5. Poochyena
I have a confession to make. When I played Pokémon Sapphire for the first time, years back now, I caught a Poochyena on my very first day. I then went on to catch another Poochyena. And, with these two brave pilgrims, I proceeded to breed over a hundred Poochyena and fill my boxes with pretty much only them. For once, I actual have some clue as to why I did this. When I was young, you see, wolves were my favourite animal. And Poochyena, with its scruff and fangs, was what I had been waiting for through all my years of playing Pokémon. It was a little wolf! It was designed deliberately to look like a wolf, and it did that job so well that I just had to have hundreds of them. I could just imagine that I actually owned a pack of wolves that roamed across the frosty wilds, eating deer and other such things. Beyond this, Poochyena is also based on wolf cubs. Which, in my opinion, just adds to its charm. I love its further evolution, the properly wolf-like Mightyena, of course but even that got nowhere near to my level of affection for Poochyena. Poochyena was a puppy, a little fanged thing that was fluffy and yappy and basically a bundle of fur. It looked tiny and cute and adorable, and I couldnt help but fall for that instantly. Along with just how well it conveyed what it was. Poochyena is a dark Pokémon, one of the earliest that has appeared in any generation. And it conveys this so well, even while still being adorable, that it was yet another reason for me falling head over heels. With its big fangs and fighting stance, Poochyena just looks like a dark Pokémon. My days of giant breeding farms full of Poochyena are behind me now, but Ill still always be fond of them. They resemble wolves wolf pups with their scruff and adorable fangs. But, beyond that, they also convey their status as a dark-type Pokémon absolutely perfectly. Needless to say, Poochyena will always have a place in my heart for those reasons alone.