Top 100 Pokemon "Countdown to Pokemon X & Y" Edition #3 & 2: #15-#6

I apologize for being late with this and missing one day. This will be a double entry with 10 Pokemon to make up for that. As we approach and break into the top 10, the following Pokemon are ones that I can say are among my absolute favorites.

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#15: Espeon (and Eevee)

Espeon is my favorite of the Eeveelutions for several reasons. For one thing, she has by far the best design and concept of the Eeveelutions, being based on a nekomata and all. Beyond that, she's got a strong Special Attack and good Speed, though without much of a movepool, she hasn't gotten much use in the past. However, Gen V gave her something incredible that immediately sent her from NU into OU: the ability Magic Bounce. Being able to send any non-damaging offensive move back to the opponent instantly is huge; it protects the team from entry hazards, it blocks Taunt and status moves, and it knocks back Roars and Whirlwinds... make no mistake, Magic Bounce is an amazing ability. With it, Espeon can set up Reflect and Light Screen without worrying about Taunt, or just present herself as a dangerous offensive threat while still bouncing entry hazards back to the opponent. Magic Bounce also means Espeon has an incredibly important role on Baton Pass teams, as she can prevent the opponent from being able to Taunt the team or Roar/Whirlwind away the boosts, among other things. Being able to boost herself with Calm Mind, and use those boosts alongside any other boosts passed to her to power up Stored Power, means she can contribute both boosts and offensive capabilities to such teams as well. Her unique role in competition definitely helps to make her my favorite Eeveelution.

I've talked a lot about the Eeveelutions, but I think it's also worthwhile here to talk about their shared progenitor, Eevee. The whole concept of having several related Pokemon evolve from one Pokemon is a neat concept that over the generations has worked out quite well, and in addition to the three in this list (Leafeon, Jolteon, and Espeon), there's also great Pokemon like Vaporeon, who can support the team with massive Wishes or stall with a Hydration/Rest combo under Rain, Umbreon, who serves as a defensive cleric in UU, and Glaceon, whom you do not want to face in hail. (There's also Flareon, who desperately needs Flare Blitz...) That all the Eeveelutions can learn Baton Pass is also really cool, and many of them can use the move in various ways to pass along various things. Eevee herself is an adorable little Pokemon, and can even function in the Little Cup with her Adaptability ability making her Returns incredibly powerful, as well as having a stronger-than-normal Quick Attack. Eevee and her family of evolutions have always been very popular in the Pokemon world, and with a new Fairy-type evolution coming next generation, it does not look like that will change.

#14: Lapras

There are just some Pokemon that you just love. Lapras is that Pokemon for me. She's not a particularly notable combatant, being an NU Pokemon and even then being among the "underused of NU", but this is one case where it's not her battle capabilities that I love about her, but rather, just what she is as a Pokemon. She has a neat concept based on the infamous Loch Ness monster, she has a very lovely design, and she is pretty much the Pokemon you think of when you think of Surfing over water. That they are intelligent and can understand human speech is just another cool thing about them. Lapras isn't helpless on the battlefield, either; she has good stats including a high HP and solid stats except for Speed, and has a very nice movepool with all the requisite Water and Ice STAB moves plus moves like Thunderbolt, Dragon Dance, Perish Song (though good luck trying to capture a Lapras that knows that move!), and Heal Bell, among many, many others. But in the end, Lapras is just a really great Pokemon, and that's all she needs to be.

#13: Galvantula (and Joltik)

This electric tarantula takes my favorite type, Electric, and adds some very nice flavor to it. He has a cool design and a very unique Electric/Bug typing. He also really makes the most out of his Compoundeyes ability, which increases the accuracy of moves by a multiplicative factor of 30%; notably, this means he can use Thunder with a very respectable 91% accuracy (especially for a base 120 power Electric move with no drawbacks and a 30% paralysis chance). Add in Bug Buzz and Energy Ball/Giga Drain for coverage, as well as Volt Switch, and you have a very solid Pokemon overall. Galvantula is absolutely incredible in-game, where Electric and Bug hit a ton of things super effectively, and throwing around Thunders outside of Rain is rarely as fun as it is when it has 91% accuracy. Between White and White2 I experimented with some different Pokemon on my main team, but Galvantula had a place on my team in both games, and for very good reason.

