Most of us have incredibly fond memories of playing Pokémon as kids. Be it watching the anime, playing – or collecting – the trading card game or playing the video games, Pokémon has been a huge part in many of our lives from an early stage. In all this time, we’ve all grown attached to certain Pokémon from our youth. We all have our favourites, and some of us still go out of our way to get these guys in our parties to this day – years after they were first introduced. Be it due to aesthetic or just familiarity, we just can’t seem to let some of these guys go. But maybe we should.

With the introduction of new Pokémon with each new set of games, more and more of the older pocket monsters are being rendered irrelevant – or, if you don’t want to go that far, subpar in comparison. It might be hard to accept, but a lot of these guys have bad stats and really inconvenient type-weaknesses. They might be viable options for helping you clear the game, but don’t count on them when going up against your friends. This list includes Pokémon from Gen I-III so let’s start things off with a bang.

Here are 20 of your favourite childhood Pokémon that used to be strong…but are actually useless now.

20 The Worst Evolution...

The Eevelutions have always been some of the more popular Pokémon out there. Giving the player the option to evolve their Pokémon into one of several final evolutions was a pretty good call from the developers, as it really made Eevee’s evolution process seem all the more important. As the years went on, more Eevelutions have been added to the roster – making some of the older ones a little less relevant. Vaporeon is one of those unfortunate creatures. Not only is it not the best in its evolutionary tree, but it isn’t even the best pure Water-type you can have in your party. Slow and lacking in both defense and attack, Vaporeon has been outgrown by the Pokémon community.

19 Lands One Punch Before The End...

If you were a kid playing the original Pokemon games, then you most likely wanted to get your hands on either a Hitmonchan or Hitmonlee. Sadly, you couldn’t have both unless you had an overly generous friend to trade you the other, but they were some of the coolest looking Pokémon in Gen I as well as two of the best fighting types. But they really aren’t all that relevant anymore. While a handful of Gen I Pokémon were saved with Mega Evolutions, Hitmonchan doesn’t – at least not yet – have that luxury. Its base stats are pretty unbalanced. You could write it off as a glass canon that can’t really contribute to your team. You’d be lucky if you could get two turns out of it in a competitive battle.

18 Don't Trust The TV Show, Dummy!

Aside from its great defense stat, Weezing is a pretty below average Pokémon that wouldn’t really help you in any sort of situation. Most of you who watched the anime will be pretty familiar with it, and that certainly played a part in its popularity in the series’ early years. While Poison-types can at times be annoying to deal with, Weezing isn’t all that much of a threat and can be taken care of pretty easily if you play your cards right. As previously mentioned, all of its stats aside from defense are either average or below average. The only thing it has going for it is that it’s only really weak to Psychic-types – though that’s something a well prepared trainer can easily navigate around.

17 Kids Love It!

A fearsome looking Pokémon that caught the interest of many young fans, Mightyena looks a lot scarier than it actually is. No we’re not saying that it’s some gentle giant, it’s just not that difficult of a Pokémon to deal with. Being a Dark-type, Mightyena has the displeasure of being weak to the very OP Fairy-type, as well as Bug-types of all things. If you look past its appearance you’ll see that this scary lookin’ Pokémon is all bark and no bite. There are way better Dark-types out there. You don’t have to limit yourself to Mightyena when it just wouldn’t be able to last very long in battle. With its speed, hp and defense and special defense being what they are – there’s not all that much you can expect to get out of it.

16 Too Weak For Consideration...

There still isn’t a Pokémon out there that looks dopier than Slowpoke. Its evolutions are no different, but Slowking does have a slight air of sophistication to it. If only it was a decent Pokémon in battle. Looking at its stats, Slowking isn’t all that bad. But it’s not very well rounded. There’s one glaring weakness in it, and that’s its speed. With an absolutely awful base speed of 35, there isn’t mch improvement to be made. This is offset by its strong special defense, but given the number of weaknesses it has (5), along with the fact that it’s likely to attack second every turn, there are much better tanks out there for your party.

15 Don't Embarass Yourself...

Other than having great special attack and defense, you won’t really fond all that many uses for Ludicolo anymore. The Luchador-looking Pokémon – much like any other Pokémon on this list – just isn’t all that great of an option in battle anymore. It was a solid choice to have in your party back when it was first introduced in Gen II, but as is often the case, the inclusion of more Pokémon has seen its usefulness wane. Its attack is subpar, as is its defense, speed and most importantly health. You just won’t be able to keep this thing in a battle for very long. It might look like a tank but it’s really more fragile than you’d think. Not great for battle and not worth the party spot – at least not anymore.

