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Pokémon/Characters/Generation II Families


A list of Pokémon who debuted in Pokémon Gold and Silver, along with their relatives.

Clocking at an even 100, this generation introduced the least number of Pokémon out of all 5, and, out of those, only 81 were not related via evolution with Pokémon of the previous generation (and 2 of those are still close to Generation I Pokémon).

Generations III and IV introduced 12 Pokémon related with the ones covered here, bringing the total of Pokémon not related via evolution with Pokémon of previous generations to 93. Due to the Expansion Pack nature of Gold and Silver, some of the things expected from other generations are absent here; there are no fossil Pokémon, the new early mammal is not everywhere, etc. Legendary version mascots and Roaming Pokémon first appear here, as do unconventional evolution methods.

For other generations, go here.

Chikorita (Chicorita), Bayleef (Bayleaf), and Meganium

The first of the Johto starters, Chikorita and its evolutions are plant dinosaurs with a pure-Grass typing. Despite being at a distinct disadvantage compared to the other starters when going against the gyms in their debut game, their adorable looks still keep them a popular pick.

Cyndaquil, Quilava, and Typhlosion (Hinoarashi, Magmarashi and Bakphoon)

The second of the Johto starters, Cyndaquil is an adorable little shy fire echidna/hedgehog. However, as it evolves, it grows more ferocious; Quilava often attempts to intimidate enemies with the flames on its back, and Typhlosion is incredibly quick-tempered with its tendency to resort to Kill It with Fire.

  • Badass: Typhlosion.
  • Eyes Always Shut: Cyndaquil.
  • Expy/SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Of the Charmander line. While they do not look quite similar, they have the exact same stats.
  • Feed It with Fire: Their Dream World ability, Flash Fire, lets them absorb Fire-type attacks aimed their way to power up their own Fire-type moves.
  • Glass Cannon: It is frail, but it's fast, allowing it to use Eruption effectively in the game.
  • Incendiary Exponent
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: As the only Fire-type starter line without a secondary typing, they are often overlooked in favor of the other families.
    • Specific example in Generation V. Both Charizard and Typhlosion got decent Dream World abilities that boost their offensive prowess, but Charizard is often preferred due to its Ground immunity and the fact that its power boost is easier to set up (Solar Power[1] as opposed to Flash Fire[2]).
  • Playing with Fire
  • Signature Move: Fire starter, so Fire Pledge and Blast Burn.
    • Eruption as well since its line and Camurupt are the only non-Legendary Pokémon to learn it by level.
    • They were also most commonly associated with Flame Wheel at first, being one of only two lines to learn it (the other being Growlithe). These days not so much, as just about every Fire line with respectable speed can learn it now.
  • Turns Red: Blaze boosts Fire-type attacks when health becomes low.
  • Technicolor Eyes: Quilava and Typhlosion.
  • Wicked Weasel / Weasel Mascot: Both Quilava and Typhlosion are fire-breathing badgers.

Totodile, Croconaw, and Feraligatr (Waninoko, Alligates and Odile)

The final Johto starter, Totodile is a goofy, mischievous crocodile that loves biting whatever they see. Although cute, one must not forget that it evolves into Croconaw, an ill-tempered crocodilian, and finally into Feraligatr, an incredibly ferocious bipedal alligator, which, until Generation V's Serperior, is the largest starter overall.

  • An Ice Pokémon: While they are pure Water-types, they learn Ice Fang naturally.
  • Badass: Feraligatr.
  • Character Name Limits: There should be a second "e" in there somewhere.
  • Contemporary Caveman: The patter on Croconaw's belly makes it look a bit like one.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Totodile are described as fun-loving and goofy, but when the chips are down, they can actually get really serious.
  • Expy/SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Of Squirtle. No surprise, as the Johto starters have the same stats as the Kanto ones, but with maybe 2 stats swapped around.
  • Making a Splash
  • Mighty Glacier
    • Lightning Bruiser : It can use Dragon Dance, coupled with its relatively high attack stats and Gyarados level defense makes him a pretty threatening sweeper in its own right.
  • Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Feraligatr's name in French is "Aligatueur", which roughly translates to "Killagator".
  • Never Smile At a Crocodile
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: Feraligatr is one of the most useful of the Johto starters, but it is, all in all, an inferior Gyarados.
    • They do get Aqua Jet by breeding, which makes them scary first-strikers with decent physical stats, and also doesn't have as big of a weakness to Electric-type attacks as Gyarados.
      • In fact, now that Feraligatr has Sheer Force as a Dream World ability, this may well be averted (it will finally be able to distinguish itself better from Gyarados).
  • Signature Move: Yup, Water starter, they get Water Pledge and Hydro Cannon.
  • Turns Red: Torrent boosts Water-type attacks when health becomes low.
  • Took A Levelof Badass: Sheer Force and back on gen 4 its acess to Physical Waterfall and Dragon Dance.

Sentret and Furret (Otachi and Ootachi)

The first two new non-Starter Pokémon appearing in the Johto `Dex are Sentret and its evolution, Furret. Despite appearing early in the `Dex listing, they are surprisingly rare, only appearing in a handful routes and only capable of appearing when it is daytime in their debut Generation. Despite this, it is often considered to be a sort of a Expy of Rattata and Raticate, despite Rattata and Raticate themselves reprising the same role they had in Generation I.

  • Com Mons: Subverted. They are very similar to Rattata and its expies from following generations, but their distribution is quite limited in comparison (they are, at most, found in 2 routes in their native Johto, while Rattata is in virtually every route, and also a few caves and buildings).
  • Expy: They started the trend of having a Rattata-like Pokémon in each game. They didn't start the trend of actually replacing Rattata, though.
  • Item Caddy: They can get both Frisk and Covet from the Dream World. It's not quite Pickup, but it can be very effective for "farming" wild Pokémon for items. Stantler, Banette, and Gothitelle may have some competition.
  • Fragile Speedster
  • Name's the Same: In Japanese, "Ootachi" is pronounced very similarly to "Otachi".
  • Non-Elemental
  • Weasel Mascot: Well, Ferret, but close enough.

Hoothoot and Noctowl (Hoho and Yorunozuku)

A pair of owls. In Generation II, they take on the role as Com Mons during the night, but are nowhere to be seen during the day. Hoothoot is designed with a obvious clock theme and does in fact—appearing otherwise—have two feet. Upon evolving to Noctowl, it takes on a appearance more akin to a "normal" owl. They are often considered to be expies of Spearow and Fearow, since the Pidgey evolution line reprises its role in Generation II.

Ledyba and Ledian

Two Ladybug Pokémon, they are both known as Five Star Pokémon due to the five marks on their backs, but chances are that neither would get a five-star rating on their combat abilities. Ledian, however, does use Starlight as energy. It was exclusive to Silver and its remake, and even then it's only found in the mornings.

  • Big Creepy-Crawlies
  • Blow You Away
  • Blue Eyes: Ledian.
  • For Massive Damage: As with every Bug/Flying combo, Rock moves will squash these guys.
  • The Greys: Ledian's appearance draws cues from stereotypical aliens.
  • Master of None: Ledian accounts to being one of the weaker evolved Pokémon of the game. (Well, okay, it does have a pretty good Special Defense... too bad the rest of its stats suck.)
  • Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Ledyba has 6 arms (but no legs), Ledian has 4.
  • Stone Wall: This is what its base Special Defense of 110 is presumably trying to do (as an early game `mon), but its poor HP stat mostly mitigates it.

