[SPOILERS] Which are your favorite Pokemon from Gen IX's full roster?

[ValiantIvashkov]

I see alot of people crap on the gen 9 pokemon. While I agree that this games psuedo legendary SUCKED, i do have a few pokemon I like.

My favorite in the past 3 or so gens is probably Annihlape. He's so cool and Final Gambit is OP.

 

[Nicolas721]

I already did a thread about this:https://forums.bulbagarden.net/inde...rite-pokemon-from-gen-ixs-full-roster.295224/ but my favorite is Fuecoco.

 

[Morningstar]

Tinkaton, Miraidon, Iron Valiant, Cerluedge, Dolliv,

I tend to like me some adorable mons, and I like the Violet exclusives more than the Scarlet ones.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Here's my top 10 favorites!

1. Clodsire- OHMYGODIT'SSOCUTE! Seriously, Quagsire was already adorably dopey, but here they went up a notch by designing Clodsire like a litte bagel-blob with four teeny little paws. It's just incredibly huggable.
2. Palafin- I love this ridiculous dolphin-man so much. This is a really creative spin on the "heroic dolphin" archetype, and I even like that it's incredibly overpowered, because, well... what else do you expect from a Superman expy?
3. Skeledirge- my starter of choice, and a freaking awesome-looking one to boot. Not only am I happy that we have a truly beastly Fire-type starter after over two decades of humanoids (which isn't to say that I dislike the humanoids; it's just nice to have a little breath of fresh air every now and then), but Skeledirge has just so many creative details and elements to its design, which I get some people find messy and overwhelming, but to me that just makes it even more interesting.
4. Koraidon/Miraidon- I'm putting these two together because my reasons for liking them are plot-related (I like Koraidon slightly more design-wise and I also picked Scarlet, but those are minor details); it's just so cool that these games gave Legendaries so much personality, an actual arc, and a chance to bond with the player long before they can be "officially" caught. This is significant because it's very rare for me to like Legendary Pokemon this much, but due to how the games use these two, they've won my heart.
5. Greavard- It's such a precious ghost pupper! Ghost-types are always really fun, and this one is no different: the fact that it's so loving, loyal, and affectionate but unintentionally saps the life out of whoever it tries to befriend makes it especially endearing and tragic.
6. Grafaiai- I just think it looks cool. Poison-types rarely ever impress me much, but this one really resonated with me for some reason.
7. Farigiraf- I've been waiting for Girafarig to get any amount of attention for ages, and although an evolved form that has the head and tail fuse isn't how I expected said attention to happen, I really like the end result. I like that we have a giraffe Pokemon that looks more like a proper giraffe, and I do find the concept of a natural helmet to be very creative and cool.
8. Fidough- Literally a Beautiful Cinnamon Roll, Too Good For This Earth, Too Pure.
9. Cyclizar- This might just be because it's the present form of Koraidon and Miraidon, but in general I also think it's cute. And I really like the concept of Shed Tail.
10. Espatrha- I think it's really elegant-looking, and I like that we have an ostritch Pokemon. This Generation really gave us a lot of species that were missing out in rep.

 

[Camille]

Meowscarada - even if it is bipedial, I still like its sleek design, the movepool, and Protean (they should have never nerfed it).
Great Tusk - intimidating, has a good movepool, and unique typing.
Pawmot - pretty unique for an electric rodent, and a much cooler Electric/Fighting-type than Iron Hands.
I also like: Veluza, Baxcalibur, Glimmora, Flutter Mane, Tatsugiri, Kilowattrel, Iron Thorns, Clodsire, and Iron Valiant.

 

[R1ke]

My favs are
1) Skeledirge: Great surprise, loved the revseral from bipedal to quadrupedal (hasn’t been done since Oshawott) and fire/ghost is a sick typing. Combining a skeleton and lizard is pretty cool to me and it looks both cute/cool imo. Mine was a beast in game, torch song is great and it clutched against several endgame bosses (E4, Geeta, Turo, Nemona). I was unsure how Fuecoco would be differentiated from other reptilian starters but they did a great job here imo

2) Baxcalibur: My second ace, I didn’t think much of Frigibax but Artibax caught my eye, especially when I realised it was the psuedo. This did not disappoint, dragon/ice is a nice typing and it was really useful in game. Probably the biggest clutch was against Rika and Nemona, where it ko’d 2-3 mons and allowed me to make a comeback. I enjoyed pairing glaive rush with dragon claw/icicle crash and it was overall a great mon to use

