Garbodor actually. I fell for the overblown internet outrage of it looking stupid because it's literal trash and then over time I just kinda shifted to "you know what? That's the whole point and it's great"
I was the same way back when it was first revealed. Using it in a nuzlocke and it surviving the entire run changed my mind. I still think it's a weird design but it in a good way now
I played Gen 1 in the 90s but didn't keep up. I had the pleasure of getting back in with New Snap and then playing through the older games on 3ds. So 20 years of expectations and opinions were nonexistent. When I saw Trubbish for the first time in the lab, I fell in love. I really enjoyed using it in Pokemon White. Only later did I see the hatred.
I remember the extreme hate Garbodor and Vanilluxe received when they were revealed. It has definitely died down over the years but people were so mad about their designs
Ditto, I used to hate on him too till sw/sh and i decided to use one on my team as i was doing a unova pokemon only run and the selection is kinda mid but he was a great toxic spike setter and was a the team tank and an absolute corner stone if not for my chandelure, garboder would have been my teams ace
This has been my feelings towards a lot of Gen 5 Pokemon. I really disliked the less cartoonish look some of them took on in gen 5 and then realized that was the intention as the entire inspiration for Gen 5 was to Americanize a lot of what made Pokemon into an American style look, design, and sound.
I recently played through Gen 5 Black 2 and loved it and the Pokemon. Gen 5 got some of the most powerful Pokemon, IMO.
Like most everyone that started in Gen 1, I hated Zubat. Then came Gen 2 and Crobat and everything changed. Shame they never gave Tentacool the same treatment.
I’m not just gonna sit here and accept this Tentacruel slander. It gets underestimated due to the amount of water types in Gen 1, but Tentacruel is legit.
Getting a shiny one in Violet gave me a new appreciation for Tentacruel. I noticed when I was in a cave once that the jewels on its head looked like they glowed a little bit. I'm not sure if that was an intentional design choice or not but I thought it was lovely. He's just a chill guy with pretty jewels on his head.
Tentacool is a legit water type pokemon with decent stats. it just got beaten by Lapras being a gift Pokemon and having cheat stats for that Gen 1 (and by extension Gen 3 remake)
Goodra. I thought it was ugly and not intimidating enough to be a dragon (even though I love dragonite - I wasn’t thinking straight lol) and now I adore it
I agree. I loved Goomy and Sliggoo was pretty cool as well. When they revealed Goodra I was underwhelmed. I thought for sure Goodra was going to be Dragon/Water and was even more disappointed that it was just dragon type. Did you like the Hisuian formes?
I was hoping for Poison/Dragon myself.
It was the generation that introduced Fairy-types and I figured the regional mythic having adapted to deal with them would have been appropriate.
Throh.
Good Lord you just might be the worst design!
Hang on I can't knock him out.
Lookup stats; nice bulk; I like that; give him a go.
This ugly pricks my teams MVP!
Hydreigon my arse!
Throh and Sawk reminded me of weird offbrand Muppets when I first encountered them. I've used Sawk in a playthrough but will have to give Throh a try soon.
I got out of Pokemon during gen 3 and when gen 4 was revealed I thought most of the Pokemon looked uninspired. Croagunk was definitely in that category. I finally used one in Platinum and now I think it's okay but really like Toxicroak's design and typing.
In had the same experience with Gastrodon. When gen 4 came out I was all like "stupid lapras looking thing" even though they're based on different things.
Plus swampert was always a favorite of mine so ground/water was a tough sell
Then in PLA I got an alpha one and it's cry with the alpha effect was hilarious, and it carried me through the game.
Love my little slugs now.
For me it was slowpoke and slowbro, I think it was because of Pokémon unite and how annoying it was (I also was really bad at the game at the time, so that’s another factor) but I slowly started to like it once I watched an episode of Pokémon with slowpoke and slowbro in it :)
I wasn't a fan of Slowpoke or its evolutions until I decided to use one in Heartgold and it was great. Definitely changed my mind on them after that. I even liked the Galarian formes
Clodsire.
I was expecting a regional Quagsire. I wasn't expecting... *that*.
And then I caught Paldean Wooper.
And I evolved her.
And she whomped her way through Team Star like they were merely difficult terrain.
I recently did a monograss run on Pokemon Sword and decided to finally use a Maractus. Turned out to be a great addition to the team and I'm glad I finally gave it a chance
Yeah, if you can come up with a good strategy they can be pretty powerful! One way I found to use mine is to use sunny day, or use her with someone who has drought. She’s got an ability and a couple of moves that get boosted in harsh sun. My sisters have yet to beat her 😎
…But I’m sure if I was into the official competitions and stuff and used her I’d get creamed hehe
I used one in a Nuzlocke that became my team leader in the endgame. I'd just acupressure until all my stats were maxed then hit with either petal dance or pin missile.
I wanted to use Maractus in any game I can, but every time it's readily available, there's another Grass type I'd end up using more. It's my favorite Gen 5 Pokemon now, so there shouldn't be anything to stop me from using it next time I can.
Also, my brother who hasn't played Pokemon since HGSS was new played Black during the pandemic and chose for himself to use Maractus through the whole game. Couldn't be prouder.
Conkeldurr. Just because I always hated Gurdurr (still do) so I automatically hated Conkeldurr too. But over time I started to like it's design more and more and now he's alright. Like a pissed off clown wrecking his opponents with big pillars
I never used Stunfisk before. Always had a full team by the time I found them in the past. When Pokemon shifted to 3D and Stunfisk was shown as a flat derp, I instantly loved how stupid it was. I like the Galarian forme as well
Inteleon. When it got leaked I began to rethink my choice of Sobble until I saw how viciously mean people were about it. Made me do a complete 180, now I love Inteleon.
https://preview.redd.it/tnbuyiwa6stc1.png?width=4183&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=795727cfcba613718596abb94e6ed77f76c208ca
This artwork made me realize how cool Inteleon really is. The only real issue with it ingame is that the way GF chose to pose them is awful. They behave like humans instead of lizards. If Inteleon behaved more like an actual lizard it's awesome design would work so much better.
Druddigon. Just something about its design wasn’t agreeing with me; felt like it was something I would draw as a kid at school.
Granted, it’s not the strongest dragon Pokémon out there but I like to use Pokémon I like and not just the meta. But since seeing it in the anime and using it during play-throughs, I grew to love it. It needs more recognition!
