15 Most Annoying Pokemon

Some creatures are tricky by design, and a handful turn even simple routes and battles into a slog. Whether it is a move that drags out turns, an ability that shuts down your plan, or a wild encounter that shows up every few steps, a few usual suspects have earned a reputation for making progress slow and stressful.

This list focuses on clear in game reasons that create friction. Things like encounter frequency, trapping or escape mechanics, passive damage, and bulky recovery loops all play a part. You will see status spam, hazard stacking, priority disruption, and a lot of abilities that punish contact or block switching, which is exactly the kind of toolkit that stretches a five turn skirmish into twenty.

Zubat

Zubat shows up in caves across many regions at very high rates, which means repeated encounters while navigating long tunnels. Its low level move pool includes Supersonic and Leech Life, so it can inflict confusion and slowly drain health across many short battles.

Golbat evolution adds more speed and stronger biting moves that outpace early teams. Inner Focus prevents flinching from common early game tactics, which keeps it attacking through repeated interruptions.

Tentacool

Tentacool populates surf routes in large numbers, so players crossing long stretches of water often face chain encounters. Early levels include Poison Sting and acid based coverage that chip repeatedly, and the Water and Poison typing resists many basic moves.

Its abilities add extra hurdles. Clear Body blocks stat drops from moves like Growl, and Liquid Ooze turns draining moves into self damage, which punishes popular recovery strategies when training other Water types.

Geodude

Geodude appears constantly in caves and mountains and often carries Sturdy, which lets it survive at one hit point from a full health hit. That single extra turn can lead to chip damage from Rock Throw or a sudden Self Destruct that punishes contact based sweepers.

Magnitude and Bulldoze create uneven power spikes that can catch underleveled teams, especially those relying on Fire, Flying, Bug, or Ice coverage. Combined with the high encounter rate, these moves can drain healing items before important trainer battles.

Abra

Abra’s signature behavior is Teleport, which ends a wild battle instantly and wastes a valuable rare encounter. This makes catching one difficult without a fast status move or a trapping ability, which is a common roadblock for early team building.

Synchronize can pass status back to your team when you attempt to paralyze or burn it for an easier catch. Players who finally secure one still need TMs or move tutors to unlock its power, which adds extra steps compared with typical early route captures.

Wobbuffet

Wobbuffet uses Shadow Tag to prevent switching for grounded opponents in many formats, which locks teams into bad matchups. Counter and Mirror Coat reflect physical and special damage with increased power, so guessing the wrong category can cost an entire attacker.

Encore can trap an opponent into a non damaging move, which sets up free turns for team support. Its large HP pool stretches fights and forces scouting, since a single misread can flip momentum with little warning.

Klefki

Klefki combines Steel and Fairy typing with the Prankster ability, which gives priority to many status moves. Thunder Wave, Reflect, Light Screen, and Spikes can come out before faster attackers move, which blunts offenses and sets long term chip.

It resists many common attacking types and can hold onto utility through Resist Berries or Leftovers. With access to Foul Play and Play Rough, it still threatens damage while forcing opponents to clear hazards or burn turns under screens.

Shuckle

Shuckle has extremely high defenses and a deep support toolkit that stalls progress. It sets Sticky Web, Stealth Rock, and sometimes Toxic, then uses Rest or Recover style options and Protect to increase passive damage.

Power Split and Guard Split can reshape a matchup by averaging stats, which lowers the impact of strong sweepers. With Sturdy and Contrary as available abilities, it can survive key hits or flip common debuffs into boosts, which makes removal a time sink.

Whimsicott

Whimsicott offers fast disruption with Prankster, so Stun Spore, Encore, and Taunt often act before opposing moves. It also uses Leech Seed and Substitute to create loops that drain health while avoiding direct damage.

Infiltrator lets it bypass opposing Substitutes and screens, which preserves its control plan against defensive cores. Chlorophyll on sun teams turns it into a rapid pivot with Tailwind and U turn support, which forces repeated switches and hazard damage.

Pelipper

Pelipper’s Drizzle sets rain on entry, which instantly powers Water attacks and activates Swift Swim partners. It also brings reliable Defog to remove hazards and Roost to sustain through long pivot cycles.

With U turn and a slow enough speed to give safe switches, it repeatedly resets weather advantage while preserving teammates. Scald or Hurricane under rain adds status and confusion pressure, which extends turns and forces extra healing.

Blissey

Blissey’s massive HP and special bulk absorb special attacks for long stretches. Natural Cure removes status when it switches out, and Soft Boiled provides immediate recovery that resets progress from chip damage.

It supports teams with Aromatherapy to clear status and Thunder Wave to slow sweepers. Seismic Toss ensures steady damage regardless of defensive boosts, which grinds down opponents during extended sequences.

Chansey

Chansey with Eviolite gains a huge boost to both defenses, which turns it into a wall that shrugs off many neutral hits. Natural Cure and Soft Boiled maintain its health, and it can spread status with Toxic or Thunder Wave to limit aggressive play.

Wish and Protect create reliable healing for teammates while scouting choice locked moves. Seismic Toss ignores defense boosts and keeps pressure steady, which often forces opponents to rely on critical hits or setup that can be reset by Haze users.

Shedinja

Shedinja’s Wonder Guard ignores all damage that is not super effective, which means many attacks simply fail to connect. It also avoids many neutral hits altogether, so teams without specific coverage or residual damage can stall out.

Entry hazards, weather, and status do affect it, and it has only one HP, but careful support eliminates those threats. When paired with screens and hazard control, it forces rigid move choices and repeated switches to find a valid hit.

Dugtrio

Dugtrio frequently uses Arena Trap to prevent grounded foes from switching, which isolates and removes key pieces of a team. Its very high speed lets it strike first with Earthquake and Rock coverage to finish targets before they can act.

Focus Sash pairs with Reversal or Memento to guarantee impact even in poor matchups. The threat of trapping changes how opponents position their walls and sweepers, which results in cautious play and extra pivot turns.

Ferrothorn

Ferrothorn punishes contact with Iron Barbs, which adds chip each time a physical move connects. It lays Stealth Rock and Spikes, then uses Leech Seed and Protect to drain health while it stays healthy with Leftovers.

The Grass and Steel typing provides many resistances and only a few common weaknesses, which lets it switch into repeated attacks. Knock Off removes items that would speed up progress, and Gyro Ball or Power Whip deter setup attempts that try to ignore seeds.

Toxapex

Toxapex combines Regenerator with Recover to erase damage from most trades. It spreads Toxic Spikes and uses Baneful Bunker to add poison turns while protecting itself, which steadily limits aggressive teams.

Haze resets stat boosts, which shuts down setup sweepers and forces them to start over. Scald adds burn chance and attack reduction, and its defensive typing resists many priority moves, which stretches battles into long attrition wars.

Share the picks that waste your time the most and tell us which creatures you would add in the comments.