptational Badass: Brock's Badass Onix in the anime tricked a lot of 90's kids into thinking Onix was that formidable in the games. It wasn't.
 * Boss Battle: Both stages, with Onix serving as Brock's strongest Pokémon while Steelix served as Jasmine's strongest.
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Steelix.
 * Fake Ultimate Mook: Former trope namer; Geodude tends to hurt more when attacking.
 * Consider this: Alakazam, Glass Cannon to end all Glass Cannons, was not killed by an EXPLOSION pre-Generation V Nerf.
 * For Massive Damage: Onix to Grass and Water type attacks.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: They get Dragonbreath as a part of their moveset.
 * Paper Tiger: Onix is a massive and imposing serpent made out of boulders, and serves as Brock's ace in the hole in Gen 1's very first Gym battle. However, as intimidating as it looks, its stats are god awful save for Defense. Not only do Squirtle and Bulbasaur curbstomp it with a single Bubble/Vine Whip, but even Charmander can kick its ass thanks to Onix's terrible Special Defense and HP allowing Fire to melt Rock.
 * Silicon-Based Life
 * Stone Wall: Steelix moreso than Onix. Being free of crippling weaknesses helps.
 * Mighty Glacier: Its Attack isn't too bad either. Especially with Sheer Force.
 * Super Mode: Mega Steelix. If you thought it was hard to top Steelix in the cool tank department, imagine a harder-hitting, even bulkier Steelix with huge crystals sticking out of its body. That's Mega Steelix, a sturdy wall of a Pokémon that can hit ridiculously hard in a Sandstorm thanks to its Sand Force ability.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Steelix, when compared to Onix. It has two immunities (Poison and Electric), two neutral matchups (Ice and Grass), only four 2x weaknesses (Fire, Water, Ground and Fighting), and everything else not very effective, doubled Attack and tied for 2nd-highest Defense, and a larger and more varied movepool (Steelix's Speed drops from 70 to 30, though, but that also powers up its best STAB move, Gyro Ball). Special attacks are still painful, however. Steelix also gets the ability Sheer Force in Gen V, giving its moves that have secondary effects more power in exchange for removing the effects.
 * It can also relearn Thunder Fang and Ice Fang, which helps deal with Water and Ground Pokemon.
 * The introduction of Mega Steelix in OR/AS. Huge buff to its Attack? Check. Monstrously high Defense stat boosted further to match Shuckle's? Check. Poor Sp.Def of 65 buffed to a more viable 95? Check. An ability that boosts the power of both its STABs in a sandstorm? Check, check, and check!

Drowzee and Hypno (Sleep and Sleeper)


Those who didn't have the luck or patience to capture Abra would have to settle for this Pokémon instead. These Pokémon love eating dreams and are willing to put anyone to sleep just to sample their dreams. Unfortunately, this habit made them earn a seedy reputation.


 * Adult Fear: Hypno likes to kidnap children and brainwash them with hypnosis [Insert pedophilia jokes here].
 * Ambiguously Evil: Are wild Hypno dangerous freaks that intentionally lure children away so they can eat their dreams, or are the few incidents that made them infamous a result of not understanding human morality? Given that some dex entries say that you can be hypnotized just from looking at a Hypno, unintentional hypnosis could also be at play.
 * Bad Powers, Good People: Drowzee and Hypno have bad reputations, but their hypnosis powers can defintiely lend themselves well to good deeds. Hypno found in Alola, for example, are beloved thanks to being able to serve as potent sleep aids to their trainers.
 * Boss Battle: Faba uses one as his strongest Pokémon in the Alola games.
 * Cartoon Creature: Drowzee's got a recognizable tapir motif, but Hypno is... weird, to say the least.
 * Elemental Punch: Can learn all three of them.
 * Gag Nose: Hypno. Just look at that schnoz!
 * Hypno Pendulum: Hypno uses one.
 * Meaningful Name: Gee, I wonder what Hypno's special skill is?
 * Memetic Molester: Drowzee and Hypno alike have a reputation among fans as being the Pokémon equivalent of creepy child molesters thanks to the anime and Pokédex entries in later games showing that children are frequent targets of their hypnosis. This would come to a head in Leaf Green and Fire Red where the Sevii Island arc has you protect a little girl from a Hypno attack. It should be noted that their original dex entries did not imply any creepy behavior around children, and the incident in the anime was an unintended byproduct of Hypno helping people sleep with its hypnosis powers.
 * Mighty Glacier: In Gen 1, Hypno was basically diet Alakazam minus the amazing speed, powerful Special Attacking stats and all.
 * Nerf: Hypno originally hit nearly as hard as Alakazam, but the Special Defense/Special Attack split led to it losing its overwhelming power, turning into more of a Stone Wall as a result.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: A rather strange example, Hypno is often passed up for Alakazam by appearances alone, except that among Psychic pokemon, it holds a rather dubious role of being one of the more well rounded pokemon in the game. Its stats are by no means bad and it is actually sturdy. This gives it a level of versatility without relying on pure power like Alakazam.
 * Hypno can learn Nasty Plot and Calm Mind, giving it the option to either quickly boost its Special power or boost its power more slowly while toughening its Special bulk. Although it still isn't as good as Alakazam, Hypno can still work thanks to the above options.
 * Poisonous Person: Oddly enough, Poison Gas has always been a part of their level-up movepool.
 * Poor Predictable Rock: If you're hoping to deal some damage with Hypno, you've mainly got Psychic and Normal moves to rely on, as well as all three Elemental Punches.
 * Punny Name: Drowzee, who makes its enemies feel drowsy with Hypnosis.
 * Psychic Powers: They are pure Psychic types, and masters of hypnotism.
 * Seldom-Seen Species: Drowzee. Chances are you're able to count the amount of Tapirs you've seen in fiction on one hand.
 * Standard Status Effects: Apart of the obvious hypnosis, they learn Poison Gas naturally for some unexplained reason.
 * Stone Wall: Hypno's always been sturdy even after the post-Gen 1 nerf, but don't expect it to hit even a fraction as hard without a few Special Attack boosts.
 * Won't Work On Me: If they've got Insomnia as an ability, they'll never fall asleep which makes attacks like Hypnosis and Spore useless against them.
 * You Have Researched Breathing: Their diet is made up of the dreams of other beings. The only way they can learn Dream Eater is by TM, and that is arguably the reason behind said move being a TM consistently across generations.
 * Youkai: They're based on the baku, spirits who devour dreams.

Krabby (Crab) and Kingler


Crab Pokémon that are bright red in color, these guys boast a respectable attack stat, although it couldn't really be utilized well by their typing until Gen IV. Other talents include slicing and walking sideways. Certain Kingler have access to a special Gigantamax form and its signature speed-lowering G-Max Foam Burst


 * Badass Beard: Gigantamax Kingler has an epic Santa/Odin beard made entirely out of bubbles.
 * Cool Crown: Kingler's got an organic one in the form of the organic crown of spikes growing on its head.
 * Divergent Character Evolution: Unlike most Expyed species, Kingler and Crawdaunt have steadily been made more dissimilar playwise (while keeping both equally viable) with future generations. Kingler has usable physical bulk, gained Agility (double speed) in Generation 4, and received the very nice Sheer Force ability (boost damage of moves with a chance of inflicting secondary effects by 33% but remove the effect chance) in Generation 5; Crawdaunt, on the other hand, has enough special attack to run mixed sets, gets Dragon Dance (raise speed and attack by 50% each) in Generation 4, and the very nice Adaptability ability (boost the bonus from using attacks of the same type as the user from 1.5 to double damage) in Generation 5.
 * Giant Enemy Crab: Especially the Gigantamax version!
 * Left Claw Of Doom: An exaggeration of the real-life fiddler crab's oversized claw.
 * Making a Splash
 * Mighty Glacier: Not a speedy Pokémon, but if it hits you, you aren't getting back up. Funnily enough, it can learn a ton of moves capable of cutting its opponents speed or boosting its own in order to bridge the gap.
 * One-Hit Kill: Guillotine is a natural part of its moveset, and puts that giant claw of Kingler's to good use.
 * Signature Move: Crabhammer, no longer exclusive since Gen III.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Not only did the Physical/Special split make Crabhammer a much more viable option in battle, but Gen 5 would give Kingler Sheer Force for a hidden ability, which nullifies secondary effects of its attacking moves so they'll hit harder. And since Kingler is already a physical powerhouse, it's basically got the power of a nuke tucked away inside its claws.

Voltorb and Electrode (Biriridama and Marumine)


Pokémon that look like Poké Balls. Since their game sprites resemble item sprites, unsuspecting adventurers will get a nasty shock when they find that what they thought was an item is actually an angry Pokémon that's prone to exploding. It was once known as one of the fastest Pokémon in the game, and is still only surpassed by Deoxys, Ninjask, and Accelgor.

While one would think that they could only possibly exist in modern times, they've been sighted as far back as the ancient Hisui Region hundreds of years ago. Hisui Voltorb and Electrode were Electric/Grass types that look like ancient Poké Balls carved directly from Apricorns, which Husui Electrode are said to share many biological similarities with.


 * Action Bomb: They tend to explode at the slightest provocation.
 * Awesome but Impractical: The all-powerful Self-Destruct and Explosion are practically their Signature Moves, but their piss-poor physical attack stat means that they won't hit anywhere near as hard as you think. Especially after both moves got hit with heavy nerfs during Gen 5 and beyond.
 * Boss Battle: A ridiculously powerful Hisuian Electrode is one of the Noble Pokemon you fight in Legends: Arceus.
 * Chest Monster: Any item ball you interact with in a power plant, abandoned lab, or other electricity-themed dungeon has a chance of being a Voltorb or Electrode in disguise.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: They can learn Rollout. Fitting, due to their perfectly spherical shapes.
 * Fragile Speedster: The 4th fastest Pokemon overall (1st before Gen III brought in Ninjask and Deoxys), but sub-par other stats, save for decent Special Attack.
 * Squishy Wizard: With Electro Ball in play.
 * Green Thumb: The Hisui variants.
 * Keet: Hisuian Voltorb are playful, silly little guys with wide, expressive eyes and a tendency to spin around while moving. Unfortunately, their playfulness and lack of control over their electricity go hand-in-hand, and as far as the general public is concerned, they're just a bunch of pests who will shock you at the drop of a hat.
 * No Biological Sex
 * Perpetual Frowner: Hisui Electrode is the polar opposite of the Kanto variant, and is always sporting a nasty-looking scowl instead of a confident smirk.
 * Poor Predictable Rock: These guys have always had it rough with movepool diversity. And the few attacks of theirs that aren't Electric are almost guaranteed to run off their terrible physical Attack stat.
 * Shock and Awe
 * Signature Move: The most well-known users of Selfdestruct and Explosion, thanks to the anime. The Hisuian versions also get Chloroblast, which does a ton of damage at the cost of dealing recoil damage.
 * Smug Smiler: Electrode, who always has a wicked, cocky grin on its face.
 * Wild Mass Guessing: About their origin, in-universe at that. Legends Arceus shows that they've at the very least existed when Poké Ball technology was a lot more primitive, but the jury's out on whether they were around before that.

