I admit it - I'm rather shallow when it comes to Pokemon. A whole load of pokemon get caught and then never, ever make it into my team, simply because they're not cute enough. I've abandoned plenty of Pokemon in my time too, simply because they evolve and no longer look as attractive as they once did. And I'm no stranger to preventing Pokemon from evolving - I had a level 60 Piplup at one point, because evolved Piplups aren't cute.
I have no interest in the mega strong Pokemon, except from the old 'gotta catch 'em all' perspective - they always seem to look a bit angry or disturbing. Generally speaking, the cute Pokemon are rather weak and a bit useless too - for example, my Pachirisu, a kind of electric squirrel dies frequently and doesn't do an awful lot of damage. Hence why I rarely ever beat anyone in battles - except the once when my level 50 Slowbro lamped my brother's level 75 Infernape, which I've never let him forget, every time he makes fun of me for using 'rubbish' Pokemon.Throughout the games I've found myself relying on pretty much the same tried and tested team, which packs plenty of cuteness, whilst also being able to beat most Pokemon I encounter without dying in one hit. I have a decent mixture of types, to take advantage of Pokemon's rock, paper, scissors strengths and weaknesses system too - my staples tend to be a Vulpix as my fire type, Pikachu as an electric type and an Azumaril as a water type, with Togekiss usually being my flying type. The grass type tends to vary a bit, although I have developed an affinity for Meganium after starting with Chikorita in SoulSilver. The remaining slot in my team is often occupied by a cute psychic type - at the moment, I have the Mew, the cutest Pokemon ever, that I got from the download event a while ago.
My Pokemon team, in their not-really-to-scale-at-all glory
But with Pokemon Black & White I have a problem - none of these Pokemon will be available at the beginning, as only brand-spanking new Pokemon live in the Unova region. So what's a girl to do? Scour the internet and make a new team out of the cutest Pokemon I can find, that's what. So here's my list - as everyone already knows Oshawott is the cutest starter Pokemon, and because everyone already knows what all the starters look like - they're not included.
Deerling
I wish I was a Pokemon, with flowers in my hair.
Elemental Type: Normal/Grass
Cuteness Rating: 5/5 - it's a smiley, pink deer with a flower in it's hair.
Potential Nickname: Deerdrie
Random Trivia: The French name for Deerling is Vivaldaim, named after Vivaldi, the composer of 'The Four Seasons'
Deerling is a perfect example of how Pokemon Black & White's seasons affect the game, as it's coat changes colour depending on them - hence it often gets referred to as the 'Season Pokemon'. It goes from pink in spring, to green in summer, to orange in autumn to brown in winter. As far as I'm concerned though, I wouldn't mind if it stayed spring forever...
At level 34 it evolves into the rather angry-looking Swasbuck, which is essentially a male deer with bushes for antlers. And yes, even the female Pokemon get bush antlers.
Emolga
Emolga seems quite pleased to see you...
Elemental Type: Electric/Flying
Cuteness Rating: 3/5 - he bears a striking resemblance to my other favourite Electric squirrel, Pachirisu.
Potential Nickname: Mr. Squiggles
Random Trivia: Emolga and Zapdos are the only two Pokemon to be both Electric and Flying, and as such are the only Electric type Pokemon to be immune to Ground attacks.
Emolga is basically an electrified flying squirrel, and knows one of the new moves introduced in Pokemon Black & White. The strength of this Electro Ball attack depends on how much the faster Emolga is than his opponent - the faster he is, the more damage the move will do. Apparently, along with Diamond & Pearl's Pachirisu, Emolga is often kept as a pet because of it's cute looks - if I lived in Pokemon land, I'd probably be the equivalent of a crazy cat lady, owning hoards of Pokemon - and probably not just Emolga and Pachirisu...
Minccino
How do Minccino smell? Terrible.
Elemental Type: Normal
Cuteness Rating: 4/5 - now I can own a chinchilla without worrying about spilling water on it and accidentally killing it!
Potential Nickname: Mr. Tufty Beard
Random Trivia: In the TV series, a Minccino stole Ash's gym badge case - just so it could clean it.
