Not all Pokemon can be strong but these species can be considered very much underpowered in Pokemon Go.
Some fans will have only watched the anime, while others will have played various Pokemon games outside Pokemon Go. There will be some species that are made to look very strong – think of Magmar in Season 2 – but are fairly mediocre in the games.
Then there are other Pokemon that are strong in particular games – such as Dragonite in Pokemon Red and Blue – but doesn’t have the same allure in Pokemon Go. Here are five species that aren’t as strong as they should be in Pokemon Go.
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5. Blastoise
Blastoise was one of the original powerhouses in the Pokemon series. It was considered close to, if not as strong as Charizard back when the franchise began.
However, in Pokemon Go, it lags behind its Gen 1 counterpart. Trainers can tell this simply by using them both but the stats also back this up.
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Blastoise’s attack, defense, and stamina stat all add up to 566. Meanwhile, the ever-popular Charizard reaches 582 in comparison.
The original water-starter doesn’t have the attack stats to be of use in Raid Battles and while its defense is ideal for GO Battle League, its low energy generating Fast Moves severely limits it.
4. Ho-Oh
The Fire-bird Pokemon doesn’t befit its iconic status when it comes to Pokemon Go. It was obviously the cover-star of Pokemon Gold and by that virtue alone you’d think it should hold more weight in the mobile game’s meta. It doesn’t, though.
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Interestingly Ho-Oh does have superb stats although they are behind its Gen 2 counterpart Lugia. Nevertheless, with attack, defense and stamina all above 200, it would be reasonable to expect more from it.
“The Guardian of the Skies” is limited by the moves it has available. It has average at best Fast Moves and what’s worse is none of them match up with its fire or flying type, meaning it can’t take advantage of STAB.
None of these Fast Moves provide good energy generation either. This issue is amplified by the fact that none of its Charge Moves are particularly appealing.
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Brave Bird requires 55 energy but is only effective against a handful of types. Even the addition of Earthquake in the Johto Throwback Challenge doesn’t really help Ho-Oh.
This makes it mediocre in the PvE format and completely outgunned in PvP. It’s a shame considering how big of a part Ho-Oh is in the Pokemon franchise.
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3. Dragonite
There’s little wrong with Dragonite. It has the stats (especially attack) and excellent moves to compliment them.
However, there are a lot of dragon types that are simply better. Both Giratina forms, Reshiram, Dialga, Palkia, Rayquaza and the forthcoming Zekrom are all preferable.
It’s unfortunate considering Dragonite may be the most recognizable dragon-type species but with so many ‘real’ Legendary Pokemon being a dragon-type, there is little room for the original Dragon to fit in.
2. Suicune
For whatever reason the Johto beasts were never respected as competitive Pokemon. Whether they just couldn’t compete with the likes of Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres – who have been given fresh Galarian forms – or if it was their design, they seem to be almost forgotten legends.
Of the three it is Suicune that has got the short straw. For some reason Entei and Raikou have a significantly higher max CP.
On top of this Suicune has a terrible moveset – no water-type Fast Moves and nothing that really appeals on the charge front either. This mixed with a relatively low 180 attack relegates the Aurora Pokemon to one of the worst legends in the game.
1. Deoxys (all of them)
Deoxys and its various forms may be Mythical but that doesn’t stop them, well most of them, from being pretty much useless. A reasonable defense stat is mandatory in Pokemon Go and with the exception of its Defense Forme, none of them have it.
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The Defense variant is actually a formidable option in GO Battle Great League but outside of that, including PvE, Deoxys will get beat quickly. Unless Niantic decides to edit it at some point, the Psychic DNA Pokemon will be very much over-hyped in the confines of Pokemon Go.
There are always going to be some Pokemon which aren’t as strong as trainers expect them to be. That’s just the law of the world – on the other hand, there are plenty of species that are overpowered too.
It’s also interesting to note just how weak some Legendary Pokemon are. This is understandable though since species outside of the legend pool need to be able to compete as well.
