Furfrou

Sadly, this "quality over quantity" generation is not without its pokemon who deserved a bit more than they were ultimately saddled with. This normal-type poodle has a pretty pleasant design for a normal-type poodle; I like the classic cartoon feel of the big nose on the end of a pointy little snout, and it's overall very nicely drawn with no extraneous markings or clutter. Unfortunately, it's one of those pokemon with subpar stats, a mundane selection of moves and no evolutionary stages, existing only as vehicle for an in-game gimmick.

...And it's not a bad gimmick, mind you. It's pretty fun to have a poodle pokemon you can customize the way people actually customize poodles. I like all the things that exist in Pokemon solely to enrich the setting, and I even like that after about five real-time days, your Furfrou's dye will fade and its hair will grow back out and it will look just like its normal, default form. I still think that's its best form anyway, but I like to think there's someone out there who likes a particular style of Furfrou enough to not only use it in a team, but repeatedly have it styled again before taking it into battle - even over wi-fi.

I would, however, still have really liked if Furfrou was both a tougher pokemon and its differing styles had some sort of gameplay function. They already look like they match up with certain typings, don't they? In the order I'm displaying them, I see ice, fairy, dark, fire, water, grass (or psychic? Has a magician vibe, kinda), steel, electric, and poison. Perhaps the corresponding style should have affected the typing of a signature move?

I still really like this one, either way. I feel like it's the best looking dog they've had yet.