The Top 5 Weakest Starting Pokemon Evolutions of All-Time

5: Emboar

Emboar is not a bad pick for when you’re just playing the game, going through gym leaders. If you can get one with a hidden ability, then you’re in for a real treat when taking advantage of its high attack, decent move pool and STAB attacks. Fire Blitz is going to be your bread and butter as Emboar can destroy lots of ill-prepared Pokemon with Reckless.

However, it’s a slow Pokemon with a speed of 65 and can be out sped by many other Pokemon. Also with such a heavy reliance on Fire Blitz, one of its best fire STAB moves, the attack will eventually take its toll on Emboar. Mix this with a weakness to Stealth Rock, and you’re going to run into problems.

There’s also the fact that, with your Pokemon team, you are limited to how many options you have when putting together a competitive team. Yes, you can pick this fire-fighting type, but why would you when there are way better options. Even just looking at other Pokemon starters, you have both Infernape and Blaziken, whom both have power and speed. Blaziken in particular has the ability to mega evolve which puts it into a whole new category. Emboar isn’t the worst, but it has some really tough competition and some serious issues.

4: Torterra

Torterra is a starter that suffers from its poor typing and speed in a game that favors quick, powerful attacks. Like Emboar, and most starters really, Torterra can definitely get you through the main game without much issue. Also, its move pool isn’t that bad. It has a high attack stat and move set to do some actual damage.

Torterra has good defense too, and could be a great physical tank if it wasn’t for the fact that it has some common weaknesses, including a crippling 4x weakness to ice attacks. Its low special defense doesn’t do Torterra any favors either, meaning Torterra needs to be used in just the right way to be successful.

Like most Pokemon, you can use Torterra with success if you’re crafty, but you have to work a little harder with this one.

3: Typhlosion

Johto starters arguably have some of the best designs in Pokemon, but unfortunately aren’t great competitive battlers. Despite being awesome looking, Typhlosion is a pretty basic fire-type Pokemon with a very shallow move pool. It lacks the diversity needed to counter Pokemon that switch in to take it out.

Its other fire starter brethren are able to compensate in different ways. Blaziken has speed, Infernape has a great movepool, and Charizard can mega evolve into two much more powerful forms in the later games. Typhlosion just sort of remains a bland fire Pokemon with a cool design. The best it gets is Focus Blast and Solar Beam, which are only okay considering the type move coverage Typhlosion needs to actually be successful.

2: Meganium

Meganium is the grass type starter for Johto and is a bulky Pokemon with high defense and special defense. Unfortunately, it’s pure grass type and has five weaknesses, which makes it hard to take advantage of its strengths. Meganium needs to be locked away to avoid getting hurt.

Because most of its stats are distributed along its defense, Meganium’s offensive stats are lackluster. Which is a shame because Meganium actually has a decent support move pool. But, because of its stats and mono-typing, there are other Pokemon that can do what Meganium would like to be able to do, but a lot better.

1. Pikachu/Raichu

Yep, this little guy is technically a starter and counts! While it is the most popular Pokemon and the face of the franchise, Pikachu is the worst starter in the whole series. In Pokemon Yellow, your only choice is Pikachu, a callback to the long running anime show. Just like the show, this Pikachu refuses to evolve into Raichu unless traded away to another game. So, throughout the game, you have this Pokemon that won’t evolve, and is only great against one out of eight gym leaders.

The Pokemon Yellow starter Pikachu has low stats, a very one-dimensional move pool, and doesn’t really have an extra advantages over its fellow Pikachu other than being extra cute and having the ability to learn Surf. The one trick that Pikachu has going for it in the later games is that it can use an item called Light Ball, which greatly increases its special attack. Still, Pikachu is so frail that any remotely powerful attack from a fully evolved Pokemon will probably take it out.

Even if you counted Raichu, it doesn’t have much going for it other than nostalgia. It’s really fast, but that’s about it. Whether you want to count Pokemon Yellow’s Pikachu, or the Pikachu-line in general, there’s no denying that the series mascot, until it gets a mega-evolution, will probably remain the worst starting Pokemon of all time.