What is the Best Pokémon in EVERY Game?

[@smithplayspokemon]

Go to mondly.app/smithplays to get 96% off lifetime access to 41 languages and start learning today!

[@shadowdragonlord2295]

You still setting up the discord for Emerald Legacy?

[@RandalfElVikingo]

Why is Nicolas Cage rating Pokémon?

[@doesitmatter1670]

Hey just so you know, I found a bug in Yellow Legacy 1.09. In Koga's Gym, a trainer with an Arbok used Substitute and it instantly died. I know that's a bug you guys are trying to fix. Also every time a Grimer uses Acid Armor the Grimer goes invisible. I can still fight it and hit it but Grimer is just gone. Lol

[@erikmatiascardenasmorales6205]

Hello @smithplayspokemon I liked the mechanics of modifying the stats and adding more movements to the pokes. If I ever make a pkmn emerald LEGACY I made my own suggestions. For example, I gave Flygon 20 more points in his special attack, leaving it like this: Hp: 80 At: 100 Df: 80 Spat: 80---->100 Spdf: 80 Speed: 100 and I made trapinch evolve into vibrava earlier at level 25 instead of 35.

[@Some_Silly_Rodent]

Damn, Duolingo has competition

[@theeducatedfool]

Solidarity to everybody else who never had a trade evolution Pokémon growing up.

[@shinigamimiroku3723]

🤝

[@Submissive-Soul]

was so thankful to my brother for this reason and there was never a worry of theft since we both traded evolutions we wanted back

[@GhengizKanye]

Really sucked going from gen 1 and 2 pokemania where everyone in school would be playing and then gen 3 and 4 being nearly impossible to complete the dex on their own and youd be even more pressed to find someone else to trade with.

[@SeniorQD]

​@GhengizKanye I know that feeling. Everyone at my school thought they were going to be a cool kid if they didn't like pokemon anymore at Gen 3 and 4. So it was impossible to play with anyone after school. 😢

[@SeniorQD]

I couldn't get alakazam until gen 2 came out and I would have to borrow my sister's Gameboy to trade back and forth.

[@kevinconverse1799]

The pain in Smith's eyes talking about Gyarados is only matched by Wolfey talking about Incineroar

[@smithplayspokemon]

LMAO why is this so true

[@beforedrrdpr]

very true

[@Rarest26]

They are about as good as the other in their respective fields so it makes sense.

[@gopalgopadvenkat1425]

And both of them have intimidate.

[@franbh94]

"Wait, it's all Gyarados?" *Cocks gun* "Always has been."

[@SquallLionhart409]

Gyarados is just bad though. Play on normal game speed and see how long it takes to grind 15 levels to 20. The Slow growth rate really sucks early game, then puts you behind the level curve for much of the remaining game. 100 special isn't enough without good STAB or overleveling and 125 attack is outmatched by most physical attackers using their respective STABs. RATICATE using Body Slam is going to hit almost the exact same ranges as Gyarados. (Effective 121.5 vs 125) FEAROW's Drill Peck outpaces Gyarados's Body Slam, and has a stronger Hyper Beam too. Raticate and Fearow are not particularly good either.

[@eliserss]

@@SquallLionhart409 you being impatient doesn't make gyarados suck

[@SquallLionhart409]

@@eliserss It's not a matter of my patience, it's a matter of required investments for underwhelming gain. It's the objective measure of which pokemon are more efficient or less efficient, or more plainly stated, whether Gyarados is a good or bad choice. Gyarados is at best a mediocre mixed attacker, with underwhelming physical damage due to lack of STAB and underwhelming special damage to due it's Slow growth rate and base 100 special. The required investment to even get a Gyarados is so high that you could instead have something like a level 25+ Clefable or Mr. Mime with the same investment. Clefable can be level 25 with the same experience Magikarp needed to get to 20, but without needing to be switch trained, so in terms of actual effort, 30 is probably more realistic. Pokemon with lower BST will perform as well or better due to being a higher level. Both Nidoran lines also perform significantly better than Gyarados with less investment required. Those are examples of better pokemon without even invoking Alakazam, the crit-machine or Hypno, the tanky version.

[@Historicutuber]

Damn straight

[@pupper5580]

@@SquallLionhart409 Gyarados is very tanky and it has great move pool (thunderbolt, ice beam, surf, hyper beam). It has great type defenses (only weakness is electric, and nobody does electric moves in Elite Four). In my view Gyarados is strongest pokemon in gen 1 for clearing out the game. I personally fight Elite Four with level restrictions (can't fight Lorelei with a pokemon higher than lvl 57, beause Lorelei's Lapras is lvl 57) - so I need a pokemon who is strong for its level - I can't just clear the game using my starter and dominate Elite Four with a lvl 75 Blastoise. Edit: correction, after doing research, Starmie was found to be much stronger for clearing Elite Four. Gyarados struggles too much with Agatha.

[@jacobkohr7243]

Gen 1 Alakazam: Psychic type spamming Psychic Gen 2 Alakazam: PUNCH IN THE FACE!

[@Mrryn]

I CAST FIST!

[@onijester56]

Add Clefable to the mix, and if your Alakazam actually manages to go down you're still sweeping everything.

[@reillywalker195]

@@onijester56 You can't get Clefable until Gen II's postgame, but you can get "discount Clefable" in the form of Wigglytuff. While Clefable has a better overall stat spread, Wigglytuff's high HP helps it take hits while it dishes out reasonable damage as a mixed attacker.

[@EpicurusWasRight]

@@reillywalker195Why use Wigglytuff in gen 2 when you can use Nidoking?

[@danielgloyd4529]

​@reillywalker195 if it's crystal, you get the odd egg. So you have a chance at a cleffa. Electabuzz is also a better elemental puncher than Nidoking, with elekid also from the odd egg.

[@noname-xo5mp]

Why you look like Nickleback & Nicholas Cage had a baby

[@takosauce3169]

😂

[@vanguardbreaker8826]

can't unsee that now

[@urekmazino6800]

😂😂😂

[@IfYouKnewYouKnow]

You weren't supposed to know

[@QuasarKen009]

Damn! Never thought about it but not I can't unseen it. 😂

[@danielalexandre89]

2029 here and after multiple playthroughs i can confirm that the best mon for gen 10 *and gen 11* IS Gyarados

[@smithplayspokemon]

🫠🫠🫠😵‍💫

[@cypher686]

Oh nice, does life get better in the future?

[@Whelp140]

Can confirm he is correct and no the future doesn't get any better although Hunter Biden won the elections last year somehow everybody got a free crack pipe so I guess there's that ​@@cypher686

[@FluffysaurusRex]

​@@cypher686 Hahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahaha No.

[@arrowblade_1238]

3:05 Gyarados is not in almost every mainline game, it is in every mainline game. My trusty Snek stays with us even through black and white and legends arceus. He truly is one’s most loyal companion.

[@Jlaps941]

True, it barely made it into Black and White with the Magikarp salesman on Marvelous Bridge 😂

[@graciaman]

Right? I can’t tell if this youtuber actually knows a lot about Pokemon or is repeating things he heard somewhere. The editing is also so bad with irrelevant clips like talking about how Guts Facade doesn’t one-shot sometimes and showing a Swellow hitting a Wailord but the Swellow doesn’t have a status effect so there’s no boosts in play 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@nickdentoom1173]

@@graciaman Not to speak about Guts being pretty useless against Trainer Battles anyways, if you don't have a status condition already, since not many actually use status conditions.

