From 0 To 100
Pokémon evolution is one of the best parts of playing this iconic series. After putting in the work, your loved little partner becomes something new. When it works, the result feels bigger, sharper, and more fully realized without losing the charm that made the original design click. When it doesn’t, an evolution can feel like a design detour, even if the Pokémon itself is perfectly usable in battle. Here are 10 Pokémon evolutions that missed the mark, followed by 10 that still feel like some of the series’ best glow-ups.
1. Worst: Rhyperior
Rhydon already had the presence of a final form, with its rocky dinosaur shape, thick hide, and blunt old-school monster appeal. Rhyperior makes the line heavier and stronger, but the orange armor plates, hand cannons, and extra bulk make the design feel crowded. It’s a powerful evolution, though it loses some of Rhydon’s clean, classic silhouette.
2. Worst: Lickilicky
Lickitung’s whole identity came from one strange, memorable gag, and that simplicity made it stick. Lickilicky keeps the tongue theme, but its rounder body and goofier look make the evolution feel even less charming.
3. Worst: Magmortar
Magmar had a weird, fiery roughness that was already perfect. Magmortar adds arm cannons and a bulkier body, which fits its firepower on paper but makes the design feel less sharp. The concept is strong, yet the final look trades too much of Magmar’s personality for extra hardware.
4. Worst: Ambipom
Aipom’s design worked because it was simple: a mischievous monkey with a hand on its tail. Ambipom doubles the gimmick with two tail-hands, but the result feels a little too busy. The evolution makes sense mechanically, though it takes Aipom’s playful oddness a little too far.
5. Worst: Probopass
Nosepass was already strange, but it had a clean visual hook as a compass-like rock creature. Probopass adds a Rock/Steel identity with a huge mustache-like feature, all of which make it memorable. Still, there’s so much happening on the design that the original’s simplicity starts looking pretty appealing.
6. Worst: Crabominable
Crabrawler is a compact boxing crab, a unique character idea for a Fighting-type. Crabominable pushes the line into Fighting/Ice territory with a shaggy mountain-crab look, and the jump feels more jarring than satisfying.
7. Worst: Aromatisse
Spritzee did have a stronger concept than it sometimes gets credit for, mixing perfume, Fairy typing, and a bird-like shape. The Aromatisse evolution stays on theme, but the final design leans into frills and fluff rather than the sharper, stranger direction the line seemed to promise.
8. Worst: Sneasler
Sneasler has an interesting Fighting/Poison typing and a clear regional identity, so it isn’t a bad Pokémon by any means. The trouble is that it exists near Weavile, one of the sleekest and most immediately readable evolutions in the wider Sneasel family. Next to that icy little menace, Sneasler’s lankier proportions don’t hold up.
9. Worst: Dudunsparce
Dunsparce fans waited years to see what this Pokémon might become. Dudunsparce answered with the funniest possible choice: mostly Dunsparce, but longer, with a rare three-segment form for extra chaos. As a joke, it’s very funny, though as a long-awaited evolution, it’s hard not to feel robbed.
10. Worst: Incineroar
Incineroar is popular, useful, and full of personality. However, Litten and Torracat seemed to point toward a sleek fire tiger, then the final stage swerved into a bipedal pro-wrestling heel with a flaming belt. That concept is loud and confident, but it’s also one of the starter evolutions most likely to make players wonder what the alternate final form might have looked like.
1. Love: Scizor
Scyther was already a cool Pokémon, which made evolving it risky from the start. Scizor succeeds because it doesn’t erase the original idea; it turns the blade-armed mantis into a red, armored Bug/Steel weapon with a full-fleshed identity.
2. Love: Crobat
Crobat is a brilliant payoff for sticking with a Pokémon many players first met through endless cave encounters. Zubat and Golbat can feel like a nuisance, but Crobat turns that familiar line into something sleek, fast, and stylish. The friendship-based evolution transformations feel even better.
3. Love: Sylveon
Sylveon had a lot to prove as both an Eevee evolution and a major showcase for Fairy typing. The design works because it feels soft and elegant without becoming forgettable, with ribbonlike feelers and a color palette that instantly sets it apart.
4. Love: Annihilape
Primeape has always been defined by rage, so Annihilape feels like the wildest possible endpoint for that idea. Its Fighting/Ghost typing turns all that anger into something almost mythic, as if Primeape got furious enough to punch straight through mortality. The evolution method, tied to using Rage Fist repeatedly, makes the concept feel especially tidy.
5. Love: Kingambit
Bisharp already looked like a battlefield captain, so Kingambit simply crowns the whole idea. Its evolution requirement is built around defeating specific Bisharp connected to the Leader’s Crest, which fits its commander-like identity beautifully.
6. Love: Mamoswine
Mamoswine gives the Swinub line the prehistoric weight it always seemed to be reaching for. Swinub is cute, Piloswine is shaggy and sturdy, and Mamoswine arrives like something pulled out of ancient ice. Its Ancient Power connection makes the evolution feel a little less random.
7. Love: Ursaluna
Ursaluna works because it makes the Teddiursa line feel older, heavier, and more tied to the world around it. Teddiursa had the moon mark, Ursaring had the brute force, and Ursaluna combined those ideas into a grounded final form with real presence. The full-moon evolution detail gives it a little folklore flavor, which suits Pokémon surprisingly well.
8. Love: Gallade
Gallade is a branching evolution that actually earns its place. While Gardevoir leans elegant and protective, Gallade takes the same emotional core and turns it into a blade-armed fighter with a knightly edge. It expands the Ralts line without making either final form feel redundant.
9. Love: Roserade
Roserade is one of those evolutions that adds polish without overcomplicating the design. Budew is sweet, Roselia is graceful, and Roserade turns the flower motif into something sharper, theatrical, and dangerous. The masquerade-like face and thorny battle identity make the whole line feel complete.
10. Love: Gengar
Gengar remains one of Pokémon’s cleanest final evolutions because it knows exactly what it is. Gastly starts as a ghostly cloud, Haunter adds the grin and floating hands, and Gengar pulls everything into one compact little nightmare. It’s simple, spooky, funny, and instantly recognizable, which is why this trade evolution still feels iconic after all these years.
