It’s a commonly held belief in the Pokemon community that every Pocket Monster has at least one fan. Even the most niche and underpowered Pokemon has someone defending it in fan forums and Reddit threads, and some – like Bidoof and Magikarp – are even elevated to meme status.
Some Pokemon are too heavily pushed by The Pokemon Company in the eyes of the community, though, leading creatures who should be fan-favorites on paper to end up being slammed by players online.
This was the case in a recent fan debate, where a Pokemon player asked the community to chip in with examples of creatures they dislike but others seem to adore. The replies did not disappoint, with scorching hot takes about some of the most seemingly beloved Pokemon and Generations.
Alongside expected examples like Charizard and Incineroar, a surprising amount of players picked Gengar as their least favorite ‘mon.
One player noted, “To me, it kinda felt like Game Freak decided to push Gengar really hard in advertising for some reason or another,” referring to its presence in a variety of games like Pokken and Unite before slamming it as “A generic blob with a grinning face”.
Gen 1 Pokemon are often considered darlings of the community, but many players aired their grievances with the original line-up here. A player declared, “I’m not a fan of most of the popular Gen 1 Pokemon. Charizard, Gengar, Gyarados, Mewtwo, and Nidoking all have designs that I find either boring or ugly.”
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Being seen too many times in Pokemon games and anime episodes seemed to be a sticking point for many fans in the thread. One popular pick for a hated critter was Greninja, with one player simply dubbing it, “Midninja”.
Lucario was similarly tanked by players in the thread, with one calling it “unbelievably overrated” and another saying, ” I personally find it boring and its concept is overrated, I really don’t care for it.”
If you’ve been in the Pokemon community for a while, you’ll know that sentiment about the most overrated Pocket Monsters changes with every new game release or anime season.
It’ll be fascinating to see whether Pokemon Legends Z-A changes popular opinion on beloved Pokemon when it comes out. If the game opts to feature new starter variants or Mega Evolutions for fan-favorites, it’s possible we could see a dramatic shift in community sentiment.