[@aidrianpatullo598]

i believe it's only available in black and white post game

[@dasaiyantv8483]

Yeah but he said no post-game Pokemon so it doesn't count for Black and White

[@WesleyAPEX]

The trade evolution ruins Alazakam.

[@krylotik]

yep, this is why I play romhacks

[@AnAmericanMusician]

Trade evolutions are a terrible idea in general.

[@user-om8fy2io9r]

Agreed​@@AnAmericanMusician

[@pyromore9680]

I always hated the trade evolutions, as a kid I could trade with friends. Now you'll need a hacked rom and emulator.

[@scottwagner2317]

On my team every game 😢

[@Lockheart_]

Another note I'd like to make about Gen I Gyarados is it's another Pokémon with virtually no weakness. Its weaknesses are Rock and a 4x weakness to Electric. However, in Red and Blue, once you beat Surge (which is a mere bagatelle, considering Diglett/Dugtrio with 100-power Dig are available before taking on the third gym), there are zero boss fights using Electric Pokémon for the rest of the game. In Yellow, Lance's Dragonite will have Thunder in its moveset, and Blue may have a Jolteon, but even so, Gyarados' matchups will be nonetheless excellent throughout the game. As for Rock, Gyarados outspeeds every Rock-type except for Aerodactyl, who incidentally, can't learn any Rock moves in Gen I. Gyarados, being a Water-type, has the advantage over Rock so therefore has no reason to fear its Rock weakness. So once you beat Surge, you've got a Pokémon with some of the highest stats in the game, which also isn't gonna be taking Super-effective damage. It's S-tier.

[@scoobiusmaximus9508]

In Yellow every rival fight after the first 3 has either a Jolteon or a Magneton.

[@zkart8038]

Starmie >>>Gyarados in gen 1

[@Ashingda]

@@zkart8038 Starmie is great but you cant get one early if I remember correctly.

[@misterbadguy7325]

@@Ashingda Staryu is found in the Seafoam Islands, or when fishing with the Super Rod. That more or less reserves it to the last half or so of the game. It's a Water Stone evo, which isn't that hard to get your hands on, but it also means if you evolve it early, it basically doesn't have a level-up learnset. The best option is to pick one up in the Seafoam Islands, at which point it's high-level enough to start with Recover (its main asset compared to Gyarados), but at that point, you may as well go a few floors lower and try catching Articuno instead.

[@suckieduckie]

To summarize how stupidly overpowered Kadabra or Alakazam are in Gold and Silver imagine this. After catching it the only pokemon you can't hit super effective for the entire game are the Umbreon, Flareon, Jolteon and Espeon at the kimono girls, a Houndoom from a rocket executive, Claire's Kingdra, Karen's Houndoom and Umbreon and finally Red's Espeon and Pikachu. A grand total of 10 pokemon that you can't hit super effective and Pikachu is an easy one hit.

[@bohanxu6125]

Were you supposing Alakazam to have only 4 moves? or you are considering all possible moves Alakazam can learn regardless the limit of having 4 move slots? To hit red's snorlax, you need focus blast. To hit blair dragonair you need ice punch. To hit elite four arbok, you need psychic. To hit lorlei water type, you need ice punch. Psychic, focus blast, ice punch, thunder punch, still have more missing coverage, no? It cannot hit arcanine from Blue, cannot hit fortress from koga, cannot hit alakazam from sebrina, cannot hit electric type from surge.

[@TyVince-p6r]

​@@bohanxu6125look dumb dumb, he's talking about OG gen 2, there was no gotdamn focus blast.

[@rgbgamingfridge]

the solution: get a second one

[@TyVince-p6r]

@@bohanxu6125 Bruh, Fire Punch one shots Forretress, that's a 4x weakness being bug/steel.

[@clashwithdaragh]

In BDSP Gyarados learns waterfall at level 21....WATERFALL! AT LEVEL 21! 😅

[@jacobkohr7243]

And then Dragon Dance at 36.

[@kwayke9]

Iirc Azumarill learns Aqua tail super early in XY as well, but you need to grind some happiness at least 💀

[@DeaganDunne]

Yeah Gyrados hard carried most of my BDSP playthrough because of that xD

[@matthewkuscienko4616]

It was specifically because it got waterfall so soon after evolving that I picked one up for my copy of shining pearl. It doesn't hurt that I got great RNG and managed to land an adamant Magikarp right away, lol

[@JSB-2Z-2K]

Pick one with the moxie ability instead of intimidate, equipe him with earthquake as a must... you're welcome

[@YarnLalms711]

The Alakazam line can only be obtained once you reach Dewford in Ruby and Sapphire, it's only pre gym 1 in Emerald. Nidoran is also moved past gym 1 in FRLG. Fun fact about Gen 8 dlc, you don't have to win the fight against Peony, so you can literally go to the Dynamax Adventures which have you use rentals, meaning its possibly to catch level 50+ nonlegendaries and level 70 legendaries BEFORE THE FIRST GYM

[@user-mp9pn9bz3z]

I didn't want to believe you and i checked and for for fu*k's sake you're right, they moved it on purpose after Brock. Gamefreak is always able to surprise me with how trash it can be

[@drunkenpumpkins7401]

Yeah that's fun an all, But if you don't fight Gyms only pokemon up to lvl 15 will obey your commands. For every level above 15 there will be a small percentage of chances a pokemon doesn't obey. If the pokemon is lvl 70 there is like a 1/256 chance the pokemon obeys.

[@YarnLalms711]

@@drunkenpumpkins7401 So fun fact, the legends actually WILL LISTEN. It's actually the speedrun strategy of the game

[@dungeonpastor]

Not true. That was changed to be all Pokemon in Gen 9. Gen 8 and before Pokemon with your OT number would always obey.@@drunkenpumpkins7401

[@johnnyknadler1157]

@@drunkenpumpkins7401That’s for traded Pokémon, no?

[@sometimesjoeyplays]

imagine if gen 1 gyarados was water/dragon…heck, kingdra was tough in OG gen 2

[@des4929]

Just because it would only have 1 weakness that may as well not exist might I introduce: Stab psychic from an alakazam or tauros body slam into hyper beam or the myriad of different things in gen 1 ou that are obscenely powerful

[@sometimesjoeyplays]

@@des4929myriad is a good word

[@des4929]

@@sometimesjoeyplays yes certainly

[@oliverleonard7730]

Well yes that type combo was only weak to Dragon, the only Dragon move was Dragon Rage which can't deal super-effective damage.

[@erlbencabuhat9803]

In theory, Gen 1 Gyarados would have one weakness, being Dragon, duh, in practice, it's basically pre-Fairy Sableye and Spiritomb without immunities due to the only Dragon-Type move introduced being Dragon Rage (being set damage, so even if you rename and retype this barely anything would change), so Dragon Types offensively didn't exist at all. It would be interesting to see Aquatic Dragon Gyarados take Neutral, Resisted or Double Resisted hits, without taking anything with double damage.