Exeggcute and Exeggutor (Tamatama and Nassy)


Exeggcute is a clutch of what appears to be six eggs with faces on them (actually plant seeds), each with distinctive expressions and cracks. Despite this, they all constitute as a single Pokémon, linked together by telepathy. They evolve together to form Exeggutor, a coconut tree with 3 heads, courtesy of the Leaf Stone. While Exeggcute in the Alola region retain their Psychic/Grass typing, this is not the case when they evolve. Alolan Exeggutor instead replaces its Psychic typing for Dragon, and its body is incredibly tall and lanky. It also has a fourth head, this one looking more like a proper fruit hanging off the tail so it can keep tabs on threats lurking close to the ground.


 * Badass: In Generation 1, Exeggutor definitely counts. Its tankiness, power, and excellent status moves made it one of the most dangerous Pokémon in the meta. Not so much in later generations due to power creep and its many weaknesses, sadly.
 * For Massive Damage: Bug-types will wreck it with 4x damage, but why stop there? It has six other weaknesses (Ice, Dark, Flying, Poison, Ghost, and Fire) and there are a lot of Pokemon out there that have these types (or know moves that are these types).
 * Kryptonite Is Everywhere: The family has 7 weaknesses in total, giving it the most weaknesses out of every Pokemon, not counting Celebi, which shares its typing. Though it somewhat averted this trope in Gen I, having only 5 weaknesses, with the Dark type not made yet and Psychics being immune to Ghost type attacks.
 * Green Thumb
 * Hive Mind: Six distinct seeds form an individual Exeggcute.
 * Mighty Glacier: Exeggutor has a monstrous Special Attack stat (among Grass types, only Roserade matches it), but it's rather slow. Aloaln Exeggutor is even slower, trading 10 points in Speed for extra Attack power.
 * Lightning Bruiser: If it uses Sunny Day to activate Chlorophyll.
 * Multiple Head Case: Though how a group of six eggs only evolves into a three-headed coconut tree is rather puzzling.
 * Our Monsters Are Weird: Six egg-shaped seeds with random bruises, cracks and holes in them (plus faces on all six of them) which can turn into a giant pineapple-tree hybrid with three coconut heads (also with faces). And both of these forms have psychic powers. How it makes sense is beyond anyone's understanding.
 * Our Dragons Are Different: Alolan Exeggutor. It inexplicably becomes a Dragon type Pokémon, gains a short tail with a fourth head, and such a long neck that it becomes a proper palm tree, and the tallest Grass type Pokémon in existence!
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: One of the most commonly used choices early on due to its resistance to Psychic and ability to abuse Leech Seed, plus a near-total lack of usable Bug attacks (the stray Jolteon with Pin Missile was the only real worry). Pretty much any Psychic or Grass type outclasses it now, with the Special split and the much wider movepools of Pokemon.
 * Psychic Powers: A half-dozen eggs (or egg-like seeds) and a coconut tree with psychic powers. What.
 * Signature Move: Barrage, as well as Dragon Hammer for Alolan Exeggutor.
 * Status Buff: Their Dream World ability "Harvest" effectively gives unlimited berries. Exeggutor also gained 10 extra points in Sp.Def in Gen VII, from 65 to 75.
 * Youkai: May be based off of the Jinmenju, a supernatural tree that has human heads for fruit that constantly smile and laugh.

Cubone and Marowak (Karakara and Garagara)


These Pokémon resemble dinosaurs that wear skulls as helmets. In Cubone's case, the skull it wears is that of its dead mother, and the stains on it are the poor creature's tears as it cries for its long-gone mommy. This made sense back in Gen I when breeding didn't exist. Starting with Gen II and the introduction of breeding, the story has been called into question, since Cubone can be bred complete with the skull and with no ill effects on the mother, so it might be an urban legend. Either way, Marowak is still a badass. Especially when holding a Thick Club.

In the Alola Region, Cubone lose their Ground typing when they evolve into Marowak and become Ghost/Fire types. To fight back against local predatory Grass-type Pokémon, they've learned to harness the power of fire and developed a supernatural sixth sense to make them even more effective fighters than their Kantonian cousins. Their dark skin, taller and skinner bodies, and incredibly long bone clubs give them something of a fire dancer aesthetic.


 * An Ice Person: Surprisingly, these guys can learn Ice Beam and Blizzard!
 * Awesome Yet Impractical: ...and they absolutely suck at using them because of their terrible Special Attack stats.
 * Bad with the Bone
 * Boss Battle: The ghost of Cubone's mother in the Kanto games is a special encounter against a powerful Marowak that blocks off the top of Pokémon Tower, and she can't be caught: only defeated. A Totem Alolan Marowak is also the boss of Kiawe's trial in Ultra Sun and Moon, replacing the Totem Salazzle from the vanilla games.
 * Combat Pragmatist: Marowak is addressed as such (despite not being a Dark-type, as Dark-types didn't come until later and it wasn't retconned like Magnemite and Magneton were), being weak but using bones as weapons.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Alolan Marowak look menacing thanks to their darker coloration and supernatural elements, but they're one of very few Ghost types that skew towards being benevolent. Well, as long as you're not a Mandibuzz, that is.
 * Dem Bones: While they aren't living skeletons, the skull-wearing Cubone compliments the ghostly Gastly and Haunter that lurks the halls of Pokémon Tower.
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Due to the Dead: Alolan Marowak are known to mourn their dead, and even give them proper funeral rites.
 * Early Installment Weirdness: Cubone is weird in the sense that it's basically portrayed as a single character as opposed to a race of creatures due to its backstory of inheriting its dead mother's skull when she was killed by Team Rocket. When Pokémon are given this treatment, it's because they're a legendary Pokémon which are often Single-Specimen Species.
 * Game Breaking Bug: Victim of one in Generation 2, where a max attack Marowak that used Swords Dance would hit the damage cap and wrap around to very low damage. The most common solution was to run a lower attack and take advantage of it to use Hidden Power Bug.
 * Lean and Mean: Alolan Marowak. Not that they're evil or genuinely mean, but they're definitely menacing.
 * Mighty Glacier: Marowak's not too fast, but with a Thick Club, it can hit like a Mack truck.
 * Stone Wall: Without a Thick Club, Marowak's attacks aren't especially strong, and are surpassed by its (still only middle-of-the-road) defensive stats.
 * Glass Cannon: In competitive play, its very-low-for-a-defensive-Pokémon defense stats will not stop any Pokémon that is meant to attack from scoring a one-hit KO on Marowak.
 * Playing With Fire: Alolan Marowak, who bone weapons are tipped with eerie green flames.
 * Revenge: Cubone evolve when they gain the resolve to avenge their dead mother. Once evolved, Alolan Marowak will also hunt down and kill Mandibuzz to avenge the Cubones they've killed and eaten.
 * Signature Move: Bone Club and Bonemerang. Also Bone Rush in Gen II, but it's no longer exclusive to the family. Alolan Marowak gets its own signature move in the form of Shadow Bone, though thanks to Idiot Programming they can't use it without visiting the Move Relearner.
 * Skeletons in the Coat Closet: Cubone wears the skull of its dead mother.
 * Soul Power: Alolan Marowak, which are part Ghost.
 * Stock Femur Bone
 * Took a Level in Badass: With the introduction of the Thick Club item, which doubles both Cubone and Marowak's Attack if held, putting them at having the highest Attack stat possible in the game, only trumped by Power Trick Shuckle (which isn't a reliable tactic anyway).
 * The Woobie: Cubone because his mother is DEAD!
 * You Have Researched Breathing: Despite being their signature move, Alolan Marowak can't naturally learn Shadow Bone until you take them to the move relearner. The Totem Alolan Marowak you can get from Samson Oak in Ultra Sun thankfully comes with it, but it still begs the question of why Gamefreak didn't fix its level up movepool. Or move the Move Relearner to literally anywhere besides the end of Mt. Lanakila.
 * You Killed My Mother

Tyrogue, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, and Hitmontop (Balkie, Sawamular, Ebiwalar, and Kapoerer)
Tyrogue and Hitmontop debut in Gen II

In Gen I, when you defeated the Karate King in the Fighting Dojo, you were given a choice between two fighting Pokémon: Hitmonlee, who specializes in kicking attacks and Hitmonchan, who specializes in punching attacks. Both these Pokémon seemed to be related but didn't evolve into one another. That changed with Gen II when they introduced Tyrogue, a fighting type that didn't seem to specialize in anything—yet. It needed to be trained in a certain stat to evolve into Hitmonlee (higher attack), Hitmonchan (higher defense) or the new third member, Hitmontop, who specializes in spinning on its head (its attack and defense are even).


