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#44: Empoleon (and pre-evolutions)
Another starter Pokemon, this time from Gen IV. Empoleon is a steel-clad penguin, which already screams “awesome”. Water/Steel is a great type, too, in particular resisting such attack combinations as Water/Dragon that otherwise have wide neutral coverage. He also has great Special Attack and good Special Defense, and while his Speed is low, he can use Agility to remedy that. Empoleon is best known for the dangerous SubPetaya set, in which he uses Agility to boost his Speed, then uses Substitute to get to 25% health, which not only triggers the Petaya Berry and gives him a Special Attack boost, but also triggers his Torrent ability, further boosting his Water-type attacks and leading to one of the most powerful special attackers out there. He mainly gets Ice Beam and Grass Knot for coverage, and can use defensive sets that, among other things, can set up Stealth Rock. Empoleon looks like he is a king, and his presence on the battlefield is definitely a kingly one.
#43: Yanmega
Bug/Flying is such a common typing that it can be hard to take any of its members seriously. Yanmega is a huge exception. The guy himself is huge—I certainly do not want to run into a six-foot-long dragonfly, especially one that can tear me apart with the shockwaves from his wings—and looks absolutely menacing. In battle, Yanmega has a very high Special Attack, but is mostly dangerous because of his two abilities. Speed Boost will quickly turn Yanmega into a fast dragonfly of doom, while Tinted Lens is an ability that turns not-very-effective moves into neutral moves (and the rare 4x-not-very-effective move to a regular not-very-effective move), giving Yanmega incredible coverage from STAB alone. Those STAB moves are Bug Buzz and Air Slash, and both do plenty of damage regardless of the ability chosen; Yanmega also can learn U-Turn, which is handy to make a getaway (more useful with Tinted Lens) and Psychic. Whether it is by accelerating to unstoppable speeds or tearing through opponents that think they can resist him, Yanmega is a dragonfly that is much more dragon than fly.
#42: Gorebyss
Here’s an elegant, seemingly low-level Pokemon that is much more fearsome than one might suspect at first sight. I like Gorebyss’s elegant design more than that of Huntail, as it makes it that much more awesome that when this Pokemon comes out of her shell (by forcibly smashing it herself—it’s best not to think of what shell it smashes), she becomes an absolutely ferocious sea monster. Shell Smash is possibly the best stat-boosting move in the game, boosting Attack, Special Attack, and Speed by two levels, simply in exchange for lowering Defense and Special Defense by one level (which can be remedied with a White Herb). It’s a bit weird that of all the Pokemon that can learn this killer move, Gorebyss is the only one in my Top 100 (aside from Smeargle; others were close to entering the top 100, though), though compared to others, Gorebyss does have one additional trick up her sleeve: she can Baton Pass those boosts to a teammate that can really make use of those boosts to tear through the opposition. It really says something that, despite being an NU Pokemon, Gorebyss has an analysis for every tier up through OU and even Ubers! Definitely do not underestimate this pink fish.
#41: Jellicent (and Frillish)
I like jellyfish a lot. Blame Kuragehime. I also like the concept of a water ghost a lot. Blame Captain Murasa. Combining these two concepts? Genius. The obvious sexual dimorphism is cool in its own way; the male form’s epic moustache is particularly great. In battle, Jellicent mainly serves as a specially-defensive Pokemon, thanks to good HP and Special Defense stats, that can disrupt enemies. His unique typing gives him numerous resistances and immunities, while his abilities, Water Absorb and Cursed Body (may disable any attack that hits it), are both cool in their own ways. His movepool is best suited for defensively-oriented attacks like Scald, Will-o-Wisp, Recover, Taunt, and Night Shade, though he can also attack with moves like Shadow Ball, Water Spout, Ice Beam, and Energy Ball. But most importantly, Jellicent is a ghost jellyfish. That’s plenty for me.
#40: Ampharos (and pre-evolutions)
Oh, cool, an electric sheep! Mareep was an early favorite in my Silver playthrough, and I enjoyed training him and evolving him into Flaaffy and then… wait, what is this guy?! Ampharos is a puzzling final evolution to these electric sheep, looking less like a sheep and more like… actually, I have no idea what Ampharos is supposed to look like. He’s just kind of… weird. He’s rather cute, though. Anyway, Ampharos is also unusual for being more of a defensive Electric-type, having a fairly low Speed but decent defensive stats to go with his good Special Attack. That this Pokemon functions as a lighthouse beacon is probably the coolest part of his concept. Beyond that, though, there’s just a lot of fond nostalgia for this guy, who was my main Electric-type through much of Silver.