[@IVPHD]

Didnt know Nicolas Cage played pokemon

[@martincool1998]

Hahhhahahaha

[@gunzandgodz]

Only on the weekends

[@travisalexander6440]

Best part of the video is the Gen10 speculation amounting to, "If you do not think Gyarados is going to make the podium of best potential moms (mons*, even) you haven't been paying attention!"

[@masterjoda999]

I dunno, I'd imagine that a gyarados' parenting prowess would leave much to be desired

[@travisalexander6440]

@masterjoda999 Hahaha! Very good catch! I will see if I can make the edit but still note what it was originally.

[@thepuppet4321]

Fun fact I learned about Drilbur in Gen 5; If you forgo its evolution to Excadrill up until level 33, you can get Earthquake at that level. Just waiting to evolve Drilbur for just 2 levels.

[@christiandevey3898]

“You caught a geodude, right?” - Imported “Chees” Cheese

[@variumi]

THE BOOOUULDER

[@iamtechnicallyasandwich566]

How convenient!

[@Nox_Lunatera]

AAHHHHHHH NIX

[@Elekkid]

Gym bros

[@ignacionavarro5624]

2:19 that voice crack is killing me 😂😂😂 great video so far though lol

[@zandiskoul]

Everyone says Kadabra that way. If you ain't putting the Pokemon's cry in its name you messed up already. 😂

[@tomhuddleston1850]

Nidoking in Gen 1 is busted for this reason - X accuracy, the item, doesn't just raise your accuracy, it gives you PERFECT accuracy. It entirely removes the check to see if a move will land. Nidoking learns horn drill, which will never miss and OHKO the target assuming Nidoking is faster. For early game when trainers use a lot of NFE Pokémon, this means it will go on a rampage and utterly dominate anything in front of it. By gen 1 standards, Nidoking sits as the #44 fastest in Gen 1, which means there is a lot of targets he can abuse with this strat. But even better, if you use one X speed, he will outrun everything outside of Aerodactyl, Mewtwo, Jolteon and Electrode pretty much.

[@SquallLionhart409]

Nidoking is even more busted than you think when you realize YOU get stat exp and a badge boost, while opponents do not. Nidoking with full stat exp and the normal badge boost (no glitch required) outspeeds Lance's level 60 Aerodactyl at level 57. The odds of maxing out speed stat exp are low, but the point remains that you can get that outspeed at a MUCH lower level than you would normally expect. Nidoking's coverage means the speedrun doesn't bother drilling there, because +1 special Nidoking, even at a level in the low 50s, can oneshot Lance's team with SE damage. It's also noteworthy that Horn Drill is a TM in gen 1. Nidoking is the best user of the strat because it can also run 3 coverage moves to conserve items/PP, but funnily enough, Rapidash also has access to it.

[@antonioespinoza5134]

Dugtrio fissure was better for that reason 😂

[@hampterland]

You should note that Gastly is only worth it in GSC if you can get trade evolutions. Kadabra gets the elemental punches but not Haunter. Haunter is still okay, but you're definitely gonna miss that coverage

[@yokaipinata1416]

When I first realized Haunter couldn't learn the punches, I was confused because hey, Haunter not only has hands, but those hands look more useful than Kadabra's (and sure enough, once Gen 3 dropped, Haunter got Shadow Punch). Ironically, nowadays it's the opposite, even Gastly learns the elemental punches despite having no hands lol, but now there's no point because they're physical moves

[@MaxKetchumGameing]

I think Swampert should be in the running for RSE, if not an explicit #1. It’s definitely much better than the Gardevoir line, which doesn’t exist until level 30

[@smithplayspokemon]

Oh no, it is undisputed number one, but as mentioned multiple times, this video is not looking at starters

[@MaxKetchumGameing]

Ah, misunderstood what you said as not looking at starters against each other/not focusing on them for some reason. Appreciate the reply

[@SteveScapesYT]

Gen 1 Gyara is outrageous in an unlimited rare candy Nuzlocke setting but in a regular play through its experience group seriously holds it back. It grows so slowly, it’s always going to be way under level compared to Blastoise, meaning it actually has significantly worse stats and the Karp stage is painful- this is why Speed Runners would never use Karp. For a casual playthrough using 6 members Dewgong is probably the best non-Blastoise water. Late game’s weakness to Ice and Water makes most water types top tier viable in-game- Dewgong certainly misses on Starmie/Gyara’s Thunderbolt access but Dewgong’s boosted experience from being a Cinnabar trade Evo means that despite weaker base stats, you get much better final stats than all its rivals with same grinding, and learning Ice moves itself saves TMs for others.

[@jreddie92]

It's very easy to get a Gen 1 Gyarados casually before Misty. The daycare center. You gain 1 exp for every step. I would put Magikcarp in there and run around until it hit level 19, then finish the training on my own. Way less painful than switch training.

[@SquallLionhart409]

@@jreddie92 You only need to walk around for almost 10k steps. Pretty painless on emulator because you can crank the speed, but pretty painful on a gameboy where you have to spend quite a long time. (If you're cranking the speed on an emulator is the 1,500 pokedollar cost really an effective difference from cheating in rare candies?) Still less painful than switch training, so you're right there.

[@njiu]

Nuh nuh nuh nuh. Gyara gen 1 gets so much battle exp that it's a constant battle to keep your other mons up to his level. You may not badmouth gen 1 Gyara.

[@robertwolff3580]

One thing I really wanna add Staraptor can switch in for free against Cynthia’s garchomp since it is immune to earthquake and it can get off an intimidate

[@ryanball8944]

Can't Gyarados do the same? It also has Intimidate and earthquake immunity?

[@DPSVEGAS]

@@ryanball8944 yeah he’s much better. Garchomp outspeeds, but hitting 1 Avalanche will do 120 physical damage on a dual weak Ground/Dragon type… He dominates that 1V1

[@Subgenrelol]

I’m currently doing my first Platinum playthrough, as I have started from gen 1 but just stopped playing when gen 4 came out, and I have to agree Gyrados is a monster. He clutched out the elite four for me and absolutely spanked Cynthia’s Garchomp, even though he was 5 levels under. A true menace

[@robertlupa8273]

Gen 2 Gyarados is the saddest its ever been. No high Special Attack from Gen 1, no Dragon Dance or Intimidate from Gen 3+, no physical Water moves (or Ice Fang) from Gen 4+.

[@Jorgam501]

Probably to balance him since you can catch one at high level for free during the game

[@7b8bk95y]

Thank you, Pre-Beard Chad Kroeger. You not only gave us How You Remind Me, but also a solid Pokemon guide. Liked and subscribed.

[@79licorice]

this comment is wild xD

[@MegaTomPlays]

I bought an extra Gameboy and a copy of Blue back in the day just to get Golem, Alakazam, Machamp, and Gengar

[@McYeroc]

I just traded with friends.

[@gopikrishnang4871]

​@@McYerocBoo. Boo this man.

[@njiu]

More money than friends

[@h7yhjinbfgfr]

We weren’t all rich 😭

[@PizzaCat4yhwh]

Ye

[@shaunduzstuffs]

Btw, Gyarados can get the TM for return (which is obtain-able before the 4th gym) in Pokémon Emerald. This is a great use for its attack stat

[@ThePe5e]

Return will only outdamage Strength much later though. Likely around the 7th gym. Before you don't have enough friendship.

