One of the most important and exciting aspects of training Pokémon is evolution. Evolution is when a Pokémon reaches a certain level of strength or meets certain requirements to trigger a grand transformation into an even more powerful being.
For many trainers, evolution comes with a rewarding feeling after all the time and effort they spent training and caring for their partner Pokémon. However, there are also times when a Pokémon will evolve with unexpected results, for better or worse. And even though the Pokémon might get a helpful boost in power, the evolution itself doesn’t always make a lot of sense.
10 Yamper Line
There are many Pokémon based on dogs, but there is only one corgi–Yamper. Because corgis have such distinguishing physical traits with their elongated bodies and extra short legs, it would make sense to carry over those traits to Yamper’s evolution, Boltund.
Unfortunately, Boltund resembles a completely different dog breed from Yamper. In contrast to the corgi, Boltund looks more like a hound dog with long legs that were made for running.
9 Oddish Line
In the first generation of Pokémon, Oddish’s evolutionary line was simple. Oddish, Gloom, and Vileplume all had dark blue bodies with plants sprouting from their heads.
It wasn’t until Generation II when the evolutionary line started to make less sense with the addition of Bellossom. While the original members of the Oddish line all have bare blue bodies, Bellossom has a green one with a hula skirt, making it more of a stepchild to the family.
8 Dratini Line
Dratini is a long blue serpentine, Dragonair is a longer blue serpentine, but their fully evolved form, Dragonite, is not a blue serpentine at all.
Instead, Dragonite is a plump orange dragon with arms and legs that its pre-evolutions lacked. With its orange skin and green wings, it coincidentally resembles a Charizard more than its own evolutionary line.
7 Feebas Line
Feebas is known in the Pokémon universe as one of the ugliest creatures. It’s a simple brown fish with blue fins and pink lips, and not much else can really be praised about its appearance.
On the other hand, its evolution, Milotic, is considered the most beautiful Pokémon ever. In contrast to the dullness of Feebas, Milotic has a very vibrant blue and red scales on its elegant serpentine body. Although this is an amazing glow up, it would make more sense if there was at least one key feature that linked Milotic back to its roots as a Feebas.
6 Snorunt Line
Snorunt is a small and cute Ice-type Pokémon who will occasionally visit humans as a sign of good fortune. While it is a very wholesome little guy, Snorunt’s nature changes drastically when it evolves into either Glalie or Froslass.
If it’s a female holding a Dawn Stone, Snorunt will evolve into Froslass, who will freeze handsome men and keep them as decorations in its home. Otherwise, it will evolve into Glalie, who possesses the face of a fiend and the jaw of a savage.
5 Clamperl Line
As its name suggests, Clamperl is a resting pink pearl inside a clamshell. However, if it is traded with a Deep Sea Scale or Deep Sea Tooth, it can evolve into two different Pokémon that look nothing alike.
Exposure to the Deep Sea Scale will turn Clamperl into Gorebyss, whose pink color and shell accents more closely resemble its pre-evolution. On the other hand, the Deep Sea Tooth will evolve Clamperl into Huntial, whose spotted blue and orange appearance looks like it should be in a completely different evolutionary line.
4 Magikarp Line
Since Generation I, Magikarp and Gyarados have been symbols of defying the odds and exceeding expectations. Similar to Feebas and Milotic, it will take a lot of time and dedication to get the feeble Magikarp to evolve into the ferocious Gyarados.
While the Feebas line goes from ugly to beautiful, the Magikarp goes from one of the weakest Pokémon to one of the strongest. Magikarp is most known for its useless attack, Splash, and after splashing around for twenty levels, Magikarp will somehow evolve into one of the most feared beasts of the sea.
3 Slowpoke Line
Certain specials of Pokémon are known to coexist well together, and that’s exactly the case of Slowpoke and Shellder. In fact, a Shellder is present in both of Slowpoke’s evolutions. It will either be biting on the tail of a Slowbro or the head of a Slowking.
Some aspects of this evolutionary relationship, however, do not make sense. One is that Shellder typically looks like a purple clam, and yet it somehow appears very different as a spiky conch on Slowbro and Slowking. In addition, it is said that if either Slowbro or Slowking lose their Shellder, they will revert back to being a Slowpoke.
2 Manaphy Line
Most Pokémon can be bred to hatch eggs of their pre-evolutions. This usually does not include the rare Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, but Manaphy is the exception.
If Manaphy is bred with a Ditto, its egg will hatch into Phione. In a shocking twist, Phione cannot actually evolve back into Manaphy despite being its baby. Therefore, this evolutionary line is a unique one that works backward from Manaphy to Phione.
1 Remoraid Line
Remoraid appears to be a typical blue fish with nothing special about it. Naturally, one would expect it to evolve into something that resembles a larger blue fish, but in reality, it evolves into Octillery, a red octopus with yellow dots.
If Remoraid and Octillery had any sort of physical resemblance, the jump from blue fish to red octopus might be passable. But the two look nothing alike and would be better off as two completely separate species.
NEXT: Pokémon: Ranking The 10 Worst Starter Middle Evolutions Designs
