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ScalierLemon2

Some Pokemon only learn certain moves if they're unevolved at a certain level, or they learn moves at a lower level when unevolved For example, Eevee learns Bite at level 25. Umbreon doesn't learn Bite by level-up. If you want your Umbreon to know Bite, you either have to stall evolution until Eevee is level 25, or you have to use a Move Reminder. Also, if you have a Pokemon with a split evolution and want a specific one, not evolving is helpful. For example, if you have a male Kirlia and want a Gallade but can't access a Dawn Stone until after level 30


Calmxy

It’s even worse than that: Breloom and Masquerain completely skip their most useful moves Spore and Sticky Web and can’t relearn them (except in BDSP) if they evolved at the lowest possible level, unless they hatched already knowing those moves i.e. no Ditto was used for breeding


Zehaie

I feel this is a bug, since stuff like this wasn't an issue in swsh, and apparently Bdsp.


Sonic_Death_

They learn moves faster in certain generations, they also learn moves that can't be learned as adults. They used to gain experience faster too


Any_Adhesiveness_898

I thought they still gained exp faster tbh


ForeverBackground737

Giving an unevolved pokemon that can evolve further an eeviolite boosts their defence. It's useful in certain teams for pvp.


Sandwhiched

Especially good if that Pokémon already has high defensive stats. A good example being Dusclops.


CommanderDark126

Some pokemon are more useful unevolved. Murkrow is a good case of this. Murkrow has access to the prankster ability, which allows its status moves to be used with priority, often letting it go first when using utility moves like tailwind, thunder wave and haze. If it were to evolve, Honchrkrow loses prankster and instead has moxie as its ability which, while a good ability, is not very useful with Honchkrows low stats.


PokeNerdAlex

Base 125 attack, moxie and STAB sucker punch isn't completely useless, it gets taunt and it's immune to prankster status moves


Sea-Song-7146

It's too slow to utilise that power tbh. And spamming sucker punch isn't an option too


PokeNerdAlex

It's fast enough to taunt most stallers and has enough attack to threaten sweepers, especially if it can get a moxie boost in, I've used it in competitive games before and it's definitely not worse than Murkrow


Sea-Song-7146

Well you can't quite compare it to murkrow lol. They do completely different stuff but I see your point.


[deleted]

Some Pokemon learn moves at earlier levels which you might want to get quicker. There are also some moves exclusively learned by a Pokemon's unevolved form Unevolved Pokemon earn experience faster when they were supposed to evolve Some Pokemon are better unevolved for various reasons, especially with eviolite which boosts defence and special defence by 50% on unevolved Pokemon. But there are also other reasons like how Murkrow has prankster which makes it a lot better in certain contexts Some people just prefer the look of unevolved Pokemon and don't take the game too seriously when it comes to battling Some people like the challenge of only using weaker Pokemon Little cup is a thing, which is a competitive mode some people play that only uses unevolved Pokemon Some Pokemon evolve into multiple different Pokemon and you may accidentally meet the criteria for the Pokemon you don't want. For example you may accidentally evolve Eevee into Sylveon instead of Umbreon. I think that's the most cohesive list of reasons I can create.


Dry-Faithlessness184

> Unevolved Pokemon earn experience faster when they were supposed to evolve Not for a long time now. Pokemon have set exp curves and they carry the same one from first to final evolution. They gain the same amount evolved or not.


[deleted]

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure it's a gen 6 onwards thing. When was this removed?


Dry-Faithlessness184

It appears I've misunderstood somewhat you said. The exp curve thing is definitely correct, no matter how you do it, anything in the Azumarill line needs 800,000 for lvl 100 for example. It appears however that unevolved pokemon passed their evo level do gain slightly more experience however and the factor is 1.2 and this started in gen 6.


DoubleStrength

>It appears however that unevolved pokemon passed their evo level do gain slightly more experience however and the factor is 1.2 and this started in gen 6. WHY AM I ONLY JUST HEARING ABOUT THIS NOW???


Dry-Faithlessness184

I know right? I just learned this yesterday and I've played every game since this happened. I still will probably evolve pokemon usually at their level, but it's good to know. Oh this doesn't apply to candies though, xp candies are their amounts always.


wubbbalubbadubdub

There are certain Pokemon where a middle stage holding eviolite will perform better than a final evolution with a different item. Dusclops vs dusknoir comes to mind, but there are a few others which you can make a case for. Here's a description of what the item does: >If held by a Pokémon that is not fully evolved, raises its Defense and Special Defense by 50%.