[@shaunduzstuffs]

@@ThePe5e Depends on how many Pokémon you're using. Friendship builds very quickly if you're only using a few mons compared to a whole team

[@ThePe5e]

@@shaunduzstuffs The only ways Gyarados will gain friendship in Hoenn is with steps and level ups. And it takes a lot of both to max friendship out. Even with the Soothe Bell, it will likely take until Mossdeep City to max it out. Golbat usually evoles around level 32 when you use the Soothe Bell, and Return does need 35 more friendship points for max power.

[@SquallLionhart409]

@@ThePe5e Friendship only needs to reach 203 to outdamage Strength. The break point is going to usually be around level 28 and WELL before Mossdeep if you're focusing on Gyarados. Evolution requires 220, meaning that pokemon would already be hitting with an 88 base power Return, 10% more than Strength's 80. Those last 35 points are just bringing the power up from 88 to 102, so you've been outdamaging Strength for quite a while before you max. (Friendship growth also slows even more once you're over 200.)

[@ThePe5e]

@@SquallLionhart409 Yeah, if it constantly holds the Soothe Bell, then level 28 is good estimate for when Return outdamages Strength. That will roughly be between gym 5 and 6. If it doesn't hold the bell (it would also like to hold the Silk Scarf), then it really can take until Mossdeep unless you focus on the Pokemon. Still a long time of Return not being great, considering it is one of Gyarados' best moves.

[@idrissawane2059]

I remember my big bro always playing Kadabra as 'Saruman' we did not have access to game link at that time so couldn't evolve into Alazkazam. Still he was dominating with this ultimate Wizard in term of Sp Attack and Speed.

[@drunkenpumpkins7401]

In addition, if you can't trade in gen 1, Jynx is also incredibly good. Learnable ice moves and Lovely Kiss + decently hard-hitting Psychics. It being a ice type isn't as bad as it will be later generations. In gen 2 if you can't get Alakazam, Hypno can be a decent alternative. Even tough it has lower special attack than Kadabra, at the very least it has a usable shadow ball which is very good when fighting other psychic trainers (since Psychic itself also resist Psychic) + it gets Hypnosis. Also Sudowoodo in gen 2 (not the gen 4 remakes) is pretty good since it has Rock slide as level-up move which you can't get in gen 2. and rock is still a decent type in gen 2 due to all the normal type moves most NPC use (again, this is not the case in gen 4 anymore).

[@TheLastWizardOfTheCentury-u7o]

BW2 had so many great candidates: Lucario, Crobat, Magnezone, Darmanitan, Arcanine, Excadrill, Espeon and many more.

[@poryzonegames942]

Crobat is good but not really amazing (also leveling up Zubat in early game is painful as it only has bad moves)

[@natyderniere]

Bro, that was my team for BW2! I had a such as fun 1st time playthrough.

[@Tinil0]

Gen 5 was so freaking good. My favorite generation just because the selection of pokemon was incredible, you could have a full team of six where every single one is a monster.

[@theamazingspooderman2697]

​@@Tinil0 Gen 8 easily beats Gen 5 in that, the Wild Area has insane pokemons before the first gym

[@dasaiyantv8483]

@@poryzonegames942 If your playing casual it's decent but if you're playing a Nuzlocke it's a godsend

[@johnr4836]

Im 30 and tried soulsilver for novelty, it's actually really good. I played red and yellow and original silver, played th e heck outta em

[@HESOMADBRO]

Was hoping to see the Magnemite-line to show up for B2W2 and wasn't disappointed. Those games make Magneton feel hilariously absurd early on.

[@BrendanGeormer]

I think Azumarill is also worth a shout for XY given its availability as Azurill on Route 3, with the water/fairy typing and its natural bulk meaning you never have to worry about it, and the huge power boost with aqua jet is just always great. It is always a mon you want in your party, even if it isn't the main sweeper, since it is an incredible switch if you need to heal something.

[@redwings13400]

Whenever I play a nuzlocke with gyarados, it feels like I’m using a cheat code. With the old rod you basically always can guarantee a gyarados encounter in basically every game, it’s bulky enough that most random crits won’t ko it, it’s strong enough to just beat everything 1v1, it comes online so early that it just bullies the mid game, then dragon dance lets it sweep the late game. Electric moves are pretty rare as coverage options and therefore pretty easy to play around with minimal team support, so it just… wins and wins safely. Its only downside is the slow exp rate, and that is not enough to prevent it from dominating.

[@Slimeonian]

About Sword and Shield, if you have the dlc you can go to the Crown Tundra at the start of the game and go to Dynamax Adventures to get any level 70 legendary you want

[@reillywalker195]

Gen II Gyarados is still a great Pokémon despite its severe nerf from Gen I. Gen II Gyarados can make great use of Return at max friendship with 102 base power, and it's one of the few Pokémon that learns Rain Dance by level-up, so its base 60 special attack can be easily mitigated. Catching a wild Gyarados as opposed to evolving from Magikarp also provides access to Thrash which, while potentially risky to use, has a hefty base 90 power to tide you over until you get Gyarados's friendship high enough to make Return worth using. Getting Dragon Rage at level 25 is also useful for dishing out reliable damage early.

[@Unison23]

I’d probably say Flamigo for SV. 115 base attack before you even get to Mezagoza, destroys 4 of the first 5 key battles in the game (2 gyms, Team Star’s dark base and Klawf) and is still strong in the mid to late game, especially late game against Eri, Grusha and the paradox titan. But Armarouge and especially Ceruledge are insane too

[@CC-bm3wb]

Didn't know Nicolas Cage was so into Pokemon

[@friskytemper9727]

It’s his son!

[@ZerglingOne1]

The bellsprout line is also *supremely* good in gen 1. Like it's so good it's hard to even quantify. A fresh Bellsprout will come with vine whip and growth, which after Brock growth becomes an Attack, Special Attack, AND Special Defense setup move. It also gets access to nearly every status effect in the game, meaning it can solve any problem with Sleep Powder. It has the 100% crit rate razor leaf once it becomes a Weepinbell, it has access to Swords Dance by TM. It's a great mixed attacker that's fast enough once it evolves to outspeed everything in the game. Victreebel isn't a great 'mon competitively, but man is it insane at beating the gen 1 games. Also, Gengar is better than Alakazam in every gen to beat the game because Gastly isn't useless like Abra.

[@Regiultima]

I’m surprised you talked about Sword & Shield DLC without mentioning the option of getting a Lv 70 Suicune before the first gym.

[@drunkenpumpkins7401]

A Suicune that doesn't obey to you??????

[@imthelapis]

@@drunkenpumpkins7401 It obeys though, every legendary in dynamax adventures has your OT/ID

[@drunkenpumpkins7401]

@@imthelapis No? The disobedience mechanic is only ignored during Terra/max raid battles (probabbly to avoid griefing). During regular battle (even if Dynamaxed) the disobedience mechanic is in effect until you get the 8th gym badge.

