History Characters / PokemonGenerationIVenonatToCloyster

* MetalSlime: Good luck catching an Abra! Aside from the fact they tend to be uncommon in the wild, their only attack is Teleport, which removes them from the battle. Unless you have something to put them to sleep, or a Pokémon that knows Taunt, you really only have one turn to throw a Pokéball at them and hope they stay inside.

* UselessUsefulSpell: Their Rock Head ability. The only recoil-inducing move it learns is Double-Edge, which is pointless to let Golem learn, as it can do more damage with a STAB-boosted Earthquake or Stone Edge. The Alolan forms could have gotten more use out of it with STAB Wild Charge, but they don't have access to the ability — they get Magnet Pull instead.

* MightyGlacier: Magneton has a good Special Attack stat and decent Defense, but its Speed is nothing to write home about. Magnezone is even stronger with higher Defense and decent Special Defense, but it's also slightly slower.[[note]]To be fair, it doesn't need much more than Body Press to hit almost everything for neutral or better damage, and Body Press doing Physical damage based on Magneton's defense means it hits hard on both sides of the defensive spectrum.[[/note]]

* YouWillNotEvadeMe: Their Magnet Pull ability prevents Steel-type Pokémon from switching out, making the Magnemite line perfect for trapping and eliminating opposing most powerful Steel-types who attempt to wall it[[note]]unless the Steel-type in question happens to be Heatran (who is Fire/Steel and is also a legendary), or Steelix and Excadrill (whom are both Steel/Ground, the former a sturdy MightyGlacier with access to [[SuperMode Mega Evolution]] that gets its Steel, Ground, and Rock-type attacks increased via Sandstorm and the latter a powerful LightningBruiser of a GlassCannon, who gets even faster or evades attacks via Sandstorm) meaning Magnet Pull can very easily lead to Magnezone getting [[HoistByHisOwnPetard its own Ability turned against it]] if it traps the wrong Steel-type that can outright counter it[[/note]].

* BareFistedMonk: With four fists as Machamp.

* CoolHorse: They're horses that ''are on fire''. Galarian Ponyta is a Psychic-type unicorn with a glowing mane.

* MakingASplash: Both are Water-types.

* FragileSpeedster: Primeape is the eighth-fastest non-Mega Fighting-type[[note]]after Mienshao, the Musketeers and Infernape, Hawlucha, Marshadow, Zamazenta, Pirouette Forme Meloetta, and first being Pheromosa[[/note]], but it can only take a few hits before going down. {{Downplayed}} with Annihilape, whom, while slightly slower (dropping 5 points of Speed), can take far more hits by comparison. But on the other hand, Annihilape being introduced in [[VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet Gen IX]] means that Primeape is no longer fully evolved and can use Eviolite, giving it a chance to unleash an Anger Point-charged rampage if things are timed right.

* AchillesHeel: Ground type moves will destroy the Alolan forms line.

* CrutchCharacter: Early on, Geodude's resistance to Normal, Flying and Poison attacks coupled with high Defense lets it easily tank hits from most common early route Pokémon, while Rollout and Magnitude are pretty effective. Later on, though, the line's major problems (middling HP, poor Speed, a very mixed bag defensive typing which includes two double weaknesses, inability to evolve Graveler without [[SocializationBonus trading]]) will seriously drag them down.

* DiscOneNuke: In ''Gold and Silver'' and their remakes, you can get one before the first Gym and they have positive/neutral matchups against most of Johto's Gym Leaders, can easily deal with most of the Pokémon that Team Rocket carries and naturally learn Magnitude at Level 16 (originals) or 15 (remakes).

* BadassAdorable: Ponyta is an adorable little foal… with one of the highest base stat totals of any Pokémon that's still capable of evolving. It's Galarian form is even cuter.

* PunnyName: Shellder shelters itself in a shell, while Cloyster is an oyster that cloister's (synonym for sheltering) itself in its shell.

* ArmlessBiped: No arms, unless they using the extra head(s) for the same thing. Granted, if they're anything like their real-world inspiration, they may have very small, underdeveloped wings underneath their fuzzy feathers.

* BlowYouAway: One of the weirdest ways to pull this one off, since they have no wings. They can still be taught Air Cutter by one of the Move Tutors in ''[=HeartGold=] and [=SoulSilver=]''.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Early games repeatedly made mention in the Pokédex that Doduo can't fly very well and makes up for it by running fast. This is despite the fact it's been able to learn Fly since day one, allowing it to fly trainers across the world. The developers seemingly took notice, and later games have their Pokédex entries focus more on the MultipleHeadCase and fast running speed aspects, with little mention of their weak flying abilities.