Spinarak (Itomaru) and Ariados

Spinarak is a Spider Pokémon, and so is its evolution Ariados. Spinarak can (surprisingly enough) emote using the "face" on its back; Ariados, on the other hand, seem to have a static angry face on their backs. It is exclusive to Gold and only found at night.

Chinchou (Chonchii) and Lanturn

You know how Alluring Anglerfish tend to be hideous looking? Well, that doesn't apply to Chinchou and Lanturn. These two cute blue and yellow Water/Electric Pokémon not only use their light dangler thing to stun their prey, but also use it to communicate and light their way in the dark depths of the ocean.

Togepi, Togetic (Togechick), and Togekiss

Togekiss debuts in Gen IV

This evolution line of Normal Pokémon are largely associated with happiness, luck, and peace. They are also incredibly rare; despite having their debut in Generation II, the only place they are found in the wild is Sinnoh and Unova,[3] and that is only Togepi and not its evolutions. Thankfully, you are usually given a Egg to hatch a Togepi yourself, spawning a tradition of being given a free egg with a rare baby Pokémon in it once a game.

  • Awesome Yet Practical: Togekiss can learn Air Slash, which has a 30% chance of making the opponent flinch. That gives it a near 110 power attack that has a 60% chance to make the opponent flinch, and works off Togekiss's very high Special Attack to boot. Add in Thunder Wave to paralyze the opponent and let Togekiss get the first attack each round...
  • Blow You Away: Only the evolved forms.
  • Cool but Inefficient: A Togekiss with Ominous Wind, Silver Wind and Ancientpower. 20% chance when attacking of getting a boost to all its stats with Serene Grace, but too low power to do decent damage. Then again, that fourth move slot could be anything you like, be it a higher power move, or Baton Pass...
    • Still a problem thanks to unreliability though. 20% is simply too low to be reliable.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Togepi's the second Generation II Pokémon to appear in the anime after Ho-Oh, becoming a member of the regular cast, even.
  • Eggshell Clothing: Togepi
  • For Happiness
  • Kamehame Hadoken: Togekiss is one of a select few non-Lucario, non-Legendary Pokémon to learn Aura Sphere.
  • Mighty Glacier: Has good defenses and excellent Special Attack, but subpar Speed.
  • Won't Work On Me: Ghost moves for all three, Togetic and Togekiss ignore Ground moves as well.
  • Our Angels Are Different: In this world, they're birds that spread joy and harmony.
  • Stationary Wings: The Silver/SoulSilver Pokédex confirmed that Togetic has these.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Togetic was yet another of Johto's bad Pokémon. Then it evolved, and became something with a stat total higher than things like Snorlax or Blissey. And the ability to learn incredibly powerful attacks with status effects which, when combined with the right ability (Serene Grace, if you're wondering), make it incredibly annoying for its enemies. The catch? The aforementioned moves can only be learned by re-learning them, and in order to do that, you need Heart Scales, which, while not rare, are still annoyingly uncommon outside of the Sinnoh Underground.

Natu and Xatu (Nati and Natio)

Natu and Xatu are Psychic bird Pokémon that have an unusual Native or South American-inspired design to them. Natu's wings are a bit on the small side, so it tends to hop around pecking or just staring at things. Xatu, on the other hand, tend to stay in the same spot, presumably looking into the past and the future simultaneously. They are very useful in supporting other team members with setting up Reflect or Light Screen, or even healing other team members with Wish.

  • Bad Future: The Ruby Dex entry claims Xatu stand still because of the horrible things they see in the future.
  • Blow You Away
  • Magical Native American: Well, more like Magical Ainu (judging by the patterns of its feathers), but still ...
  • Psychic Powers
  • Seers
  • Took a Level in Badass: Generation V gave it the new and highly effective ability Magic Bounce, which is basically the Magic Coat move turned into a passive ability. Even better, it's the only Pokemon that can be legitimately obtained with this ability now that the event that gave out Magic Bounce Espeon has ended.

Mareep, Flaaffy (Mokoko), and Ampharos (Denryu)

A family of adorable sheep that bear wool with an electric charge to them. They make excellent electric Pokémon in the Gen II games and their remakes due to their high Special Attack stat. Unlike most Electric Pokémon, though, they're a bit on the slow side.

  • Cartoon Creature: Ampharos doesn't quite look like a sheep...
  • Dub-Induced Plot Hole: The reason Ampharos cannot learn Tail Glow, despite using its tail to illuminate lighthouses, is because the Japanese name of Tail Glow is Firefly Light. This doesn't explain how Manaphy, neither a firefly or possessing a tail, can learn it, however.
  • Light'Em Up: Ampharos is known as the "Light Pokémon", and is in fact responsible for keeping the Olivine City Lighthouse in working order.
  • Meaningful Name: "Mareep" is an anagram of "ampere," which is used to measure electric currents.
    • Also, Ampharos is 'amp' (as in, electricity) and 'Pharos' (the lighthouse, a.k.a., one of the Wonders of the Ancient World) combined.
  • Mighty Glacier: In contrast to most Electric-type Pokémon, which are Fragile Speedsters or Lightning Bruisers.
  • Shock and Awe
  • Shout-Out

Azurill (Rurill), Marill, and Azumarill (Marilli)

Azurill debuts in Gen III

Probably one of the best known Pokémon of the second Generation, due to the persistent rumors of "Pikablu": A blue Pikachu-like Pokémon. Which could describe this family to a tee. These aquatic rodents were initially only found in a single location, Mt. Mortar, but good luck running into one, since they were extremely rare. Being made more common was just one of the improvements later generations would bring, and they also received an ability called Huge Power, which basically doubled its Attack stat, and a baby form to mirror Pichu.

  • Badass Adorable: Once it reaches the Azumarill stage.
  • Expy: A 2-stage family of rodents, that gets a baby form in the following generation, and are pretty much the face of their debut gen. While not quite as blatant as Plusle/Minun, Pachirisu, and Emolga, they are very similar to the Pikachu line.
  • Making a Splash: Although Azurill is a Normal-type for some reason.
  • Gender Bender: Due to having a different gender rate, you have a 1/3 chance to, when evolving a female Azurill, have it become a male Marill.
  • Mighty Glacier: Pretty decent defensive stats and an ability that outright DOUBLES your attack? Yeah, it packs a punch.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse
  • Super Strength: With stat-boosting items, that is the only way to explain why half of the Azumarill have an Attack power beyond most the Legendaries.
  • Took a Level in Badass: When the line was introduced, Azumarill had no competitive value beyond a decent bulk. Cue Generation III and Huge Power, and Azumarill is hitting as hard as Normal Forme Deoxys. Cue Gen IV, and Azumarill has an actual physical movepool. Cue Gen V, and now Azumarill has Sap Sipper, turning its Grass weakness into an immunity.
    • Power-Up Letdown: Although Huge Power is generally the better ability, since you need to get hit twice with Grass attacks (which won't generally won't happen once that's found out) with Sap Sipper to get a similar level of power a Huge Power Azumarill would have.
  • This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman: Less used during Gen 4 despite its massive power. During gen 5 the sheer prevalence of Excadrill and Ferrothorn gives him a useful niche for stopping Excadrills while doing respectable damage to Ferrothorn. And Rain acess basically gives most Water type a usage reason.
  • Urban Legend of Zelda: Right before Gold and Silver came out. Pikablu, anyone?
  • Water-Types Are Blue

Bonsly and Sudowoodo (Usohachi and Usokki)

Bonsly debuts in Gen IV

Much like Snorlax of Generation I, Sudowoodo was something of a roadblock in the Gen II games. It looks like a weirdly shaped tree that moved when touched, and attacks you when you water it. This behavior is due to it actually being a Rock-type instead of a Grass-type - in fact it's actually the first Rock-type to not have a secondary type. This odd Pokémon was largely ignored until it received a baby in the form of Bonsly. Has it been made useful by this? No, not really.

