10 Unpopular Pokmon That Are Actually Reddit Fan Favorites
The Pokémon franchise has amassed over 1,000 species as of Legends: Arceus‘ release, and there are bound to be plenty of highly-marketed favorites. However, even the unpopular and/or underrepresented creatures have their places in fans’ hearts. Each generation of Pokémon brought some wonderfully bizarre and inventive creatures, and fans on Reddit have talked in length about their unconventional picks.
Several of these species became favorites for reasons ranging from their endearing charms, competence in in-game battling, and creative character designs. With Regional Forms so far proving to be a staple since generation 7, perhaps some of these could see makeovers in future games.
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Girafarig
Girafarig certainly falls into the category of “delightfully strange” when it comes to Pokémon designs. This okapi/giraffe-inspired creature is incredibly unorthodox in the best way, with a lot of potential for a new form or an evolution. Redditor sir151 praised its creative design saying “such an interesting concept of this Wobbuffet-like thing attached to its tail.”
Girafarig’s dual Normal/Psychic typing is interesting too, especially since it gives it complete immunity to Ghost-types that would normally wreak havoc on Psychics. Given the excellent Hisuian Forms Pokémon Legends: Arceus gave to older species, perhaps something could be in the cards for Girafarig in a future game.
Lanturn
Of the fish Pokémon across the games’ generations, Lanturn seems to be largely accepted as among the most criminally underrated. The biggest assets fans seem to cite for it are its charming design and versatile dual-typing. Redditor ANuclearsquid elaborated and said “it’s easy to think that it’s terrible but it actually performs really quite well. Great typing, great ability, and fairly good coverage.”
The Water/Electric dual-typing is both imaginative and competitively viable, as opposing Electric-Types can only hit Lanturn for neutral damage. Having access to both Rain Dance and Thunder to amplify the latter’s Special Attack is a massive boon as well.
Kabutops
One of the biggest fan-favorite mainline game conventions of a new generation is the prospect of new Fossil Pokémon. Kabuto and its evolution Kabutops are one of the originals along with the Omanyte line and Aerodactyl, and it has arguably one of the slickest Fossil designs.
Redditor Doehap said that they “design-wise gotta go with Kabutops,” when it comes to most underrated. The trilobite-themed Kabutops takes a Scyther-like turn with its knife appendages, but perhaps part of what made it overlooked was originally getting Kabuto at such a low level when it didn’t evolve until Level 40.
Eelektross
Among Unova’s best Pokémon to use in the story and some competitive battling was the Electric-Type Eelektross. Redditor Doehap said they thought it to be an underrated species “For a team” setting, and its stats back that sentiment up. Both of its defensive stats are solid and even, while its Special Attack stat sits at a base 115 and a 105 for Physical Attack. This allows the potential for it to either be a good mixed attacker or specialize in one or the other.
The most likely reason for Eelektross not getting much attention is its prolonged Magikarp-like evolution process. Its first form, Tynamo, is encountered somewhat late into Black and White, is incredibly frail, and doesn’t evolve into its second form until Level 39. After that, it’s a matter of finding a Thunder Stone.
Exploud
The Hoenn region’s Whismur line is another one of the most “out there” designs in the entire Pokémon franchise. Exploud doesn’t seem to be specifically inspired by one thing and may use various musical instruments in its sound motif. However, the design’s absurdity is what’s scored it points among some fans, with Redditor Deftlet having said that they “Fell in love with the design from the moment I first evolved mine.”
Unfortunately, Exploud isn’t a very sturdy Pokémon to use in battle (which the user also admits). Its defenses are average at best, and its higher offenses aren’t enough to compensate in general. Thankfully, story playthroughs can make just about any species work if players try.
Archeops
Another underappreciated Fossil Pokémon is the Unova region’s Archeops, which evolves from Archen. It’s a shame the Rock/Flying-type doesn’t get more of the prehistoric species’ spotlight, as it’s a particularly fun dinosaur design. Redditor _fun_hazard said, “I’m a huge fan of dinosaurs and fossils in general, and I think their designs are super cool.”
It’s somewhat understandable, especially after the Kalos region finally gave fans a Tyrannosaurus-inspired Pokémon, but Archeops’ influences were inventive in their own right. As the name suggests, it was based on the extinct Archaeopteryx, which was an early bird-like dinosaur capable of a degree of flight and/or gliding. This is unlike the Pterodactylus that influenced the aforementioned Aerodactyl in the generation 1 games, which were simply flying prehistoric reptiles.
Raichu
Despite being the evolution of one of Pokémon‘s most recognizable species, even for non-franchise fans, Raichu admittedly gets underappreciated in the mainstream. Redditor Speedangel14 humorously put it saying “seriously, it’s pre-evolution [is] more popular than the poor war veteran,” referring to Lt. Surge’s Raichu from the Kanto region.
It’s well designed as a stronger and more natural evolution to Pikachu and has its respective competitive assets in Special Attack. Pokémon Sun and Moon even gave it a creative Alolan Form with a dual Electric/Psychic typing, so it’s a shame Raichu still goes under the radar.
Floatzel
The Buizel line does manage to have its respectable degree of popularity for being one of the most-used Pokémon in Diamond and Pearl, but it and Floatzel’s prominence typically stop there. Redditor Hullabaloobasaur exclaimed, “I feel like they have really underrated designs, underrated concepts, and underrated cries!.”
Based on a river otter, Floatzel (and its predecessor) has a colorfully vibrant design that plays with its fantastical world while being clear enough inspired by its real-world counterpart. Likewise, it’s a reliable Water-Type Pokémon to have in an in-game playthrough, as it has hard-hitting Water attacks complemented by a great Speed stat.
Heliolisk
A frill-necked lizard is another interesting animal for Game Freak to base a Pokémon off of, and Heliolisk’s design and Type combination earned it some praise among fans. Redditor thelasthendrix said the dual Electric/Normal-Type has a “Diverse movepool, a couple [of] really good abilities in Dry Skin and Solar Power, a Ghost immunity no one ever remembers, sneaky-good special bulk (base 94), good speed tier, and he packs a punch.”
Heliolisk is impressive from a stats perspective and is still bound to make a great pick for even some competitive settings. Its attributes make it well-rounded in combat in addition to a few specialties to make it stand out.
Poochyena
Like even the best of the classic regional bird Pokémon, there’s usually one or two mammalian creatures in those early routes as well. Poochyena is one of them — along with Zigzagoon — in the Game Boy Advance classics Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. Redditor Departed_Potato said, “every time I play through the games, I always get a Poochyena.”
This charming-looking hyena-influenced base form is also sleekly designed, especially so for its evolution Mightyena. However, part of what puts some players off from using one through the entirety of the game is Mightyena’s surprisingly disappointing offensive and defensive stats.
About The Author
Guillermo Kurten
(249 Articles Published)
Guillermo Kurten is a journalism major at the University of Houston. Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, he now resides in Houston. He is a fan of pretty much anything involving nerd culture. Video games, comics, movies, TV, anime, manga, you name it. He also has experience writing about soccer, specifically, the German team Bayern Munich.
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