* {{Flight}}: They can learn Fly, [[FlyingFlightlessBird despite having no wings to fly with]]. Some of the 3D games portray them as running in midair in order to achieve this.

* NotQuiteFlight: They don't have any obvious way of flying, so they probably just jump really far and high when using Fly.

* TheArtifact: The only reason these flightless birds are considered Flying-types is because the Generation I games invoked AllFlyersAreBirds and labeled any Pokémon even remotely birdlike as a Flying-type (this is also why Psyduck and Golduck are ''not'' considered bird Pokémon). While Delibird (based on a penguin) and Archen (which is also flightless) also have the Flying-type, the typing is justified with them as Delibird ''can'' fly while Archen gains the ability to fly once it evolves. Since then, flightless bird Pokémon have not been given the Flying-type, including Torchic (pure Fire-type, later Fire/Fighting, based on chickens) and Piplup (pure Water-type, later Water/Steel, based on penguins), but Doduo and Dodrio retained it and it hasn't changed since.

* AchillesHeel: The Hisuian forms will be decimated by Ground and Water type moves.

* ConfusionFu: In a complete reversal of its [[PoorPredictableRock earlier appearances]], Arcanine now has a rather expansive movepool, consisting of Fire, Normal, Dark, Fighting, Electric, Dragon, Ground, Grass, Dark, Flying and Steel-Type moves.

* JackOfAllStats: No stats are particularly weak or strong aside from Arcanine's Attack, which is pretty decent. That being said, Arcanine has the second highest base stat total among all non-Legendary and non-Mega Pokémon of the first generation, which puts it above many other Pokémon.

* NonElemental: If you breed them with Cyndaquil line in Gen VII, they can possibly get the move Burn Up, a powerful Fire-type move which strips them of their Fire-typing after use. Since they don't have a secondary type, they will become outright typeless.

* OralFixation: Prior to Generation IV, Farfetch'd's in-game sprites almost always show it holding its stalk between its beak instead of with one of its wings. Its very first sprites, from the Japanese ''Red'' and ''Green'' (whose back sprite is shared with other Generation I games), are the only exceptions to this.

* DiscOneNuke: In ''Sword and Shield'', Growlithe can be caught as soon as you have access to the Wild Area, and evolved into Arcanine immediately after if you're able to make it to a part of the Wild Area with a Fire Stone. The usual issue stone-evolved Pokémon have of learning no moves after they evolve no longer applies, since Arcanine learns all of the moves it would've otherwise gotten as a Growlithe at level 1, so you can have an Arcanine with Flamethrower, Crunch, Play Rough, and Extreme Speed before you've beaten the second Gym.

* {{Foil}}
** To the Meowth line. Both are mammalian [[FragileSpeedster fast and vulnderable]] Pokemon that are version exclusive in ''Red and Blue'' and said games' remakes as well as ''Gold and Silver'' and are gender-exclusive trades by Yancy or Curtis in ''Black 2 and White 2''. Mankey and Meowth both evolve at Level 28 into Primeape and Persian, respectively. Primeape and Persian both share an aggressive and violent temperament, with Primeape being perpetually raging and attacking anything that does so much as look at it relentlessly, while Persian lashes out and attacks on a whim and is known for having a cruel demeanor.

** To the Meowth line. Both are mammalian FragileSpeedsters that are version exclusive in ''Red and Blue'' and said games' remakes as well as ''Gold and Silver'' and are gender-exclusive trades by Yancy or Curtis in ''Black 2 and White 2''. Mankey and Meowth both evolve at Level 28 into Primeape and Persian, respectively. Primeape and Persian both share an aggressive and violent temperament, with Primeape being perpetually raging and attacking anything that does so much as look at it relentlessly, while Persian lashes out and attacks on a whim and is known for having a cruel demeanor.

* Catch22Dilemma: Annihilape is this to any mon that want to clear entry hazards. Rapid Spin is a no go, since Annihilape is a Ghost type and is immune to it. Defog is risky since a Defiant Annihilape will double its already high Attack stat. Mortal Spin will work, but it’s weak, only having a base power of 30 (and is resisted), will power up Annihilape’s Rage Fist, and the Poison will prevent it from being Burned or hit by Toxic, meaning that it will be harder to slow down or put on a reliable timer. Tidy Up is the least viable, since it will give Annihilape a free kill against its only two users Maushold onad Furret, with the possibility that the killing move was Drain Punch meaning that it may even set back what progress was done in the first place.

