Disclaimer: This is, technically, my own personal Pokemon blog, written purely for my own reference and enjoyment. All who stumble upon this are welcome to read, but I do not take responsibility if any advice given here fails to win you battles.
Oh, and also, I currently do not battle in the metagame; this entire site is mostly based on in-game battling and any metagame notes are entirely based on very limited observation.
So you have this guy, Rampardos, who has a high Attack stat and this move called Head Smash that has 150 Base Power plus STAB, and he'll probably smash your Pokemon in with one hit... but the move also does half the damage it did to you back to him, the most of all "recoil" moves, which means he'll probably knock himself out in a few turns, if you didn't take advantage of his weakened state to knock him out already.
What's worse than facing that guy? Facing a guy who uses the same attack... and doesn't take any of that recoil damage back to himself.
That is a killer helmet he has there to keep his own noggin safe.
#86: Aron/Lairon/Aggron
These guys were among my main team from my first Pokemon Ruby playthrough, in which I used some admittedly... weak Pokemon. (How I thought Delcatty was worth using, I don't know.) But hey, not this guy. The Aron line is the first family of Rock/Steel types out there. As one can imagine from that typing, they have ridiculous Defense stats. Concept-wise, aside from the dinosaur influence, he also might be based on the iron-eating Pulgasari. Or he might just be an iron-eating dinosaur.
The whole line features some cool designs. Aron is cute for a little iron-eating critter made of rock and steel. Lairon looks more ferocious and beast-like, while still being a clear intermediary stage, and as for Aggron... I think that helmet of his speaks for itself.
Rule #1 of killer helmets: The more sharp things, the better.
Competitively, Aggron has some notable strengths and flaws. Rock/Steel is a double-edged typing; he has a number of resistances and can take hits from Normal- and Flying-type attacks all day, but Ground- and Fighting- attacks do 4x damage to him, which he will have trouble surviving even with a ridiculously high Base 180 Defense. He also won't like special attacks, with only a Base 60 Special Defense and Base 70 HP. Speed, at Base 50, is particularly low, though Aggron does have ways to fix that. Aggron does have a nice Base 110 Attack, which is important when considering his particular specialty.
Aggron's three abilities are Rock Head, Sturdy, and his Dream World ability Heavy Metal. Sturdy got a nice buff in Gen V that allows him to survive a hit from full health; this ironically means that a Lv. 1 Aron can be a dangerous threat, especially in sandstorm, as Sturdy allows him to survive a hit at 1 HP, he can then use Endeavor, and the opponent will be reduced to 1 HP and then KO'd by Sandstorm; if Aron is holding a Shell Bell, he can then even recover all his lost health back to full and get ready to do the same thing to the next opponent. This FEAR-like strategy isn't the most reliable, but Aron's one of the best Pokemon to abuse it, as he's immune to Sandstorm damage and poison, and it can be fun to play around with in-game or against unsuspecting friends.
Heavy Metal goes best with Heavy Slam, a Steel-type move that is more effective the heavier you are compared to the opponent. Aggron already has a weight of 793.7 lbs, meaning that any Pokemon weighing less than 158.7 lbs. gets hit by the full base 120 power plus STAB. Heavy Metal doubles Aggron's weight and thus makes any Pokemon less than 317.4 lbs. get hit at full strength.
However, these abilities all pale in comparison to Rock Head, which removes recoil from recoil-inducing moves. In his debut in Gen III, this mostly meant recoil-free Take Down and Double-Edge, which was cool to mess with in-game; however, once HeartGold and SoulSilver came out, this line got an amazing new Egg move to abuse with the ability, courtesy of their friend Rampardos: Head Smash.
Head Smash is a Rock-type attack with a whopping Base 150 Power (the same as the Hyper Beam family of moves), 80% accuracy, and inflicts half the damage done to the enemy to the user as recoil. This last part is a pretty harsh drawback for many of its users, but for Aggron with Rock Head, he gets to use the move with no drawback other than imperfect accuracy. And a Base 150 attack with STAB off Aggron's Base 110 Attack will put a massive dent in many things. He is one of only two Pokemon that can do this, the other being Relicanth, who has much lower Attack, so Aggron is quite unique here.
