Top 10 Strangest Pokémon Ever Conceived

I'm always going to have fond memories of the Pokémon series. It's one of those franchises that defined a generation, bringing kids together in both battle and discussion. One of the best elements of a Pokémon game is that it's incredibly easy to pick one up and play. They all follow the same formula: you enter the world as a completely green trainer, at which point you're sent off on your own to capture creatures and send them into battle, all in pursuit of being the best trainer in the world. 

The Pokémon are, hands down, the best part of the game. Discovering the new ones is half the fun. Of course, with the series' Pokédex now swelling to over 500 entrants, it's not unsurprising that there are a few oddballs in the mix. What follows is a chronicle of some of the weirdest, stupidest, and downright terrifying Pokémon in the history of the series. 

I've tried to pull entries from each generation in the franchise, even though it would have been incredibly easy to just grab ten random 'mons from Black and White's Pokédex. That'd hardly be sporting, would it? Let's begin.

10. Pokémon: Jynx

Generation: I (Red / Blue / Yellow)

Pokédex Entry: Red / Blue. It seductively wiggles its hips as it walks. It can cause people to dance in unison with it.

We're going to kick things off with a healthy dose of controversy. Look at Jynx. What's the first thing you notice about it? It resembles something that's rather…racially offensive, doesn't it? A lot of folks, on first glimpsing this rather… absurd creation (whose Pokédex entry makes you question whether or not you're playing a children's game), immediately made the connection between Jynx and the old, long-defunct tradition of Blackface. You can guess how well that went over. 

Others have suggested that Jynx might be an homage to the Ganguro / Yamanba, or that they might be a reference to the Nordic Zwarte Piet. Only one thing's certain: this is probably one of the strangest first-generation Pokémon you'll ever find (Mr. Mime is a close second).

9. Pokémon: Cubone

Generation: I (Red / Blue / Yellow)

Pokédex Entry: Yellow. Wears the skull of its deceased mother. Its cries echo inside the skull and come out as a sad melody.

Again… keep in mind that this is a kid's game. In the original games, there was a good chance the player would encounter the Marowak Ghost before they came across Cubone. Marowak, for those who don't know, is Cubone's evolved form. You see where I'm going with this, right?

Either Cubones all kill their mothers at some point, or they remain with their mothers until the latter dies. Either way, it's a pretty disturbing critter, and we're still looking at the classics here.

8. Pokémon: Unown

Generation: II (Gold / Silver / Crystal)

Pokédex Entry: Their shapes look like hieroglyphs on ancient tablets. It is said that the two are somehow related.

The Unown can be found in one of my favorite areas of Pokémon GSC, the Ruins of Alph (it's mostly the music, truthfully). Ancient beyond imagining, somehow connected to hieroglyphs, and incredibly weak individually, the Unown are heavily implied to possess some sort of group mind. It's a little creepy, truth be told.

Of course, they're made significantly less intimidating by the fact that they collectively resemble a bowl of alphabet soup. 

7. Pokémon: Smeargle

Generation: II (Gold / Silver / Crystal) 

Pokédex Entry: Gold. A special fluid oozes from the tip of its tail. It paints the fluid everywhere to mark its territory.

This one's mostly strange because of its design. Essentially, it's what you'd get if you fused a beagle with a beatnik, then grafted a paintbrush onto its tail. Absurd appearance (and concept) aside, it's actually a pretty awesome Pokémon, if only because it can legitimately learn any move in the game by using its signature move, "Sketch". 

6. Pokémon: Luvdisc

Generation: III (Ruby / Sapphire / Emerald)

Pokédex Entry: Ruby. Luvdisc live in shallow seas in the tropics. This heart-shaped Pokémon earned its name by swimming after loving couples it spotted in the ocean's waves.

I'm pretty sure Gen. III marks the point at which Gamefreak effectively began to run out of Pokémon ideas. There's really nothing anyone can even say about this thing. It's… a floating heartfish that's apparently attracted to romance. Oh, and apparently some people use them as gifts. Yeah.

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