Summary

  • Some Pokemon evolutions, like Electrode and Hitmontop, are unnecessary and don't add much to the original design or stats.
  • Evolving certain Pokemon, such as Rhyperior and Slaking, can be time-consuming and may not result in significant improvements.
  • Some evolutions, like Slowking and Steelix, are considered useless additions to the Pokemon family, offering little benefit to players.

The Pokemon franchise is too massive to keep track of, without such a large array of games, television series, films, and more, making it a full-time hobby trying to stay up to date with everything. The ninth generation of Pokemon creatures has pushed their total number into the thousands rather than the hundreds. Though every Pokemon is likely somebody’s personal favorite, that doesn’t mean they are all completely necessary.

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While the large number of evolutionary chains, as well as Mega and Gigantamax evolutions and regional variants, mean not every Pokemon is a necessity, it goes beyond that. Without being negative, it is easy to point out a few evolutions that don’t add enough to their previous version to justify their own existence.

8 Electrode

It’s Just A Larger Ball

Electrode In The Pokemon Anime
  • First Appeared In Generation I
  • Evolves From Voltorb
  • Electric-Type Pokemon

Although there is huge nostalgia for the Pokemon of the first generation, it is time to admit that some of the designs were relatively lazy. Voltorb is already a Pokemon that specifically is tricky because it looks like a Pokeball, and to create an evolution only for it to update nothing except to be a larger ball is a pretty pointless design.

Electrode does gain a power boost, as every evolution does, but the gain is small compared to other evolutions in the same generation. It goes from 330 base stat total to 490. Also, given that Voltorb learns significant moves like Spark, Rollout, and even Self-Destruct before evolving into Electrode, it's not one of the best electric Pokemon, and indeed is a Pokemon that feels well put together without this unnecessary change.

7 Crabominable

A Lesser Design & Difficult Evolution

Crabominable In The Pokemon Anime
  • First Appeared In Generation VII
  • Evolves From Crabrawler
  • Ice/Fighting-Type Pokemon

Crabrawler is already a very fun design for a Pokemon which was added in the seventh generation, and many players have been left feeling disappointed when they find the evolution, Crabominable, isn’t an impressive upgrade on the appearance. Admittedly, the name is great, but the design feels like it definitely takes the charm away from the beach dude look of the original.

The base stat total of 338 isn’t impressive, but neither is the advancement to 478. Additionally, while Crabrawler is just a fighting type, and Crabominable ice/fighting, this leads to it having twice as many move-type weaknesses as before. There are some advantages to every evolution, but some of them just aren’t worth it, and having to level up in a specific location or use an ice stone is too much hassle for many players to bother evolving their Crabrawler.

6 Dugtrio

More Heads Is A Little Better?

Dugtrio In The Pokemon Anime
  • First Appeared In Generation I
  • Evolves From Diglett
  • Ground-Type Pokemon

Another appearance of a lazy upgrade from the first generation of Pokemon. While Dugtrio is admittedly an improvement over Diglett, there aren’t any specific improvements. The best moves Diglett gets are learned early or without evolution, the type doesn’t change, and the design is simply sticking more of them together. Magnemite is guilty of a similar evolution, but at least it is made of magnets, making sense therefore that more of them would stick together, and become more powerful in doing so.

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Diglett is already a fun little addition to the Pokemon family. Dugtrio feels highly unnecessary and while Diglett comes with a low base stat total of 265, the Dugtrio total of 405 isn’t exactly enough to have players jumping through hoops in order to evolve the little guy into this version.

5 Slaking

Just Snorlax But Even Lazier

Slaking In The Pokemon Anime
  • First Appeared In Generation III
  • Evolves From Vigoroth
  • Normal-Type Pokemon

Usually, a Pokemon becomes bigger and more dangerous when it evolves. However, Vigoroth becomes much bigger while turning into the laziest Pokemon, this being the moniker for Slaking. Instead of becoming a more deadly creature, Slaking actually decides to loaf off every other turn in battle. This makes him a much less useful battler.

Slaking’s design and execution are the generation 3 equivalent of Snorlax, but he comes with so many extra irritations that he simply doesn’t feel worth the trouble. The massive base stat total of 670 isn’t worth the added challenges in planning, and his design and execution feel fairly lazy on the part of creators who had already hit the big sleepy icon jackpot in Snorlax.

4 Rhyperior

A Long Awaited, Unnecessary Upgrade

A Rhyperior in an online battle in Pokemon Sword & Shield
  • First Appeared In Generation IV
  • Evolves From Rhydon
  • Ground/Rock-Type Pokemon

Rhyhorn is a great Pokemon with a fun design, and Rhydon was an excellent, towering upgrade that players love to reach for, but to wait until the fourth generation only to add another evolution that doesn’t improve on the design made very little sense.

Rhyperior is an excellent Pokemon, but the base stat total of 535 isn’t a huge jump at all from Rhydon’s 485, and in lore terms, Rhyperior has a smaller brain than Rhydon. The lack of design improvement or huge upgrades means that evolving Rhydon, which requires a trade while holding a special item, simply does not feel worthwhile.

3 Hitmontop

Another Unnecessary Evolution Adding Nothing

hitmontop pokemon (1)
  • First Appeared In Generation II
  • Evolves From Tyrogue
  • Fighting-Type Pokemon

Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee, representing different moves and different types of fighting Pokemon, were an excellent pair in the first generation of Pokemon. To add in Tyrogue in the second generation as a baby form of both of them made some sense, but the idea of Hitmontop was a completely unnecessary extra potential evolution in that line.

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The choice between evolving Tyrogue into Hitmonchan or Hitmontop was already plenty, and their mastery of punching and kicking doesn’t feel like it translates well to a spinning top Pokemon such as Hitmontop. His design isn’t great, he isn’t considered more powerful, having the same base stats as Hitmonchan or Hitmonlee, and with the branching possibility from Tyrogue already, a third addition feels unnecessary.

2 Steelix

Actually Became Weaker And A Lesser Design

pokemon-fan-art-reimagines-onix-and-steelix-as-rockfire-types
  • First Appeared In Generation II
  • Evolves From Onix
  • Ground/Steel-Type Pokemon

Onix is already a surprisingly weak option in the Pokemon games. He doesn’t have the kind of strength that his imposing stature suggests, and this makes him a fairly forgettable option for fans. However, the creators didn’t do much to improve him by adding an evolution in the second generation.

Steelix is also surprisingly weak, and his steel typing is somewhat useful but it comes with a variety of new problems. It does reduce the number of weaknesses to four instead of Onix’s six, but that doesn’t help enough to make it worthwhile, since Onix was designed as the first boss in Pokemon Red, making him very weak. If there was going to be an upgrade on Onix, it needed to be a much bigger one to make it worth the trouble.

1 Slowking

Already Had Everything It Needed

pokemon-fan-art-imagines-slowking-as-a-human
  • First Appeared In Generation II
  • Evolves From Slowpoke
  • Water/Psychic-Type Pokemon

Slowpoke and Slowbro were an interesting duo in the first generation of Pokemon. The appearance of the Shellder on the tail was already a strange evolution choice, but Slowking being specifically added to their family in the second generation made even less sense.

Having already been a difficult-to-deal-with water/psychic Pokemon, having the unusual designs and quirky attitude, all meant that Slowking added nothing to this family. The only way to get a Slowking is to trade a Slowpoke while holding a King’s Rock, completely skipping out on Slowbro. Additionally, for the extra evolution hassle, Slowking isn’t actually better than Slowbro. Most players agree that Slowbro is a slightly better Pokemon overall, making Slowking a completely useless evolution.

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