>>53232618Water has had a pretty bad track record since Gen 5 for various reasons. I only like Greninja out of that group, but even it has a fair share of haters.
Primarina is a special case, I think. It’s not really a bad design, BUT it is a perfect visualization for why the “surprise starter evolution” is a garbage design choice. If you picked a slightly effeminate sea lion and it evolved into a feminine evo, not many people would care, but Popplio has literally no indication that it would evolve into something effeminate, leaving many players disappointed once it eventually evolved.
Samurott needed some design tweaks, so it could believably do the things it is meant to do. Even the anime had to be very calculated in how they animated Samurott because its body shape / type doesn’t make sense in combination with the sword gimmick. Not a problem if you overlook it / develop headcanon about this not mattering somehow, but it’s mentally jarring to think about it.
Intelleon and Quaquaval are both complete shit in comparison to what pokemon used to be, personifying the nu-anime look that some modern designs have. I can understand that some may like them, but they don’t mesh well with older designs at all.
