Unown aren't that bad.

[Mega_Kris]

Now lets ignore my user name....I just thought Shiny Unown would be a name I can remember easily and this is my first time in a Pokémon forum.

I don't know if the whole community feels unanimous about Unown being bad but I have seen multiple well known pokemon enthusiasts who have had a problem with Unown. Personally, I never thought they were bad in the first place.

When I first captured an Unown in the Ruins of Alph, it was actually a pretty useful Pokémon. Even though Hidden Power can be taught to every Pokémon, you never get it that early. And unlike Magikarp, at least its not impossible to use in battle. I do admit that as Unown levels up, hidden power becomes less and less useful.


For the design, I thought it was interesting. And when you play Pokemon Crystal, they look even more intriguing when you see their sprites move.

Now I can see why people have issues with Unown...they take up more sprites than any other Pokémon, and the only attack they know is hidden power and struggle. And sometimes I hear the occasional "being based of letters is gimmicky" although I have a strong suspicion that latin alphabet was more geared to intrigue Japanese audience more.than western.

I think their a nice mini game in Pokemon Silver/Gold/Crystal. And I never really expected too much out of the Unown when I first saw them.


I will say that there is definitely room for improvement. I really dislike their Shiny design. It would be nice if they had more color. Perhaps the eye would be a little on the yellow or grey. And even though its labeled as psychic, no signs of that have been shown.

There's one thing I noticed though. That Unown have been said to become more powerful or unlock more abilities if there are multiple (in specific pokédex entries). Does that mean that there full potential unlocks if we have a full party of Unown in our pack?

I never tested it out. But it wont hurt to try. I suppose if nothing happens (not even stat boost) it can be even more of a downside toward Unown. But I still think Unown are interesting and Game Freak can put them to further use in future games.

 

[Nah]

All I could think of when I saw this thread was this:

https://www.smogon.com/dex/bw/pokemon/unown

There's one thing I noticed though. That Unown have been said to become more powerful or unlock more abilities if there are multiple (in specific pokédex entries). Does that mean that there full potential unlocks if we have a full party of Unown in our pack?

In the games, no. I take it that the Unown amplify each other's power when together, kinda like in the 3rd Pokemon movie, but that was never something put into the games.

 

[pkmin3033]

"I haven't seen this many strange letters since the last time I placed a personal ad..."

I remember being really intrigued by Unown when G/S first came out...then being extremely disappointed to find that they weren't particularly powerful. I don't think they're any more or less gimmicky in terms of design than some other Pokemon - Voltorb is a ball, Grimer is a pile of sludge with a face, and so on - and I think they've got potential to be really interesting if Pokemon ever gets something resembling a detailed mythology, as they'd inevitably factor into it.

That said, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon turned Unown into a highly frustrating species...collecting all those damn stones they dropped just to fight the Regis repeatedly because they just wouldn't join my team drove me right up the wall and across the ceiling...

 

[Hiatus]

I don't believe much people dislike Unown. Though, reason they're unpopular is that they haven't precisely been… put into much use by GameFreak, really. There are there primarily for Entie, so that its origin could be explained easier and whatnot.

Me—I don't detest the Pokémon in any way. Personally, I believe it's rather unique, as it manages to take form of each and every letter of alphabet, allowing them to form words and sentences on their own, and send off any message they're attempting to get through without much trouble. Creative, isn't it?

When it comes to battling, however, it doesn't necessarily seem to me that they would be able to be of much help. First and foremost is, their stats are relatively low, which doesn't make them a good attacker nor wall. Second, they don't seem to have access to much useful moves at all. If GameFreak were to create an evolution for them, somehow, and allow them to be more chaotic in general, I'm sure their popularity would rise before we even know it.

 

[Sydian]

An Unown saved my ass in Pokemon Stadium 2 once and for that alone, I'll respect the little alphabet soup rejects.

 

[Cerberus87]

I gave up on Unown when I took the trouble of catching all its forms in Gold and found out filling the Unown Dex gave no reward.

 

[Mega_Kris]

I think the pokemon just need a single unique ability that no other pokemon could have...since its a psychic type, replace "hidden power" with "swarm" where it can call multiple unown from another dimension. Its fitting since its similar to struggle but with multiple pokemon and no recoil.


But I digress....Unown may not be strong, but they were definitely useful in the earlier parts of Gold/Silver/Crystal. But for some reason once it hit level 20 it started to be less useful.

 

[#DickBats]

GF we need megas for the unown! Well, is still unown if they ever going to play a part of a later story. They're still unown y'know.

