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You're joking, right?? These three are so absurdly well-liked in the fanbase that it's not even funny, and they're not even well-designed.
The first stages were good, and then they proceeded to have the least interesting evolutionary progressions in series history, with none out of Quilava, Typhlosion, Crocanaw and Feraligatr doing anything unique, unexpected or interesting compared to their previous stages (even their color schemes are completely unchanged throughout the lines) and Meganium *flying* waaay too far on the other side of the spectrum and having absolutely no visual link to its previous stages.
They're honestly really weak designs by Pokémon standards... and that's not just a matter of new style vs old, either - even most of the rest of Gen II beats them by a longshot.
Despite that, they're among the most popular starters in the series, maaaybe behind Gen I and Gen IV but certainly not losing to any other Generations in popularity.
No, they've not been forgotten, which is astonishing for designs that so loudly scream forgettable.