The first time I played it (Japanese version), I was rather unfamiliar with the Unovan Pokemon and tried to train my Pansear so that I could evolve it. At least until the sixth gym I started to feel that it wasn't catching up with my other Pokemon, and THEN found out that it was supposed to suck before evolution. >T
In the end I boxed it around that time, in favour of Darmanitan.
The second time I played it (English version), I boxed it right after the first gym, and was Fire-type-less for a while.