Research A Look at a Survey of the Most/Least Used Pokemon for in-game playthroughs historically

ScraftyIsTheBest

On to new Horizons!
is a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
So by chance, I managed to stumble across a survey from a few years ago, where someone on Reddit posted several surveys pertaining to each mainline game, and asked participants to answer which Pokemon they used in their in-game playthroughs of each mainline game in each region. A link to the thread in question is here. Anyway, the results shown here were pretty interesting, and credit to BLourenco on Reddit for doing this survey so long ago. Since this survey was conducted a long time ago, there's no data for Galar and Sword and Shield, of course, but the results are nonetheless still relevant as they cover the vast majority of the mainline games that have taken place so far, and are very interesting to look at.

The raw results were recorded in this spreadsheet, and they neatly labeled the top/botton 10 used Pokemon in each region in this.

Anyway, excluding the starters, which naturally got high placements in these lists, let's look at a rundown of each of the Pokemon in terms of usage based on these stats and see what we can cull from them:

KANTO

Starters:

1.
2.
3.


If the general hard promoting of Charizard is any indication, Charmander was by far the most popular pick of the three starters, likely because it has so much surface level appeal despite Kanto being horrendously unkind to Charizard (and it's by far the worst of the three in terms of practicality in an RBY playthrough). Oddly enough, despite Bulbasaur being great and a better team pick in RBY than Charmander, it was the least picked of the three, again, likely because it has less surface appeal than the other two (ie it's less "cool"). Don't worry though, Bulbasaur, you'll always be my favorite xD.

Top 10 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


The Top 10 Kanto Pokemon used on an in-game playthrough as per this survey. Some rundowns:

- Pidgeot takes the cake as THE most used Pokemon based on the participants who were in this survey years ago. While it's far from the best Pokemon, being an early route Flying-type and being one of Ash's more iconic Pokemon made it a veritable pick for people to immediately pick early on, plus it's an easy Pokemon to give the HM Fly with.
- Nidoking takes the runner-up, and it's a well known powerhouse in RBY, being able to be obtained as Nidoran early, it can evolve all the way very early on, and has incredible power, Thrash early on, and later it can be fed powerful TMs like Earthquake, Thunderbolt, Surf, Blizzard, Fire Blast, you name it, and carry you through coverage. It's also just hella cool, which an even more attractive factor.
- The rest going down the list are some interesting picks: Gyarados and Dragonite being on the list is quite the standout, considering the considerable grind you have to do to get them to evolve all the way through, even though they're incredibly strong.
- I think it's quite clear a lot of these have surface level appeal or are easy to get: Jolteon+Vaporeon and Lapras are gift Pokemon, and Snorlax is a mandatory encounter to get by while also being a good Pokemon which means it's an attractive catch.

Bottom 10 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


The Bottom 10 least used Pokemon in any of the Kanto games from this survey.

- A common trend is that many of these Pokemon are (or were) single-stage Pokemon.
- There are at least three commonalities with all of these Pokemon: they are at least one of: extremely rare spawns or hard to get (Chansey/Pinsir), are visually and aesthetically unappealing, and battle wise they just plain suck. The exceptions to these are arguably Chansey and maybe Pinsir, but in general those two are hard to catch and hard to find being in the Safari Zone, and given how that worked at the time that was incredibly finicky.
- The rest are pretty terrible battle wise. Arbok and Weezing being down there is a big disgrace to Jessie and James though LMAO.

JOHTO

Starters:

1.
2.
3.


The order of the Johto starters' popularity when it comes to in-game is unsurprisingly the same as that of the Kanto starters in their own game, lmao. Though this time it's arguably more justifiable: Typhlosion is an absolute boss both in terms of appeal and in battle, and in GSC given the scarcity of Fire-types, a good one like Typhlosion is all the better, and in Johto it is an absolute beast. Feraligatr, like Typhlosion, is also a Pokemon that can just clean through stuff in its path just like Typhlosion. Meganium unfortunately scores last because well...it unfortunately is in a game that is horribly unfavorable to it, and it's primarily defensive/support oriented, which is unappealing for a starter. This shows as Meganium is substantially behind, with only 325 people having used it as opposed to Typhlosion at 660 people and Feraligatr at 562 people having used it.

Top 10 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


Let's run down GSC and HGSS's popular team picks!

- Ampharos being there is likely explainable by three factors. First, it's cute, which makes it likable. Its pre-evolutions are also adorable. The second is that it's a new Pokemon of Gen 2 that's obtained quite early on, right after the first gym in GSC and right before that in HGSS. The third is that it's a three-stage Pokemon, and it's a good Pokemon. Being an Electric-type, it also covers Water-types for Typhlosion and Flying-types for Meganium quite well, and it has Thunder Wave, already giving it a lot of team usefulness.
- Gyarados is a runner-up, and I believe this is primarily people catching and using the infamous Red Gyarados. Given how readily available Red Gyarados is for an in-game runthrough and it being a required encounter not unlike RBY Snorlax, it's an easy pick for a team especially when you can get it at such a high level for the point of the game you see it in. Crobat being here is also nice, but given it was a new evolution to an otherwise obnoxious Pokemon, and turned it into a good Pokemon, I imagine that drew a lot of people into using it.
- Tyranitar being so high is really odd though: Larvitar is not obtainable until post-post game in GSC and really only is available before Red, and needs a hellishly long grind to reach its full potential. I would assume this is either a popularity vote as people like it, or this is HGSS where it can be obtained earlier, or people truly were this committed to getting a Tyranitar even that late in the game.
- The rest make more sense: Espeon and Umbreon being the new Eeveelutions gave them tons of novelty value, Heracross is a great and cool Pokemon, and Pidgeot/Noctowl fulfill the traditional regional bird.
- Togetic is also close in, most likely because Togepi is iconic (Hi Misty!), and you get a Togepi from an egg canonically as part of the adventure. Granted, Togetic unfortunately isn't great, but it's popular.

Bottom 10 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


The Bottom 10 GSC/HGSS team picks

- Oddly mostly identitcal to those of the Kanto games. Seaking, Ditto, and Farfetch'd all suck so naturally they're here.
- Mr. Mime, Lickitung, and Tangela are all pretty bad in GSC too, but not even having evolutions in HGSS helped them at all.
- Delibird is a terrible gimmick and I think everyone knew this even back then, so it being in the bottom 10 is no surprise.
- Parasect and Venomoth now take the Bottom 10 least used picks.

HOENN

Starters:

1.
2.
3.


An inversion of old trends, where the Grass starter gets a little bit more use than the Fire starter this time around, but even so, based on the survey the results were pretty damn close: Swampert at 619, Sceptile at 603, and Blaziken at 588. Really goes to show how GOATed Hoenn's starters are when there's a close call between all three of them :swole:

Top 10 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


Hoenn's most popular picks, based on the survey I am reviewing here.