The last thing you see before having your own head smashed in.
As I mentioned before, Aggron has two ways to patch up his low Base 50 speed: Rock Polish and Autotomize. Both increase his Speed by two levels (that means his Speed doubles on the first use). The difference is that in addition to that, Autotomize also halves Aggron's weight. This makes the move worse if Aggron is using Heavy Slam, but otherwise better as it means Aggron won't take as much damage from the odd Low Kick or Grass Knot. (Don't expect a huge reduction, though; the Base Power of those two attacks just drops from 120 to 100.) Either move is good for Aggron, though.
Of course, a Pokemon like Aggron can set off strong Earthquakes, and he also has moves like Fire Punch and Aqua Tail for coverage. He also has Magnet Rise, if you want to temporarily get rid of one of his 4x weaknesses.
One cool thing about Aggron, according to Pokedex entries, is that not only does one claim an entire mountain as his territory, but if the mountain is hit by a landslide or fire, he'll actually go and haul topsoil and plant trees to restore the territory, meaning if you can manage to befriend one of these guys, you have one of the best Pokemon out there for environmental restoration projects.
Aggron: Now EPA-approved.
There will be a Pixie Theater episode for these last 5 Pokemon coming up, as well as the next Pokemon entry. Whichever one I finish first will go up first.
As for which Pokemon is next? How about a Pokemon that can see through walls?
Tangela was a relatively interesting Pokemon introduced in the first batch of 151 that had an odd stat distribution in that he was a pure Grass type with an abnormally high physical Defense. He also had a fairly high Special stat, which back then meant he took Special attacks pretty well too, but the Special split of Gen II ruined that by completely tanking his Special Defense. Still, he was an interesting, if odd, Pokemon; after all, it was a walking bundle of vines.
Then Gen IV gave it an evolution that is just beyond words.
What.
#87: Tangrowth
Seriously, Tangrowth is beyond my ability to describe him properly. The most I can gather is that he evolves from Tangela when leveled up while knowing AncientPower, so there's some kind of prehistoric theme going on here, perhaps that of a caveman... and that's all I got.
Tangrowth is a very perplexing Pokemon, in a fascinating sort of way. Who or what is that face behind all those vines? Do we really want to know? One thing's for sure, Tangrowth is by no means boring.
He's just a giant bundle of fun.
The real highlight of Tangrowth lies in his competitive aspects. Tangrowth has the highest Base Stat Total of any non-legendary Grass-type at 535; a good amount of that goes into his Defense, sitting at a nice, high Base 125. That is the third-highest Defense stat among all Grass-types, behind only Ferrothorn and the previously-covered Leafeon. Though unlike Leafeon, it's perhaps a bit more understandable why his Defense is that high; those vines look awfully dense. Not only that, but Tangrowth's Base 100 HP means his overall physical bulk is arguably the best of all Grass-types, with only the possible exception of Grass Arceus. Simply put, this guy will tank physical hits all day.
And like a tank, he not only takes a lot of damage, but dishes out a lot, too. Base 100 Attack and Base 110 Special Attack mean that he'll inflict quite a bit of pain with either physical or special moves, and that's not factoring in boosting moves like Swords Dance and Growth! His two big weaknesses, though, are a low Base 50 Special Defense and Speed; he'll fall pretty easily to special attacks, and his Speed is even lower than that of his pre-evolution, Tangela.
Now, Tangrowth does get Chlorophyll as an ability, which helps the Speed issue a bit if sun is available. Just remember that even with the doubler, a Base 50 Speed isn't going to outspeed everything. Still, Tangrowth can fit well onto sun teams with his high bulk and powerful attacks. Outside of sun, though, Tangrowth has a special tool thanks to the Dream World: the ability Regenerator. This ability restores 1/3 of his health upon switching out, which just makes him that much harder to take down.
Tangrowth's movepool has a lot of cool moves, the most notable being Power Whip. A Base 120 physical Grass move off Base 100 Attack will hurt, for sure. More than that, though, Tangrowth can use Swords Dance or Growth in the sun to raise his Attack sky-high, and with his bulk, he will easily gather a number of these boosts. After that, Power Whip will just mow down the competition.
Fierce Tangrowth is not something you want to have to face.
