Pre-evolutions you like more than the evolution

[Noventia]

Simple: what pokemon that evolve do you prefer to their grown-up forms? try to give reasons other than "cute."

Mine has to be elgyem. the big head, big oval eyes, and lack of a mouth really capture the popular image of an alien well. I love how it communicates with the lights on its hands, and... it's cute.

beeheyem is elgyem in a dress and a squished head, in a less attractive colour. you can't even see its legs. it's one of the few pokemon I genuinely don't like.

well, what's yours?

 

[Andrewski]

Sneasel over Weavile, for many reasons. Sneasels are awesome and Weaviles are evil.

I also like Palpitoad over Seismitoad, purely because I think Palp is cool and Seis is ugly. I lik Onix over Steelix, Cubone over Marowak, Tyrunt over Tyrantrum, and Corphish over Crawdaunt.

 

[Shiny Motley]

I like Wartortle over Blastoise; I was never particularly fond of Blastoise's design, especially since Wartortle has a really nice curly tail and and overall more pleasant color scheme.

I also like Mareep and Flaafy more than Ampharos. Thank god Mega Ampharos exists, though. Ampharos losing the floof made me a little sad ;;

I have so many more but this list will take forever to finish if I just kept going. 8D

 

[glaman5266]

Scyther over Scizor. Never really liked Scizor. To me it never really seemed like a natural progression of Scyther.

When ORAS came out and we got the DexNav, I bred a 5IV Adamant Venonat with Compound Eyes solely for stealing wild hold items. That thing has become a staple on my gag/screw around teams. I still like Venomoth more, but this little bugger is kinda fun to use (when it doesn't get OHKO'd, lol).

 

[KoL]

May as well start with the big one: Dragonair. To a lesser extent this applies to Dratini as well, but to see something as awesome-looking as Dragonair evolve into the gigantic, orange derp that is Dragonite... someone was not right in the head. Honestly makes me wish Dragonair had some form of alternate evolution that kept it pure Dragon-type or something and kept the same style of appearance, then I might actually consider using the thing.

Others include Electabuzz and Magmar both for just becoming fatter, slower and uglier upon evolution, Braixen ever since Pokken Tournament, and Spheal over both Sealeo and Walrein.

 

[OnePiecefan11]

I like Dewott over Samurott. Something about its design just appeals to me more. Plus, how does a Pokémon go from standing on two legs to all fours?

 

[Storybook]

I'd have to say that one of my most memorable adoration of pre evolutions over their evolved forms would have to be either Fracture over Haxorus or Gabite over Garchomp. Off of the top of my head, I can't really think of a good reason why, other than the fact that I've generally spent more time with them than their evolutions- then again, I almost never use these two lines anyways because I tend to prefer experimenting with other Pokemon than going for the dragon type bruisers of the generations. So I pulled up pictures of both lines to try and figure out why.

Looking at Haxorus and Fracture, the immediate thing that comes to mind is that I'm just more comfortable with the latter. Haxorus is this huge, albeit relatively awesome, looming giant of a warrior with a battle axe for a face, while Fracture is... more like me, in a sense. He's less of an adult and more of a kid, without having the full on affect of innocence brought on by its first stage, and I just really like how stubby his arms are. I think I could laugh more hanging with a Fracture than a Haxorus As far as the design itself goes, the darker green with the more dusty red appeals more to my eye than the slight shift in color of its evolution, and I'm just not a fan of how Haxorus is bent and looming with that long, plated neck of his.

Moving on to Gabite and Garchomp, I've remembered almost immediately why I appreciate Gabite more, and it's the lack of that protruding, yellow snout that just feels blunt and out of place in my mind. I understand completely how that works and why it exists in the design, but I'm just more of a fan of the little guy's more narrow face features, especially the light blue color of the rings that has grown absent in its evolution. I find it lightens the design while not distracting me as much as the vibrant yellow of Garchomp.