- Gardevoir takes the lead. It's a natural fan favorite, but it's obtained super early and even though it's so, so bad early on, the payoff is tremendous, making Gardevoir an absolute gem of a Pokemon and a quintessential member of many Hoenn teams, and everyone loves Gardevoir so there's that.
- I'm surprised Aggron is this high, I didn't really figure Aggron was this popular. It's a good Pokemon but I certainly wasn't expecting it to be so commonly used on Hoenn teams.
- Flygon is a close runner-up given how iconic it is, and it's a Ground-type *and* a Dragon-type that is available pretty early on, which is why it's likely this high. Plus it's just a cool Pokemon.
- Metagross I assume is a result of people who played ORAS and the Shiny event Beldum that people got on release, because otherwise Beldum isn't available until post game.
- The rest are pretty unsurprising: the pseudo-legendary, the bird, and a few good team picks (minus Mightyena who is meh, but that might be from ORAS's scripted DexNav Poochyena as well).

Bottom 10 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


And here's Hoenn's bottom 10 picks!

- Hoenn, for all the great Pokemon it introduced, also had a whole lot of dud/not good Pokemon, and many of them single-staged, including Nosepass in the original RSE, and Probopass in ORAS isn't that much better. So them being among the bottom 10 is unsurprising.
- Seaking takes the bottom 10 for the third time in a row. It truly is the one Pokemon nobody likes, huh?
- Wigglytuff and Corsola, aside from being meh in battle, are pretty rare and hard to find in RSE which explains them being there.
- Pinsir is also a rare and obscure Pokemon that few probably realized was even *in* Ruby and Sapphire to begin with.

SINNOH

Starters:

1.
2.
3.


Empoleon takes a bit of a lead, with the other two behind, and Torterra continuing the trend of Grass starters being in last place. That being said, it was a close call, with Empoleon at 463, Infernape at 431 users, and Torterra at 418 users. Like with Hoenn, this really goes to show how they nailed all three Sinnoh starters in terms of both usefulness and appeal. Sinnoh starters the GOAT. I imagine this will not be too different with Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl when those release.

Top 10 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


And here are the Top 10 picks for DPP teams based on the results. I do not imagine this will be any different for people who play BDSP unless they add Gen 5+ mons into the main adventure. But anyways, let's look!

- Staraptor and Luxray are the top 2, and they are far, far ahead in terms of usage above everyone else. Not only are they cool as heck, but they are obtained extremely early, Starly and Shinx are cute, and they are three stage, have good stats, and are consistently useful throughout the game, making them super appealing picks. If you've played DPP you've probably used these two at least once.
- Lucario and Garchomp are not too behind, but they are harder to use but nonetheless fan favorites so people are compelled to use them anyway
- The rest are obtained a bit later than Shinx and Starly, but Roserade and Floatzel are nonetheless popular team picks to cover whatever the starter cannot.
- Gallade and Togekiss are at the lower end of the Top 10, but are lower likely because they're only in Platinum and not in DP. But they are appealing picks for being good, obtained early, and being overall strong new evolutions. Gallade has more use than Gardevoir here, likely because it had more novelty value at the time of DPP.

Bottom 10 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


The least used Pokemon in DPP. A rundown

- Unown obviously sucks and that's common knowledge
- Seaking is in the Bottom 10 least used Pokemon for the fourth time in a row. It really cannot catch a break, can it?
- The rest are all obviously terrible Pokemon or just aesthetically unappealing. Mantine granted is a decent Pokemon, but I don't remember how Mantyke was even obtainable in DPP.

UNOVA (BW1)

Starters:

1.
2.
3.


Starter popularity. Serperior and Samurott were both comfortably ahead of Emboar in usage: considering the general level of dislike towards Emboar I suppose that's not surprising. Samurott and Serperior are generally considered decent designs, but unfortunately no one likes Emboar, considering no one in the Tepig Line made it into Unova's Top 30 in the Pokemon of the Year Poll last year at all.

Top 10 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


Unova's Top 10, consisting entirely of new Unova Pokemon of course.

- Krookodile is, bar none, THE most popular pick for a team in BW1. Sandile is adorable, it's available right before the electric Gym, and it's a three stage line with a cool mid-evo and an absolutely badass final one in Krookodile. I think the idea of a Ground-type with a good movepool, good Attack and Speed, and Moxie to make itself stronger and stronger with each kill made it an absolutely killer pick with a ton of appeal, and this made everyone (including myself admittedly) jump at the chance to grab a Sandile and use it on a team. There's no surprise that Krookodile has won itself a spot on a vast majority of BW1 players' teams.
- I'm a little surprised to see Chandelure and Haxorus so commonly used, considering they're obtained fairly late. I know they're popular in terms of fandom and appeal, and when fully evolved they are absolute nukes thanks to their absurd offensive stats. But they're obtained late and they evolve pretty late into the game as well: I suppose despite that, many people feel that the sheer nuking potential of Chandelure and Haxorus is well worth the delayed payoff in the end. I'm plenty guilty of having used them though, and they do very much kick butt once they fully evolve, of course!
- Coming in soon after are Zebstrika and Excadrill, which in contrast to Chandelure and Haxorus are available fairly early. These two are by far the most appealing of the early game Pokemon you get in BW1, even if they're both only seen after Striaton and are two-stage Pokemon, unlike other popular early-game picks. But even so, they have good stats, good movepools, and though they evolve a little late they can pull through and give a strong performance throughout, plus they look cool so that's an appealing trait most likely. People are compelled to fill their team early on and it would seem Blitzle and Drilbur were the most appealing picks for an early game member, as they're more valuable and less disposable than, say, the monkeys and the deadweight you get before Striaton.
- On an unrelated note to the above, the elemental monkeys are no where even close to the Top 10 popular picks. I think it's safe to assume despite the game handing them to you like gifts, that most people who played BW1 disposed of the monkey soon after the first gym, unfortunately.
- Unfezant sucks but it's the regional bird so it's natural people would grab it for a flyer, which is kind of a necessity for the HM Fly.
- Galvantula is also a fairly popular pick, while it's obtainable later than Zebstrika it has a fun gimmick in Compound Eyes Thunder which drew a lot of people into using it most likely.
- Hydreigon is surprisingly high, especially considering Deino's borderline ridiculous evolution levels. I suppose many people were willing to commit to using Deino in the post-game and raising it, and using it against Alder and Cynthia later on because the payoff for some of the post-game matches is great and Hydreigon is the pseudo-legendary, immediately making it more appealing than BW1's other late evo Pokemon.
- The last two are Darmanitan and Archeops. Considering they're obtained around mid-game and are disc-one nukes much like Chandelure and Haxorus, and absolutely break the game in half. BW1 was filled with disc-one nukes and Pokemon with high stats in some way, and everyone took at the chance to pick a few nukes to use on their team, most likely.

