Middle evolutions cooler than first and final?

Are there any middle evolution that you find way cooler than the first or final form?
For me, Wartortle is a landslide cooler than Squirtle and Blastoise. Just looks so badass, hands down my favourite middle evolution ever.

Yeah, for the starters it was often the case, actually... Until Pignite and Quilladin xD But apart from those, I like a lot of middle evos. Some of my favorites that I think are better than the first and final stages are Charmeleon, Wartortle, Grovyle, Combusken (even though Blaziken is totally awesome as well!), Monferno, Dewott, Braixen, Flaaffy, Haunter, Seadra, Dragonair and Vigoroth.

Especially Grovyle I consider a lot better designed than Sceptile. Likewise with Dragonair and Dragonite though xD

In general I think many middle evos get the short stick because they are made to be too much of just a transition between the initial and final stages. What happened with Pignite and Quilladin and Servine, I mean? ._. The former two just bulkied up before their final, large forms. Servine has almost-hands before they eventually retract as Serperior. That just seemed a bit silly to me, so I haven't really been able to appreciate Servine much at all...

And don't get me started on Magneton and Klang >.<

I love Braixen so much that I trained mine up till level 100 and ditched the thought of evolving her into Delphox.

Ivysaur, Charmeleon, Nidorino, Bayleef, Quilava, and Togetic.

I agree that Wartortle is way cooler than Blastoise. But I also loooooove Servine, I just do. Luxio is also pretty snazzy looking. I like Frogadier too.

Ivysaur, Bayleef, Quilava, Combusken, Dewott, Braixen, and Frogadier are all 3rd evos that I like significantly more than their final and first evos. It's weird, actually, I have noticed before this thread that I tend to like middle evos the most.

I like Charmeleon, but wouldn't say he's better than charizard. I'd like to see a standalone pokemon similar to him.
I find braixen to have a better design than delphox, and have one of each at level 100.
I much prefer rhydon to rhyperior.

I definitely agree with most of the starter middle evo's being cooler than their relatives, especially Ivysaur, Wartortle, Croconaw, Bayleef, Grovyle, Marshtomp, Combusken, Monferno, Dewott, and Braixen. So almost all of them...
As for other evolutionary lines, the first one that came to mind was Fraxure. I love Fraxure (especially it's shiny) but I'm not a big fan of Haxorus at all.

I really do love the first gen middle evolutions. They looked like if the Pokemon were like...17 or 18. The other ones always struck me as 13 or 14, that awkward stage where no one looks good but everyone is trying.

From the ones mentioned, I like Bayleef, Monferno, Dragonair and Dewott. I also prefer Machoke to Machamp and Herdier to Stoutland. :)

Do Magmar, Chansey, and Electabuzz count?

Rhydon, Electabuzz, and Dusclops are the only middle evolutions that I prefer over their first and final evos.

Haunter - It's definitely looking cooler and scarier than Gengar, although Gengar isn't bad, either.
Rhyhorn - Okay, when I first saw Rhyperior I was really disappointed. That hasn't changed to this day. How can an awesomely cool Rhyhorn turn into a fat, armored.... thing apparently wearing a bullet-proof west?
Dragonair - I like how Dragonite looks, like that goofy, careless dragon, and I love having it in my team. It's just that Dragonair has that beautiful, elegant appearance that can't br replaced that easily.
Grovyle - Definitely cooler than Sceptile. I've never really liked Sceptile at all :\

That's about all I can remember at the moment xD

Jolteon Dan said:

Do Magmar, Chansey, and Electabuzz count?

Click to expand...

Crap, I keep forgetting about the ones introduced on future generations since Gen 2...

Most starters; pretty much every early monster they later gave an evolution. There's just such a glaring difference between first/second and fourth/fifth/sixth generation designs.
I have a few Magnetons, but not one Magnezone.

Togetic,Croconaw, and Marrill are the middle evos that I really like that the final ones.

Grovyle is the most obvious one to me.

Another that hasn't been mentioned yet - Gothorita.

I agree with all of the Grovyle mentions heartily. He is one of my favourites. A not-a-lot-of-mentions: I really liked frogadier more than my greninja.
Middle evos are pretty awesome. It's that middle-ground level. Just. no. Quiladin. ever. He ruined my pre-purchase plan of choosing Chespin.

Wait...wait. There are actually people who think Wartortle is cooler than Blastoise?? Blasphemy, I tell you!!

Anyway, I find that there are very few cases where I think the middle stages of the starters are better than their final forms. The only one I can think of is Grovyle, even though I still think Sceptile is awesome looking. The rest of them? Well, there are a bunch that I think look cool in their middling forms, but the final forms almost always look better to me.

Anyway, going to other Pokémon, I have to say that I like Vigoroth more than Slaking. Also, I prefer Flaaffy to Ampharos just a little bit. Its just cuter, imo. Although, I do still like Ampharos. In general, though, I still prefer the final stages most of the time.

However, for me, design is secondary to the fact that the Pokémon get more powerful on evolution. That's what matters to me. If you come up with a level 100 Flaaffy against a level 100 Ampharos, you're probably gonna lose, especially if the latter chooses to Mega Evolve in battle.

Ivysaur, Wartortle, Pidgeotto, Dragonair, Bayleef, Quilava, Grovyle, and Rhydon. They're all the best looking to me out of their lines. Rhydon should of been left untouched or at least with a better looking evolution. I usually don't even really consider it, but I'm throwing it in here anyway.