With a remake of Ruby and Sapphire on the horizon, everyone is chattering about the good ole days of third generation. There were many Pokémon introduced (135 to be exact) and not all of them were well received by the gaming community. Let’s face it, gamers always pick favorites and while Pokémon like Blaziken will soar to the top of most trainers teams there will always be Pokémon that are left sadly left behind for what other trainers think are better Pokémon.
It is a shame really because some of these Pokémon are truly underrated gems that no one dares to look at because they already have their top tier teams. Any real Pokémon trainer can tell you that tiers and stats don't mean everything, it depends on how you use your favorite Pokemon is what makes a truly great trainer.
Let's take a look back at the top ten most underrated Pokémon from a game that's finally getting the remake we've all been waiting for.
10. Mightyena
While he might not be the obligatory rodent of Hoenn, Mightyena is unfortunately cursed with a bad move set back then and his stats aren’t exactly the best. But he was never useless. He was first dark type we had access to and was a pretty solid Pokémon to take with you all the way.
While he might not have been the best, he was certainly a dark type we were able to rely on back in Hoenn. You can keep your Absol and its mega evolution, I will stay right here with my beastly looking hyena.
9. Linoone
Here’s are obligatory rodent like Pokémon! While Linoone might have the same stat total as Mightyena, Linoone was blessed with moves that are immensely better.
Linoone is incredibly useful especially when you come up against Watson, the electric type gym leader. If you have Linoone with dig on your side, you can pull the plug on Watson with ease. They're fast and are one of the more adaptable first route normal types. Next time you play through one of the Hoenn games, keep Linoone around for a while, it might surprise you.
8. Tropius
Yes Tropius has a lot of weaknesses and no it won’t blow away every Dragonite that is foolish enough to cross its path but let’s be real here. Tropius is a cool looking Pokémon with an even cooler type combo.
It’s a member of the Sauropod that can fly! Littlefoot is flying in the air with the power of tree stars how can you not think it’s cool?! Gushing about its design aside, Tropius had the potential to be a defensive Pokémon back in Hoenn.
It could learn a fair amount of move that vary its moves depending on how you want to play around with Tropius. I’ve used Tropius quite a few times now and it’s a pretty fun Pokémon to surprise people with if you want some sort of Wild Card Pokemon. If you have the chance, give the Banana Neck a shot. You might fall in love with this bizarre, uniquely typed, Pokémon.
7. Camerupt
This dopey Pokémon doesn’t seem to get much attention when comes to fire types, probably due to the fact that “better” fire types were available. Camerupt shouldn’t out though, its fire/ground dual typing is quite useful giving it an immunity to electric types.
One of fire’s biggest weakness, rock only damages it normally giving the player a nice alternative fire type. Camerupt is the first Pokémon other than Groudon to learn the powerful fire type move Eruption which works best when a Pokémon is at full health. Camerupt is unique Pokémon with a unique typing. With some work put into it, it can be a powerful Pokémon on any Hoenn team.
6. Cradily
Let’s talk about this under appreciated little root fossil shall we? Cradily is more of a utility Pokémon than a hardcore battler, causing it to be overlooked by most trainers. What's interesting is with the right moveset Cardily can hold its own, it just takes a lot of searching for the perfect one that fits your playstyle. Perhaps it's the oddness of a rock/grass type or maybe it's the fact people would much rather have a bug than a plant. Cradily is just not popular among trainers.
It’s not like it’s brother Armaldo who was an impressive destructive force on the battlefield. Cradily was more of a defensive Pokémon with some good attack moves. Cradily is an interesting design baring resemblance to many species of marine life such as the Crinoid, giving Cradily it's ocean life appearance.
Even with it’s lack of attacking utility, Cradily is one of those Pokémon people never see coming on the field. Not many people use that often and while Armaldo can be considered the better choice, Cardilly will always have a space on trainers teams that what to try a quirky little Pokémon with plethora of options to choose from.
