What is the Best Middle Stage Pokemon Competitively?

[@jimothycool]

I hosted a Furret-Only Pokemon Tournament. View the entire thing here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/maKYgqx7i5h4ptE

[@ItRhymesWith]

JIM YOU CAN'T HEART YOUR OWN COMMENT

[@amateraceon5202]

I’ll never forget trying to complete the Pokédex in Scarlet and Violet and realizing Smoliv did in fact have a middle stage form and Dolliv was a Pokémon that existed at all

[@jimothycool]

Was unaware of Dolliv. That's a Pokemon worth remarking upon.

[@azeria1]

Honestly lot of gen 9 middle evolutions are completely forgettable

[@jasonlav9753]

What even is a doliv

[@rajkanishu]

​@@azeria1 most of gen 9 is filled with 2 stage lines that absolutely SCREAM "we were too lazy to make the third one", stuff like Brambleghast, Revavroom, Kilowattrel, Scovillain and I'm probably forgetting a lot of other ones are literally mid evolutions with a missing final form. There's also Grafaiai which was obviously built to evolve but somehow they decided to give him the most useless and nonsensical pre evo ever?

[@pitchkinker]

@@rajkanishuwtf is a schroodle

[@becausesakamoto5938]

As other people have noted, Dusclops is also a significant example, who I think is particularly interesting because in VGC it's considered strictly better than its evolution

[@DroppedMyMarbles]

honestly way prefer how dusclops looks to dusknoir tbh, there's very little "skull" left in the design for dusknoir and i do not vibe w it

[@LucasLima-sb6cp]

Seeing the title, Dusclops immediately came to mind 👁

[@dylanbusby7851]

The horse council ruled that Dusknoir evolves into dusclops not the other way around granting fully evolved status to dusclops

[@CoronaMage]

*laughs in Chansey*

[@fallinglines]

Was thinking of him and Clefairy. Jim loves his singles battles

[@thefatcontrollershat]

Ma boi I don't care what the "qualified" "playerbase" thinks. Dusclops is much better than Gengar. Source: all the Claydols that keep killing my Gengar

[@darkdragonx650]

The "qualified" playerbase would agree anyways tbh. Gengar has only particularly been relevant recently with his mega and dusclops has at least had a pretty good run in vgc even recently​@@thefatcontrollershat

[@Beeboppering]

I was surprised that Dusclops was never mentioned

[@excalibur2772]

probably cuz it fell off a long time ago

[@liampowers8570]

@@excalibur2772well the majority of Pokemon in the video have fallen off too

[@danielsemmelrock7808]

It was used in VGC not too long ago

[@goGothitaLOL]

Mostly a singles oriented video

[@azeria1]

He has video about dusclops probably didn't want to include the same mons

[@sohan2362]

Shoutout to Vigoroth for getting itself banned from ORAS PU while Slaking was untiered.

[@dVector13]

Bulk up eviolite vigoroth woohoo

[@590488]

Vigoroth is really good in pokemon Go pvp

[@LuisDiaz-cr6mq]

​@@590488vigoroth in Pokémon Go just got like all 3 of its moves nerfed tho

[@QweaklyForgotten]

I'm glad this video sheds a light on some forgotten middle stage evolutions like Pikachu. I almost completly forgot this guy existed until today

[@kefkapalazzo1]

lol at least it made me realize pikachu is a middle stage pokemon. It’s like I categorized baby pokemon as something different or something

[@metagaimer64]

@@kefkapalazzo1 same, mainly cuz in pokemon go then if you have say a pikachu it says pikachu candy not pichu candy, whereas if it is say cosmog its cosmog candy

[@salakasto]

Pikachu also has a place in hackmons, because Imposter Pikachu can transform and still receive the effect of Light Ball, meaning you could transform into, say, Mega Mewtwo Y and double your special attack.

[@nomthejedi]

Light Ball also Doubles Attack but that might be a more recent development

[@Huopatossu]

@@nomthejedi yeah been that way since gen 4 I think, Volt Tackle does insane damage even though you can't spam it due to recoil damage.