3) Grafrarai: From the trailers I already liked it way back, but once I realised my Shroodle actually would evolve into it my excitement was through the roof. I just like the design and it had a fun hit-and-run playstyle, which I could use against stronger opponents. Even though it wasn’t on my main 6 by the end I always enjoyed using it. This little monkey isn’t the strongest but can throw you off if you’re not careful

4) Kingambit: I never used a Pawniard so I caught one as a reserve. It was surprisingly reliable due to its typing and solid attack stat. Since I had rotated my team it was pretty weak but it was one of the better members and would level up surprisingly quickly. It even became my ace against Grusha, taking down both Beartic and Altaria. Hence as a Bisharp I just kept it on my main squad and that power buff really let it shine. Then just when I thought it was at its peak, turns out it evolves again lmaoo. Kingambit is just a W evolution and made an already pleasant surprise even better. It’s distinct enough from Bisharp to warrant an evolution but doesn’t compromise on what made its design so great

5) Armarouge/Ceruledge: Charcadet I found by surprise when exploring snd despite the overlapping typing, I had to give it a shot. It was one of my most used battlers in early-mid game, that flame charge/will-o-wisp/clear smog/night shade set was just pretty versatile and powerful. I didn’t know how to evolve it though and wanted to use other mons, hence boxing it temporarily. Once I did I brought it back and man, what a monster Ceruledge was. Despite being underlevelled its swept Tulip in its first battle (took out last 3 mons without even terrastylising) and its bitter blade/wow/shadow sneak/shadow claw set was so powerful. It was mostly clutch against Eri (albeit in my first 2 attempts) and fire/ghost is a great typing once again. I also like Armarouge’s design more due to its resemblance to mega man but I prefer Ceruledge’s typing more. I was kinda sceptical of them going in but they were great

6) Pawmot: Honestly didn’t like Pawmi or Pawmo either, and even Pawmot took a while to get used to. I just would’ve liked more drastic changes among the line. But man this thing is good in game. It was actually fast, electric/fighting is a typing I’ve wanted for ages, close combat/double shock/wild charge hit pretty hard and revival blessing is busted. It’s grown on me

Might be a few paradox mons but these were on my main squad

 

[RK9]

Okay, so in no particular order, a top 10:

Meowscarada: When I read the leaks and saw the leaked Pokédex pictures, I was disappointed as hell. Went bipedal, 'waifumon' again, so I never considered it. Then Quaqaval dropped and I realized I don't want that and while Skeledirge was cool, it didn't fully win me over instantly in a convincing manner, and since I wanted to use both the new Water Tauros and Armarouge/Ceruledge, I went with the cat. And I have to say it grew on me a lot. Lots of personality in the Flower Trick animation, as well as in the overworld. Plays nicely with the types of mons I like to use (Fast Pokémon), and after seeing it in-game, I hvae to say it's anatomy is much more closer to just that of an actual animal standing up opposed to a person in a fursuit (looking at you, Cinderace and Inteleon). The theme'ing is great too so that helps. Not afraid to admit I had it fully wrong in my first view on this mon.

Armarouge: I know everyone preferred/went with Ceruledge instead, and as such, as a matter of principle, I went with Armarouge (plus I had Scarlet, so). And I have to say I like this dude so much. He's just a literal Megaman expy and I love it. Shame his animations other than Armor Cannon don't use the cannon shooting animation but he has a great movepool, cool humanoid design without being weird or creepy, and a great performance in battle (I'll never forget him tanking 2 Stone Edges to then kncok out the opponent. My goat.)

Tinkaton: Chaos in Pokémon form. A little gremlin. A metal thief. Her. I don't think I need to elaborate much else.

Farigiraf: I personally don't care or feel particularly anything for Girafarig, but when I first saw this, I was sold. I dunno if it's the color scheme but there's just something about it that makes me go "Aw, this is cute". It might just be the hoodie neck. Unfortunately didn't have much chance to use it in-game yet, but it's a cute giraffe in a hoodie. You don't need much other reason.

Flutter Mane: Another gremlin but this time floating. Despite what is essentially just a floating head, the picnic showed that Flutter Mane also displays a lot of personality, especially using the hair strips as equivalents to hands. It also helps Misdreavus had a good base design to work with and with the more rougher edge the Paradoxes add, it made the perfect Misdreavus follow up.

Koraidon: It seems Miraidon is a lot more popular (I guess because motorbike goes brrr and 5D's memes), but Koraidon is my jam. A prehistoric Dinosaur that you spend the entire game with and shows a lot of emotion in body language and facial expressions. It's great. It reminded me a lot of Reshiram and Zekrom in BW except now from the start. Additionally, it helped they showcased the other side of its personality in the 2nd, more feral of the species. What I particular like is the wings on his head, which is definitely something new since most Pokémon have wings attached to the back or elsewhere where it makes 'sense'.