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5. Cacturne
Grass/Dark is a dual typing that was introduced in Hoenn with the creation of Shiftry. Cacturne on the other hand doesn’t nearly get the praise as its bearded older brother. It’s quite a fun Pokémon to use with its signature move Needle Arm having a 30% chance to cause an opponent to flinch. At the time, Cacturne had quite a good moves and that’s even transitioned to other gems nicely.
Cacturne is also a very spooky Pokemon, looking like some sort of haunted scarecrow and its Pokedex entry for Sapphire Version is unsettling to say the very least.
If a traveler is going through a desert in the thick of night, Cacturne will follow in a ragtag group. The Pokémon are biding their time, waiting for the traveler to tire and become incapable of moving.
Let’s all start using Cacturne before they do whatever they do to travelers.
This artwork is from this artist.
4. Relicanth
This Pokémon looks like it’s been around longer than Arceus and you can see why. Relicanth is based around a Coelacanth which is a rare order of fish that lives deep within the ocean, just like Relicanth.
Think of Relicanth as a fossil type Pokémon that never died. Just like it’s counterpart it’s a living fossil. It didn’t need to be revived, it’s been down in the oceans the entire time, underneath, waiting until trainer just happened upon it.
It has an excellent move set and it probably one of the most surprising picks you can send out during a battle. It’s defensive but it can also do so pretty damaging blows while taking some as well.
A big reason it’s so underrated is partially because of how hard it is to find. How many people did you talk to that actually had one of them on their team? Not many, but this rare Pokemon deserves to be dived for, even if you have to look for a million years.
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3. Altaria:
A singing cotton ball bird of death. Wait did I say bird? I meant DRAGON! This is a dragon/flying type of death! Altaria is the softer, cuddly alternative to the widely used Flygon and is far more defense oriented than attack and speed.
It’s fairly easy to catch as its pre evolution, it’s just that it takes a while to level it up into its final stage and by then you could have potentially already had a Swellow.
It’s the kind of Pokémon that you use when you want something different n your team and Altaria is certainly a different kind of dragon type.
While Altaria isn’t many players first choice for a dragon type or a flying type it is a different kind of dragon type, it’s a fun choice and can be quite a good choice depending on the player. With a little bit of patience Altaria can be one of the best flying types in the game as long as you are willing to grind.
2. Exploud
Normal types aren’t always the best Pokemon in the game. A lot of times there is always one normal type that is better than all the rest, for this generation it was Slaking, leaving amazing Pokémon like Exploud out in the dust. Stat wise, Exploud has the same stats as Altaria which is a little bit below a starter Pokémon’s final evolution, but it’s still such a great and versatile it’s unfortunate people have ignored it as much as they have.
With its outlandish design, Exploud really does stand out against some of the more fluffy normal types. It looks like a creature form the underworld here to yell at us about our misdoings.
It has a huge movepool and has stats to back it up. It doesn’t have wait to attack every other turn like its more beloved counterpart Slaking and its move ability soundproof is gift from a higher power against sound based moves.
It’s a great Pokémon to take with you on your journey and out of all the normal types in Hoenn, it will probably be the one that you’ll get the most use out of. At least you’ll know that instead of loafing around Exploud will be screaming at your enemies until they’ve fainted.
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1. Walrein:
Here’s an unexpected pick for number one, what’s a water/ice type with the same stat total as Blaziken and yet gets none of the attention? Walrein that’s who! Walrein is a walrus Pokémon that is a bulky defensive monster that can take out so many Pokémon it’s ridiculous. His fatal flaw is being weak to rock type moves, but otherwise he’s such a good Pokémon.
It’s impossible to get these Pokémon early in the game and when you do actually get it’s adorable pre-evolution, Spheal you probably don’t want to level it up all the way to level 44.
That said, it’s worth the painful grin of levels, Walrein the one of the most reliable water types in Hoenn and it’s a shame it’s not used that much. Walrein’s bulky defense and powerful offensive makes it a Pokémon that deserves to be celebrated. It might not be your first choice of water types in Hoenn but there is something we can all agree on.
It’s better than Pelipper.
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If you enjoyed this list, be sure to check out the Top 10 Most Overrated Pokémon from Pokémon Sapphire and Ruby!
Published: Aug 6, 2014 06:42 pm