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However, some remain incredibly weak even by Pokemonstandards, having incredibly low base stats and being practically forgotten by the competitive meta. Even after having reached their fully-evolved form, these monsters barely do the name any justice. Trainers may want to avoid them altogether to save themselves the hassle. (Disclaimer: since this list looks at evolved forms, single-stage Pokemon are excluded.)

Updated August 26, 2022, by Kirkland Fortner: Previously, we had listed the 10 Pokemon with the weakest Stat totals, and pointed out a few tips on Moves and Abilities to aid players who may want to train and use these creatures. Now, we are adding more! After all, Pokemon are wonderful and complex creatures, and some of the weakest ones may still be among a player’s favorites. Additionally, some players enjoy the challenge of building what are normally seen as “weaker” teams into champions. So, with this in mind, we are adding 3 new Pokemon to the list, along with a few strategies on the best ways to use them.

13 Azumarill (Base Stat Total: 420)

Azumarill actually has a lot of good things going for it despite its low stat total. It’s a Water/Fairy-type, an excellent combination that is very strong both offensively and defensively. It hits 6 unique types super effectively, and no single type is capable of resisting both Water and Fairy at once. Additionally, it only has 3 weaknesses to Poison, Electric and Grass. And, to top it all off, it has 6 resistances and an immunity. There’s absolutely nothing to complain about here, this pairing kind of does it all.

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Believe it or not, it gets even better. Azumarill has the incredible Ability that is Huge Power. This Ability has a very simple effect, it doubles Azumarill’s Attack stat. This turns what would otherwise be a bad offensive Pokemon into something very usable. It also compliments Azumarill’s natural stat distribution very well, as it already has high defensive stats, so giving it something to make it a better attacker is just perfect.

12 Gumshoos (Base Stat Total: 418)

The first of many “early game Normal-types” on this list, Gumshoos is a rather basic Pokemon. It’s a pure Normal-type with high HP and Attack stats, and access to 3 very strong Abilities, Stakeout, Strong Jaw, and Adaptability. The Abilities, of course, are the highlight.

Stakeout makes it so that Pokemon that just switched into the battle take double the damage they usually would from Gumshoos’ moves. Strong Jaw boosts the power of biting moves by 50% (Crunch, Thunder Fang, Ice Fang, and Fire Fang being the noteworthy ones). Adaptability increases STAB’s multiplier from 1.5x to 2x, making all of Gumshoos’ Normal-type moves somewhat potent. There really isn’t much else to talk about, Gumshoos is very much defined by its Abilities.

11 Furret (Base Stat Total: 415)

Furret is a passable Pokemon, though it does struggle in several ways. It’s a pure Normal-type with good HP and Speed and acceptable Attack.

However, Its Abilities aren’t that impressive. Run Away is completely useless competitively and really doesn’t have much of a point even in the single player. Keen Eye prevents Furret’s Accuracy from being lowered and also ignores the opponent’s Evasion boosts. Frisk is actually a good Ability, it reveals what items the opponent’s Pokemon are holding upon switching it in, which is very useful for getting information.

It has a very wide movepool, though this sadly also comes with a big downside. A decent chunk of the good moves Furret learns are Special, and it is very much a Physical attacker (Its base Special Attack is 45, a laughably low number).

Furret’s biggest draw is that it has access to the powerful boosting move that is Coil. Coil increases Furret’s Attack, Defense, and Accuracy all in one turn, and this has very good synergy with Iron Tail and Baton Pass. Iron Tail is a move that normally suffers from lacking Accuracy, something that Coil fixes and Baton Pass allows Furret to give the boosts from Coil to the player’s other Pokemon, letting them take advantage of their lower Accuracy moves as well. Furret is overall a very underwhelming Pokemon, but this combo does legitimately give it something to work with.

