History BoringButPractical / Pokemon

* Some Pokémon that are [[DiscOneNuke found early in the game]] can evolve into powerhouses that can serve the player well even late into the game, even if later Pokémon may be more interesting. Examples include '''Gyarados''' in Gen I and several later generations, '''Ampharos''' in Gen II, '''Gardevoir''' in Gen III, '''Staraptor''' in Gen IV, '''Excadrill''' in Gen V, '''Corviknight''' in Gen VIII, and '''Azumarill''' in Gen IX.

* Body Slam deals good damage and has a decent chance to paralyze the enemy. It's not super effective against anything, but it does the job well enough that back in [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Gen 1]] when it was a TM, every offensive Pokémon was recommended to have it on their move set.

* Because the [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries anime]] isn't limited to the game's hard coded, turn based structure, several moves that are usually weak in the games are shown to [[AdaptationalBadass logically be]] ''[[AdaptationalBadass much]]'' [[AdaptationalBadass more useful]] in the anime universe.
* Probably the biggest example is Vine Whip. In the games it's a low power grass move most players will likely replace once they get a better grass move. In the anime, it is easily the most BoringButPractical MundaneUtility a Pokémon can have, due to letting them grab things long range and giving Pokémon that don't have arms/are quadruped a way to hold something. It's to the point that almost every Pokémon that can learn the move likely will have it in the anime.
* Quick Attack is another such move to be more powerful in the anime as opposed to the games. While it's the highest priority move in the game, it's weak damage often makes it not worth running over Extreme Speed or other priority moves. In the anime however, it becomes one of the ''best'' moves bar-none for dodging attacks and escaping bad situations due to the speed it gives the Pokémon in question. It's to the point where once Ash's Pikachu learned it, he kept it for the ''entirety'' of Ash's run due to how good of a utility it is.

* [[TheDreaded The infamous Garchomp and Hydreigon]] fill this role in higher tiers of competitive play, especially among fellow pseudo-legendaries. While they have some support capabilities with Stealth Rock for the former and Taunt on the latter, they're usually used for their brute force, and they're so good at it they're considered top tier in every game you can get them.

* It is possible to trade a Pokémon from one game to another generation game by using Pokémon Home. As such, you can, for example, drop your Pokémon off in Sword or Shield, power level it to level 100 using candies, and then send it back to Scarlet & Violet. Your level 100 pokemon will make the game an absolute snore-fest since almost nothing will come close to actually hurting you, but it ''does'' allow you to finish the game if you're just trying to speed through it.

* Some Pokémon that are [[DiscOneNuke found early in the game]] can evolve into powerhouses that can serve the player well even late into the game, even if later Pokémon may be more interesting. Examples include '''Gyarados''' in Gen I and several later generations, '''Ampharos''' in Gen II, '''Gardevoir''' in Gen III, '''Staraptor''' in Gen IV, '''Excadrill''' in Gen V, '''Corviknight''' in Gen VIII, and '''Flamigo''' in Gen IX.
* Some Pokémon can be caught just to take on a nearby Gym and that can be their entire job, like Dugtrio in Gen I to fight Lt. Surge or Machop in Gen II to fight Whitney.

* Normal type moves on Normal type Pokémon. While most Normal types have [[ConfusionFu a wide array of moves available to them]], from elemental attacks to status moves, Normal type has pretty good neutral coverage overall. It's resisted by Rock, Steel, and immune by Ghost types, but it hits every other type at a neutral matchup, and the other types can usually be covered. Some good Normal type moves include [[VideoGameCaringPotential Return]], which is easy to get to full power as it's based on Friendship, [[MakeMeWannaShout Hyper Voice]], which can hit both opponents in a Double Battle, and [[DeathOrGloryAttack Double-Edge]], which is very powerful although it causes recoil damage.

* The Steel type is one of the best types to have in the competitive scene due to the type's [[StoneWall sheer amount of resistances, poison immunity, and Sandstorm immunity, despite its mostly-mediocre offensive matchups]]. Even if the Pokémon doesn't use its Steel-type STAB, the ability to halve or nullify damage from several types is often a difference between surviving and getting KO'd, and most Steel-types tend to have high Defense to tank unresisted physical moves. Fire, Fighting and Ground are considered some of the best offensive types ''because'' they hit Steel super-effectively.

* Some Pokémon that are found early in the game can evolve into powerhouses that can serve the player well even late into the game, even if later Pokémon may be more interesting. Examples include '''Gyarados''' in Gen I, '''Ampharos''' in Gen II, '''Gardevoir''' in Gen III, '''Staraptor''' in Gen IV, '''Excadrill''' in Gen V, and '''Corviknight''' in Gen VIII.

* [[CaptainObvious This may come as a shock, but setting something on fire is a really good way of hurting it]]. Fire has historically been one of the best offensive types, producing many offensive powerhouses over the years such as Infernape, Volcarona, and Cinderace.

* [[PathOfMostResistance Battling every trainer in every area]]. It's annoying and early on will have players heading back to a Pokémon Center frequently, but it also gives a lot of experience and money, which will make later trainers easier. It also helps in filling out the PokéDex, as there's bound to be the odd Trainer that will have a Pokémon that you haven't encountered yet.]

* Starter Pokémon are almost always among the best options for getting through the game. Although there are exceptions, the majority have good stats and move pools. They all share an ability (namely [[CriticalStatusBuff a boost to attacks of their base type when their HP is low]]) that isn't particularly strong, but it certainly can come in handy when the going gets tough. With a few exceptions they're typically strong throughout the game. Competitive play is much more mixed, as there have been a few very powerful standouts (especially among mega-evolutions), but also many that have never found much success.

* [[SoloCharacterRun Soloing the game.]] While the games usually encourage catching a variety of Pokémon to cover one another weaknesses, just using one Pokémon throughout the whole game will make said Pokémon so overleveled that it will basically always go first and one shot the opponent, even if technically at a type disadvantage. Even if they do get an opportunity to attack, non-super effective attacks will do almost no damage and even many super-effective hits will not deal enough to be a real threat.
** Two change was made to address this strategy in X&Y: First, the XP share now automatically gives all Pokémon in the player's party experience whenever it is gained, so your party will at least stay closer in levels even if they're not being used. Second, experience gain is modified based on the levels of the Pokémon in the battle: when gaining experience for defeating a higher level Pokémon, yours will gain far more than normal, while if the opponent is lower level, it will gain significantly less. As a result it's much harder to massively over level Pokémon, even if it's the only one participating in battles.