History CrutchCharacter / Pokemon

* Like in the originals, the traded Onix in Violet City reprises its role. It starts out with a solid STAB move in Rock Throw, which gives it good coverage in early battles. It also comes with Screech, which, for a while, will be its best alternative to boosting Attack. However, Onix's base 45 Attack makes it relevant only for the early-game and prevents it from threatening most opponents later on, plus, its titanic physical bulk is counterbalanced by poor HP and Special Defense. While Onix is great for the first three Gym Leaders (though it should avoid being higher than level 10 against Falkner due to disobedience), it becomes dead weight for the rest of the game... if left unevolved.

* Like in the originals, the traded Onix in Violet City reprises it's role. It starts out with a solid STAB move in Rock Throw, which gives it good coverage in early battles. It also comes with Screech, which, for a while, will be its best alternative to boosting Attack. However, Onix's base 45 Attack makes it relevant only for the early-game and prevents it from threatening most opponents later on, plus, its titanic physical bulk is counterbalanced by poor HP and Special Defense. While Onix is great for the first three Gym Leaders (though it should avoid being higher than level 10 against Falkner due to disobedience), it becomes dead weight for the rest of the game... if left unevolved.

* In ''Y'', Seviper is available fairly early in the game on Route 8, and can be taught Venoshock immediately after it's caught, giving it a solid Poison STAB move to use with its base 100 Special Attack. It's able to learn a wide variety of coverage moves through both level-up and [=TMs=], can make use of both physical and special attacks, and its low defenses and speed aren't a big issue in the early-game. However, late-game, Seviper's GlassCannon nature becomes more exploitable, and it may end up getting one-shotted by neutral STAB attacks. Since it's in the Fluctuating EXP group, it levels up fast early on, but may end up falling behind by the Elite Four.

* Hoothoot evolves early at level 20 into Noctowl and is respectably strong for that point, but quickly falls off after the mid-game with its subpar stats and a very shallow movepool, with the weak Peck as its only naturally-learned Flying-type move. (It can get a short extension with [=HM02=] Fly, but it still falls off not longer after. Not only that but its only available ''after'' you've beaten the fighting-type gym, when it would've been more useful.) You're better off using another Flying-type, like Spearrow.

* The move Headbutt. It's a decently strong Normal-type attack with a Base Power of 70 and can cause opponents to flinch. It's obtained very early from an NPC in Ilex Forest and can be bought from the Goldenrod Department Store nearby, just after the 2nd Gym. However, when approaching the Elite Four, its time to get a stronger normal move and/or STAB attack.

* Like in Gen I, Spearow is stronger than Pidgey, and starts with a Flying type move (since the Pidgey line needs to reach level 9 to learn now and onwards), making it useful against all the Grass and Bug-types early on and can naturally learn Aerial Ace at level 25 if you delay its evolution. However, like before, Fearow isn't the strongest fully-evolved Pokemon, and is still thoroughly outclassed by Dodrio, of which you can capture Doduo by the time you evolve your Spearow.

* Averted by the Starly line, which is far more useful than the previous Gens early game Normal/Flying-types. It has excellent offensively-oriented stats, gains the powerful STAB move Brave Bird, and, somewhat uniquely, the Fighting-type move [[BareFistedMonk Close Combat]] to deal with Rock and Steel-types that would normally resist it's [=STABs=]. Its final evolution, Staraptor, is a staple of many in-game teams of this era.

* Like the various caterpillars, Kricketot evolves quickly into Kricketune, which has good stats compared to the unevolved Mons you'll be using up to that point but gets outpaced very quickly when those start to evolve. However, it's fairly lacking in utility moves compared to the caterpillars' evolved forms. If you really want to use a Bug-type, Heracross is a much better option.

* Like many other early Bug Pokémon, Burmy evolves relatively early (level 20) while evolutions Wormadam and Mothim have decent stats for how early they're available, but pale in comparison to other, stronger Pokémon available later in the game.
* Rotom works as one in ''Platinum'' if the Secret Key isn't available. It has high stats for how early it's obtained, and will quickly learn some fairly powerful moves like [[ShockAndAwe Shock Wave]] and [[CastingAShadow Ominous Wind]]. Unfortunately, compared to Pokémon available later in the game, its stats are a bit underwhelming in comparison to them.

* If you haven't raised a Kadabra, you could be relying on your traded Mr. Mime, especially for a lot of the Pokémon Tower to deal with the Ghost-types in it (and that only works because said Ghosts are also Poison-types, too -- try this against the Ghosts in any other generation, and you'll soon regret it). After that, Mr. Mime tends not to be that useful and many players will opt to replace it with something else.

* Due to Gen I's broken typing and plentiful exploits, Bulbasaur Zig-Zagged this trope, but plays it straight here. Its Grass-typing gives it an advantage over the first two Gyms and allows it to resist the third and fourth, its part-Poison typing allows it to resist many early-game Poison and Grass-type Pokémon (plus grants immunity to the status effect of the same name), it gets stronger STAB options like Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb (the latter is post-game only), as well as Earthquake for coverage, and it comes with a number of [[SupportPartyMember utility moves]] like the [Status] Powders and Leech Seed to regain health. Unfortunately, in the second half of the game, it is weak-to or resisted-by three of the final four Gym Leaders, three members of the Elite Four, and ''two-thirds'' of the Champion's Pokémon. The critical hit rate {{Nerf}} since Gen. I means Razor Leaf isn't as powerful as it was in the original, either. Venusaur can still slog through the rest of the game, but it's forced to rely on a GradualGrinder playstyle for these opponents, which is less efficient compared to other Pokémon that can simply knock them out in one or two hits.

