What is your favorite pokemon that seems to get a lot of hate?

TheJeffers · February 27

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/comment/68757#Comment_68757

I think you have to consider the context of the times in which the games released. Despite the success of the DS, Black and White were the worst selling new generation Pokémon games.

Pokémania was long over, the kids who started with Red and Blue were in high school or university, and not quite of the age where they would have jobs and disposable income to indulge their old hobbies.

Meanwhile the Hoenn and Sinnoh babies of the time still had their first generation fresh in their mind and still playable on the same console. They would be reaching the age when they would be "too old" and "too cool" for Pokémon anymore (around middle school age).

And in an environment where Pokémons previous core demographics had aged out and were no longer interested in the games, Game Freak released a set of games where all of their old favourites were not catchable, or even available to transfer until the post-game.

For those people who has essentially checked out of the franchise, they would still want to poke their heads in and look for any details to affirm their decision not to play these new games. That these games were played out, lazy cash-grabs with no new tricks or good ideas.

And what was something that could easily be posted on forums and social media of the time as evidence of this decline?

Pictures of the new Pokémon.

And what was the worst they could find? Ice cream Pokémon. How lazy. Uninspired. Just some cogs and gears? It's a lame Magnemite rip off. A literal garbage Pokémon? That is the icing on the cake. That proves it. Pokémon is literal garbage now. Trubbish epitomises everything wrong with Pokémon Black and White, the worst games in the franchise that will only get worse and sell worse from here.

Then XY gave them Pokémon in 3D, the Kanto starters, Mewtwo and access to all their old favourites again, and all was forgiven. Pokémon was cool again, actually.

But the hatred for Trubbish, Vanillish and co. remained. It's all a lot of people remember about the era, especially if they didn't go back and play the games for themselves.

Fortunately the games have had a bit of a renaissance and people are learning "the games with a literal garbage Pokémon" were pretty great, actually.