* Catch22Dilemma: Annihilape is this to any mon that want to clear entry hazards. Rapid Spin is a no go, since Annihilape is a Ghost type and is immune to it. Defog is risky since a Defiant Annihilape will double its already high Attack stat. Mortal Spin will work, but it’s weak, only having a base power of 30 (and is resisted), will power up Annihilape’s Rage Fist, and the Poison will prevent it from being Burned or hit by Toxic, meaning that it will be harder to slow down or put on a reliable timer. Tidy Up is the least viable, since it will give Annihilape a free kill against its only user Maushold, with the possibility that the killing move was Drain Punch meaning that it may even set back what progress was done in the first place.

* DiscOneNuke: Abra is found early in several of the games. It only naturally learns Teleport, but can be beefed up with [=TMs=] to give it some other moves and take advantage of its decent Special Attack for a first stage Pokémon. It evolves at the relatively low level of 16 into the even more powerful Kadabra, at which point it can be traded to gain its extremely powerful final form in Alakazam without negatively impacting its level-up movepool. All at ''level 16''.

* WeakToMagic: Golem has an excellent 130 base Defense, but will lose most of their HP if a neutrally effective special attacker so much as sneezes at them due to their poor Special Defense stat of 65. This also makes their Water- and Grass-type weaknesses even more troubling, as those two types tend to have large amounts of special-based moves.

* UselessUsefulSpell: Anger Point maximizes its Attack stat when it's been hit by a critical hit, but Primeape's GlassCannon status meant that it can't fully take advantage of the ability. Upon evolving to Annihilape, Anger Point gets replaced by Inner Focus, which would have otherwise been an unstoppable force with its increased bulk ensuring that most critical hits won't overwhelm Annihilape that easily.

* PowerUpLetdown: Anger Point. It's bad enough that crits are generally treated as hyper-lethal to begin with, but Primeape's extra fragility really exaggerates that. Shame that it loses it upon evolving to Annihilape, who gets the slightly less useful Inner Focus, as its buffed defenses would have {{averted}} it. However, if Annihilape holds a Clear Amulet, none of its stats can be lowered by status moves on top of blocking Intimidate, creating a ''very'' effective smorgasbord of defense.

** In Generation 8 Evolving Magneton into Magnezone was updated to use a Thunder Stone instead of a location with a strong magnetic field, making it far easier to acquire it (this alternate method was also introduced in Generation 7). Though "Go" still allows Magneton to evolve with a Magnetic Lure Module as neither exists in the game.

* YouWillNotEvadeMe: Their Magnet Pull ability prevents Steel-type Pokémon from switching out, making the Magnemite line perfect for trapping and eliminating opposing powerful Steel-types who attempt to wall it[[note]]unless the Steel-type in question happens to be Heatran (who is Fire-Steel and is also a legendary), or Steelix and Excadrill (whom are both Steel-Ground, the former a sturdy MightyGlacier with access to [[SuperMode Mega Evolution]] that gets it's Steel, Ground and Rock attacks increased via Sandstorm and the latter a powerful LightningBruiser of a GlassCannon, who gets even faster or evades attacks via Sandstorm) meaning Magnet Pull can very easily lead to Magnezone getting [[HoistByHisOwnPetard it's own ability turned against it]] if it traps the wrong Steel-type that can outright counter it[[/note]].

* PoorPredictableRock: The only damaging moves they learn are [=STAB=] attacks, Normal, and only one move from Bug and Fighting[[note]]specifically the moves Signal Beam (which was removed starting in Gen VIII)and Body Press[[/note]].

** In Generation 8 Evolving Magneton into Magnezone was updated to use a Thunder Stone instead of a location with a strong magnetic field, making it far easier to acquire it. Though "Go" still allows Magneton to evolve with a Magnetic Lure Module as neither exists in the game.

* UnreliableExpositor: Magneton is said to be created whenever three different Magnemite fuse together, yet, in the games, it simply evolves from Magnemite once it hits level 30, and catching three of them won't get you jack. Even in the anime, the other two spawn from nowhere. In fact, ''VideoGame/PokemonSnap'' is the only time in the entire franchise that they evolve this way.