Iron Valiant: The only Future Pokémon other than Miraidon I actually like, Iron Valiant sets itself apart from the others cause it's a design that had effort put into it by fusing Gardevoir and Gallade (The Megas). And then also added a cool 'twist' by not making Psychic despite being said to have been made to create the strongest Psychic Pokémon (Nice callback to Mewtwo too) and by also making it able to detach the wristblades (Though I do like it more with the wristblades attached).

Great Tusk: Big prehistoric elephant goes brrr. Great Tusk is everything I seek in a prehistoric species. An iconic animal with just the right touches of a feral edge to it without it becoming overly edgy or unrecognizable. Great typing too, and additionally, the way I just walked past it in its area and was completely caught off-guard was an experience for sure.

Slither Wing: I love how for this one, they went to direction of "What if Volcarona in the past actually stayed in closer touch with Larvesta's anatomy" and turned it into this. It showcases a good thought train regarding evolution that could have very well been possible in the past. Additionally, I love how it tends to stand up at random times, making it seem a lot bigger than I thought. Also, floof.

Espathra: I think it was long overdue we got a Pokémon like this. A cool concept (Ostrich + Cleopatra), it has a great signature move and an amazing shiny color scheme. Bonus points for catching me off-guard by being the evolution of Flittle, a thing I definitely did not realize until I cleared the game. I never made the connection before.

Honorable mentions go to Lokix, Pawmot, Toedscruel, and of course Ceruledge and Miraidon.

 

[RexMissingno]

1. Slither Wing
2. Iron Moth
3. Koraidon
4. Donodozo
5. Scovillain

 

[FelipePR]

Koraidon: It seems Miraidon is a lot more popular (I guess because motorbike goes brrr and 5D's memes), but Koraidon is my jam. A prehistoric Dinosaur that you spend the entire game with and shows a lot of emotion in body language and facial expressions. It's great. It reminded me a lot of Reshiram and Zekrom in BW except now from the start. Additionally, it helped they showcased the other side of its personality in the 2nd, more feral of the species. What I particular like is the wings on his head, which is definitely something new since most Pokémon have wings attached to the back or elsewhere where it makes 'sense'.

Well, Pokemon Violet outsold Pokemon Scarlet, and maybe motorbike goes brrr and 5D's memes could have some influence on that. But it doesn't seem to me that Miraidon is more popular than Koraidon. In Japan, at least, a recent survey of Gen IX's favorite Pokemon shows just the opposite.

Spoiler: Japanese poll

 

[RK9]

Well, Pokemon Violet outsold Pokemon Scarlet, and maybe motorbike goes brrr and 5D's memes could have some influence on that. But it doesn't seem to me that Miraidon is more popular than Koraidon. In Japan, at least, a recent survey of Gen IX's favorite Pokemon shows just the opposite.

Spoiler: Japanese poll

View attachment 167350

Granted, this is from the Japanese side of things, which do oftrn have very different likings compared to the West (Leon, Nessa and Bea, for example). Miraidon, from what I have seen from the western side, seems to be the more popular one, but it might also very well be the circles I frequent.

But it does me well to see Japan have the superior taste.

 

[Crisbee Donut]

I'm not sure if I already posted here but I like Ceruledge, Meowscarada, Kilowattrel, Lokix, Iron Valiant Slither Wing, Toedscruel, and possibly more.

 

[Rockapheller]

Wattrel and to a lesser degree Kilowattrel are my favorites. Wattrel is really cute. Kilowattrel was very much like my ace during the battles alongside my starter. I don't think I ever enjoyed a flying-type on my team as much as Wattrel, aside from Pidgeot being among my favorite Pokémon and Staraptor because that was one hell of a beast.

 

[charlycicero]

In no particular order:

Koraidon is amazing because I feel it is the first time I really bond with the box Legendary, it became my best buddy in game. Plus it looks so cool! Also cute when in transport mode.

I did like Pawmot because it is stronger than it looks and because it retains its cuteness. Plus its walking animation and cry are simply adorable.

Roaring Moon is so cool! It is what imo Salamence should have always looked. The normal Salamence's design is meh for me, and I hate the Mega croissant. But Roaring Moon is cool and menacing.

Cetoddle is just adorable. Nuff said.

Baxcalibur is pretty good and I like its design, plus its typing. And it is obviously very strong.

I really liked Mabosstiff because, first, I am a dog person, and because I used it in my first playthrough and it did carry my team it quite a few battles, quite strong. Plus, Arven's arc is the cherry on top.

