[Competitive] Why haven’t Really weak Fully evolved Pokémon not gonna stat buff’s instead

[PokemonOurpleOffical]

Im not that experienced in Competitive Pokémon but wouldn't it be better to give some weak Pokémon just buffs to their bst. Why don't they do this I'm asking pls.

 

[Devalue]

Guesses three reasons:

1. Wants people to use the new Pokemon. Usually involves making them better than old Pokemon, stat-wise. Leads to some power creep and old Pokemon being left behind.
2. Takes time to figure out how you want to buff them. How much development/balancing time do you want to spend on old Pokemon, rather than more pressing concerns?
3. Consistency. Wants Arbok to be the same snake you always knew and love, for example. Might be weird to for it to, say, suddenly become a super speedy Pokemon.

Buffs and nerfs some base stat totals a little between generations, for the record. Tends to only be +/- 20, however. Buffed Arbok by 10 Attack going into Sun/Moon, as an example.

Usually takes a different avenue for buffs other than stats, also. Some recent examples (and a few old ones):

• New evolutions like Farigiraf. Leads to said stat buff, technically.
• Create a Paradox Pokemon of it or give it a Mega Evolution. Because who cares about what happens to it after the current generation?
• The new Wind Rider ability for Shiftry.
• Sharpness ability and the new Aqua Cutter for Gallade
• Removing Scald from Politoed. (Not a buff, obviously)
• Regional variants like Paldean Tauros and Alolan Muk
• All the unique Pikachu and Eevee moves in Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee
• The Stick hold item for Farfetch'd for extra criticals

Admits wanting to see some stat buffs, however. Really holds some Pokemon back.

 

[Corveone]

I believe the main reasons are:

1. The main aspect of Pokémon games is the single player adventure, not the competitive. Some Pokémon are meant to be weaker because they're common and easy to obtain, reach their final stage much earlier, get stronger moves early on, are easier to train, etc. So they're balanced out taking the in-game single player experience into consideration, even though those aspects are completely irrelevant to the competitive. Why would you use Squawkabilly in SV when you can have the Gigachad Braviary? Well, because Squawkabilly is a good early/mid-game Pokémon right away and it's much easier to raise, while for Braviary you're stuck with Rufflet until level 54, and it also has a slow growth rate. They both have their place in the game.

2. Some Pokémon also need to be weaker in terms of stats because they get access to certain Abilities or moves that would be too overpowered on Pokémon with much higher stats. Imagine Azumarill (which is already a viable Pokémon with its 420 BST) getting a 500 BST on par with many other third stage Pokémon instead, while having access to Huge Power, fully evolved at level 18, Aqua Tail and Play Rough by level 25, and things like Belly Drum + Aqua Jet as egg moves, it would be insane.

 

[CoolKid575]

. The main aspect of Pokémon games is the single player adventure, not the competitive. Some Pokémon are meant to be weaker because they're common and easy to obtain, reach their final stage much earlier, get stronger moves early on, are easier to train, etc. So they're balanced out taking the in-game single player experience into consideration, even though those aspects are completely irrelevant to the competitive. Why would you use Squawkabilly in SV when you can have the Gigachad Braviary? Well, because Squawkabilly is a good early/mid-game Pokémon right away and it's much easier to raise, while for Braviary you're stuck with Rufflet until level 54, and it also has a slow growth rate. They both have their place in the game.

You're dead-on; I think a lot of hardcore fans forget that Pokemon is an adventure game first and esport second. Many Pokemon serve specific roles that may not be conducive to viable competitive play, The classic example of this is that Magikarp is worthless because it's supposed to show the player how drastically evolution can change a Pokemon. Another would be how Onix in RBY is primarily designed to be the first boss, and thus relatively easy to beat. That's why it has absolutely garbage stats despite it's intimidating appearance.