[@176DoubleA]

@@drunkenpumpkins7401 Disobedience doesn't apply to Pokemon you catch in Sword and Shield. It only applies to Pokemon for which you are not the original trainer. So, Pokemon that are traded to you. If you catch the Pokemon yourself, it will just listen to you always. And the any% speedrun for Sword/Shield uses extremely over-leveled Crown Tundra Pokemon to bulldoze the game for this very reason. It wasn't until Legends: Arceus where your own Pokemon were allowed to start disobeying you. Barring some special cases, like an anti-cheat for Mew and Deoxys in Generation 3, anyway.

[@PizzaCat4yhwh]

Oh man! Yeah it's entertaining to just roll over everyone in Swsh with a lv 70 legendary at least once!

[@1Mystery10000]

I'd say Alakazam is better than Gyarados in Gen 1. A neutral Psychic does nearly as much damage as a super effective Thunderbolt or Ice Beam. Blizzard is better but late game. A neutral Psychic is nearly always strong enough for anything and better than anything neutral Gyarados uses. Maybe Hydro Pump is equal but the miss chance isn't nice to deal with and much more resist Water than Psychic in Gen 1. Alakazam only struggles against different Psychics. Also important for a playthrough: Alakazam levels up much faster than a Gyarados.

[@AdumbroDeus]

It also levels up much more quickly due to medium slow being effectively the second best leveling group for most of the game. But Nidoking is still better cause x-accuracy makes moves skip accuracy checks at all in Gen 1.

[@fellowkrieger457]

Alakazam is really strong but also so fragile. As soon as you don't Ohko a pokemon, if he retaliates with a physical move, and you didn't set up protection, you take substantial damages.

[@VirtualVirtuoso101]

Fun fact guts also increased attack if the Pokémon was frozen in gen 3 and 4, but obviously because the self-thawing moves are all fire and thus special in gen 3 so it’s only on paper there

[@MagentaNimbat]

SWSH's Tundra DLC, you are even able to get a Suicune before the first Gym at a very high level so take that for what you will

[@dew-it8744]

I actually used an urshifu to beat the game on one of my shield playthroughs to get the other regis. It was quite a power trip.

[@sheldoman]

In Violet, Ceruledge carried my entire team without a doubt. It felt like being a 9 year old playing Blue again, using Blastoise for every single fight just because I didn't know better. For the DLC, I switched up my team and used Kingambit a lot, but Ceruledge is still the absolute GOAT of that game. Swords Dance, Bitter Blade, Shadow Claw, and Psycho Cut let me just sweep and had coverage against so many types.

[@JordTheeNord]

Just want to give some love to Slaking in r/s/e. 160 base power and 150 STAB hyperbeams can one shot so many elite 4 pokemon without being over levelled. Also if we're not playing in Set Mode it mitigates the Truant downside as you can just swap Slaking out when you get a KO.

[@user-mp9pn9bz3z]

True, but you have to consider that until it becomes a Vigoroth it's a hassle to train and even after you evolve into Vigoroth you have to rely completely on TM to get useful moves that are not Normal type

[@ThePe5e]

@@user-mp9pn9bz3z A hassle is a stretch. It is rather easy to get EXP in the early game and the Vigoroth evolution is at level 18 already. It isn't nearly as much of a burden as something like Zubat or Nincada. While it mostly only learns Normal moves via level-up, Strength is a good STAB move until Slaking, and if you really want to bully those early game Geodudes, then you can also give it the Game Corner Ice Beam TM.

[@CreepyBlackDude]

@@user-mp9pn9bz3z Being a hassle to train never stopped Magikarp from taking the top spot in most gens on this list. And Slakoth evolves 2 levels earlier than it.

[@JordTheeNord]

​@@user-mp9pn9bz3z It's not great but STAB Cut + yawn is decent enough for the early game. You could also treat it like a magikarp and just wait until you have access to the day care to do all the heavy lifting.

[@D.Strawhat]

0:08 U can get tyranitar before u beat the game in XY. I got him before my 8th gym badge, but i did look up all the rare candy locations and the xp share made grinding so much better

[@sushirabit5624]

Gyarados is literally "our mutual friend"

[@metalmonstar100]

I feel like you should have mentioned pre DLC Arcanine and Excadrill for SwSh. For BDSP I feel like Kazza the trade Abra deserves a mention. Technician Scythe deserves an honorable mention as well.

[@VanessaVersus]

Insane that you wouldn't even consider Flamigo for SV; it is the speedrun mon for a reason.

[@smithplayspokemon]

Yeah I’ve got a video on it as one of the top, but speed running is different because it’s not how most players play. Overleveling a single pokemon is very different style of play

[@F14thunderhawk]

Flamigo and Dragapult are the best SV mons, with everyone else supporting those 2. noteably dreepy does not conform to the pseudo legendary development rule where they have terrible stat progression, because dreepy was intended to be easily accessible in tank and Spank, although special mention must be given to pawmi who eventually learns Revival Blessing while having a good typing unlike the other pokemon that learns it.

[@Eclipsmon8421]

The things that makes Flamigo broken is that first it is a pokemon with good stats for the late game... that you can get BEFORE the academy, and second the flying fighting type seems to be really blessed for in game playthroughs, because I found myself using this pokemon in many matchups it is really good in. Basically, it's just USUM Hawlucha all over again.

[@isssma0]

On SV, you can catch Ogerpon very early too, similar to urshifu. I’ve done it with one playthrough, and is probably the most broken thing ever. You almost won’t need another pokemon, because it can destroy everything, and can change it’s type based on the situation so it’s almost never at a disadvantage.

[@FeroxChrysalism]

13:47 Nidoran is moved in FRLG to the route immediately following Pewter City. I don't understand why, but it still sneaks up on me, too. (thus its then-new Double Kick cannot help against Brock unless traded or cheated in)

[@AdumbroDeus]

It also got double kick early in yellow. I suspect the reason was because they only gave it early double kick because Pikachu does nothing against Brock so yellow version needs more support.

[@justchocolate9570]

As a player that started at gen 5, I just love seeing my favorite lil mole win that. Used it in every game where it was available and I love it to this day.

[@legendslayer6558]

edit: (u go over this stuff later in sorry) another reason mega lucario just blows everything away is it has adaptability which makes both its stabs 2x instead of 1.5x and it has access to nasty plot and swords dance(not sure how available that is in xy but i know it learns them) and ir has a wide movepool, was definitely the strongest gift pokemon period in any pokemon game

[@delgorian290]

If we're talking BW and BW2 and considering both Darmanitan and Krookodile as a pick for the best Pokémon for a playthrough in these game, we should also considering two other options from Route 4 and Desert Resort that make those routes so important in a Nuzlocke of these games: Crustle and Scrafty. While they aren't the speedy powerhouses and not immediately as useful as Darumaka and Sandile (which can be argued in Sandile's case anyway, since you will need to use your Dig TM to have a good ground type attack against Elesa whitin her Level Cap), I would argue that they have the better late game then those two. Crustle gets access to Shell Smash(!) as soon as you reach Mistraldon City in BW/the PWT in BW2 through the move reminder in a Generation where you can farm White Herbs(!) just after the third gym in the Battle Station. Bug/Rock is also a surprisingly good typing defensivly which helps it setting up against most physical attackers. Scrafty which also gets Moxie as a possible ability like Krookodile on the other hand learns High Jump Kick on Lvl. 31 (!) while both the Wide Lens and the Zoom Lens are purchasable items from the battle station. With those, HJK either nearly never misses or never misses against slower opponents and that makes Scrafty with its natural bulk and solide attack stat a quite strong and scary tank. BW 2 also gives it Drain Punch via Move Tutor in the late game, further enhancing its capabilties as a tank. Both are hold back in a way by there low speed and late evolution, but the late game gyms and N in BW as well as Team Plasma, Ghetsis and the E4 in all four Games are ill equipt against these poweress. Especially Scrafty is propably the strongest pokemon for the Unovan E4, sweeping three of them without much trouble and then fairing well against half of N's, Ghetsis' and Iris' team respectivly. This late game performance puts it over Krookodile for me personally in those games which isn't that crucial for most boss fights where it should be and also has stiff competition as a ground type in Excadrill and Seismitoad.