In the end, though, I've never liked these pre forms over the endgame enough to not evolve mine, although the action happened with a large heap of loathing and regret. I think the only Pokemon I've not ended up evolving would be my Quilava, but that's less because I like the design over its evolution and more that it just so happens to be my favorite design/Pokemon anyways and thus, by the use of common sense, I can't really like its evolution more. But I don't really think that counts, since the competition is so far behind the winner

 

[EtherealHaze]

Snivy over Servine and Serperior - Snivy is one of my favourite Pokemon ever(third, just behind Virizion and Blaziken), and I prefer it a load over it's evolutions. Servine and Serperior are not bad at all, but I guess I just feel that Snivy deserved a little better? Also, I'm not a massive fan of Serperior's colour scheme and the fact it loses it's legs (and almost it's arms as well).
Spritzee over Aromatisse - Spritzee is another one of my all-time favourites. I seriously can't get enough of this little bundle of fluff. Aromatisse isn't bad, and it's actually grown on me, but I guess I just really wanted Spritzee to evolve into a badass plague doctor rather than a ... ballerina thing?
Dragonair over Dragonite- I'll never understand why Game Freak decided to evolve the magnificent beast that is Dragonair, into a herp derp, fat lovechild of Charizard and Barney the Dinosaur. Seriously, Dragonite is awful overrated trash, and Dragonair is bloody gorgeous (a reason why it is one of my favourite Dragon-types of all time). It's kinda sad actually. Poor Dragonair.
Magby over Magmar and Magmortar - Not that I hate Magmar or Magmortar (although the latter is kinda ugly), but Magby is just so dang adorable. I love it so much!

 

[skymin015]

I've always liked Starly over its evolutions. Derpy bird and emo bird. I prefer the cute bird.

I hate Venusaur. And I hate it with a burning passion. It's ugly, fat, and so is its mega evolution. It always looked...weird to me. Ivysaur is awesome, and Bulbasaur is cute. But Venusaur...

Also, Haunter over Gengar. Haunter looks sleek, and scarier than its evolution. Although mega Gengar is the thing from nightmares, Gengar is just fat. It's cool and all, but I just prefer Haunter. Also, I played with one in a run of Heart Gold instead l had a Haunter the whole time.

 

[SilverChu~]

I perfer Steenee over Tsareena..

I just think Steenee looks more better. I don't hate Tsareena so no hate please... I don't really know whats wrong with Tsareena but I like Pokemon with their mouths showing. Tsareena doesn't have her mouth shawing but thats just a dumb reason.

But yeah thats all I can say.

 

[Shiny Blue Gardevoir]

Tepig over Pignite and Emboar. Tepig is so tiny and adorable, and I love piglets, so I picked it in my first Black run-through, not knowing what it would evolve into...Then I got a hideous Pignite, and was not pleased QAQ

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

Buizel over Floatzel, hands down. While I always liked Buized ever since I saw it’s design for being so simple & unique at the time, I felt that Floatzel looked complete hot mess the minute I saw it. It looked too plump and gutsy for my own personal opinion & lost a lot of its overall charm. I even stuck with Buizel for my playhtroughs and refused to ever evolve it.

Elekid over Electabuzz & Electivire is another good example. I think this one is more for specific aspects since Elekid’s mouth & arms, & the fact that it’s like a little plug were always more appealing. Plus, the anime made me a fan of Elekid because it’s one of the few Pokémon that doesn’t sound like it’s saying it’s name.


I also like Dewott & Steenee over Samurott & Tsareena since their designs have a lot more charm to them

 

[Riverrunner]

I very much prefer spritzee over aromatisse. Most people (from what I've heard) say this just because spritzee is cuter, as pre-evolutions often are, but I prefer it simply due to the missed opportunity that aromatisse was.
Allow me to explain: spritzee, despite its cute design, is based upon a plague doctor. I personally find such extremely interesting (read as: I fricking love the herb-stuffed bird mask. Birds in general I like, honestly) and was super excited upon spritzee's design drop. I was hoping for a cute-to-creepy transition, like a fairy/dark vulture-like Pokémon or potentially a Pokémon that had gone from treating the plague to causing it in the from of a fairy/poison type. But... instead we got aromatisse. "But River, aromatisse is still cute and stuff!" Sure, okay, but it's because of that I really don't like it. Instead of a plague doctor bird, it looks more like a fluffed-up overstuffed pink powder puff with a vaguely bird beakish mask, completely losing any dark atmosphere it could've had. I don't know, it's not bad, but quite frankly I was more than a bit disappointed.

Same goes for slurpuff and swirlix, honestly. I didn't care much for swirlix's design (not nearly as much as I did for spritzee's) but a more cotton-candy looking Pokémon would've been cooler. Maybe a cotton candy alpaca or something. I don't know, honestly, I'm just not a huge fan of slurpuff's design I guess. It doesn't seem like a natural progression from swirlix. Maybe as a third stage with some sort of intermediate, but it's a bit too far a jump for me from first to immediate second.