[@usernametaken017]

yeah but like. you already have a lot of options for insane damage in hackmons. the bulk from imposter chansey is generally preferred so pikachu doesnt see a lot of use

[@BelleColonD]

The only downside is that you have the health of a pikachu, so switching into and copying a sweeper with huge stat boosts is probably just a death sentence

[@-libertyprimev1-902]

Similarly Clampearl with its own SpAtk boosting item that makes it stronger than Kyogre as well

[@tecul1]

Obviously Chansey, but its always banned in Middle Cup

[@jimothycool]

Perhaps it could be a powerful Pokemon like "Krokorok". Nobody can say

[@tecul1]

I have just realized Middle Cup doesn't exist in gen 9, what a travesty

[@ToyTimeKing]

​@@tecul1 the tier is called NFE now

[@tecul1]

oooo nice

[@evieeevee]

I always thought Doublade was very cool. Very bulky, can hit decently hard, has swords dance, access to priority, and its design is super cool. It’s quite a good Pokémon for an in game team, too.

[@edgargaebolg9307]

Also add a great typing and No Guard

[@evieeevee]

@@edgargaebolg9307 Yes to the typing, tho I think No Guard is kind of a detriment since it’s own moves are mostly accurate anyway. Really helping the opponent more than itself most of the time.

[@edgargaebolg9307]

@@evieeevee True, its moveset doesn't really need NG. Still good to deal with evasion shenanigans I guess

[@tealknight6281]

@@evieeevee What if Doublade got sharpness instead? It is a pair of swords after all.

[@evieeevee]

@@tealknight6281 That’d be so fun:)

[@EvilToe]

i know this channel mostly focuses on singles, but i was surprised to see no mention of clefairy since it's actually pretty common in VGC from time to time. It's an incredible support pokemon with access to both helping hand and follow me, as well as life dew to heal both itself and its ally. and with eviolite it actually becomes fairly bulky. it also has an interesting niche with the move after you, which combined with its extremely low base 35 speed stat can make for some surprising interactions under trick room. but the thing that really sets it apart from its evolution is the ability friend guard, which reduces the damage its allies take from attacks by 25%.

[@RoundaboutGreen]

Porygon 2 ia a strong candidate that Works completely different from it's evolution

[@radaf4429]

It's in the vid

[@Magic_Ice]

In gen 7 VGC because Gengar had levitate removed, someone used Haunter for their team which used EQ a lot.

[@skeetermania3202]

Tony Nguyen. Yeah, he actually won a regional and top cut an international event.

[@bdt2002gaming]

My personal favorite middle stage evolution Pokémon is probably Fletchinder. This was a rare case of the middle evolution of a Pokémon family being introduced to the public last, back in 2013, and I feel like it does a solid job bridging the gap between yet another earlygame Normal/Flying Pokémon and one of Gen 6’s most notorious threats back when XY was current.

[@LonesomeDevil]

I'm pretty sure it was still used as a weaker Talonflame in the lower tiers back in Gen 6 before Gale Wings was nerfed, but I could be wrong. Really unfortunate how the ability was nerfed to the ground like that. Especially with the power creep of Gen 9, prime Talonflame most likely wouldn't even be broken nowadays. Although who knows... priority Tailwind might still be a bit much for VGC. It's such a different environment. Clearly priority was being an issue over there since Prankster had been nerfed too previously.

[@bdt2002gaming]

@@LonesomeDevil If I remember correctly, Fletchinder was ranked in RU in Gen 6, having some defensive utility with Eviolite + Gale Wings Roost and Will-O-Wisp. It doesn’t hit very hard though, certainly not enough to be seen in OU as a second Talonflame. It also retains Talonflame’s 4x Stealth Rock weakness, limiting its ability to come in safely against various attackers.

[@Prancksterr]

@@bdt2002gaming it was also able to run SD acro roost F-blitz in RU as well :)

[@benjulesrun9057]

Is it finally time for Dragon Dance Shelgon? Edit: it was not

[@FAQ93]

My favorite part of the video was the part when you chose to show happiny being obliterated by infernape just to show it on screen 😂

[@timgreenwald1043]

I still remember Charmeleon being the first pokemon I saw and it instantly hooked me to the game because I just thought it looked so cool.

[@TheDenssy]

Something that I loved about the early days of gen 5 competitive was a fase that I call "the chiqui park era" when everybody was testing ANYTHING with eviolite, any middle stage evo was fair game, gamers triying to discover the next dusklops in mons like haunter, golbat, warturtle, bayleef, tangela, onix, and most of those eviolite mons ended up having a place in one tier or another, it was the most experimental early days I have seen in any generation I have played competitively

[@aaleven4728]

reminder, magneton is considered to be on pair with magnezone in gen 4 OU, it's just a sidegrade and not a niche pick

[@azeria1]

How do we know your not a middle evolution who hasn’t found it’s evolution method

[@Tetzll123]

Stop right here. Im calling the FBI

[@OneMoreDesu]

Haunter is known as the Prostate Examiner in the lower tiers.