 * Awesome Yet Practical: Thank god for the Physical/Special split, because once the elemental punches became physical moves, they became amazing tools in Hitmonchan's arsenal. Especially since his Iron Fist ability makes punching moves hit harder!
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Hitmonchan is supposed to be the punching specialist, but moves like Mach Punch can be passed down to the other two via Tyrogue.
 * Boss Battle: A Shadow Hitmontop is the most dangerous member of Cipher Peon Skrub's team in Pokémon Colosseum. He's so dangerous, in fact, that he effortlessly defeats Eagun's level 50 Pikachu despite being more than ten levels lower than it!
 * Dance Battler: Hitmontop is based on Capoeira. From X and Y and beyond, his 3D model even has him doing a little jig as an idle animation!
 * Elemental Punch: Hitmonchan can learn all of the Elemental Punch attacks in the games...
 * Cool but Inefficient: ...but until Diamond and Pearl, they were tied to the wrong attack stat for Hitmonchan to use them well.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning/Spin to Deflect Stuff: Hitmontop.
 * Extremity Extremist: Hitmonchan mainly attacks with punches, Hitmonlee mainly attacks with kicks. With that being said, they can actually learn both punching and kicking moves.
 * Glass Cannon: Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee were this in Gen 1, where they could hit super hard at the cost of being pretty frail. Nowadays the Hitmons boast a respectable 110 Special Defense, but Hitmonlee is still pretty bad at taking physical hits.
 * Hurricane Kick: Hitmonlee and Hitmontop both learn their own spinning kicks, though the former is more of a roundhouse.
 * Kick Chick: Gender Inverted.
 * Magikarp Power: Tyrogue. He's super weak and has a terrible movepool, but once he evolves he can really clean house, no matter the Hitmon he evolves into.
 * No Mouth: Hitmonlee.
 * One-Gender Race: Always male.
 * Red Boxing Gloves: Hitmonchan.
 * Rubber Man: Some adaptations indicate that Hitmonlee's legs can be this.
 * Sarashi: Tyrogue, which is paired with boxing shorts (or growths that look like boxing shorts).
 * Shout-Out Theme Naming: In both original and English, in fact. But, respectively...
 * Odd Name Out: Hitmonlee is Tadashi Sawamura/BruceLee, Hitmonchan is Hiroyuki Ebihara/JackieChan, and Hitmontop is...capoeira/a top.
 * Signature Move: Hitmonlee is the only Pokémon able to learn Mega Kick via level up, and was the only Pokémon able to learn Rolling Kick, Jump Kick and Hi Jump Kick in Gen I. Hitmonchan remains associated with Mega Punch (one of 3 Pokémon to learn it via level up), the elemental punches (only Pokémon able to learn all 3 in Gen I, and one out of 2 to learn each one) and Mach Punch (only one to be able to learn it in Gen II). Hitmontop gets Triple Kick.
 * Mega Kick, Mega Punch, and the Elemental Punches, however, were TMs or tutor moves, with a large number of Pokémon able to learn them.
 * Stealth Pun: Tyrogue evolves into Hitmontop when he has a balance of attack and defence. Hitmontop balances on his head.

Lickitung and Lickilicky (Beroringa and Berobelt)
Lickilicky debuts in Gen IV

Lickitung is a weird lizard-like Pokémon known for having a very long and sticky tongue, reminiscent of a chameleon or a skink. It had a pretty wide movepool, but it wasn't spectacular. It was never common (it was only available via an in-game trade back in Gen I) and it was largely ignored. However, in Gen IV, it gained a new evolution that had the stats to utilize its impressive movepool. It can learn Explosion, made more powerful via STAB.


 * Action Bomb: Lickilicky is often used for its absurdly strong Explosion. It can destroy anything that isn't a Rock, Steel, or Ghost type (and a few things that are) but it makes Lickilicky faint.
 * Big Eater: That tongue isn't just for show: these guys can eat.
 * Big Fun: Wild Lickitung and Lickilicky are super mellow and friendly in Legends Arceus, and won't aggro unless you provoke them. Lickilicky's a special case since it's one of few fully evolved Pokémon that won't attack or run for it if you get too close.
 * Cartoon Creature: Lickitung is definitely... some kind of lizard. But it looks nothing like any kind of lizard that exists in the real world with its pink skin, fluffy tail, huge tongue, and overall goofy appearance. The same goes double for Lickilicky, who almost looks like he could be a fast food mascot.
 * Confusion Fu: Like any Normal type worth its salt, these guys have surprisingly vast movepools. Even better? They've got the attacking stats to back them up!
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Lickilicky may be a goofy-looking Pokémon with an even goofier sounding name, but you won't be laughing when this thing hits puts the hurt on your team and tanks whatever you throw at it.
 * Early Installment Weirdness: Guess what move Lickitung couldn't use during its debut? Lick. As in, the move where the user licks the enemy with its gigantic tongue.
 * Junk Rare: In the Kanto games, you could only get one Lickitung from an in-game trade. It's at least better than Farfetch'd since it can take a few hits and hit back a little harder, but even then it's basically there to be Dex filler.
 * Mighty Glacier: Lickilicky's a solid, tanky hard-hitter, but as its husky physique would suggest, speed isn't its forte.
 * Non-Elemental
 * Our Monsters Are Weird: Good god, are they weird!
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: A big problem that plagued Lickitung until it got an evolution. It's a lot weaker than its build would suggest, and while it does have some decent bulk, it also has to compete with Snorlax, Chansey, Blissey, and so many other Normal types who have excellent bulk. Lickilicky is still overshadowed in the grand scheme of things, but it also tends to be a solid pick for the tiers it's viable in.
 * Funnily enough, the creation of Little Cup would be a godsend to Lickitung, who's been one of the most reliable battlers in that tier since its inception. Now it's this guy who's doing the overshadowing around here!
 * Overly Long Tongue
 * Retcon: Lickitung became able to evolve into Lickilicky by leveling up while knowing Rollout, a move it could already learn in earlier generations.
 * Stout Strength: Lickilicky's every bit as strong as it is fat, which is to say very.
 * You Have Researched Breathing: Lickitung could not learn Lick until Gen II.

Koffing and Weezing (Dogars and Matadogas)


Koffing and Weezing are strange Pokémon with origins that are hard to pinpoint. It might be the anthromorphic personification of smog, or it might be a levitating Sea Mine. Either way, it's a very good defensive wall, with only a single weakness (once abilities came about in Gen III) and a high defense. It may be odd, but it's also the offical mascot of at least three Pokémon fansites, Smogon being one example.


 * Action Bomb
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Though not exactly a "moron" unless you consider its role in the anime, you probably wouldn't guess at first that Weezing has a base stat total of 490, the same as Alakazam, Electabuzz and Kangaskhan, among other heavy hitters. It also has a larger movepool than you might expect too, including Shadow Ball, Flamethrower and Thunderbolt.
 * Deadly Gas
 * Early Installment Weirdness/Off-Model: In the Japanese Blue/international Red and Blue, Koffing's skull-and-crossbones marking is above its eyes. In every single other official depiction, it's below the mouth.
 * Floating Wasteland
 * Mighty Glacier: Fair offensive stats and great Defense, but pitiful Speed and HP.
 * Muck Monster: Like the Grimer family, they are animated waste, but not such a literal example.
 * Multiple Head Case: Weezing, although the two heads are conjoined. According to a few Pokédex profiles, there are occasionally three-headed Weezings.
 * Perpetual Frowner: Weezing.
 * Perpetual Smiler: Koffing.
 * Poisonous Pokémon
 * Signature Move: most commonly associated with Smog, and the only poison-types to learn it until Generation IV.

Rhyhorn, Rhydon, and Rhyperior (Sihorn, Sidon, and Dosidon)
Rhyperior debuts in Gen IV

Rhyhorn and Rhydon vaguely resemble rhinoceros or ceratopian dinosaurs. It's a great physical Pokémon, but its special stats and speed are rather lacking. Its nose horn may draw electrical attacks to it, but luckily, it's immune to the damage due to being a Ground-type (except for in the anime). Rhyperior is basically Rhydon on steroids; it's even chunkier then before, and it's now gained some armor in the form of orange rocks which reduce super-effective damage by a third.


 * Arm Cannon: Rhyperior.
 * Ascended Meme: Rhydon having the Lightningrod ability
 * Confusion Fu: While not as varied, due to its poor Special Attack stat, Rhyhorn and evolutions have an incredibly diverse movepool, and can use almost all of the elements in one form or another (Psychic can't be used at all).
 * Dishing Out Dirt: They are the only Rock/Ground types that are part Ground first, and part Rock second.
 * The Ditz: Rhyhorn is said to be so dumb that it has rocks for brains and can charge into a brick wall and not feel any pain until the next day.
 * For Massive Damage: Grass and water-type attacks. One of Rhyperior's abilities, Solid Rock, reduces damage from such attacks as well as several other weaknesses.
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Mythology Gag: Rhydon was the first Pokemon ever created, and appropriately its index number was 1 in Gen 1.
 * Won't Work On Me: Ground Type moves.
 * Rhino Rampage: Will charge straight ahead (no matter what—or who—is in its path) and only stop when it either hits a wall or forgets why it's charging in the first place.
 * Signature Move: Rock Wrecker for Rhyperior, although no longer exclusive as of Gen V.
 * Stone Wall: Combine Rhyperior's large HP and Defense stats, give them 128 EVs each, give it Solid Rock, slap an Assault Vest on it, and send it into battle while Sandstorm is up, and it becomes one of the beefiest tanks around (for context, this setup gives Rhyperior 403 HP, 328 Defense, and 328 Sp.Def with the added boosts from Sandstorm and Assault Vest).
 * This Is a Drill: Rhydon and Rhyperior are the Drill Pokémon, and have drill nose horns.

Happiny, Chansey, and Blissey (Pinpuku, Lucky, and Happinas)
Blissey debuts in Gen II, while Happiny debuts in Gen IV

Chansey is a much sought-after Pokémon. Catching it is literally all up to chance, as it's normally only found in the Safari Zone; an area of the game where you don't battle the Pokémon (thus making them very hard to capture) and the Pokémon can run away from you at any time. Once caught, though, it can prove to be one of the best special walls in the game. With access to a number of healing moves and the highest HP stat (and a fantastic special defense) of any Pokémon, it can last for quite a while... unless it has to deal with a Pokémon with strong physical attacks, at which point it's screwed eight ways to Sunday. Unlike Chansey or Blissey, Happiny is too young to lay its own eggs, so instead it carries an egg-shaped rock in its pouch in imitation of its evolved forms.


 * Distaff Counterpart: in a strange way, to Skarmory, forming the famous "Skarm-Bliss" combo. They are top tier threats in competitive play, are frequently used for specific purposes. The biggest factor though is their walling capabilities; Blissey has massive HP and Sp.Def stats, while Skarmory has a massive Defense stat,and while it lacks the HP of Blissey, Skarmory makes up for it by way of its Steel typing, giving it many useful resistances.
 * The Medic: Chanseys are used as nursing assistants in Pokemon centers (except in Unova, where Audino are used)
 * Metal Slime: Insanely rare, hard to catch, and prone to fleeing.
 * Bonus points for also having a small chance of holding a very desirable item.
 * Less rare in Sinnoh, but still not easy to find. Aside from that guy who gives you a free Happiny egg.
 * They weren't as rare in Gen I either, as in addition to appearing in the Safari Zone, they could also appear in the Cerulean Cave at an abnormally common rate (5% or 10% chance, depending on what floor you're on and the game). This was fixed in Fire Red/Leaf Green, where the only place to get a Chansey in that game (and indeed that entire gen, XD aside) was the Safari Zone.
 * Non-Elemental
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Happiny, full stop.
 * One-Gender Race: Always female.
 * Signature Move: Softboiled, outside of Generation III and Mew in Generation I.
 * Stone Wall: On the special side with 255 HP and 135 Sp.Def; the physical side, not so much.
 * More of a Mighty Glacier in Gen 1, due to the special stat not being split yet, meaning Chansey was as formidable an attacker as she was a wall. Really.
 * Unskilled but Strong: The evolutionary line has enough HP to make them broken (Blissey's HP can go the highest out of any stat of any pokemon!) but their attack and defense is SEVERELY lacking. Happiny and Chansey tie for the worst Attack and Defense of all Pokémon, both having 5 apiece in both stats.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Thanks to the new Eviolite item, which boosts the Defense and Special Defense of Chansey only and not Blissey, Chansey replaces her evolution as one of the best special walls.