* YouWillNotEvadeMe: Their Magnet Pull ability prevents Steel-type Pokémon from switching out, making the Magnemite line perfect for trapping and eliminating opposing powerful Steel-types who attempt to wall it[[note]]unless the Steel-type in question happens to be Heatran (part Fire and is also a legendary), or Steelix and Excadrill (part Ground) meaning Magnet Pull can easily lead to Magnezone getting [[HoistByHisOwnPetard it's own ability turned against it]] if it traps the wrong Steel-type[[/note]].

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: The whole line is seen levitating above the ground, but they are still vulnerable to Ground-type moves.

* MightyGlacier: Magneton has a good Special Attack stat and decent Defense, but its Speed is nothing to write home about. Magnezone is even stronger with higher Defense and decent Special Defense, but it's also slower.[[note]]To be fair, it doesn't need much more than Body Press to hit almost everything for neutral or better damage, and Body Press doing Physical damage based on Magneton's defense means it hits hard on both sides of the defensive spectrum.[[/note]]

* PoorPredictableRock: The only damaging moves they learn are [=STAB=] attacks, Normal, and only one move from Bug and Fighting[[note]]specifically the moves Signal Beam and Body Press[[/note]].

** In generation 8 Evolving Magneton into Magnezone was updated to use a Thunder Stone instead of a location with a strong magnetic field. Though "Go" still allows Magneton to evolve with a Magnetic Lure Module as neither exists in the game.

* YouWillNotEvadeMe: Their Magnet Pull ability prevents Steel-type Pokémon from switching out.

* MisplacedWildlife: Despite their Pokédex entries repeatedly mentioning Seel and Dewgong love the cold (the colder the better), they show up in Alola in ''Ultra Sun'' & ''Ultra Moon''. Nobody's quite sure why.

In the Sinnoh region, back when it was known as Hisui, the local Growlithe grew longer, harder fur, and gained the Rock typing, while also living in pairs and becoming warier of humans.

* TheArtifact: Although Generation IV introduced Mantyke, which evolves by having a Remoraid in the party, Kantonian Slowpoke still evolves at a specific level with no party requirements. However, said generation had Remoraid disappear from Mantine's sprite, likely to prevent an inconsistency of having Remoraid not disappear from the party when Mantyke evolves. Slowbro's Shellder tail, on the other hand, is far too iconic to disappear from its sprite, and doing so would cause it to look too similar to Slowpoke.

* WeatherManipulation: It's under a different name[[note]]Cloud Nine, which can be possessed by other mons[[/note]], but one of their abilities is essentially '''[[OlympusMons Rayquaza's]]''' Air Lock.

** Golem doesn't bear much of any resemblance to the {{Golem}}s of Hebrew legend (or for that matter, the Legendary Titans Pokémons — [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIIIWailmerToDeoxys Regirock]], Regice, Registeel, [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIIIImpidimpToCalyrex Regieleki]], Regidrago [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIVChatotToArceus and Regigigas]]).

** Golem doesn't bear much of any resemblance to the {{Golem}}s of Hebrew legend (or for that matter, the Legendary Titans Pokémons — [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIIIWailmerToDeoxys Regirock]], Regice, Registeel, [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIIIImpidimpToCalyrex Regieleki, Regidrago, [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIVChatotToArceus and Regigigas]]).

** Golem doesn't bear much of any resemblance to the {{Golem}}s of Hebrew legend (or for that matter, the Legendary Titans Pokémons — [[Characters/PokemonGenerationIIIWailmerToDeoxys Regirock, Regice, Registeel,]][[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIIIImpidimpToCalyrex Regieleki, Regidrago]][[Characters/PokemonGenerationIVChatotToArceus and Regigigas]]).

* DiscOneNuke: In ''Gold and Silver'' and their remakes, you can get one before the first Gym and they have positive/neutral matchups against most of Johto's Gym Leaders, can easily deal with most of the Pokémon Team Rocket carries and naturally learn Magnitude at Level 16 (originals) or 15 (remakes).

** Golem doesn't bear much of any resemblance to the {{Golem}}s of Hebrew legend (or for that matter, the Legendary Golem Pokémons — [[/Characters/PokemonGenerationIIIWailmerToDeoxys Regirock, Regice, Registeel]] and [[/Characters/PokemonGenerationIVChatotToArceus Regigigas]]).