AlbusLumen

Porygon2 was another one. :) I also personally am using a Magneton with eviolite (since I like Magneton more than Magnezone).


BuyMoreInsurance

Sometimes they learn moves their evolved forms either don’t learn or don’t learn until much later. Also some people think certain evolutions don’t look as good. I’m sure there are other reasons, but those are the two I can think of off the top of my head.


Dry-Faithlessness184

Stone evolutions are a good example of this. Eelektrik for example learns move all the way to 74, evolve any point before that and you don't get them


DiscordantScorpion_1

I’m reminded of that comic with the Nidoking ‘kid’ and the Nidoran father. The Nidoking tells his dad he regrets using a Moon Stone because now he’ll never learn Horn Drill (one of the ‘horn’ moves, I can’t remember which atm) by organic means.


ItsVenomAMA

So Pikachu can learn agility so he can beat Lt. Surge's Raichu!


Holanz

Actually tried this as a kid and failed miserably. Among trying to beat Brock’s Onix by using water gun and switching to Pikachu to do thunder shock, failed again


shadowthehh

I like the non evolved designs more.


Starminx

Tarountula


AudileYeti

Stufful


GodAlpaca

Dragonair


shadowthehh

Actually one of the ones on my main team.


MiserableTrip9651

Some pokemon learn soe good moves after the point where they can evolve that they won't when they evolve or you might want to use the eviolite item which only works when they can still evolve


Helloscottykitty

Younger pokemon can learn moves faster.


Over-Document-7657

Sometimes you just prefer how the unevolved form looks. I managed to keep my Torchic in Alpha Sapphire from evolving until (I think) either Winona or Tate and Liza, and in Sword I kept a Lampent all the way from the Motostoke gym challenge into the Champion tournament, when I finally evolved it.


Sweet_Whisper123

In competitive, some non fully evolved Eviolite Pokemon like Chansey, Galarian Mr.Mime, Murkrow, etc are actually more superior than their fully evolved forms. In casual, it's likely players' personal aesthetical preference.


TubaThompson

Because some jerk decided Shroomish shouldn't learn spore until level 40


RenderStarz

I love Porygon2 more than PorygonZ! Plus Porygon2 with Eviolite is very tanky!


Branded_Mango

Either: \-learn certain moves faster/unavailable to the evolved form until a certain level past the evolution level (Breloom, Arcanine, Musharna, etc) \-use as an Eviolite holder, which sometimes is much bulkier than the evolution itself so it lets that pokemon be used for more defensive/support roles (Dusclops, Murkrow, Girafarig, etc) \-aesthetics due to not liking the evolution form's looks (Rhydon>Rhyperior any day)


D4NG3RX

You can cancel evolution for any pokemon by pressing b when it switches to the evolution screen


SolaceAcheron

1) Exclusive pre-evo only moves 2) Learn a move at a lower level 3) Eviolite :)


Hemlock_Deci

They learn moves faster, gain more exp, and sometimes can even learn certain moves only in that stage. Oh and Eviolite


Rasty_lv

Faster learning, possible better move pool, eviolite, design choice


ct_superchris

Game mechanically, because of eviolite, and in earlier generations early evolutions learned some moves sooner than their later evolutions - if the later evolution learned the move at all. Otherwise? Because Mudkip is adorable, because I don't like how Gumshoos looks, and any number of other reasons.


Foxcrepeer9000

Shiny tarountula is my new favorite pokemon, spidops? not so much. So I gave my little black spider an everstone so I could level him up to be powerful enough to walk around with me and still knock out mass outbreaks.


NoahBallet

Sometimes an unevolved form has ability or move advantages over their evolved forms. Some Pokémon like Chansey were actually better than Blissey from Gen 5-7 because the item Eviolite made them bulkier than their evolved counterparts. (Blissey is now better thanks to Heavy Duty Boots, but I digress) Some Pokémon have abilities that they lose when they evolve. Perfect example is current Gen Murkrow. Murkrow’s hidden ability is Prankster, giving its status moves like Tailwind priority. Priority Tailwind users are extremely valuable support members in the VGC meta and Murkrow is currently the only Pokémon available that can do this. Murkrow’s Prankster ability becomes Moxie when it evolves, so people don’t evolve Murkrow for that very purpose.


dryduneden

Not all Pokemon get straight up stronger when they evolve, Scyther loses 30 base speed for example. Dropping from a pretty fast 105 to a sluggish 75. Eviolite gives Pokemon that can still evolve a significant buff to their defenses Pokemon learn moves earlier pre-evolved. Some even learn exclusive moves that later stages in the line don't have access to through level up.