Tangela and Tangrowth (Monjara and Mojumbo)
Tangrowth debuts in Gen IV

Tangela was a pretty dull Pokémon back in Gen I; the only notable attribute was that it was a pure Grass type (all the others were dual-types, mostly Grass and Poison), but that wasn't anything to write home about. When Tangrowth was introduced in Gen IV, its usefulness jumped tendfold since it's a great physical wall, and capable of utilizing physical and special moves.


 * Green Thumb: Tangela is the only of the original 151 to be a pure Grass-type.
 * Healing Factor
 * The Mass of Vines that Walks
 * Mighty Glacier: Decent Attack (both physical and special) and Defense, but has crippling Special Defense and Speed...
 * Lightning Bruiser: ...but turns into this in sunny weather, thanks to one of its possible abilities.

Kangaskhan (Garura)


Another Safari Zone exclusive, Kangaskhan is supposed to be a kangaroo, but it also resembles a dinosaur. It's usually depicted with a baby in its pouch. Don't try and mess with the baby; if you do, it will kill you.


 * Action Mom
 * Mama Bear: See above warning about messing with its baby.
 * Boxing Kangaroo
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Having one based off of Genghis Khan will do that.
 * Non-Elemental
 * One-Gender Race: Always female.
 * Signature Move: Dizzy Punch, until Crystal.

Horsea (Tattu), Seadra, and Kingdra
Kingdra debuts in Gen II

Based on seahorses, Horsea and Seadra were typical water types, although that isn't saying much since there are a lot of water types to choose from. Then Gen II came around and it gained an evolution in the form of Kingdra, and a new typing which leaves it with a big number of resistances. Dragon-type is the only type that can be super-effective, but this is risky since Kingdra is likely to pack Dragon-type moves itself.


 * Jack of All Stats: Kingdra's stats are well balanced and somewhat above average, and is the first Dragon-type to withstand their dreaded weakness; the only other mons that possess this kind of resistance are Legendaries. In fact, its only weakness is Dragon.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Face one with Swift Swim in the rain and you are plain boned. It gets worse in Generation 5, thanks to permanent rain being obtainable in OU. The fact that Water+Dragon is awesome STAB (resisted only by Shedinja, Empoleon, and Ferrothorn) helps.
 * Making a Splash
 * Our Dragons Are Different: Kingdra. Who, like the rest of its family, is a seahorse. And said rest of the family is identified as the Dragon Pokémon in the Pokédex.
 * Makes sense, because Kingdra is based off the Weedy Sea Dragon.
 * Perpetual Frowner: Seadra.
 * Seahorse Steed: technically, since they can be taught Surf.
 * Technicolor Eyes: Horsea and Kingdra.

Goldeen and Seaking (Tosakinto and Azumao)
These Pokémon are goldfish with horns on their heads, what else can be said about them, besides the fact that they naturally learn an HM move?


 * Blue Eyes: Goldeen.
 * Making a Splash
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: There are much better Water types around; in particular, the also-readily-available Gyarados outdoes them throughly.
 * Signature Move: Waterfall, in the first Generation.
 * Even to this day, Goldeen and Seaking are the only two Pokémon that can learn it by leveling up, putting them among the very, very few Pokémon that can learn HMs by such method, putting them alongside Salamence and Rayquaza (Fly), Volbeat (Flash), and Sawk (Rock Smash)
 * Took a Level in Badass: Got the improved Lightning Rod in the fifth gen, transforming one of its weaknesses into an immunity.

Staryu (Hitodeman) and Starmie


Staryu and Starmie are very unusual Pokémon. Unlike real starfish, which move by creeping along the bottom, Staryu and Starmie are best known for speeding around at high speeds like shuriken. They also have amazing healing powers, but don't have much in the way of a face, which is just a glowing red gem and the source of their power. Starmie is part psychic as well, and learns a variety of special-based attacks: Surf, Psychic, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, and you're good to go.


 * Badass: Starmie is one of the two Pokemon, along with Gengar, to have the distinction if being a high tier Pokemon for all five generations.
 * Cool but Inefficient: Starmie is way too fast to be able to make good use of Analytic, its Dream World ability (which boosts the power of moves if the user goes last.)
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Starmie has another star attached to its back that is constantly spinning, which it uses to propel itself along. They also learn moves such as Rapid Spin.
 * The Faceless
 * Healing Factor: Can regenerate any part of its body as long as the core is intact, learns the move Recover, and can have the Natural Cure ability.
 * Jack of All Stats: While its base stats easily favor various Lightning Bruiser special-based builds, its absurdly broad movepool allow it to do nearly anything - even both agility-based (Minimize/Recover) and defense-based (Cosmic Power/Recover) Stone Wall builds. Its only real flaw is its comparatively low hit points, and the various Healing Factor moves handle that.
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Making a Splash
 * It also commonly uses Ice Beam and, somehow, Thunderbolt, in addition to the usual Water and Psychic moves.
 * No Biological Sex: One of the only examples of a fully biological, non-legendary Pokemon to be this.
 * Power Crystal
 * Psychic Powers: Starmie.
 * Signature Move: Camouflage (Generation III only).
 * Starfish Aliens: Literally.
 * Supernatural Is Purple: Starmie.

Mime Jr. and Mr. Mime (Manene and Barrierd)
Mime Jr. debuts in Gen IV

Mr. Mime is a clown Pokémon with a talent for mimicking and miming, It is especially talented at creating transparent walls, which is very useful for repeling attacks. The English name Mr. Mime may imply that it's supposed to be male, but they can be either male or female. In the Gen I games, there was an NPC who was willing to trade their Mr. Mime for an Abra, and it was the only way to get it. In later generations it became more common, and it even received a baby with the name Mime Jr., going with the theme of having a title in their name. Just like its evolved form, it's good at mimicking people and Pokémon.


 * Ditto Fighter: to a certain extent, as Mime Jr. can learn Mimic (the requisite for its evolution into Mr. Mime), as expected from the Mime Pokémon.
 * Enemy Mime
 * Glass Cannon/Fragile Speedster: high Special and Speed stats to make up for low HP and mediocre physical defense. Its signature Filter ability slightly decreases its vulnerability, but not by much.
 * Monster Clown: When it's attacking you.
 * It Can Be Either Gender In Japan: The English localization turned Barrierd, a gender-neutral name, into Mr. Mime, implying a One-Gender Race, back when there wasn't gender data.
 * Perpetual Smiler: Mime Jr.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Signature Move: Barrier

Scyther and Scizor (Strike and Hassam)
Scizor debuts in Gen II

Savage mantis bug-types, Scyther and Scizor have a lot of fans, and for good reason. Scyther is a green person-sized Pokémon with a raptor-like head and scythes for arms. It's a pretty cool Pokémon, but it suffers a bit for being a Bug/Flying type. It later gained an evolved form in Scizor. It loses its dinosaur-like characteristics and its blinding speed, but it more then makes up for it in terms of attack, defenses, resistances, and moves.


 * Badass: In both forms!
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Person-sized ninja mantis-dinosaurs.
 * Blow You Away: Scyther
 * Divergent Character Evolution: With Pinsir. They started as direct counterparts as version exclusive Bug Pokémon that didn't suck, but then Scyther got an evolution, and Pinsir became part of a Japanese Beetle Brothers duo with Heracross. Still quite close, however.
 * Also applies inside the same species: Scyther is a Glass Cannon, while Scizor is a Mighty Glacier, and the former is a quite usable Pokémon even though it's unevolved (in fact, the stat total DOESN'T CHANGE upon evolution), so 2 identical Scythers will end up playing quite differently if one is evolved and the other is not.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Scizor
 * For Massive Damage: Rock-type attacks to Scyther. Fire-type attacks to Scizor.
 * Scizor's Fire weakness arguably qualifies as Achilles' Heel, as that's the only type that does better than neutral damage to it.
 * Flight: Scyther (although it can't learn Fly). Scizor's ability to do so is subject of Flip-Flop of God.
 * Glass Cannon: Scyther. Unless playing against other unevolved Pokémon.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Scizor using Bullet Punch will feel like this. Scyther is this in Little Cup, as it is by far the strongest unevolved Pokémon.
 * Not just Bullet Punch,It can also use Agility too to boost its speed.
 * Mighty Glacier: Scizor.
 * Ninja: Scyther has a ninja-esque motif.
 * Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Both of them are person-sized ninja mantis-dinosaurs (and one's made of metal).
 * Samurai: Scizor fittingly has some samurai-ish traits.
 * Sinister Scythes As Hands: Moreso Scyther, though Scizor can count as well with its scissorhand pincers.
 * Took a Level in Badass: While these guys are plenty awesome on their own, they weren't exactly notable in the competitive scene. Along came Platinum, bringing Bullet Punch to their arsenal...

Smoochum and Jynx (Muchul and Rougela)
Smoochum debuts in Gen II

Lots of things can be said about Jynx. It's an Ice/Psychic Pokémon with poor attack and defense, but wonderful special stats and speed. It's got a lot in common with other human-shaped Pokémon. It's been compared to Mr. Mime (Both were only available in in-game trades and both are Psychic-types that look similar and have similar stat totals) and Magmar and Electabuzz (They form a Fire, Ice, and Lighting trio, and they all received babies in Gen II). Their kisses can confuse or put its target to sleep. Jynx became the subject of controversy for allegedly promoting racist Unfortunate Implications, so its black "skin" was changed to purple skin.


