Pokemon Legends: Arceus Players Hate Paras

Pokemon Legends: Arceus players have a new least-favorite Pokemon. In recent years, The Pokemon Company has given old Pokemon a fresh coat of paint, either by giving the Pokemon a regional variant or putting a more obscure Pokemon at the center of a new game. From the obscure Pikachu line getting some extra love with Alolan Raichu to Charizard finally getting some attention via a Gigantamax form, the recent Pokemon games usually gives a handful of older Pokemon species the chance to pick up some new fans. However, one Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus is getting attention for all the wrong reasons. The humble Bug/Grass-type Pokemon Paras is getting a lot of hate from Pokemon fans for its ultra-aggressive behavior in the new game.

In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Pokemon generally exhibit one of three types of behavior in the wild. Pokemon species can be either friendly, timid, or aggressive, which informs whether they run from you when they see you or attempt to rain down a barrage of deadly moves on your 15-year old player character. Most of the Pokemon have predictable behavior patterns – Bidoof is just happy to be there, but Shinx will attack you on site. Paras surprisingly falls into the latter category and will either rush at the player or hit them with a barrage of debilitating moves that can either paralyze or poison them. Poisoning a player prevents them from mounting a Ride Pokemon, which means that Paras can continue to press the attack or wait for its poison to do the job. 

Part of the reason Paras is getting so much notice from players is that it's one of the most common Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, appearing in four of the game's five regions. The only Pokemon that appears in more areas that Paras in Geodude, another Pokemon who most fans would love to see permanently. It's evolved form Parasect is also very aggressive and common throughout the Hisui region, and there's an Alpha Parasect that appears in an early stage of the game that acts as a rude surprise for players who don't realize that Alpha Pokemon can be 20+ levels higher than your Pokemon.

Paras's surprise heel turn follows the Pokemon getting left out of Pokemon Sword and Shield. We're assuming that the usually timid Pokemon (whose body is slowly being taken over by the mushrooms on its back) wants to ensure that some respect on its name. 

You can try to avoid Paras in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, which is available now on the Nintendo Switch.