Pokemon that didn't get proper screentime on the main group

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Cybersai

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This goes for every saga.

Ash: Noctowl comes to mind the most, given that it only had 1 Gym battle and was rarely used otherwise. For a non-reserve Pokemon, Noctowl was really treated like shit.

Misty: Horsea and Starmie. Horsea only gets about three episodes out of its ball before its left at the Gym, and Starmie honestly didn't fare much better. I'd also say Goldeen, but meh, who cared about that one?

Brock: I'm tempted to say all of them (lolz), but I'd say Zubat/Golbat/Crobat the most. We literally never saw this thing besides the eps it evolved in and some picnic scenes. Foretress was also treated badly, it was there for all 4 years of AG and we barely saw it.

May: Eevee. Captured too late in the series, didn't get much screentime overall, and essentially looked like an incomplete Pokemon. Given that we waited 400 episodes for a main character to have an Eevee, they sure dropped the ball with this one.

Jessie: Lickitung. 'Nuff said.

Dawn: At the moment I'd say Buneary, since its used the least of all her others.

What are your thoughts?
 
Scott85 said:
Brock: I'm tempted to say all of them (lolz), but I'd say Zubat/Golbat/Crobat the most. We literally never saw this thing besides the eps it evolved in and some picnic scenes. Foretress was also treated badly, it was there for all 4 years of AG and we barely saw it.
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While agree with most of your list, I actually thought that we saw more of Brock's Zubat/Golbat/Crobat during Johto. It was used kind of like Ash's Noctowl in how it would be sent out to search for something. As for Foretress, I thought it had some decent screen time, mostly during Master Quest and maybe the earlier parts of AG. But I haven't seen most of AG for awhile so I could be wrong.

Scott85 said:
May: Eevee. Captured too late in the series, didn't get much screentime overall, and essentially looked like an incomplete Pokemon. Given that we waited 400 episodes for a main character to have an Eevee, they sure dropped the ball with this one.
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I completely agree. While people have often complained about May's Squirtle, I always saw her Eevee being her worst Pokemon on her team. Not only did it get little screentime, but it had such a good bulid-up with May receiving the egg and when it hatched. I also hated the moveset it was given. Considering how Pokemon in contests were suppose to combine their attacks, none of the moves it knew worked well with each other.

Scott85 said:
Dawn: At the moment I'd say Buneary, since its used the least of all her others.
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I've been thinking that lately too since Dawn mostly uses Piplup and ocassionally Parcharius(sp?).

I'm trying to think of one for James. I want to say his Mime Jr. since he hasn't really used it since BF, but it is a part of the Team Rockett Motto still, so that doesn't work.
 
Scott85 said:
Brock: I'm tempted to say all of them (lolz), but I'd say Zubat/Golbat/Crobat the most. We literally never saw this thing besides the eps it evolved in and some picnic scenes. Foretress was also treated badly, it was there for all 4 years of AG and we barely saw it.
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I totally agree with you on that.

I would like to also add Mudkip. After it evolved into a Marshtomp, we barely saw it, except for the contest it was in. It didn't even get a proper chance to evolve into a Swampert.
 
Hidden Mew said:
While agree with most of your list, I actually thought that we saw more of Brock's Zubat/Golbat/Crobat during Johto. It was used kind of like Ash's Noctowl in how it would be sent out to search for something.As for Foretress, I thought it had some decent screen time, mostly during Master Quest and maybe the earlier parts of AG. But I haven't seen most of AG for awhile so I could be wrong.
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But going out on search parties doesn't really count as doing much. I would have forgotten about Crobat altogether if we weren't reminded about it in BF. As for Foretress, it seemed to be used even less than Mudkip, and that's saying a lot. Its battle against Bonsly was the first battle it was in since who knows how long.

I completely agree. While people have often complained about May's Squirtle, I always saw her Eevee being her worst Pokemon on her team. Not only did it get little screentime, but it had such a good bulid-up with May receiving the egg and when it hatched. I also hated the moveset it was given. Considering how Pokemon in contests were suppose to combine their attacks, none of the moves it knew worked well with each other.
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Most people agree with the idea that Eevee was given to her before they knew they were writing her out. It had more screentime as an egg rather than a Pokemon. It was definitely a pacing problem, and the writers not realizing how soon D/P was going to be released.

Come to think of it, Bonsly didn't really get much screentime either before it evolved.
 
It's kinda understandable that Eevee didn't get a whole lot of screen time, Eevee isn't really able to do a whole lot aside from evolving into one of several different forms. The most interesting attack it can learn is Shadow Ball. Which it did.

It was basically a Skitty Mk II.
 
But even if its moveset was limited it still should have gotten decent screentime. All it had was the Brock Contest which everyone disliked, and Eevee never really did anything else. Its egg didn't even hatch until half of BF was over, and even then it was ignored in favor of her other Pokemon. It was just terrible pacing or a lack of foresight of when the D/P games would be released. A few years from now people will probably forget she had an Eevee altogether, thanks to the writers poor treatment of it.