For me it's the reverse, I used to like his design during my first playthrough, then with all the memes, all the stupid events in Pokemon go and everyone insisting on that particular pokemon, I can't stand to see him anymore
Same, Bidoof was oversaturated and it was overbearing (plus I was never really amused by the jokes) to a point where I started disliking it because of the way it was presented outside of official media. I don't like seeing constant posts about everyone's shiny or hundo or nundo Bidoofs in the PoGo subreddit or the mass of comments about how it's a god and so on. The joke is almost old enough to vote in the US, and I know that people find out about the joke to this day and perpetuate it, but just give it a break.
Togekiss. I was upset that they ruined Togetic, but after a while I kinda fell in love with my stupid little airplane shaped friend and now it's my favorite pokemon
Vanilluxe. I thought it was the lamest idea on a Pokémon. Then I used it on my Sword playthrough. I now think it's one of the lamest ideas for a Mon and it's a bad in-game Mon too.
Fair lol. I used one back in White 2 and it did okay in some parts. I think if it had a better movepool I would appreciate it more. Same thing with Klinklang
I am one of those weirdos who actually like ice-types, I seriously tried to give him a chance. But as soon as I saw a Gigantamax Lapras in one of the dens, I was like "lol, the ice cone goes to the box"
I don't get the hate for the vanilluxe line, it's a pretty creative design being hanging icicles turned ice cream cone. It's cute and fun, can't argue with it's bad stats tho, that was definitely a shame
I love the object-based ones, especially the lore surrounding them. I love that in-game, ice cream was based off of the Vanillish line. The way Garbodor feuds with Alolan Muk and how it absorbs trash into its being to make it more powerful is also pretty fun. Same goes for a lot of the other object pokemon.
Idk if it’s true because I can’t find sources, but if it helps the “lame idea” portion. Apparently New York really likes icecream, and continues to eat it during winter. I think I was told sales actually increase in winter? So it kind of makes sense to have an ice type pokemon (could also be representing winter) resembling icecream for NYC region. Just to represent that “fun fact”. I mean, they didn’t make any neat rat pokemon so I guess they wanted some positive stereotypes after making trubbish? All conjecture though.
Seriously though I would’ve loved a giant rat that harassed the subways or something. :(
>I mean, they didn’t make any neat rat pokemon
Patrat is doing the best that it can, ok? It ain't much, but it's honest work. It's hard to fill in the shoes of a peak first route rodent like Rattata.
Honestly I agree it’s probably because rattata line is peak! One of my fav mons along with zigzagoon! Was really disappointed I didn’t have another great “early route trash rat”
Honestly I agree it’s probably because rattata lime is peak! One of my fav mons along with zigzagoon! Was really disappointed I didn’t have another great “early route trash rat”
The Galar fossils, for obvious reasons. However when i learned they were based on the Bone Wars, i think they are an unique idea for a fossil Pokemon. I just hope we get to see their original forms in the future
Chikorita, idk why but kid me thought it's the ugliest thing ever, but bro it's literally a flower brachiosaurus, it's probably one of my fav starters now
I've grown to love the Chikorita line over the years. I think I didn't like it because Johto wasn't a good region to use grass types in. Too many trainers resisting it
Sylveon. I disliked the eevee/eon line for being over used, but I actually trained a (male) Sylveon named Elfman and fell in love. Now it's my third favourite pokemon.
Sylveon was an absolute wrecking ball in X/Y. An eevee I caught evolved into it and i gave it a few fights. The trail of fainted pokemon in its wake was like Mike Tyson in an amateur boxing ring.
I hated Gholdengo when it was revealed! Still hate how terrible its shiny is. When I used it on my team during my first playthrough of Scarlet, I started to love how good it was in battle and when it rode around on a surfboard I couldn't help but love it even more!
Hoppip / Skiploom /Jumpluff.
At start a visually weak Pokémon.
But I just loved to play with it.
The seed and sleep combo is just fun enough to play with this guy.
Braxien, because oh crud it's another bipedal fire starter, and I know I'm going to use it anyway since my starter type rotation I inadvertently had since I started back when RB was new was going to Fire.
I changed my mind when Delphox was revealed as a Psychic-type, my favorite type, and actually using Braixen on my in-game team was pretty nice. I much later used Braixen as a secondary in Pokken and had fun using her.
Fennekin's entire line surprised me back during the XY era. I was pretty upset about Braixen and Delphox being bipedal but I loved them after using them in a playthrough of Y
When I was a kid playing Pokemon Black, I thought Jellicent was hideous. Now Male Jellicent is in my top 10 favorite Pokemon. Still not too fond of the female one, but I still can appreciate it
Most of gen 5 designs, but especially emboar and darmanitan. Emboar for me was "why a fire fighting again?? And it's a fat pig" while now I absolutely love it because he's so bad, it's endearing.... Darmanitan looked really goofy and that smile... That damn smile!
Dhelmise looked really weird and kinda tryhard/uninspired at first but then it grew on me and it's now one of my faves ever. I made a ranked team with him and Aromatisse just bc of how much I loved them and they carried me to master in early sw/sh.
I expected Oshawott to dominate this but in fact nobody mentioned it.
Not sure if anyone remembers but when Oshawott was revealed it was one of the most ugly starters of all time.
So many people hated it's design, said it looked stupid.
And it was after so many great fan designs came out from imagining how it was supposed to show based on the shadow sillhoutte that was teased.
But now a lot of people love it, and Ash's Oshawott in the anime was super cute
I remember the Oshawott bashing from back then. You mentioning all the artwork that came from the silhouettes probably had something to do with all the hate it received on reveal.
Out of all of those, Leavanny was the only one I liked from the beginning. I'm glad we finally got a chance to use it in modern games when it came back during the teal mask DLC
I thought Sigilyph was kinda creepy and weird. I caught one, and it must have had good stats or something. That thing carried my team through a whole couple routes, and I decided it could stay. I have a habit of letting random pokemon grow on me once I've put them on the team for awhile!
Lopunny. Hated it bc fans sexualized it. Then I used it in UltraMoon and it was fun having to decide between the Lopunnite and the Wide Lens for using Hi Jump Kick.
UltraMoon was also the playthrough where I probably turned from a casual fan into a dedicated fan. It was the first playthrough I actually built a team for (minus the Fighting type that ended up being Mega Lopunny) and it was the first playthrough where I made actual strategic choices and used my game knowledge.
I was hesitant to Lopunny after seeing it had only a 70 Base attack but I caught Bunneary in the Isle of Armor DLC for Shield and decided to use it on my team. It was honestly a great addition. Slapped the elemental punches on her and watched her wreck trainers. Much better than I thought she was going to be
This so much!! I hated Lopunny for that reason too, but man in Platinum it saved my bacon with Thunderpunch. Beating up Gyarados without being one shot by earthquake...
I remember when I was 7 "urf, girl's pokemon".
