Throughout the Pokemon series, it's generally pretty easy to tell which Pokemon are best at performing the various roles in a party. Each type of Pokemon embodies its strengths physically, whether those be dealing damage or supporting the rest of the party. However, some Pokemon fans have found major discrepancies in the speed stats of Pokemon throughout the franchise that imply they are much faster than one would initially think.

Reddit users on the r/pokemon subreddit have been comparing the Speed stats of different Pokemon for a long time. For example, while Rayquaza has a base Speed stat of 95, Miltank has a base Speed stat of 100. Another user pointed out that Decidueye, the hawk-like Arrow Quill Pokemon, has a base Speed stat of 70 despite the hulking Grass/Poison-type Venusaur, the final evolution of Bulbasaur, having a Speed stat of 80.

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While Miltank and Venusaur will somehow always get the respective upper hand on Rayquaza and Decidueye, they are far from the only Pokemon whose Speed in-game doesn't quite match their description. The penguin Pokemon Eiscue from Pokemon Sword and Shield has an impressive 130 Speed stat when in its No-Ice form, meanwhile Dugtrio has a 120 Speed stat. These stats imply that if either were to go up against the legendary Zapdos, whose Speed stat is only 100, they would always get the first attack.

The narrative of the Pokemon series can be split in two between the games and the anime. In the games, stats and other Pokemon attributes are designed to be relatively balanced, so a Pokemon with generally low stats may be given a bit of a Speed boost. In the case of Eiscue, its stat increase is only tied to its No-Ice form, and it actually has just 50 Speed normally. Losing the Ice on its head makes it more vulnerable to attack, though, which is balanced by being given a better opportunity to hit first.

In the anime, and indeed in the overarching narrative and world design of the Pokemon series, the attributes and typical descriptions of each Pokemon manifest without needing to account for good gameplay. Venusaur can lumber around in the anime because it doesn't need to be faster for the episode's story to make sense. Decidueye's low Speed stat is made up for with a high Attack stat at 107, as well as its high Sp. Atk and Sp. Def stats at 100 each.

There are sometimes discrepancies between the way a Pokemon is described versus how it actually functions in a battle. It's hilarious to think of a Miltank somehow getting the first hit on a Pokemon as legendary as Rayquaza, but ultimately the game's balance is more important than accurately depicting each Pokemon with numbers.

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