5 Pokemon That Were Badly Translated into Pokemon GO

While Pokemon GO does have a lot of Pokemon, from across all regions of the Pokemon series, there are still some Pokemon that, well, don’t really fit in. Pokemon that change forms or look different or just turn invisible. In today’s article, we’ll look at some Pokemon that don’t work the same way they would in a main series game.

Smeargle

I’ve always kinda liked the little paintbrush dog. It’s cute and has a cool gimmick, copying moves from other Pokemon. However, the move-copying gimmick in Pokemon GO is very basic. When a Smeargle appears, it only copies the moves of the Pokemon it photo-bombed. So the chances of getting something cool are zero. That and the fact that Smeargle is simply too low a level to play even in Great League, it renders Smeargle useless.

That being said, if you have a Pokemon with Frustration, then the copied move will be picked at random, similar to using a TM on a Mew. It’s still kinda useless though.

Castform

In the main series games, Castform is a Pokemon that changes form based on the weather, but you only see the different forms when you’re in battle. However, in Pokemon GO, these different forms all spawn in the wild, based on the weather. So you can straight up catch a Sunny Castform, for example. While it’s neat seeing Castform’s other forms outside of battle, the downside is that they can’t change once caught. So if you catch a Sunny Castform, it will always be a Sunny Castform, no matter what the actual weather is.

On the plus side, Castform’s forms can actually be shiny, which is pretty unique since the main series games didn’t have shiny forms, outside of normal Castform.

Kecleon

Amazingly, the next Pokemon on this list is also just after Castform in the Pokedex. Kecleon was missing in action up until early 2023, where it appeared randomly on Pokestops, and got its shiny form a month later for the Hoenn tour. To obtain a Kecleon, you have to find them on random Pokestops, then tap on them to get the Kecleon to leave. Its invisibility though is inconsistent.

Kecleon’s troubles aren’t nearly as bad as they could be, but it’s worth pointing out that it was the last Hoenn Pokemon to debut in Pokemon GO.

Shedinja

Shedinja is a creepy Pokemon. Apparently, if you look into the hole in its back, it can really fuck you up. This strange husk of a Pokemon is unique for its ability, Wonder Guard. Despite having basically no health, Shedinja is immune to any attack that isn’t super effective. But Pokemon in Pokemon GO don’t have abilities, so Shedinja just sits there with just one health, utterly useless.

But Shedinja is also screwed over in a different way. The ONLY way you can catch a Shedinja is if there is a research task that gives it as a reward. There’s no connection to Nincanda, Ninjask and Shedinja like there is in the main series.

Rotom

Out of all the Pokemon in Pokemon GO, Rotom has to be the most let down. In the main series games, Rotom has multiple forms and, in later games, acts as your phone and pokedex! Each of Rotom’s forms are unique and you can change a Rotom by showing it various electrical objects. In Pokemon GO though, there’s just one single Rotom, which was randomly given out during a GO Fest event a few years back. We can’t change the Rotom, we can’t do anything with it at all. So it just sits there, being useless.

While some Pokemon are alright in Pokemon GO, others are unfortunately rather let down. And others still are complete letdowns. Oh well.