Bottom 10 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


And now here are the 10 least popular picks for a BW1 team! Based on the survey, that is.

- A big commonality with these is that, barring Watchog (lol) and Amoonguss, almost all of these are single-stage Pokemon who do not evolve
- I suppose in a generation with exclusively new Pokemon, and a ton of them to boot, single stage Pokemon are simply much less exciting to use than a Pokemon that has the potential to evolve and become better and stronger throughout the game.
- Cryogonal being here makes me a little sad, considering in-game it's actually a good and in many ways, a very interesting Pokemon to use in a playthrough. I used one myself in BW1 and it was a pretty neat and clutch Pokemon. But I can understand why: it's an extremely rare spawn in one area and the odds that you will even see one are extremely slim: few were likely willing to invest the sheer time it would take to find a Cryogonal and being a one-stage Pokemon likely did not make it too compelling to experiment with. It's also obtained fairly late, at a point where teams are likely filled. I suppose I was very fortunate to encounter a Cryogonal in the first place.
- Alomomola is at the bottom, likely because no one wanted to use it and its lack of attack prowess made it unappealing
- Basculin and Bouffalant, on the other hand, are not too bad as Pokemon, and are very solid in-game. I think the fact that they are one-stage Pokemon detracts from them or simply makes people not care enough about them to use them.
- Amoonguss and Watchog are the two exceptions to the rule here, and both are...well...bad. Both are visually unappealing and Watchog is an overdone concept/archetype and doesn't have anything interesting going for it, unlike Bibarel or Linoone.

UNOVA (BW2)

Not even gonna bother with the starters since the results were similar to those with BW1 haha.

Top 10 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


- One of BW2's biggest appeals compared to BW1 was the return of several older generation Pokemon, and it seems a lot of people took advantage of this by gathering their favorites that showed up early on. Arcanine and Lucario are among the most popular of Kanto and Sinnoh Pokemon, respectively, and both can be caught fairly early on, so surprisingly, it would seem people jumped at the opportunity to use them.
- Flygon is also a fan favorite, and so are Ampharos and Magnezone, and so they join the Top 10 as well.
- Krookodile, Chandelure, and Haxorus rejoin BW2's Top 10 popular picks. At this point their place as fan favorites amongst Gen 5 and their incredible battle prowess was established, so people once again opted for them as team members.
- Zoroark is a popular Pokemon, but it was unobtainable in BW1 outside of a special event that eventually died out and so people finally got the chance to use it for real in BW2 which is likely an explanation for its place here
- Volcarona is another popular Pokemon who was practically exclusively post-game in BW1, but is obtainable much earlier in BW2, so it gets even more usage this time around.

Bottom 10 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.


There were a lot of ties here, but these were generally the least used Pokemon

- Generally, all of these Pokemon are one-stage and flat out duds that are bad to use in battle
- Stunfisk is once again at the bottom. I've never used it so I don't know if it's good, but from the looks of it on paper it seems like it'll be a decent Pokemon. In this case however iirc it's only available post-game so it's not like anyone will be able to use it in time for the League. Even so it's probably overlooked because it's a bit derpy looking and funny.
- Raticate is unsurprisingly here because it's trash and the rodents all suck as everyone realizes.
- Lickilicky cannot really catch a break sadly.

KALOS

Starters:

1.
2.
3.


1.
2.
3.


Since you get TWO sets of starters this time around, let's look at both. Greninja got a significant lead ahead of Delphox and Chesnaught, at 429 people having used it compared to Delphox at 280 uses and Chesnaught at 238. It was a pretty quick fan favorite, frankly I'm guilty of being Team Froakie myself! Charizard once again takes the lead in terms of Kanto starters, ahead at 299 users, but this time Venusaur is a bit ahead of Blastoise.

Top 10 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


All the starters notwithstanding, these take the cake for popular team picks.
- Gardevoir and Lucario stand out as the two non-Gen 6 team picks that were popular, likely because one is a gift and has a Mega Evolution and the other gained the Fairy typing in Gen 6, as well as a Mega (though that's not available until post-game).
- The rest are a bunch of the few Gen 6 Pokemon introduced, which it seems many took the chance to use. Talonflame and Aegislash were popular team picks likely due to their competitive uprising to stardom at the time,
- Tyrantrum and Aurorus do surprisingly well for fossil Pokemon.
- Goodra is this gen's pseudo-legendary and Goomy had achieved meme popularity at the start of Gen 6.
- Heliolisk, Sylveon, and Noivern were pretty well advertised prior to Gen 6 and it would seem they had a pretty good amount of use on teams as well.

Bottom 8 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.


I decided to leave it at just the 8 Pokemon that absolutely no one used. There are a whole lot of Pokemon in X and Y, so yeah.

- There's no surprises here. A bunch of dud single stage Pokemon that are forgettable.
- Seaking is here in the bottom again.

ALOLA

Starters:

1.
2.
3.


Literally in order lmao. Decidueye got a pretty significant lead ahead of the other two: 537 people used it, while only around 300 people used Incineroar and Primarina respectively. I'm surprised they didn't capitalize on Decidueye's popularity like they did Greninja, but alas.

Top 10 Team Picks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


The Top 10 from the original Sun and Moon, but even if you factored USUM in here (this didn't exist yet when the user in question made these surveys), I doubt it would've been much different. Anyway, it's clear here that quite a few Pokemon achieved a bit of appeal

- Generally, it would seem the "cool" Pokemon were the most appealing
- Most of these Pokemon are available relatively early
- Toucannon and Kommo-o fulfill the generation's early bird and pseudo-legendary archetype respectively and continue to prove that there's a psychological inclination for Pokemon players to use the Route 1 bird and/or the pseudo-legendary on their team.
- Mimikyu breaks the trend of single-stage Pokemon being generally unpopular to use

Bottom 9 Team Picks
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.