Hoppip, Skiploom, and Jumpluff (Hanecco, Popocco, and Watacco)

Hoppip is, despite its looks, not based on a tomato, something that should become apparent when it evolves into the green Skiploom and later the blue Jumpluff. Instead these Pokémon are based on dandelions - they are very light and can fly on the winds, giving them a Grass/Flying typing.

Aipom and Ambipom (Eteboth)

Ambipom debuts in Gen IV

Aipom is a purple monkey with a tail that ends with a three fingered hand. In Generation IV it can evolve into Ambipom, which have 2 tails with hands instead. To evolve, it must level up while knowing "Double Hit". The two of these "Long Tail" Pokémon are based on Cymbal Monkeys.

Sunkern and Sunflora (Himanatsu and Kimawari)

Sunkern is a Sunflower Seed Pokémon. It can evolve into Sunflora using a Sunstone. In Generation II, it is possible to get a Sunstone in the same area that you can catch Sunkern in. This is a good thing, since Sunkern is rather weak (the weakest base stats wise), and will likely need to evolve in order to be useful to your team.

  • Eyes Always Shut: Sunflora.
  • Green Thumb
  • Lethal Joke Character: While horrible in battle, Sunkern is one of the few Pokémon that can get five stars for all of HeartGold's and SoulSilver's Pokéathlon events.
  • Magikarp Power: Subverted in a sense. While Sunkern is pathetic, and Sunflora is indeed a big improvement, it just doesn't have what it takes to compete in the big leagues like Gyarados does.
    • Sunkern is played straight in the Pokeathlon.
  • Master of None: Sunkern is equal in all of its stats, and all of them are equal to Snorlax's speed. Snorlax is very, very slow. This means that Sunkern is the worst Pokémon in the game, stat-wise. Sunflora, thankfully, is more specialized, but it is far from a formidable Pokémon.
  • Petal Power
  • Sunny Sunflower Disposition

Yanma and Yanmega (Yanyanma and Megayanma)

Yanmega debuts in Gen IV

Yanma is a Dragonfly Pokémon that can evolve into Yanmega if it knows AncientPower. They can both send shockwaves out when flapping their wings, although Yanmega's are by far more destructive than Yanma's, capable of causing internal damage to its opponents. Yanmega can also carry adult humans while flying. Despite being a powerhouse in story and certainly having the stats to reinforce it, Yanmega suffers from having an Achilles' Heel against Rock.

  • Awesome but Impractical: Yanmega is seriously powerful, but its severe weakness to Rock makes it lose 50% of its health at the instant it enters the arena if Stealth Rock is up - and in the standard metagame, Stealth Rock will be set up sooner or later, if not at the very beginning of a match. As a result, if anyone dares use Yanmega around tournament players, it will be rendered unconscious very, very quickly.
    • Awesome Yet Practical: Quite usable in Lead spot and good starting offensive stats, Yanmega is still perfectly usable in higher tiers unlike that one particularly infamous Fire Dragon during Gen 4. In fact it is a BL tier during Gen 4(deemed as perfectly usable in OU but not used/good enough to be deemed as standard.
  • Blow You Away
  • Big Creepy-Crawlies: In fact, Yanmega is six feet long! Although, it is later surpassed by Scolipede.
  • For Massive Damage: Like all Bug/Flying-type Pokémon, Yanma and Yanmega are very weak to Rock. As with Moltres (and in Gen V, Solar Power Charizard), this unfortunate typing, combined with the prevalence of Stealth Rock, almost single-handedly keeps Yanmega out of the standard metagame.
    • Kryptonite Is Everywhere: As above entries may have clued you in, the near single-minded obsession with the move Stealth Rock that Generation IV's metagame had was not good to Yanmega. Even with Generation V lowering Stealth Rock's availability, Yanmega's double weakness to Rock is still a serious hindrance as far as most competitive players are concerned.
  • Fragile Speedster: As Yanma, it fits this.
    • Lightning Bruiser: Yanmega is faster than Yanma thanks to its Speed Boost ability, as well as having much better defenses, and a beastly Special Attack stat.
  • Technicolor Eyes: Yanmega.

Wooper (Upah) and Quagsire (Nuo)

Wooper and Quagsire are Mudfish Pokémon based on an animal called Axolotl. They are not terribly powerful, but with a immunity against electric attacks, an ability to absorb water attacks, and good resistance against fire, they can certainly have their niche in a early game team. If your Quagsire has Unaware, however...

Murkrow and Honchkrow (Yamikarasu and Donkarasu)

Honchkrow debuts in Gen IV

Nocturnal crows with feathers that are stylized as hats, they have a bit of a bad reputation of bringers of bad luck. As a Dark/Flying-type, it can somewhat counter the Dark-type's weaknesses to Bug and Fighting, but they really are not suited for defensive roles. With the aid of a Dusk Stone, Murkrow can evolve into the awesome Honchkrow and gain a very high attack stat and an awesome hat.

Misdreavus and Mismagius (Muuma and Muumarji)

Mismagius debuts in Gen IV

Misdreavus is best known for being the ONLY Ghost-type introduced in Gen II, and made even more well known for appearing in the very last area of that game, Mt. Silver. So by the time you encounter one, you already should have a dedicated team of monsters that see your battles through. The poor thing had to wait till Gen IV to get at least some recognition, mostly in the form of an evolution, and being caught fairly early in the game. In the Gen I remakes and beyond, it and Murkrow were apparently made into version exclusives of one another.

  • Cute Witch
  • Our Banshees Are Louder
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: The first one without a secondary type, in fact.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: Mismagius is a solid Pokémon, but Rotom and Dusknoir are better tanks and Gengar could mop the floor with it, thus condemning Mismagius to the UU tier.
    • Poor Predictable Rock/Four Moves of Doom: Not helped by the lacking movepool. If you see a Misvdreavus/Mismagius, you know it will be perish trapping (Gen II and III) or using its immunities to set up a substitute, then use the sub to boost stats (Gen IV and V). Or, if in a doubles/triples match, it'll be using Skill Swap to tweak abilities (Gen III onward). It simply has no other viable options.
  • Won't Work On Me: Normal and Fighting moves thanks to its typing, and Ground moves thanks to its Levitate ability.
  • Signature Move: Pain Split, until the Gen V, could only be naturally learned by Misdreavus.
  • Squishy Wizard: Though it has good special bulk, its HP and defense are pathetic.
  • Supernatural Is Purple
  • Technicolor Eyes

Unown (Annon)

You would expect that a Pokémon based on the alphabet would be terribly weak, wouldn't you? And you would be correct.

