From ice cream Pokemon to a literal pile of garbage, these are the strangest Pokemon ever created.
Pokemon are cute, but they’re not cute all the time. Sometimes, The Pokemon Company blesses us with a Ditto to love and cherish forever, and other times it dumps a Garbodor on our doorstep and expects us to be happy about it. In this list, I present to you 10 different Pokemon that all have one thing in common: they’re really, really weird. I will rate each of these Pokemon on a five-star scale, with one star going to the objectively worst ones and five stars going to those that fascinate me.
I am a very serious person and this is a very serious article. Let’s judge some weird Pokemon.
Garbodor
I’m sorry Garbodor, but you’re the whole reason this list exists. Introduced in Pokemon Black and White, Garbodor was arguably the beginning of an unhealthy pattern in Pokemon design. These creatures were usually themed after animals and mythical creatures like salamanders and phoenixes, but Garbodor was one of the first to be based on a completely inanimate object: a bag of garbage. Its preceding form, Thrubbish, has at least some cute factor owing to its sharp row of teeth, small limbs, and wide-open, unthinking eyes.
Its evolution Garbodor on the other hand, is a monstrosity. Where Thrubbish was a small bag of rubbish, Garbodor is the contents of that bag exploding into repulsive, squishy life. Its very existence baffles me: it appears to be trash spilling forth from a tattered garbage bag, but why does that trash look like a pile of tan sand? What are those blue and pink stone-like objects scattered around its amorphous body? Why does it have pipes and rebar for limbs? Who’s throwing construction equipment in the trash?
Garbodor, you confuse me. Zero stars.
Applin
First introduced in Pokemon Sword and Shield, Applin is not the apple it appears to be. It’s actually a little worm-like creature that burrows into apples upon birth, and the type of apple it finds determines its evolution. While it’s inside however, it strengthens the apple’s skin to prevent it from rotting while also using it as a food source - though you’d have to ask Professor Magnolia how that works.
Applin evolves into three different Pokemon depending on the item used to trigger its evolution: the bug-like Pokemon Flapple, apple pie-like Pokemon Appletun and candy apple-like Pokemon Dipplin. If you didn’t know any of this, you’d be forgiven for dismissing Applin as one of the weaker designs introduced in Sword and Shield. It’s only after you dive into the Dex, learn about its origins and evolutions that Applin stands out from its inanimate object-like peers. Frankly, I’m just impressed how much The Pokemon Company managed to squeeze out of an apple.
Applin, I award you two stars. You’re almost weird enough to impress me, but you make no biological sense.
Mimikyu
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Mimikyu gets five stars right out of the gate. Here is one of the weirdest Pokemon ever made, and it's all the more compelling for it. This Ghost-type Pokemon hides underneath an old rag to disguise itself as a tiny misshapen Pikachu. Underneath cut-out holes in the rag are beady black eyes staring back at its observer, and a dark appendage that briefly appears during attacks. The Pokemon underneath the rag also holds up a small stick to resemble Pikachu’s tail. When it gets damaged in battle, the fake Pikachu head lolls backward, exposing its ruse.
According to the Pokedex, Mimikyu was only recently discovered to be a Pokemon and not just some ghost wandering about in a rag. Ghosts are a natural occurrence in this world, and Mimikyu’s very existence - and the fact that it dresses up as the franchise’s mascot to befriend others - is a good reminder that this universe is not as kid-friendly as the games make it out to be.
Klefki
Klefki is the opposite of Applin, in that the more you learn about this Pokemon, the worse it gets. Klefki has the appearance of a set of keys hooked to a key ring, with a rotund head and keyholes for eyes and a mouth. That little head in the middle is the Pokemon, and the keys dangling from its rings are real keys collected during its lifetime. If you weren’t familiar with this Pokemon, I probably wouldn’t have a hard time convincing you that it was from a monster from Kingdom Hearts instead.
According to the Pokedex, Klefki collects keys to feed on their metal ions and rattles them to intimidate predators. Although it consumes its keys, it will often hold on to a few forever out of sentimentality. Nobles apparently used Klefkis to store vault keys. Now, a number of these things make no sense. If Klefkis feed off of metal ions, why do they specifically go for keys when metallic currency is abundant? How many keys are people just throwing away in the wild for Klefkis to find? Why would you give vault keys to a Pokemon that eats them? Thankfully, Klefki doesn’t have any further evolutions, so the nonsensical buck stops here.
One out of five stars, because we could see Klefki playing a bigger role in future Pokemon prequels like Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Show me what's in those old-timey vaults!
Klinklang
Continuing the trend of metal objects getting turned into Pokemon is Klinklang, a lazily named foursome of gears. This looks like a Pokemon rushed out to fill a slot in Gen 5, and that shows in its listless Pokedex entries. Pokemon White, for example, describes Klinklang as such: “The gear with the red core is rotated at high speed for a rapid energy charge.” Where other Pokemon get meaningful lore reveals and biological tidbits, Klinklang is described like something you’d find at a department store.
