As a Johnny-type player, I am naturally drawn toward Pokémon that other people dislike (for reasons other than that they're popular) or ignore. Because of this, over the years, I have used Pokémon like Vileplume, Jumpluff, Masquerain, Floatzel, Beheeyem, Delphox, Palossand, and Arctovish, and this is only scratching the surface. My teams are made up almost entirely of these Pokémon, and it's been part of my mission statement to show that, when used right, can give even dedicated competitive battlers a hard time, and I've been putting up battles onto YouTube since
Pokémon Battle Revolution to demonstrate just that.
This one, for instance, goes out to all the fans of Greedent out there (though Toxapex is on the thumbnail instead):
I've seen a lot of criticism towards Sunigoon (Cursola) in recent months, which I don't quite understand since I think the species looks intriguing and has an interesting basis. I would probably never use one on my team since I tend to avoid monotyped Pokemon, but I think Sunigoon is probably my favorite new evolution introduced in Shield and Sword.
Cursola is my favorite Generation VIII Pokémon due to not only being an interesting take on a pre-existing Pokémon, but the first Pokémon created to make a political statement.
I mentioned prior that I'm a Johnny-type player. We have a lot of fun trying to figure stuff out. If something doesn't make sense, we are determined to find the logic in its creation. If something has an obvious gaping weakness, we are compelled to find a way to compensate for that. Cursola fits both, being a Pokémon with an Ability that requires physical contact but with low HP and Defense. It took me weeks, but I think I know what Game Freak intended with Cursola. I've since put it to the test in battles, both Casual and Ranked, and I think I was correct.
(By the way, サニゴーン is transliterated as "sanigoon," but the "goon" part is is not pronounced like "dragoon" or ""rangoon." My best guess is that it's intended to be "Sunnygone.")
Delphox. It's one of my favourite starters period. It has a very majestic look to it, the colours go well together and I really like its design inspiration. I don't really understand why people hate it so much. It definitely has its fans though, since it did decently well in the Pokemon of the year poll. It's such a shame it (and even Chesnaught) will always be overshadowed by Greninja, which is such a shame as I really feel it deserves better than this.
The biggest criticisms about Delphox when it was new were that it has a shallower movepool than Chesnaught or Greninja, namely that it didn't get many moves that allowed it to take on Pokémon with a type advantage, which both Chesnaught and Greninja got plenty of. On the other hand, Fennekin and Braixen have been pretty popular since they were introduced, with Fennekin being a continuing presence in the Super Smash Bros. games and Braixen being Serena's signature Pokémon in the anime and playable in
Pokkén Tournament as the closest thing to a Magical Girl in the National Pokédex (at least at the time--might be Hattrem now). Delphox's signature move, Mystical Fire, also has an unusually low power of 75 and really only works well on special attackers.
That being said, Delphox did wind up my favorite of the fully evolved Kalos starters by character design (though the Kalos set is one of my favorites in general).
I did use a Delphox online in Generation VI though, but I ought to try it again if the Fennekin line is ever made available in Generation VIII, since I did this before Magician was available.
Swanna is also somewhat boring to look at as a Pokémon. All of the other Water/Flying Pokemon have interesting features to them with Ducklett being an exception because it just looks like a normal duck like Farfetch’d without a leek would look except it’s blue. Pelipper is interesting because it looks like its beak takes up half of its body, Mantyke/Mantine and Gyrados are fully aquatic and are so easy to forget that they’re part Flying. And Cramorant will stuff random Pokémon literally down its throat to launch them at it’s opponents like a missile launcher. All Swanna has are the head feathers that resemble a crown and blue feathers that form some sort of bikini top. That’s it. Nothing eye catching and I actually forget that it exists sometimes.
I dunno, I think its clamshell bra is hilarious on it. All in all though, I don't think Swanna lacks in interesting features, but they're focused on ballet, particularly
Swan Lake, and as such are more subtle than normal for Pokémon. (The clamshell bra resembles the top of Odette's signature dress, the feathers pointing up oin the sides of the head is based on Odette's headgear, and Pokédexes mention their dancing on the water's surface at evening as reference to one of the musical numbers.) Despite being Skyla's signature Pokémon though, I do remember Swanna being quicky forgotten. Probaby the most forgotten fully evolved Pokémon in all of Generation V, which says something as that was the most forgettable generation (which is a shame, as I think it's full of really interesting Pokémon).
We really need more Pokémon taking inspiration from Russian folklore and literature.
You know what, I'm going to give a massive shout-out to all the boring or forgotten Pokemon; the Sandslashes and Seakings, the Noctowls and Nosepasses, the Pyukumukus and Pincurchins. Not only is Pokemon is a franchise that absolutely thrives on disparity - the Zapdos is all the sweeter because of the number of Voltorb we have to endure - but all these 'ordinary' creatures are a vital part of world-building.
Pincurchin is apparently popular enough to get a plush, at the very least!
