Generic General Pokemon Discussion

I'm mostly joking, Balla, don't worry.

Well, as I'm sure you all know, I love all Pokémon, but naturally some animals are more equal than others.

First up, I have some definite overlap with yourself: Sandshrew is a cutie and Snorlax is automatically one of the best because he's a big sleepy bear. I also have to shout out Lapras, who I like somewhat but who is my girlfriend's favourite Pokémon.

For myself, Cubone is one of my go-to answers for my favourite Pokémon overall. I guess I like the mix of cute little beastie and Batman edgelord. Marowak's ghost in Lavender Town was the height of spookiness back in the day. There's also all the business with Kangaskhan.

There are some others I like. I've always liked Squirtle's line among the starters and Mewtwo for legendaries. Vulpix is very cool and fascinating, as I'll be going into soon and Eevee has a fun concept.

There aren't many I dislike. I don't fully understand the Balls Man's issue with Machoke, he's just a tough wrassler lad. I definitely have issues with Jynx, though. I'm hoping I can find someone to help me with that episode who isn't a straight white male.

Gengar is a banger, I can't argue with Jay on that one.

Mr. Mime is a weird thing.

Zubat is cool enough as a bat, though I can understand having an issue with its ubiquity. At least you can pretty much always knock it out with whoever's in top position in your party.

I would like to chime in more but 3 of 6 Pokemon that are in Drunka's vote are Gen 1 Pokemon that I'd just spoiling those here.

masofdas wrote:

I would like to chime in more but 3 of 6 Pokemon that are in Drunka's vote are Gen 1 Pokemon that I'd just spoiling those here.

You made the right choice

Drunkalilly wrote:

I'm mostly joking, Balla, don't worry.

It's the mostly I worried about!  Behind every good joke...

Mr. Mime, bloody heck, I overlooked that one.  Horrible, horrible.  Excellent/terrible shout.  Bulba's cute enough: my first starter.  Like Drunka, I prefer Squirts.

Can't argue with Cubone, the backstory alone makes it a top choice.  The Eevee family's good, but got better...  As for Machoke, the pants are just weird on a large lizard.  It'd be like them picturing Nidoqueen in a bikini.

masofdas wrote:

I would like to chime in more but 3 of 6 Pokemon that are in Drunka's vote are Gen 1 Pokemon that I'd just spoiling those here.

Fair enough: are there any you don't like, Mas?  Therefore leaving Drunka's thunder where it is.

I would say even the worse like a Zubat are okay compared later gens.

The actually bad pokemon designs from gen 1:

- Seel... it's literally just a seal
- Dewgong... is still literally just a seal
- Grimer... is just a pile of purple ooze
- Muk... is also just a pile of purple ooze. Why does this evolution even exist?
- Voltorb/Electrode... two pokemon for the price of one novelty design
- Jynx... the blackface pokemon

Seel gets a pass because of its derpy tongue. Bobbins name though. I've always found that Muk gets a pass odd: I think it has slightly more attitude to it than the dull Grimer in its sprites. Definitely not good, mind, and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as two of gen. 5 'Mons we'll inevitably come to later.

I like Grimer and Muk! Slime monsters are hardly unique to Pokemon, and they manage to pull off goofy and fun, and then menacing. Alolan is definitely better.

Voltorb and Electrode are fun and meta and it is kinda surprising they were in the original roster.

Jynx . . . I am not looking forward to podcasting about. I'mma need a woman of colour to talk to for that one.

My main problem with Grimer/Muk and Voltorb/Electrode is that they are essentially a single design duplicated. Voltorb is fun and meta, but it's evolution is basically a non-evolution. Half the fun of pokemon evolutions is seeing how they change and Grimer/Voltorb basically just.. don't.

The lads and lasses:

In a bid to balance the perceived domination of psychics, Generation 2 added two new types to the mix: dark and steel.  We also got baby forms and extra evolutions, genders for all Pokémon (making Mr. Mime even more awkward), and... Sunkern.



My all-black-wearing days might have been some years off, but I was all over the new dark types.  Sneasel gets extra points for being a mustelid at a time when ferrets were my favourite animal, but Umbreon is also pretty cool.  We also got Espeon, who rivals Umbreon for best Eeveelution in my opinion; Quagsire, who is just the happiest dopiest fellow; and SWINUB THE ADORABLE SNUFFLY FLUFFBALL



Gen. 2 actually doesn't have as many monsters I don't like as Gen. 1: I guess they'd refined the process a bit by then.  (They didn't quite get them all right first time around, though: Animon still haunts my dreams. )  Aipom's possibly the worst, and Pineco is straight out of the Rare 'chuck some eyes on an inanimate object' school of design.  Special (f)ire, though, is reserved for Typhlosion.  Cutie Quilava was the first starter middle stage I really liked: it then becomes this heaving huncbacked monstrosity.  R&B definitely had the better final starter forms.