10 Raticate (Base Stat Total: 413)

This Normal-type began the tradition of the staple “first-route rodent”, and it continues to fill that niche with its lackluster stats. It regained a small bit of relevance in the Gen 7 games with an Alolan form, but that unfortunately wasn’t enough to bring it into the competitive scene. Kanto Raticate has decent Attack and Speed stats, but poor defenses. It has access to the wonderful ability Guts, which doubles your attack stat if you’re infected with a status condition. This combines excellently with the item Flame Orb, as that is a guaranteed Burn after the first turn in a battle. It also can learn Swords Dance, further bolstering its attacking prowess.

Alolan Raticate has more even stats, and as such, is a lot better defensively, minus the new weaknesses it gets from its new Normal/Dark typing. Its ability Thick Fat, which reduces damage from Fire and Ice moves compliments this perfectly. However, for as good as these points are, it does not prevent either version of Raticate from being rather mediocre.

9 Vivillon (Base Stat Total: 411)

Vivillon’s main gimmick is that it has many color patterns. The color of the creature depends on where in the real world it was caught or evolved. A Vivillon from North America will look completely different from one found in Europe. Much like Raticate before it, this is a weak/mediocre Pokemon with some strong tools it can use.

Vivillon has a great ability in Compound Eyes, boosting the accuracy of all moves by 30% just inherently. This is important, as Vivillon can learn a very powerful Special Flying-type move, Hurricane. This move has 110 base power but only 70% accuracy. However, with the Compound Eyes Ability, this stat gets boosted to 91%, making it far more reliable. The player can further strengthen Vivillon with Quiver Dance, a move most Bug-types can learn that boosts Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed, all in the same turn. However, due to Vivillon’s frailty, both in terms of its typing of Bug/Flying and its lacking HP and defenses, Vivillon must be sent out the most opportune time for it to be effective.

8 Sudowoodo (Base Stat Total: 410)

There actually is not a whole lot that can be said about Sudowoodo. Its base stat total is tied with the likes of Medicham and Bibarel, which potentially outclass the fake tree thanks to their abilities and higher Speed stats.

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Sudowoodo does have the amazing combination that is the ability Rock Head and the move Head Smash. Rock Head prevents any recoil damage from moves, and Head Smash is an extremely powerful Rock-type move, that now no longer has any drawbacks, aside from its Accuracy. However, with all of that said, Sudowoodo suffers a lot from its pure Rock-typing and low Special Defense and Speed stats, so that does make it rather difficult to use.

7 Wobbuffet (Base Stat Total: 405)

Savvy players know not to let Wobbuffet’s low stats fool them. This is one of the best Pokemon you could ever use in the single-player game. Wobbuffet’s defining trait is that it cannot attack, it can only counterattack. As such, the Moves Counter and Mirror Coat are Wobbuffet’s only attacking options. Here’s where things get interesting, though.

Wobbufett has a ridiculously high HP stat at base 190 points, meaning it can survive some really big hits, even with its low defenses. The way Counter and Mirror Coat work is that they take the last Physical or Special hit done to you respectively, and hits the opponent with it for double the damage you took. Think about that. Double the damage. That is an insane multiplier. Because of this, Wobbuffet can KO Pokemon significantly stronger than it. Wobbuffet also has the ability Shadow Tag, which prevents non-Ghost Pokemon from escaping, meaning any opponent fighting this thing is forced to until it’s KO’ed. What makes this strategy so effective in single-player is that Pokemon AI is very predictable. All the player needs to do is know when to use Counter or Mirror Coat at the right time, and suddenly they’ll be getting a bunch of easy KO’s left and right.

6 Delcatty (Base Stat Total: 400)

This fancy feline lives up to its title as the Prim Pokemon, but its looks don’t help when it comes to battle. Before generation 7, this Pokemon did not have a single stat over 70. Thankfully now, it has at least 90 points in its Speed stat.

