Pokémon GO buffed up many mons that would be considered jokes in the mainline games. Here are some examples:
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In general
- There are some moves that are totally unviable in a mainline game such as Sky Attack, Frenzy Plant or Avalanche that are incredibly powerful in GO, while the effectiveness of moves such as Earthquake and Psycho Boost can be significantly superior in PvP compared to PvE.
- Some status moves brought from mainline games were given offensive stats due to the game's system. For example, Charm, a Fairy-type status move, becomes a Fairy-type Fast Attack in this game.
- Team GO Rocket Grunts are a HUGE step up from what would normally be par for the course in the mainline games. Sure, they use the standard Zubats and such, but they have double, or sometimes even triple the stats of their normal counterparts. That's like an evil team Grunt whipping out a Pokémon that has stats that are so grossly inflated that they can take out your Mewtwo with a single Bite move in the hideout part of the game!
- With particular exceptions Jessie and James weren't exactly what you'd call threatening in their home series. Here, you get to fight a handicap 2-on-1 match against them with no rest in between other than being able to select two teams of mons. Their mons get the Shadow bonus, and they always finish with a stronger mon. The only thing acting as a power limiter is that their teams always have their Signature Mons, the Poison-types Ekans/Arbok and Koffing/Weezing.
- Shadow Pokémon, especially after the eventual buffs they received. Mons are turned into Glass Cannons that deal 20% more damage, but at the same time are 20% more fragile. While this is a problem for some frail mons, the rest can dish out a lot more damage before falling down, turning weak mons with average attacks into better attackers. Shadow mons kept overshadowing their regular selves and turning Purified mons (which used to have a bonus against Shadow mons until that bonus was removed) into jokes.
Generation 1
- Flareon in the main series is a relatively mediocre Pokémon due to bad stat distribution and an unfavorable movepool. In this game, Flareon is one of the strongest Pokémon commonly available, and is the favored counter to the extremely difficult-to-beat Blissey, thanks to having just the right mix of attack and defense and a resistance to Blissey's fairy-type move Dazzling Gleam.
- In the main games, Exeggutor suffers from having low speed and its plethora of weaknesses. In GO, however, its weaknesses are abated while its entire moveset benefits from same-type attack bonus and all hit for decent power. It also has fairly high CP, slightly better than Flareon. This high CP coupled with being a single-evolution Pokémon makes it relatively easy to turn a weak Exeggcute into an extremely powerful Exeggutor (Exeggcute are somewhat rare, but not impossible to farm). Being a Grass-type also gives it an advantage against the often overused Vaporeon, whose high CP puts it above all of its type disadvantages sans Zapdos, Grass-type starter Pokémon, and Leafeon.
- Kingler Took a Level in Badass after the 2019 Water Festival: in addition to its Alakazam-like bulk and Machamp-like attack it got Crabhammer, an extremely powerful moves that elevates its DPS to exceed Kyogre and Machamp, making it one of the best Glass Cannons in the game and still be a reliable water type attacker.
Generation 2
- In the main games, Meganium was one of the worst starter evolutions, period, with a combination of awful stats and a lacking moveset making it unviable for a lot of situations. In GO, however, it's one of the main picks for GO Battle League thanks to its quick charging Vine Whip, its elite/CD move Frenzy Plant (a requirement, as it's otherwise crippled) and its ability to resist Psychic attacks due to its lack of Poison typing, with the Ground type charged attack Earthquake helping shed away Fire and Poison types, leaving flyers as the only danger to worry about, only surpassed by fellow starter evolution Venusaur. The fact that it can also go toe-to-toe with GBL Great League king Azumarill (provided it doesn't come with Ice Beam) doesn't hurt as well.
Generation 3
- Walrein was just another mon in both the mainline games (being a common victim of Stealth Rock users) as well as this game. However, in 2022, it received its own Community day, where the line's final evolution was blessed with the exclusive moves Powder Snow (fast) and Icicle Spear (charged), the ultimate Ice-type attacks that shot Walrein From Nobody to Nightmare in both Great and Ultra League, now being able to go toe-to-toe with Azumarill, Altaria and even both forms of Giratina!
Generation 4
- The Altered Form of Giratina was always seen as inferior to its Origin Form in the main games, but in this game it's the undisputed king of the Ultra League (and a top threat of the CP-unlimited Master League), to the point of becoming a must-have if one wants to be taken seriously. A mix of powerful bulk, coverage against most threats, and easy access to STAB moves make even specialized counters shiver on their presence.
- Glaceon suffers from weak speed stats in the core games, while having incredible Special Attack and Defense stats, leading to certain problems when the target Pokémon is faster than it. In Go, due to Speed stats being downplayed or non-existent, Glaceon becomes one of the strongest easy-access Pokémon available since it has great Attack and Defense stats making up for high CP in addition to being useful on most Dragon-type opponent Pokémon, including most Legendaries, making it an exceptional (and easily accessible) mon for Level 5 Raids.
- Luxray suffers from similar problems as Glaceon in core games in addition to having mediocre stats other than attack and a bad movepool, but in this game Speed stats are downplayed or non-existent and there are limited uses for coverage, making it one of the go-by non-legendary Electric attackers in GO.
- Rampardos. While it doesn't see much usage in non spin-off games, in this game, due to a combination of a sky-high 295 attack stat, passable bulk, and for some reason Rock Slide instead of Stone Edgenote alongside Smack Down, an incredibly powerful Rock Fast Move, it's one of the strongest Pokémon of the game. Its biggest weakness in the original games, its abysmal speed, is also offset in this game, making it supreme in all raid lineups against Raid Bosses weak to Rock. In fact, it is so powerful that one can more often that not tear out 50%-70% of a Tier 3 Scyther's HP by itself.
- Regigigas in the original games is considered totally unviable because of its Slow Start ability, which cripples any of its offensive use completely. In this game, however, abilities are non-existant, and Regigigas is able to show why it's the top dog of the Regis. It gets Giga Impact, a 200 power, 1-bar normal type STAB move that hits instantly but renders it vulnerable with a massive time lag, effectively turning it into an actual Mighty Glacier. While the Normal-type cannot hit for super effective damage in any way, Normal-type attacks are easily boosted by the very common Partly Cloudy weather, indicating that a high-level one can be tucked into virtually any raid lineup during Partly Cloudy as long as both of its moves are unresisted.
- Bastiodon, in the main games, is meant to be a Stone Wall, but its awful typing gave it two crippling 4x weaknesses to the commonly used Ground and Fighting type attacks, leaving it forgotten. However, it is finally able to play its intended role in GBL Great League due to GO's battle system being more defense focused. While its weaknesses are still there, it's easier to play around them due to Pokémon having more limited movepools. Plus, once Pokémon able to exploit its weaknesses are removed, Bastiodon becomes nigh unfaintable, especially against the major Flying-types it resists.
