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Underused Pokémon in the anime

FinnishPokéFan92 said:
Typhlosion got robbed. Unlike other Johto starter Pokémon family members, it didn't even get to make a main series appearance in Johto.
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And it was tied with Chesnaught for the starter with the least amount of screentime till Sun/Moon series. I wonder why do the writers hate it so much.
 
PkmnTrainerV said:
We have one of the starters potentially reaching the middle stage while the other two haven’t even gotten cameos. It’s like they don’t exist in the anime. Pretty valid since we're talking about starter Pokemon.
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Exactly. I know it's still fairly early, but the fact that Scorbunny might evolve soon while Grookey and Sobble haven't received anything in the anime yet is unfair.
 
For individual Pokémon, I'd say James's Growlithe is very underutilized. It's a Pokémon that truly loves and cares about him. It would've been nice to see it stick by his side through thick and thin, maybe even potentially evolving, instead of just having appeared a couple of times hundreds of episodes apart.
 
I would say Xatu
It appeared in only 3 focus episodes, but hasn't appeared as focus, only as a background mon or a flash-back mon since DP.
Decidueye is also underused. It only appeared in 3 episodes of the anime (The cameo where it got one-shotted by Incineroar alongside Primarina and twice alongside Hau during the league).
 
Out of all of the starters, Typhlosion definitely got the short end of the stick. Even Quilava didn't really get that much attention. It was featured during the Johto League, but that was so close to the end of the original series. Ash and Dawn both got one, but that until DP for Ash and during a special that wasn't even dubbed for Dawn. Ash's Cyndaquil really should have evolved during Johto instead. Even if they didn't want to give him a Typhlosion, a Quilava would have worked. It would still have some marketable cuteness while also being stronger in battle. Typhlosion didn't get a proper appearance in the main series until AG, which is just a shame considering that Cyndaquil was my first Pokemon. Most of the other final forms of the starters get a good amount of appearances in the anime, so Typhlosion definitely deserved more appearances and attention.
 
Ash's Kingler deserved more than what it got. After the Indigo League, Ash only briefly used it for the Whirl Cup, and that's it. What really gripes me that Kingler could have had some more time to shine at the Johto League, but the instead it was pretty forcibly written out of the competition in favor of Squirtle. As if that Tiny Turtle hadn't already had and wouldn't continue to have way more time in the spotlight than Kingler, anyway...
 
PkmnTrainerV said:
The Johto Pokemon needed more time to shine at the Johto league. Cyndaquil was robbed. It’s evolution was hinted and nothing came out of it at the time.
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The match with Gary tells you everything you need to know in that regard; 3 KOs for Charizard, 2 for Snorlax, 1 for Heracross.
 
Daren said:
The match with Gary tells you everything you need to know in that regard; 3 KOs for Charizard, 2 for Snorlax, 1 for Heracross.
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Compare Johto League to Sinnoh League: many old mons got some good moments, but THE battle (Ash v Paul) was all Sinnoh mons. It's honestly an issue that can be solved by longer leagues and more battles.
 
Starmie was really mistreated in the anime. It's supposed to be a competitive beast, and yet, I don't think we've pretty much ever seen one winning a battle in the anime. Most, if not all of their losses were even just one- or two-shots, for crying out loud! The worst example is Misty's Starmie, which got way less appearances than her Staryu, even being dumped at the Cerulean Gym for literally no reason at one point. I feel so bad for the poor starfish. It deserved so much more. And it honestly deserved to be Misty's ace over her Staryu, like it is with every other iteration of the Tomboyish Mermaid.
 
Please note: The thread is from 4 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.

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