Pokemon you used to dislike, but have grown fond of over time.

[Gengarzilla]

I am still a bit annoyed that it feels like a min-maxed Machamp in a lot of ways, but Machamp does have the No Guard niche going for it.

Younger me clung so hard onto this niche like it was some sort of lifeline, I swear. At least I can laugh at myself now.

 

[Puddle]

I used to think that the Galar fossils were the worst thing to ever happen to Pokemon, but they've grown on me over time, and I'm actually starting to like them. They remind me of that enjoyably spooky feeling I get when I see fossils of long-extinct creatures in natural history museums. The Ken Sugimori illustrations give them a bit more character, as well. I like how their shiny forms look like they came out of an old, faded Victorian encyclopedia, which fits their design inspiration perfectly.

 

[Daenerys]

I used to hate Yanmega when I first saw its sprite, but now I think it's all right thanks to the anime. I also thought Venusaur was super ugly in Gen 1, but now it's cool.

 

[nickdt]

Popplio was my least favorite Alola starter when it was first revealed, but after seeing all the hate, when i needed to decide which starter i needed to choose, i remembered the hate it got, so i decided to choose it and i haven't regretted it ever since, since it (And Primarina - who is my favorite water starter) have really grown on me, more so than Rowlet (Decidueye) or Litten (Incineroar) have. I betrayed the Rowlet Squad for the Popplio Defense Force.

 

[Minya_Nouvelle]

This happens with a lot of pokemon for me; I often need time adjusting to new pokemon ever since gen 5. However, the most notable one is Swoobat. For the longest time I thought Swoobat was really ugly and I thought I was always going to feel that way. Then one day, I saw a picture of it in a book of stickers and it had legs and now I love it and think its design is adorable and awesome.

 

[Fan of Jarrus]

I did not care for Stonjourner, but I caught a shiny one and starting to like it. She is my first Sword shiny.

 

[RK9]

Jolteon. I never really cared for Jolteon before but I love it nowadays.

 

[Kung Fu Ferret]

Perrserker. Wasn't a fan of the idea of Meowth getting another regional form, initially. But I love the idea of having a viking Pokemon.

 

[CynthiaLover]

Rhyperior. Granted, I never disliked it, as I was more neutral toward it, but I never loved it either. However, during a recent Platinum run I tried out for 2 reasons: because I never used one before and as a pseudo HM slave that wouldn't be dead weight. Turns out, as a result, I came to rather like it. Design-wise, it is a vast improvement over Rhydon, who had a rather bland design (something that a lot of Gen 1 Mons have in common). Battle-wise, while it's slow as a Metapod in molasses (though Rock Polish does help to a degree), it hits like a freaking Mack truck, and can take plenty of punishment (unless it's against Special hitters, then it crumples easily). Solid Rock is also a rather solid (pun intended) ability, as it helps cushion its bevy of weaknesses, while Lightning Rod, while largely useless on it for the most part, can be a great redirector to single-target Elec moves like Thunderbolt in double battles, even thought the Special Attack buff it gets from it means nothing to it. So, yeah, while I never hated it initially, I came to appreciate Rhyperior as of recent. It's actually a pretty good Mon.

 

[Nichole the Otter]

Popplio was my least favorite Alola starter when it was first revealed, but after seeing all the hate, when i needed to decide which starter i needed to choose, i remembered the hate it got, so i decided to choose it and i haven't regretted it ever since, since it (And Primarina - who is my favorite water starter) have really grown on me, more so than Rowlet (Decidueye) or Litten (Incineroar) have. I betrayed the Rowlet Squad for the Popplio Defense Force.

The saga of Popplio being hated so much reminds me of all the hate Oshawott got during B/W's pre-release period, and both got redeemed with decent-looking final stages. Primarina is actually my favourite final stage Water starter and combines my two favourite types while also having decent bulk, so you can't go wrong with it. Popplio's line also has advantages over every Kahuna in Alola, given Popplio learns Disarming Voice early.

I personally don't understand why Rowlet is the most popular of the Alola trio, as its design doesn't really look any special to me.

 

[RK9]

I personally don't understand why Rowlet is the most popular of the Alola trio, as its design doesn't really look any special to me.

As someone who used it in Ultra Sun cause I used Primarina in Sun...

I agree. The games aren't that hard and yet it kept dying to everything. While the rest of the team pretty much never did.

Design cool, battle prowess it might as well be useless.

Sinister Arrow Raid is cool though.

TlDr: Pick Primarina. You won't regret it, I promise.

 

[CalamityRobin]

I really didn't like Cradily, but I actively tried to change my opinion of it by using it in a playthrough and it worked - it really grew on me. I tried the same thing recently with Grapploct and it worked again. I've also recently found an appreciation for Timburr, Gurdurr and Conkeldurr, which were my least favourite Unovan Pokemon before.