Looking quite a bit like a chinchilla, it's no surprise that Minccino was based on one - in fact, the Japanese name is Chillarmy, a combination of chinchilla and charm. These little critters are a bit OCD about cleaning too, and use their tails like a feather duster to clean anything it's den and anything it can get hold of.
Unusually, Minccino doesn't stop being cute when it evolves - it seems to acquire a sort of furry white scarf, which it wraps round it's neck and head. Apparently, it's its tail.
Purrloin
Purrloin must spend a fortune on eyeshadow...
Elemental Type: Dark
Cuteness Rating: 3/5 - I like cats, even if this one is a bit evil-looking for my liking...
Potential Nickname: Bessie (after my real-life cat)
Random Trivia: Purrloin's name is a combination of the word 'purloin' meaning to steal, and 'purr' being the sound a cat makes.
According to the Pokedex entry, Purrloin is basically a twat. Classified as the 'Ill-natured Pokemon', it steals peoples stuff, and once discovered brainwashes them into forgiving it by acting all cute. So be warned! If your potions and Pokeballs start disappearing, you'll know why.
Yet another cute Pokemon that gets decidedly less cute when it evolves, Purrloin will evolve into Liepard at level 20. Liepard, which looks like the demented offspring from a greyhound and a purple squirrel, with evil, evil looking eyes. Do not like.
Lillipup
I was hiding under the porch because I lo-SQUIRREL!!
Elemental Type: Normal
Cuteness Rating: 4/5
Potential Nickname: Dug
Random Trivia: The Japanese name for Lillipup is Yooterii, a combination of Yorkshire Terrier, the breed of dog it's based on.
While I generally don't like the little yappy dogs, like Yorkshire Terriers, I'm willing to make an exception for Lillipup. Maybe it's his mega fluffy face, or maybe it's his constant shocked/confused expression, but he certainly seems cuter than the majority of Yorkshire Terriers I've seen. And he doesn't come with an old granny that coos over him, either.
Apparently, Lillipups are rather clever creatures, and will bravely battle with strong opponents, but will leg it if it looks like they'll come off worse. The evolved forms of Lillipup are also quite intelligent - it seems to come at a price though, as they're no-where near as cute - at level 16, Lillipup will evolve into Herdier, which is basically another Yorkshire Terrier, with black fur on it's back in the shape of one of those dog coats, and rather impressive eyebrows and moustache. Lillipup's final evolution is Murando, a fatter version of the Herdier with an even more impressive moustache trailing behind it.
Cubchoo
Someone needs one hell of a tissue...
Elemental Type: Ice
Cuteness Rating: 5/5 - not sure about the massive thing hanging from his nose though...
Potential Nickname: Brian
Random Trivia: In Japanese his name is Kumashyun, where 'Kuma' means bear and 'Shyun' is the sound a sneeze - so Cubchoo isn't far off!
Polar bear cubs are cute in real life - and the Pokemon equivalent doesn't disappoint either, as Cubchoo is one of the cutest new Pokemon.
The thing hanging from his nose is apparently the source of his attacks, which makes it sound like he should be attacking with sneezes, rather than the usual Pokemon moves. When he's not very well, the mucus stuff becomes more watery, weakening his attack power.
Cubchoo evolves into Beartic at level 37 - who isn't anywhere near as cute. Beartic is a rather angry-looking grown-up polar bear, and the droplet that hung from Cubchoo's nose has frozen to form his icey beard.
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So there's the six Pokemon I've picked out as being the cutest - although, how well they'd work as an entire Pokemon team is a bit debatable, with two normal Pokemon on one team, and a glaring weakness to fighting types in five of the six Pokemon. There's also no fire or water Pokemon at all, and I'm not convinced Emolga would be capable of learning fly, as he probably wouldn't be strong enough to carry the entire team across the Unova region. They're still cute though.
Pokemon Black & White will be released in the UK on the 4th March - and even though that's just over a week away, we're sure to be getting more information until then - so make sure you keep checking back!