* In this game, you can let Crabrawler evolve earlier than the previous one, when you first visit the base of Mount Lanakila about halfway through the game, but Crabominable is an equally disappointing evolution there as before.

** Early access to Move Tutors in ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon'' expands Pikachu's attack options to include [[ExtraOreDinary Iron Tail]] and Signal Beam. You can even get one that comes with [[MakingASplash Surf]] after completing Mantine Surf, giving it even more coverage before it evolves into Alolan-Raichu with [[PsychicPowers Psychic]] STAB. It will still plateau by the time you reach the end game.

* You can use Buneary for the Z-Splash strategy, previously a Magikarp exclusive. It can be found on the first route, knowing Splash, and learns Quick Attack fairly soon. It also learns Return and Jump Kick, two of the stronger Normal and Fighting-type moves, respectively. Only Ghost-types can stop you now. Plus, the Rotom Dex now has a chance to grant you two Z-Moves per battle once you've bonded with it, letting you stack Z-Splash to hit maximum attack in two turns, or follow up one Z-Splash with a Breakneck Blitz with [[ThePowerOfFriendship Return]] as its base. Its weak fully-evolved form means it will be outpaced come the mid/late game, however. It doesn't receive its Mega Stone until post-game.

* In Vermilion City, the traded Farfetch'd, DUX, is surprisingly good early on -- its base stats are on par with Pidgeotto, it's a decent [[UtilityPartyMember HM slave]], learning Cut and Fly, and it can learn Swords Dance to make it a harder-hitting combatant. Plus, being traded, it gets a boost to its EXP gain, meaning it will level very quickly and reach that Swords Dance (and eventually, Slash) much faster. By the mid-game, though, DUX's stats quickly decline from usable to middling to awful. In ''Pokemon Yellow'', Farfetch'd is obtained a fair bit later and caught in the wild, making it a straight JokeCharacter.

* Mawile and Sableye, which are version exclusive counterparts in Ruby and Sapphire respectively, play similar roles (both appear in Emerald, but only Sableye is found this early). When they are obtained in Granite Cave, shortly after the first Gym Badge is obtained, they are notable for their exceptional defensive properties. Mawile is a pure Steel type, making it resistant to eleven of the game's types and immune to the Poison type. Likewise, Sableye's Ghost and Dark typing has three immunities and no weaknesses, allowing it to easily crush the upcoming Dewford Gym. However, both have Base Stat Totals of only 380 despite having no evolutions, making them among the weakest fully evolved Pokemon. This means that they are quickly outpaced in terms of stats, and are sooner overshadowed by other Steel types ([[MightyGlacier Aggron, Magneton, and Skarmory]]) and Dark types ([[GlassCannon Sharpedo, Absol, and Cacturne]]).

* Like the Gen III remakes, the early game Bug-types return from the earlier generation Kanto games and still evolve into their final forms at level 10. However, the lack of battling wild Pokémon turns Butterfree into a downplayed case since it no longer has its Compound Eyes ability and its status-inducing "Powder" moves no longer aid in catching wild Pokémon. Furthermore, it learns Gust on evolution rather than the more useful Confusion, lessening its immediate effectiveness.

* Like in the originals, Ledyba evolves at a low level and gets useful [[SupportPartyMember support moves like Reflect and Light Screen]] naturally. Unfortunately, its low stat total, poor typing, and nearly non-existent offenses mean that it will drop off early in a trainer's journey. While it ''can'' learn STAB moves in this Gen e.g. Bug Buzz and Aerial Ace, they're of low base power or they're learned too late. A better Bug-type would be Scyther or Herracross.

* Like in the originals, Ledyba evolves at a low level and gets useful [[SupportPartyMember support moves like Reflect and Light Screen]] naturally. Unfortunately, its low stat total, poor typing, and nearly non-existent offenses mean that it will drop off early in a trainer's journey. While it ''can'' learn STAB moves in this Gen e.g. Bug Buzz and Aerial Ace, they're of low base power or they're learned too late.

* Wooper can be encountered early on after the first gym, evolve early at Level 20, naturally learn Earthquake, and can make good use of field moves such as Surf and Strength. But in comparison to other Water-types found in later areas, their stats are a little lackluster.

* Dewpider can be caught just before the second trial and evolves shortly thereafter, and Brooklet Hill just so happens to have the TM for Scald in the area, allowing it and its evolution, Araquanid, to hit like a truck. However, like most Bug-types, Araquanid can fall off later in the game in comparison to other Pokémon, but it's a downplayed version compared to other Bug-types due to being a powerful MightyGlacier.

* Farfetch'd, which had this status way back in ''Red and Blue'', regains it in ''X and Y'', where it's available before the first Gym--which happens to be a Bug-type Gym, and thus, made easy by a Flying-type with STAB moves. Furthermore, a change to the critical hit formula means that if it has its signature item, it can [[CriticalHitClass guarantee critical hits]] with moves that have increased chances. Even then, however, its stats are still mediocre and quickly outclassed, and you're better off replacing it with a another Flying-type.

*** In ''[[VideoGameRemake Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen]]'', you can find Pikachu again in the Viridian Forest. However, wild Pikachu here have a 5% chance to hold a Light Ball when caught, which doubles their Special Attack in this Gen and effectively gives Pikachu base attacking stats slightly better than its evolution Raichu. While Pikachu is still fairly frail (certainly too fragile to make use of its new Static ability), it's fast enough for it to not be an issue for a while until you can find a replacement for it.