Middle evolutions cooler than first and final? Page 2

Started by Mackened June 7th, 2014 1:39 PM
  • 4548 views
  • 72 replies
Male
Seen February 8th, 2016
Posted November 23rd, 2015
460 posts
10 Years
Wartortle is the biggest one for me, being honest I prefer both Pre evolutions to Blastoise. Magmar & Electabuzz both look great on there own, I don't know why they didn't keep them as no evolution Pokémon. I always liked pidgeotto more than Pidgeot, same goes for haunter. I found him a cooler looking form to Gengar.

moon

they/them
Seen 11 Hours Ago
Posted 22 Hours Ago
37,443 posts
15.5 Years
Surprised I saw no Roselia, Pupitar or Lairon being mentioned. Surprised to see Flaffy as it would be on my list of the least cool looking middle evolutions when comapred to its other forms.
Its difficult because I always prefer evolving pokemon till their final form. Still, Rhydon is one pokemon I may prefer to keep as it is. If I want to make it Rhyperior, it would only be because of its Rock Head ability.
Roselia and Rhydon are really cool pokémon but somehow they are two of the ones I can't really think of as three-stage evolution families. Weavile feels pretty natural after Sneasel somehow, while Pikachu doesn't really seem like a middle stage pokémon but has a baby form in Pichu, to name some examples of how different this is in my mind xD Roserade and Rhyperior really feel like addons rather than natural third stages.

But I guess you should count both Roselia, Rhydon and Pikachu as middle evos in this thread to be fair ^^
paired with Ivysaur

Ghost Lunis

BOO!

Male
The Shadows
Seen February 12th, 2018
Posted October 19th, 2014
2,074 posts
11.9 Years
Roselia and Rhydon are really cool pokémon but somehow they are two of the ones I can't really think of as three-stage evolution families. Weavile feels pretty natural after Sneasel somehow, while Pikachu doesn't really seem like a middle stage pokémon but has a baby form in Pichu, to name some examples of how different this is in my mind xD Roserade and Rhyperior really feel like addons rather than natural third stages.

But I guess you should count both Roselia, Rhydon and Pikachu as middle evos in this thread to be fair ^^
Honestly I feel the same as you. It's hard for me to classify it that way if their national dex number isn't sequential:/

But if we didn't do it by dex number, I'm adding in clefairy. Not much on cleffa or clefable myself either.
wet dreams are made of this trade shop
Age 28
Male
Oregon
Seen September 24th, 2018
Posted July 3rd, 2018
17,520 posts
13.1 Years
I like better Vigoroth out of it's line. I like a lot of middle evos (even if not as much as their first or final at times), but sadly one barely manages to use them as they're in the middle of the evolutionary cycle.
I'm currently working on some novels. If you're interested you can read them here:
https://www.wattpad.com/user/ImperialSun

Brendino

The Ruins of Alph
Seen 3 Days Ago
Posted April 6th, 2023
8,567 posts
13.4 Years
I've seen a few people mention Quilladin and Dewott, and I'd have to agree, as they felt like the natural progressions from their starter form, but their final evolution looks like something completely different.

A few other Pokemon that come to mind that I prefer the middle evolution of are Togetic, Magneton, Electabuzz, Rhydon, and a few others that got lackluster evolutions in the 4th gen.

Pepperton

Male
Texas
Seen February 1st, 2023
Posted February 3rd, 2021
3,397 posts
9.5 Years
I agree with Rhydon. If Rhypherior didn't exist, I would use it much more often, haha. Other than that, I've always heavily preferred Quilava over Typhlosion, and it's the only Pokemon I can remember that I consciously kept from evolving due to its design. Braixen looks a lot better than Delphox, in my opinion, but its not as significant as Quilava.
Age 30
Female
Northern Ireland
Seen September 4th, 2015
Posted September 4th, 2015
1,544 posts
13.9 Years
OMG YES I've always felt this way haha, not about every middle evolution but ever since 1st Gen I've been more drawn towards them, especially the likes of Haunter and Kadabra :)


Other faves include: Ivysaur, Wartortle, Machoke, Dragonair, Frogadier and Fletchinder :)
http://www.pokecommunity.com/signaturepics/sigpic155452_1.gif
Seen December 6th, 2022
Posted December 6th, 2022
323 posts
10.3 Years
I see a lot of people mentioning how they feel that some of they prefer some middle evolutions because they feel like a "natural progression" after the initial stage. And I'm not trying to knock that point of view. However, I have to ask, isn't that sort of the point of the final evolutions?...and of evolution in the Pokémon world, period? Especially in a three-stage line.

Why would I want Charizard to look like a bigger, scarier Charmander, instead of having its own radically different appearance? That is actually something I dislike about the Bulbasaur-Ivysaur-Venasaur line. Venasaur just looks like a bigger, scalier, more ferocious Bulbasaur...with a big flower on its back. This point also goes to why I like Vigoroth more than Slaking. Vigoroth is the only one out of that line that showcases evolution. It shows a change from the laziness of Slakoth to being a active and vigorous creature. Then, unfortunately, it relapses right back into its lazy nature upon evolution into Slaking.