Unown are terribly weak, with horrendous stats and only one single weak move available. However, in large numbers, they become incredibly powerful Eldritch Reality Warpers. Although there are 28 variations, you only need to catch one to fill your Pokédex. There is usually some collector guy who wants you to "Catch Them All", with the reward varying by game.

During Generation IV, a connection between them and Arceus was heavily implied. The radio signal they emit is seemingly similar to the Azure Flute's melody, and during the Sinjoh Ruins event they're shown to swarm around Arceus as it begins to create a new Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina.

Wynaut and Wobbuffet (Sohnano and Sohnansu)

Wynaut debuts in Gen III

Counter, Mirror Coat, Encore, Shadow Tag, Destiny Bond, Leftovers, what more do you need?

Wobbuffet and its baby form Wynaut are a pair of Lethal Joke Characters, and the only non-legendary Pokémon to be banned from official tournaments. This is since a pair of Wobbuffet can lock themselves into a neverending duel. (This was fixed in Emerald.) Despite this tremendous show of force, it should be remembered that they did not always have this power. Wynaut headbutt one another to build up endurance, and Wobbuffet are highly protective of their tail, suspiciously protective...

Girafarig (Kirinriki)

Girafarig is an unusual Pokémon. It's one of the very few Normal dual-types that's not part Flying. Instead, it's part-Psychic, meaning that it can resist Fighting attacks which are normally super-effective, while also being immune to Ghost moves. It also has a undeveloped head on the end of its tail that is non-sentient, giving it an appearance similar to a pushmi-pullyu.

Pineco and Forretress (Kunugidama and Foretos)

Despite appearing as a pinecone/hand grenade and later as a giant clam-cum-depth charge, it's actually a Bug-type, specifically one based on a bagworm. With its high defenses and a typing that leaves it with a single weakness (which is regretfully a quad weakness), it's a very good choice as a defensive wall.

Dunsparce (Nokotchi)

Most people look at it and ask "what the hell was Game Freak thinking/smoking when they came up with that?" Dunsparce is a based of an cryptid known as a Tsuchinoko: A fat-bellied snake that can jump or roll itself like a hoop to move around. Dunsparce is made even wierder by having a drill as a tail and a pair of tiny wings. It's strange, but it does have its share of fans.

  • Butt Monkey: Not because of its stats, its because of its (very) odd appearance.
  • Eyes Always Shut
  • Lethal Joke Character: Its stats are nothing to write home about, and it has no evolutions. What it DOES have is a great movepool and access to the rare ability Serene Grace. This little snake can para-flinch Mewtwo to death if you're lucky!
  • Metal Slime: 1% encounter rate outside of swarms. Made worse in Generation IV, where swarms never occur until you've beaten the Elite Four.
    • Fortunately in HG/SS, they're quite easy to find in the Dark Cave if you've got Rock Smash.
  • Non-Elemental
  • Our Monsters Are Weird: Just look at it!
  • This Is a Drill: Its tail is drill-shaped.
  • Took a Level in Badass: When it was first introduced in Generation II, it was just a rare, weird little Pokemon that was otherwise forgettable. Then came the introduction of abilities, in which Dunsparce got Serene Grace of all things, and a decent movepool for abusing it. Then Fire-Red, Leaf-Green, and Emerald gave it more reliable means of inducing Paralysis via Body Slam and Thunder Wave, thus cementing its Para-Flinch strategy.
  • Youkai: Based on the internationally unknown Tsuchinoko.

Gligar and Gliscor (Glion)

Gliscor debuts in Gen IV

A strange cross between a scorpion and a bat, Gligar and Gliscor make for an unusual Pokémon. Their typing is also odd due to being Ground/Flying, as this gives them immunities to their own types and cancels out the other's types weaknesses to Grass and Rock attacks. Ice types give it a big problem though... It was exclusive to the Gold version.

  • Blow You Away
  • Beware My Stinger Tail
  • Dishing Out Dirt
  • Face Hugger
  • For Massive Damage: Ice-type attacks.
  • Healing Factor: Gliscor's Dream World ability, Poison Heal.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Gliscor has excellent Defense with respectable Speed and Attack, it gets Swords Dance and Rock Polish to boost the latter stats further, and has a pretty nice movepool.
    • The typing works as well offensively as it does defensively—it so happens everything resistant to Flying is weak against Ground and vice-versa, and together they cover eight of the seventeen types. The only type combinations that resists both are Steel, Rock and Electric dual-typed with Flying, and Gliscor can get Stone Edge for them.
    • Jack of All Trades : With the exception of Stone Wall(where it is excellent), Gliscor can perform multitude of roles, but its capability in those other roles are deemed pretty average for its class.
  • Scary Scorpions: And they fly!
  • Technicolor Eyes: Gliscor.

Snubbull (Bull) and Granbull

Snubbull and Granbull are based on bulldogs, this gardners it some fans or are fans of the Ugly Cute trope. Otherwise they're pretty unremarkable normal types.

  • Bully Bulldog
  • Cast From HP: Since its low Speed is a considerable hindrance in competitive play, a common strategy is to send it into battle holding a Toxic Orb, an item that automatically inflicts poison on whatever's holding it, so Granbull can immediately activate its Quick Feet ability with what is considered to be the least obstructive status effect there is. The payoff is a speed boost at the cost of losing a little health each turn.
  • Cute Little Fangs: Snubbull. As you can see, they aren't so cute on Granbull.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Snubbull first appeared in the anime's short film Pikachu's Vacation.
    • Albeit under the name Snubble, it was before the game had an official localization spelling.
  • Precious Puppies: At least for bulldog lovers...
  • Mighty Glacier: Granbull has a great attack stat offset by its slow base speed stat. It can learn Bulk Up to make up for its average physical defence stat.
  • Non-Elemental:
  • Won't Work On Me: Ghost Attacks.
    • Paralysis, in a sense. Its Quick Feet ability causes its Speed to increase when afflicted by a Status condition, which has the bonus effect of ignoring the speed loss caused by Paralysis. The chance to lose a turn to being paralyzed is still there, though.
  • Our Fairies Are Different: ...Yeah.[4]
  • Perpetual Frowner
  • Standard Status Effects: Inflicting one on Granbull will make it faster, thanks to its Quick Feet ability.

Qwilfish (Harisen)

What's there to say about this Water/Poison fish Pokémon? It's not as prominent in the Pokémon seas as Tentacool and Tentacruel, but well... Um... It seems to come up alot in discussions of forgetable Pokémon, which makes it unforgettable in the ironic sense.

Shuckle (Tsubotsubo)

Here's a Pokémon that receives plenty of discussion from fans for a number of reasons. This creature is supposed to be a scale insect, but it resembles a worm-like creature that lives inside a moon rock. Its stats are a collection of extremes: boasting the highest base defenses of all Pokémon (230, each!), but having the lowest stats in everything else including, sadly enough, its HP. However, this doesn't Shuckle from being used by trainers.