[@mjdxp5688]

I'd argue that for RBY, Nidoking is quite a bit better than Gyarados just because Nidoran can start doing things immediately, where with Gyarados, you have to slog through its Magikarp phase to get there. Right after getting Magikarp, you can get the Moon Stone, meaning once you've evolved Nidoran, you can immediately get to Nidoking without any additional investment. This allows it to snowball out of control by leveling up super quickly due to its high base stats for the time you receive it, allowing it to gain stat EXP to shore up its lower base stats. Gyarados is incredibly good if you put in the effort of raising Magikarp, but you likely won't get there very soon unless you spend a long time grinding it until it gets to Gyarados. Nidoran starts putting in work the moment you get it, while Magikarp is dead weight until it evolves. Additionally, I think Clefable is an often overlooked option that does really well. Its stats aren't the best, but its movepool is really impressive, and pure Normal is the best type in Gen 1. You can get Mega Punch right away, which is a super powerful STAB move, and not too later on you can pick up Body Slam, which is the best Normal move in the game. You also get plenty of options for coverage that make Clefable really useful. Getting Bubblebeam pretty early is very nice for the Rock types that resist your Normal moves in particular. Best of all, since there are actually two Moon Stones in Mt. Moon (one is hidden before the Super Nerd), you can actually run both Nidoking and Clefable to great effect. Just don't waste one of them on Wigglytuff... The last honorable mention I'd like to give is Mr. Mime. You can get it fairly early and it has very respectable stats if you don't want to put in a few levels to evolve Abra. I think Kadabra is better, but it's still pretty solid.

[@drunkenpumpkins7401]

Did you actually play with Nidoking in RBY? I did long time ago, and Misty destroyed Nidoking + you don't get any STAB until Earthquake since it it doesn't learn dig, meaning it does ''okey'' against Koga and Erika (and Koga you want to destroy very quickly) and it gets destroyed by Giovanni due to its poision typing. Nidoking in gen 1 is kinda garbage outside of speedruns. It is only completely broken in gen 3 due to physical Sludge Bomb, double Kick and finally being able to learn Dig.

[@ThePe5e]

@@drunkenpumpkins7401 Dude, what? Have YOU ever played Nidoking in RBY? Or at least correctly? It is literally the Pokemon that speedruners use for those games lol. You can have a fully evolved Nidoking before the second gym. It has crazy stats for that point of the game as well as a great level-up and TM movepool. It also can OHKO everything with Horn Drill if you use a X Accuracy. I suggest you look up a speedrun for RBY to see how truely bonkers it can be.

[@mjdxp5688]

@@drunkenpumpkins7401 I think Nidoking is at its best when it's your solo Pokémon that you put all your levels and stat EXP into. When you're raising five other Pokémon simultaneously, I could see the argument that it just doesn't grow fast enough for it to be worth using. If you're looking for a better team player, you could argue Clefable is better.

[@drunkenpumpkins7401]

@@ThePe5e People can use Nidoking to speedrun because it gets all the XP and gets overleveled, yeah sure than it destroys anyone........ My god it boggles my mind you miss something to basic.......

[@drunkenpumpkins7401]

@@mjdxp5688 I mean, its not bad doing it obviously, but people see it is more rose-tinted lenses than it actually is. It does the job. But it is basically a Thrash spammer until you get all the tools it needs which takes a lot of time. Until than it requires a lot of XP to keep up the leveling curve. For gen III that is not really a problem due to STAB dig + Double kick doing supper effective damage to things until you get the correct tools, so the XP investment is absolutely worth it. Clefable has low attack, but you get body slam kinda quickly, so maybe it's worth it. Personally I think Gravelar is kinda slept on since rock resisting normal is really good in gen 1 + it learns Dig very early which is a (in gen 1) a 100 BP move.

[@Robert399]

It's great that there are so many strong pokemon in Black/White that still feel distinct and fun to use and aren't quite "press A to win": - Darmanitan hits insanely hard but isn't quite fast enough to always hit first and its strongest move has recoil. - Archeops doesn't have those concerns but Rock/Flying can be vulnerable and it can't hold an item. - Krookodile has strong dual stab in Earthquake and Crunch but isn't quite fast enough to reliably hit first and has a ton of fun offensive and defensive type interactions. (- Excadrill, yeah, is pretty much a strict upgrade on Krookodile... that's kinda the problem with Steel type. I guess the 1 thing I could say is its abilities aren't as good as Intimidate/Moxie?) - Even Lilligant can be a power house with Own Tempo, Quiver Dance, Petal Dance but it's held back by just being a mono Grass type without good coverage. Oh also I love how you (and your rivals) kinda get 2nd starters in the elemental monkeys that cover the weakness of your 1st starter. Starter + monkey + some of the above makes a really fun, well-rounded team. My only complaints are the lack of good Water, Psychic and Ghost types and that there seems to be a bias towards physical attackers.

[@christophertsongos1261]

It's great to see Gyarados get some respect

[@Nocturnalanimalswatchout]

Thanks for this nickleback cage

[@ofanichan]

Omg… he does kinda look like Chad Kroeger and Nicholas Cage’s love child…

[@kylepedersen2010]

18:14 voice crack

[@ApexChrisHansen]

Arch00ps

[@lucasrangel9150]

Just finished a nuzlocke of Platinum, Gyarados hardcore saved my run. I had a Gyarados also in gen 3, but didn’t really end up using him a lot since all its water moves are special and I gave earthquake to my starter (Mudkip). But in gen 4, Dragon Dance Waterfall/Earthquake legitimately sweeps entire elite 4 members, and in the Cynthia right, after I lost my Weavile (didn’t realize avalanche was a minus priority move when planning), Gyarados was the one to take care of Garchomp and the rest of her team

[@bennet6730]

You can catch Larvitar in the Safari Zone 😉

[@zxien1]

For gen 3 I personally think the ludicolo line is the strongest and am surprised you didn't bring it up. It has the gen 1 nidoking effect where you can evolve it at level 14 then give it a waterstone. using raindance and swift swim is the equivalent of alakazam setting up a turn with calm mind, or you can use rain dance and toxic for a more stall oriented build with rain dish. The main drawback is you cannot get a waterstone until late game, but since you're including alakazam in this which is a trade pokemon, you may as well include trading items like a waterstone.