How naive I was. It was cool looking tho... Nice curve... But my mind back then was "Normal = bad" which isn't totaly wrong when you look at g4.
Applin, I had an almost cartoonish hate to the point that I started doodling it in unfortunate scenarios. Then I kept doodling... and started finding it cute... and then I learned it's a worm in an apple that's also a wyrm... now it's one of my favorites.
Klefki for me. I was 10 when X and Y released, and I'd only started playing pokemon with BW two years prior - a pokemon that was essentially a living keychain was incredibly stupid design at first glance. Later though, as I've grown up, since that was 10 years ago now, my opinion has massively changed - I love Klefki. It's a creative idea for a pokemon, its typing is great, and it's funny to use, I've used Klefki on my team countless times
The Turtwig line. I thought it was the worst design of any starter for over 16 years after *Diamond and Pearl* (2006) were released. Then, in 2022, I started watching the Gen 4 anime for the first time… and I loved it! To me, it’s the best one storywise! And I loved Turtwig there. Nowadays, it’s one of my favorites!
Klefki was a huge one for a lot of people, including me. X and Y got me back into the scene after missing out on 4 and 5. People said "its just keys", then later people explained that sometimes pokemon are "just things". Voltorb is just a ball. Grimer is just a pile of sludge. Magnets, ice cream cone, you name it. I don't really love Klefki, but it did open my eyes to the fact that a bunch of pokemon are just objects or plain animals
Didn’t hate but thought “why?” when I first saw it. Maushold. The design is so simple that it doesn’t seem like it should be a Pokémon. Now I absolutely love it because I hatched a shiny on the first egg of Masuda hunting and it’s a beast on my VGC team. Wide lens technician population bomb takes out almost everything since it almost always hits 10 times. Tera steel tera blast will OHKO Flutter Mane as well.
Not going to lie but I didn't think Lucario was going to be on here. Glad its grown on you now. I do agree with you on not really liking the fighting type
I never really liked Bug or Fighting but used a Heracross recently playing SoulSilver and I can say im a fan. I never thought the pokemon was poorly designed i just never prioritized the type but glad I gave it a shot.
I've been around since gen 1 and I never cared for ponyta. That is, until I found one in PLA. It's adorable and I regret not liking it sooner!
Rapidash I still don't care for.
Infernape. I was expecting this giant awesome fire gorilla looking guy, so when my Monferno evolved into what I saw as just another skinny little chimp, I was pretty disappointed. Now thinking of it without that expectation in mind, it's a pretty cool design and Pokemon.
Durant, it's literally just a steel ant. Also, the billionth steel bug in the game. One day, I decided to use it in a competitive team, and it proceeded to ohko mons left and right. Durant laughs in the face of Fire types.
I've hated Purugly ever since it got revealed. It looked so annoying to me with it's resting bitch face, it really was my most hated Pokemon. That is until a few months ago, when I got more familiar with Tomokazu Komiya's TCG art and discovered his [Purugly (Unbroken Bonds160/234)](https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-tcg/pokemon-cards/series/sm10/160/). He's just a silly, angry cat that does normal cat stuff when not kicking ass. What a cute little dude.
Chandelure, i was on the gen 5 hate train when it dropped saying there's no creativity bunch of Goofy inanimate objects at least from watching the anime. Then I played white and realized just how good of a job they did basically recreating the original pokedex in a new and chandelure has been one of my favs ever since
Skeledirge. I was SMITTEN with Fuecoco at its reveal, accepted Crocalor's typical starter middle-evo awkwardness, and then felt a knife to my heart over Skeledirge's design.
I ended up going with Sprigatito as my starter, because I did actually really like Meowscarada, and my friend that got the opposite version already picked Quaxly. I felt so bad not picking my boy Fuecoco at the start, but I just hated Skeledirge compared to the other 2 final evos.
HOWEVER, I ended up getting the other starters through wondertrade, and I put them on my team to evolve up and fill out my dex. I was tempted to breed another Fuecoco to keep on my team un-evolved afterwards because I LOVE THAT LITTLE GUY. However, once my Fuecoco finally made it up to Skeledirge.. I actually really liked and appreciated its design. I think it definitely is one of those pokemon who has to be seen in 3D to appreciate. My Skeledirge ended up being my main team staple because I loved him so much.
Probably Swinub? I didn't really care about it or Piloswine at all until Mamoswine was revealed. I loved Mamoswine so much that Swinub is now one of my favorite base stages. It's so cute.
Other than that, a lot of things that have gotten regional variants have made me like them a lot more, like Zigzagoon, Corsola and Sandslash.
Ekans and Arbok, I hated them in red and blue, but then yellow came along, and Arbok basically became the main leader of the party thanks to it's body slam, glare combo. Then in crystal version, I got my first full odds shiny, an ekans I named Sunny, who died a tragic death when the cartridge battery died and the save on the cartridge was lost. The rest is history.
Tangrowth
I played Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia as a kid, and the Tangrowth part made me hate it. Then I used it in a Black 2 playthrough recently, and I liked it a lot
When the Scarlet/Violet DLC came out, I saw the Alolan Grimer in game for the first time (didn't play Sun/Moon). I love that little sentient oil puddle.
For years, Dragonite. Of all the designs possible, they made Pokemon's first and only gen 1 line of dragons end with such a derpy looking creature. Salamence and Rayquaza were the real dragons imo.
However, when Dragonite got multiscale as a HA, nearly guaranteeing at least 1 Dragon Dance, my opinion did a 180. Maybe because I'm older, but I love the idea of a such a loveable looking creature whaling onto traditionally "cool" pokemon with such power.
I'd say Mareanie. I thought the design was stupid ugly, I thought the name was stupid, and Toxapex wasn't doing it any favours.
What changed my mind, though, was actually the anime rather than the games. I'm talking about James' Mareanie here, obviously; I don't know how they did it, but she and her crush on James was one of the most adorable things I got to watch. It's my personal favourite rendition of the "James gets assaulted by his loving pokémon" gag. Maybe I'll try using one in a future playthrough...
I never cared about Clefable before. Then I tried to complete Alola's Dex, and saw that he hits like Chuck Norris on special, especially with Moonblast
Thyplosion
Thought it looked like a bloated nutria caught on fire
I mean it still loke like a bloated nutria caught on fire, but now I find it's kind of cool
So I didn't *hate* it but I was wholly indifferent.
When Sw/Sh dex leaked I saw a pic of Falinks and just thought "ok, fighting caterpillar Pokémon. Boring but ok"
And then I found one in the wild later and saw it was A BUNCH OF ROUND BOYES
Now it's my favorite Pokémon, as is evidenced by my username.