 

[WeedletheTogekiss]

Machoke over machamp, because It has 4 Arms and it's lips look like they are chapped and about to fall off. Also, I had a machoke in alpha sapphire called Joke, who defeated normans level 35 slaking

 

[Firox]

I like Incineroar, but I love Torracat a lot more, its difficult to evolve it

 

[KaiserGreed]

Does Mega Evolution count? I definitely prefer Latias and Latios over their mega counterparts because only being able to the other apart with their eye color is just stupid.

 

[Vaporeonn]

ivysaur over venusaur.... venusaur is quite unappealing. ivysaur has a certain charm to it, looks angry but deep down is a softie, i love him. on the other hand, venusaur's flower looks like it smells bad.

machoke over machamp too. the four arms are just.... not working for me. i don't like pokemon that resemble humans, but machoke looks pretty cool to be honest.

timburr(&gurdurr, maybe) over conkeldurr. it's .. just ugly. can't find a better word, sorry,

also, marill over azumarill... azumarill remind me of an egg too much, & it's probably the only "cute" (well, it's one of the pokemon that is meant to be cute) that i don't find cute at all.

 

[x0jackie0x]

Quilava over Typhlosion. Typho's is just kinda... meh. Quilava is awesome and far more aesthetically pleasing.

 

[Vortigern]

Scyther over Scizor
That's the first one that comes to mind. Scyther was one of my favourites in Gen I, and I remember seeing Scizor being the first time I felt disappointed in the franchise. I didn't want it, and it didn't seem like an improvement. The cool, green colour scheme was gone. Scyther's head design had been compromised. The cool mantis/sword claws were replaced by pincers. Nothing seemed like a net gain.
I tried to like Scizor, I really did. Scyther was one of my favourites and a mainstay on my Gen I team. For years and years I tried to trick myself into liking Scizor. No dice. It's just never worked for me.

As for the rest? I'm gonna admit this comes from a very Gen I attitude, but what can I say? It's what I grew up with/my introduction to the franchise.
I'm not a fan of a lot of the Gen IV evolutions of earlier generation pokemon. Not to say they were all bad- they weren't. These in particular though? They all follow a theme. They evolved pokemon I previously had a soft spot for and they didn't improve at all on the design of the previous Gen I forms. So they ended up ruining a few lines for me.

Likitung over Lickilicky
I admit I have a soft spot for Likitung. It was this weird lizard creature that was also strangely adorable. The species was pretty much ignored by everyone in Gen 1, both in the games and in the anime. I think that made me like it more? I mean I rarely used it on any teams, but I always enjoyed having one around. Lickilicky is just doofy looking. Nothing about it is an improvement. That's really my complaint with all of these...

Rhydon over Rhyperior
Nidoking is one of my all-time favourites (and is my favourite if you catch me on the right day ) so Rhydon was always one I liked too. They're similar enough to Nidoking but with enough different going on to make them a cool pair of 'mons who looked like they could have a pretty cool rivalry. Rhyperior is just...over-designed. Rhydon hit a sweet spot between aggressive and simple that all of the best pokemon designs fall into. Not so much with Rhyperior. It's just a design that tries too hard.

Magmar over Magmortar
I get why people say Magmar is ugly, but I love it. For a lot of the same reasons I love Rhydon, really. If you catch me on a day when Nidoking isn't my favourite pokemon? The answer's going to be Charizard. I've always loved Charizard. When I first saw ads and Nintendo Power stories for this new "Pokemon" game? I immediately decided two things. I'd be getting the Red version and I'd be starting with Charmander.
Then I got the game and my first strategy guide. Low and behold, in the Pokedex section, was an entry for this strange Pokemon called Magmar who was a bit Charizard-esque. Warm colouring, fire type, lizard and dragon-esque features, and a flame tail! Like Rhydon and Nidkoing Magmar and Charizard seemed like two 'mons who went together well. Then the episode of the anime aired where Ash's Charizard fought Blaine's Magmar and I was hooked on the guy.
Then Mahmortar came out. Like Rhyperior it's an over-designed look. The rounder torso, the out of control head flames that looks like clown hair. The cannon arms. It's just all too much and too silly.

