Pokemon you won't use in-game

[Karxrida]

Heck, even Torkoal gets Flamethrower at level 30; why am I singing praises to Slugma's natural Flamethrower access again?

Slugma's natural access to Flamethrower does kind of matter in Colosseum. The other Fire-types in that game get the move super later and the BP grind for the TM is arduous.

Still sucks ass, though. Possibly even moreso because the beginning of Colosseum is full of Water-types and Slugma's typing and statline are not conducive to doubles.

 

[Punchshroom]

Slugma's natural access to Flamethrower does kind of matter in Colosseum. The other Fire-types in that game get the move super later and the BP grind for the TM is arduous.

Still sucks ass, though. Possibly even moreso because the beginning of Colosseum is full of Water-types and Slugma's typing and statline are not conducive to doubles.

Except this isn't even "natural access to Flamethrower"; it gets cheated onto Slugma on its pre-purified moveset anyway so now it learns literally nothing until level 48 as a Magcargo. Speaking of, level 30 Slugma into level 38 Magcargo is the longest evolution requirement in the game; even level 43 Vibrava is only 2 levels away. The only other evolution even remotely as demanding (but still easier) is Quilava into Typhlosion, as if you didn't need more reason to just pick this as your Fire-type anyway.

 

[mertyville]

Generally I don't use any Poison types in my in-game run. There were few exceptions like me running Ekans because I liked the anime and Wrap spam or using that weird Shadow Move in XD to half HP so Pokemon are easier to catch.
Of all the Poison types I think I have never used Seviper in specific.
It is slow 'bulky' mixed attacker (guess what region that's from). It has some interesting moves but in the games I could have used Seviper it was never worth grinding it to begin with. Nothing about this thing is appealing to me. I honestly think Gulpin is better.

 

[Karxrida]

tbf Poison is kind of bad in a lot of earlier games because of what types you go against frequently. Outside of Gastly and co. (which don't feel like Poisons with how they play) I don't think there was a standout Poison line for in-game until the Venipede line in Gen 5, and then Gen 7 gave us the very good Alolan Grimer and Muk.

(Yes I know that Crobat exists but imo it's outclassed in basically every game it's available in.)

 

[Hugin]

Poison is fine for what it wants to do(weaken the enemy with DOT moves, status, and lowering stats) even in the early gens. It's just that for a lot of games, you don't really need that. Toxic killing the enemy in 5 turns if you apply any chip at all isn't worth it in games where Swords Dance+Outspeed is an option. They're great for catching mons(the number of them that get Sleep Powder or Hypnosis is shocking) or superbosses you don't have another tool against, but those are small niches.

New one for my list, Talonflame. It's not that it's bad, exactly. But it has paper-thin defenses, which means any time it doesn't OHKO it's going to faint. Fire/Flying is very silly coverage in general and it's TM set is not good. And the options for moves are painful as well. Either you go physical, with Flare Blitz and Brave Bird, and Talonflame is capable of fainting maybe two mons before dying to recoil, you use it's slightly lower SAtk and MAYBE it learns Air Slash at best, or you go mixed and have to rely on, say, Fly+Overheat, which is just messy. And all of that for base-80 Atk. I've tried it multiple times in generations where it's accessible early and it always disappoints.

 

[Castersvarog]

tbf Poison is kind of bad in a lot of earlier games because of what types you go against frequently. Outside of the Gastly and co. (which don't feel like Poisons with how they play) I don't think there was a standout Poison line for in-game until the Venipede line in Gen 5, and then Gen 7 gave us the very good Alolan Grimer and Muk.

(Yes I know that Crobat exists but imo it's outclassed in basically every game it's available in.)

I’d vouch for Drapion at the least for having a strong type combo, especially in BDSP where it’s Dark type moves are now super effective against all the Bronzors you’ll be fighting.
But I do agree, Poison types have kind of been a secondary bonus for most players and not the primary reason you wanna use one until relatively recently what with Fairy types being more prevalent