My favourite Gen 9 Pokémon

I’m a fan of quite a few of the new Pokémon from Scarlet and Violet. While these haven’t been the best games in the series for me, I’ve still enjoyed playing through and catching some of the new Paldean Pokémon.

Pokémon	Sprite	Reason
Fuecoco		It's a cheeky chappy that likes to eat and bite. While it isn't my top croc in the game, it's in second. Next playthrough, I'm picking him (because the gender ratio means it's more likely to be male).
Quaquaval		Quaquaval can DANCE. It never stops. I love the carnaval theme and it's a surprise it didn't get Quick Feet as its Hidden Ability (although it wouldn't have been on par with the other final evolution starters haveing Unaware and Protean. But whatever, it's my favourite duck Pokémon and it was expertly designed.
Dachsbun		The cutest little Chałka dog (I actually called mine Chalka). It had a brief run in VGC thanks to its Well-Baked Body ability raising its Defense when hit by a Fire move, and Armarouge and Torkoal were all over the place at the time. A great design and a decent Pokémon in battle.
Smoliv		LOOK AT THE TEENY TINY OLIVE! Game Freak went all in with the uwu designs this gen and they pulled this one off so well. I love that the shiny has a black olive on its head too.
Squawkabilly		Firstly, that name? Outrageous. Give its creator a raise. And the hair style? Another raise. And it gets Intimidate? Make them CEO! The creator, not Squawkabilly. Although at this point, why not Squawkabilly?
Ceruledge		When they showed this Pokémon in the SV trailers, I was HYPED. The colours, the design, the swords. It was my kind of warrior and, even though I've used its counterpart in VGC (Armarouge), I love Ceruledge much more. I love that it has Flash Fire as an Ability, that Grass Tera baits it out and prevents it from sleep, and it has access to moves like Bitter Blade, Shadow Sneak, and Solar Blade. If anything, I wish it had Sharpness as a Hidden Ability given its design but we can't have everything.
Bellibolt		When I heard that Politoed wouldn't be in the main game (as of August 2023, I found out that Politoed will be in the DLC instead), I was so sad. But in the SV trailers where they revealed Bellibolt, I was so excited for it being a close substitute. It's a round-bellied frog with a cool ability and decent stats. And it was on my playthrough team.
Kilowattrel		Kilowattrel is no Zapdos but it has cool abilities and it's nice to see the attention to detail on the IRL bird they based it on—the storm petrel and the frigatebird. It's quite a little cutie in its own right and so is Killowattrel in its fully evolved form.
Paldean Tauros		Game Freak kinda revealed a regional Tauros via a NPC's t-shirt during a trailer and I was excited for the prospect of one (but I took it with a pinch of salt). When it came out, I knew I had to use it in my playthrough. I'd fallen in love with Tauros in Sword/Shield as an alternative Intimidater. It was super fast (base 110 Speed) and was good for proccing Weakness Policies with Bulldoze or Surf (although I haven't used that yet). It's a shame the shiny isn't more distinct.
Brambleghast		It's a ghostly tumbleweed. They literally made tumbleweed a Pokémon. Genius.
Scovillain		I prayed for a Grass/Fire type and envisaged a burning bush Tangela. Instead, I got a walking chili pepper with two heads and I love this damn thing. The typing works really well into the core types.
Rabsca		A cool Psychic scarab. Of course I love it. And the shiny has gold in it. Say no more!
Tinkaton		A pink cutie with an enormous hammer and a move called Gigaton Hammer which is super strong but you can't use it twice in a row (unless you're Encored, I found out)
Wugtrio		Well played again, Game Freak. You made a whimsical Dugtrio. Again. But red and Water-type this time.
Palafin		I mean, I made a website about this Pokémon (check out palaf.in) so I must love it. I'm specifically referring to its Hero form with that monstrous 160 Attack and such a wicked design, especially the shiny version.
Orthworm		The big worm that could. It's wild that Orthworm had such an awesome 2023 VGC season. I think it won 1 or 2 regionals which boggles my mind but the abilities and strats speak for themselves. And that shiny in the oxygen blue. Stunning.
Glimmora		Glimmora is like a poisonous rock flower which sounds like the least appealing thing in the world but I love it and it is so good.
Flamigo		They dropped the N from its name but this Pokémon did not drop the W. It's a beast. A pink bird beast.
Cetitan		I wanted one from the moment I saw it in the SV trailers. I've not used one in VGC yet but I'd like to at some point. A superb design and it has the potential to be awesome, competitively.
Dudunsparce		Well, they did it. They gave Dunsparce an evolution. Name aside (seriously, GF. You were doing so well up to this point), I'm glad it got an evolution, and one that has two forms: Two-Segment Form and Three-Segment Form. The latter is a 1% chance of happening when evolving Dunsparce and, including shiny odds, that's anywhere from 0.0002% to 0.002%. Challenge accepted!
Kingambit		Kingambit is so baller. Sitting on its own hair shaped like a stool, its a samurai, and that blue shiny is exquisite. Reminds me of Shredder from TMNT, and I love Shredder.
Flutter Mane		Hear me out...
Iron Jugulis		Shout out to Wolfe Glick and Markus Stadter for bringing this Paradox Pokémon to my attention. I love how you can build out its bulk and make it a fast Tailwind setter at the same time. It worked that way in Reg C at least; I've not tried it in Reg D and who knows about Reg E when that comes around. But it's an awesome Pokémon.
Iron Moth		Iron Moth was the first Paradox Pokémon that I tried out in a team and I loved it. Fast, hard hitting, and despite the frail typing, it has ways to counter it. You can even run it as support with Acid Spray which works well with Flutter Mane or Chi-Yu if you don't mind running double Fire.
Gholdengo		For a start, it looks like the Cheese String mascot which is cool on its own. Lots of nostalgia there. But then it also has a golden surfboard which adds even more cool points. Competitively, it's a beast with a huge Special Attack stat and that means I can use it to AFK the Ace Tournament (for the most part; it's not perfect). People hate it for some reason but I love this thing.