[@nilsbt3575]

Wartortle is not the strongest middle stage Pokémon, but it is the best because I like it. It's visually interesting with its fluffy tail and wing-shaped ears and it is a loyal friend. But yeah, Chansey seems like the obvious answer. My immediate thought was Porygon2, but that's because I completely forgot that Happiny exists.

[@rexgeorgerodriguez7620]

Magmar is also great with eviolite, it is quite bulky if you invest in the right Evs, plus it has flame body that can cripple physical attackers. I mostly use it in doubles as a follow me user so that it can neutralize the hyper physical attackers.

[@aldrichunfaithful3589]

haunter is actually pretty useful since unlike gengar it didn't lose levitate, so if there's ever a need for a levitating poison immune spinblocker then haunter will be the only option. also i've never seen it used but i think basculin-blue-stripe is a really good mon, it has base 98 speed and since it has rock head you can very freely spam wave crash, 92 attack is low but with adamant, band, rain and possible tera you easily hit hard enough to break through things even in ou. i've found that in gen 9 a lot of the lower tier mons are perfectly good in ou for whatever reason, i've made viable teams with scovillain and mabostiff which are both ranked zu

[@usernametaken017]

in gen 9 pokemon tend to be in lower tiers not because they're bad but due to the opportunity cost of using them. If you overcome that then they're perfectly functional on a team

[@aldrichunfaithful3589]

@@usernametaken017 that's true in every gen, what i meant is that there's been a general trend where lower tier mons have gotten more viable in ou overtime and gen 9 has accelerated it. in gen 3 i'd rarely consider anything under uubl when teambuilding but in gens 4 and 5 uu mons are fine, in 6-8 i'd happily use a lot of ru mons and in gen 9 it's totally viable to build an entire team around zu mons. i think it's just a result of powercreep, as mons get stronger we value specific niches less in favour of raw power, so in the most powercrept gen we naturally see a lot more of that

[@aetherblackbolt1301]

Jimothy, please run a Middle-Stage Only Tournament 🙏 I have desperately wanted Level 18 Teen Angst Pokemon to fight 😤

[@akipper9074]

thank you Mr Jimothy of house Cool for providing such interesting information on middle stage pokemon

[@jimothycool]

a Kipper.

[@thepowersaw6245]

Went into this knowing for a fact that the answer was Chansey, so it was interesting to see the other middle evos that were listed. What I find interesting is that almost none of them actually started out as middle evos, becoming them through new introduced evolutions. The ones that did, Haunter and Kadabra, are both trade evolutions, which makes me think that they were intended to be usable in the main campaign without necessarily having to trade them.

[@brae69]

i really thought rhydon would be here, its another example of pokemon that were really good in earlier generations then recieved an evolution in gen 4

[@LuisSilva-yc5fz]

it's pretty cool and usually ranked one tier lower than rhyperior, but by the time rhyperior was released rhydon already struggled with its many exploitable weaknesses. And Rhyperior not really shining either does not do rhydon any favors

[@tfd8598]

it’s middle monday

[@adderall3676]

More like pre-third thursday

[@kerthwack8470]

Teenage Thursday

[@RickyRiceB]

Terrible-unless-it-has-eviolite Thursday

[@subtodicerat8305]

10:40 poor happiny getting killed by infernape CC

[@GeorgeDCowley]

1:47 Kind of a baby Flutter Mane.

[@bawbehh]

Personally I think cosmoem has some real untapped potential

[@rajkanishu]

doesn't it learn like three moves total, with one of them being Splash?

[@bawbehh]

@@rajkanishu teleport and cosmic power. an unrivaled movepool

[@iantaakalla8180]

The ultimate bulky pivot tank

[@BJGvideos]

Ok Lusamine let's get you back to bed

[@edgargaebolg9307]

If only it learned Baton Pass

[@MrSlizzard]

"subscribe to the channel for your own personal gain" had me geekin after all these crazy intros

[@MasterXy3911]

Ready to see herdier get the respect it deserves

[@DarkeLourd]

I legit completely forgot that Chansey had a pre-evo.

