My Quick Thoughts for Each Pokémon

[SlowAriados]

On this thread, I will give some quick thoughts about each Pokémon (we'll see how far I go haha). Mainly these writings will be my thoughts and or facts about the Pokémon. These won't necessarily all be reviews of the Pokémon, some of these will just be random interesting thoughts I have on them. I'm not sure what to call these things yet. I guess they're blogs. These are sort of like reviews of each Pokémon, but not exactly. I don't know what to call these writings yet. I might add more to my existing Pokémon entries too if I think of new stuff to write about.

I will put some nickname ideas for some Pokémon too just for fun.

Note for certain forms of a Pokémon, I will write about them later. For example, I will write about the Gen 6 Mega Evolutions after I do the Kalos Pokémon (if I even get that far).

You can comment too if you want.



(I hope I'm posting this in the right place)

 

[SlowAriados]

Bulbasaur-

The first Pokémon ever in the National Dex (but not the first created). First starter ever too in the Dex. Oddly, the first starter is actually a dual type! It's Grass/Poison, you'd think the first Grass starter would be pure Grass (to sort of introduce the concept of starter Pokémon). Imo it probably should have been pure Grass, then it gains the Poison type when evolving. Charmander and Squirtle are both pure types. Kind of odd Bulbasaur isn't. So many Grass types were also Poison types or dual types in Gen 1 though. Only Tangela was pure Grass. Grass/Poison was a very common theme in Gen 1, I guess the types naturally go well together, with the idea of poisonous plants. But did there have to be so many of them? Still, Bulbasaur is very iconic and is the mascot of this very forum!

Nickname Ideas: Bud

 

[SlowAriados]

Ivysaur-

I'm pretty sure Ivysaur is the only quadruped Smash Bros. fighter. All of the other fighters are bipedal or can stand on two legs at least. I like how Ivysaur's bud continues to form and grow from Bulbasaur's bud. Then it opens up as a flower in Venasaur. It's a simple idea that works well with evolving. I think Ivysaur should have been the one to gain the Poison type, while Bulbasaur should have been a pure Grass type imo. It even has "ivy" in the name, like poison ivy!

Nickname Ideas: Ivy, Poison Ivy

 

[SlowAriados]

Venusaur-

I see Venusaur as the ultimate Grass/Poison Pokémon of Gen 1, it's the most powerful. Then the players that didn't choose Bulbasaur have the weaker Grass/Poison options of Vileplume or Victreebel. Venusaur is pretty well balanced stat wise. It has high Special Attack and Special Defense, and all of its other stats are decent. But oddly in the earlier generations, it doesn't learn any Poison attacks (except status moves) by levelup. It had to rely on TMs for that. So the Venusaur line in the earlier generations really didn't learn many Poison moves despite its Poison typing. It's interesting that Ivysaur evolves into Venasaur at level 32. You get the rest of the Kanto starters' final forms at level 36. I wonder why you get Venasaur 4 levels earlier? It probably has something to do with the game balance. But I always was under the impression that the Bulbasaur line already had an easier time getting through the game than the rest of the other Kanto starters, so does it need to be even easier? I don't know for sure if that's true though. In some generations, all starters achieve their final form at the same level (usually level 36). But in other generations, the starters achieve their final form at different levels. Again, I think it has something to do with game balance. Closing off, I really like that this final stage has its flower fully bloom, nicely wrapping up the concept of this evolution line.

 

[SlowAriados]

Charmander-

Charmander is probably the most commonly chosen Kanto starter. I always found the idea of Charmander dying if its tail fire goes out to be a little disturbing. And hard to believe. What if it rains? Or it gets splashed with water or water attacks? I'm glad that Charmander is a pure type starter unlike Bulbasaur. Random thought, I find it interesting that it gains Metal Claw in its FRLG levelup moveset mainly to help deal with Brock. It loses the move Rage in the process though, but I don't think many people were using Rage anyway. Charmander is a very iconic and popular starter.

