Flowers. Nice to look at, mostly nice to smell. An absolute nightmare for the hay-fever sufferers among us. Pokemon fixes this problem by transferring all the flowery goodness into sprites and polygons.
Now, there are a huge variety of flowers in the world, and almost as many Pokemon species now. It figures, then, that there will be quite a few Flower Pokemon across the Grass-, Bug- and Fairy-types. Join me below and count the petals of my rankings of all things Pokemon and flowers.
Every Snake Pokemon, Ranked
There aren’t many snake-like Pokemon, but the ones we do have like Serperior and Steelix have their undeniable places in our parties.
Rankings are based on numerous factors, including the appearance of the flowers, the use of flowers in everyday Pokemon life, and competitive value (judgement from a player with over 20 years’ experience with all things Pokemon).
TheSmogontier given is the most recent generation where the Pokemon is found in-game, without needing to transfer from another generation.
26Sawsbuck
Flowers With A Spring In Their Step
Normal/Grass
Smogon Tier (Scarlet/Violet)
Sawsbuck, specifically the spring form, has some small flowers on its antlers, similar to cherry blossoms. According to the Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Pokedexes, lighter-colored blooms are more prized, but enough of them can have a negative effect on their host because “the flowers absorb the Pokémon’s nutrients.”
Not quite a symbiotic relationship, then. It figures, however, that the ultimate Sawsbuck is potentially one with a single flower, one that’s almost white - perhaps a Mega Evolution idea for the future?
This Pokemon isn’t ranked higher due to the fact that its flowers are only showing during the season of spring, and also considering that the flowers aren’t really used in battle.
25Wormadam (Plant Cloak)
A Cloak Of Flowers Hides As Much As Sand Or Trash
Smogon Tier (Sun/Moon)
Wormadam, similarly to Sawsbuck, only has flowers in one of its forms, namely the Plant Cloak form. Extra points for having the flowers physically merge into the Pokemon, I guess, but there’s not much else of note with these, being plain four-petalled white flowers even in itsshinyform.
It’s only ranked above Sawsbuck as you get to enjoy them all year round, but really, I’d suggest going with the Sandy or Trash Cloak for Wormadam, as they both have far greater resistances than the Plant Cloak thanks to the typing change. With a base stat total of just 424 and unfortunate distribution, though, it’ll see very limited use in any form.
24Maractus
A Beautiful, Prickly Customer
Smogon Tier (Sword/Shield)
Maractus has two pink flowers with six petals on the top of its head, suggesting to Flying Pokemon above that it’s got some tasty nectar. However, these Pokemon are then scared off when they land and find the spikes dotted around the rest of Maractus’s body.
For people and Pokemon that live in the desert regions of the world, Maractus serves another purpose - thankfully, not as a water supply. No, instead, its seeds serve as a nutritious food supply. Just be wary if you’re going into the desert, as these seeds are a rare, precious delicacy.
The petals also turn a lovely shade of orange in its shiny form, which give it bonus points in this ranking.
23Lurantis
A Brightly-Colored ‘Bug’
We’ve had Sudowoodo pretending to be a tree but actually being a Rock-type, now we’ve got Lurantis pretending to be a Bug-type but actually being a plant.
Yep, with its eyes and sickle leaves, it certainly looks like a bug, but this vicious veg will brutally slice prey to ribbons with its leaves. It has bright, beautiful colouring, with pink flowers for its regular form and green/yellow for the shiny form. Oh, and according to the Pokemon Shield Pokedex, the petals can fire laser beams if they’re charged by sunlight first. Which is certainly a party trick to be proud of.
It gains points for this – and for its overall solid stats let down by very low Speed – but loses them for seemingly feeling the need to hide its flower-like nature. Be proud, Lurantis!
22Skiploom
A Hop, Skip, And A Jump
Grass/Flying
Skiploom has a big yellow flower on the top of its head, which blooms in warmer weather. Like many of these Pokemon, notes the Pokemon Silver Pokedex, “it spreads its petals to absorb sunlight.” This technically doesn’t make sense, as it’s generally the leaves of a plant that do this job here in the real world, but we’ll give them points for trying.