- I will say nothing about these other than that they've been in the Bottom least used Pokemon before
- Seaking is here again LMAO


Overall Observations of these Statistics

- Generally, the most appealing team picks tend to be three-stage evolution lines. Nidoking, the birds, Gardevoir, Aggron, Flygon, Staraptor, Luxray, Krookodile, Chandelure, Haxorus, Aegislash, Alolan Raichu, and the pseudo-legendaries all key examples of this.
- A good Pokemon obtained early on is also generally extremely popular, such as Staraptor, Luxray, or Ampharos
- Gift Pokemon such as the Eeveelutions, Lucario, and Lapras are also pretty popular. An exception to this rule is the elemental monkeys in BW1, who didn't really get that much use (only around 70 people apiece who responded to that poll admitted to using the monkeys).
- Design seems to be an extremely big factor: generally Pokemon who look "cool" or "badass", or in a way "cute" tend to draw in a lot of appeal for use on a team.
- Generally, Pokemon who don't evolve into or from any Pokemon are rarely if ever picked for an in-game team. Especially if the Pokemon has poor stats.
- A lot of those Pokemon also have unattractive designs.
- Seaking is very constantly in the bottom of the usage lists, with virtually no one using it in most of the games it has appeared in.
- Since this is an old survey that is being reviewed and assessed/studied, there is no Galar, but I imagine there would be a lot going on considering the sheer number of Pokemon there. It is safe to assume Pokemon such as Corviknight, Hatterene, Grimmsnarl, and Dragapult likely had lots of popularity in Sword and Shield.

Anyway, that's just a rundown of the results of an old survey, but it's interesting assessing what has historically been popularly used on in-game teams over the years, and what have been highly unpopular picks over the years. Anything you find interesting looking at the statistics of that old survey? Feel free to discuss the survey and some interesting findings you may have about them or trends you notice.
 
A little disappointed Mr. Mime is in multiple bottom 10s, but not surprising, considering Alakazam is usually also in whatever game Mr. Mime is in... and people not liking the design. I used one in Diamond, since I needed a special attacker on my team and other options were earmarked for other games (I don’t like using a Pokémon in more than one game - unless it’s unavoidable like with the starters in BW2 or USUM) and it was competent, albeit largely a one-trick pony (for reference, its moves going into the League were Psychic, Magical Leaf, Substitute, and Mimic - no Thunderbolt since I had Luxray on my team)
 
I think there are several factors as for why Mantine is not used in Sinnoh. First, its available very late in the game right before the 8th gym and even then its quite rare with only a 10% encounter rate. Second, it has an absurdly low catch rate of 25 (most fully evolved moms have a catch rate of 45). Third, it faces competiton with both Gyarados and Pelipper which are more powerful/common respectively with both available much earlier. Last, it has a very obscure and out of the way evolution method with no hints about it in game.

As for Seaking well its just have many things against it. Water being the most common type hurts it as many better options are available by the time you could get Seaking. Its severely outclassed by the water starter, Gyarados, etc. Most people prefer to not stack types in their team and with water also being a starter type is a reason why Seaking is simply unused.
 
I was really surprised to see that Jynx is the least used Psychic and Ice-type in Kanto since it's a great Pokémon. It doesn't have a very appealing design, but I expected it to at least be higher than Mr. Mime (which also isn't that appealing) and Dewgong (which is a really forgettable Pokémon).

Primeape's usage is also interesting: it's the most used Fighting-type in Kanto, but the least used one in Johto. If I had to guess, it's used way more in Kanto because it's a great counter for Brock for players that start with Charmander. Meanwhile in Johto it doesn't have the same utility, and most people prefer to use Heracross as their Fighting-type.
 
This was really cool! Surprised but happy to see Amphy at number 1 in Gen 2. I liked it so much I decided to hack it in when I played Crystal haha. Also surprised Crobat is on there too, as I don't think they ever tell you how it evolves (and Golbat is pretty bad and kind of annoying) but I guess being a new evo really helped it out. And to the guy above me, I think Jynx is pretty annoying to obtain in RBY (possibly only by trade?), while Dewgong/Seel is one of the more common Seafoam Island pokemon. Just the fact that you could find where to catch Dewgong by using the Pokedex I think probably also helped that line a lot when compared to Jynx. As opposed to Mr. Mime, I'm not too sure haha, I guess Mr. Mime just has a more compelling name?
 
I remember this had already been posted but the thread didn't have much success. Like you, I did notice that Seaking was consistently at the bottom in every gen and that's why I thought it qualified as the "worst Pokemon ever" even if it's not really that terrible and has more uses that Luvdisc or Lumineon—which is more generally forgettable. Farfetch'd and Jynx being so low on the Kanto games is weird to me because they both have their uses, I guess them being trade-only and not evolving hurts them. I do find it weird that Zam never made it to Top 10 considering it's widely considered to be the best in every in-game tier. Apparently being a trade evo hurts more than evolving in the 50s or 60s, lol.

One thing that strikes me as surprising in BW1 is that while Emboar was the least picked starter Simisage was the most used elemental monkey. I doubt it's because they found it on the grass, but rather more people that chose Tepig decided to keep it as opposed to people that chose Oshawott and Snivy. For the former who can blame them, right? Pansear sux and you get Darumaka before the third gym, but the latter is decidedly weird considering your Water-type options are Tympole which is cool once it evolves but has a slow start, Ducklett which is found at a non-obvious place, Basculin which is a nice ingame trade but is the least used Water-type after Alomomola, and Frillish which has a very late evolution. You can evolve Simipour early and it's really fast and strong with STAB Scald, yet it seems Snivy folks didn't find it interesting enough. Dunno, it surprised me but I guess Simisage looks more appealing in comparison to the other earlygame Grass-type, Leavanny.

Another thing that I found weird was seeing Primarina as the least used starter considering it's so strong and pretty and has a sweet typing, but I can't comment on that since I haven't played SuMo.

Also Staraptor and Luxray being used the most overall is pretty cool because I loved the Intimidate core they formed, it can work with any starter.

Fun stuff altogether!
 
So let's compare these statistics with what I've been doing:

Starters

In my case it would be Venusaur first, Charizard second, and Blastoise third.

Top 10 most used

I've not used more than half the mons in that list: Raichu, Gyarados, Jolteon, Snorlax, Arcanine and Vaporeon have never been on any of my Kanto teams. And, with the exception of Gyarados, none of them have been on a team of mine period.

Top 10 least used

Lickitung, Porygon, Arbok, and Farfetch'd were part of my Let's GO team. With the exception of Lickitung (and Porygon due to transfer restrictions), I've used them on another region at least once.


Starters

In my case it would be Feraligatr first, Meganium second, and Typhlosion third, and far from the other two.

Top 10 most used

Here things are much better. Apart from the Eeveelutions and, because I keep forgetting in every game it's available, Tyranitar, I've used all of them in a Johto game at least once.

Top 10 least used

Used Ditto once, in Crystal IIRC. Tyranitar is a Pokémon I'd like to use one day, but I keep forgetting just like I usedto do with Delibird.


Starters

In this case the differences are small. I'd put Sceptile first, Blaziken second and Swampert third, but it's perhaps the only generation where I would use any of the three starters without regrets.

Top 10 most used

Metagross (because of post-game exclusivity), Breloom (because I forgot), Manectric, and Mightyena (these two because I just don't like them) are the only Pokémon in this list that I've not used in a Hoenn game.