#12: Absol

If other Dark-types have perhaps been a bit too... shady for my tastes, Absol goes against all of that by instead being very much a good Pokemon (albeit one that's still willing to Sucker Punch an unsuspecting foe). He has a very cool concept based on the Chinese bai ze of mythology (also known as the hakutaku). Having a strong sense of duty and being able to sense oncoming disasters, he is instead mistaken for bringing those disasters himself, which does make you sorry for the poor guy. Not so much in-battle, mind you, where his incredibly high Attack and his Super Luck ability (which doubles his chances of getting a Critical Hit) mean most of his opponents will get caved by this beast. His strong Sucker Punch is a major threat to any attacker, while moves like Night Slash and coverage moves like Psycho Cut and Stone Edge combo well with Super Luck for some potentially heavy damage. Absol also has Superpower as coverage and can boost with Swords Dance or trap certain opponents with Pursuit, and while his Base 75 Special Attack isn't too good, he has an incredible Special movepool, and while most of it is irrelevant, don't be surprised if one sends a dangerous Fire Blast your way. Absol is just such a great Pokemon, and I'm sure that one day, the people of the Pokemon world will learn to love him as well.

#11: Gallade

#10: Gardevoir (and pre-evolutions)

The one convenient thing about combining these two days’ posts is that I can talk about these two together, which I kind of need to do since they are so closely related to each other. The Ralts family was introduced in Gen III when Wally was lucky enough to catch one on his very first wild Pokemon encounter (while you had to wander around for an hour or so to find one), and became famous for the designs that resembled a human female that have caused quite some… interesting things in various fan works (this despite the fact that the family is 50% male and not technically part of the Humanshape egg group). Gallade was introduced in Gen IV as a special branch evolution from Kirlia, the middle form, and required said Kirlia to be male.

Shedding off his feminine appearance and going for a more masculine form, Gallade adopts a Psychic/Fighting type and has very good Attack and Special Defense stats. What I particularly like about Gallade is how his concept gives him blades on his elbows, and how he gets a general “sword” theme overall, which is really cool. Gallade has decent abilities in Steadfast and Justified (from the Dream World) and has an incredible movepool. STAB attacks include Psycho Cut, Close Combat, and Drain Punch, and he has an incredible set of coverage moves based off his blade concept, with moves like Night Slash, Leaf Blade, and Stone Edge; he also gets Shadow Sneak for priority. He can boost with moves like Swords Dance (naturally) and Bulk Up, and he can even go a defensive/support role with Wish and Will-o-Wisp. Gallade has a good amount of versatility and is a great addition to the Ralts family.

I confess: I like Gardevoir’s feminine appearance a lot. (I’m also fine with the fact that half of them are male, as my male Gardevoir nicknamed Bridget can attest to.) I also really like her very protective nature, as well as the role she has in the original Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games. Gardevoir’s stats are the same as Gallade’s but with Attack and Special Attack switched, and she can use the very useful ability Trace, which can screw over certain Pokemon depending on their ability. Gardevoir has an incredibly huge movepool; she has her Psychic for STAB and coverage moves in Signal Beam, Focus Blast, and Thunderbolt, and has a massive number of support moves. She can boost with Calm Mind, set up Reflect and Light Screen, burn opponents with Will-o-Wisp, serve as a cleric with Wish or Heal Bell, or even use Destiny Bond, Healing Wish, or Memento to either take an opponent down with her or sacrifice herself to pave the way for the teammate ahead of her. Really, the entire Ralts family is fantastic and well worth putting on your team.

#9: Lilligant (and Petilil)

Here’s another Pokemon with an elegant, feminine design (and this time, there are no traps to worry about: all Lilligant are female). In addition to her design, Lilligant has a fun concept of being a dancer, while also being very much a Grass-type. This is all well and good, but behind her charming looks lies an incredibly fierce fighter. As a dancer, Lilligant gets all sorts of “Dance” moves… and that includes Quiver Dance. She already has a high Special Attack and okay Speed, and with just a single boost, she can become incredibly fast and powerful. Having Sleep Powder just makes it easier for her to dance up, and if she gets multiple boosts, not even Pokemon that resist her attacks can stand up to her. It really says something that Lilligant only needs her Grass-type STAB—either Giga Drain to last longer or Petal Dance for more damage—in order to be threatening. She can use Chlorophyll for an extra speed boost in Sun or Own Tempo to use Petal Dance without getting confused afterwards; from there, it’s just putting an opponent to sleep, then using Quiver Dance and sweeping through an entire team. She is an incredible Pokemon in-game and has been a lot of fun to use. Lilligant’s charming design and threatening presence in the battlefield has danced her way into my heart to become one of my top 10 Pokemon, as well as my favorite of all Gen V Pokemon.