Klinklang is the final evolution of Klink and - you guessed it - Klang. The Pokemon appears to be four interlocking gears that work to generate energy for its red core. The spiked gear hovering about it like a hula hoop is simply a piece of machinery without any form of sentience. This is a weird-looking Pokemon and unlike Mimikyu and Garbodor, we can’t find a single redeeming factor in the pages of its Pokedex entries.
Zero out of five stars, even with the novel onomatopoeia.
Swalot
Swalot makes me uncomfortable. This ‘Poison Bag Pokemon’, as the Pokedex calls it, has small red eyes and yellow whiskers that look like a thin moustache. Its lips appear to be puckered, and it has three blobs for fingers. The shapeless Pokemon expands and contracts like a balloon, swallowing everything it eats whole as it can digest anything on the face of this earth besides its own stomach lining.
What is it about this Pokemon? Is it the small beady eyes, the lips puckered up for a kiss or the cartoonishly creepy moustache? Perhaps it’s just the ill-fitting rhombi circling its midsection that seem out of place, or that it looks like someone tried to redesign a Pac-Man ghost. Either way, this is one Pokemon I’ll leave out of my party anyday.
Two out of five stars. It’s quite literally a bag.
Drifloon
Drifloon is one of my favourite Pokemon ever, which is a strange thing to say about a balloon. Unlike Pokemon like Klinklang and Klefki, this Pokemon’s design extends beyond the object it takes inspiration from - its yellow mouth appears to be two pieces of tape used to seal up a tear, its dual strings look like small dangling legs, and the small cloud above its head looks like hair. If you’re going to spin Pokemon out of everyday objects, this is the way to do it.
What truly makes Drifloon equal parts fascinating and strange is its lore. Nearly every Pokedex entry dating back to Diamond and Pearl portray this Pokemon as a nightmarish monster, with some saying that Drifloons seek out unfortunate children only for them to wind up missing if they mistake the Pokemon for a balloon. Drifloon is said to be made up of ghostly spirits, screams when its body is burst and dislikes heavy children. Despite these creepy Pokedex entries that make it out to be an in-universe Pennywise, Drifloon acts like just another friendly creature in the Pokemon anime. Who are we meant to believe?
Five out of five stars, because ghost Pokemon rule.
Conkeldurr
Conkeldurr is another one of Pokemon Black and White’s strangest introductions to the Pokedex. This Pokemon is thought to have taught humans how to make concrete over 2,000 years ago, and uses its concrete pillars as walking canes. Personality-wise, you’ll find that it’s a cross between the stereotypical ‘gym bro’ and a construction worker, seeing as the Pokedex entry for its preceding evolution Gurdurr remarks that, “It shows off its muscles to Machoke and other Gurdurr. If it fails to measure up to the other Pokémon, it lies low for a little while.”
Poor thing, all it has to show for itself are big muscles and two blocks of concrete. That aside, what really makes Conkeldurr strange is how utterly unnecessary it seems to be. It’s positioned as an in-universe construction worker Pokemon, but Pokemon Red and Blue’s Vermilion City construction area showed us that Machop already had that role filled. Referencing Machoke in its Pokedex entry only serves to remind us that Conkeldurr is a knockoff of an existing family of muscular Pokemon, and all it has are some logs and pillars to set it apart.
One out of five stars, because now there really is no excuse for that old man to finish up whatever he’s building in Vermilion City.
Gothitelle
Is that Cruella de Vil or a Pokemon? I’m not too sure. Gothitelle is a humanoid Pokemon that looks like it’s wearing a dress, though that black outer layer happens to be skin - never mind the bangs. It has stubby pink feet underneath its dress-like skin and not one, not even two, but five sets of fashionable white bowties. If Wednesday Addams was a Pokemon with a love for excess, she would be Gothitelle.
Gothitelle’s Pokedex entries make it a lot more interesting. This Pokemon dislikes conflict even though its immense psychic power allows it to see visions of past and future events. It knows the lifespan of its trainer at all times and as such, has developed a detached nature having looked upon the face of death. Its preceding evolution Gothorita is known to hypnotise sleeping children into play-acting as its friends, so this final evolution’s personality is quite a heel-turn.
Three out of five stars, because I want to see what Gothitelle sees.
Doublade
From the famed creator of such iconic Pokemon designs as ‘wolf with a sword’ and ‘wolf with a shield’ comes: two floating swords, no wolves required. Doublade is made up of two identical swords with a pink gem in each hilt that, according to the Pokedex, are its true forms. The Pokemon rests in two sheathes attached to a plaque, and sports flowing purple sashes that drain the life from anyone who dares to grip them by the hilt. Both swords communicate telepathically.
As far as uninspired Pokemon go, this is pretty damning. Much like Klinklang, very little is done to give Doublade anything to work with beyond the novelty of being a pair of swords. Fortunately, its final evolution Aegislash picks up the slack with a much more regal design and the addition of a shield. That doesn’t help Doublade however, and it certainly doesn’t help its preceding evolution Honedge, which is just a sword and nothing more.
One out of five stars, because at least it evolves into something cool eventually.