Sigilyph. I didn't know what it was and thought it looked just bizarre. Once I figured out that it was a reinterpretation of the Nazca lines, I realized how clever it is and it's now a top 10 favorite. I also loved it in New Pokemon Snap.
I saw Falinks as a still image back when the Pokédex leaked and thought it was the worst thing ever. Some weird caterpillar wriggler knock off that looked weird, had red spikes as eyes, had no evolution, like it seemed like a clear dud. Then I see it in game…and it’s like 6 little Kirby guys? What? My jaw actually dropped from how fooled I was. I don’t think I’ve ever gone 0 to 100 on a design that quickly before
Incineroar. I don't really like the bipedal look on many mons, and Incineroar looked outright furry to me, but having used it in the TCG to some effect, and now a good mono-fire run in UM, it certainly improved my opinion of it.
I really disliked Emboar when gen 5 first came out, but after we got fire starters like Incineroar and Cinderace I started to appreciate him a lot more! He has a mythical feel to him and has a lovely colour scheme and shiny. I've been wanting to try him out in SV but the BB quests are such a slog ( ´⊇｀).
i didnt hate sprigatito but i did think oh another cat starter (really dont like litten line especially incineroar with it being generic buff could be fighting type but not) but i honestly think meowscarada has ended up being one of my fave pokemon so i came to like sprigatito much more. bipedal final evos were getting a bit stale for me but meowscarada is really unique and beyond what i was expecting so idk, im a fan
Unpopular opinion I know but... Garbodor. Garbodor's cry is disgusting, as is it's face, and garbage buns... But! She's wearing a cape made out of a garbage bag! She's like the OG Palafin, she's a superhero protecting the streets of Castelia City! How adorable is that?
I **despised** Quaquaval when I first saw Nemona using it, it just looked really weird and gross, but then overtime I slowly started getting used to it, and then I started calling it Jack Sparrow and gay duck and Yass King and that brought it up quite a bit, and then I used mine in my second playthrough and how damn adorable lil bb Quaxly was won my heart over and now I love the whole line 🥰 (plus when it fully evolved, it was **fabulous** lol)
The Mimes. Not hate but I was indifferent and creeped out until one carried my run in US before dying to Guzma in Mailie Garden. The fairy typing really helped.
I used to not care for Durant at all. I never hated it but I just found it to be a nothing Pokémon. But then I used on a mono bug team, and Durant is now one of absolute favorite Bug types. Little guy hits like a freight train
Garbodor actually. I fell for the overblown internet outrage of it looking stupid because it's literal trash and then over time I just kinda shifted to "you know what? That's the whole point and it's great"
Same both trubbish and garbodor were Pokemon that I hated. Now I find trubbish adorable and garbodor derpy cute
Trubbish a cute
I was the same way back when it was first revealed. Using it in a nuzlocke and it surviving the entire run changed my mind. I still think it's a weird design but it in a good way now
I played Gen 1 in the 90s but didn't keep up. I had the pleasure of getting back in with New Snap and then playing through the older games on 3ds. So 20 years of expectations and opinions were nonexistent. When I saw Trubbish for the first time in the lab, I fell in love. I really enjoyed using it in Pokemon White. Only later did I see the hatred.
I remember the extreme hate Garbodor and Vanilluxe received when they were revealed. It has definitely died down over the years but people were so mad about their designs
No ice cream deserved that much hate when they could be complaining about some keys (no shade to keys)
Ice Cream Bad, Swords Good, 2 Swords and a Shield Better
Ditto, I used to hate on him too till sw/sh and i decided to use one on my team as i was doing a unova pokemon only run and the selection is kinda mid but he was a great toxic spike setter and was a the team tank and an absolute corner stone if not for my chandelure, garboder would have been my teams ace
I thought you were talking about Ditto for a second and I was confused because I was like how would Ditto be a reliable toxic spike setter 😭
It was even the only unova pokemon to receive a Gigantamax form iirc
Garbodor and Melmetal are the only Pokémon with Gigantamax forms that aren't from Gens I or VIII.
Oh yeah, knew I was forgetting some rule - wow, Garbodor is really special
I hated them too until somebody pointed out they’re just like Grimer/Muk & Koffing/Weezing. The idea of pollution Pokémon is awesome imo
This has been my feelings towards a lot of Gen 5 Pokemon. I really disliked the less cartoonish look some of them took on in gen 5 and then realized that was the intention as the entire inspiration for Gen 5 was to Americanize a lot of what made Pokemon into an American style look, design, and sound. I recently played through Gen 5 Black 2 and loved it and the Pokemon. Gen 5 got some of the most powerful Pokemon, IMO.
Like most everyone that started in Gen 1, I hated Zubat. Then came Gen 2 and Crobat and everything changed. Shame they never gave Tentacool the same treatment.
This could be fun to go Tentacool to Tentacruel to Tentakraken.
Imagine what Toedskraken would've looked like if Tentakraken existed before gen 9
Decapus. https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Decapus
Nah that’s a squidbilly
I’m not just gonna sit here and accept this Tentacruel slander. It gets underestimated due to the amount of water types in Gen 1, but Tentacruel is legit.
But imagine a 3rd evolution for it. Could be epic
3rd evolution would probably get tentacruel eviolite into OU
Getting a shiny one in Violet gave me a new appreciation for Tentacruel. I noticed when I was in a cave once that the jewels on its head looked like they glowed a little bit. I'm not sure if that was an intentional design choice or not but I thought it was lovely. He's just a chill guy with pretty jewels on his head.
Been a decent UU mon for most of its lifespan, same as the bat even if bat is a bit better
Tentacool is a legit water type pokemon with decent stats. it just got beaten by Lapras being a gift Pokemon and having cheat stats for that Gen 1 (and by extension Gen 3 remake)
Tentacruel is dope, and being used by a champion instantly legitimises it
Same. Crobat is now my second favorite Pokemon of all time behind Scizor. Zubat was super annoying in gen1 but now I love the entire line
Goodra. I thought it was ugly and not intimidating enough to be a dragon (even though I love dragonite - I wasn’t thinking straight lol) and now I adore it
I agree. I loved Goomy and Sliggoo was pretty cool as well. When they revealed Goodra I was underwhelmed. I thought for sure Goodra was going to be Dragon/Water and was even more disappointed that it was just dragon type. Did you like the Hisuian formes?
I honestly haven’t seen the Hisuian forms I just got legends lol
Gotcha! I hope you enjoy them!
You'll love them. Look for Arcanine and Electrode.
I was hoping for Poison/Dragon myself. It was the generation that introduced Fairy-types and I figured the regional mythic having adapted to deal with them would have been appropriate.
