The Pokémon Company hates Wartortle. Why? It is a mystery. It's the middle evolution of a Kanto starter - while those never get as much love as the base or final form, Wartortle gets substantially less love than Charmeleon, and even less than Ivysaur. It is perplexing, unconscionable, and - maybe even a little bit hateful.
Consider the Base Set Theme Decks. Three of them have one of the starters + the middle evolution (but not the final), and the fourth has Pikachu (not pictured). Brushfire has Charmander + Charmeleon, and shows Charmeleon - makes sense. Charmeleon is pretty cool. Overgrowth has Bulbasaur + Ivysaur, and shows Ivysaur - a pattern! Blackout has Squirtle + Wartortle, and shows... Squirtle. What?
In 1998, sets with Pokémon from each of the 8 Kanto Gym Leaders were produced. This brought a Charmeleon from Blaine, and an Ivysaur from Erika. But... where is Wartortle? Misty has water-type Pokémon... where is Misty's Wartortle?
In 2001, a number of cards were introduced as Japan exclusives, with cards owned by gym leaders and members of the Elite Four. This included a Blastoise owned by Clair - ostensibly because a Blastoise was missing entirely from the Gym sets. This Blastoise, however, is a Basic Pokémon - was this done to avoid having to print a Wartortle? Perchance.
In 2002, Wizards of the Coast's final cash grab for Pokémon cards saw reprints of many base set cards. That included Charmeleon and Ivysaur - but, bafflingly - included the Dark variant for Wartortle - in Japanese, known as Bad Wartortle. Is this because they hated Wartortle? Seems possible.
Starting in 2000, many series of Pokéball keychains were released. Charmeleon and Ivysaur were in series 2, and there have been 25 series released. What series was Wartortle in? Surely not far after 2, right? Wartortle was never released.
2005 added a Delta Charmeleon and Delta Charizard. Charmeleon got a regular print in Crystal Guardians, but - clearly, it needed a new Charmeleon as well. There's a regular Wartortle in the set and a regular Blastoise, but where is Delta Wartortle? It does not exist.
In the XY block, Charmeleon got two cards. A number of Blastoise cards were included as well, all being "EX" variants (and thus Basic). There are no Wartortles in the entire XY block - even in the base set "reprint", Evolutions. Was someone afraid to include it?
In the Mega era (ongoing), two Charmeleon cards have been released, and one Ivysaur - with that Ivysaur having a super-cool illustration rare variant. But - seven sets in - there's still no sign of the Squirtle line at all - including Wartortle (despite it appearing on NAIC swag). Does someone have a grudge?
In 2009, the Trading Figure Game was set to include a Wartortle figure in the first expansion - notably, without an Ivysaur OR a Charmeleon! But, it was cancelled, and no Wartortle figures from the set have surfaced. Was this cancelled so that Wartortle couldn't see the light of day?
In late 2025, Funko announced Ivysaur/Charmeleon/Wartortle Pops coming in 2026, right after PSA announced that its grading partnership with Funko had ended. Ivysaur and Charmeleon were released in early 2026. Where is Wartortle? As of June 2026, it has still not been released, nor has any upcoming release information been given for it. Did someone at The Pokémon Company demand its cancellation?
The evidence above presents a disturbing trend - Wartortle has been omitted from a number of situations where its peers, Charmeleon and Ivysaur, were included. It has seen product lines cancelled right before it was scheduled to get a release, and it has seen bizarre disparity. Does The Pokémon Company hate Wartortle? It sure seems likely.