With the recent announcement of the seventh generation of Pokemon, Nintendo is making me feel old. Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon are scheduled for release later in this year for the 20 year anniversary of the franchise, and as with every passing generation, I reminisce on my early days playing Pokemon Red and Pokemon Silver on my Gameboy Color.
Having spent thousands of hours of my life playing these video games, I have grown attached some Pokemon more than others. In this list, I hope to highlight ten of the most dreadfully frustrating and unnecessarily prevalent Pokemon that I've had to battle my way through to advance through Generations I, II, III, and IV.
1. Golbat
The amount of Golbat that you run into going through caves, especially that one before reaching the Pokemon League is undeniably larger than it needs to be. The sound of its screech will forever be ingrained into anyone who has completed a game.
2. Tentacool
Surfing in any game ensures an encounter with at least 100 Tentacool without the use of a repel. Always use a repel. Always.
3. Magikarp
The beginning of every game always starts the player with a Good Rod. As an excited 5-year-old, I thought fishing Magikarp was the coolest thing in the game. Then, I realized the limited number of moves Magikarp can actually learn.
4. Unown
To many Unowns. Way to many to catch.
5. Wobbuffet
Battling a Wobbuffet is a playing the odds of whether to use a special attack move or a physical move and trying to avoid its respective countering attack. Add in the special ability Shadow Tag, and you my friend are stuck battling this HP-heavy Pokemon.
6. Shuckle
A Shuckle with Leftovers and the move rest is stressful. Don't get me started on the Shuckle at the Battle Pike in Generation III.
7. Blissey
Oh, Blissey. Your soft-boiled move is really irritating when you keep recovering your HP and wearing away at my move power points.
8. Shedinja
Trying to defeat a Shedinja is about having the right type of moves. If you luck out, this is an easy battle; if you don't luck out, you better hope you have another Pokemon in your party.
9. Spinda
Spinda is one of those Pokemon that are cool to observe but hardly cool to battle. It's constant dizzying moves are nauseating.
10. Bronzong
Bronzong was cool in the beginning, but then you realize how annoying it is to defeat it and all of its high defenses.
You gotta love. You gotta hate them. Even though labeled as the most annoying Pokemon, I think we can all agree that the games wouldn't have been the same without them, and for that I appreciate these Pokemon just as much. While this list limits itself to the first four generations, I recognize there are other great selections in the subsequent generations for this list.Let's just hope Generation VII has more in store for all of its Pokemon fans.
