Pokémon you like but haven't used much

[Lysander]

Are there any Pokémon that you like for any reason but haven't really used much in battles or anything?

I've always liked Yanmega's design but have never really used one before during a playthrough or even trained one in the postgame. I am however thinking about using one soon for HGSS/Platinum post game stuff.

 

[Rock_Salazar]

Poliwrath comes to mind. I've only used it once in gen 1 because it falls off hard in gens 2 and 3. Having access to amnesia made it one of my go-to's in gen 1, but gen 2 amnesia doesn't buff sp. atk. and Poliwrath only has submission and dynamic punch to rely on. It does pick back up in gen 4 thanks to the physical/special split and is available in HG/SS thankfully. The second time I used it was in a romhack that had the physical/special split and it buffed Poliwrath to be much better, but that doesn't really count.

Also it is possible to obtain Yanmega in HG/SS before you obtain the national dex. It is one of the handful of gen 4 evolutions that are in the base Pokedex.

 

[Explorer of Time]

I love Volcarona, but its evolution level of 59 makes it extraordinarily difficult to use in an actual playthrough. I'm hopeful that I can use the Lv. 35 Relic Castle Volcarona from B2W2 someday.

 

[Devalue]

• Skarmory: Cannot think of any particular reason why not. Must not be easily available in certain games. Could be due to locking down a Flying type earlier too.
• Leafeon: Evolves late in some games. Might share a typing with your starter. Lacks a lot of coverage, like several eeveelutions. Can be tough to justify.
• Gourgeist: Probably because of the trade evolution. (Knows of a guaranteed one in Sword/Shield, however.) Mentions type sharing with your starter once again.
• Oricorio (Baile, specifically): A late appearance in Sun/Moon. Does not learn a Fire move until level 40 with Revelation Dance. Has a really terrible Special movepool.
• Palossand: No particular reason. Is not particularly strong? Shrugs.
• Falinks: Competes with other mono-Fighting types. Usually shows up kind of late. (See: After Tyrogue, Galarian Farfetch'd, Timburr, Machop, and Clobbopus in Sword.) Looks pretty solid, though.
• Dolliv: Has not replayed Scarlet enough yet.
• Scream Tail and Iron Valiant: Solely comes from Area Zero. Cannot breed them.

 

[Sheep]

• Delcatty - It's really weak, sadly! I tried to mimic the one from the Hoenn episode-of-the-day with its moveset but it was soo tough to use. @_@
• Corsola - Again, so cute, but so weak!
• Plusle & Minun - I really like this pair and used both in a RSE run, but they really leave a lot to be desired.
• Sandslash - An awesome design, but is weaker than it looks like it could be.
• Steelix - Why a base 85 attack stat?! It's cool!
• Liepard - It's weak and hard to use v_v

Honestly there are plenty more but these ones I can remember lol.

For non-weak things that I just haven't had much chance to use, it's things like Ludicolo, Tyranitar, Slowbro, Bewear, and Lilligant among others. Just never really had the chance.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

A few I can think of off the top of my head are Crawdaunt, Camerupt, Nidoqueen, Steelix, Starmie, and certain legendaries including Mewtwo, Zapdos, and Latias. Most of the time I can't find a way to fit them into my team with overlapping types/type weaknesses, and other times (especially for the legendaries) they appear too late in the game to add to my team.

 

[Corveone]

The Horsea, Ralts, Seedot, Shuppet, and Litwick lines are Pokémon that I considered adding to my team in more than one playthrough, but eventually never did, something else stole their spot :)

Just mentioning old Pokémon, because for newer ones like Orbeetle and Bombirdier I only had a few opportunities to use them.

 

[RMVNZ]

Toxtricity has a fantastic design and a unique typing but falls frequently to common Ground-type coverage moves from nearly all fully-evolved Pokémon.

Umbreon is a top-tier favorite of mine as well and is the top Pokémon I use in Pokémon Unite.
However, in the RPG games proper, the evolution method is highly specific.
In addition to that, Umbreon is a more defensive Pokémon in generations where it doesn't learn Foul Play, so in-story battles that involve Umbreon tend to be more time-consuming than if I were to use a more offensively oriented Dark-type like Weavile or Bisharp.

 

[PageEmp]

While my opinion on that mon is really just neutral, I heard many others like Tropius. Despite that, I have almost never used one.

In every game that isn't Platinum, Tropius shows up ridiculously late into the game, and it isn't a common find either. And because it doesn't have any really notable stats, usually by the time I find it I already have something that shares it's types or role but are better than it. Although if you go to Platinum's Safari zone as soon as possible, that would probably be the earliest I think you can get a Tropius. Because that's the only game where I tried using one, and I ended up boxing it around the 6th or 7th gym because even I thought it was getting outclassed by the rest of my team.

There are probably many even worse examples, but Tropius was the first to come to mind.

 

[ReKoil]

I think for me most fall into 1 of three categories:
-trade evos, due to not having access to them in older gens and preferring mons of the same region for my playthroughs in newer gens.
Steelix looks awesome for example, but I have never used one on a playthrough.
-newer gen mons that I just don't have the time to get around to lol
Armarouge would be one. Tried out Ceruledge on my first Violet playthrough. Tried out Skeledirge too. Never got around to it.
-Mons that are generally not available till late in the game. I'll usually already have a full team at that point.
Minior for example. Gets it really late in it's home gen. Might be able to access it earlier in gen 9. Dunno. Would rather have a Paldean mon when playing SV anyway.