Though some people use Repels to help in their pursuit of shiny forms of Pokemon, most people use them to avoid the most annoying and heartbreaking pocket monsters hiding in tall grass, dark caves, and deep water, especially when trying to get from place to place quickly. Here are some Pokemon that players try to avoid in particular.
8 Trapinch
Trapinch is the first of several Pokemon included on this list specifically for how they manipulate and affect Nuzlocke runs. Nuzlockes are a special challenge mode to play through a Pokemon game that includes specific self-imposed rules, the most important of which is that if a Pokemon faints in battle, it can no longer be used.
Arena Trap is an ability that Trapinch can have. When it is in effect, any Pokemon that isn’t Flying-type or has the abilities Levitate, Magnet Rise, or Telekinesis can’t flee from battle or be switched out. That means that trainers can often be forced to watch their Pokemon faint, and in a Nuzlocke run, it’s the same as watching the creature die.
7 Onix
A common Pokemon trainer pet peeve is feeling as though one’s time is being wasted by random encounters. Some complain that Zubat or Magikarp in the wild were implemented for that sole reason, but there’s another Pokemon that seemingly serves the same purpose. Onix is a giant rock snake that is made up of multiple boulders, and because of its biology, it naturally is bulky and defensive.
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They’re also rather common, so they don’t provide much experience to Pokemon that defeat them in battle. This means that trainers have to grind out wins against Onix only to be rewarded with pennies on the dollar. As cool as Brock made Onix seem in the anime, it’s just not worth spending any more time in the cave than a player has to.
6 Emolga
Status effects often change the dynamic of battle in the world of Pokemon, and outside of getting confused, nothing is more annoying than a Pokemon becoming paralyzed. It’s one thing for an Electric-type to use a move like Thunder Wave to directly cause this status effect, but Emolga has the ability Static, which means that any physical contact with it can lead to paralysis.
Trainers who find themselves training in an area where Emolga spawn will likely need a bag full of Paralysis Heals, or the most luck ever seen in a Pokemon game, to avoid being wiped out.
5 Electrode
Electrode is the second of three Pokemon that make the list due to how drastically they can change a Nuzlocke run. Wild Electrode tend to have Self-Destruct in their moveset. This high-damage move takes the life of the user in exchange for massive damage to its opponent, which can easily knock them out.
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Additionally, Electrode, like Emolga, can also have the paralysis-inducing ability Static. It happens to be a leading example as to why every trainer needs an entire bag filled with Repels, Super Repels, and Max Repels at all times.
4 Boldore
Any Pokemon veteran knows that PP management is essential when power leveling Pokemon in wild areas. Every Pokemon move has a PP number, which correlates to the number of times that move can be used before it must be replenished at a Pokemon Center or with a specific item.
Boldore is a Rock-type Pokemon with the ability Sturdy, which means that it will always survive a one-shot knockout at one health point. This means that two moves must be used at the bare minimum to defeat it. This type of inefficiency wastes time, and it’s in the best interest of trainers to pop a Repel and avoid this interaction altogether.
3 Magikarp
Sure, investing in a Magikarp for the sole purpose of evolving it into a Gyarados is worth it. Battling a bunch of them for little to no experience, on the other hand, is not the move. Sometimes trainers will come across fishermen who have a full team of Magikarp, which will showcase just how worthless the orange fish are.
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Simply spend the money on some Repels to get past an area populated by Magikarp in hopes of finding other wild Pokemon that don’t waste time.
2 Raticate
This entry applies to anyone playing Pokemon, but once again, it is most relatable to those who enjoy doing Nuzlocke runs. Raticate can quickly end a Nuzlocke run, as the move Hyper Fang can inflict serious damage and dismantle an entire team.
Using Repels becomes a necessity when an area is found to be infested with this puffy round demon rat. Raticate tends to have solid base speed stats, so even if it seems a bit underleveled, its speed advantage will allow it to strike with Hyper Fang before trainers even know what’s hitting them.
1 Zubat
Most Pokemon trainers have the shared experience of walking into a cave hoping to discover a powerful Ground or Rock-type creature, only to be met with the screech of a wild Zubat. In addition to not providing much battle experience upon defeat, they also have access to the move Supersonic.
Supersonic inflicts a state of confusion on the opposing Pokemon, drawing out the fight and potentially making the target inflict damage upon itself. Zubat is the sole reason people became familiar with Repels and their usefulness in the first generation of games, and those scars remain with trainers to this day.
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