 * An Ice Person
 * Distaff Counterpart: To Mr. Mime (despite its sexual ratio), AND to Magmar and Electabuzz (despite them also being able to be females).
 * Innocent Fanservice Girl: Smoochum will kiss anything that grabs her interest.
 * One-Gender Race: Always female.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Retcon: Jynx's skin was changed from black to purple due to Unfortunate Implications, this is possibly why Smoochum was introduced.
 * Signature Move: Lovely Kiss for Jynx.
 * Supernatural Is Purple: After Jynx's skin was turned to purple.
 * Took a Level in Badass: It is commonly agreed that giving Jynx the ability Dry Skin heavily increased her usefulness in the metagame, both by taking advantage of the now much more common rain, and by allowing Jynx to not only shrug off Kyogre's best attack, Jynx actually heals itself when hit with it.
 * Youkai: Jynx is probably based on a combination of the Yama-Uba, A mountain crone/witch with dark skin and white hair (explaining it's unusual typing of psychic/ice), and Yamanba, a subculture named for it's resemblance to said crone. Of course, since this was a distinctly Japanese cultural reference, it didn't translate very well.

Elekid, Electabuzz (Eleboo), and Electivire (Elekible)
Elekid debuts in Gen II, while Electivire debuts in Gen IV

The Electabuzz family are yellow and black-striped Pokémon that have great control over electricity. If they have a basis though, they appear to be based on Oni of Japanese legend. Their best moves involve pummeling their opponents with electrified fists. They seem to be direct counterparts to the Magmar family.


 * Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Elekid having a plug-like head, Electivire having a socket on its back and live-wire twin tails.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Elekid spin their arms around to charge up electricity.
 * Glass Cannon: Electabuzz has high Speed and offensive stats, but low defenses and HP.
 * Mighty Glacier: Electivire has even better Attack and higher Defense and HP, but much lower Speed...
 * Lightning Bruiser: Electivire in particular; its Speed is surprisingly good. It also has the Motor Drive ability which boosts its Speed when hit with an Electric attack, boosting its Speed stat even further.
 * Electivire can still count as a Lightning Bruiser - for such a bulky-looking Pokémon, it's surprisingly fast.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome : It has good stats, and nice movepool that covers a lot of type that you can hit many pokemon super effectively and a pretty nice ability. Sadly, its lacking speed to sweep effectively, and its ability is still a gamble, and it has no moves that is strong enough to deal high damage, so much that even its Super Effective coverage cant help.
 * Psycho Electro: Natures aside, this family is said to have less-than-friendly dispositions.
 * Shock and Awe
 * Tail Slap: Electrivire is said to use its twin tails in combat.

Magby, Magmar, and Magmortar (Booby, Boober, and Booburn)
Magby debuts in Gen II, while Magmortar debuts in IV

Despite being in the humanshape egg group, Magmar and its kin don't seem to look human-like at all, seemingly having more in common with duck-billed dinosaurs. They're nominally based on a bird(the booby) but are more like anthromorphic personifications of fire itself. They've usually appeared alongside the Electabuzz family.


 * Arm Cannon: Magmortar has two and retracts its claws before using them in some materials.
 * Incendiary Exponent
 * Jack of All Stats: Magmar has all around decent Attack, Spec. Attack and Speed, though not enough Speed to be a Glass Cannon like Electabuzz.
 * Mighty Glacier: As with Electivire, Magmortar has higher offense but worse Speed than Magmar.
 * Magma Man
 * Magmortar Is About To Shoot You: in the DP sprites.
 * Playing with Fire

Pinsir (Kailios)


A stag beetle with two oversized horns, which act much like pincers. It likes to crush things with them, and anything it can't crush, it tosses far away. This Pokémon is evil. It's the version counterpart to Scyther.


 * Always Someone Better: Ever since Heracross was introduced in Gen 2, Pinsir's been overshadowed by it since Heracross does nearly all of the same things, only better. See "Overshadowed by Awesome" below.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies
 * Divergent Character Evolution: See Scyther.
 * Japanese Beetle Brothers: A Kuwagatamushi, Heracross being the Kabutomushi.
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Heracross is pretty much Pinsir doing 50% more damage. Still, Pinsir is one of the best Bugs out there. Even after getting a level in badass thanks to getting Moxie from the Dream World, it doesn't make a difference, because Heracross also got it.
 * Wrestler in All of Us: Not a Fighting type, but learns more Fighting moves than Bug ones.

Tauros (Kentauros)


A Safari Zone exclusive in Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow. Due to how rare it is in the Safari Zone, he is usually the very last guy you needed to complete your Pokédex (unless Chansey was really living up to its name). It has a very good attack stat, but what's most surprising is its speed. This made it a top-tier Pokémon back in the color generation.


 * A Load of Bull
 * One-Gender Race: Always male. After all, they're bulls.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Fast, strong, has good defenses, only the Special Attack is lacking, and that is only after the special split. This guy, other than the overpowered Psychics, was the most used Pokémon in the Red/Blue metagame.
 * Nerf: Tauros was possibly the most nerfed Pokémon in Gen II; first, its Special stat of 70 became its Sp.Def while its Sp.Atk became a pathetic base 40. Second, Hyper Beam now always immobilises the user even after a knockout. Finally, Tauros' Speed no longer gave an increased critical hit rate, dropping to a flat 6.25% rate for all Pokémon. Tauros was nerfed so hard, it never recaptured the OU viability it once had since then.
 * Non-Elemental: like other Gen I Normal types, Tauros can learn a wide variety of moves, including Special ones, even it can't exact use them to great effect itself.
 * Spear Counterpart: To Miltank.
 * Unstoppable Rage: Tauros is one of the few Pokémon with the ability Anger Point. When it gets hit by a Critical Hit and survives, its attack gets quadrupled.
 * Averted in Alola; according to the Pokédex, although it lacks an Alolan form, Tauros native to the reigon are of a much calmer disposition.

Magikarp (Koiking) and Gyarados


Magikarp is infamous for being completely useless, so many don't bother to use it. Many others do bother, though, because it evolves into Gyarados, one of the best Pokémon in existence. With an awesome Attack stat, Intimidate, powerful physical STAB, respectable speed, good Special Defense, and a solid movepool, Gyarados is perfectly capable of wrecking anything in its way.

"Yellow Version: "Famous for being very unreliable [...]" Gold Version: "An underpowered, pathetic Pokemon [...]" Ruby Version: "Magikarp is a pathetic excuse for a Pokémon that is only capable of flopping and splashing. This behavior prompted scientists to undertake research into it." FireRed Version: "[...] It is the most weak and pathetic Pokémon in the world." Diamond Version: "[...] No one knows why it has managed to survive.""
 * Achilles' Heel: Has a double weakness to Electric.
 * Badass: Gyarados. Averted with Magikarp.
 * Blow You Away: Gyarados, In Name Only: The only Flying move it can learn is Bounce (also Flying In Name Only), and only thanks to Magikarp learning it through the Dream World.
 * Butt Monkey: Most Pokemon get very flattering dex entries, such as Pidgeot flying at Mach 2 and Magcargo's given body temperature being hotter than the surface of the sun. Meanwhile, here are some excerpts of Magikarp's dex entries:


 * Incidentally, Magikarp isn't the weakest Pokemon in terms of base stat totals or movepools, nor does it even place in the bottom five.
 * Com Mons: Fish in a body of water, and you'll find a Magikarp. (excepting Gen V, where it's Basculin) Became Egregious when in DPPt, any body of water that yielded Magikarp could also yield Gyarados if using a better rod. Including ponds smaller than it.
 * Exclusively Evil: Gyarados is pretty much pissed as soon as it evolves. When it's pissed, it destroys everything around it. It only stops being pissed when it's already destroyed everything around it. Go figure.
 * For Massive Damage: The only thing that stops Gyarados from being banned is its crippling weakness to electric attacks.
 * Flight: Averted. Although part Flying-type, Gyarados inconsistently is not able to do so.
 * In Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, if you walk with a Gyarados on the cliff route before the Safari Zone, it will "fly through the air with grace!" as do all Flying types.
 * Foil: They gained one in the shape of the Feebas line.
 * Hair-Trigger Temper / Unstoppable Rage: Gyarados is easily enraged. When it gets enraged, it'll destroy entire cities and villages for a month, leaving nothing alive. Considering its Omnicidal Maniac status in the Pokédex entries.
 * Joke Character: Magikarp, of course, was intended to be as weak as possible before getting some Magikarp Power.
 * Lethal Joke Character: Though there's no reason to do so except to humiliate your opponent, with the proper set-up Magikarp can sweep a team of legendaries on its own.
 * Kaiju: Gyarados.
 * Legendary Carp: Double Subverted, Magikarp is by no means legendary, but when it evolves into Gyarados...
 * Lightning Bruiser: The only bad thing about Gyarados is its special attack, which hasn't been needed as of Generation IV.
 * Magikarp Power: Trope Namer, and played as straight as possible, leading to...
 * Disc One Nuke: Gyarados is one of the most used Pokémon in competitive play, and has seen far better times. In most of the main games in the series, it can be captured early in-game, and wreck anything that isn't electric. (And it wrecks anything that is electric, save for Zapdos, Rotom, Emolga, the Eelektross line, and Thundurus, if you teach it Earthquake. And those are covered if it has Ice Fang or Stone Edge. Hell, its phenomenal Attack may allow it to just wreck the Electric-types anyways if it gets to act before them, since most of them are Glass Cannons.)
 * Also, keep this in mind: Magikarp evolves into Gyarados 12 levels earlier than the earliest-evolving starter in Red/Blue. It has a stat total of 540, higher than ANY of that generation's starters-not to mention any starter in general.
 * Making a Splash
 * Omnicidal Maniac: Gyarados, once it is enraged from its Hair-Trigger Temper, will destroy everything in sight. Cities have been destroyed from a Gyarados' rage.
 * Our Dragons Are Different: Although not a Dragon-type per se, Gyarados is a sea serpent with aspects of a Chinese dragon, learns several Dragon-type moves by level-up and is in the Dragon egg group. Like Charizard, it's essentially a non-Dragon-type dragon.
 * It was apparently planned to be half-Dragon-Type, but the idea was scrapped because that would've given it no weaknesses due to the only Dragon-Type attack in R/B/Y being a Fixed Damage Attack. Thus Charizard & Gyarados were modified to be part-flying instead of part-dragon. A few traces remain of the original sub-types however, as Gyarados can learn way more Dragon type moves than Flying type moves (It couldn't learn ANY Flying moves originally, and even as of Gen 6, the only Flying type move Gyarados can learn is Bounce). As for Charizard, it couldn't even learn Fly in Red/Blue.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: Gyarados.
 * Shout-Out: Magikarp and Gyarados are a reference to a Chinese legend of a carp that leapt over "The Dragon's Gate" and became a dragon. The legend is an allegory of the hard work needed to overcome a difficult task (such as getting a Magikarp up to level 20 when it doesn't learn an actual attack until level 15).
 * Signature Move: Splash is strongly associated with Magikarp, who was the only Pokémon able to learn it in Gen I.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Not that Gyarados needed one, but it gets Moxie as an ability from the Dream World. Cue its enemies soiling themselves.
 * He got a level in badass before then, with the physical/special split in Gen IV. Physical Waterfall and Aqua Tail gave him two good STAB moves. The addition of Stone Edge, physical Outrage, and Dragon Dance truly made him a beast.
 * And of course the obvious example of Magikarp turning INTO Gyarados in the first place.
 * Mega Gyarados. It has the highest Attack of any Water type (155), much stronger Defences (109 physical/130 Special), its second type replaced with Dark, and Mold Breaker allowing it to ignore abilities like Levitate.