[@Alexand3ry]

Gen 1 - no comments on *Gengar*? Jrose11 will tell you that Gastly is one of the most dominating 1st-stage mons, and Gengar one of the most dominating 3rd-stage. The only real mark against it is needing to reach Lavender Tower... but you can still do that three gyms in. And no need to EXP Share an Abra or Magikarp.

[@otterdonnelly9959]

Surprised no Starmie mention too.

[@GaleStormwind]

The main problem with gen 1 gengar is its moves compared to alakazam, it offers a sleep option, but everything it shares with alakazam but does worse

[@smithplayspokemon]

Totally - it’s just kind of late

[@MazterP28]

@@otterdonnelly9959right it learns everything except fire moves.

[@user-mp9pn9bz3z]

I still can't believe people don't see how problematic is Gengar. - it's found in middle game - has no decent moves by level up (don't tell me it gets Night Shade and Dream Eater because i'll laugh in your face) - has no Ghost STAB (which would be useless anyway since in gen 1 it has the absurd problem of Psychic being immune to Ghost AND Ghost being Physical while Gengar is a Special attacker) - you either go against Sabrina first to get Psychic for Koga (stupid because Sabrina is harder so you would do it later) or go against Koga first (terrible because it's the best occasion in which you could use Psychic with Gengar but you still don't have the TM) - is a trade evolution (which i still don't know how people don't already consider a disqualifying problem)

[@faceurhell]

For Legends Arceus, I found Alakazam to be the best early 'mon. By sequence breaking into the area on the right of the far major field by climbing at odd angles, you can reach it early. If you get an ultra ball early, you can catch that raid/boss level 60 Alakazam and just glide through the game using it to tank damage for other high level 'mon as you unlock the ability to control higher and higher level 'mon.

[@SeisTavanel]

Even the Snorlax guarding that area would be incredible if caught early enough

[@redd104]

18:14 crazy voice crack💀

[@djriqky9581]

15:21 Generation 3 already had physical and special split moves, sp atk and atk. It also added stricter change on moves certain pokemon could use and different EV IV system from the Gameboy color games up until sword and shield

[@owengonzalez6819]

The silhouettes of Gastrodon and Porygon-Z kinda got me cause I just beat Platinum and they were on my team for a long time. Up-Grade is found in Eterna Galactic Building, instant Porygon2 with respectable usage of Psybeam and (surprisingly consistent) Thunder; Gastrodon took some time cause it had to evolve first but it picked up after it got Surf and Earthquake. Porygon-Z kept getting better with Psychic and Thunderbolt and eventually Tri Attack which is even better with Adaptability. I brought both of them with me to the E4 and I don’t regret it

[@EpicurusWasRight]

Hoenn did a fantastic job balancing pokes. Walrein is the best but you get him really late. Shiftry is awesome but he’s stuck as nuzleaf until late game. Aggron is great but he’s an enormous chore to raise. Flygon has great typing and move pool. Gardevoir is powerful but lots of pokes know bite, have dark or steel type, know dark, flying, or fighting moves, or have large health pools. And zigzagoon was a perfect because he could learn 5 hms and could find random treasure

[@WesleyAPEX]

I would say Nidokings Ground Poison typing is better than Water gyarados. Weak to grass and electric.

[@primalops2096]

Garadose is4x weak to electric it's flying water that's really it's only threat

[@casamir1]

Being weak to water, ice, earth, psy is rough

[@BoneWalker]

Main issue with Gyarados is how long it actually takes to level up that Mt Moon Magikarp, being slow growth rate essentially means you're gonna need almost double the xp to hit 20 that most other pokemon at that point would require. It also needs to almost exclusively be switch trained, doubling the exp requirement again since it's only gonna be getting half exp.

[@FoxTrotse]

Yall sleeping on zubat in emerald

[@TheRogBG]

Zubat is trash bro wtf you talking about

[@Oshawaves]

Great vid pat! Wondering if you considered Dynamax Adventures for the strongest pokemon in sword and shield, since although you do get urshifu by gym 3, you can get a level 70 100% obidient legendary through DA's wheras kubfu is level 10, and you've gotta get to gym 3 before it becomes the monster urshifu is. So you COULD have a pheramosa at the start of the gym, which is absolutely frail but it has 151 BST and 137 ATK and SPATK, Or any other legendary like zygarde, giratina, black or white kyurem, rayquaza etc etc Sorry to get all nerdy about this video LMAO, just really curious if these pokemon were taken into consideration :p

[@FuriousHaunter]

Fun fact mega Aero makes x and y 1st stage only run reliable and not a nightmare

[@RobloxGuardian]

Hey. I really like your script. It's well made, especially the way you introduced Mewto, Metagross and Tyranitar

[@Magic_Ice]

You can catch Metagross during the main game in a lot of games like in Black 2, in Sun, and also the special event beldum in ORAS.

[@papapineapple]

Not in its original game though.

[@codinginflow]

This makes me want to play the games again

[@SteamyNachos77]

*Imported cheese has entered the chat*

[@paulhunter34]

I think Marowak should be an honorable mention for FireRed/LeafGreen. If you go through the effort of getting the Thick Club item, you can *double* its base 80 attack, and with stab Bonemerang at Level 25 (which is just as powerful as Earthquake), it absolutely obliterates anything that can be hit by it. Marowak also has respectable bulk with base 110 defense and base 80 special defense, so it can tank neutral hits fairly easily. It's not fast enough to be a sweeper, so it can't solo long battles, but it's very efficient at knocking out strong opponents. I'm currently using it for the first time with Bonemerang, Rock Slide, and Strength (and Rock Smash because the fourth move doesn't matter), and I'm loving it.

[@Shadowless678]

How did the gen 3 starter Pokémon get megas but gen 6 starters got none IT THE SAME GENERATION THEY ADDED MEGAS BUT THE STARTER OF THAT GENERATION DONT EVEN GET IT

[@Alexosrs-n1g]

Really cool and fun video. Makes me want to experience these older games again with the G-man.

[@floatingf8783]

Skip ad 6:01

[@bartholomeww]

i used to watch your call of duty origins videos before i was even 10 love you bro keep making goated videos

[@jamalstoe9782]

ayee mate i used to watch u back when u did zombies 😂 nice to see ur still active

[@ivanbluecool]

Buddy cop movie of your starter and the best Pokemon to catch

[@frankiecandelaria2694]

Hey Pat! I’ve been following you since the Black Ops 2 Zombies days 👋🏼

[@Gadi872]

Imma make you all angy Chikorita is my favorite starter pokémon ever

[@jacquelineking5783]

I think people like chikorita we just acknowledge that it is the worst starter in terms of usefulness. Maybe it will be on of the starters in the Legends game they are making and give it a form that is an improvement.

[@bvd_vlvd]

@@jacquelineking5783 fr why would that make me angry?? Does he think everyone's favourite pokemon is Mega Rayquaza lol

[@EveryTimeIDavid]

I love all the jhoto starters.

[@Gadi872]

@@bvd_vlvd no i just think everyone's favorite is Mudkip

[@matthewkuscienko4616]

As far as I'm concerned, the only good thing about the Chicorita line for a playthrough is how cute it is

[@davidsanchezparedes6884]

Good video, I like the format and your work, although I disagree on the first gent, you missed the fact that in gen 1 nidokkng can learn thunderbolt before Misty's gym, and you can use xcauracy to never miss 1 hit KO moves.