Annihilape is probably the coolest evo for an older Pokémon and it makes so much sense with Primeape's lore. It is a bit too intimidating and scary but that's part of its charm.

Lokix, I also like it a lot because it looks like a little robot grasshopper, and its shiny is so good. Plus, I have found two full odds shiny Lokix. It was meant for me.

Gholdengo is pretty darn good for Tera raids, so that's a plus. And while goofy, I kinda like the surfing aspect, it is very unique.

Iron Bundle. Eventhough I am a Scarlet player and do not intend to buy Violet, I did love this little guy and have got it by trade and I have tried to use it a bit. I love Christmas and I always wanted Delibird to get some love, being it is soooo weak. Iron Bundle was awesome, far stronger, and a perfect alternative Delibird form. Now we have robo Santa as a Pokémon too.

 

[Pasio]

Iron Jugilis
Chi-Yu
Scream Tail
Iron Moth

 

[Gengarzilla]

At the moment it's Quaquaval. Just like Primarina, this was very much worth picking the Water starter. After skipping on all three starters from the last generation in favour of Vileplume, Blaziken, and Slowking, it's great that my eventual fully evolved starter has vindicated my early preference yet again.

Though... I've only extensively used four Gen 9 Pokémon so far, those being the aforementioned Quaquaval, plus Cyclizar, Ceruledge, and more recently Arboliva. And my prospective final Violet team after HOME's release (even before a potential SV DLC) looks set to have only previous generation Pokémon, the second consecutive time this happened in a generation's opening game.

 

[Jolty94]

When I saw the leaks for the dex of this gen I'll admit I wasn't really feeling a lot of the designs at first, but so many have grown on me since playing; I'll mention my top 5 which is what I've seen others doing

1. Floragato - I adore him, probably out of every other 2nd or even 1st stage Grass starter ever. I love his design so much and I actually kept him as a Floragato for quite a while, I don't mind Meowscarada (at least I don't dislike it as much as some others do) but Floragato is perfect to me.
2. Chien-Pao - I remember purposely avoiding the designs of the 4 legends even when the leaks happened (I think I only caught a glimpse of Wo-Chien and stopped looking) as I wanted to remain surprised when I eventually got to encounter them. I looove Chien-Pao's design and the sword thing it has going on for it's teeth/fangs, I just adore feline Pokemon in general, and his design is top tier imo. Have used him quite a bit since catching him.[/SPOILER]
3. Farigiraf - Always been a hardcore Girafarig fan and I knew he would get his day, I was so happy when they revealed Farigiraf and he was on my team as soon as I could catch/evolve him. I love the typing and think he's one of the better cross-gen evos we've had in terms of design.
4. Garganacl - He was another one I had to have on my team straight away, his amazing ability and Salt Cure are awesome, I just really like his design as well, I know he is just a big rock/salt giant but he is adorable. I love his pre-evolutions too, Nacli is cute and I am about to start shiny hunting one.
5. Varoom - I never thought I'd ever find a mini-engine cute, but Varoom is just that. I like Revavroom (which I now have shiny and have renamed Revararri), but Varoom is awesome, I think they are a perfect pair of Pokémon the both of them. I also enjoyed that Team Star used their mechanically upgraded version of Revavroom in their battles, but the only thing was that I wish we got some more backstory on how that came to be (if they did I missed it), but I wanted more info on as to how they made that happen and how the Pokémon actually felt.

Honourable mentions:
Finizen/Palafin - I've wanted a dolphin Pokémon for so long, and I love his Hero form, but the evolution into Palafin with it's minor differences kept it off my top 5 tbh.
Slitherwing - It's here because although I have both games, I have yet to play through Scarlet (Violet is my main game), but I looove it's design, a lot more than Iron Moth (tbh I prefer the Scarlet (ancient) paradox mons compared to all of Violets).
Great Tusk - same reason as above, I prefer it to Iron Treads, and it brings a whole new level of awesome to Donphan (a favourite of mine in general).
Annihilape - One whose design I adore and have always dreamed of, but have yet to use him, I will probably in my Scarlet playthrough though.
Miraidon/Koraidon - the best legendary designs we have had for a very long time, I love them both equally as I traded my 2nd Miraidon from Violet for a Koraidon and I use them both a lot in Tera raids.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

-Sprigatito's line is pretty great to me, but Floragato stands above the rest and quite honestly, I think this ranks up there as one of the best middle stage starters we've ever had. Its the perfect mix of cool and cute.
-Yeah, there's issues with its evolutionary line, such as it not changing enough, but Pawmot is a personal favorite of mine. Its a very solid Pokemon and its just adorable.
-Tinkaton is a pretty solid Pokemon and on top of having a good design, its lore is probably the funniest I've seen out of the dex entries.
-Slither Wing is definitely my favorite Paradox Pokemon. It feels like Larvesta and Volcarona once had a middle stage, but it feels like more than that? Its a great Pokemon.
-Chien-pao is rasily a new favorite in terms of Legendary Pokemon. Its a snow leopard with swords for fangs. Or a sabertooth tiger? Its great, but it saddens me because its taking Weavile's place in a way.