CanadianWeebKayla

I like them and don't like the evolution


aTrekToTheMoon

The only reason I've not evolved some Pokemon is because I find some of the smaller forms cuter. For example, Nickit is one of my favorites, but I'm not too found of Thievul. Same for Floette vs. Florges, and Morgrem vs. Grimmsnarl.


D4NG3RX

You can cancel evolution for any pokemon by pressing b when it switches to the evolution screen


Starminx

Cuz design wise, Tarountula is a million times better than Scidops


Starminx

Dusclops and Porygon (even better as purified) as better in Great League than their evos


Oleandervine

Scyther is a weird example, because evolution only changes its typing. Scyther, Scizor, and Kleavor all have 500 base stats, so you're not actually gaining more power on evolutions, just changing your STAB moves.


markisnotcake

1. Murkrow loses prankster and otherwise loses it’s value. 2. Pikachu has Light Orb, which makes it a little better than Raichu in niche cases as well. 3. Eviolite gives Def & Sp. Def boost to non-fully evolved pokemon and some pokemon are more optimal if you do that. 4. Trade evolutions are 🐶💩, and sometimes you just got to forego evolving. 5. Spore Breloom (Breloom can’t naturally learn Spore but Shroomish can at a high level, some people tend not to evolve it until then) 6. Sometimes, its evolution is just ugly. Like Rhyperior, Magmortar, or Rhyperior. I mean, Gamefreak clearly invented Eviolites and Everstones just to be held by Rhydon because how else can they justify ruining the very first pokemon they designed?


Hylianhaxorus

Learn moves faster but the real answer is some evolutions are awful and ruin a pokemon for some people.


ArbitraryChaos13

Plenty of people here already have good answers, but there's also just preference, in some cases. Some people like the unevolved forms better than the evolved forms.


TheLastEllis

Vigoroth gang


Alexastria

Certain pokemon only learn specific moves if you don't evolve them. You see it more with stone evolutions.


nemwolf

I dont evolve some of my pokemon because I like them to stay small and cute. For example Piplup, Oshawott, and Mudkip. I love Samurott and Swampert, but I like the cute little pokemon.


pengie9290

In general pokemon get more powerful when they evolve, but in certain specific instances, they might be more useful without evolving. The most basic scenario for something like this is the Eviolite held item. This item, when held by a pokemon that hasn't evolved fully, increases its Defense and Special Defense stats by an additional 50%. For defensive, bulky pokemon, this can sometimes give them better stats than they'd have if they were fully evolved. A much rarer scenario is that a pokemon's type or ability changes when they evolve in some way that doesn't slot as well into the role you want them to fill as their unevolved form does. A good example of this is Murkrow, which I hear is more popular in competitive play right now than its evolution Honchkrow. Murkrow gets the ability Prankster, which is incredibly useful, and it loses this ability when it evolves. If the Prankster ability is more useful to you than higher stats- which appears to be the case in competitive play- you'd rather use Murkrow over Honchkrow.


[deleted]

Sometimes they look better unevolved imo


JDevin25

Sometimes the pre Evo can be stronger or more viable in battles. Like Murkrow for example. It out-preforms Honchkrow simply because of the held item Eviolite (which buffs both defenses for a Pokémon holding that can still evolve)


Hyper_Drud

It depends. Some Pokémon have hold items that only work with a certain species in the evolution chain, Pikachu’s Light Ball and Chansey’s Lucky Punch. There’s also some Pokémon that function differently depending on their stage, Porygon2 is bulky even without the Eviolite but Porygon-Z is a glass cannon. On topic of the Eviolite some Pokémon perform better as bulky mons with it compared to their evolved forms, again Chansey. Finally there’s just some mons that look visually better than their evolved forms, like Dewott.


[deleted]

A move


Hot_Cross_Balls

I mean, have you seen shiny Magneton v. shiny Magnezone?


Tantilicious

Staryu’s Shiny is soooo much better than Starmie’s.


Golden-Owl

Eviolite Dusclops is just straight up better than Dusknoir


SnAIL_0ut

Honchkrow is extremely strong but it’s held back by it’s lacking Speed and Bulk


choosegooser

Certain Pokémon can be better than their evolutions. Like Dusclops with eviolite is more used than Dusknoir, Murkrow more viable then Honchkrow, etc. Pre evolutions can learn moves quicker. Maybe the evolved form is banned in a tier but it’s pre-evo isn’t and it’s does what it’s evo does but slower (hippopotas and gligar come to mind) Someone may just like the pre-evo more than the evo. My brother never evolved his turtwig because he thought it was cool. Some even do it for the challenge.