In a Pokemon playthrough, the first choice is often the one that defines the whole adventure: the starter. This good friend will stick with the player through the whole game and is typically rare enough that it feels special to use. The rest of the core team is built around this starter Pokemon. It’s the cornerstone of a trainer’s arsenal, and so it’s understandable that players get attached to their starters.

However, not every starter has a good reputation. Some, in fact, have a pretty crummy reputation. Whether it is due to them not competing with the other options, having a poor movepool, or just not being “cool,” there are plenty of underrated starter options. There are also many overrated starters, Pokemon that have good PR teams but honestly aren’t that great. In your next playthrough, maybe consider an underappreciated option over the popular one.

10 Underrated: Popplio

The Popplio line is actually fairly well-liked but has stiff competition. Incineroar was popular enough to make it into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, while Rowlet is just adorable and evolves into a Pokemon with a cool typing. Popplio, by comparison, just doesn’t get as much love despite being just as cute.

This is strange because Primarina is actually a really solid Pokemon. It has good stats, a solid move pool, and a great look. It’s unfortunate that the other starters are just better in terms of design because Primarina deserves love too.

9 Overrated: Chimchar

Chimchar, like a lot of the other fire starters, is fairly popular. Infernape has spent a lot of time in the spotlight as a premier starter Pokemon, and its design is certainly memorable. A chimp with flaming hair is, admittedly, pretty cool.

Chimchar being so necessary for a Diamond & Pearl playthrough also helps its reputation. It’s one of few fire-types in Sinnoh, so it’s pretty much required as the starter for those who like fire-types. This is unfortunate because Chimchar’s two counterparts are arguably more interesting in typing and them.

8 Underrated: Turtwig

Chimchar is very popular and Piplup is a solid close second as penguins are just hard to beat in terms of popularity. Tortoises, on the other hand, have been done before in the series. That made Turtwig a significantly less exciting option, combined with its low-speed stat and the abundance of good Grass-types.

However, Turtwig and Torterra are both great Pokemon. Torterra especially has a very cool design, fitting in with both classic and modern Pokemon. While not the best for competitive play, in casual play, the Turtwig line deserves a chance.

7 Overrated: Froakie

Greninja is a stupidly popular Pokemon. It features in Smash Bros. and has a special form in Ash-Greninja that’s ridiculously strong. The ninja-like design makes it understandably well-liked, especially with how good of a Pokemon Greninja is.

However, when looking at a regular old Greninja, it isn’t any cooler than its two counterparts. Protean, its hidden ability, makes Greninja so much more than it is to start. Despite that, it still is frequently picked and ends up near the top of popularity polls. It’s not a mystery why it’s popular, but that doesn’t make it any less overrated.

6 Underrated: Chespin

Chespin is adorable, and many people latched onto it during the pre-release of Pokemon X&Y. There was a lot of hype for what Chespin’s two evolved forms would look like. Then people saw Quilladin and Chesnaught, and all that love evaporated. It’s a tragic tale.

Quilladin, admittedly, isn’t exactly an amazingly designed Pokemon. A lot of starter mid-forms tend to be a little undercooked, but Quilladin is particularly bad. Chesnaught, however, is an absolute beast of a Pokemon that makes up for its weird pre-evolution. It’s worth it to give Chespin a chance, even if its evolutions are far from cool.

5 Overrated: Torchic

Torchic was the Pokemon of choice for May in the anime and for many players in the Gen 3 games. The cute little chicken just so happens to evolve into one of the best starters in both competitive and casual play: Blaziken. All forms of Blaziken are effective, but with Speed Boost and a Mega Evolution, it becomes inescapable.

However, in terms of Ruby & Sapphire, Swampert is a better choice for clearing the game. It has great typing and can utilize a number of different HM moves, just so long as it isn’t left with the bad ones. Sceptile is great too. Blaziken is just wildly popular, though, and overrated because of it.

4 Underrated: Tepig

It could be argued that all of Gen 5’s starters are underrated. When discussing favorite starter Pokemon, it’s likely rare anyone will first mention one of the Gen 5 starters even if Black & White was their first game. They’re very off-beat from previous starters, and their lame typing didn’t help either.

The worst of the bunch in terms of bad reputation is Tepig. It evolves into Emboar, another fire/fighting-type starter. It was just outright worse than its predecessors in nearly all regards, too. Its design is also easily the weakest of the three. Still, it’s worthy of love and stands as a prime example of an underrated starter.

3 Overrated: Squirtle

Squirtle and its evolutions are pretty likable. Their designs are simple and perfect, and the Squirtle that Ash has in the anime is one of the best personalities on his team. Squirtle is a solid middle option between Bulbasaur and Charmander.

However, that doesn’t mean Squirtle isn’t overrated. It’s still one of the Kanto starters, after all. The only one close to underrated is Bulbasaur, and with the PR campaign that Pokemon has had, that’s debatable now. Squirtle and its evolutions aren’t any more special than the Water-type starters that followed, they were just the first. That makes Squirtle overrated.

2 Underrated: Chikorita

The true queen of underrated starter Pokemon is Chikorita. Chikorita has everything working against it in Gen 2: better counterparts, Gym battles that don’t favor its typing, and a poor moveset. It could have the best design ever, and it would still hardly find use due to these issues.

And yet, there’s a lot more to Chikorita than meets the eye. Of Ash’s Pokemon in Johto Journey’s, his Chikorita is arguably the most memorable. It’s a Pokemon with a lot of personality in design, even if it isn’t that great of a fighter. Chikorita is deserving of a propaganda campaign to improve its reputation, as it is sorely underrated.

1 Overrated: Charizard (And Only Charizard)

Charmander is a perfectly fine Pokemon, playing into a fun lizard archetype. Charmeleon is actually pretty cool, and its sprite in the early games is endearingly dopey. Charizard, however, is overrated for how effective it actually is as a Pokemon.

Charizard has two Mega Evolutions and a Gigantamax form. Of the Kanto starters, Charizard was the only one that got a green card in the initial release of Sword & Shield. It was separated from its trainer to become a single fighter in Super Smash Bros. 4. Charizard also still tops popularity polls, all because it looks like a dragon. It isn’t even the best starter of the three in terms of effectiveness. Game Freak’s love of this Pokemon just makes it overexposed as a result.

NEXT: 5 Starter Pokémon That Shouldn’t Be Starters (& 5 Regular Pokémon That Deserve Starter Status)