Electabuzz over Electivire
This one doesn't bother me as much as the others, because I don't find Electivire too terribly designed. On its own? It works. My problem here is more with intent. I get the feeling Magmar had the mess that is Magmortar thrust on it because they came up with a decent idea in Electivire and they felt they needed to give Magmar an evolved form to keep the parallel theme the two lines have going. Just speculation on my part, but that's what it comes off as from my perspective.

Again, sorry for coming off like a Genwunner with the list. These are just the most immediate examples that came to mind when I saw the thread. I'm sure if I looked into it deeper less "old man yells at cloud" types of examples will come to mind

 

[Fraised]

I'm not alone in feeling this way, but I think I vastly prefer Chespin's base form to its evolutions. I don't outright dislike or hate Quilladin and Chesnaught by any means - I just don't care for them much at all; especially Chesnaught. Compared to the final forms of the other two Kalos starters, its design just seems really... bland?

Going off of the other responses so far, though, I'm glad to know that Scyther > Scizor isn't just an unpopular opinion of mine. ;; I don't have anything against the latter's design (although I do think that its Mega form looks ridiculous, no thanks to the staplers-for-pincers), but something else about Scizor has always kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I just genuinely don't remember what it was, since it's been a really long time. But Scyther is infinitely cooler as it is, making me wish that it could have just been a standalone Pokémon.

Pignite > Emboar, as well. Pignite is a genuinely cool-looking Pokémon despite having a lot of detractors out there, so it's kind of heartbreaking to see it evolve into something as unappealing as Emboar, which looks more like a monster that wouldn't be out of place in a Zelda game. I definitely feel like there was a bit of wasted potential for a much better final evolution...

 

[LouseKing]

I prefer Wartortle over Blastoise. I'm not sure why, I've just always loved Wartortle's design more than Blastoise, don't get me wrong Blastoise is great, but I usually take a while to actually evolve it.

I also like Nidorina more than Nidoqueen, which is odd because I adore Nidoking. I do like Nidoqueen, I just like Nidorina better, maybe because it resembles Nidoran female and I enjoy her design.

Pignite over Emboar.
The round little wrestler pig makes it hard to decide which starter to choose in Black/White and Pignite is why. I just don't really care for Emboar and I can't even give a real reason.

Ivysaur over Venosaur.
Pretty much the same for Wartortle and Blastoise, Ivysaur just seems like a cool kid that is actually really nice.

 

[Pyjax]

Scyther over Scizor
That's the first one that comes to mind. Scyther was one of my favourites in Gen I, and I remember seeing Scizor being the first time I felt disappointed in the franchise. I didn't want it, and it didn't seem like an improvement. The cool, green colour scheme was gone. Scyther's head design had been compromised. The cool mantis/sword claws were replaced by pincers. Nothing seemed like a net gain.
I tried to like Scizor, I really did. Scyther was one of my favourites and a mainstay on my Gen I team. For years and years I tried to trick myself into liking Scizor. No dice. It's just never worked for me.

As for the rest? I'm gonna admit this comes from a very Gen I attitude, but what can I say? It's what I grew up with/my introduction to the franchise.
I'm not a fan of a lot of the Gen IV evolutions of earlier generation pokemon. Not to say they were all bad- they weren't. These in particular though? They all follow a theme. They evolved pokemon I previously had a soft spot for and they didn't improve at all on the design of the previous Gen I forms. So they ended up ruining a few lines for me.

Likitung over Lickilicky
I admit I have a soft spot for Likitung. It was this weird lizard creature that was also strangely adorable. The species was pretty much ignored by everyone in Gen 1, both in the games and in the anime. I think that made me like it more? I mean I rarely used it on any teams, but I always enjoyed having one around. Lickilicky is just doofy looking. Nothing about it is an improvement. That's really my complaint with all of these...

Rhydon over Rhyperior
Nidoking is one of my all-time favourites (and is my favourite if you catch me on the right day ) so Rhydon was always one I liked too. They're similar enough to Nidoking but with enough different going on to make them a cool pair of 'mons who looked like they could have a pretty cool rivalry. Rhyperior is just...over-designed. Rhydon hit a sweet spot between aggressive and simple that all of the best pokemon designs fall into. Not so much with Rhyperior. It's just a design that tries too hard.

