I'll start this with a confusing admission: My favourite thing in the world is a trip to an aquarium. I could spend days gazing through the curved glass of a tank, watching sharks glide past me, pressing my hand against the smooth, white underbelly of a stingray, and taking note of the clownfish darting in and out of the swaying mass of a sea anemone. Aquariums are my happy place. They're fascinating, beautiful, entrancing, and for a kid who grew up pretty far away from the ocean, basically magic.
So why do I dislike fish Pokémon so much? It's precisely because they have nothing in common with those actual fish in an aquarium, or in the sea. Let me explain.
Back in 1996, we were introduced to the concept of Pocket Monsters — weird little animals that lived in tiny, portable cages, that would fight other Pocket Monsters on your behalf. Many of those Pocket Monsters were based on real-world animals, like turtles, butterflies, and birds.
In amongst all those real-life animals, of course, were fish — three fish, to be exact. Goldeen, Seaking, and Magikarp are the only fish-like beings on the Gen I Pokédex, although you could expand your definition of "fish" to include Gyarados (who is more of a dragon, if you ask me), the Horsea line (those are horses, duh), Shellder, Staryu, and Omanyte (those are shellfish), Poliwag (a tadpole), Tentacool (a jellyfish), Vaporeon (some kind of dog-mermaid), and Lapras (...dinosaur?). For the purposes of this article, I am talking solely about the fish-shaped fish, and I'm going to ignore all other marine and piscine creatures, okay?
Listen, Goldeen and Seaking are pretty cool. They're based on ornamental fish like goldfish and koi carp, and having grown up with a koi pond, I'm quite fond of the sparkly little guys. As a result, they're quite pretty, with their frilly little fins and orange-white-black colouring, but let's be honest: They're the Rattata of the sea. No one actually wants them for any reason other than to fill up the Pokédex. These fish are PC Box filler.
Now, you might argue that Magikarp is, in fact, the Rattata of the sea, but you'd be wrong — I'd argue instead that Magikarp is probably the most interesting fish in all Pokémon history (not that there's much competition). There's even a trope named after it: "Magikarp Power", which is when a character or item seems completely useless at first, but eventually evolves into something great. And Magikarp keeps excellent company in this category: Chie in Persona 4, Donnel from Fire Emblem: Awakening, and even Exagryph from Hades are all the Magikarps of their respective games.
But it's all downhill from Magikarp. I don't think there's been a single fish Pokémon that I've actually wanted in my party since then, and though many of the designs are cool — Relicanth, Mantyke, even the stupid-looking Arctovish — I just don't care for them.
I put forward my hypothesis: That, of all the types of Pokémon (bird, dragon, humanoid) the fish ones are always the most disappointing. You think I care about the difference between Tynamo and Remoraid? I do not. You think I want to put in a ton of effort to catch and evolve a Feebas into a Milotic? No. Has anyone ever picked Huntail or Gorebyss as their favourite Pokémon? Probably not, right?
I know a lot of people aren't keen on bird types either, and I'm inclined to agree that bird types suffer from the same boring "oh, it's a bird" designs that fish types do. But bird Pokémon tend to appear early in the game, when you'll take just about anything to beef up your party for the next gym, and so I have an attachment to them because they usually stick around long enough to grow on me. Fish Pokémon, on the other hand, require a fishing rod or the Surf ability, meaning that they usually start appearing in the games once I've already got a pretty solid roster of interesting and powerful Pokémon, and there's no room in my heart or my party for a weak-ass salmon lookalike.
I don't get it. The ocean is full of weird and strange fish, but when translated into Pokémon, they just seem so incredibly dull. But I think I know why they're so dull — it's because fish aren't really very interesting on their own. They're interesting together — the way they move, the way they interact, the wondrousness of the ocean itself as another world beneath the land.
