3 most underwhelming Pokemon from Hoenn

There aren’t too many bad Pokemon in the Hoenn region, but for some reason, most of them are Poison-type.

Granted, it is a rarity that strong Pokemon are Poison-type. Even though Generation I had behemoths like Nidoking and Tentacruel, not many of the generations later on had very strong Poison-types. It took until Generation VII to add a Poison-type legendary in Naganadel.

Also, most of the more proficient Poision-type Pokemon nowadays (Toxapex, Galarian Slowking, Nihilego, etc.) are all from recent games. These three Pokemon in particular, though perform very poorly in their game of origin.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the opinion of the writer.

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Which Poison-type Pokemon from Generation III are worth avoiding?

#3 - Seviper

Image via The Pokemon Company

This Pokemon has some really nice offensive stats (100 Attack and Defense), but there’s nothing else really going for it. It is neither fast, nor bulky, which means it will end up simply taking too much damage for it to do any real work.

There is no strong Poison move in Generation III, so it is forced to run Poison Fang. Crunch is the strongest move it learns naturally. A trainer could use the Earthquake TM on Seviper, but they could also use it on Swampert, Blaziken, Aggron, Salamence, Metagross, and probably 15 other Pokemon and get better results.

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#2 - Swalot

Image via The Pokemon Company

This blob is statistically really disappointing. None of its stats are above 85, let alone 100. Without a secondary typing, it has really poor coverage in the game. The only reason Swalot isn’t the number one worst is because there is a useful strategy that Swalot gets access to.

Swalot can learn both Stockpile and Swallow. With these moves, Swalot can boost its mediocre stats to the point where it can resist most incoming attacks. It can then Toxic stall it’s opponent by bulking up, and then using Swallow when it’s health is low. Spamming Stockpile can also lead to a strong Spit Up attack.

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#1 - Dustox

There are three things that really make Dustox difficult to use in a run of a Generation III game. The first is its stats: this Pokemon does virtually no damage. It has 50 in both base Attack and Defense. This basically forces Dustox into a Toxic-stalling role. The second reason is movepool. Not only are there not many powerful bug moves in Generation III, but Dustox has to wait until level 34 to use Silver Wind. Until then, Psybeam is it's only strong attack.

The final issue with Dustox is the area where it’s available. Dustox evolves from Wurmple, who is an early game pick up available around Littleroot Town, Petalburg City and Petalburg Woods. The issue is that there are a multitude of better Pokemon to catch in these areas. Wingull, Shroomish, Taillow, Lotad, and even Ralts can be caught before the first Gym. At that point, it’s really hard to find a reason to use Dustox.