  • Dishing Out Dirt
  • Item Caddy: Is the only way you can get Berry Juice,[5] which, if held long enough in Gen II, becomes Rare Candy.
  • Lethal Joke Character: It is, in very specialized situations likely to never happen in actual gameplay, capable of doing the highest amount of damage possible for any Pokémon- a hypothetical amount capping at around 213 million.
  • Let's Get Dangerous: Gen IV has Shuckle naturally learn Power Trick, which switches its attack and defense stats. Doing this gives it by far the highest attack stats of any Pokémon. Who's Laughing Now?
  • Muscles Are Meaningless: Can still learn moves that need super-strength (ex.: Rock Smash) despite being described as having weak and limp muscles.
    • However, it still has the worst offensive stats in the game.
  • Power Nullifier: Learns Gastro Acid, which can remove resistances/immunities and disrupt anything reliant on abilities to be effective.
  • Stone Wall: The definitive one. It has the best defensive stats in the game by a long shot, but it's also absolutely pathetic in everything else (unfortunately including Hit Points): Its two defenses make up 91% of its stat total.
  • Took a Level in Badass: In Generation V, Shuckle got the move Power Split, which adds its attack and special attack (among the lowest in the game) with its opponents and averages them out. This not only cripples the offensive abilities of whatever Shuckle is facing, it also gives Shuckle enough of a boost to its own offense to make things like Rollout effective without having to compromise its defense.

Heracross

A fairly popular Pokémon, Heracross is based on a Kabutomushi, a species of rhinoceres beetle that is popular among the Japanese, who use them in beetle fighting competitions, so it's only natural that a Pokémon would be based on it. It also somehow manages to be obtainable in practically every handheld game since Gold and Silver.

  • Bare-Fisted Monk: As expected of a Fighting-type.
  • Expy: Of Pinsir.
  • For Massive Damage: flying-type attacks.
  • Japanese Beetle Brothers: A Kabutomushi, with Pinsir being the Kuwagatamushi.
  • Signature Move: Megahorn, although no longer exclusive as of Gen III, and no longer exclusive to Bug-types as of Gen IV.
  • Sweet Tooth: Its fondness for tree sap.
  • Technicolor Eyes
  • Took a Level in Badass: It had trouble distinguishing itself in Generation IV, but gaining Moxie in Generation V allows it to now boost its formidable attack stat with every KO. Given that its Bug and Fighting STABs are strongly anti-metagame, Heracross is seeing some popularity as a scarfed sweeper that grows stronger every time it gets a kill.
    • Ironically, Heracross is considered a huge threat during its debut generation and third generation, some actualy Banned it during third gen and for logical reason. It took a level in Badass with the addition of Close Combat and Choice Scarf to the arsenal. However, the metagame around it simply isn't kind to Heracross leading to its downfall.
  • Wrestler in All of Us

Sneasel and Weavile (Nyula and Manyula)

Weavile debuts in Gen IV

Another Pokémon based on a Youkai, Sneasel and Weavile are Kamaitachi. Weasels that move like the wind and slice unsuspecting victims. Which explains their Dark and Ice typings. This unfortunately leaves them with quite a few weaknesses, but it doesn't matter when its job is to sweep opponents with impunity.

  • An Ice Pokémon
  • Combat Pragmatist: Known for playing REALLY dirty; their signature move involves ganging up six against one (or three against one, if you're playing Pokémon Stadium 2)!
  • Wicked Weasel: See below.
  • Glass Cannon: Pretty high Attack and Speed, but pitiful defenses compounded by their double weakness to Fighting, a very common type.
    • For Massive Damage: As already mentioned, Fighting moves.
  • Power-Up Letdown: Pickpocket lets them steal enemy items if they make contact; too bad this forces Weavile to go into battle with no item of its own, and nearly any contact move will just KO it.
  • Signature Move: Beat Up, despite being able to be bred into other Pokémon.
    • Good Bad Bugs: Said move was the key in exploiting a bug in the second gen games that would yield a Celebi.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Sneasel was unable to take advantage of its typing because its Special Attack is its worse stat. Then Generation IV came, and Sneasel got an evolution and the physical-special split to give it some physical moves that were compatible with the Ice and Dark types.
  • Wolverine Claws
  • Youkai: Based on the kamaitachi.

Teddiursa and Ursaring (Himeguma and Ringuma)

Teddiursa is an adorable bear cub that's often depicted as sucking on one of its paws. Naturally it evolves into a terrifying adult bear with the appropriate muscle. Both its normal abilities are activated when it receives a status effect, either raising its attack with Guts or raising its speed with Quick Feet. Either way you're in big trouble when that happens. Strangely enough, it is a version exclusive, but which version depended on the language. It's in the Silver version in the Japanese games, but Gold in the North American releases. In stays in SoulSilver for the remake.

  • Cast From HP: Like Granbull above, Ursaring has lousy Speed and the Quick Feet ability, causing many players to send it into battle with a Toxic Orb, giving it a much-needed Speed boost at the cost of losing a little health each turn to poison.
  • Everything's Worse with Bears
  • Item Caddy: Teddiursa.
  • Mama Bear: Guess who gets this depiction in most media.
  • Mighty Glacier: Ursaring pretty much hits (and moves) like a bulldozer.
  • Non-Elemental
  • Won't Work On Me: Ghost attacks.
    • Ursaring's two non-Dream World abilities allow it to ignore one effect of one status effect each. If it has Guts, it ignores the Attack reducing effect of burns, and Quick Feet allows it to bypass the Speed dropping effect of paralysis. The damage from burns and paralysis's chance to miss a turn are still present, though.
  • Oral Fixation Fixation: Teddiursa with its own hands.
  • Standard Status Effects: Ursaring's two non-Dream World abilities increase one of its stats if afflicted with one of these; Quick Feet increases Speed and Guts increases Attack.
  • Stock Pokémon Diet: They both like honey.
  • Sweet Tooth

Slugma (Magmag) and Magcargo

Slugma and Magcargo are gastropods that are found nowhere near any sources of water. This is due to them being made of boiling lava. It's constantly moving because if it stops, then its body would cool down. Magcargo gains a brittle shell of hardened lava that somehow grants it a high defense. Not that it makes a difference since it can be finished off by Ground or Water attacks.

  • Boring but Practical: Not much use in battle but it's easy to find and one of the best ways to hatch eggs quickly.
  • Convection, Schmonvection: With Magcargo's dex entry stating its body temperature is 18000 °F,[6] you'd expect it to burn everything to a crisp by simply standing near it. Guess what never happens.
  • Dishing Out Dirt: Magcargo
  • For Massive Damage: water- and ground-type attacks.
  • Glass Ninja: Magcargo used Shell Smash!
    • Magcargo gained the ability Weak Armor in the same Generation, which facilitates this play style even further.
  • Heal Thyself: Learns Recover naturally.
  • Magma Mon
  • Overshadowed By Anyone: Magcargo's only useful for hatching eggs faster. Even then, other, more battle-capable mons (read: Magmortar, Volcarona...) possess the same ability.
  • Playing with Fire

Swinub, Piloswine, and Mamoswine (Urimoo, Inomoo, and Mammoo)

Mamoswine debuts in Gen IV

Swinub is an Ice/Ground type that's based a boar piglet. As it matures, it loses the stripes but gains tusks that it uses to ram its opponents and gore them. It was fairly unremarkable in Gens II and III, but in Gen IV it gained an evolution in the form of Mamoswine. Its typing is a bit of a double-edged sword since it can hit alot of Pokémon with supereffective attacks, but it's also weak to a number of them as well. Mighty Glacier is an extremely appropriate trope for this Pokémon.