 

[NintendoQueen]

I used to be so put off by Trubbish and Garbodor. I used to think " Why the f--- did they come up with a Pokemon based around GARBAGE?!"
Then once I started playing Shield, I fell in love with Trubbish and Garbodor. Garbodor is actually one of my strongest Pokemon in my party on Shield! ^_^

 

[goomsthegoomy]

i used to hate feebas because i always thought that "oh, it's just another version of a useless magikarp." then i learned that it could evolve into the beautiful milotic, and that you can teach feebas some decent moves and give it a moveset, unlike magikarp, who absolutely refuses to learn anything. feebas may be useless, it may be ugly, but it evolves into something great. i think it's a decent mon now.

 

[GrookeyFan77]

I used to dislike Inteleon, Cinderace and Scorbunny but quite like them now. I disliked Inteleon beacuse it was too skinny and Scorbunny and Cinderace because they looked like clowns and Grookey was 1000 times better than them. I especially disliked Cinderace because it was not like the edgy and great Raboot. After using them they were better.

As someone who used it in Ultra Sun cause I used Primarina in Sun...

I agree. The games aren't that hard and yet it kept dying to everything. While the rest of the team pretty much never did.

Design cool, battle prowess it might as well be useless.

Sinister Arrow Raid is cool though.

TlDr: Pick Primarina. You won't regret it, I promise.

What? I played the game with Decidueye, it put in a lot of work. Its diverse movepool was great! It was very helpful against Araquanid, Lurantis, Olivia, Hapu and More!

 

[CynthiaLover]

I used to dislike Tsareena since it felt too human-like for me. Plus, thanks to gaining moves like Punishment and Power Whip caused it to steer waaaaaay too close to dominatrix, a subject that shouldn't be in a "kid's game" (and I don't like concept of dominatrix to begin with). I'm also not fond of the Grass-type in general, due to the bevy of weaknesses and often lackluster movepools. However, after using one, including a shiny one, in certain playthroughs (mainly Sword) did I come to see just what a beast she can be. While I don't use "competitive" versions of her (ie: using moves like Power Whip and High Jump Kick, as I'd rather trade power for accuracy) I've come to appreciate her. The fact that she has an actually solid movepool, which is a rare gift for Grass Mons (especially pure Grass Mons), great stats, and the useful Queenly Majesty to shut down priority moves makes her pretty good. While I'm still not 100% fond of her dominatrix/human-like design, I have come to appreciate her battling prowess.

 

[Bahamut]

I used to dislike Umbreon because I thought it was "overrated", but when I used one in battle, I changed my opinion on it. Umbreon might not be the best Pokemon when it comes to offense, but it's really bulky! I'm a not super big Eeveelution fan, and I don't use them often in battles, but Umbreon is my favorite Eeveelution because of its design and bulkiness! Umbreon has a cool shiny too, and black & blue is a nice color combination. Umbreon is one of my favorite Pokemon too.

 

[goomsthegoomy]

i used to hate dragonite mostly because lance ruined them for me, but once i learned how strong 'n bulky they are, i soon grew to love this derpy dragon. i had it as my ace pokemon since the gen it was introduced, and loved it ever since.

 

[CynthiaLover]

As of recent, Alakazam. Now hear me out, for the longest time I didn't like the Psychic type. Especially the Gen 1 Psychic Mons, as they were too uncanny to humans in appearance that legitimately creeped me out. Also, trade-based evolutions were the bane of my early days in the series. Now, to be clear, I don't mind human-based monsters such as Angewomon and Pixie, but in those cases they didn't beat about the bush and just went straight into natural human physiology. However, human-like Pokemon were rather off-putting because they look like a horribly fused hybrid that just didn't look natural. It took me until Gardevoir and Chimecho to start seeing Psychic as an okay type, and even in their case it was because they had more simplistic and natural-looking designs that better resembled Pokemon. However, as of a few recent playthroughs (one in Sword and a few Gen 4 playthroughs) where I picked up an Abra on a whim did I start to appreciate Alakazam. It's still not my favorite Psychic Mon (Gardevoir still holds that title), but I've gained some healthy respect for it because of how diverse its movepool is and how easily it can carry its own weight in the team. So, while I'm still iffy with Psychic Mons as a whole, especially Gen 1 Mons, I will say that Alakazam has earned my respect as of late.

 

[charlycicero]

Also, trade-based evolutions were the bane of my early days in the series.

I dare say, this was for all of us who started with the original GB / GBA games. I actually didn't start to trade until X/Y where the online feature was widely available and easy to use. Before that, I didn't even think of using trade-evolution Pokemon in my teams. And that was a shame since I always have liked Gengar quite a bit and I didn't get to use one until fairly recently.