Every Wolf Pokemon, Ranked
Across all 9 generations, these are the best wolf Pokemon in the series.
Skiploom goes one better than most, though, with each one smelling so unique that it’s believed Skiploom from different areas will share that aroma. Overall, it is quite a versatile flower, which gets stuck in the first half of this ranking more due to other Pokemon’s traits being greater, through no fault of its own.
21Jumpluff
Blown Away Like A Cotton Puff In The Wind
Poor Jumpluff. It’s blown great distances by the winds, releasing spores all the time. When these run out, then it dies – be sure to think about that before you ask it to use the move Cotton Spore! These cotton spores can also serve as a defensive mechanism, similar to a bee sting, as inhaling them can be harmful.
Who knows what else we’ll discover in the future about this Pokemon - maybe something to improve its ranking! Competitively, Jumpluff has one main focus - its speed. With an 110 base Speed stat, its equal to such Legendaries as Latios and Diancie, and with brilliant supporting moves like Tailwind at its disposal, it can be a good alternative to Whimsicott. Very nice if you’re sick of seeing the same Pokemon being used on all teams.
20Lilligant (Hisuian Form)
Dance Like A Flower Petal Caught In The Wind
Grass/Fighting
NUBL (Banned from NU)
Our first – and currently only – regional form of a flower Pokemon. Lilligant’s legs become its defining feature in this form, looking like a flower bulb mixed with a dancer - perfect, it seems, for the snow-covered Hisuan region.
It also gains the Fighting-type, increasing its resistance to Bug-, Dark- and Rock-types but gaining a 4x weakness to Flying-types and increasing its weakness to 2x for Psychic- and Fairy-types. Overall, maybe not the most favorable trade-off for the dancing flower. A cool detail is that aHisuian Lilligant’s flower is usually pink, with orange being the shiny variation. This makes me wonder what made the colours swap around when the modern times approached.
Brings Gloom To Most People It Meets
Grass/Poison
Gloom and its evolutions, Vileplume and Bellossom, embody three different techniques that nature can use to protect itself. Gloom emits an extremely sickly-sweet smelling nectar. It has been recorded in the Pokedex that the smell can cause fainting at a distance of 1.25 miles, which certainly makes for one potent flower.
The flower itself is nice, with some extra-long petals giving it the appearance of hair, as well as the white spots on the petals, showcasing the two different ways that Gloom can evolve. If you’re a fan of its appearance and can stomach its smell, take care if you’ve got a Leaf Stone near it, as it will evolve into Vileplume.
18Vileplume
An Absolutely Vile Predator, Come To Think Of It
Vileplume has the world’s largest petals, Pokemon Gold’s Pokedex tells us. It is also highly poisonous, a trait that is shared by so many seemingly-harmless flower Pokemon. Yikes, who said Pokemon was for kids when flowers that are almost four feet tall are out to get them?
Now the flower itself has some lovely detail, with some white spots splattered on each of its five petals giving it a toadstool-like appearance. Vileplume also has solid all-around stats and high Special Attack, at base 110. However, it has to be ranked in the bottom half, as a health and safety notice.
17Cherrim (Overcast Form)
Here Comes The Rain Again
Cherrim spends most of its time in this form, withstanding anything that comes its way as it waits for the sun (although with base defence stats of 70/78 this isn’t a huge amount). According to Professor Laverton in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, other Pokemon can be seen gathering around it as it exudes a faint scent from its folded petals and it is quite easy to find, being largely immobile when it’s in this form.
The design of the flower is quite unique compared to other Pokemon, as it’s not been made to be showy. Instead, it consists of two purple (or light blue if it’s a shiny) petals wrapping around the body of a Cherubi, its pre-evolution. This both bolsters its ranking (for uniqueness) and reduces it, as it’s hiding those amazing flowers. Its mediocre stats don’t do much to help it either.