 

[Necrum]

In the games, no. I take it that the Unown amplify each other's power when together, kinda like in the 3rd Pokemon movie, but that was never something put into the games.

Wrong, the Unown use their power in HGSS to give you a freshly born god of time, space, or antimatter.

 

[Mega_Kris]

GF we need megas for the unown! Well, is still unown if they ever going to play a part of a later story. They're still unown y'know.

I think Unown should have more abilities. Make them worth pondering about.

A Mega evolution could probably be a Capital alongside a lowecase. Similar to Weezing, Magnemite's and diglett's evolution

 

[Pendraflare]

If they were to do something else with Unown (like a Mega Evolution), I think they'd want to give it more than one move.

Or as mentioned above it would make for something cool if there's anything that would happen with multiple forms of them. I'm sure these things have an excuse for existing beyond hieroglyphic formations!

 

[Sopheria]

I think Unown is a pretty cool Pokemon design-wise (I actually find them kinda cute) and I like the air of mystery surrounding them.

That said, they are pretty much useless in battle xD I blame GameFreak for that more than anything. Just giving them Hidden Power and mediocre stats was kind of lazy design on their part IMO. I hope they do something to make it more interesting/useful in future games.

 

[Nakasu]

I didn't really find much a use for Unknown. I caught all of them primarily in HeartGold and in both FireRed and LeafGreen just to have them all for my Pokedex completion. I don't see them as useful Pokemon in the main series. Since im sure all they can learn is Hidden Power Psychic. Unknown were most likely placed into the series for a back story for the Legendary Beast Trio. Out of the main games Unknown are somewhat useful. In Pokemon Stadium 2 it seemed as if Unknown were actually decent Pokemon to choose from. Since the Pokedex isn't completely sure about the information on this Pokemon, GameFreak has the opportunity to build off of the Unknown. They could create a back story to them and make them seem more useful then they are now, or maybe possibly have them learn another move that only they can use. Somewhat like how Arceus can only use Judgement.

 

[Mega_Kris]

Well like I said...they were pretty useful in the first few gym battles....they didnt stay useful though.

But im not sure.

 

[Hiatus]

If they were to do something else with Unown (like a Mega Evolution), I think they'd want to give it more than one move.

Or as mentioned above it would make for something cool if there's anything that would happen with multiple forms of them. I'm sure these things have an excuse for existing beyond hieroglyphic formations!

They don't have any numerical forms as of yet, do they? If they don't, I believe this would be a pretty cool way to go about! Also, if they were to gain some evolution of sorts, I could imagine each and every one of them to transform themselves into... something more intimidating, so to speak. They likely wouldn't want to come up with a design for each Unown form, so because of that, they'll probably give the same evolution design to every one, which I don't believe much of us would mind if it looks good enough!

Once it evolves, it'd be nice if it gains some major statistic boosts and access to a lot more attacks. In terms of competitive, this would change things up for the Pokémon significantly.

 

[Oreanna]

For game play, they are somewhat interesting. But for battle, not so much.
What I like to see is a spelling type of power with multiple of Unowns or even a mini-game.

 

[Megan]

I had an Unown (H) in my main team in Pokemon Gold. I think it had Hidden Power Ice, but I can't quite remember, since it's been so many years and sadly the battery died, so I can't check. But it was there and it was awesome. {XD}

I really liked the letter H, because it reminded me of these little battle fighters from Star Wars (don't know what they are called, though).

 

[Luvlondon23]

I've always thought that this pokemon was a big joke they've done at Game Freak. Maybe they started here with making us wondering what is f****** goin' on in this game ? :D

 

[CountessGardevoir]

What ever are you talking about? Of course they're bad!!

 

[mew_nani]

I had an Unown (H) in my main team in Pokemon Gold. I think it had Hidden Power Ice, but I can't quite remember, since it's been so many years and sadly the battery died, so I can't check. But it was there and it was awesome. {XD}

I really liked the letter H, because it reminded me of these little battle fighters from Star Wars (don't know what they are called, though).

Tie Fighters? Those are H-shaped.

I always wondered just what the Unown really were. In Leafgreen they were the only non-legendary in the Rare Pokemon section of the Pokedex, and in every game they were treated as special. I wish there was a point where the true power of Unown is shown in the games; they only really work when there's more than one, and even though they showed up in the Sinjoh Ruins I always thought they were just drawn by Arceus's power, and weren't really involved in the creation of your adorable level 1 Giratina.