Lapras (Laplace)


A gentle plesiosaur that ferries people and other Pokémon on its back, it is sadly endangered due to overhunting. In fact, only one was available in the original games, given to you by a grateful worker in Silph Co.; later games have seen it become a little more common. One is available every Friday in Gold, Silver and Crystal and their remakes.


 * An Ice Person: And has a warm personality, as well.
 * Endangered Species
 * Making a Splash
 * One-Hit Kill: Can learn 3 out of the four attacks.
 * Stock Ness Monster: Lapras's original name was even "Ness".
 * Unique Enemy: Well, only one every week in Gold/Silver and their remakes, but still counts.
 * Metal Slime: In the games it appears as a standard Pokémon, and it has less than a 5% chance of appearing.

Ditto (Metamon)


Ditto is a pink-purple blob creature with not much of a shape or form to speak of... what can it do? "What can't it do?" is the question that should be asked. It has the ability to transform into any other Pokémon and use all of their moves just as effectively as the real thing. It's also amazing at bypassing all the complications of breeding. With a Ditto's help, nearly anything can be bred to produce another of that Pokémon. The only things it can't breed with are almost all legendaries, baby Pokémon... and itself (since Gen III)... and Nidorina and Nidoqueen, for strange reasons.


 * Anything That Moves: It breeds with male, female, and even genderless Pokémon to make eggs.
 * Blob Monster
 * Ditto Fighter: Trope Namer.
 * No Biological Sex
 * Non-Elemental: In its base form. It takes on the elemental attributes of whatever it transforms into.
 * Screw Yourself: Likely invokes this during breeding.
 * Signature Move: Transform, as it is the only move it learns, and the whole concept behind it. Mew also learns it, however.
 * Team Mom and/or Team Dad: Is quite likely to be one or even both of these literally.
 * Took a Level in Badass: It gets the ability Imposter from the Dream World, which makes it automatically transform into its opponent, without wasting a turn. It went from battle gimmick and egg maker to the ultimate check to any sweeper.
 * Not to mention it copies every one of their stats except Hit Points.
 * Unstable Genetic Code
 * Voluntary Shapeshifter

Eevee, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, Glaceon and Sylveon (Eievui, Showers, Thunders, Booster, Eifie, Blacky, Leafia, Glacia and Nymphia)
Espeon and Umbreon debut in Gen II, Leafeon and Glaceon debut in Gen IV, whie Sylveon debuted in Gen VI

Eevee is unique in the Pokémon world as the only Pokémon with eight possible evolutions, though it started with three. Eevee and all of its evolutions are designed with a very cute, basic sort of appeal and remain fan-favorites.


 * Ascended Fanon: The fan nickname "Eeveelution", used in Pokémon Ranger.
 * Competitive Balance
 * Fragile Speedster: Jolteon
 * Glass Cannon: Espeon
 * Lightning Bruiser: Leafeon
 * Mighty Glacier: Vaporeon, Flareon, Glaceon and Sylveon.
 * Stone Wall: Umbreon
 * Elemental Powers: They each have one type, all different ones.
 * An Ice Person: Glaceon
 * Casting a Shadow: Umbreon
 * Our Fairies Are Different: Sylveon
 * Green Thumb: Leafeon
 * Making a Splash: Vaporeon
 * Playing with Fire: Flareon
 * Psychic Powers: Espeon
 * Shock and Awe: Jolteon
 * Feed It with Fire/Elemental Absorption: Flareon's ability makes it immune to Fire attacks and powers its own while Jolteon and Vaporeon get healed from Electric and Water attacks respectively.
 * Invisibility: Vaporeon is able to camouflage in water.
 * Lucky Seven
 * Power Trio: In Generation I.
 * Five-Man Band: In Pokemon XD, and in Pokémon Rumble (although only on the tickets).
 * Moon Rabbit: Umbreon is based on the legend about it.
 * Morality Pet: How Eevee evolves into Espeon and Umbreon. Getting Eevee's friendship level up will trigger evolution depending on the time of day; Espeon during the day, and Umbreon at night.
 * Eevee requires an Affection Level 2 in Pokémon Refresh, plus a Fariy type moves in order to evolve into Sylveon.
 * Non-Elemental: Eevee itself is not only a Normal type, but has one of the least diverse movepools of said type.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: All 7 Eeveelutions suffer from some of this, due to their awkward movepools and stat distribution. Vaporeon suffers the least from that, while Flareon's lack of a decent physical movepool has become a Running Gag for the fandom.
 * In Generation V, Espeon also avoids this thanks to its Dream World ability, Magic Bounce, which automatically reflects non-damaging attacks back at their users, and is only shared by Xatu.
 * Jolteon too to an extent. It's been OU in every generation except the first (although in Gen V this was mostly due to Thundurus' banning).
 * Poor Predictable Rock: An underlying problem for all of these Pokémon, who are all hindered by having utterly pathetic movepools. Even the newly improved Espeon is used more for support than anything else.
 * Signature Move: Morning Sun for Espeon and Moonlight for Umbreon (both attacks are HP restoring moves), but no longer exclusive as of Gen III.
 * Also, Pin Missile for Jolteon in Gen I, mostly due to it being in competitive movesets to counteract Psychic types.
 * Theme Naming: All the evolution names end in -eon. In fact, Eevee's original English name was even going to be Eon.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Espeon as of Generation V (due to its Dream World ability). How does it feel to be the overshadowed one now, Alakazam?
 * Tron Lines: Umbreon. It's especially evident in the Pokémon Stadium series.
 * Unstable Genetic Code
 * Useless Useful Skill: Umbreon can learn Synchronoise as an egg group, but it utterly useless due to the move only damaging same type opponents. In Umbreon's case, Dark type mons are unaffected by Synchronoise.
 * Youkai: Espeon is based on a nekomata.

Porygon, Porygon2, and Porygon-Z
Porygon2 debuts in Gen II, while Porygon-Z debuts in Gen IV

Porygon is an artificial Pokémon created by SilphCo. As such, it can be upgraded to its Porygon2 model, which was created for space exploration, but became able to learn. Porygon2 itself can further be "upgraded" to Porygon-Z, a model created for interdimensional travel, though a glitch in its program allowed it to gain emotions. Unfortunately, neither upgrade succeeded in their intended purposes. This line is especially notable for being banned from the anime due to the Porygon-centric episode Dennō Senshi Porygon in which flashing lights from an explosion (caused by Pikachu, not Porygon) caused viewers (most of which were children) to have seizures. As a result, the episode is banned in a lot of countries (including its home country of Japan) and Porygon and its line are rarely mentioned in the anime series (except in the Pokerap at the end of season one's episodes).


 * Artificial Pokémon
 * Copy Protection: In-universe example, it is stated in the Emerald Dex to be why it can't be duplicated. Not that it manages to stop anything using Transform from copying it, Not to mention that the only way to breed one is with a Ditto and not with its own species.
 * Ironic, in that Emerald is the game where Pokémon Cloning is more easily done. That includes the Porygons.
 * Game Mod: In-universe. Porygon2 is stated to be an upgrade by the developer, but Porygon-Z is clearly an unauthorized hack that increases power but causes huge graphical glitches.
 * Glass Cannon: Porygon-Z, whose defenses are lower than Porygon2's while being more powerful.
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: All three are of the few Pokemon that learn Tri Attack.
 * Jack of All Stats: Porygon2
 * No Biological Sex
 * Non-Elemental
 * Raymanian Limbs: Porygon-Z's head.
 * Retcon: It was the first manmade Pokémon created on purpose until Generation V added Golett and Golurk (two man-made robot-like golems possessed by ghosts and created to protect ancient villages from outside danger).
 * Ridiculously Pokémon-like Computer Program
 * The Scapegoat: Poor Porygon wasn't even the one who caused the seizures on that infamous Pokemon episode; it was Pikachu's lightning blowing up rockets.
 * Because of this, the entire Porygon family suffers from Ret-Gone in the anime to this day.
 * Signature Move: Conversion, Conversion 2, and, until Generation V, Sharpen. Porygon-Z is also the only Pokémon able to naturally learn Trick Room.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Porygon2 is the strongest Pokémon able to evolve (and unlike its closest competitor Scyther, its stat total increases upon doing so). With the Eviolite introduced in Gen V, it turns Porygon2 into one of the bulkiest Pokémon in the game with a decent Special Attack. While Porygon-Z is a Glass Cannon, Porygon2 turns into a Mighty Glacier.
 * Useless Useful Spell: Conversion and Conversion2 allows it to change its own typing, allowing it to get STAB or gain resistance against anything, but usually takes too much effort to set up to be useful.
 * Virtual Ghost
 * Wave Motion Gun: Due to being given evolutions within different generations, all of them can learn Hyper Beam, but Porygon-Z is one of the few that can use it at its full potential.

Omanyte and Omastar (Omnite and Omstar)


A previously extinct Pokémon and its evolution. They have seen a revival in the modern day thanks to fossil restoring technology. Since the fossil that allows Omanytes restoration is exclusive from the one which allows the restoration of Kabuto and their overall similarities they are often considered Foils to each other.


 * Badass: Despite its unfortunate typing, it still has the highest Special Attack of all non-legendary Water Pokémon, and the highest Special Attack of all Rock-types.
 * Combat Breakdown: Literally, it can have Weak Armor as its ability.
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Everything's Squishier with Cephalopods
 * Fossil Revival
 * Making a Splash
 * For Massive Damage: By grass-type attacks.
 * Prehistoric Monster

Kabuto and Kabutops


Another previously extinct Pokémon and its evolution, they have seen a revival in the modern day thanks to fossil restoring technology. Since the fossil that allows Kabuto's restoration is exclusive from the one which allows the restoration of Omanyte, and they have many overall similarities, they are often considered Foils to each other.