[@AVUREDUES54]

Yooo BANGER video concept Impressed and blessed you're coming up with these at such a high pace

[@feliznavidad1114]

sealeo’s back sprite makes me laugh every time he’s just a blue beanbag

[@FrogInShorts]

This guy pumps out top notch content way too fast, I can't keep up, fellas!

[@medom3710]

I always love it when every now and then, you see someone using a middle stage you've never seen in competetive before and it does something really neat. One example that comes to mind is Dragonair with eviolite, rest, shed skin and I think dragon dance.

[@Beast_the_smash_guy]

I'd probably lean towards Porygon 2 due to the doubles factor, and Blissey almost never being seen in doubled

[@kadabraguy9846]

This is a great moment for us Kadabra Guys

[@orshteinbok7762]

It's just Porygon2, forever goated Just the fact that it's pretty much the only middle stage to be strictly different from it's evolution is reason enough

[@Rowlet_69420]

as people mentioned dusclops and vgc clefairy are noteworthy also there's thwacky a decent low tier pick for terrain strats and just a fairly strong glides few specific ability mons (like chlorophyll ivysaur or swft swim mid stage) might have some niche in lower tiers too but I assume this vid is mostly about higher tiers

[@Sintra4]

A little surprised that Dusclops wasn't mentioned here, given how useful it often is in VGC. My personal favorite is Poliwhirl in RBY NU. Poliwrath got banned from NU for its access to Amnesia, Hypnosis and decent type coverage, so players started using Poliwhirl, since it has the same options. It's not as bulky and doesn't hit as hard, but it's quite a bit faster and doesn't have the secondary fighting-typing, which in Gen 1 is almost all downsides. This resulted in Poliwhirl being banned from NU as well. More recently, they and Golduck were unbanned from NU, and Wrath and Whirl are both quite good and generally seen as pretty even in terms of viability, though they serve different roles. Going back to VGC, Electabuzz has seen some sporadic use with its decent support moveset that includes Taunt, Follow Me, Feint, Helping Hand, Knock Off and Volt Switch and two decent abilities in Vital Spirit and Static. Notably, Electivire can't fulfill this role at all, since this line's defense stats are awful, so they need an Eviolite boost to stay on the field long enough to have an impact.

[@pabunico]

I understand this is mainly a singles channel, but both Dusclops and Clefairy have been VGC staples for many years, don't forget my lil fellas :(

[@jolitero]

For vgc I'd nominate clefairy thanks to its incredible support using the friend guard ability

[@Monochrome-f1g]

In ZU, Blaziken is banned, leading Combusken to sometimes be used for the Speed Boost Ability.

[@tristysstuff6664]

Huh, I always thought the middle stage was just as popular as the final stages. In the anime, we had Ash's relationship with his Chameleon which was pretty iconic. And, I'm pretty sure you actually stay with the middle stage the longest? At least for Gen 4, you got monferno at literally the first gym and wouldn't get infernape till around the 5th if I recall. Similar thing for Quilava. I always thought the actual "adventure/journey" mattered the most, and thats when the middle stages are present. The first stage represents beginnings, the final represents the end and the middle stage represents the transition.

[@MaxonerousX]

Funny you bring up Ash's charmeleon, because he didn't have it very long. He only had it 3 episodes, as opposed to 32 with Charmander and... so many with Charizard

[@kuatokuatokuato]

I quite like Doublade in gen 6 and 7s lower tiers. its a bit one note, swords dancing and shadow sneaking only, but running a max max def set with eviolite you could take 20% off a neutral hit from a lot of physical set up sweepers in the lower tiers

[@edgargaebolg9307]

Didn't it also get Gyro Ball in Gen8? How did it fare with its 35 Speed?

[@edoardocaccia6226]

Pikachu has had (very niche) VGC usage in a couple of occasions, too. Access to fake out is always great and rain teams love electric coverage and Lighting Rod for defense; usually these roles are taken by focus sash Raichu but some really HO versions bank on getting Twind up and nuking opponent with the little rat. In gen 8 he also had a gigamax form to paralyse both opponents, fire rain-boosted Geysers and possibly live a hit

[@KVO723]

Light Ball doubles Pikachu’s special AND physical attack

[@discgolfwes]

Vigoroth and Doublade will always be my favorite middle stages.