#39: Metagross
One of two pseudo-Legendaries in Gen III, Metagross has a lot of cool things going for him. He has an awesome design, a neat concept based on a supercomputer, a cool Steel/Psychic typing, killer stats, and an awesome movepool. He’s one of the very few Pokemon to learn Meteor Mash (only he and Clefairy can learn it leveling up, plus two others in events), which is just a cool-sounding move, and he gets various Psychic attacks, Earthquake, Agility, and even Explosion, back when that was good.
#38: Keldeo
Of the Swords of Justice Pokemon, Keldeo, the event Pokemon of the group, is definitely the cutest. Taking inspiration from the kelpie and the kirin for the design, Keldeo is primarily based on d’Artagnan from the original The Three Musketeers. D’Artagnan, like Keldeo, is actually the “fourth musketeer” that joins the group the latest and is the youngest, and like d’Artagnan, Keldeo is mentored and watched over by the other Swords of Justice. In battle, he has the unique position among the group of being the special attacker, with an incredibly high Special Attack but not so good Attack; basically, the opposite of Terrakion. That said, Keldeo has a secret weapon—specifically, a Secret Sword—that uses his high Special Attack but hits the opponent on their Defense stat, allowing him to get by various special walls (particularly those whose name end in –sey). With that move as his main Fighting-type STAB and the standard Surf/Hydro Pump for a Water-type STAB, as well as the good Speed that all the Swords of Justice have, Keldeo can easily storm through opposing teams with powerful attacks. He’s particularly fearsome in rain. Not bad for a cute water pony.
#37: Azelf
The Lake Trio is an interesting group of legendaries, although I’m not too keen on how they’re all pure Psychic—hence, why only one of them makes the list. Azelf is cool for various reasons. Conceptually, while the others are based on knowledge and emotion, which are neat but pretty standard, Azelf is based on willpower, something that is very interesting as a part of the human psyche. Azelf is also by far the most offensive of the group (very fitting for his being based on willpower, which is the most active of the three), with very high Attack and Special Attack and a very good Speed to go along with it. To go with that, Azelf has a nice movepool with all sorts of attacks, both physical and special, and including moves like U-Turn and Explosion, the latter of which admittedly isn’t too good now but still has its uses. Competitively, Azelf’s access to Taunt and Stealth Rock make him usable as a lead, and he can also set up Reflect and Light Screen quickly, or he can go a more straight-out offensive route, either by powering up with Nasty Plot or just putting four attacks together and going to town. Azelf’s combination of speed and power and his concept of representing willpower make him my favorite of the Lake Trio and gives him a high spot on this list.
#36: Shaymin
This grass pixie does admittedly face competition with Celebi, but he’s got plenty to like about him. He’s definitely adorable in his base form, and he can also transform into a part-Flying Sky Forme with exposure to the Gracidea Flower, at least during daytime hours. In his base form, Shaymin has the standard base 100 stats across the board that make him overall versatile, and he gets a very nice STAB signature attack in Seed Flare, which is basically a Grass-type Fire Blast, but with an incredible secondary effect in that it has a 40% chance of dropping the opponent’s Special Defense by two levels, allowing Shaymin to plow through even some opponents that think they can tank the little hedgehog. Add in some nice coverage moves in Psychic, Earth Power, and Air Slash (carried over from his Sky Forme) and you have a Pokemon that is already quite solid. However, Shaymin becomes absolutely terrifying in his Sky Forme. His stats get skewed towards having great Special Attack and incredible Speed (in exchange for lower defenses), and to make things worse, his ability changes from Natural Cure to Serene Grace, which brings Seed Flare’s chance of cutting Special Defense to 80%, and also gives him an Air Slash with a 60% chance of flinching the opponent, which combined with his speed, makes him a great way to annoy your opponent with repeated flinches. And he still has all those great coverage options. Some beasts become terrifying at night, but this is one Pokemon that you don’t want to have to face during daytime.
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