Was Gen. 2 an improvement, or was first time the charm; and which monsters make you think that?  Over to you.

How dare you talk about my buddy Typhlosion that way

Typhlosion is not my third-least-favourite design of gen. 2, but it is a big comedown from the cutie that is Quilava.

I've got a lot of time for Gen. 2 - so much so that there's none of them that stand out to me as being bad or anything. Some of them are a bit dull - Stantler, mate, you're just a caribou, and Remoraid, mate, you're a really boring fish - but a lot of them in this generation are amongst my very favourites.

I won't get into detail again, but I particularly like Umbreon, Bellossom, Xatu, Mareep, Totodile, Ursaring, Scizor... I could go on, genuinely. god, I love this generation so much. They smashed it.

Actually, wait, there's Octillery and I hate octopi and therefore Gen II is actually the worst and they fucked it and how does a fish turn into an octopus anyway I mean really now THAT MAKES NO SENSE

I love Mareep and Ampharos. Not Flaaffy so much, but I guess that's just the awkward middle stage syndrome.

Meganium is also a brilliantly simple design. A dinosaur with essentially a mane made out of petals? Poifect.

I also liked Murkrow, Bellossom, Xatu... I think Furret is an unsung hero, actually. And though I'd agree that Pineco is a bit bum, I'd posit that Forretress is the most bum.

The actually bad pokemon designs from gen II:

- None, every pokemon in gen II is well designed

I too have a lot of time for gen. 2, but saying there are no bad ones is definitely overstating it.  Look into Aipom's soul-eating grin. Look deeply.

Ampharos I'm keen on, Meganium not so much.  Xatu and Furret are belting choices.  I have no idea what the heck they were doing with Forretress, but unlike Pineco, it at least felt like they were trying.

JayMoyles wrote:

...Remoraid, mate, you're a really boring fish...

...

Actually, wait, there's Octillery and I hate octopi and therefore Gen II is actually the worst and they fucked it and how does a fish turn into an octopus anyway I mean really now THAT MAKES NO SENSE

Remoraid's a Pokémon that got much more boring since its beta incarnation.  Octillery likewise.



You can see why they did it, they'd never have passed muster Stateside, but... still, a shame.

Gen II seems like they put a lot of thought into everything. Except Unown. But good old Totodile! What an attitude to life to have. Good show.

I love Totodile too - he was my OG started from Silver.

I don't mind Unown. It's inventive enough and I liked the mystery behind encountering them in the Ruins of Alph.

AIPOM IS EXCELLENT

Gen II is infallible as it introduced the most explicit and accurate bear.

Totodile is good, agreed. I'm okay with Unown because of the mysteries behind it and the ruins, both of which are pretty cool. Aipom remains bobbins.

Teddiursa > Ursaring (runs)

I've changed my mind. This thread no longer has my blessing.

I used to think that the names and designs of the Gen 1 Pokémon were the cleverest thing ever, but looking back, it turns out that I was an idiot child. There's some classic designs right enough, and many others that I'm nostalgic for, but stuff like 'Ekans' the purple snake, 'Koffing' the floating ball of poison, and 'Krabby' the crab are just bollocks.

I didn't really experience Gen 2 at the time, but I got a few packs of the imported Japanese trading cards right as Pokémon's popularity was starting to tail off at the end of Primary 7. I remember thinking that some of the design were a massive downgrade. Balladeer's completely wrong about Aipom and Typhlosion of course, but there were a lot of others - 'Slugma' the volcanic slug, 'Qwilfish' the nasty killer puffer fish, 'Stantler' the reindeer with antlers, that shitey two-headed CatDog giraffe, and others - that really screamed out to me that they were badly running out of artistic inspiration.

Some of the later day ones are astonishingly poor, just the type of complete nonsense that I'll never both to learn the names of. I had to look up Qwilfish and Stantler, but those were just a couple; in later gens, there's far more lazy and bad designs than there are good, in my opinion.

Be honest: how long will it be until we get a Pokémon comedy cock and balls, called Willysaurus? I'm guessing #1,015.

On another note, I think the moves have stayed quite good and creative.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

Some of the later day ones are astonishingly poor, just the type of complete nonsense that I'll never both to learn the names of.

I'm with you on that one. Whilst I think there's still some cracking designs in the later generations, the bad designs reach a whole new depth of duffness compared to the shiters in the first few generations.

I genuinely thought this one was fake when I first saw a screenshot of it.

I'm not.  I genuinely think Machoke, Voltorb, Grimer, and Jynx are up with some of the worst from the later gens.  Maybe not gen. 4 or 5 bad, not quite; but gen. 6 or gen. 7 bad, certainly.  

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

Be honest: how long will it be until we get a Pokémon comedy cock and balls, called Willysaurus?

Okay then: what do people like about Aipom that I can't see?  I genuinely think it's properly gubbins.

You're all talking bollocks. Every Pokemon is great, you just weren't children when you saw them the first time.