 * Combat Breakdown: Has Weak Armor as its Dream World ability.
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Making a Splash
 * For Massive Damage: By grass-type attacks, same as the Omanyte line.
 * Fossil Revival
 * Fragile Speedster: Kabutops, in rain.
 * Glass Ninja: "Kabutops used Swords Dance!"
 * Giant Enemy Horseshoe Crab
 * Prehistoric Monster
 * Samurai
 * Sinister Scythes As Hands

Aerodactyl (Ptera)


Yet another previously Extinct Pokémon, Aerodactyl is a Flying Pterosaur/Dragon/Wyvern with a Rock typing, rather then a Water-Rock Invertebrate. Unlike nearly every other Rock type of this generation (and most later ones), it's extremely fast, once one of the fastest.


 * Blow You Away
 * Boring but Practical: Despite it having potential as an offensive Pokémon, Aerodactyl rose to OU mostly to set Stealth Rock up and prevent the opponent from doing so.
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: Naturally learns all the elemental Fang attacks, as of Gen IV.
 * Flight
 * Fossil Revival
 * Glass Cannon: It has the highest speed stats out of every Rock-type Pokémon, and it's also a powerful attacker.
 * Name's the Same: Aside from the fact that Aerodactyl's French and German names are the same as its Japanese and English names respectively, both Aerodactyl and Jigglypuff are called "PUD" in Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal.
 * Prehistoric Monster
 * Pterosaurs Are Dragons: It can learn various Dragon-type attacks. Also, Lance owns one.
 * Stock Dinosaurs: Technically not a dinosaur, but still...
 * Ptero-Soarer. Thank you, you can all go home now.
 * Useless Useful Spell: It gets Rock Head (prevent recoil damage) as an ability, but the only move it learns that gets recoil damage is Take Down (and Double-Edge via generation 3 tutor). This is in spite of the presence of Brave Bird and Head Smash, two moves of its type that have recoil.

Munchlax and Snorlax (Gonbe and Kabigon)
Munchlax debuts in Gen IV

Snorlax is a large, gluttonous and lazy Pokémon, and because of that combination it tends to be responsible for the Broken Bridges in the games by falling asleep in the middle of roads. Of course this may have been a good thing since said solving said Broken Bridges gave the chance to catch one for yourself. Got a Pre-evolution in Generation IV in the not quite as large but still gluttonous and lazy Muchlax, who was notably harder to catch since it could only be encountered via Honey Slathering.


 * Acquired Poison Immunity: one of their abilities is Immunity, owing to their tendency to try to eat anything that's edible.
 * Badass Normal : Its been OU in four generations, and its considered as the best pokemon in generation 2 even when compared to most Ubers Legendary. That says something.
 * Big Eater
 * Implacable Mon: nothing can stand in the way of a Snorlax's appetite; the only way for it to stop is when it's time to sleep.
 * Early-Bird Cameo: Munchlax appeared in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness before the Gen IV games came out.
 * And Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.
 * Eyes Always Shut: Snorlax
 * Gentle Giant: Snorlax has shades of this...
 * Berserk Button: ...as long as you don't interrupt its nap.
 * Heavy Sleeper
 * Item Caddy: Munchlax
 * Keet: Munchlax, in stark contrast to when it evolves.
 * Mighty Glacier: Has very good HP, defensive stats (especially Special Defense), and Attack, but is one of the slowest Pokémon out there.
 * Using Curse forms the popular Curselax set, making it even more mighty but slower. The set is known for dominating generation 2.
 * Non-Elemental
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Snorlax is a solid Pokémon, that's true, but the 4th and 5th gens introduced very heavy hitters that both made Blissey the only 100% reliable special wall, AND grabbed Snorlax's place as a heavy hitter.
 * Psychic Powers: They can be taught Psychic and Zen Headbutt. (The former uses more Psychic power)
 * Stout Strength
 * Unique Enemy: There are 2 in Red/Blue and one in Gold/Silver, all three blocking routes. That's all the wild Snorlax you'll find in the wild so far.
 * Metal Slime: And Munchlax is the only Pokémon in the franchise to be harder to find than Feebas, and involves at least 6 hours of just waiting. Most people got Munchlax by breeding one of the Snorlax from FireRed or LeafGreen.

Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres (Freezer, Thunder, and Fire)


A trio of Birds who are the very first legendary Pokémon to appear in the series, they represent Ice, Lightning, and Fire, respectively, and are considered to have a strong connection to Lugia.


 * Big Badass Birds Of Prey
 * Blow You Away
 * The Corruption: Shadow Chill (Articuno), Shadow Bolt (Zapdos), and Shadow Fire (Moltres). Just too much for Greevil to pass up.
 * Disc One Nuke: Zapdos can be captured with 3 badges, and will utterly decimate anything it comes across. But you'll probably have five or six badges without Sequence Breaking.
 * Dub Name Change: Along with the lake trio, the only legendaries to change name in different languages, probably because of...
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Their rather boring Japanese names: Freezer, Thunder, and Fire. Guess which bird has each name.
 * Awesome McCoolname: They get named after Odin, Thor, and Ra (respectively) in French.
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: They even provide the page image.
 * Flight
 * For Massive Damage: Articuno and Moltres die if they get hit with a pebble. Stealth Rock being widespread and chipping away half of its health is what keeps Moltres out of the standard competitive scene.
 * Hellfire: Leave your Water, Rock, and Ground Pokémon at home; Shadow Fire burns them all the same.
 * An Ice Person: Articuno.
 * Infinity-1 Sword
 * Lightning Bruiser: All 3 of them have quite high all around stats.
 * No Biological Sex
 * Numerical Theme Naming
 * Olympus Mons: The first examples.
 * The Phoenix: Moltres, in a different myth.
 * Playing with Fire: Moltres.
 * Shock and Awe: Zapdos.
 * Signature Move: Moltres' Sky Attack, but only in Generation I.
 * Stone Wall: Articuno, due to an odd handling of the Special split.
 * A Worldwide Punomenon: In the original [Japanese] version, Shadow Pokémon are called Dark Pokémon (the type is called Evil), the birds are called Freezer, Thunder, and Fire, and the attacks are Dark Freeze, Dark Thunder, and Dark Fire. Dark THUNDER used DARK THUNDER.
 * You Are Number Six: Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres (Spanish equivalents for the numbers one, two, and three).
 * Naturally, this led to people thinking Missingno was a forgotten legendary.

Dratini, Dragonair, and Dragonite (Miniryu, Hakuryu, and Kairyu)


A group of serpentine dragons, and the original dragon Pokémon, period. Dragonite is notable for having the highest Attack stat in Generation I.


 * Acrofatic: Dragonite is quite chubby, but isn't the slowest dragon around and learns ExtremeSpeed.
 * Badass Adorable: Dragonite.
 * Blow You Away: Dragonite. It even learns Hurricane.
 * Boss in Mook Clothing: Pokémon Black and White has a location where there is a very small chance of fishing up one. Wild Dragonite Appeared!
 * Confusion Fu : Thanks to its rather high defense and high offensive stats combined with absurd movepool, Dragonite is a subject of this in the competitive metagame, in a much more bigger extent than its counterparts(with the exception of Tyranitar, who is just as versatile).
 * Evolution Gives You Wings
 * Flight: Dragonite. Dragonair too, in their Fire Red Pokédex entry and in Pokémon adaptations.
 * The First Of These Is Not Like The Others: Dragonite is pretty much the only pseudo-legendary that isn't supposed to be some sort of savage predatory beast.
 * The Last of These Is Not Like the Others: Dragonite's more traditional dragon design differs a lot from the more serpentine look of its pre-evolutions, although its body is still serpentine; it's just hard to notice that because of the limbs and how wide it is in proportion to its length.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: Dragonair is said to be able change the weather at will, yet it needs to be taught the weather-changing moves via TM.
 * Gentle Giant: Dragonite is both one of the strongest Pokémon and one of the nicest...
 * Beware the Nice Ones: ...however, DON'T make them angry; their strongest move is called Outrage for a reason.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: The only Dragon-types in the first generation.
 * Infinity+1 Element: Dragon is just an awesome type, except for ...
 * For Massive Damage: Ice kills Dragonite. (But at least it takes it better than Salamence).
 * Jack of All Stats: Out of the pseudo-legendaries, Dragonite has the most balanced stats, and has one of the largest array of moves out of any Pokémon.
 * Mighty Glacier: The preferred way to use it, however is to take advantage of its bulk and reliable healing moves (Roost and the XD originating Heal Bell), and Dream World ability in generation 5 (Multiscale, reduces damage by half if at full HP, not compatible with Heal Bell), as a straight physical attacker is an inferior Salamence and a straight special attacker is now an inferior Hydreigon.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Or abuse one of the few unique moves of value, ExtremeSpeed.
 * Mercury's Wings: Dragonair has these wings on it's head.
 * Name's the Same: Both Machamp and Dragonite are called "GUAIL" in the infamous Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal.
 * Our Dragons Are Different
 * Took a Level in Badass: If you got a Dragonite from the Dream World, it will have the ability Multiscale, which halves the damage it takes if it's at full HP. This is much better than Inner Focus.

Mewtwo


Possibly the best-known legendary and the definitive "evil" Pokémon, Mewtwo was cloned from Mew to be the most powerful of all Pokémon. While it's now tied with several others, it does come very, very close. Even if not truly evil (and less so in the Anime, from where it goes from Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds to Type III Anti-Hero), it is stated to be the least compassionate Pokémon in existence, with its single objective being defeating its opponents. Also a huge fan favourite.