The sad thing is the writers gave Dawn so many captures so quickly so they don't repeat that, but as a result poor Buneary is being totally ignored in favor of Piplup and Pachirisu. And now with Aipom being a Contest hog, it makes me wonder if we'll get to see more of Buneary in a Contest role. If it didn't have its crush on Pikachu going for it, we'd barely see the bunny.
 
Scott85 said:
Jessie: Lickitung. 'Nuff said.
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In the early Jouto episodes that I rewatched recently, the pokemon appeared quite a few times. Not as much as other Rocket-Dan pokemon (of course), but it didn't seem to rot in its Monster Ball as much as some of the other pokemon in the show.

You want an underused Rocket-Dan pokemon? How about Chiriin? If was used in all of what? Three battles? Maybe four?

Its egg didn't even hatch until half of BF was over, and even then it was ignored in favor of her other Pokemon. It was just terrible pacing or a lack of foresight of when the D/P games would be released. A few years from now people will probably forget she had an Eevee altogether, thanks to the writers poor treatment of it.
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Who knows? There is a (admittedly small) chance that Haruka will pull a Kasumi and show up in Shin'ou. She could show up near Ice Rock and bring her Eevee with her and trigger an evolution into Glacia (Leafia's out since the gang's already passed Hakutai Forest).

It's a slim chance, I know, but it's still there.
 
They didn't use Chimecho because James would go emo every time a speck of dust touched it. You saw him when Combusken mopped the floor with the wind chime.
 
Dogasu said:
(Leafia's out since the gang's already passed Hakutai Forest).
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Don't they have to double back West to get to Canaclave? They could always revisit the forest on the way back.

EDIT: Whoops, scratch that. Eterna's too far north.
 
Scott85 said:
Ash: Noctowl comes to mind the most, given that it only had 1 Gym battle and was rarely used otherwise. For a non-reserve Pokemon, Noctowl was really treated like shit.
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I'll admit that it and totodile never did much, but it was still seen quite often as the "scout" of the group.

Torkoal on the other hand, had it much worse than anyone, hardly used, and got massacred in nearly every fight it was in outside of TR battles.
 
Dogasu said:
Who knows? There is a (admittedly small) chance that Haruka will pull a Kasumi and show up in Shin'ou. She could show up near Ice Rock and bring her Eevee with her and trigger an evolution into Glacia (Leafia's out since the gang's already passed Hakutai Forest).

It's a slim chance, I know, but it's still there.
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They've got to showcase Leafeon at some point. Although, I guess it is more likely that May will show up at that Ice Rock. Not quite sure how she'd get there, seeing as it is pretty far from Johto though.
 
Fucking Forretress.

The fact they left Ludicolo and kept it in Battle Frontier, never made sense.

Even it's evolution was small.
 
Thinking back, I'd have to say all of Ash's flying Pokemon save for Swellow, all of Misty's Pokemon EXCEPT for Togepi, Politoed, Corsola, and Psyduck, Crobat, Geodude, Venonat, and Buneary have gotten the worst treatment out of the series overall.

Oh, and Mudkip was treated abysmally for a starter Pokemon.

Fucking Forretress.

The fact they left Ludicolo and kept it in Battle Frontier, never made sense.

Even it's evolution was small.
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It's a ball with eyes. They really can't do much with it.

They've got to showcase Leafeon at some point. Although, I guess it is more likely that May will show up at that Ice Rock. Not quite sure how she'd get there, seeing as it is pretty far from Johto though.
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Probably bring her back for some sort of winter festival contest like Misty and Togepi.
 
Charizard imo :p

I'm waiting for a comeback in D/P. (Yes, I want to see it animated with some good animation for a change..)
 
Chaosblazer said:
Torkoal on the other hand, had it much worse than anyone, hardly used, and got massacred in nearly every fight it was in outside of TR battles.
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At least they brought Torkoal back to nearly KO Registeel. Not many Pokemon have the honor of battling a legendary, and the fact that Torkoal nearly beat it was impressive.

It was basically the writers way of apologizing for how they treated Torkoal in Hoenn. It really should have been a tank but got shafted because Grovyle/Swellow/Corphish were more popular apparently.
 
Scott85 said:
At least they brought Torkoal back to nearly KO Registeel. Not many Pokemon have the honor of battling a legendary, and the fact that Torkoal nearly beat it was impressive.

It was basically the writers way of apologizing for how they treated Torkoal in Hoenn. It really should have been a tank but got shafted because Grovyle/Swellow/Corphish were more popular apparently.
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I really don't count that as impressive, any trained pokemon can damage a legendary but beating them is another matter entirely.

If the battle had ended in a draw(or it won which wasn't likely) then yes Torkoal would've had some redemption beacuse it a took a legendary down with it, but that didn't happen now did it.
 
BROCK'S Tauros. All of his other Pokemon may have had little screentime but Tauros was shown 0 times after it was caught and NEVER mentioned again. How's that for ignored?
 
Brock gave his Tauros to Ash from what I've heard. So it's tearing up Oak's land with the others.
 
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