Nickname Ideas: Charcoal

 

[SlowAriados]

Charmeleon-

I feel like Charmeleon is kind of overlooked compared to Charmander and its super popular evolution Charizard. Even though the player spends so much time with Charmeleon before it evolves in a playthrough. But I'm sure a lot of players are just anticipating it evolving into Charizard. I'm not too crazy about it being red. I find it a little odd that Charmeleon becomes red, then Charizard goes back to being orange. I wonder if Charmeleon being orange would make the evolution line more cohesive. It looks good being red though and it does help it stand out a bit more from Charmander and Charizard. I also like that Charmeleon gains one horn, then Charizard gains another one resulting in its 2 horns.

 

[SlowAriados]

Charizard-

Charizard is the 2nd most popular Pokémon, right behind Pikachu. It was given so many forms in the later games! It even got two mega evolutions while the other Kanto starters only got one! How is that fair? And in Smash 4, it became its own fighter separate from the Pokémon Trainer. But I can understand why its so popular though, Charizard is an awesome fire dragon! It is not a Dragon type though, that would be unfair since Dragon resists all of the main Starter types. I feel like Fire/Flying still fits fine. At least one of its Mega Evolutions got to be part Dragon type. Charizard is pretty well balanced in its stats, with a focus on high Speed and Special Attack so its fire attacks hit hard. It's odd that Charizard was actually weak to Ice in Gen 1, since Fire types didn't resist Ice type moves back then. But because the Flying type is weak to Ice, this resulted in Charizard being weak to Ice. This didn't make much sense at all. It's good this was fixed in the next generation where Fire started resisting Ice. Charizard is probably my favorite Kanto starter.

Nickname Ideas: Rhyhorn, Charcoal

 

[SlowAriados]

Squirtle-

I feel like Squirtle's design has a lot of personality to it. I feel it has more personality than the other 1st stage Kanto starters. I'm not sure how to describe it exactly. Fun fact, there's a race horse named "Squirtle Squirt." Named after Squirtle, I guess it's based off the sound it makes in the anime. It's cool that, like Ivysaur and Charizard, Squirtle got to be a Smash Bros fighter. Also, I feel like its shiny form's green shell may be a reference to Koopa shells.

 

[SlowAriados]

Wartortle-

Wartortle's colors are kind of inconsistent between the different games. Sometimes it's a bluish color, and sometimes it's more of a purpleish color. They even recolored its blue Ruby/Sapphire sprite to make it purple in Emerald. I wonder why there's this inconsistency. I think I prefer the more bluish color, so it can match its evolution line better. I like the furry ears and tail it gains, they're wing-like. I don't like how it just loses them completely once it evolves into Blastoise. I think Blastoise's canons are cooler though, so Wartortle should have started developing the canons imo. Like maybe it could have gained one small canon or something. That way the evolution line would be better connected.

 

[SlowAriados]

Blastoise-

Blastoise and its water canons are just so cool. The design is pretty simple, Blastoise is basically a big sea turtle with water canons attached. It's simple, but it's pretty effective. I do kinda wish that the sea turtle and water canon ideas were connected a little smoother though. Blastoise is mainly a defensive Pokémon despite the design focus on its canons. It has high Defense and Special Defense, and its other stats are decent. I guess its large shell explains its high defenses. Its water canon shots often aren't as powerful as it would seem. Despite the design focusing on its canons, its Special Attack is pretty decent but not amazing. Are Blastoise's canons/spouts made of metal? Or are they organic and just look metal? Im guessing they just look metal, but are made of some kind of organic material.

