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Second Stage Pokémon You Like Better Than Their Final Stage

Patrick Haines

Lone Scribe for the Lord of Time
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There are plenty of Pokémon whose Basic Stage I like more than their Final Stage (ie. Tepig and Turtwig), but there are also quite a few Pokémon that I wish just stayed at their second stage because they are so much cooler. There are also some Second Stages that I train alongside their Final Evolutions because I love them both equally. (This is only for Pokémon with three evolutions). Please share your thoughts.

Charmeleon-I love Charizard and train him in practically every game, but Charmeleon (imo) is cooler. On a scale of 1-10, I like Charizard 9.9 and Charmeleon 10.

Nidorino, Seadra, Lairon-I like all of their final evolutions, I just like the middle ones more. Mostly it is due to their design or the personalities they have in my stories, but I always struggle having them evolve to the final stage.

Pidgeotto, Quilava, Dewott, Fletchinder
-I don't hate their final evolutions, but I almost wish these were the final evolutions of their lines. Sleeker, smarter, less "monstrous" than the final stage.

Rhydon, Magmar, Electabuzz-These three are a little different because they used to be final evolutions and now they aren't. I wish they still were. I HATE their final stages. The only positive is that Eviolite exists and I can play with them at a decently competitive level now. I wasn't a fan of most of Gen 4s new evolutions, but these three take the cake.

Please let me know if you agree/disagree/have any that you feel the same way.
 
The second stages I actually prefer over the final stages aren't actually a lot so, I will try to list all of them.
I prefer: Kadabra to Alakazam; Dusclops to Dusknoir; Herdier to Stoutland; Palpitoad to Seismitoad...; And I guess that's all for me...

Of the ones you said, I agree with Lairon and Dewott.
 
Marshtomp :love:, Palpitoad, Dewott, Pidgeotto, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Poliwhirl, Porygon2, Dragonair, Bayleef, Quilava, Nuzleaf, Metang, Pignite, Sligoo, Charjabug.
 
Marshtomp :love:, Palpitoad, Dewott, Pidgeotto, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Poliwhirl, Porygon2, Dragonair, Bayleef, Quilava, Nuzleaf, Metang, Pignite, Sligoo, Charjabug.

MARSHTOMP...Nooooo. I love the whole line, but Mudkip is my favorite and I kick ass with Mega Swampert. I kind of forgot about Pikachu.... and yes, maybe Metang.

@Hojewmire I really like Kadabra and Dusclops too, but Alakazam (especially with Mega) and Dusknoir edge them out by just a little.
 
I like dragonair and sliggoo but hate dragonite and goodra, I prefer jigglypuff to wigglytuff (though I do like wigglytuff), I prefer gothorita to gothitelle, I like dusclops more than dusknoir, and I like togetic more than togekiss.
 
This is hard as there are a lot of three stage Pokémon I like throughout the evolutionary line. I guess ones I like a bit more compared to their first and third stage though would be: Dragonair, Quilava, Flaaffy, Nidorino, Vigoroth, Braixen, and Hakamo-o. Like I said though, the ones I list I still love their whole line anyway.
 
My latest Pokemon to meet this category is Litten, or should I say its middle form Torracat. The difference between Torracat and its final evolution (which for the duration of this post shall remain nameless) is like the difference between Dragonair and Dragonite (except that I kinda liked Dragonite's design, however cartoony it was).
 
Porygon 2 is definitely the one that jumps to mind first.

Rhydon though, I think I prefer over Rhyperior. It's not that Rhyperior looks bad to me per say, I just, like Rhydon way better. Other than that, I have nothing really.

Also, jesus lord. The hate for Dragonite. Poor thing. Since I absolutely love Dragonite, I don't see what's wrong with it, so if someone could enlighten me. Please do so.
 
Dragonair is a beautiful serpent from the sea that can fly and has a very peaceful blue & white palette. Dragonite drops all that in favor of a look straight outta Dragon Tales.
 
I like Wartortle a lot, but Blastoise is meh at best. Evolution takes away all of Wartortle's unique features like its tail, and ears to end up like a fatter Squirtle with cannons.
 
Some starters tend to be obvious choices. Sometimes it takes a while to warm up to the final stage. Like, in my opinion, Marshtomp, Quilladin, Frogadier, and Torracat were all kinda better. Well, that's not quite the right word. It's more like, I wasn't initially happy where their designs took them. But of course, after using them, I warmed up more to the final evolutions.

Porygon2 is a nonstarter I can think of. But that's kind of a different case, Porygon-Z isn't meant to be an "upgrade" but more of a different way to use it.

Oh, does it just have to be a "middle" evolution? Cuz I much prefer Wooper to Quagsire and Wynaut to Wobbafett.
 
Ivysaur, Wartortle, Clefairy, Poliwhirl (vs. Poliwrath), Electabuzz, Magmar, Rhydon, Porygon2, Togetic, Grovyle, Marshtomp, Combusken, Roselia, Grotle, Staravia, Frogadier, Floette and Torracat.
 
Some starters tend to be obvious choices. Sometimes it takes a while to warm up to the final stage. Like, in my opinion, Marshtomp, Quilladin, Frogadier, and Torracat were all kinda better. Well, that's not quite the right word. It's more like, I wasn't initially happy where their designs took them. But of course, after using them, I warmed up more to the final evolutions.

Porygon2 is a nonstarter I can think of. But that's kind of a different case, Porygon-Z isn't meant to be an "upgrade" but more of a different way to use it.

Oh, does it just have to be a "middle" evolution? Cuz I much prefer Wooper to Quagsire and Wynaut to Wobbafett.

I was going to do another post later (based on whether this one drew any interest) on which Basic Pokémon you like better than their final stage. I def prefer Wooper to Quagsire, but that list is much longer than my second stage love. Marshtomp is becoming the new Dragonair. I like them both, but I like Dragonite better and Swampert is one of my favorite Pokémon ever. Top 10 def.
 
A few more I remembered: Buizel looks nicer to me than Floatzel for some reason even though the design changes weren’t as drastic.

In the Popplio line, I prefer Brionne over its pré evolution and evolution.
 
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