[@vannsylten6765]

Bisharp was actually one of my favorite sweepers in Balanced Hackmons before the Belly Drum ban. Its combined traits of being a Dark/Steel type (for STAB Wicked Blow and Sunsteel Strike) high attack and good speed made it ideal as a Belly Drum+Unburden+Sitrus Berry sweeper. Give it Drain Punch to round out its coverage and give it healing, and watch it go to town. With Wicked Blow it was relatively unbothered by burns, with Sunsteel Strike it could beat Unaware and with Unburden it was even Imposter-proof! As a bonus, Dark types are immune to Prankster, and Steel resists most Extreme Speed variantions!

[@ellmuffin]

VGC clefairy deserves a Shout out

[@nightfrostbreeze]

Vigoroth comes to mind in having pretty good stats and is the only one in the Slakoth line to not be burdened by Truant. Plus it was always a middle stage unlike Chansey, Magneton, and the like.

[@nullgator8073]

Would like a certain of this video about middle stage evos that weren't originally final state Pokemon

[@johnsanko4136]

Two other middle stages that weren't initially middle stages that eviolite turned into monsters were Clefairy and Dusclops.

[@walnutsmcgoo]

Hello Jimothy where is our boy Dusclops? Such a fellow belongs on this list.

[@reddragonair3147]

I should have known better. The thumbnail made me think Charmeleon was actually going to be in this video, and I was looking forward to seeing what niche it could possibly have.

[@roberteospeedwagon8178]

Before watching, probably Dusclops or Porygon2 Oh I forgor about Chansey lmao. It was so obvious in hindsight

[@almostdangerous1412]

I feel like Crocalor and Thwackey deserved at least an honorable mention somewhere. Kinda nice too since they were added as middle evos and didn’t start as final evos.

[@Dojibu]

Seeing haunter here, I was surprised the Gen 6 ability update wasn't mentioned, when Gengar no longer has levitate. Gengar Lite still has access to that ability.

[@MongoIndyleo]

Was a bit surprised you didn't talk about dusclops. A Clefairy shoutout for doubles also would've been cool. Good video though.

[@chardawg5911]

What if Kadabra and Haunter were made strong for the people who couldn’t evolve them via trade?

[@alexbrown8900]

Would make sense tbh

[@pinksylvievgc4196]

In Pokemon VGC doubles, p2, clefairy, dusclops, electabuzz, magmar see usage due to eviolite bulk giving middle stage mons a niche over their fully evolved forms. Torracat also top cut a regional tournament back in 19 if I remember correctly.

[@boraccichannel]

My favorite middle stage evolution wasn't in the video or the comments... Power Trick Doublade my beloved :(

[@miked5163]

The angsty teens of the Pokémon world

[@KendoinkLamar]

shouts out to thwackey setting grassy terrain in lower tiers, with fake out and grassy glide for priority, U turn to transition to unburden sweepers, and still having knock off

[@vexingvexillologist7554]

I always have a smile on my face and an affectionate chuckle when I see a middle stage pokemon crop up in a lower tier (Gen 5 RU Haunter my beloved)

[@vexingvexillologist7554]

And Combusken. So shit but Speed Boost was just that good

[@NRF3703]

Great video! Chansey is the best one for sure! Porygon2 and Dusclops are also really good. And Magneton is good because it is faster than its evolution Magnezone.

[@CloutStrife]

Saying middle stages are forgettable with Wartortle of all things on screen is a violation. You and I are enemies, now.

[@Jakegladstone]

8:06 look at mega garchomp

[@TooMuchDad]

Guessing Dusclops before we start, although maybe that’s just VGC

[@JetblackJay]

It's Bayleaf Eviolite very bulky and often used for walling

[@usernametaken017]

walling who

[@JetblackJay]

@@usernametaken017 I've seen it wall a charizard it's kinda shocking how bulky it can be just because of Eviolite without its average

[@globalistgamer6418]

The best starter just got better!

[@RainShadow-yi3xr]

Wasn’t eviolite Doublade used in gen 6 ou after Aegislash got banned because players still wanted a defensive steel-ghost type.

[@evougaming5605]

Good video

[@peterjoel345]

I used this video to help get to sleep. Thanks Jimothy!

[@insomniacsnorlax]

I love Zweilous, and think it's a bit underrated. I've had some success with it in lower tiers. It has decent bulk with Eviolite, and hits like a truck thanks to Guts. Fun Fact: before Kyurem-Black was introduced, Zweilous had the strongest Outrage in the game.