14 Can't Fight Fairies... 

Well we talked about Hitmonchan just a short while ago, so let’s now shift our focus onto its counterpart, Hitmonlee. There’s not all that much here to say that hasn’t already been said really. A Fighting-type, Hitmonlee was a pretty sought after commodity, with its rareness in the original games making it all the more desirable. Fighting-types have two of the most inconvenient weaknesses out there; Psychic and Fairy – with the latter being incredibly over powered. So why then would you keep a glass canon with such inconvenient weaknesses in your party? It just doesn’t make sense to use this guy in any sort of serious play anymore.

13 Seriously! Don't Trust The Show!

This is another Pokémon whose popularity was really helped with the role it played in the anime. Butterfree left a huge impression on young fans of the series for the role it played as one of Ash’s go to Pokémon early on in his adventures. But it’s time to face the truth; Butterfree is a bad Pokémon. Its stats are horrible; you can’t really fathom it being all that useful to you in battle. Its attack and defense are terrible, as is its hp. It redeems itself a little with its special attack and defense but is so slow you’re probably going to end up going second every turn. The kicker, it has five different weaknesses – meaning you’d likely face an enemy that could one-shot this guy in the blink of an eye.

12 Master Of None...

A weird looking but lovable Pokémon, Mr. Mime is one of the oldest Psychic-types out there. That doesn’t really do him any favours though, as he’s pretty much been outgrown – at least in terms of competitive battling. Mr. Mime is just a thing of the past now, despite having been made a dual Psychic/Fairy-type. It’s just too weak of a Pokémon to really consider using all that seriously. While its special stats are pretty good, it’s lacking in every other category – to the point that you can’t really justify using it in any battle you think you’d have a shot at winning. It might still have a place in fans’ hearts, but it certainly should’ve been taken out of their party’s long ago.

11 You Lost Your Touch...

A massive Pokémon, Hariyama is way scarier than it actually is. A Fighting-type, Hariyama is predictably strong, and has great hp – but its attack and hp are the only things it has going for itself. The rest of its stats are absolutely pitiful. It has no defense to speak of whatsoever and is incredibly slow, making it a really easy target for a myriad of other Pokémon out there. As a Fighting-type, Hariyama is weak to both Psychic and Fairy-types, which only make it that harder of a sell for trainers looking to add any real contributors to their teams. You might’ve been able to power through with this guy as a kid, but those days are long gone.

10 It LOOKS cool...

Fast and hard-hitting, that’s Rapidash for you in a nutshell. So then, why is this Gen I favourite on our list? Well, it’s just not all that effective of a Pokémon. It’s your classic glass cannon. It just won’t last you all that long in battle. Sure it has great attack and speed, but that’s about all it has to offer. It just won’t last very long in battle. In all likelihood, it’d probably faint after its first turn. It doesn’t matter how strong a Pokémon is, if it can’t last very long then it isn’t of much use. You can blame Rapidash’s terrible hp stat for this. It might hit hard, but it goes down way too easy.

9 It's Been A Long Road...

Most of you who were around for the first generation of Pokémon games probably remember Nidoking pretty well. It’s a fearsome looking Pokémon that has one of the most eye-catching designs in its generation. Visually speaking, it’s still one of the more memorable older Pokémon you could choose. Too bad it’s a lot scarier looking than it actually is. In all seriousness, aside from any nostalgic purposes, there’s just no reason to use a Nidoking anymore – and there hasn’t been for a long time. Its strong attack and decent hp does little to make up for its four different weaknesses and subpar defense. A mega evolution could change all of this of course, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

8 Everyone Is Going To Laugh At You

Apart from having one of the most vanilla designs in all of Gen I, Dewgong might be remembered by older players as one of the tougher Elite 4 Pokémon battles they’d put up with. This guy could’ve been a pretty frustrating opponent if you weren’t prepared for it. But as the years have gone by, this once fearsome Water/Ice-type has lost its muster. Nothing about it really jumps out at you. Its stats are pretty sub-par all around with its attack and speed standing as some of its more glaring weak points. As is the case with most of these Pokémon, Dewgong isn’t necessarily a bad Pokémon, but it isn’t all that great either – and you have way more selection now than you did 20 years ago.