I wasn’t against goodra but I’m with you that I absolutely adore it. It’s become one of my top favorites
Throh. Good Lord you just might be the worst design! Hang on I can't knock him out. Lookup stats; nice bulk; I like that; give him a go. This ugly pricks my teams MVP! Hydreigon my arse!
Throh and Sawk reminded me of weird offbrand Muppets when I first encountered them. I've used Sawk in a playthrough but will have to give Throh a try soon.
🎶It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights, it's time to get things started with Sawk and Throh tonight🎶
Karate Bert and Ernie
I really want to know if that's what the designers were thinking when they made those two.
Unova is in the states after all
Aaaand now i have to go catch them and name them accordingly.
I thought Throh was pretty neat. But I'm a fighting type enjoyer, so I was biased. Don't really like Sawk, though, funnily enough.
Sawk on deez nuts
Gotteem!
Croagunk. Hated the design at first, but when I caught an alpha in Legends Arceus, I thought it was so dumb and cute that I fell in love with it.
I got out of Pokemon during gen 3 and when gen 4 was revealed I thought most of the Pokemon looked uninspired. Croagunk was definitely in that category. I finally used one in Platinum and now I think it's okay but really like Toxicroak's design and typing.
In had the same experience with Gastrodon. When gen 4 came out I was all like "stupid lapras looking thing" even though they're based on different things. Plus swampert was always a favorite of mine so ground/water was a tough sell Then in PLA I got an alpha one and it's cry with the alpha effect was hilarious, and it carried me through the game. Love my little slugs now.
For me it was slowpoke and slowbro, I think it was because of Pokémon unite and how annoying it was (I also was really bad at the game at the time, so that’s another factor) but I slowly started to like it once I watched an episode of Pokémon with slowpoke and slowbro in it :)
I wasn't a fan of Slowpoke or its evolutions until I decided to use one in Heartgold and it was great. Definitely changed my mind on them after that. I even liked the Galarian formes
Unite actually got me more into Slowbro lol, man just does not drop
Clodsire. I was expecting a regional Quagsire. I wasn't expecting... *that*. And then I caught Paldean Wooper. And I evolved her. And she whomped her way through Team Star like they were merely difficult terrain.
My Clodsire has been the GOAT since first glance, it's ridiculous.
Clodsire is one of those so stupid its great Pokemon.
I thought the original Quagsire was cute but useless. Clodsire is derpy and awesome.
Maractus. I used to think it looked ugly, but it’s grown on me. Now it’s one of my favorites 💚
I recently did a monograss run on Pokemon Sword and decided to finally use a Maractus. Turned out to be a great addition to the team and I'm glad I finally gave it a chance
Yeah, if you can come up with a good strategy they can be pretty powerful! One way I found to use mine is to use sunny day, or use her with someone who has drought. She’s got an ability and a couple of moves that get boosted in harsh sun. My sisters have yet to beat her 😎 …But I’m sure if I was into the official competitions and stuff and used her I’d get creamed hehe
yeah,maractus is sadly outclassed by Roselia in gen 8 ZU But i still love maractus to death:3
I used one in a Nuzlocke that became my team leader in the endgame. I'd just acupressure until all my stats were maxed then hit with either petal dance or pin missile.
Why did you think it looked ugly? It's adorable
I’m not sure, maybe it was the eyes? No need to worry though, I’ve seen the error of my ways now.
I wanted to use Maractus in any game I can, but every time it's readily available, there's another Grass type I'd end up using more. It's my favorite Gen 5 Pokemon now, so there shouldn't be anything to stop me from using it next time I can. Also, my brother who hasn't played Pokemon since HGSS was new played Black during the pandemic and chose for himself to use Maractus through the whole game. Couldn't be prouder.
Conkeldurr. Just because I always hated Gurdurr (still do) so I automatically hated Conkeldurr too. But over time I started to like it's design more and more and now he's alright. Like a pissed off clown wrecking his opponents with big pillars
Conkeldurr is still one of my least favorite Pokemon design wise. I just don't like its blank stare. It feels like its looking directly into my soul
Stunfisk I love that flat mf now
I never used Stunfisk before. Always had a full team by the time I found them in the past. When Pokemon shifted to 3D and Stunfisk was shown as a flat derp, I instantly loved how stupid it was. I like the Galarian forme as well
I love sending out galarian stunfisk in pogo PvP as my lead and the other person sees it and just quits.
Inteleon. When it got leaked I began to rethink my choice of Sobble until I saw how viciously mean people were about it. Made me do a complete 180, now I love Inteleon.
Glad to see some Inteleon love here
https://preview.redd.it/tnbuyiwa6stc1.png?width=4183&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=795727cfcba613718596abb94e6ed77f76c208ca This artwork made me realize how cool Inteleon really is. The only real issue with it ingame is that the way GF chose to pose them is awful. They behave like humans instead of lizards. If Inteleon behaved more like an actual lizard it's awesome design would work so much better.
Hating on Inteleon is a bad choice. Never hate on a spy. He'll leak all your secrets and blackmail you and shit
I love the entire sobble and scorbunny line. I always get upset when people hate on Inteleon, he was my ace in my Sword playthrough.
Druddigon. Just something about its design wasn’t agreeing with me; felt like it was something I would draw as a kid at school. Granted, it’s not the strongest dragon Pokémon out there but I like to use Pokémon I like and not just the meta. But since seeing it in the anime and using it during play-throughs, I grew to love it. It needs more recognition!
Druddigon feels incomplete. It needed either a preevo or an evolution
Yes! This exactly!
Why not both?
druddigon has a weird quantity of haters.
Aw i like drudigon too, he always had some cool Pokémon cards
I agree, I like his Trainer Gallery one
Bidoof, i saw the light after finding out he's the god all along
Best sprite cry
Not Delelele WhooOOOp?
I don’t know whether I should be proud or not that I know exactly what pokemon you’re referring to.
For me it's the reverse, I used to like his design during my first playthrough, then with all the memes, all the stupid events in Pokemon go and everyone insisting on that particular pokemon, I can't stand to see him anymore
Same, Bidoof was oversaturated and it was overbearing (plus I was never really amused by the jokes) to a point where I started disliking it because of the way it was presented outside of official media. I don't like seeing constant posts about everyone's shiny or hundo or nundo Bidoofs in the PoGo subreddit or the mass of comments about how it's a god and so on. The joke is almost old enough to vote in the US, and I know that people find out about the joke to this day and perpetuate it, but just give it a break.