Magmar over Magmortar
I get why people say Magmar is ugly, but I love it. For a lot of the same reasons I love Rhydon, really. If you catch me on a day when Nidoking isn't my favourite pokemon? The answer's going to be Charizard. I've always loved Charizard. When I first saw ads and Nintendo Power stories for this new "Pokemon" game? I immediately decided two things. I'd be getting the Red version and I'd be starting with Charmander.
Then I got the game and my first strategy guide. Low and behold, in the Pokedex section, was an entry for this strange Pokemon called Magmar who was a bit Charizard-esque. Warm colouring, fire type, lizard and dragon-esque features, and a flame tail! Like Rhydon and Nidkoing Magmar and Charizard seemed like two 'mons who went together well. Then the episode of the anime aired where Ash's Charizard fought Blaine's Magmar and I was hooked on the guy.
Then Mahmortar came out. Like Rhyperior it's an over-designed look. The rounder torso, the out of control head flames that looks like clown hair. The cannon arms. It's just all too much and too silly.

Electabuzz over Electivire
This one doesn't bother me as much as the others, because I don't find Electivire too terribly designed. On its own? It works. My problem here is more with intent. I get the feeling Magmar had the mess that is Magmortar thrust on it because they came up with a decent idea in Electivire and they felt they needed to give Magmar an evolved form to keep the parallel theme the two lines have going. Just speculation on my part, but that's what it comes off as from my perspective.

Again, sorry for coming off like a Genwunner with the list. These are just the most immediate examples that came to mind when I saw the thread. I'm sure if I looked into it deeper less "old man yells at cloud" types of examples will come to mind

Pretty much all of these, never a fan of retroactivley adding on an evolution, prefer the chain to be whole in each game.

 

[Vortigern]

Pretty much all of these, never a fan of retroactivley adding on an evolution, prefer the chain to be whole in each game.

I'm mostly in agreement. I'm not a huge fan of pre-evolutions to older 'mons, but it's not the worst thing. And yeah, there are a few later evolutions added that aren't bad, but generally speaking? I prefer for them to focus on new 'mons then adding to pre-existing lines. Hopefully they run with the "regional variants" thing going forward. It could provide a nice outlet for alternate designs of older 'mons without compromising already-established evolutionary lines.

 

[Quake]

I agree with some of the ones already mentioned like Lickitung and Wartortle. As for the green bug...sorry I like Scizor more, though.

What about Lairon, though? I think its evolution should have been a quadruped like it was instead of how Aggron turned out. Sure, his head looks like Alphonse Elric from FMA, but the body is so...lazy, bland, fat, etc.

 

[Darth Binks]

1) Pichu (I just love it)
2) Torracat
3) Piplup

 

[PunkMama]

Quilava. Typhlosion is... cool, I guess, but I'm not a fan of them. Quilava is adorable, on the other hand.

 

[~Rinko~]

I'll list a couple:

• Pikachu, Raichu's orange colours (for some reason) makes me like Pikachu more.
• Popplio, Brionne is a bit too frilly for my liking, and even though Primarina is beautiful, Popplio's cuteness is more than Primarina's prettyness.
• Riolu, Lucario's metal spikes are the main reason I prefer Riolu, but there are more reasons.
• Stufful, Bewear hugs to tight, simple.
• Lastly, Cubchoo, Beartic seems a bit to aggressive for my liking, plus the icicle beard looks a bit tacky in my opinion.

I do have more, but I won't list them.

 

[NerdySquirtle]

A large amount of pokemon fall under this category for me, but I`ll just say the main ones

-Frogadier over greninja, while ash-greninja is better than frogadier IMO I feel like greninja is a little bland in it`s normal form, don`t get me wrong it`s still one of my favourite mons, but I prefer frogadier and froakie, especially because the frubbles around their necks are just so cool even though greninja`s tongue is a cool design

-Quilava over Typhlosion, this is pretty self explanatory, typhlosion is massive and fat while quilava is a cooler, sleeker pokemon

-Lampent over chandelure, this one had a story behind it, so about five years ago I was playing pokemon white, I wanted to get a chandelure and so I was training up the litwick and it evovled, I couldn`t find a dusk stone so I kept training for until I found the item, soon I realised that I prefer lampent over chandelure and so decided to keep it a lampent

-Squirtle over both of it`s evo`s, so this also needs a story, I first got into pokemon for the simple reason that I would play as squirtle in smash brawl, so it`s kinda always been my favourite, simple as that.

Ok so heres a few more that I just sorta prefer though wouldn`t sacrifice the extra power from evolution for:
-Buizel
-Lickitung
-Bayleef
-Braixen
-Herdier
-Marshtomp