Top 10 least used

Here comes the interesting part: I've never used any of the Pokémon in this list. Either in Hoenn or outside of it.


Starters

Torterra comes first with Empoleon being a close second. Infernape is nowhere near them, comfortably at the bottom third position.

Top 10 most used

What's with this list? There must be some sort of mistake. I've only used Staraptor, Garchomp, and Crobat in Sinnoh games among these 10. Depending on the features of BDSP, though, Togekiss might join the list, and MAYBE Weavile. The rest... are out of luck.

Top 10 least used

Exactly the same as with Hoenn. Never used any of these Pokémon in any game. The closest I've come to use one of them is using Beautifly in Platinum, then dropping it for Mothim.


Starters

Serperior is light-years ahead from the competition. Still, Samurott is in a comfortable second, and Emboar is far below them in third place.

Top 10 most used

Galvantula and Zebstrika are Pokémon I've never used in a Unova game, and probably never will. Apart from that, it's a combination of Pokémon I used and those I would used were I to play this again, maybe once I get a battery for my 3DS - Unfezant, Haxorus, and Krookodile are pending choices, especially the former after the buffs it got, while Hydreigon is extremely unlikely unless levels get so high its evolution does not feel so late, or if it becomes available underleveled, either choice fits me.

Top 10 least used

Nothing to see here either


Starters

Well, duh. No change here. Serperior is way too good to pick something else just because I had already used it before (it was at this point where I started to avoid using the same Pokémon species in different games). Snivy FTW.

Top 10 most used

I would not use Lucario, Arcanine, or Zoroark even if you paid me for that. I didn't use Ampharos, Chandelure, Krookodile, or Haxorus because I had already used them before.

Top 10 least used

I have used Shuckle and Delibird in my second playthrough. Apart from that, there's Lunatone which I had used once in Sapphire, Ditto, which I had mentioned before, and Lickilicky might get a chance in BDSP. I've never used any of the rest in any game.


Once I get a battery for my 3DS, I might play Y. Finally got a battery and, while technically not completed the game yet, I've got the team plan done.

Starters

Chesnaught wins, but only barely because I don't really like it or Greninja that much - to the point I actually ended up boxing the starter after I could get a third Pokémon, an Helioptile. Meanwhile, I refuse to accept the fact this region has a Fire-type starter. It does not exist.

Being games that introduce a generation, I wanted a "new only" run... but a "new only" run that also excludes Mega Evolutions. I picked Bulbasaur but I could have chosen any of the three as I wasn't considering using them.

Top 10 most used

Outside of Lucario's bizarrely high second place, the list is mostly decent. Of the list, I've used Talonflame, Tyrantrum, Goodra Sliggoo (put on the Box after getting a Bergmite), Aurorus and Heliolisk.

Aegislash and Noivern could have been in consideration, but reptiles take priority for team slots, so they could not stand a chance (which is why Sliggoo was boxed as well - Avalugg is more reptilian than Goodra). Sylveon is one of the few eeveelutions I tolerate, but it's way behind everyone else, bar Lucario, in the list.

Top 10 least used

Used none of them in Y, but I've used Fearow in Crystal and Let's GO, and Delibird in Black 2.


Starters

Decidueye is a clear first. Incineroar and Primarina are fine, and they could be interchangeably in second or third, but not close enough to consider using them. And "no repeating Pokémon" rule be damned, as I picked it in both Moon and Ultra Sun. Reptile beats non-reptiles.

Top 10 most used

Again with the bizarre list with bad things in the top. Salazzle, Toucannon, and Kommo-o are the only Pokémon I've used from that list, and Kommo-o is the only one I used in both (out of curiosity to see how a breedject could perform). Mimikyu and Vikavolt could be in consideration if there were Alola remakes in the future with a Mobile PC, but since it was not the case in 2016, they were left behind.

Top 10 least used

There are only Pokémon I don't want to use, or that I had already used before


Main story and Post-Game

Inteleon, Corviknight, Drednaw, Coalossal, Sirfetch'd, Toxtricity, Flapple, Cramorant, Dracozolt, Dracovish, Arctozolt, Arctovish, Sandaconda, Duraludon, Dragapult, Eternatus

Isle of Armor

Heliolisk, Klekfi, Toxapex (and Kubfu because I didn't know of the skip trick)

Crown Tundra

Heliolisk, Klefki, Yveltal
 
Last edited:

ScraftyIsTheBest

On to new Horizons!
is a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Another thing that I found weird was seeing Primarina as the least used starter considering it's so strong and pretty and has a sweet typing, but I can't comment on that since I haven't played SuMo.
I think the reason for that is that while it is a very good Pokemon, its design was likely a big part of why it was the least used. I think design and aesthetic appeal tends to be a huge factor for people when it comes to what starter they pick. I'm not sure why Primarina is looked at less favorably than the other starters, but I imagine that several people held less favorable opinions towards it and that turned a number of people away from Primarina. It's a matter of taste, I suppose. And I guess Primarina simply didn't really click with a number of peoples' tastes. Personally, I used it and it is indeed a really good Pokemon, albeit a little slow, but to a lot of people design probably matters more to them than battle performance.

Decidueye being the most popular of the three stems from it being the "coolest" of the three I imagine. Incineroar from what I saw left a lot of people disappointed because it went full anthro, after Torracat gave them hope that Litten's entire evo line would be quadruped.

Feels so bad that loads of these pokemon don't get love. Bouffalant my boy :(. Kinda suprised that so many waters are so low and theres like 0 bugs on each list but oh well. Really nice to see someone do this!
Bouffalant I think is a matter of it coming so late in BW1 that few people are really considering an option for a team at that point and have their teams fully loaded and ready to go. Plus it's a Normal-type and it doesn't evolve which makes it arguably less enticing to use than something like Pawniard, Vullaby, or Rufflet who have the potential to evolve and have more interesting typings and movepools.

In general Gen 5's single stage Pokemon all got the short end of the stick and were overlooked. I think evolution and the prospect of watching a Pokemon grow over the course of the adventure comes off as more interesting to many than a Pokemon that is already at its full potential and doesn't have any more potential to become better.

Considering all the "There are no viable Fire types in Sinnoh except the Chimchar line" jokes, I was really surprised to see Empoleon above Infernape.
True, but Piplup has a lot of popularity for how cute it is compared to Chimchar and Turtwig. Not to mention that the poll combined DP and Platinum, and Platinum has more Fire-types readily available off the bat like Houndoom or Magmortar who can feasibly be used, which means there's less expense from picking Piplup or Turtwig over Chimchar. Plus regardless, Empoleon and Torterra are also great Pokemon even if Infernape is by far the best of the 3 in battle.