Unfortunately, that’s all it really has going for it, because Delcatty cannot use its Speed effectively. Its attacking stats are poor. It cannot take hits very well even with its pure Normal typing giving it only one weakness and one immunity, and its Abilities don’t really do much for it. The Abilities Normalize and Wonder Skin are nice, but they just are not enough to pull Delcatty out of the dumpster it’s in.

5 Beautifly (Base Stat Total: 395)

A big trend for Bug-type Pokemon in the games is that they evolve quickly, but maintain mediocre stats. These next entries showcase this to a painfully obvious degree, as all entries from here on out are bugs. Our bug line-up begins with Beautifly.

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Beautifly is essentially just a poorer version of Vivillon. It has the same Bug/Flying typing, and lacking defenses, but it’s missing a lot of the tools that made Vivillon interesting. Unfortunately, the tools it does have are not very impressive. Its only good Ability is Swarm. While it does have Quiver Dance (see above), it does not have a very strong Move to really annihilate opponents with the boosted stats. Additionally, unlike most Bug-types, Beautifly doesn’t even learn most of the power Moves that inflict statuses on the opponent. This is a Pokemon that really has no strong points.

4 Ledian (Base Stat Total: 390)

Ledian is a ladybug that most players forget even exists. There’s a good reason for that. It has really high Special Defense and Speed, and that’s about it. This rather bizarre combination of high stats makes Ledian is extremely difficult for most players to use. Its attacking stats are absolutely terrible.

Ledian’s Bug/Flying typing gives it a lot of weaknesses. Its only good Ability is Iron Fist, which boosts the power of punching moves by 20%. It learns a lot of status and support moves, so very experienced players could maybe use it as a supportive Pokemon, but that will be the extent of its services.

3 Dustox (Base Stat Total: 385)

Though this moth tries to serve as a counterpart to Beautifly, it proves itself worse by having fewer stat points. Many players find it actually kind of astounding how bad Dustox is.

Its individual stats are atrocious. It has a low attacking stat as it tries to be more defensive but even fails at that. The Bug/Poison typing does give it some nice resistance. However, because it’s so slow, it’ll be taking more hits than it deals. Shield Dust and Compound Eyes are both good Abilities, but Dustox learns basically nothing that Compound Eyes can take advantage of, making players wonder why it even has it to being with, and Shield Dust is only useful some of the time.

2 Kricketune (Base Stat Total: 384)

Oddly enough, Kricketune has higher attack and HP stats than Raticate from before. As indicated by the lower base stat total, though, it falls incredibly short in terms of speed and defenses.

Kricketune’s pure Bug typing is both a good and a bad thing, as the lack of dual typing means it has fewer weaknesses, but that also means it has one less STAB type. Kricketune does have access to a solid Ability in Technician, which increases the strength of moves that have 60 base power or less by 50%, so that’s something. Otherwise, expect this Pokemon to faint on the same turn it enters battle: a shame, considering the cricket’s cult following surrounding its battle cry.

1 Shedinja (Base Stat Total: 236)

Shedinja is one of the most interesting Pokemon in the game, though not entirely in good ways. It is a purely gimmick Pokemon much like Wobbuffet. Shedinja is the epitome of easy to understand, hard to master. Here’s the thing. Shedinja only ever has 1 HP, meaning it dies after one hit no matter what. It also cannot take any damage from status effects, entry hazards, or weather effects, as that will also KO it. Additionally, due to its unique Bug/Ghost typing, it’s weak to Flying, Ghost, Rock, Fire, and Dark moves. Its Ability, Wonder Guard, tries to circumvent this, as it makes Shedinja completely immune to any move that does not deal super-effective damage.

So, using Shedinja is more about knowledge and experience than anything else, as having a good feel on what moves Pokemon generally learn and will use makes using Shedinja a lot easier. Players can give it the item Focus Sash to always give Shedinja an extra hit, as that item prevents Pokemon from being KOed at full HP. The bottom line, Shedinja can be a great Pokemon for a guaranteed win, but only if the player sends it in at the absolute best time.

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