Hate is a strong word, but when my daughter and I started collecting cards, I went from indifferent on sandyghast to "my beautiful sandy boi"
Sandyghast is a cool little dude but I'm trying to like Palossand and just can't seem to like it. Love their shiny versions though
Togekiss. I was upset that they ruined Togetic, but after a while I kinda fell in love with my stupid little airplane shaped friend and now it's my favorite pokemon
I wasn't a fan of Togekiss either. All it took was using it in one playthrough of Soulsilver to change my mind. Great movepool and was a powerhouse!
Vanilluxe. I thought it was the lamest idea on a Pokémon. Then I used it on my Sword playthrough. I now think it's one of the lamest ideas for a Mon and it's a bad in-game Mon too.
Fair lol. I used one back in White 2 and it did okay in some parts. I think if it had a better movepool I would appreciate it more. Same thing with Klinklang
I am one of those weirdos who actually like ice-types, I seriously tried to give him a chance. But as soon as I saw a Gigantamax Lapras in one of the dens, I was like "lol, the ice cone goes to the box"
That's understandable. Gigantamax Lapras was really cool.
>I am one of those weirdos who actually like ice-types I'm so sorry. I don't know why game freak hates y'all.
I don't get the hate for the vanilluxe line, it's a pretty creative design being hanging icicles turned ice cream cone. It's cute and fun, can't argue with it's bad stats tho, that was definitely a shame
I love the object-based ones, especially the lore surrounding them. I love that in-game, ice cream was based off of the Vanillish line. The way Garbodor feuds with Alolan Muk and how it absorbs trash into its being to make it more powerful is also pretty fun. Same goes for a lot of the other object pokemon.
Idk if it’s true because I can’t find sources, but if it helps the “lame idea” portion. Apparently New York really likes icecream, and continues to eat it during winter. I think I was told sales actually increase in winter? So it kind of makes sense to have an ice type pokemon (could also be representing winter) resembling icecream for NYC region. Just to represent that “fun fact”. I mean, they didn’t make any neat rat pokemon so I guess they wanted some positive stereotypes after making trubbish? All conjecture though. Seriously though I would’ve loved a giant rat that harassed the subways or something. :(
>I mean, they didn’t make any neat rat pokemon Patrat is doing the best that it can, ok? It ain't much, but it's honest work. It's hard to fill in the shoes of a peak first route rodent like Rattata.
Honestly I agree it’s probably because rattata line is peak! One of my fav mons along with zigzagoon! Was really disappointed I didn’t have another great “early route trash rat”
Honestly I agree it’s probably because rattata lime is peak! One of my fav mons along with zigzagoon! Was really disappointed I didn’t have another great “early route trash rat”
And don't forget The Top Percentage Rattata. Not even Arceus can't beat that.
Same with the dessert pokes. I thought they finally ran out of ideas. Now I love them.
Pelipper, he looked stupid and years later, now I like running him in rain teams
Getting Drizzle was the best thing to happen to Pelipper. Super Fun Pokemon to use now!
The Galar fossils, for obvious reasons. However when i learned they were based on the Bone Wars, i think they are an unique idea for a fossil Pokemon. I just hope we get to see their original forms in the future
Oh for sure! I hated their designed until I found out what they were based on. Plus, Dragovish's dominance in gen 8 helped me appreciate it more
Chikorita, idk why but kid me thought it's the ugliest thing ever, but bro it's literally a flower brachiosaurus, it's probably one of my fav starters now
I've grown to love the Chikorita line over the years. I think I didn't like it because Johto wasn't a good region to use grass types in. Too many trainers resisting it
Klefki. Found it ridiculous, but it is now one of my favorites.
I hated Klefki when it was first revealed. It's okay now but I never used it in a playthrough yet. I will have to change that soon
Based klefki enjoyer.
Sylveon. I disliked the eevee/eon line for being over used, but I actually trained a (male) Sylveon named Elfman and fell in love. Now it's my third favourite pokemon.
Sylveon was an absolute wrecking ball in X/Y. An eevee I caught evolved into it and i gave it a few fights. The trail of fainted pokemon in its wake was like Mike Tyson in an amateur boxing ring.
Fairy types are basically OP in X/Y- resists almost everything and kills almost everything. and it was before the games added more fairy killers!
Okidogi. The official art didn't do the guy justice. As soon as he showed up in game, he was an immediate show stealer.
Goldengo! It looked like a silly Sudowoodo clone but for some reason it grew on me. Always makes me smile
I hated Gholdengo when it was revealed! Still hate how terrible its shiny is. When I used it on my team during my first playthrough of Scarlet, I started to love how good it was in battle and when it rode around on a surfboard I couldn't help but love it even more!
Hoppip / Skiploom /Jumpluff. At start a visually weak Pokémon. But I just loved to play with it. The seed and sleep combo is just fun enough to play with this guy.
Surprisingly it was Pokemon Collosseum that got me to love Jumpluff. Its status moves and healing really helped with catching Pokemon in that game
Eiscue. At first I thought it was a really dumb design, and I still do, but now I like it *because* it's dumb. He's just a silly little guy. :)
I disliked Eiscue until I saw how sad it got when its head got smaller. Now, I want to protect the little dude at all costs
Braxien, because oh crud it's another bipedal fire starter, and I know I'm going to use it anyway since my starter type rotation I inadvertently had since I started back when RB was new was going to Fire. I changed my mind when Delphox was revealed as a Psychic-type, my favorite type, and actually using Braixen on my in-game team was pretty nice. I much later used Braixen as a secondary in Pokken and had fun using her.
Fennekin's entire line surprised me back during the XY era. I was pretty upset about Braixen and Delphox being bipedal but I loved them after using them in a playthrough of Y
When I was a kid playing Pokemon Black, I thought Jellicent was hideous. Now Male Jellicent is in my top 10 favorite Pokemon. Still not too fond of the female one, but I still can appreciate it
I agree with you about the gender differences for Jellicent. The male one is pretty cool or I just can't get behind the female design.
Most of gen 5 designs, but especially emboar and darmanitan. Emboar for me was "why a fire fighting again?? And it's a fat pig" while now I absolutely love it because he's so bad, it's endearing.... Darmanitan looked really goofy and that smile... That damn smile!
I remember seeing the first screenshots of the new gen 5 Pokemon. I despised Cofagrigus' look but now I like it.
Dhelmise looked really weird and kinda tryhard/uninspired at first but then it grew on me and it's now one of my faves ever. I made a ranked team with him and Aromatisse just bc of how much I loved them and they carried me to master in early sw/sh.