As for Seaking well its just have many things against it. Water being the most common type hurts it as many better options are available by the time you could get Seaking. Its severely outclassed by the water starter, Gyarados, etc. Most people prefer to not stack types in their team and with water also being a starter type is a reason why Seaking is simply unused.
Yeah I kinda figured as much really. I just found it hilarious that of all the many Water-types you can get across the games, it's Seaking who truly takes the bottom of the barrel. It's a real testament to how unfortunately bad it is (it only has 450 BST after all, and not a single stat above 100, which is a true shame). Plus it's also just insanely unappealing to look at.

It's a true shame. Maybe one day it'll get something like an evolution or regional form to make it more interesting than it is now.

I do find it weird that Zam never made it to Top 10 considering it's widely considered to be the best in every in-game tier. Apparently being a trade evo hurts more than evolving in the 50s or 60s, lol.
Being a trade evo definitely hurts because it basically mandates you need a friend you can trade with to use such Pokemon to its full potential to begin with. And not everyone really has that luxury, really.
 
My memories of Pokemon playthroughs.


Blue: Bulbasaur was my starter because Nintendo Power recommended it at the time. I lost my Blue cartridge for a while, though, and I picked Squirtle when I played Red. The legendary birds were used by the end of the game, and Diglett made it onto the team by Lt. Surge.


Silver: I experimented with various Pokemon ingame, because everything was new and exciting. Newer players probably won't understand the hype Gold and Silver had when they first came out. Anyway, Totodile was the starter, and Mareep was the inevitable Electric type. The Dark type appealed to me then, so Umbreon and even Murkrow made appearances. Think I used Bellossom too. Lugia was definitely on the team.


Sapphire: Mudkip, Lunatone, and Kyogre are the only ones I can remember right now. I remember being surprised to learn that Huntail even existed when Nintendo Power made the Pokedex poster.


Pearl: Piplup, Shinx, and Palkia were my ingame team. This was when I became interested in multiplayer battling, and decided to rush through the story.


White: Didn't know about the experience formula when I first played this, so I stuck with Tepig and Pansage instead of building a proper team. I was still focused on multiplayer then,.


X: Chespin, Squirtle, Doublade, and Floette were on the team. Didn't know how to evolve some of the Pokemon during the first playthrough.


Moon: Rowlet was the starter, probably because I thought Popplio would be the most popular. Mudbray, Alolan Grimer, Komala, and Araquanid were the other members. (NOT the first form, but Araquanid). Komala was terrible, but I have an inside joke about koalas.


Shield: By 2019 I had gotten sick of training Pokemon for multiplayer, and besides I didn't want to pay for Nintendo Switch Online. So my first playthrough was actually the Solo Wooloo challenge.
 

Coronis

Impressively round
is a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Looking through this list makes me realise how similar my tastes seem to be to everyone else. I’m sure my first Galar playthru would follow the trend, with Inteleon, Corviknight, Orbeetle, Toxtricity and Grimmsnarl being my team. (also Gigantamax Meowth cos $$$)
 

bdt2002

Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs superfan
is a Pre-Contributor
Really cool research project. I'll say this, though. This study is all the more evidence why DPP Starly is almost unfair. I'm willing to admit that I'm a hypocrite in this regard, although in my defense my Staraptor liking comes from a different place outside of Sinnoh. The problem with Starly isn't with the Pokémon itself. I'm all for the regional bird of a game being super viable. The problem is that Starly's numerous upsides create far too big of a gap between itself and other Flying-Type Pokémon. This is the era when Fly was buffed from 70 power to 90 power while still keeping its physical damage category, too. Why wouldn't a new player use a Pokémon who is all of the following?

1. A three stage evolution line of a region that has very few three stage lines
2. A good Fly HM user (and Defog in this game too)
3. Has a really slick design in each stage
4. Has a very impressive base stat yield with a good level-up movepool to back it up
5. Gets access to a great ability (Intimidate) when it evolves
6. Learns Close Combat as Staraptor to cover some weaknesses
7. Isn't hurt by the physical/special split like some other Flyers have been over the years
 

ScraftyIsTheBest

On to new Horizons!
is a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
It's been a few weeks but out of my own personal curiosity, I decided to conduct a survey on Reddit myself to fill in the gaps for Galar/Sword and Shield and see what was commonly used there. So now, it's time for

*drumroll*

GALAR!!!

Anyway, I posted a survey to r/Pokemon a few days ago and gathered some results over there. I prepared a spreadsheet of the raw results from the responses, and here's an infogram of the Top/Bottom uses!

So now, it's time for an update, and here's the results in terms of starters and team picks.

GALAR

Starters:


1.
2.
3.


So here's how the starters went in terms of popularity. Oddly enough, despite Cinderace being the most marketed of the three, it's Rillaboom who takes the lead, though not by much, so Grookey Gang wins out by a small margin. Regardless of what you think of Galar's starters, it seems the three were pretty close in popularity, however, which goes to show that they really managed to make all three have an equal amount appeal to many people to some degree: this hasn't really been the case since Sinnoh's starters! (yeah, unlike Greninja who winds out by far with Kalos, or in Unova where Emboar lags behind the other two and is generally disliked). So major props to them for Galar: the starters all manage to stand out equally again, which hasn't been the case in a while!

Top 10 Team Picks:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


Here's what ended up being the most popular picks for Galar!

- Corvinkght takes the lead by a pretty significant margin. This is the most popular the regional bird has been since the likes of Staraptor and Talonflame. Corviknight even achieves more use on teams than any of the starters, much like Staraptor did in Sinnoh. This is yet another case where the early route bird takes a huge lead.
- Toxtricity is most clearly Gen 8's breakout Pokemon a la Lucario and Zoroark and its popularity is pretty evident here, managing to even mingle itself amongst the tier of the starters in terms of how many people used it.
- Drednaw, Boltund, and Orbeetle all have achieved themselves places in the Top 10 as well: for Pokemon you get on Route 2, they are pretty popular. Granted, Yamper and Drednaw were already marketed very heavily beforehand, which just likely reinforced that even more.
- Coalossal is also surprisingly here, and so is Grimmsnarl. I suppose a lot of people liked Rolycoly regardless of how you feel about Coalossal itself, and Grimmsnarl has such a cool typing and design, plus Impidimp was that weird mysterious Pokemon shown off subtly beforehand.
- Dragapult carries the trend of the generational pseudo-legendary making it into the Top 10, and it's no secret everyone (including myself) loves this Pokemon
- Obstagoon finishes off the Top 10, it's pretty darn cool being a regional form+evolution at once.

Bottom 14 Team Picks (DLC Excluded)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.