Nickname Ideas: ShellShock

 

[SlowAriados]

Caterpie-

Caterpie is the first early route bug Pokémon. Many generations have one or more. Caterpie being the first is pretty straightforward. Its design is a pretty basic caterpillar one, it's pure Bug type, has a very limited movepool, and very weak stats. It only learned Tackle and String Shot for the first few generations until it finally learned a few more moves. Caterpie has a straightforward evolution line too, it evolves into a cocoon, then a butterfly Pokémon. No gimmicks like some of the later caterpillar lines have. Caterpie doesn't last long as it quickly evolves at level 7.

Nickname Ideas: Cowterpie

 

[SlowAriados]

Metapod-

Metapod is the first and most basic cocoon Pokémon. Its design is also a basic cocoon design. But it does have the interesting trait of looking angry or sad depending on which way its facing, at least to me. It only learned Harden by levelup for the first few generations. And it could only learn Tackle and String Shot if you evolved it from a Caterpie. If you caught a Metapod from the wild, it would only have the move Harden. That's odd because don't all Metapod evolve from a Caterpie? Why wouldn't it have Caterpie's moves too? This almost makes it seem like wild Metapod were born as Metapods. Some wild ones are under level 7 too, but maybe some mutate and evolve early?

Nickname Ideas: Moon Stone, Luna, Meta

 

[SlowAriados]

Butterfree-

Butterfree is the first "butterfly" Pokémon. There are a few butterflies in the series. You really don't spend much time with Metapod as it evolves at level 10. I think Butterfree was intended as a Pokémon to be used more for the early game. It has okay stats and you get this final stage very early at level 10. But it's not necessarily a Pokémon you would want to keep using into the later game as there are stronger options at that point. But if you have a Butterfree with the ability Compound Eyes, that makes inaccurate moves like Sleep Powder have almost 100% accuracy instead of 75%. I didn't realize this before, that actually could be really useful! Since the early game bug lines often evolve very early, I think they're sort of meant to introduce the concept of evolution to the player. It's interesting that Butterfree seems to have an association with Psychic type moves as it can learn a few of them like Confusion, Psybeam, and Psychic. I'm not sure where this association comes from, maybe because of its compound eyes? Butterfree is the first Bug/Flying type, and there are many more Bug/Flying type Pokémon in the series. Bug and Flying are types that naturally go well together, since many bugs have wings.

Nickname Ideas: Buttercup

 

[SlowAriados]

Weedle-

Weedle is the counterpart to Caterpie. It has slightly different stats and is a dual Bug/Poison type. In earlier generations, it only learned Poison Sting and String Shot, before learning a couple of other moves in later gens. With it only having Poison Sting (power of 15) as an attacking move, it really could not do much damage. But at least it had a pretty good chance to poison the target. I think this makes it more dangerous to face in the wild than Caterpie. I usually just run away from wild Weedle in the early game. If my Pokémon gets poisoned, I have to run all the way back to the Pokémon Center or else it'll faint. I sometimes fight wild Pokémon I come across for experience in the early game, but it's not worth the risk for Weedle imo.

 

[SlowAriados]

Kakuna-

Kakuna is the Beedrill line's cocoon stage. Some bee and wasp species do actually have worm-like larvae that go into a cocoon phase. I never knew that many bees and wasps have a cocoon phase! I was wondering if the idea of Kakuna was realistic. Kakuna is Metapod's counterpart, it has slightly different stats and also is a dual Bug/Poison type. At least wild Kakuna can't poison you like Weedle can, so defeating it or any wild cocoon Pokémon is basically free exp since they can't attack.

 

[SlowAriados]

Beedrill-

Beedrill is similar to Butterfree as it seems like it is meant more for early game and has okay stats. It was a little unfair that Beedrill got a signature move (Twin Needle) and Butterfree didn't. Though I guess they had to do something with Beedrill's prominent arm stingers. But at least Butterfree gets the amazing Compound Eyes + Sleep Powder combo. It's interesting that Beedrill got a Mega Evolution, but Butterfree didn't. However, Butterfree got a Gigantimax form and Beedrill didn't. In Gen 1, it was one of the few Bug types to actually learn multiple Bug type moves. Many Bug type Pokémon in Gen 1 had very little to no Bug type attacks they could learn. For example, Butterfree couldn't learn any damaging Bug type attacks in Gen 1. The Beedrill line is the first Bug/Poison one, and there are a lot of Bug/Poison type Pokémon in the series. Like with Bug/Flying, Bug and Poison naturally mix well together as some bugs are poisonous. However, unlike the Butterfree line gaining its secondary type (Flying) at its final stage, every stage of the Beedrill line already has their secondary typing (Poison).