Unfortunately, in Pokémon games, because we're only ever on the surface of the water (except for Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire's cool diving sections), we don't get to actually explore the oceans like we do every other part of the land. Whenever we encounter fish in Pokémon, they skim along the waves and then jump out of the water to battle us. There are no swimming sections, in which we get to brush past schools of glittering Luvdiscs, or night-time bioluminescing pools courtesy of Finneon and Lumineons; it always feels as if we are forcing those fish to come to our world rather than visiting theirs and getting to see them behave, you know, like fish.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet was the first time I ever really saw fish behaving like fish — in particular, seeing a Dondozo come up to the surface from the shadowy depths. It was such a cool moment; a moment that implied a literal and metaphorical depth to these oceanic creatures that had previously just been an annoying hindrance as I tried to Surf from A to B.
So, Game Freak, if any of your designers are reading this: Let us explore the oceans in a future Pokémon game. Let us see fish Pokémon in their natural habitats. Give us seabeds blanketed with Staryu and Pincurchin, coral reefs crowded with Skrelp and Qwilfish, and solitary Arrokuda lurking in dark corners, ready to seize their prey. Let us appreciate fish the way we do in real life — not as lone encounters, but as a rich, colourful ecosystem.
Is your favourite Pokémon a fish Pokémon? Do you think birds are way worse? Did you like Ruby and Sapphire's diving sections as much as I did? Give me your thoughts in the comments!
Comments 72
Too much water!
There was the Marine Tube in Black and White 2, that count for anything?
Sure it was pretty much just a pointless bridge that meant nothing but it looked really neat. ... Though I do wonder why the game they decided to do this in is the game where 98% of all Water type encounters are Basculin.
Corsola is a water pokemon therefore water pokes are excellent.
Wow, that's a HARD disagree from me! Some of the Pokéfish are some of my favourites! Magikarp is a classic, with its amazing transformation in its evolution. Luvdisc is a cutie, and is also n interesting example of a Pokémon whose main purpose isn't for battle, but exists to flesh out the lore of the Pokéworld in other ways. And it has a unique gameplay purpose too, being the main source of heart scales in older gens.
I find Relicanth an interesting nod to to how the coelacanth fish was thought to be extinct in the past.
I love Sharpedo's one-track-minded aggressiveness, and it demonstrates its personality hilariously while you're exploring in Isle of Armor.
Qwilfish has an adorable grumpy face, and its evolution Overqwil is funny for just being a big ball of angry spikies.
I also very much enjoyed sailing around Hisui on the Basculegion.
I love Whiscash's derp face, I find Bruxish's sheer garishness to be funny, and the newly-introduced Tatsugiri is another cutie!
There's plenty of fish in the sea that are interesting and unique and fun in their own ways.
Yes, yes, yes. You are totally right. Exploring the seas in Pokémon would be absolutely incredible and awesome. Like in New Pokémon Snap that is such a thrilling part of the game. We should band on social media about this to Pokémon company and Nintendo.
Fish are friendssss!!!
Me: Finally another fish lover who wishes for my fish Pokémon, this guy gets it.
"Fish aren't really interesting on their own"
Ok, the calling horsea a horse makes more sense now.
@KateGray
Hang on, though... what about Tatsugiri? Definitely a fish, and insanely cute!
I like my fish Pokemon raw and wriggling.
But for real, would have loved if the alola region was sea life dominated. We have enough cats and monkeys but one land shark, and one half of a shark lol.
I think the main reason I don't want a fish in my party, is because when you're battling, they just float in the air, which I think is incredibly lame.
on a related note i remember beating magikarp jump 100% on my phone without spending any money, i have no idea why i let that be part of my college life. the game has its own elite 4
As the Pokémon games take place primary on land, a lot of the sea creatures inevitably end up looking like… well, fish out of water — weirdly floating above the earth as if suspended by some magical magnetic fish field.
The alternative would be dragging land Pokémon down to the briny depths where the fish swim freely. Then the water Pokémon would be contextualised, but you’d have the opposite problem of countless drowned Growlithes…
There’s probably no environment where all Pokémon would actually make sense, but it would certainly be nice to have a deeper look at the oceans in future games.
I’m reminded of how it felt to get the Iron Boots + Blue Tunic in Ocarina of Time — like an entirely new world had opened up. I know this is supposed about Pokémon and not Zelda, but I hope we get diving or some sort of underwater traversal in Tears of the Kingdom! Being able to explore not only the skies but also the rivers and lakes would really give the game an extra dimension.