Corsola (Sunnygo)

A Pokémon based on stag coral. It's known to have great regenerative powers: unlike real coral which takes decades to grow, Corsola's broken horns can regrow in a single night. However, they need clean water in order to do this, otherwise it gets sickly and die. It appears to have a plucky nature (One of its abilities is Hustle), but it's mostly defensive according to its stats. Just beware of Grass attacks.

  • Dishing Out Dirt
  • For Massive Damage: anything grass-related.
  • Green Thumb: Can learn Ingrain and Nature Power, moves that are normally exclusive to grass-types. Considering its weakness, this is rather ironic. It does, however, make sense for a coral.
  • Healing Factor: Gained Regenerator as a Dream World ability. It also had the Natural Cure ability before this.
  • Heal Thyself: Learns Recover and Refresh naturally.
  • Making a Splash

Remoraid and Octillery (Teppouo and Octank)

Remoraid and Octillery are water types that are well known for being related by evolution despite being very dissimilar to one another. However, they're also well known for shooting things. Remoraid is a remora that vaguely looks like a gun while Octillery is an octopus that vaguely looks like a tank.

  • Beam Spam: Most of their moveset involves projectiles - namely beams[7] and objects launched at high speeds.
  • Confusion Fu: Due to the above, Octillery has a surprisingly wide movepool. The only types it can't learn a move for are Ghost, Dragon, Flying and Fighting. If you want to raise your Octillery in a Gen IV game and tutor it Bounce, you can cross Flying off the list too.
  • Everything's Squishier with Cephalopods: Octillery is... well, guess. Averted with Remoraid.
  • An Ice Pokémon: Despite being pure water-types, Octillery and Remoraid can naturally learn Ice Beam and Aurora Beam.
  • Making a Splash
  • Mighty Glacier: Respectable Attack and Special Attack and a versatile moveset, pathetic Speed. Has a touch of Glass Cannon too since its defenses aren't impressive either.
  • Playing with Fire: Interestingly, Remoraid and Octillery can learn Flamethrower and Fire Blast.
  • Psychic Powers: Both Remoraid and Octillery can learn Psybeam and Psychic.
  • Required Party Member: For Mantyke to evolve, it needs to level-up while a Remoraid is in the party.
  • Signature Move: Octazooka, which is exclusive to Octillery via leveling up.
    • It's worth noting that the Japanese name of the attack [8] takes it a step further by actually being named after Octillery itself.
  • Viewers Are Geniuses: As opposed to the common "Pokémon evolves into bigger, adult version" style of evolution, the developers decided to base Remoraid on a gun and Octillery on a cannon. They thought players would understand, but apparently this failed, because to this day there are message board posts asking why the hell a fish turns into an octopus.
    • The connection becomes clearer when you realize that Remoraid is based on a Archerfish and that both Archerfish and Octopi use Water jets.
    • Another connection: Both remoras and octopi are aquatic animals with suction pads.

Delibird

An Ice/Flying type that's a cross between a penguin and Santa Claus. It's talented at delivering presents in its tail, which looks like the jolly old elf's bag. What it isn't talented in is battling. The only attack that it learns by leveling is Present, a move exclusive to it that does random amounts of damage or even heals the target. The only redeeming quality it might have is that it can have Hustle (an ability that boosts damage but lowers accuracy) and can be taught Aerial Ace (a move that never misses and gets a same type attack bonus), but that's only one pro it has agains many cons. It's only found in Silver and its remake (Gold players get Gligar instead).

  • An Ice Pokémon
  • Bag of Holding
  • Blow You Away
  • Everything's Better with Penguins: Flying Santa Claus penguins, while we are at it.
    • Fridge Brilliance: It is based in the original, Northern penguins, the auks, which can fly.
  • For Massive Damage: You need rock-type attacks.
    • Kryptonite Is Everywhere: When Generation IV had every last person with knowledge of the metagame near obsessed with the move Stealth Rock. Though considering how useless it was considered already, it wasn't hurt much.
  • Joke Character: Yeah, he's down there with Luvdisc.
  • Meaningful Name/Punny Name
  • Power-Up Letdown: Its Dream World Ability is Insomnia, which prevents Sleep - Delibird already had the Vital Spirit ability, which does the exact same thing.
  • Santa Claus: So obviously based on the modern image of St. Nick, it's a little painful.
  • Signature Move: Delibird is the only Pokémon that learns Present via level up. (On the other hand, that's the only move it learns by level-up.)
  • When All You Have Is a Hammer: Delibird is a one-trick poké if there ever was one. It can hold a Choice Band (x1.5 to attack, but forces you into a move), use Hustle as an ability (which lowers accuracy and raises Attack), and use Aerial Ace (Always hits), and Brick Break as a side option. Unfortunately, it has absolutely nothing else.

Mantyke (Tamanta) and Mantine

Mantyke debuts in Gen IV

Mantine is a Pokémon based on a manta ray that uses its wing-like fins to leap out of the ocean. Its special defense stat is quite high but its typing leaves it open to electric type moves, which undermines its ability as a special wall. It's also the heaviest Johto Pokémon and received a baby in Mantyke. It has a pattern of a smiling face on its back.

  • For Massive Damage: *BZZT* [9]
  • Blow You Away
  • Making a Splash
  • Stone Wall: Mantine tries to be this, it really does. Compared to Skarmory, its stats are inverted, with Skarmory specializing in physical defense while Mantine specializes in special defense. Unfortunately for Mantine, its tanking abilities are surpassed by Blissey, and as a further kick in the face... well, just see For Massive Damage above.

Skarmory (Airmored)

A steel crane (not the machine used in construction, but the bird). After nesting in briars, its skin gets scratched so much that it eventually hardens in metal armor that encases its body. The combination of its typing, Steel/Flying, which leaves with only two special-based weaknesses, and its very high defense stat means that makes for an excellent wall that can shrug off most physical attacks like it was nothing. It's the version counterpart to Mantine.

  • Big Badass Bird of Prey
  • Blow You Away
  • Extra Ore Dinary
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: Skarmory is described as an extremely fast flier by the Pokédex, but its Speed stat is really nothing to write home about.
  • Won't Work On Me: Poison and Ground moves.
  • Razor Wings: as such with Steel Wing.
  • Signature Move: most commonly associated with, and also naturally learns, Steel Wing.
  • Stone Wall: One of the premier physical examples, and does much better in this role than its Special-oriented counterpart, Mantine. Mantine tries to be its Special equivalent, but is ruined by its weakness (and even without said weakness, it would still be inferior to Blissey.) Together with Blissey, Skarmory forms the infamous "SkarmBliss" combo that could easily take the absolute worst the metagame could throw at it back in Generation II.
    • Its Attack isn't that horrible, but there are plenty of better physical attackers.

Houndour and Houndoom (Delvil and Hellgar)

These devilish dog Pokémon are, appropriately enough, Dark/Fire types with great special attack and decent speed, attack and special defense. However, by the time they're available to catch, you may have a number of useful Fire and Dark types at your disposal already. But don't let that stop you from using it. This Pokémon is partally based on the Doberman.