#8: Blastoise (and pre-evolutions)

Squirtle was my very first Pokemon. Somehow, in my younger days of Pokemon, the little water-type turtle was the one that attracted me the most. That he evolves into a tortoise with giant water cannons is just an added bonus. As far as "awesome" Pokemon designs go, Blastoise is probably my favorite, being simple yet still totally rocking those water cannons. In the metagame, Blastoise is best known as UU's best Rapid Spinner, being able to Scald Ghost-types or even use Foresight to be able to still pull off a Rapid Spin against them to get rid of entry hazards. He doesn't do too much else there; he can use Roar or Dragon Tail for phazing, or use Toxic, but otherwise he sticks to his main role of team spinner. He's a lot more fun to use in-game, though, where you can blast opponents with all sorts of water attacks, including Water Spout. Blastoise definitely holds huge nostalgia value for me, and those awesome cannons just seal the deal as my favorite starter Pokemon and one of my favorite Pokemon of all time.

#7: Skarmory

There was no way I wasn't going to love this Pokemon. Skarmory was one of the crazier discoveries I made in my Silver playthrough, and from the start I found this steel bird awesome. He has a great design--not quite as full of sheer awesomeness as Blastoise, but he definitely comes close--and he's absolutely incredible in-battle. He has an incredible Base 140 Defense, which is already really nice, but his Steel/Flying typing only makes that high Defense even harder to crack; he has multiple resistances and immunities and only two weaknesses in Fire and Electric. Before Gen III, those two types were always Special, which meant Skarmory was essentially impenetrable as a physical wall. Even when Gen IV provided physical moves in those types, Skarmory was still the premier physical wall, as he gained Roost for healing, could escape from Magnet Pull with a Shed Shell, and besides, physical Fire and Electric attacks weren't that common. Gen V gave him one more boost by improving his Sturdy ability to allow him to take an otherwise lethal hit if he's at full health. Skarmory typically wields only a handful of moves in the metagame, though they are all effective; he lays entry hazards (usually Spikes, as he can easily last long enough to lay down multiple layers, though Stealth Rock is also an option), he Whirlwinds opponents away to rack up damage on those hazards, he Taunts opponents, he heals with Roost, and he goes for some solid damage with Brave Bird (or Drill Peck if you don't like recoil). In-game, he makes for a great Fly user (hint: teach him Taunt and the opponent will be forced to futilely attack you while you're in the air) and you can also use Steel Wing for additional STAB. This steel bird of doom is quite simply incredible no matter how you look at him. 

#6: Latias

The Lati twins together are both cool, but I've decided only to put one of them here in my top list, and the one that takes a place as my favorite non-event legendary, favorite Gen III Pokemon, and also one of my top 10 Pokemon of all time, is the sister, Latias. Both of the Lati twins have a very unique design, with Latias having that extra feminine charm to her (yes, I like feminine charm, you have a problem with that?). To add to that, Latias is incredible in battle. Latias appears in the metagame in two forms, one without her and her brother's signature item, Soul Dew, that is solidly OU, and one with the Soul Dew that is definitively Uber. Even without her Soul Dew, Latias has a very high Special Defense and great Special Attack and Speed; note that Latios has the same stats as Latias but with Special Attack and Special Defense switched, making Latias the more defensive of the twins. She still has an incredible offensive presence, though. With a Soul Dew, her Special stats get a 50% boost, making her absolutely terrifying. In both tiers, Latias can launch powerful STAB attacks, particularly Draco Meteor, or the more reliable Dragon Pulse and the "pseudo-mixed attacker" move Psyshock. Her coverage moves include Surf and Thunder, which notably are moves that work well in rain, which is plentiful in both tiers. Then there is her large support movepool. Latias makes for a deadly Calm Mind user, as she become nearly impenetrable on the special side while also being incredibly powerful. She can also use Roost or Recover to restore her health. She can set up Reflect and Light Screen, she can sacrifice herself to heal a teammate with Healing Wish, and she can even Roar away opponents.

Also, you know how I like Pokemon that are humanlike and can take feminine forms? Well...

You all can have pair him with Misty, May, Dawn, Iris, or whomever; I will always ship Ash x Latias.

I REGRET NOTHING. (Art by amanda amada)