 

[Harryghost]

I more or less adore all the new Pokémon, but Gholdengo really stands out in my heart. It has a goofy, cute design; it has a strong signature move, and a competitively decent type. A perfect fit for the one thousandth Pokémon imo.

Besides this, Kilowattrel and Espathra are also babies to me. Their cries are awesome, and they are pretty strong in battles too. Can't wait to see them in the anime.

 

[ThyCheshireCat]

Scarlet/Violet's been one of my favourite gens when it comes to the designs of the Pokémon, aside from 1 or 2 I've been a fan of more or less all the new Pokémon introduced. But if I had to make a top five it would be:

1. Palafin: I love the fact that we've spent decades waiting for a bottlenose dolphin Pokémon, and instead of the Water/Psychic mastermind that everyone was expecting we got more or less Pokémon's answer to Superman. Surprised at how well the design works too, a humanoid dolphin is bound to be uncanny but it pulls it off in a way that makes it more goofy and cool than unnerving. What solidified it as my favourite Pokémon though was actually using it. I love the gimmick of having to use Flip Turn to get out the stronger form, before smashing the foe with Jet Punch after Jet Punch, slap on Close Combat and Acrobatics for coverage and destroy everything in your path. It's also a bonus that base Palafin is still strong enough to function without switching form so I can still usually take out opponents with it if I want more of a challenge. Very rare that your favourite designed mon also ends up being the one that perfectly fits with how you like to play the game but hey, overall just adore this dolphin. (Here's to hoping for a full bodied shark Pokémon in Gen 10!)
2. Skeledirge: Was always on #TeamFuecoco since the reveal of the generation, such a cute design and it's a crocodile too so instant winner. But OMG Skeledirge is just a step above everything I was expecting, not only is the bird a mike, but the head is a skull, and the skull is a stage. Not really miffed on the whole 2vs4 leg starter debate but Skeledirge just feels so much different from everything before it, they could've made it just a fiery Feraligatr and it'd still probably be my favourite of the three starters, but they went above and beyond in making it its own distinct and unique looking animal and it just works so well!! All in all, Skeledirge peak. (Shoutout to the other two starters though, I might be #TeamFuecoco but I do have a soft spot for both Quaquaval and Meowscarada, might be the most solid Starter Trio imo alongside Gen 4 TBH.)
3. Gholdengo: The cinnamon comparison won me over on this guy. What can I say I'm a sucker for mons that make me go "lmao this guy looks like this guy". Not to mention I love the gimmick involving having to go round and discover all the coins around the map in order to evolve your Gimmighoul. Was very fun to try to find all the locations of the chests and the coins in order to get the guy in preparation for the last few titans and star bases.
4. Clodsire: Such a scrimblo, a blorbo, an epic skumble. Giant Salamanders are so goofy and it has just the perfect vibe to represent them, in a world of its own siting in the murky waters along a river's edge. Was also pretty good in battle, had a blast using it to give electric and fairy types trouble. I'm surprised its physical attack is only 75 because wow it was doing so much damage in my playthrough. Set put toxic spikes and tanked the first turn, then EQ and PJ everything that comes you way.
5. Chi-Yu: Not got too much of a reason with this one, I just like fish a lot, and I also like it when aquatic animals are made types other than Water. It also does a great job at standing out visually, not only against the rest of its group but also against legendary Pokémon as a whole.

Shoutout to Dondonzo, Tatsugiri, and Veluza for showing me that Game Freak CAN make interesting single stage fish Pokémon (I do like Relicanth too actually but eh, most of the others like Luvdisc and Bruxish ain't for me.). Wouldn't put any in the top five but wow the aquatic Pokémon this gen have all been really solid. I need them to keep this up in the future, get a dopamine rush every time I see them pump out a good looking aquatic mon, especially considering how many of the older gen fish I don't like too much. Also a quick mention to Baxcalibur, for making me laugh when I found outs its signature move referenced Godzilla vs Megalon lmao.

 

[Greninjaman]

I like Clodsire. It just looks derpy. I used one and it was very powerful. Flamigo is also very strong. I find it weird that you can get a 500 BST Pokemon before you get the first badge. That is insane!