Phanpy (Gomazou) and Donphan

An adorable blue baby elephant that evolves into a not-so-adorable adult elephant. Donphan's special talent is rolling around at high speeds. It's not so surprising that its trunk and its back are covered with thick skin that looks somewhat like a tire. Its attack and defense are very high, but its special stats are very bad. It's still an excellent choice if you want to remove obstacles like Spikes and Stealth Rock, or if you just want a solid Ground type. It's the version counterpart to Teddiursa and Ursaring (and switched games with them in certain international releases.)

  • Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Donphan's armor is basically a tire.
  • Dishing Out Dirt
  • Early-Bird Cameo: In the opening credits of Pokémon the First Movie, Ash battles a Trainer who uses a Donphan.
  • Everything's Better with Spinning: Rapid Spin. Donphans tend to move around this way, hence the tire-like armor.
  • Item Caddy: Phanpy.
  • Metal Slime: In Crystal, with Phanpy early in the game. In Route 46, there is a 5% chance of finding a Phanpy during the morning. Plus it can flee from battle, which happened to the unfortunate Chuggaaconroy He caught one early in the next episode. 51 seconds after naming his Phanpy, it evolved into Donphan.
  • Mighty Glacier: The only thing keeping Donphan from being a top-tier physical wall like Skarmory and Gliscor is its lack of a reliable recovery move. (Rest doesn't count as "reliable".)
  • Won't Work On Me: Electricity.
  • Signature Move: Although it's far from being an exclusive, these Pokemon are the most well-known Rollout users. Due to Donphan's appearance in Pokemon: The First Movie, it's also the first Pokémon shown to have the move.

Stantler (Odoshishi)

Stantler is a Pokémon based on a stag or reindeer. Its most famous features are its antlers that vaguely resemble eyes, said to each contain a miniature portal to another dimension. Many of the moves it can learn involve the antlers, ranging from threatening its opponents, confusing them, putting them to sleep, using Psychic attacks, to merely charging with them. Whether this makes it useful remains to be seen though.

Smeargle (Doble)

Here is a strange Pokémon. It has a seemingly boring appearance and can only learn a single move naturally. That said, it uses that one move to learn almost every other move in the game. Practically every move combination is possible! The one thing holding Smeargle back is its very low stats, most likely to balance out its tremendous movepool. It's also very useful in breeding since every egg move combination is legal, but only to Pokémon that can breed with it.

  • Art Initiates Life: Most likely how it uses all the moves it Sketches.
  • Awesomeness By Analysis: That bipedal beatnik-beagle? It can learn to use divine Judgment or distort reality just by seeing it and sketching it.
  • Confusion Fu: Since it can learn any move and has even stats, Smeargle can run just about anything, although it commonly just puts the opponent to sleep with Spore, buff its stats, then Baton Pass to something else. Having stats so low will do that to ya.
  • Jack of All Trades: In the technical sense, it outperforms Mew at this trope, since it can learn almost any move, not just those teachable. And the aforementioned move it's unable to use is fairly useless... yeah.
  • Master of None: In order to balance the above, its stats are bottom-tier, even considering unevolved Pokémon.
    • Lethal Joke Character: Even more than Breloom. Its aforementioned ability to use any move makes it a high-tier Pokémon with several useful niches.
  • Signature Move: Sketch

Miltank

Miltank is a pink and inexplicably bipedal cow that's best known for producing much of the milk in the Pokémon world. However, it's also very well known for being That One Boss to many people in the Metal Generation games and their remakes. It's counterpart is apparently Tauros but it is unable to produce Tauros eggs (you'll need a Ditto for that). As the name suggests, it's mostly defensive in nature but it's perfectly capable of dishing out heavy damage, especially on Ghost types (If it has the Scrappy ability).

Raikou, Entei, and Suicune

The second Legendary Trio, and easily one of the most popular. This trio is based on mythical beasts with characteristics of felines and canines, and their elements correspond to the circumstances of the incident of Brass Burned Tower that took away their previous lives. Raikou is a saber-toothed cat raiju, representing the lightning that struck the tower, Entei is a either a Chinese guardian lion or a chow, embodiment of the fire that brought the tower down, and Suicune is a cheetah- or wolf-like qilin which corresponds to the rain that quenched the fire. They are the first of many, many Pokémon that will flee on sight, which is really annoying. Special measures must be taken to ensure their capture.

  • Ascended Extra: Suicune, as the mascot of Crystal.
  • Back from the Dead: Revived by Ho-oh in Gold/Silver/Crystal.
  • Big Badass Wolf: For the canine crowd, particularly Suicune.
  • Carnivore Confusion: Subverted with Suicune. It looks like some sort of feline/canine hybrid, which should make it a carnivore, right? Nope. Suicune is loosely based off of the Qilin/Kirin, a mythological creature that was said to be an herbivore.
  • Cartoon Creature: The fandom remains divided on whether the creatures are canines or felines. General consensus is to call them either "Legendary Beasts" to avoid the issue or "Legendary Gerbils" to lampshade it. However, although this is ambiguous with Suicune and Entei, Raikou is clearly based on a saber-toothed cat.
    • They're based off of creatures of Japanese/Chinese folklore. Raikou being based off of Raiju (A thunder-beast that has been portrayed as several different animals including a wolf, tiger, monkey, and even a weasel), Suicune being based off of the Kirin/Qilin (A Chimera-like creature that was said to purify the land around it), and Entei is based off of the Shisa (A lion-dog hybrid creature of Okinawa folklore).
  • Expy/Suspiciously Similar Substitute: They are very similar to Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres, even moreso than any other future legendary.
    • They're quite similar to Flareon, Jolteon and Vaporeon too. It's fairly common fanon that the three Pokemon who died during the fall of the tower were said Eeveelutions.
      • Backed up in Gen V with their Dream World abilities being the standard abilities of said Eeveelutions.
  • Final Boss: Entei in the first Pokémon Ranger.
  • Fire, Ice, Lightning: Although Suicune is a pure Water-type, it still learns a lot of Ice-type moves.
  • Lightning Bruiser: All three have all around high stats.
  • Leitmotif: Their battle theme, introduced in Crystal. And in HGSS we even get a unique remix for each Beast.
  • Meaningful Name/Theme Naming: The first syllables of their names are the kanji for thunder, fire, and water, respectively.
  • Metal Slime: Wild Raikou fled! Wild Entei used Roar! Wild Suicune broke free!
  • No Biological Sex
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: Entei, before and after buff. Before the release of the 13th movie shiny event Entei, it was pretty much a vastly inferior version of Arcanine with a worse ability and a much worse movepool lacking most of Arcanine's useful moves (particularly Flare Blitz). After the release of said event of Entei, it became a slightly less inferior version of Arcanine with a worse ability and a movepool lacking a few of Arcanine's unique moves (particularly Close Combat).
    • Suicune and Raikou as well, mainly during generation 4. Defensively, Suicune lacks the support movepool that Vaporeon has, and Water Absorb are really useful in comparison to Suicune's pressure. Offensively, Suicune are pretty slow and doesn't deal enough damage with minimum set-ups. As a mono Electric pokemon, Raikou are deemed less useful than Jolteon who has better speed, and works better with Gyarados, and its generally not as useful as Zapdos.
  • Panthera Awesome: For the feline crowd, particularly Raikou.
  • Walking on Water: Suicune.