[@ultimatehope549]

It’s kinda funny how many of the best middle stage Pokémon either used to be final stage Pokémon or were designed to be viable in the base game, like trade evolutions

[@charliebartlett5768]

Hoping to see Vigoroth in this video

[@fennecfoxfanatic]

Shout outs to Tranquill, Trumbeakn and all those other middle stage early route bird mons that i cant remember right now

[@stealthgamer4620]

Clefairy and Dusclops have dominated in both singles and VGC for a given long period of time. I think Charjabug with its Battery ability is heavily slept on.

[@goldbanker2777]

Kadabra with magic guard in gen 5 was used to get a second magic guard user as it still had great speed and spatk

[@josephtripp1696]

Quick thing about Haunter also-- when Gengar lost access to Levitate, Haunter kept it. That hasn't really been competitively relevant as far as I'm aware, but I think it's cool. (Seriously, give Gengar back Levitate. Cursed body might have been okay when power creep wasn't to the point it was made of paper. It needs the immunity to ground. Plz.)

[@EnergyBurst2]

I think a Pokémon worth thinking of even if not in an OU/UU sense is Gurdurr, as If I recall back in gen 5 (or perhaps it was 6?) it was a menace in nu being one of if not the best or at least most prominent Pokémon in the tier and I think it even got banned at one point for a time. In Gen 6 I recall Doublade being a fairly popular UU Pokémon, not sure if that lasted into gen 7 or not, but if so, then certainly worth considering in terms of successful middle stage Pokémon especially since it's so much slower then Aegislash it fits onto trick room teams better even if it doesn't have as good of defensive utility comparatively.

[@Kyomatsu]

The dus-cult will remember this. good stuff as always!

[@DanifromDani]

There's also doublade, scyther, wartotle in gen 5 lower tiers, deep tooth clamperl (not used much, but absurdly strong) etc

[@andrewshotathompson5116]

Pupitar is my favourite Pokemon design

[@supernova3241]

Willing to bet that dusclops, clefairy, and chansey are going to be in this video

[@Neverleterlun]

On behalf of the Forgotten Evolution Association, thank you for your service. Excellent work Mr Cool

[@Siioh]

We need a part two, there's other fun NFE pokemon to talk about! Vigoroth, Wartortle, Fletchinder, Dusclops, Scyther, Thwackey, Murkrow...

[@Saitken]

Flash back to the Pokemon Stadium 1 rentals game where the entire Abra line is weirdly viable in slightly different ways

[@TheStrongestBaka]

I still can't wrap my head around Bisharp having an evolution.

[@xanakify]

I was bored during gen7 once and made a frogadier team in RU and he just tore through everything. Stab everything is truly busted

[@Super_Top_Secret_Area]

While Chansey and Dusclops may be the popular answers, there are more middle stages that are better than their evolutions but it might not be immediately obvious. Take Electabuzz as an example, it has the same base special attack as Electivire but with base 105 speed, compared to Electivire's base 95. What's more, Electivire's stats get shuffled around but it is still very frail for a fully evolved Pokémon. Thus it will still very likely faint to any attack, while also being trolled by recoil damage from Wild Charge or Supermeme Slam. At least, Electabuzz will outspeed some Pokémon and maybe accomplish something before disintegrating.

[@MGVoltJesk]

Electabuzz has a solid niche in vgc, having access to redirection, can block spore thanks to it's ability vital spirit, breaking protection moves with feint, taunting and pivoting with volt switch alongside good bulk with an eviolite

[@danidrawzz]

clefairy not being mentioned is odd, it's an amazing support mon in gen 9, making it on to multiple of the best player's teams

[@sauceboss6148]

I propose a new format “Middle Cup” a format where only pokemon under 450 BST (or any other base stat total decided) are legal. This would allow almost all 2nd stage evolutions to shine. The difference between this and only 2nd stage evolutions, is that the stat restriction allows weak full evolution mons, like Butterfree (395 BST) can also participate, being at a similar power level of other second stage evolutions if it is desired.

[@soma467]

Double attack for light ball too . Pikachu used E speed and Focus punch for example

[@nuclearpzn]

My personal favorite middle stage evolution is non other than Spewpa because he is an entertaining fellow whenever I fall ill.

[@ben501st]

I have a soft spot for the middle evos of the 1st gen Pokemon that evolve via trading. They're all great for casual play throughs.