Personally I like it more when the evolutions diverge drastically (although not too much so) from their previous stage(s). For example, Samurott, Chesnaught, Blastoise, and Infernape are some of my favorite starters because the designers didn't shy away from changing many of the elements their appearance. The exceptions to this rule of mine, where staying within the basic appearance actually works pretty well, would have to be Johto starters (especially Typhlosion). Although, that could be more so because of nostalgia than anything else.
FC: 3754-6774-9096

My Friend Safari type is Flying, with Fearow and Swanna.

rom hunter

tongue-tied

Male
Tropics
Seen July 24th, 2014
Posted July 13th, 2014
73 posts
9.2 Years
@Doctor Personally, I don't see any sense in sparing a thought for middle evolutions. The starter is cute and final form is strong. But what the heck is there in middle evolutions especially if we are to leave out someone like Rhydon or Togetic which you do not prefer to consider in the "three stage families" category just because these middle forms were stronger and given a status of final form once upon a time!
Male
Canada
Seen September 15th, 2016
Posted September 14th, 2016
1,544 posts
14.8 Years
I really like middle guys that have great defensives with or without Eviolite.

With
~ Quilladin, Grotle, Wartortle, Shelgon, Fletchinder, Marill, Clefairy, Pidgeotto, Zweillous, Gen 3 starter mids, cocoons

Without
~ Haunter, Gloom, Dragonair, Ivysaur, Vibrava

Hated
~ Charmeleon, Kirlia, Poliwhirl
-- --
Pokemon Casual

Majestic Electric

Raining on your parade!

Age 26
Female
Behind you...
Seen November 19th, 2019
Posted November 19th, 2019
333 posts
9.1 Years
Out of the starters, Dewott, Braixen, and Grovyle I think are the coolest middle-stages. I don't have a problem with the final forms, though. In fact, I like all three, but I always liked these three middle evolutions just a bit more.
"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser."
-John W. Gardner

Age 28
Male
Distortion World
Seen December 13th, 2020
Posted February 26th, 2018
2,473 posts
12.9 Years
Ugh, just look at my signature. Those guys are my Ultimate team, my 6 sort of favorite Pokemon ever. And 1/3 of them are middle evolutions. I wish they werent middle evolutions and had better evolutions, especially Dragonair!! Oh well. xD

"The future you see is the future you get."

alisaie

they/them
Seen March 14th, 2023
Posted February 3rd, 2022
13,598 posts
14.8 Years
Ugh ugh I love middle evolutions with my new favorite being Fletchinder I don't think you all quite understand how much I love it. n

Other ones are Pikachu (if you want to include it), Flaaffy, Wartortle, Ivysaur, Bayleef, Quilava, Grovyle, Dewott, Monferno, Rhydon, Porygon-2, Dragonair, and I'm sure there are plenty more than I love more than their final evo ahaha cries.

LavenderTownGhost

Returning to Hoenn

Female
Florida
Seen November 9th, 2014
Posted July 15th, 2014
387 posts
9.1 Years
For the starters, going to have to go with Braixen. I love Braixen, but really don't care much for Delphox.

I also always thought Grovyle was kind of cooler than Sceptile.
"Head in the clouds, got no weight on my shoulders
I should be wiser, and realize that I've got...


one less problem without cha
."

Akiba

Age 23
Female
in a gap
Seen April 10th, 2017
Posted December 28th, 2016
4,262 posts
12.1 Years
First thing that comes to mind is Dragonair.
Honestly Dragonite looks a little too fat/muscular

Grovyle looks really agile, while Sceptile just looks like a big plant muscle.

While I'm not saying that Garchomp doesn't look cool, Gabite already looks like it can take on anything.

Itcheeee

All Hail Shadow

Female
Space Colony Ark
Seen January 5th, 2018
Posted December 5th, 2017
537 posts
11.4 Years
This has always been a thing for me. I keep my Pokemon's middle evo for as long as I can, as I normally like them best. When my Fennekin evolved I wanted to put an everstone on her but, eventually caved and evolved her again. :C Middle evos have always been under loved it seems. We start with the first form, so it's special. Then the middle evo, we have it for a while but eventually evolves permanently into it's last. I wish we spent more time with the middle, but that's why I do so myself. Maybe this has to do with some starters not resembling their original form enough?
Member of the Shiny Hunters Club, Serena Fanclub and The Library; Pokemon Manga Club

Firox

eepz, come help pwease!

Age 37
Male
Seattle, WA
Seen September 15th, 2021
Posted July 17th, 2020
2,585 posts
11 Years
Quilava, Dewott, & Braixen. Just love those 3 - Dewott is within my top 6 favorite.

For me it's extremely tough decision whether to make them evolve or not. I like the first and the last evolution (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, sometimes I wait until after E4 to evolve them) - but it's the middle evolution that I love the most.
I ♥ Foxes and Cats!! - art i drew myself
instead of 'Catch 'em All' for me would be "gotta Pet 'Em All"
check out my arts: Jyo Espy - my discord name changes often, numbers: #0363

Hiatus

Seen 1 Day Ago
Posted July 24th, 2021
12,283 posts
10.8 Years
I love Vigoroth; to me, it looks a lot better than Slaking. It's much smaller in size, however, which doesn't help making it seem as fierce, but that's not a huge deal. Another good thing is that it doesn't have Truant ability, so it doesn't have to loaf around after every turn it strikes some hit. If its offensive stats were more high, I'm sure it would've been used more often competitively.

Aside from that, I suppose I also like Roselia! It doesn't have those white hair like Roserade, which, to me, looks sort of unnatural.