I have always picked the water starter in each game, so looking for other water Pokemon has never been a thing for me. With that said, I have seen plenty of "fish" Pokemon that I find the designs appealing.
This rail against Pokemon whose designs are "too simple" kinda gets to me. Sometimes the simpler Pokemon designs are the best. I get that complaint with a Pokemon like Flamigo, but not really any of the fish Pokemon.
@boxyguy
That game unironically was awesome. I should go back and finish that.
How dare you insult our Lord and Savior Magikarp!! All hail Majikarp!!!
@Gitface so juicy sweet
I'm just here to say that the "too much water" holds true for R/S/E.
Water is the most common type of Pokémon, yet they usually have just couple of different encounters per route. Surf anywhere in 3rd gen and you're bound to find the same two family of Pokémon: Tentacool and Wingull. In my opinion, it's even worse than caves full of Geodude and Zubat. The caves aren't limited to just those two Pokémon. They all have some new encounters you can't get from anywhere else.
Also, diving in R/S/E is just painful. Again, there are 3 different underwater encounters in the whole game and you move so slow in a place with nothing of note in it.
The abundancy of water and different ways to interact with it works thematically but gameplay-wise it's just bad.
This was a really good article, with a lot of good points. Although I'll argue for Lumineon and Lanturn being good fish mon.
@Wexter How dare you misspell our lords name?! Slaps
Rather have a fish pokemon than a weak and lame bug pokemon any day of the week.
Vaporeon best fish
But now Dondozo and Tatsugiri are the core of my team
Also Milotic (eel?) is still great.
I remembered when plaing Blue/Red and using Goldeen/Seaking long enough until elite four. but thats the only time i used fish pokemon.
Do wailmers count as fish? I mean, they're mammals, yeah? And wailmers aren't "fish-shaped." They're orbs. Beautiful, happy, grinning orbs.
I had a wailmer named William in Pokémon Go and he was a friend. Miss that guy. Shout out to my boy William.
Easy solution: make there be three overworlds, one for land, one for the sea, and one for the sky. Boom! Problem solved!
New Pokemon Snap has already been pointed out (@dreadkong). It's probably not the answer you're looking for, but it does have a section like what you're describing. If you haven't already, check it out!
I quite like some of the fish Pokemon so I was expecting to disagree with this, but that's a good point that they usually feel disconnected from actual fish-like habitats. New Pokemon Snap did a good job of showing them as proper marine creatures though, as another comment mentioned.
Also I just want to say, as a reader of ONM back in the day it always makes me smile seeing entertaining and weirdly specific articles like this pop up on the homepage (usually from Kate, but other writers too)
Wait, what was wrong with Chie in Persona 4? I had her in my party the whole game and she never felt useless.
@Setrodox yes, it's absolutely awesome 🤩🤩
Who else now wants Unknown Worlds to make a Subnautica-style game filled entirely with pokemon?
I think you meant to post this thesis on Reddit lol.
Also, incorrect on multiple points.
“If we minimize my definition as much as possible it fits my description of why it’s bad” 😂
I love my weird and slightly insane Veluza in Pokemon Violet. I admit in previous generations I generally ignored the fish though, partially because I often use non-fish water starters which took up all my water-love.
I... had a seaking in my team on one of my Pokémon Red earlier runs
When and where have you seen an animal that looks like a Grimer, Magnemite, Trubbish, Gardevoir or Jinx?
I never had the impression that Chie in P4 started out as a particularly weak character.
Never use fish Pokemon we all have a favourite few Pokemon the fish species not in my top 100
I don't think it's a problem with fish Pokemon, I think it's a problem with how Pokemon portrays environmental design. The Pokemon world feels boring to explore, and fish are the worst of it because they don't feel like they are in their element of water. It was slightly remedied in Pokemon Legends Arceus & Pokemon Snap because that was the first time these creatures felt like symbiotic beings in their natural environments. We really need Pokemon to give us things like true underwater exploration.
I was gonna be outraged about this article, because I love water-types, but then I realized I only run with non-fish water types.