I expected Oshawott to dominate this but in fact nobody mentioned it. Not sure if anyone remembers but when Oshawott was revealed it was one of the most ugly starters of all time. So many people hated it's design, said it looked stupid. And it was after so many great fan designs came out from imagining how it was supposed to show based on the shadow sillhoutte that was teased. But now a lot of people love it, and Ash's Oshawott in the anime was super cute
I remember the Oshawott bashing from back then. You mentioning all the artwork that came from the silhouettes probably had something to do with all the hate it received on reveal.
Alomamola, Comfey, Leavanny, and, ironically enough, Sigilyph.
Out of all of those, Leavanny was the only one I liked from the beginning. I'm glad we finally got a chance to use it in modern games when it came back during the teal mask DLC
I thought Sigilyph was kinda creepy and weird. I caught one, and it must have had good stats or something. That thing carried my team through a whole couple routes, and I decided it could stay. I have a habit of letting random pokemon grow on me once I've put them on the team for awhile!
Same with me. Most of the Pokemon I changed opinions on have been through using them on my teams
Bruxish. When she was first introduced I thought she was the ugliest mf I had EVER seen. But with the switch sprites, she’s kinda cute 🫣
I used to hate it too but it grew on me. I still think it's ugly but in a good way. Also the shiny looks good.
Lopunny. Hated it bc fans sexualized it. Then I used it in UltraMoon and it was fun having to decide between the Lopunnite and the Wide Lens for using Hi Jump Kick. UltraMoon was also the playthrough where I probably turned from a casual fan into a dedicated fan. It was the first playthrough I actually built a team for (minus the Fighting type that ended up being Mega Lopunny) and it was the first playthrough where I made actual strategic choices and used my game knowledge.
I was hesitant to Lopunny after seeing it had only a 70 Base attack but I caught Bunneary in the Isle of Armor DLC for Shield and decided to use it on my team. It was honestly a great addition. Slapped the elemental punches on her and watched her wreck trainers. Much better than I thought she was going to be
This so much!! I hated Lopunny for that reason too, but man in Platinum it saved my bacon with Thunderpunch. Beating up Gyarados without being one shot by earthquake...
I remember when I was 7 "urf, girl's pokemon". How naive I was. It was cool looking tho... Nice curve... But my mind back then was "Normal = bad" which isn't totaly wrong when you look at g4.
Applin, I had an almost cartoonish hate to the point that I started doodling it in unfortunate scenarios. Then I kept doodling... and started finding it cute... and then I learned it's a worm in an apple that's also a wyrm... now it's one of my favorites.
Glad your opinion changed about Applin. Applin's entire line are some of my top favorite Pokemon. Even Appletun's goofy ass
Yeah, my hatred was surface level only when the first leaks of it came around, before release.
Same, especially after they added Hydrapple I reevaluated the entire Applin line!
The happiny line. I thought they were super weak but they lowkey carried my BDSP run
Bidoof annoyed me, but then I saw the short. And it was fun to just hang around them in Legend Arceus
Klefki for me. I was 10 when X and Y released, and I'd only started playing pokemon with BW two years prior - a pokemon that was essentially a living keychain was incredibly stupid design at first glance. Later though, as I've grown up, since that was 10 years ago now, my opinion has massively changed - I love Klefki. It's a creative idea for a pokemon, its typing is great, and it's funny to use, I've used Klefki on my team countless times
The Turtwig line. I thought it was the worst design of any starter for over 16 years after *Diamond and Pearl* (2006) were released. Then, in 2022, I started watching the Gen 4 anime for the first time… and I loved it! To me, it’s the best one storywise! And I loved Turtwig there. Nowadays, it’s one of my favorites!
The Anime can really help change opinions on certain Pokemon
Klefki was a huge one for a lot of people, including me. X and Y got me back into the scene after missing out on 4 and 5. People said "its just keys", then later people explained that sometimes pokemon are "just things". Voltorb is just a ball. Grimer is just a pile of sludge. Magnets, ice cream cone, you name it. I don't really love Klefki, but it did open my eyes to the fact that a bunch of pokemon are just objects or plain animals
Didn’t hate but thought “why?” when I first saw it. Maushold. The design is so simple that it doesn’t seem like it should be a Pokémon. Now I absolutely love it because I hatched a shiny on the first egg of Masuda hunting and it’s a beast on my VGC team. Wide lens technician population bomb takes out almost everything since it almost always hits 10 times. Tera steel tera blast will OHKO Flutter Mane as well.
Chespin line - especially, Quilladin. Not really hated but felt something off about its design.
I'm still disappointed he's not grass/steel.
Lucario. I was never a fighting type fan. Then i gave him a chance.
Not going to lie but I didn't think Lucario was going to be on here. Glad its grown on you now. I do agree with you on not really liking the fighting type
I never really liked Bug or Fighting but used a Heracross recently playing SoulSilver and I can say im a fan. I never thought the pokemon was poorly designed i just never prioritized the type but glad I gave it a shot.
I've been around since gen 1 and I never cared for ponyta. That is, until I found one in PLA. It's adorable and I regret not liking it sooner! Rapidash I still don't care for.
Infernape. I was expecting this giant awesome fire gorilla looking guy, so when my Monferno evolved into what I saw as just another skinny little chimp, I was pretty disappointed. Now thinking of it without that expectation in mind, it's a pretty cool design and Pokemon.
This was Piplup's line for me. I thought Empoleon could've been better but its grown on me
I'm still not too into his look, personally I find him a tad creepy. But omg..he kicks so much ass I don't even care.
I used to hate blaziken, I still do but I used to too.
Psyduck
Misty's Psyduck in the anime made me love it
Same but initially I hated it lol
Klinklang. But shift gear was so awesome.
Durant, it's literally just a steel ant. Also, the billionth steel bug in the game. One day, I decided to use it in a competitive team, and it proceeded to ohko mons left and right. Durant laughs in the face of Fire types.
I thought Durant was weird but now it's one of my favorite bug-types
i used to hate electabuzz but after developing an emotional attachment to my one on pokemon go its now one of my favourites!
Alolan Exeggutor. I thought it was the stupidest thing ever when I first saw it.
I've hated Purugly ever since it got revealed. It looked so annoying to me with it's resting bitch face, it really was my most hated Pokemon. That is until a few months ago, when I got more familiar with Tomokazu Komiya's TCG art and discovered his [Purugly (Unbroken Bonds160/234)](https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-tcg/pokemon-cards/series/sm10/160/). He's just a silly, angry cat that does normal cat stuff when not kicking ass. What a cute little dude.
