With each new generation of Pokemon games comes a new batch of monsters to tame, befriend, and battle. As one would expect, many of these creatures boast incredible powers the likes of which could wreak havoc were they to exist in real life.
RELATED: Pokemon You Didn't Know Were Inspired By Real Life Animals
However, some remain incredibly weak even by Pokemon standards, having incredibly low base stats and being practically forgotten by the competitive meta. Even after having reached their fully-evolved form, these monsters barely do the name any justice. Trainers may want to avoid them altogether to save themselves the hassle. (Disclaimer: since this list looks at evolved forms, single-stage Pokemon are excluded.)
Updated August 4th, 2021 by Kirkland Fortner: Pokemon are wonderful and complex creatures. As such, even some of the weakest Pokemon can adapt and adjust in order to be useful. Sure, the stats are great indicators of base strength. However, the total usefulness of individual Pokemon can vary greatly depending upon how they are equipped and used. With that in mind, we have added a few tips on Moves and Abilities to aid players who may want to train and use these creatures. Additionally, strategies are discussed on the best ways to use these them. Some Pokemon just can’t overcome their low stats, but some of these can be fantastic additions to a team when used correctly.
10 Raticate (Base Stat Total: 413)
This Normal-type began the tradition of the staple "first-route rodent", and it continues to fill that niche with its lackluster stats. It regained a small bit of relevance in the Gen 7 games with an Alolan form, but that unfortunately wasn't enough to bring it into the competitive scene. Kanto Raticate has decent Attack and Speed stats, but poor defenses. It has access to the wonderful ability Guts, which doubles your attack stat if you're infected with a status condition. This combines excellently with the item Flame Orb, as that is a guaranteed Burn after the first turn in a battle. It also can learn Swords Dance, further bolstering its attacking prowess.
Alolan Raticate has more even stats, and as such, is a lot better defensively, minus the new weaknesses it gets from its new Normal/Dark typing. Its ability Thick Fat, which reduces damage from Fire and Ice moves compliments this perfectly. However, for as good as these points are, it does not prevent either version of Raticate from being rather mediocre.
9 Vivillon (Base Stat Total: 411)
Vivillon's main gimmick is that it has many different color patterns. The color of the creature depends on where in the real world it was caught or evolved. A Vivillon from North America will look completely different from one found in Europe. Much like Raticate before it, this is a weak/mediocre Pokemon with some strong tools it can use.
Vivillon has a great ability in Compound Eyes, boosting the accuracy of all moves by 30% just inherently. This is important, as Vivillon can learn a very powerful Special Flying-type move, Hurricane. This move has 110 base power but only 70% accuracy. However, with the Compound Eyes Ability, this stat gets boosted to 91%, making it far more reliable. The player can further strengthen Vivillon with Quiver Dance, a move most Bug-types can learn that boosts Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed, all in the same turn. However, due to Vivillons frailty, both in terms of its typing of Bug/Flying and its lacking HP and defenses, Vivillon must be sent out the most opportune time for it to be effective.
8 Sudowoodo (Base Stat Total: 410)
There actually is not a whole lot that can be said about Sudowoodo. Its base stat total is tied with the likes of Medicham and Bibarel, which potentially outclass the fake tree thanks to their abilities and higher Speed stats.
RELATED: Every Pure Rock Pokemon, Ranked
Sudowoodo does have the amazing combination that is the ability Rock Head and the move Head Smash. Rock Head prevents any recoil damage from moves, and Head Smash is an extremely powerful Rock-type move, that now no longer has any drawbacks. However, with all of that said, Sudowoodo suffers a lot from its pure Rock-typing and low Special Defense and Speed stats, so that does make it rather difficult to use.
7 Wobbuffet (Base Stat Total: 405)
Savvy players know not to let Wobbuffet's low stats fool them. This is one the best Pokemon you could ever use in the single-player game. Wobbuffet's defining trait is that it cannot attack, it can only counterattack. As such, the Moves Counter and Mirror Coat are Wobbuffet's only attacking options. Here's where things get interesting, though.
Wobbufett has a ridiculously high HP stat at base 190 points, meaning it can survive some really big hits, even with its low defenses. The way Counter and Mirror Coat work is that they take the last Physical or Special hit done to you respectively, and hits the opponent with it for double the damage you took. Think about that. Double the damage. That is an insane multiplier. Because of this, Wobbuffet can KO Pokemon significantly stronger than it. Wobbuffet also has the ability Shadow Tag, which prevents non-Ghost Pokemon from escaping, meaning any opponent fighting this thing is forced to until it's KO'ed. What makes this strategy so effective in single-player is that Pokemon AI is very predictable. All the player needs to do is know when to use Counter or Mirror Coat at the right time, and suddenly they'll be getting a bunch of easy KO's left and right.
