Over the last 20 or so years, Pokémon has introduced hundreds of pocket monsters to the world. From Red and Blue up to the latest generation in Sword and Shield, there is always at least one Pokemon you will fall in love with. However, some land in the realm of underwhelming. These Pokémon can lack in battle power, have a poor design, or something else can make them undesirable. Here are the ten worst Pokemon that appear in Sword and Shield.
10. Morpeko
It seems every new Pokémon generation has a new version of Pikachu. Marill, Mimikyu, and Dedenne are just a few of these examples with Morpeko joining the group of adorable rodents.
Morpeko’s place on this list is more based on how boring of a Pokémon it is. It is not the first design inspired by Pikachu. It is another electric type rodent at the end of the day. The most “special” thing about Morpeko is it gets hungry and turns into a dark type for a couple of turns. That’s cool, but not necessarily anything earthshaking.
9. Applin
Do you know how Game Freak gets accused of running out of ideas when they make Pokémon based on objects? This accusation happened with Klefki, Garbador, and Drifloon, who were Pokemon versions of a keychain, literal garbage, and a balloon. This practice returns in Sword and Shield with Applin, a Pokemon that looks like an apple.
Applin is a grass/dragon type, which makes no sense to me, but it’s not the only questionable decision on this list. It evolves into either Flapple or Appletun, depending on if you give it a Sweet Apple or Tart Apple.
According to Applin’s Pokédex entry in Pokémon Sword, “It spends its entire life inside an apple. It hides from its natural enemies, bird Pokémon, by pretending it’s just an apple and nothing more”. So maybe it is not the apple itself but instead hides inside one. Good thing no one ever eats apples, right?
8. Stunfisk (Galar Form)
When Stunfisk made its debut in Pokemon Black and White, it was already an ugly creature. In Pokémon Sword and Shield, it receives a Galarion form that is outright abysmal. It is supposed to be like a bear trap Pokémon, with a Pokéball item symbol lying in the middle of it to serve as the bait for the trainer to come in and start an encounter. The problem with this Pokémon is how annoying it is. After your first time facing the Stunfisk, you never fall for the trick again, but you will see way too many in the world, which is Game Freak’s way of “trying” to be smart. It does not work.
7. Eiscue
Eiscue is the first penguin Pokémon to appear since Piplup. Where Piplup was a cute penguin that people fell in love with, Eiscue is a bit of a monstrosity.
Instead of a standard penguin head, Eiscue has a block of ice. This appearance plays into its ability called Ice Face. The Pokémon’s ice head can take a physical attack as a substitute, but the attack also changes the Pokémon’s appearance. The ice restores when it hails.
So Eiscue gets a free shield against one physical attack. This does not include elemental attacks that it might be weak against, and with a lack of defense, speed, and power, this penguin is a sitting duck against a large number of opponents.
Eiscue can be useful if attacked, and he loses Ice Face. It greatly raises his speed, and if you have Belly Drum, you maximize your attack at the cost of half your health. You are just sacrificing too much by having this ice cube in your party.
6. Stonjourner
Stonjourner is a contender for one of the laziest designs of the new Pokémon in Sword and Shield. The meeting that took place with his design must have sounded something like, “Yeah, just pile some stones on top of each other, and we will say it’s a reference to Stonehenge.” The Pokédex entries in both games nail down how exciting the life of a rock is by stating Stonjourner likes to stand in grasslands to watch the sun’s descent from zenith to horizon and stand in a circle on a specific date and time.
While Stonjourner does not have a great design and seems like a boring Pokémon, it is pretty useful in battle when you acquire it later in the game. Without that, it would be much higher on the list.
5. Magikarp
Magikarp is a meme that anyone who has played Pokemon before knows about. It is the most useless Pokemon until it evolves into the awesome Gyarados that has been a favorite since the very first games.
Game Freak is not trying to hide Magikarp’s pathetic nature. In Sword, its Pokedex entry reads, “It is virtually worthless in terms of both power and speed. It is the weakest and pathetic Pokémon in the world”. Have Magikarp in your party to evolve it, but for nothing else.
4. Skwovet/Greedent
Every Pokemon game contains an early game creature that is used as fodder to level up your starter more than anything. Skwovet is Sword and Shield’s version of the normal type that becomes more of a pest than anything. These types of additions do not add much to the games. They easily could be Rattatas and serve the same purpose.
Skwovet is simply a squirrel. There is nothing special to it aside from being a squirrel that likes berries. Even its evolution, Greedent, is essentially only a fatter version of the original, and he’s annoying because he drops in if you shake berry trees too much. It has abilities where it eats berries to gain a tiny bit of health, not nearly enough to turn the tide of a battle or anything. There are so many other early game Pokémon you should instead go for, including Yamper and Rookidee.
3. Diggersby
Diggersby is the evolution of Bunnelby. Originally, Bunnelby is your normal cute bunny that is also a ground type. Then it evolves and becomes this monstrosity. When becoming Diggersby, the Pokemon’s ears turn into fists that the Pokedex says are “With power equal to an excavator, it can dig through dense bedrock. It’s a huge help during tunnel construction”. It also gets a bigger gut that produces hair that holds heat “exceptionally well,” but besides looking at the Pokedex, you wouldn’t know that because it does not play a part in the game at all.
With Scorbunny being a starter and there already being multiple other rabbit Pokémon over the years. You would hope that Game Freak could have left Diggersby out of the game in favor of a new Pokemon or one of the countless Pokémon people love that didn’t make their way into Sword and Shield.
2. Shuckle
Ever since Shuckle made its debut in Gold, Silver, and Crystal, it has been a mediocre Pokemon. It is a turtle that is a bug/rock type and has no evolution. So where Magikarp has been a more useless Pokemon for longer, at least they turn into Gyarados. Shuckle remains stuck as the same fighter with weak moves and abysmal stats aside from its defense.
Shuckle’s design looks like worms coming out of rock more than a turtle. According to its Pokedex entries, it for storing berries inside its shell and hiding underneath rocks. They are boring, pathetic Pokemon that should have been left off the roster this time around.
1. Dracozolt/Arctozolt/Dracovish/Arctovish
Easily one of the worst decisions made in Pokémon Sword and Shield was the way fossils operate. In the past, you could find fossilized Pokémon that you can bring back to life, and they would join your party. They weren’t always the best Pokémon, but there were some favorites in there like Aerodactyl. This time around, you find two different halves of a fossil and mix them to make one of these abominations.
All four designs have to be a joke by Game Freak. There is no way they are trying to pass these guys off as real Pokémon. Are they trolling us like Breath of the Wild did with its korok seeds? Seriously, Dracovish’s Pokédex entry says it can run on land at 40 mph but can’t breathe unless it is underwater. Every single one of these Pokemon is begging to be extinct again. Galarian scientists need to talk with the fossil researchers of the rest of the Pokémon world.