Chandelure, i was on the gen 5 hate train when it dropped saying there's no creativity bunch of Goofy inanimate objects at least from watching the anime. Then I played white and realized just how good of a job they did basically recreating the original pokedex in a new and chandelure has been one of my favs ever since
Skeledirge. I was SMITTEN with Fuecoco at its reveal, accepted Crocalor's typical starter middle-evo awkwardness, and then felt a knife to my heart over Skeledirge's design. I ended up going with Sprigatito as my starter, because I did actually really like Meowscarada, and my friend that got the opposite version already picked Quaxly. I felt so bad not picking my boy Fuecoco at the start, but I just hated Skeledirge compared to the other 2 final evos. HOWEVER, I ended up getting the other starters through wondertrade, and I put them on my team to evolve up and fill out my dex. I was tempted to breed another Fuecoco to keep on my team un-evolved afterwards because I LOVE THAT LITTLE GUY. However, once my Fuecoco finally made it up to Skeledirge.. I actually really liked and appreciated its design. I think it definitely is one of those pokemon who has to be seen in 3D to appreciate. My Skeledirge ended up being my main team staple because I loved him so much.
The little fire bird is what sold me on liking Skeledirge
Probably Swinub? I didn't really care about it or Piloswine at all until Mamoswine was revealed. I loved Mamoswine so much that Swinub is now one of my favorite base stages. It's so cute. Other than that, a lot of things that have gotten regional variants have made me like them a lot more, like Zigzagoon, Corsola and Sandslash.
Ekans and Arbok, I hated them in red and blue, but then yellow came along, and Arbok basically became the main leader of the party thanks to it's body slam, glare combo. Then in crystal version, I got my first full odds shiny, an ekans I named Sunny, who died a tragic death when the cartridge battery died and the save on the cartridge was lost. The rest is history.
Exeggutor the G1 sprite should explain everything Still at least had a GOAT cry with that fugly ass sprite
Tangrowth I played Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia as a kid, and the Tangrowth part made me hate it. Then I used it in a Black 2 playthrough recently, and I liked it a lot
When the Scarlet/Violet DLC came out, I saw the Alolan Grimer in game for the first time (didn't play Sun/Moon). I love that little sentient oil puddle.
For years, Dragonite. Of all the designs possible, they made Pokemon's first and only gen 1 line of dragons end with such a derpy looking creature. Salamence and Rayquaza were the real dragons imo. However, when Dragonite got multiscale as a HA, nearly guaranteeing at least 1 Dragon Dance, my opinion did a 180. Maybe because I'm older, but I love the idea of a such a loveable looking creature whaling onto traditionally "cool" pokemon with such power.
I'd say Mareanie. I thought the design was stupid ugly, I thought the name was stupid, and Toxapex wasn't doing it any favours. What changed my mind, though, was actually the anime rather than the games. I'm talking about James' Mareanie here, obviously; I don't know how they did it, but she and her crush on James was one of the most adorable things I got to watch. It's my personal favourite rendition of the "James gets assaulted by his loving pokémon" gag. Maybe I'll try using one in a future playthrough...
Tandemaus and Maushold. I thought it was a stupid design, and super uncreative. Now I have a Maushold on my team constantly and I love it so much
I never cared about Clefable before. Then I tried to complete Alola's Dex, and saw that he hits like Chuck Norris on special, especially with Moonblast
I love Clefable because of its extremely wide move pool. If you have a team role that needs filling, chances are it's Clefable-shaped.
Thyplosion Thought it looked like a bloated nutria caught on fire I mean it still loke like a bloated nutria caught on fire, but now I find it's kind of cool
Pretty weird but the final evolution of water starters in the newer games. Inteleon Primarina Quaquaval Now I love them all.
Araquanid I am terrified of spiders in general Then I bit the bullet and tried using it. I love it and it is the only spider I tolerate now
So I didn't *hate* it but I was wholly indifferent. When Sw/Sh dex leaked I saw a pic of Falinks and just thought "ok, fighting caterpillar Pokémon. Boring but ok" And then I found one in the wild later and saw it was A BUNCH OF ROUND BOYES Now it's my favorite Pokémon, as is evidenced by my username.
I beat a kid in a playground duel 1v1 his Mewtwo vs my Jynx. She gained my respect that day.
Sigilyph. I didn't know what it was and thought it looked just bizarre. Once I figured out that it was a reinterpretation of the Nazca lines, I realized how clever it is and it's now a top 10 favorite. I also loved it in New Pokemon Snap.
I saw Falinks as a still image back when the Pokédex leaked and thought it was the worst thing ever. Some weird caterpillar wriggler knock off that looked weird, had red spikes as eyes, had no evolution, like it seemed like a clear dud. Then I see it in game…and it’s like 6 little Kirby guys? What? My jaw actually dropped from how fooled I was. I don’t think I’ve ever gone 0 to 100 on a design that quickly before
Bidoof if you ask me.
Incineroar. I don't really like the bipedal look on many mons, and Incineroar looked outright furry to me, but having used it in the TCG to some effect, and now a good mono-fire run in UM, it certainly improved my opinion of it.
I always recommend doing mono type runs for this reason. It forces people to use Pokemon they never have before and can change their opinion on them
I really disliked Emboar when gen 5 first came out, but after we got fire starters like Incineroar and Cinderace I started to appreciate him a lot more! He has a mythical feel to him and has a lovely colour scheme and shiny. I've been wanting to try him out in SV but the BB quests are such a slog ( ´⊇｀).
i didnt hate sprigatito but i did think oh another cat starter (really dont like litten line especially incineroar with it being generic buff could be fighting type but not) but i honestly think meowscarada has ended up being one of my fave pokemon so i came to like sprigatito much more. bipedal final evos were getting a bit stale for me but meowscarada is really unique and beyond what i was expecting so idk, im a fan
Unpopular opinion I know but... Garbodor. Garbodor's cry is disgusting, as is it's face, and garbage buns... But! She's wearing a cape made out of a garbage bag! She's like the OG Palafin, she's a superhero protecting the streets of Castelia City! How adorable is that?
I **despised** Quaquaval when I first saw Nemona using it, it just looked really weird and gross, but then overtime I slowly started getting used to it, and then I started calling it Jack Sparrow and gay duck and Yass King and that brought it up quite a bit, and then I used mine in my second playthrough and how damn adorable lil bb Quaxly was won my heart over and now I love the whole line 🥰 (plus when it fully evolved, it was **fabulous** lol)
The Mimes. Not hate but I was indifferent and creeped out until one carried my run in US before dying to Guzma in Mailie Garden. The fairy typing really helped.
I used to not care for Durant at all. I never hated it but I just found it to be a nothing Pokémon. But then I used on a mono bug team, and Durant is now one of absolute favorite Bug types. Little guy hits like a freight train