Pellipper and Buziel are staples of my teams, and I always pick the water starters, but I never bother with fish. If nothing else, they make good fodder for me to grind a grass or electric type.
90% sure this is a joke so... funny article. Props.
"fish" Pokemon are pretty great. There's a lot of different designs and I feel like they usually mix real world counterparts with interesting design elements to create awesome looking monsters.
Seaking
Lanturn
Huntail
Lumineon
Bruxish
All really great designs for any aspiring fish type trainers
Luvdisc is cute as heck too.
This reminded me of the bittersweet exercise of breeding and training a battle-worthy Lumineon, as part of my self-imposed mission to train each Pokemon line into something that could battle handily by itself (dual battles were never my thing). It was a slog, but I was pleased with the results.
Luvdisc was next in line, so I just threw up my hands and called it a day.
I do wish they'd kept the diving sections in later games, but other than that, I'd say I'm good with Pokemon's fish-related offerings. In terms of design, there are a few that are just offensively ugly or boring, but I'd say they're mostly cute, cool, or goofy-looking enough to justify their existence.
I read the title and said, "No. Magikarp is my baby and it will always be MY BABY."
I then read the Magikarp paragraph and my heart relaxed.
New Pokémon Snap captured the beauty of exploring the ocean’s depths quite well, I thought. It may be more linear, but it’s gorgeous nonetheless.
@KateGray
While -I- agree with your sentiment, I think nintendolife shared a link several years ago which surveyed everyone's favorite pokemon.
There were 12 pokemon that came up as being the favorite of nobody.
While there were probably a couple on the list, I don't recall them all being fish.
So, sadly, I think many of the fish pokemon are someone's favorite (heaven help them). Still, I agree. Remorroid is utterly uninteresting and needs to leave me alone when I'm out in the water!
Edit notes: accidentally called you guys "Nintendo Power," for a sec (I am SO sorry. . . But i do miss that magazine).
Lanturn is a ***** boss.
It's true. Water is my favorite type, and even I find fish Pokemon boring.
Not a fan of fish but I do like the idea of wanting to expore under the sea more. Would be nice that we can only bring a team of sea creatures under water with us but not all water Pokemon should go under water for long if it's more of an above the sea Pokemon. Make fishes, Sharpedo and Finizen strong under sea swimmers. Lapras a good fast above sea one.
I always have water and a bird in my team but fish is never one of them.
The weird techno fish from the new game was one of my favorites from that generation.
Osaka aquarium is great.
This reminds me of the ocean level in New Pokemon Snap. It's so calming and pretty.
So many people didn’t read to the end point.
More exposure to the world of the seas would be good. The author’s point isn’t “fish bad, go away,” it’s “there’s whole worlds down there where marine Pokémon can actually show their uniqueness and how they fit in to the Pokémon ecosystem that we’ve yet to be able to explore.” A lumineon unceremoniously floating in the air battling a noivern on a mountaintop is poor design. I’d love to get to go into the oceans and see fish do fish things but Pokémon.
But we got such a grand view of this fishy perspective in New Pokémon Snap! The gorgeous habitats of those fish and other Pokémon have forever changed the way I see Pokémon 😍
Never been a Pokemon guy at all myself, but I'll always love Magikarp. First for his hilarious jumping minigame in Pokemon Stadium, and then for his even-more-tongue-in-cheek smartphone game Magikarp Jump, which was essentially a spin-off of the Pokemon Stadium minigame.
Someone at the Pokemon Company has their humour bolts screwed on just right, I'll tell you that. In the future, we won't be capturing a menagerie of animals to watch them fight using magical powers. Oh no, we will be capturing just one specific type of fish so that we can plonk them onto dry land and watch them flop about impotently.
I love the fish and birds, without them the world wouldn’t feel full. Yeah Luvdisc might be Dex filler but it also fleshes out the world.
Plus Whiscash, Basculegion and Overquil are legit awesome. I used to have a Lanturn on my Silver team too and thought it was great!
But yeah let us explore underwater again.
“So, Game Freak, if any of your designers are reading this: Let us explore the oceans in a future Pokémon game.”