"Dr. Fuji: We dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokémon...and we succeeded."
 * Artificial Human: Has some human material mixed into its genes in a few continuities, and mostly behaves like one, also leading to...
 * Person of Mass Destruction
 * Badass: The only Pokemon stronger than it is basically GOD. And this is after it got nerfed.
 * Blood Knight
 * Bragging Rights Reward: Mewtwo in the original RBY was this for anyone who only played single-player (or with friends who banned it), as there is literally nothing left to do in-game after catching Mewtwo.
 * Unless you decided to use it in the Pokémon Stadium games or trade it over to the Generation II games.
 * Breakout Character: Like Pikachu, Charizard and (formerly) Jigglypuff, it's commonly regarded as one of the "staple" characters of the franchise due to its popularity and significance.
 * Cats Are Mean: It is stated to be the most savage and evil pokemon, though no explicit mention is made of its cat-like appearance
 * Subverted in the anime. Mewtwo is highly aggressive and is absolutely ruthless in battle to the point where it utterly lacks compassion while fighting. However, it simply wishes to be left in peace and protects its fellow clone Pokemon from harm.
 * Dark and Troubled Past: Was created by scientists in an attempt to create the ultimate Pokémon... and they succeeded. Mewtwo was enraged, and destroyed the facility before hiding in the Cerulean Cave.
 * Death Glare: Its glare is said to strike fear into its enemy.
 * Depending on the Writer: In the games Mewtwo is a simple Blood Knight while in the movies he started out as an Anti-Villain before his Heel Face Turn into an Anti-Hero who looks after his clone Pokemon.
 * Deus Ex Homine: Originated as "merely" a clone of the original Pokémon. Nowadays, it's even stronger than the avatars of land, sea, and balance, while equal to the avatars of the sky, time, space, and anti-matter as well as the embodiments of yin and yang. It's even in sight of the creator of the universe.
 * And the beings it resembles the most power-wise are the draconic bird that can make humongous 40-day storms by flapping its wings ONCE, and the immortal phoenix able to bring the dead back to life. Both of those are worshiped as gods.
 * Divergent Character Evolution: In the first Gen, Mewtwo and Mew were the ultimate Pokémon (the former stronger than the latter anyway), and pretty much packed together, but each getting a somewhat different treatment. In the second gen, Lugia, Ho-Oh and Celebi were introduced; the first 2 got the treatment Mewtwo usually got, while Celebi got paired with Mew, and there was no exclusive treatment for Mewtwo and Mew that did not include the newer legendaries. Nowadays, Mewtwo will get the same treatment as the different legendary version mascots, while Mew gets lumped with newer event Pokémon that have the same balanced stats; the only things they seem to have in common is that they are Psychic Pokémon banned in the Battle Tower that learn Aura Sphere by level up. Until Gen V, where Mewtwo gets his own signature move and now has even more of a reason to be banned.
 * Expy: The original ultimate Pokémon looks quite a bit like Giegue, and also resembles Freeza.
 * For Science!: In the games, Blaine, Fuji, and the rest of the scientists had no real reason to create Mewtwo.
 * Gone Horribly Right: It even provides the page quote. Or, rather, the scientist who led the project that resulted in Mewtwo's creation does:


 * Infinity+1 Sword
 * In Name Only: Mewtwo isn't related to mythology. It might have a few Urban Legends floating around about it.
 * Jigsaw Puzzle Plot: The exact details about its backstory in the game are quite vague, with hints being scattered here and there throughout the generations.
 * Lack of Empathy: It's said to have the most savage heart among Pokémon, having no compassion and only thinking of defeating its foes.
 * Leitmotif: It doesn't have one per se, but is strongly associated with the Kanto wild Pokémon music, down to getting remixes of it.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Its weak point are its defenses. They are on par with those of the starters labeled as Mighty Glaciers. (They have been nerfed a bit since Gen I...)
 * Glass Cannon: Compared to other Pokémon that fit that criteria, Mewtwo ends up as being somewhat like this, with his defenses being its weak point. Although its bulky enough to run a defensive set and having the right move to do the job.
 * No Biological Sex: Since it's a clone of Mew, which also has no defined sex either. It's treated as male
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Only slightly taller than the average human, but short (or even minuscule) compared to other Pokémon of its power rank.
 * Power-Up Letdown: The super secret Dream World ability for this incredibly powerful Pokémon? It prevents opponents from eating berries. That's it.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Punny Name: Well, not exactly punny, but the fact that it sounds quite similar to "mutant" managed to stop English-savvy Japanese from looking for a certain "Mew One" until GameFreak started the rumors. That included Nintendo itself.
 * Purple Eyes
 * Purple Is Powerful
 * Purposefully Overpowered: And it still remains as such AFTER its type got Nerfed. The games actively limit its use in the Battle Tower, most cups in 3D fighters, most official tournaments, and random Wifi.
 * Real Genderless Yet Masculine Legendaries Are Pale Lavender
 * Shout-Out: This picture sums it up...
 * Signature Move: Psystrike, introduced in Generation V, much to the fans' delight: It's a Special attack... which deals Physical damage. Now the very thing it feared most (special walls, AKA Blissey) will flee on sight instead of laughing in its face or forcing Mewtwo to detonate.
 * Most of Mewtwo's Purposefully Overpowered brethren have higher special defense than physical defense, making Psystrike a very powerful move even against opponents who don't use Blissey.
 * Single Specimen Species: The scientists at Cinnabar'll probably won't be making any more of these.
 * Urban Legend of Zelda: There was an infamous rumor back in the Red/Blue/Yellow days that you could evolve Mewtwo into "Mewthree" by smashing the rocks (A move which would not even exist until later generations) and picking up a non-existant item.
 * Another rumor was that Mewtwo could learn a move called "Tombstone" which would One Hit KO any Pokemon instantly. Such a move does not exist.
 * You Are Number Six

Mew


Mew is Pokémon #151. It set a trend which would later be followed by Celebi, Jirachi, and others as a rare and cute-looking Legendary Pokémon that was unable to be obtained outside of promotional events. Though its stats might be lacking compared to other Legendary Pokémon, it's notable in that it is compatible with every single TM. As its name might suggest, it's related to Mewtwo; indeed, Mewtwo was cloned from its DNA, though the games seem to imply that this was done through Mew giving birth (just like real-life cloning procedures), while the anime implies that Mewtwo's DNA was extracted directly from Mew's hair and grown independently.


 * Blue Eyes
 * Innocent Blue Eyes: Given its nature.
 * Confusion Fu: With stats that favor no one skillset and the ability to learn every TM and HM, good luck predicting its moves.
 * Cute Bruiser: It looks like a cross between a cat and a jerboa. Above average stats in everything, can learn very nearly everything, and via Metronome can certainly use everything.
 * Badass Adorable: Isn't it just the most adorable thing ever?!?
 * Cats Are Mean: Subverted as well. In the first movie, Mew's reasoning for fighting Mewtwo was because it felt clones were inferior to natural-born Pokemon. However, its feelings towards clones were more misguided than downright malevolent.
 * Likewise, Mew is shown to have a rather playful and child-like personality compared to Mewtwo's more agressive nature.
 * Disc One Nuke: Know the glitch? You can get it before beating Misty. Have fun wiping the floor with everyone in your way.
 * You can even get a second one by the time you reach Celadon City if you know the glitch well enough.
 * Divergent Character Evolution
 * Cute Kitten: Or rather what appears to be a mix between a kitten, a jerboa, and a fetus.
 * Fantastic Racism: In the subbed version of the first movie, it thinks clones are inferior.
 * Fetus Terrible: Kind of-it's primarily based off a fetus, and while not evil it's certainly powerful and dangerous to its enemies.
 * Fountain of Expies: Celibi, Jirachi, Shaymin, Manaphy, and Victini.
 * Infinity+1 Sword: You cannot get it during normal gameplay.
 * Good Bad Bugs: But you can exploit a bug to get one in the first gen games.
 * Killer Rabbit
 * Lightning Bruiser: Its stats are equal, but high.
 * Jack of All Trades: Can learn everything, has good stats for anything. Versatility, thy name is Mew.
 * Mythology Gag: Mew is said to be the ancestor of all Pokémon, and it happens to be the first one whose trademark was registered.
 * No Biological Sex: Though one Mew is described as giving birth, implying that it's either truly asexual/hermaphroditic (reproducing asexually) or female. And it's voiced by Koichi Yamadera in the anime (though his performance does sound convincingly like a small, cute pink creature).
 * Olympus Mons: The ancestor of all Pokémon.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: In the Uber tier (and OU in Generation V), there are things so much better at offense or defense, that Mew's role is pretty much Min-Maxing and passing large stat boosts to something stronger. And now it's fallen to under used. How the mighty have fallen...
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse
 * Psychic Powers
 * Purposefully Overpowered: Like its clone above, it has its use restricted in the Battle Tower, most cups and tournaments, and random Wi-fi.
 * Voluntary Shapeshifter: Can learn Transform.

Missingno. and 'M


The most popular and well known "glitch" Pokémon. To encounter it, the player must talk to the Old Man in Viridian City and watch his Pokémon-catching demonstration. Because of limited memory space and the need to display a name other than the players the player's name ("OLD MAN"), the player's name is temporarily held in the memory slot where wild Pokémon encounter rates are held. Normally this isn't an issue (the data is loaded, then overwritten when the player enters a new area, while the current area has no places to encounter wild Pokémon), but flying to Cinnabar Island means it is not overwritten and is read as encounter data.

The resulting gobbledegook has three types of encounters: Pokémon from whatever normal encounter zone you were just in, Pokémon over level 100, and this guy. An encounter with Missingno. causes the item in the sixth slot to gain 128 copies. Comes in several different forms, with two main variants: Missingno. and "(glitchy block)'M(glitchy block)", or M-Block/'M for short.

They're Bird/Normal types (not Flying/Normal), but as "bird" lacks programed weaknesses/resistances, Missingno. is functionally a normal type except when dealing with the "Move Zero" and "Cool T" glitch attacks.


 * Department of Redundancy Department: When first caught, 'M knows Sky Attack, Water Gun, and Water Gun.
 * Dummied Out: Its "Bird" type. Interestingly, a lot of NPCs refer to Flying as "Bird", which is even kept in the remakes.
 * Maybe Bird was the original name of Flying types?
 * Eldritch Abomination: They'd definitely be this to the character, and are described as much in many fan-work.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Missingno and M Block, strong as they are, have very low defense. Lovecraftian as they are, they aren't that hard to beat.
 * Game Breaking Bug: Some of its effects on the game. Missingno. is fairly harmless; the worst effect it's likely to have is corrupting hall of fame data or breaking things if you're stupid enough to duplicate a key item. 'M can cause far worse effects if you catch it and store it in the PC.
 * Good Bad Bug: On the other hand, who can resist the temptation of 128 Master Balls? Especially when the same glitch allows normal encounters with Safari Zone Pokémon?
 * If you catch a level 0 M' (keep a space open in your party first...or else) and give it a Rare Candy, it evolves into Kangaskhan, meaning you can get a Kangaskhan with Sky Attack. First of all, it's pure hilarity to see the big brute using a flying attack. Second of all, she can crush Fighting-type Pokemon with it.
 * Glass Cannon: The most common variation has 136 attack, with 33/0/6 defenses. Sadly lacks the attacks (only the powerful, but unwieldy Sky Attack) and speed (29) to abuse it.
 * Making a Splash: 'M knows Water Gun twice.
 * The Missingno: Trope Namer.
 * No Biological Sex: Or more like "Gender Unknown"...
 * The Unpronounceable: M-Block's ingame name.
 * Urban Legend of Zelda