Larvitar, Pupitar, and Tyranitar (Yogiras, Sanagiras and Bangiras)

A small green reptile-thing with a bird-like tail, which then builds a cocoon around itself and emerges as a huge, vaguely Tyrannosaurus Rex-ish (or Godzilla-ish) dinosaur. Its very high attack power, natural bulk and its ability to summon sandstorms makes it quite useful in battles. Similar to the Dratini line in that it is hard to find and capture, but when fully evolved is one of the most powerful non-legendary Pokémon in the game.

Lugia and Ho-Oh

Generation II's mascots. They are based on the mythical Japanese rivalry between the dragon and the phoenix. Lugia is a white draconic bird with blue features and handlike wings. Ho-Oh is a phoenix whose feathers are the seven colors of the rainbow.

  • All Flyers Are Birds: Inverted with Lugia. It's supposed to be some sort of bird monster, but it more closely resembles (and is partially based off of) a dragon. It also doesn't act very-bird like considering it prefers to sleep in underwater caves rather than nesting somewhere on land (It did used to perch on the Brass Tower, until it accidentally destroyed it with a storm).
  • Blow You Away: Both are Flying-types and learn Whirlwind, but Lugia's Aeroblast is definitely worth mentioning.
  • Code Name: "Pokémon X" for Lugia; "XD001" for the Shadow Lugia featured in Pokémon XD.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Literally, both of them: Lugia in the second movie Pokémon 2000, and Ho-Oh in the first episode of the anime series.
  • Everything's Better with Rainbows: Ho-oh is the Rainbow Pokémon, since it has feathers of various colors and leaves behind a rainbow wherever it flies.
  • Feather Fingers: Lugia inverts this by having wings that look like square-ish hands.
  • Flight
  • For Massive Damage: Ho-Oh + Rock-Types = Rock-Types win.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: Lugia is said to be extremely destructive even when it doesn't mean to be. Its offensive stats are its lowest, and low for a Pokémon of its overall stats.
  • Giant Flyer
  • Healing Factor: Both can learn Recover.
    • And from Generation IV onwards, Roost.
    • Ho-Oh gets Regenerator as a Dream World ability.
  • Leitmotif: Since HeartGold and SoulSilver, each of them has their own theme.
  • Let X Be the Unknown: Prior to its debut, Lugia was referred to as "Pokémon X" in various media (especially in the Pokémon anime). In Pokémon XD, a Shadow Lugia is also assigned the Code Name XD001.
  • Infinity+1 Sword: In the original Gold and Silver, both were completely optional, the difference being that the title legendary could be caught before the Elite Four. It would easily crush the remainder of the game ... provided you can catch a legendary with a base catch rate of 3 who randomly heals its HP with Recover and blocks your attempts to status it with Safeguard. They are mandatory in the remakes, but thankfully lack the healing moves.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Both of them have high stats all around, their lowest ones are low just relatively.
    • Mighty Glacier: Ho-Oh, who has the same Special Defense as Lugia, but the same attack as Machamp.
    • Stone Wall: Lugia.
    • Mage Killer: If you consider special stats to be magic stats and physical stats to be, well, physical, the Ho-oh is this trope. He's got a high Special Defense (as high as Lugia) and a high Attack stat; Pokémon with a high special attack usually have a high Special Defense, or at least higher than the physical Defense (this is not ALWAYS the case, but that's how it usually is).
  • Making a Splash: Lugia, despite not being a Water-type.
  • No Biological Sex: Played straight in the games. However, one Lugia shown in the anime has been known to have given birth to a baby Lugia nicknamed Silver.
  • One-Letter Name: "Pokémon X", the Code Name for Lugia.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: Lugia learns some Dragon-type moves by level-up, and is based on a mythological dragon (the Ryujin), although it's unclear whether it's supposed to be a dragon or a bird (an NPC in HeartGold/SoulSilver refers to it as resembling both).
  • The Phoenix: Ho-Oh.
  • Playing with Fire: Ho-Oh.
  • Psychic Powers: Lugia. Ho-Oh also has hints of possessing them, despite not being a Psychic-type.
  • Purposefully Overpowered: Like Mewtwo and the version mascots of future generations, Lugia and Ho-Oh have their use limited in the Battle Tower, cups in the 3D Pokémon battle simulators (such as Pokémon Stadium), most tournaments, and random Wi-fi battles.
  • Signature Move: Ho-Oh has Sacred Fire; Lugia has Aeroblast. In Pokémon XD, Shadow Lugia has the Shadow-type counterpart to Aeroblast, Shadow Blast.
  • Sword of Plot Advancement: In HeartGold and SoulSilver, the developers changed it so that you must encounter and either catch or defeat the title legendary. To make things easier, its initial move pool will no longer contain Safeguard or Recover.

Celebi

The strange and mystical Celebi is a Pokémon that boasts many abilities: Its main power is its ability to travel through time. It also has the ability to revive plants. Forests that Celebi inhabit are said to thrive. Like Mew, this Pokémon is a secret character not obtained through normal play.

  • Blue Eyes
  • Expy: Of Mew, again setting a trend.
  • For Massive Damage: Bug-type attacks, among seven weaknesses.
  • Green Thumb
  • Informed Ability: It's said to be the guardian of the forest, but more often (in the anime) the forest needs to be the guardian of it.
  • Jack of All Stats: ...and those are all at base 100.
  • Lightning Bruiser: It has all around high stats...
  • Metal Slime: Not in-game but in the real world Celebi is notoriously hard to get outside of hacking due to scarcity of its events.
  • No Biological Sex: Though an explicitly female one (Which is shiny and pink) appears in the second set of Mystery Dungeon games (Though still genderless for the purpose of Attract), adding further fuel to the "sex unknown, not non-existent" interpretation for legendaries.
  • Psychic Powers
  • Purposefully Overpowered: Like Mew and future event Pokémon, restricted in the Battle tower, cups in 3D fighters, official tournaments, and random Wifi.
  • Time Travel
  • Timey-Wimey Ball
  1. ↑ just make sure the sun is up
  2. ↑ switch in on a Fire-type attack
  3. ↑ White Version only, in White Forest
  4. ↑ This is because they're called the "Fairy Pokémon", as well as being in the "Fairy" egg group, in case you were wondering.
  5. ↑ except in Gen V, where it's also available as a prize on the Royal Unova
  6. ↑ For reference, this is far hotter than the sun
  7. ↑ In fact, it can learn every move with "beam" in its name, minus Solarbeam
  8. ↑ Octank Cannon
  9. ↑ Like Gyarados before it (and Pelipper and Swanna after it), Mantine is completely wrecked by Electric attacks. Unlike Gyarados, Mantine doesn't have a good Attack stat with which to scare Electric-types away by threat of Earthquake. Also, Mantine's Speed stat is just as horrible as Skarmory's is. As such, even the Special-oriented Electric-types can easily switch in safely and then proceed to completely and utterly ruin Mantine's day.
  10. ↑ Unless you hit it with Fake Out or something along those lines.
  11. ↑ its French name Tyranocif is even more evocative of ol' Rex
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