6 Delcatty (Base Stat Total: 400)
This fancy feline lives up to its title as the Prim Pokemon, but its looks don't help when it comes to battle. Before generation 7, this Pokemon did not have a single stat over 70. Thankfully now, it has at least 90 points in its Speed stat.
Unfortunately, that's all it really has going for it, because Delcatty cannot use its Speed effectively. Its attacking stats are poor. It cannot take hits very well even with its pure Normal typing giving it only one weakness and one immunity, and its Abilities don't really do much for it. The Abilities Normalize and Wonder Skin are nice, but they just are not enough to pull Delcatty out of the dumpster it's in.
5 Beautifly (Base Stat Total: 395)
A big trend for Bug-type Pokemon in the games is that they evolve quickly, but maintain mediocre stats. These next entries showcase this to a painfully obvious degree, as all entries from here on out are bugs. Our bug line-up begins with Beautifly.
RELATED: Reasons Ice Is The Worst Pokemon Type (& Why It's Bug)
Beautifly is essentially just a poorer version of Vivillon. It has the same Bug/Flying typing, and lacking defenses, but it's missing a lot of the tools that made Vivillon interesting. Unfortunately, the tools it does have are not very impressive. Its only good Ability is Swarm. While it does have Quiver Dance (see above), it does not have a very strong Move to really annihilate opponents with the boosted stats. Additionally, unlike most Bug-types, Beautifly doesn't even learn most of the power Moves that inflict statuses on the opponent. This is a Pokemon that really has no strong points.
4 Ledian (Base Stat Total: 390)
Ledian is a ladybug that most players forget even exists. There's a good reason for that. It has really high Special Defense and Speed, and that's about it. This rather bizarre combination of high stats makes Ledian is extremely difficult for most players to use. Its attacking stats are absolutely terrible.
Ledian's Bug/Flying typing gives it a lot of weaknesses. Its only good Ability is Iron Fist, which boosts the power of punching moves by 20%. It learns a lot of status and support moves, so very experienced players could maybe use it as a supportive Pokemon, but that will be the extent of its services.
3 Dustox (Base Stat Total: 385)
Though this moth tries to serve as a counterpart to Beautifly, it proves itself worse by having fewer stat points. Many players find it actually kind of astounding how bad Dustox is.
Its individual stats are atrocious. It has a low attacking stat as it tries to be more defensive but even fails at that. The Bug/Poison typing does give it some nice resistance. However, because it's so slow, it'll be taking more hits than it deals. Shield Dust and Compound Eyes are both good Abilities, but Dustox learns basically nothing that Compound Eyes can take advantage of, making players wonder why it even has it to being with, and Shield Dust is only useful some of the time.
2 Kricketune (Base Stat Total: 384)
Oddly enough, Kricketune has higher attack and HP stats than Raticate from before. As indicated by the lower base stat total, though, it falls incredibly short in terms of speed and defenses.
Kricketune's pure Bug typing is both a good and a bad thing, as the lack of dual typing means it has fewer weaknesses, but that also means it has less STAB type. Kricketune does have access to a solid Ability in Technician, which increases the strength of moves that have 60 base power or less by 50%, so that's something. Otherwise, expect this Pokemon to faint on the same turn it enters battle: a shame, considering the cricket's cult following surrounding its battle cry.
1 Shedinja (Base Stat Total: 236)
Shedinja is one of the most interesting Pokemon in the game, though not entirely in good ways. It is a purely gimmick Pokemon much like Wobbuffet. Shedinja is the epitome of easy to understand, hard to master. Here's the thing. Shedinja only ever has 1 HP, meaning it dies after one hit no matter what. It also cannot take any damage from status effects, entry hazards, or weather effects, as that will also KO it. Additionally, due to its unique Bug/Ghost typing, it's weak to Flying, Ghost, Rock, Fire, and Dark moves. Its Ability, Wonder Guard, tries to circumvent this, as it makes Shedinja completely immune to any move that does not deal super-effective damage.
So, using Shedinja is more about knowledge and experience than anything else, as having a good feel on what moves Pokemon generally learn and will use makes using Shedinja a lot easier. Players can give it the item Focus Sash to always give Shedinja an extra hit, as that item prevents Pokemon from being KOed at full HP. The bottom line, Shedinja can be a great Pokemon for a guaranteed win, but only if the player sends it in at the absolute best time.
NEXT: Pokemon Sword & Shield: The 15 Strongest Galar Pokemon, Ranked