Nope… reviewers will complain that it has too much water
For me, seeing a Magikarp is always one of the highlights when I'm playing (or replaying) a Pokémon game, and I have to commend it for not doing that distracting levitating-as-a-substitute-for-swimming thing.
Other than that, fishy Pokémon are very hit and miss for me. Apart from the Mantyke and (if it counts) Tynamo lines, I can't think of any I particularly like.
This is a good reminder that I still hope a future Hoenn revisit will let us dive down and explore the ocean, or Johto for that matter with Kingdra. Swampert and Sharpedo would both be excellent Poke-submarines to aid you since they swim so fast.
I would love to appreciate fish Pokémon like I do with real life fish: one bite at a time.
Removed - unconstructive feedback
Gorebyss is one of my favorite Gen 3 Pokémon and I had a Milotic on my team back in Ruby. I like that fish from Gen 4 as well.
On the other hand, I dislike the birds precisely because they start showing up immediately and I have to put up with them everywhere, and the Rattata equivalents are even worse. I hated all of them that came after Gen 3.
Did she not play New Pokémon Snap?
The article is kind of all over the place.. kinda made it hard to figure out what the actual point is.. just sounds like someone rambling on reddit/gamefaqs.
Magikarp is still the GOAT thanks to it's evolution. I always catch one so I can evolve it.
Gorebyss is my favourite "fish" Pokémon. I quite like Huntail too. Recently, I've been thinking about how I don't believe I have ever had Goldeen/Seaking on my team. Not the most interesting designs (Goldeen far eclipses Seaking's), but I'll continue it if I ever replay the Let's Go games.
I'm really yearning for more "deep sea" Pokémon as I'm absolutely fascinated by deep sea life, and I feel like they barely explored the possibilities of deep sea exploration with the incredibly underwhelming diving mechanic in the Gen III games, which was why constantly traversing the waters was such a painfully tedious ordeal (and the same can be said about the ridiculously stingy handful of paradox Pokémon in what is quite a large crater in Scarlet/Violet).
A lot of common fish ARE boring in real life, dull drab colors, nothing too crazy for most of them. I think Pokemon does a good job in that regard, however there are very few gorgeous fish that would translate well.
I certainly think that there's room to grow, but water type is one of the largest category of pokemon, it's hard to expand there without going too crazy. I think a Minior-like fish pokemon could be cool, make it like a tetra with a ton of different vibrant colors, but even then it likely wouldn't be powerful and would just pad out fish pokemon.
We could certainly have a few more shark pokemon, but something like a betta (fighting fish) could really expand both the designs but also competitive. Water/Fighting is a solid typing so just give it good stats and a strong evolution line that focuses on the beauty of the fish.
@boxyguy I turned 50 years old at the weekend and also have to admit to spending far too much time with magikarp jump. Did you manage to 100% the event dex? I gave up on trying to get that as it seems that spending money was needed to complete it.
@KaiserGX Soon you'll gain the ability to notice a Kate Gray article in the first sentence.. the power is within you
Milotic is amazing, if it counts as fish. Most other fish Pokémon are dumb and the fact that they have to float because realistically they wouldn't work otherwise doesn't help. Also, why the heck is Gamefreak so keen on adding Alomomola on every single game? It's a hideous creature and not particularly strong.
@ChakraStomps Is she known for that or something? Honestly I haven't been here as often as I have like 8 years ago. I just come in for specific reviews or if there's nothing going on I check out the news.
Also sorry if it was a bit negative I just felt like they kept jumping around a bit but I do appreciate the discussions these kinds of articles bring. Certainly wasn't boring.
If the point of the article had been about wanting more diverse sea areas and getting a Snap-style Pokémon environment, I would've been completely on board with that. Sadly, it's just a small thing in the article.
In regards to the title, I'd argue fish Pokemon are pretty good design-wise and there are quite a few I like, but they get forgotten since you only find them in certain areas and when you do catch them, most of their stats and movepools don't help them be desired over other Water-types. This means that most of them will just end up being Pokedex and box filler to a lot of trainers.
The idea of a water environment-focused pokemon game a solid one clap clap
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