Nickname Ideas: Barry

 

[SlowAriados]

Pidgey-

Despite its name, Pidgey looks more like a sparrow or eagle to me than a pigeon. Pidgey is the first early route bird Pokémon in the series. In the wild, it's commonly seen in many routes of Kanto and Johto. It has the role of being a very common Pokémon that's not very valuable/rare. The Pidgey line doesn't have the greatest stats, and it's not hard to find a Pidgey since they're everywhere. You need Pokémon to fill this role, and you also need Pokémon that fill the role of being rare and valuable.

This is also the first Pokémon to be Normal/Flying type, and this started a trend. I wonder why they decided to make average birds Normal/Flying rather than just Flying type. They tried making pure Flying early route bird Pokémon with Rookidee and Corvisquire in Galar, so maybe there will be more pure Flying type birds. It feels weird to me when a bird is pure Flying type. It just feels weird to me, I don't know how to describe it. Maybe I'm not used to it because we've been accustomed to Normal/Flying types for so many years. Maybe if the Pokémon series had pure Flying type birds when it started, it wouldn't feel weird.

I guess I feel like flying is an action, and a bird isn't usually constantly flying. So the Normal type helps it feel more "grounded." I don't know, it's a weird Pokémon thing. I feel like average bird Pokémon should probably be Normal/Flying type rather than pure Flying. But maybe they can make pure Flying birds work. Gamefreak was originally thinking of making the "Bird type" instead of Flying type. That would have solved this "Normal/Flying" situation, but the Bird type wouldn't apply to other Flying Pokémon that aren't birds like Charizard.

 

[SlowAriados]

Wow, I didn't expect to write that much about Pidgey of all Pokémon! 3 paragraphs! Though most of it is me babbling on about the "Normal/Flying" situation in the series. I find that fascinating and Pidgey started it.

 

[SlowAriados]

Pidgeotto-

I think Pidgeotto looks really cool and powerful. It has okay stats, which is expected for a middle evolution stage. I like how it starts growing the feather crest that Pidgeot is known for having. But I'm sure a few people mistakenly thought Pidgeotto was a rooster due to that red feather crest. Pidgeotto is not seen in the wild nearly as often as Pidgey. But interestingly, it is available in much more locations in Pokémon Yellow than the other Gen 1 games due to Ash having one in the anime. The player will spend quite a bit of time with Pidgeotto as it doesn't evolve into its final form until level 36.

 

[SlowAriados]

Pidgeot-

I think Pidgeot is very majestic and looks awesome. Its feather crest has fully formed, and it is long and colorful. But its stat spread isn't the greatest. I would say its stats are alright and pretty balanced. It has good Speed, decent Attack & HP, but its other stats are alright. I kinda wish its Attack was a little higher. You get this final form pretty late at level 36, so I wish it was just a little stronger. I can understand some though since it is part of an early route bird Pokémon line. But Pidgeot isn't bad though, and it has a Mega form in certain games. It is also the first fully evolved Normal/Flying bird. I think Pidgeot being part Normal type actually gives it more advantages than disadvantages. It is immune to Ghost moves and it gets Same Type Attack Bonus from its basic Normal attacking moves. It wouldn't have these advantages if it were just a pure Flying type. But the one disadvantage of being Normal/Flying type is that it doesn't resist Fighting moves. Fighting type moves will hurt more than expected.