[@user-mp9pn9bz3z]

I liked the video but i have to say 3 things 1. Can't believe you too forgot to mention Simipour for Black and White. It's literally the best Water type for those games: fast, good offensive stats, very good moveset and you get him super early. And it gets even more relevant since all the other Water types are not really fantastic. There is only 1 downside which is that you need to choose Snivy as starter, but the ironic thing is this: since all 3 starters and the other 2 elemental monkeys are either medium or mediocre, it's a very good choice to choose Snivy just to be able to get Simipour (and then put Snivy in the box and get Pokemon that are better than the starters and other 2 elemental monkeys). 2. You should account A LOT more the fact that trade is unavailable for a lot of people, so Alakazam/Gengar/Golem are not realistic Pokemon to consider. The same goes for the fact that realistically nobody is going to bother with that Salamance thing in Sun/Moon. 3. Magnezone is very slow and slow Pokemon are the worst in gameplay because sadly the only way to be able to enjoy story gameplay is to focus on fast offense.

[@DawnLong-s3k]

You're better off swapping out Simipour for Seismitoad. Palpitoad is very good against Elesa AND Clay. Plus, Seismitoad has a wider movepool and better stats than Simipour. You should have a Seismitoad by the time you've reached the Celestial Tower.

[@SIDASOKA]

Ehhhh not exactly. None of the elemental monkeys except Simisage is decent. Like the person above me already said Seismitoad is a much better option for a water type if u don't have Oshawatt as ur starter. In a general play through Tepig or Oshawatt is a much preferred choice than Snivy. It lacks offense and has limited movepool and is strong only against Clay and is a liability against almost the whole game. In B2/W2 it's much better bcoz it gets access to move tutors but still mediocre. Now competitive gameplay wise Serperior is arguably one of the best starters overall among all generation bcoz of Contrary.

[@user-mp9pn9bz3z]

@@DawnLong-s3k If you actually go to look at their movepools they are quite similar in variety and power, however Seismitoad is slower and has less Special Attack than Simipour and there are much better Ground types or good Pokemon with Ground move (Krookodile, Excadrill, Darmanitan with Dig, etc...). Any logical person would take Simipour+good Ground over Seismitoad. Hell, in case of need you can even teach Simipour Dig. So no, Seismitoad is FAR from being that better

[@user-mp9pn9bz3z]

@@SIDASOKA As i wrote, the best choice is getting Snivy ONLY to get Simipour then put Snivy in the box and get other Pokemon that are better than the starters (which there are plenty). Grass type is usually best avoided since it has a ton of weakness and covers types you already cover with other moves (Electric moves for Water, Water moves for Ground and Rock) so Simisage is absolutely not the best elemental monkey. Even more if you consider that literally after 2nd gym you get Grass Knot which, guess what, Simipour can learn.

[@SIDASOKA]

@@user-mp9pn9bz3z I mean I guess. But that's a very specific play style which in mass majority doenst hold up. For seasoned players or who are playing the game again and again that play style fits. On the other Hand John is speaking more on the general gameplay style. Starters are a very core asset for almost 90% players. I'm not exactly refuting your point. U have a certain gameplay style which doenst necessarily suit the general mass so it doesn't exactly match with what is a definite better Pokemon with that style. While here it's being discussed more so regardless of what starter you choose which would the objectively best Pokemon for each region. 😅

[@tankermottind]

It's not available to players today since it was an online promotion, but when I played Pokemon White, Victini was one of the most valuable members of my team (Empoleon, Victini, Archeops, Electric Rotom, Krookodile, Haxorus, and Excadrill). Meanwhile the Lucario I caught for White 2 was hilariously OP, my primary memory of White 2 was collapsing into hysterical laughter when I one-shotted Ghetsis' Kyurem with Close Combat. Talk about an anticlimax! I don't remember Lucario much in X/Y, I might have just stuffed him in the PC because I had already used Lucario in both Platinum and White 2. However, as a Charizard fanboy, I steamrolled almost the entire game Mega Charizard Y. With Sunny Day, anything I couldn't instantly destroy with Flamethrower, I could instantly destroy with Solar Beam. After that I dropped out of the series because it was just too easy, especially since I was then getting into much harder PC RPGs like Pillars of Eternity and Baldur's Gate I/II.

[@MoonMoon-qt7io]

GEN 1: Tauros and Snoralx are wayyyyyyy stronger

[@ApparitionFVT]

Funny story, my first holographic card pull in 1st gen base set was……Gyrados 😂 I fell in love with it from that point on and still love it now. Mainly because such a laughed at Pokémon in Magikarp roflstomps when it evolves. So while you might get sick saying him over and over, my smile just gets bigger and bigger 😂

[@psyrtemis]

Unpopular opinion Gen 4 Gyarados is absolutely garbage as both a water and flying type. Also M-Gardevoir > M-Alakazam because Fairy destroys Sydney and Drake in the E4, which Alakazam can't do 😅

[@coltencouch8286]

Flying type from an offensive angle understandable but it still avoids ground. Plus got physical waterfall gen 4 which gave it one of the strongest water stabs around which helps knock out that ground type you just switched in on.

[@bluezgoldz]

love pokemon like gardevoir, alakazam, and gengar. with their decent to high speed, and insane sp atk. ontop of that, they have access to flamethrower, thunder bolt and icebeam. you more or less cover everything and can do super effective dmg on most pokemon. I always recommend my friends to get them when they asked me. tbh you only need either 1 of them to beat the entire game easily.

[@SpendyVG]

Smith, what is up with your Pokemon name pronounciations?? Garde-VORE? JAI-rachi is crazy!!!! Rai-olu was a bit weird too, go study the anime, I'm begging.

[@booradley6832]

By far the most impressive part of the Starly line is the amount of puns and references packed into three names. Starly is a reference to the common blackbird, the Starling, as well as to the sky and to being "the star of the show" as the first normal-flying type you find on the first route that is actually something to be feared even into the tournament circuit. Side note: Until gen 9s ultra power creep, Staraptor's Brave Bird was known for nearly always being able to secure the kamikaze takedown to remove a threat you want dealt with immediately even if it takes reduced damage from flying type moves, especially the Life Orb/Reckless build. Staravia is again the same but its now the star-bird or star-avia(n.) Staraptor carries all from before but also now references the bird growing to be one of the major avian terrors of the sky that sends small animals running for shelter and to the genetic line of the dinosaurs they descended from, all being Raptors. I honestly find Starly the most intimidating of the three though. Something about that little creature just stares a hole right through me. They're all cool though, its oldest form does have a pretty cool haircut, especially impressive for an animal that has no hair.

[@steffenweppler9612]

Staraptor also gets Close Combat, which, being fighting type, is super effective against rock, making it even possible to one or two-shot Golem and similar give it a Life Orb to increase the Brave Bird + Reckless one-shot even more, just watch out, it could easily wipe itself out with to much recoil

[@cardchipthesparkyferretboy2204]

damn only 1209124896210948 views in 0.4 seconds smith fell off HARD

[@Gadi872]

Damn 0 likes in 1 minute, cardchipthesparkyferretboy2204, you fell off extremely hard

[@FlitzeFritze]

Didn't know Nicolas Cage is into Pokemon! Great content.