I'm going to separate these by without DLC and *with* DLC since there's likely a question as to whether people played with DLC or not.

- Most of these Pokemon are absolute duds or are flat out bad/unusable, and some are also, lo and behold, single stage Pokemon.
- Aromatisse and Slurpuff have notoriety this time for seeing absolutely zero uses on a team. Truly a testament to how below average they are even for such a strong type (I also imagine them being trade evos with no availability via Max Raids or Wild Area also pushed them down harder).
- Seaking once again takes the bottom of the barrel. This time, it doesn't seem to be alone, however, as Qwilfish, Basculin, Octillery, and Wishiwashi join it as fellow Water-types in the bottom.
- Dugtrio and especially Braviary being in the bottom here is extremely surprising, however, especially Braviary considering it's a solid Pokemon and as long as I can remember people never seem to dislike it much. I'm not sure why people neglected Bravairy this time around: perhaps Corviknight was simply too good of a deal to pass up? Unfortunate to see how unused it was in Sword and Shield: even Mandibuzz somehow got more use than it (and at 10 uses as opposed to Braviary's 2).

Bottom 14 Team Picks (with DLC)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.


- Aside from the ones that remain, the additions from the DLC who are at the bottom are either 1.Alolan Dugtrio, who has a very finicky and tedious method to be obtained or they are 2. Single Staged.
- Comfey, Audino, Bouffalant, and Druddigon are chief among these who are single stage Pokemon and don't evolve. Bouffalant and Druddigon are pretty unfortunate really.
- The rest return from the non-DLC list.

So there we go, here's an update with Galar and Sword/Shield included. This definitely spawned some interesting results this time around, and some things still do very much align with past regions.
 
It's interesting that there's no Galar Pokémon in the least used lists you got.

Apart from that...

I'm really surprised Rillaboom is first among the starters. It feels really forgettable to me. Enough for me to make this the second time I've not picked the Grass-type starter as my favourite in a generation (the other case is Gen II with Totodile prevailing), and the first Grass-type starter I outright don't like, in any stage.

From the Top 10 list, I've used the Top 4 as well as Dragapult. I'm disappointed to see Boltund that high, though.

From the Bottom 14 lists... well, since none of them are from Galar, I didn't use any of them in Sword. I have, however, used Lunatone in Sapphire, Druddigon in White, and Braviary in Ultra Sun (with all the pain that implies). And I'm planning to use Delibird in a Black 2 playthrough I've planned to do soon, as the poor guy deserves a chance.
 
Last edited:
I'm really surprised Rillaboom is first among the starters. It feels really forgettable to me.
Rillaboom is forgettable-y yes, but Grookey on the other hand, has a pretty adorable form.
All 3 starters do have good designs, with Sobble having that "must protecc at all cost" aura, Scorbunny being obviously the "hyperactive" one, and Grookey being there smiling and wishing everyone a good poke day.
I'm team Grookey myself, but then again, I always pick the grass starter since forever :P

I would assume most people who play the game for first time are going to pick the starter based off their...well... starter form, rather than the final evolution.

I'd assume Corviknight more or less pushed other birds (including Braviary) out of the equation as people don't usually like to stack types if they can avoid it, and being actually a pure-Flying type (the first and only non legendary!) that becomes a Steel-Flying sets it aside as Steel types tend to be quite a commodity in casual playthrough (resisting large majority of the common hits you'd be taking thus being pretty easy to lead with or swap into to use items if you need to).
 
Last edited:

Samtendo09

Ability: Light Power
is a Pre-Contributor
It's been a few weeks but out of my own personal curiosity, I decided to conduct a survey on Reddit myself to fill in the gaps for Galar/Sword and Shield and see what was commonly used there. So now, it's time for

*drumroll*

GALAR!!!

Anyway, I posted a survey to r/Pokemon a few days ago and gathered some results over there. I prepared a spreadsheet of the raw results from the responses, and here's an infogram of the Top/Bottom uses!

So now, it's time for an update, and here's the results in terms of starters and team picks.

GALAR

Starters:


1.
2.
3.


So here's how the starters went in terms of popularity. Oddly enough, despite Cinderace being the most marketed of the three, it's Rillaboom who takes the lead, though not by much, so Grookey Gang wins out by a small margin. Regardless of what you think of Galar's starters, it seems the three were pretty close in popularity, however, which goes to show that they really managed to make all three have an equal amount appeal to many people to some degree: this hasn't really been the case since Sinnoh's starters! (yeah, unlike Greninja who winds out by far with Kalos, or in Unova where Emboar lags behind the other two and is generally disliked). So major props to them for Galar: the starters all manage to stand out equally again, which hasn't been the case in a while!

Top 10 Team Picks:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


Here's what ended up being the most popular picks for Galar!

- Corvinkght takes the lead by a pretty significant margin. This is the most popular the regional bird has been since the likes of Staraptor and Talonflame. Corviknight even achieves more use on teams than any of the starters, much like Staraptor did in Sinnoh. This is yet another case where the early route bird takes a huge lead.
- Toxtricity is most clearly Gen 8's breakout Pokemon a la Lucario and Zoroark and its popularity is pretty evident here, managing to even mingle itself amongst the tier of the starters in terms of how many people used it.
- Drednaw, Boltund, and Orbeetle all have achieved themselves places in the Top 10 as well: for Pokemon you get on Route 2, they are pretty popular. Granted, Yamper and Drednaw were already marketed very heavily beforehand, which just likely reinforced that even more.
- Coalossal is also surprisingly here, and so is Grimmsnarl. I suppose a lot of people liked Rolycoly regardless of how you feel about Coalossal itself, and Grimmsnarl has such a cool typing and design, plus Impidimp was that weird mysterious Pokemon shown off subtly beforehand.
- Dragapult carries the trend of the generational pseudo-legendary making it into the Top 10, and it's no secret everyone (including myself) loves this Pokemon
- Obstagoon finishes off the Top 10, it's pretty darn cool being a regional form+evolution at once.

Bottom 14 Team Picks (DLC Excluded)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.


I'm going to separate these by without DLC and *with* DLC since there's likely a question as to whether people played with DLC or not.

- Most of these Pokemon are absolute duds or are flat out bad/unusable, and some are also, lo and behold, single stage Pokemon.
- Aromatisse and Slurpuff have notoriety this time for seeing absolutely zero uses on a team. Truly a testament to how below average they are even for such a strong type (I also imagine them being trade evos with no availability via Max Raids or Wild Area also pushed them down harder).
- Seaking once again takes the bottom of the barrel. This time, it doesn't seem to be alone, however, as Qwilfish, Basculin, Octillery, and Wishiwashi join it as fellow Water-types in the bottom.
- Dugtrio and especially Braviary being in the bottom here is extremely surprising, however, especially Braviary considering it's a solid Pokemon and as long as I can remember people never seem to dislike it much. I'm not sure why people neglected Bravairy this time around: perhaps Corviknight was simply too good of a deal to pass up? Unfortunate to see how unused it was in Sword and Shield: even Mandibuzz somehow got more use than it (and at 10 uses as opposed to Braviary's 2).

