Before we start: There are no bad Pokemon in any Pokemon game. With enough time and patience, any Pokemon can become a force to be reckoned with. But, for this list, we are going to be taking a look at the ones that are less likely to be kept by trainers in Pokemon Emerald.
Pokemon Emerald is the updated release of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. It is in the third generation of Pokemon, taking place in the Hoenn region of the Pokemon world. It is home to over 300+ Pokemon, and as a result, a few of them aren’t going to be as good as the others. Let’s run down the list of which Pokemon are not as good as the others (in terms of stats and moves). And keep in mind, even if one Pokemon is bad, its evolution may completely flip the script and turn into something amazing, so keep that in mind when reading this article.
Also, this list is in no particular order.
Roselia
Talk about cutting the roses. Roselia, on its own, isn’t a bad Pokemon. As a Grass and Poison type, it has a variety of status-changing moves and debuffs that can hurt an enemy or prevent them from moving entirely. However, that’s about where its usefulness ends. Roselia possesses little to no defenses, so all it takes is for an opponent to power through the debuffs to knock your little rosebud out.
Wurmple
Catiplers are cute, many bug Pokemon are cute as well, and Wurmple is no exception. However, what makes Wurmple less than stellar for a Pokemon team? Is it due to low defenses and not much in the way of a move-set? No, Wurmple, on its own, is fairly limited. But its strength lies not in its current status, but in its potential. Wurmple can evolve into either Silcoon then Beautfil, or Cascoon then Dustox. Either evolution path can take Wurmple into a mainstay of a Pokemon team. On its own, Wurmple isn’t worth having unless you’re willing to put in the time and effort.
Magikarp
A classic, in essence. Magikarp is one of the premier “it will pay off one day” Pokemon. A water-type Pokemon who originated in Kanto/Gen 1, Magikarp is, sadly, kind of useless. Weak to Electric and Grass, with poor stats and using Splash as its main attack, Magikarp isn’t going to be winning any battles unless the odds are heavily stacked in its favor.
But in Japan, there is a legend of a carp that, if it can swim up a raging waterfall, it will transform into a fearsome dragon. Magikarp is that carp, and much like the legend, if it can evolve, it will go from useless to “giant water dragon that can fire lasers” which is a pretty significant upgrade.
Plusle/Minun
Plusle and Minun are, much like the series’ mascot, Pikachu, electric mice that can shoot electricity out of its body. Both stand for positive and negative energy (their names are puns on being positive and negative currents respectively), and each one is really cute! Sadly, that’s about it for these two. Compared to their yellow, more popular cousins, Plusule and Minun just lack the power and evolutionary potential the Pikachu line has. As such, they don’t see a lot of use in team rosters.
Lotad
Is that a Pokemon with a hat on its head? No, that’s a lilypad. Compared to Rain Dancers, it is inferior, due to poor defenses, and not having that much health. It’s evolution line, which contains Lombre and Ludicolo, is pretty good, but Lotad on its own is fairly lacking. Other Pokemon, such as Mantyke, sport higher defense and attack power, meaning that there’s little reason to take this Water/Grass type along, especially when there’s a high chance that you’ll run into something that can take advantage of its types, such as any electric Pokémon.
Feebas
Much like Magikarp, this one is a water-type Pokemon with a stronger evolution down the line. But, unlike Magikarp, actually catching it makes the act of getting it frustrating at best. Feebas is located in the Route 119 area and only that area. What’s more, it will only appear in water on a route with a lot of rivers. To further cause a headache, it will only appear on one tile out of 600. Let me repeat that, it will appear, randomly, on one tile of 600, in a route with multiple separated bodies of water. That alone makes catching it a herculean task on its own.