7 Boring Choice...

Before we get into just why Dusclops has found its way onto this list, it might be better to examine some of its strong points first. Well, if we were to out it plainly, Dusclops is your typical tank. It has very strong defense and what’s more doesn’t have all that many weaknesses. So why have we included it? Well everything apart from that is terrible. Low speed, attack and hp make this Pokémon a pretty one dimensional play. In fact, its speed and hp are some of the worst in the entire series. It’s hard to think of all that many things this Pokémon has to offer other than delaying the inevitable.

6 You Made The Wrong Choice...

Although a cute one to look at, many will tell you that Chikorita is one of the worst starters you can end up with. Grass-types have historically been some of the more difficult choices for players when choosing their first Pokémon for their adventure, but with Chikorita it doesn’t seem to get all that much better. Meganium is Chikorita’s final evolution, and much like Dusclops, it’s a tank that doesn’t really offer much else aside from being a meat shield. There are certainly better tanks out there, especially after all these years. What’s more, there are a bunch of tanky Pokémon with less weaknesses than Meganium. It’s weak to five different types of Pokémon. No matter how high the defensive stat there’s no helping that kind of disadvantage.

5 Just Don't.

It’s the mascot character that’s captured the hearts of generation after generation of Pokémon fans. It’s also a terrible, terrible choice in battle. If it wasn’t for the Pokémon anime boosting its popularity, Pikachu would’ve been irrelevant long ago. Pikachu is quick. It has great speed but not enough attack to be considered a glass cannon. Its stats are – plainly put – horrible. It’s quick but won’t do much damage, or last you very long in a fight. Frankly, the anime greatly over exaggerates its ability. You’d think that a character this popular would’ve gotten some love from the developers, but it continues to be one of the weakest Pokémon on the roster.

4 The Reggie’s Ain't Special

Legendary Pokémon are some of the most overpowered you can find. They’re often banned from competitive play and have a reputation for being a bit of a cheap option in battles. While most are pretty darn strong there are still the odd few that just don’t get it done when compared to other Legendary companions. The Legendary Trio might look tough but don’t let that fool you, they’re pretty unbalanced and don’t offer all that much in a fight, despite their status. They all have terrible HP and speed. They make up for this with great Defense and Special Defense sure, but their attack isn’t much to look at. If your opponent smartens up and goes for the type-weakness then you’re pretty much toast.

3 Yeah, It's Cute

Anyone who’s really into competitive Pokémon has probably heard the term, “You don’t Fu**le with Shuckle”. Well while that was once the case, it’s really not anymore. Just looking at its base stats you can tell what Shuckle was meant to be; a tank. While it certainly is quite the tough customer to take down – especially if trained properly – there are plenty more useful tanks in the game. Aside from its defensive stats, everything else it has to offer is pathetically terrible. There are much better tanks out there that can actually hold their own in battle and do some damage if need be. In short, nowadays you can f**kle with Shuckle if you really wanted to.

2 Flygon Is A Bygone

You know, for a Pokémon that takes a good deal of effort to level up and attain, Flygon isn’t all that useful nowadays. It was a cool and sometimes useful choice throughout Gen III, but it’s become much less of a viable option in recent years. Flygon is your typical glass cannon Pokémon, one of many that we’ve seen on this list. It hits hard and fast, but won’t last very long in battle. Its type-weakness to Dragon and fairy-types, along with its incredibly disadvantageous weakness to Ice-types shouldn’t instill confidence in potential trainers. Dragon-types aren’t as coveted as they once were, and Flygon is a dual Dragon/Ground-type – making it all the less enticing of an option.

1 Umbreon Used To Be Something...

There was a time when Umbreon and Espeon were thought of as two of the best Eeveelutions you could snag, as well as some pretty darn good Pokémon overall. But thi ngs have changed over the years, Actually, Umbreon was still one of the better options you could go for when evolving your Eevee up until a few years back. Like pretty much every other Eeveelution out there, Umbreon now takes a backseat to Sylveon. Though it still does have great defense and special defense, Umbreon is kind of a relic at this point. It’s weakness to Fairy-types just serves as the final nail in the coffin. It can’t really compare to Sylveon and most competitive players wouldn’t really go for this old beloved Pokémon anymore.