Bottom 14 Team Picks (with DLC)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.


- Aside from the ones that remain, the additions from the DLC who are at the bottom are either 1.Alolan Dugtrio, who has a very finicky and tedious method to be obtained or they are 2. Single Staged.
- Comfey, Audino, Bouffalant, and Druddigon are chief among these who are single stage Pokemon and don't evolve. Bouffalant and Druddigon are pretty unfortunate really.
- The rest return from the non-DLC list.

So there we go, here's an update with Galar and Sword/Shield included. This definitely spawned some interesting results this time around, and some things still do very much align with past regions.
I guess saying that single-staged Pokémon having less appeal in general still hold true today... though I am surprised that none of the bottom picked Pokémon are Gen 8 this time.

Martin’s Solrock had done such a damage to the poor fella’s already shaky reputation!
 
Bottom 14 Team Picks
8.
Huh. While I've used a fair amount of the unpopular picks, that was while replaying the games. But I actually did use Qwilfish for my first SwSh playthrough... alongside a starter and 3 other top 10 picks (Centiskorch, Obstagoon, Drednaw)

I also find Seaking's losing streak really funny. In SwSh, Goldeen gets Water Pulse at level 10, so it's life long problem of not having water attacks isn't actually a problem anymore, but it's absolutely too little too late for the poor koi.
 
I also find Seaking's losing streak really funny. In SwSh, Goldeen gets Water Pulse at level 10, so it's life long problem of not having water attacks isn't actually a problem anymore, but it's absolutely too little too late for the poor koi.
Goldeen's problems persist, though:

1619563510284.png


Despite the decent base power, Water Pulse isn't exactly going to help much with the sixth lowest Special Attack of all Water-type Pokémon (being ahead of special attacking powerhouses like Marill, Wooper, Wishiwashi, Pyukumuku, and Wimpod).

Chewtle, which has a similar physical focus and a similarly terrible physical Water-type learnset, at least can get Strong Jaw Bite that puts it on a much better situation than Goldeen.

(At least Goldeen can get Flip Turn if you grind in the Isle of Armor, but... well, it's grinding. In general, though, Water-types need an early physical attack that isn't Aqua Jet)
 

ScraftyIsTheBest

On to new Horizons!
is a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
It's interesting that there's no Galar Pokémon in the least used lists you got.
though I am surprised that none of the bottom picked Pokémon are Gen 8 this time.
To be fair, no Kalos or Alola Pokemon was in the Bottom 10 Least used Pokemon in those respective games' in the older surveys either.

It's really down to the sheer number of Pokemon you have in these games nowadays, so much so that even the least used Kalos/Alola/Galar Pokemon in these games have more use than what actually does make it into the bottom simply because while some "new" Pokemon have very low usage even in these games, they still beat out the true bottom 10 old-gen Pokemon because they have more novelty value at that time. Even in the context of *BW2* Unova, only one Gen 5 Pokemon returned to the bottom picked list in BW2, and that was Stunfisk.

In the context of Galar specifically, the likes of Stonjourner, Eiscue, and Pincurchin all received relatively low usage, but they still just managed to beat out the bottom of the barrel because old-gen mons are less and less compelling to use in other games unless they are particularly good and appealing like Noivern or Chandelure. The old-gen sucky mons that return in these games will continue to be neglected unless they change significantly, and not being a new Pokemon makes them even *less* appealing.
 
Bouffalant and Druddigon are pretty unfortunate really.
Afrobull is especially tragic to me cuz, if I had chosen my teams with the IoA in mind, I absolutely would have at least considered getting such a strong Pokémon that early in my journey. Druddigon, though, comes rather late for my tastes (don’t believe you can even catch one until the fourth badge, by which point I’ve likely got a full team of six already).
 
I think Goldeen/Seaking's lack of usage isn't actually a stat issue.

Going by the assumption that most people who play the game arent PvPers or not even hardcore players and are the intended playerbase (aka, kids, some at their first pokemon game ever, expecially for SwSh), I would assume a """kid""" will pick their team mostly based on the appeal or typing rather than actual stats (expecially as in-game and at low levels, telling the stat difference isnt so easy even if you read the numbers, since IV and natures come into play on top of numbers being overally lower).

And well... Goldeen is just a fish with a horn. Literally.
Nothing fancy, nothing unique, no weird typing or ability to get the curiosity going. It's literally just a overgrown red fish.

Meanwhile, look at the top 10:
1. Corviknight: Heavily marketed early bird that turns into a steel bird who is also your taxi for the game.
2. Toxtricity: gift Toxel who is poison / electric (a unique type) and turns into a badass metal rocker
3. Dreadnaw: another marketed pokemon who you're also likely to be exposed early due to being the ace of Nessa thus can be interesting to try out
4. Coalassal: I agree the fashion is probably coming from Rolycoly itself rather than the final form, and they just happen to keep it cause it's one of the few early available fire types.
5. Bolthund: he is a good boi. Also Yamper is adorable and a even gooder boi. Pretty easy to see why a kid would love it.
6. Grimmsnarl: unique edgy typing (fairy/dark) as well as edgy look. Doesn't surprise me that he shows up while Hatterene family doesn't, probably suffering from "bootleg Gardevoir" syndrome.
7. Centiskorch: most likely included as he's the ace of the 3rd gym, and honestly the "fiery worm" is a interesting design too. Plus, another early available fire type which are otherwise not common.
8. Orbeetle: early bug, who happens to actually evolve in a UFO-wannabe (and differently from other early bugs, his stats actually don't suck so it doesnt run into "this does nothing" issues lategame)
9. Dragapult: pseudolegendary fashion, doesn't surprise me. Also honestly his design is very good in first place, AND dragon/ghost is a cool typing. Though I'd think this one is likely influenced by people going for it on purpose due to being quite rare and late-game found.
10. Obstagoon: combine the galar form+evo with the badass look

How can a "fish" compete with those in the eyes of a player, even assuming they have absolutely 0 game knowledge about goldeen's terrible stats/movepool?
 
Goldeen also is a fish. As in, it's found in the/under the water. SWSH is the only mainline game where Goldeen is available in some way other than fishing* or while surfing. Surfing means you already have a water type, Fishing means you have access to a good number of water types. Seaking has to be very special to not be drowned out by the alternatives at that point in the game, and it isn't.

*Often, though not always, requires the Good Rod
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 1)

Top