He also gets other great physical moves like Earthquake and Rock Slide for additional coverage.
On the other hand, if you want to use Tangrowth's higher Special Attack stat, there are plenty of options there, too. Giga Drain is a perfect fit for Tangrowth's tank role, restoring the HP lost to taking hits and making Tangrowth last even longer, all while doing solid damage against opponents. If more all-out offense is your style, Tangrowth learns Leaf Storm, a Base 140 attack that, off Base 115 Special Attack, is the single most powerful move in Tangrowth's arsenal with no stat boosts or drops. He also learns Focus Blast, of all things.
Tangrowth's support options are, like most Grass-types, numerous. Sleep Powder is obviously always a great move, and Leech Seed is yet another way Tangrowth can stay healthy for a long time. Synthesis also provides a lot of healing, though it is most effective when Tangrowth is part of a Sun team, or if you know other weather won't be around to disrupt it. He gets Knock Off just to screw with opponents that rely on items, and of course, there's the aforementioned boosting moves, Swords Dance and Growth, turning Tangrowth into a truly vicious threat.
Tangrowth is a Pokemon that is very perplexing in a charming way. We may never know just what is underneath all those vines (and some of us don't want to know), but he's cool all the same. He even has class, as evidenced by his anime appearance where he would randomly attack Pokemon that wandered into his forest with Absorb... and then leave his target a Berry to heal back up, because all he wanted to do was to get the energy to restore a dying tree.
As game-mechanic-defying as that plan is, it still cannot ignore the fact that trying to Absorb a Synthesis-using Grotle won't work that well because Synthesis has too little PP.
And, of course, there is nothing perplexing about his competitive strength.
Next time: This Pokemon will claim an entire mountain as his territory.
The original Red/Blue games featured two Fighting-types, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. Hitmonchan specialized in punch attacks, and Hitmonlee specialized in kick attacks. The two were not initially considered part of the same Pokemon family, until Gold and Silver came out and introduced their shared pre-evolution, Tyrogue. The little guy could evolve into either one of the two depending on his Attack and Defense stats at Level 20; a higher Attack would make him evolve into Hitmonlee, and a higher Defense meant he would evolve into Hitmonchan.
Gen II also introduced a third possible evolution, if Tyrogue's Attack and Defense were the same... one that would take the Hitmons' concept and literally turn it on its head.
Obviously named after the famous upside-down fighter Mr. Topanga. Or maybe that was Boy Meets World?
#88: Hitmontop
Hitmontop is the topsy-turvy, Rapid Spinning member of the Hitmon-family. His concept is by far the most unique; there's nothing particularly wrong with a "punch-specialist" or a "kick specialist" Pokemon, but a spinning-top-kicker Pokemon is something that just adds that extra bit of awesome that puts Hitmontop in the top 100. Also, according to his Pokedex entries, the centrifugal force from all that spinning multiplies the power of his kicks by 10. (There's a physics question in there that I'm sure the physics geeks out there are trying to solve right now.)
Also, he can dig so fast that he ends up drilling into the ground.
I'm headin' to China, y'all; I'll say hi to Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee while I'm there.
Really, there's not that much else to say about his concept and design; he's just one of the more fun Pokemon out there. Just watch a bunch of them in action:
(Man, the Pokemon Stadium minigames were fun. Why did they ever take them out of Colosseum and Battle Revolution, I don't know... though at least Colosseum had an awesome Story Mode to make up for it. But I digress.)
Competitively, Hitmontop is a curious Pokemon. He has the lowest Attack and Speed of all three Hitmons, but has by far the best Defense, making him even more of a defensive Pokemon than Hitmonchan. However, the real selling point to Hitmontop is his two regular abilities, both of which work wonderfully with his unique movepool. Hitmontop naturally learns Rapid Spin, and Intimidate allows him an easy switch-in to get ready to spin away dreaded entry hazards like Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Stealth Rock. He even has Foresight, which means that, if timed correctly, not even a Ghost can stop him from spinning away. Of course, there are a ton of uses for Intimidate; it is one of those all-time great abilities that makes the user's life easier and the target's life harder.
Hitmontop also can have the ability Technician. This is another great ability that boosts the power of any attack with a Base Power less than 60 by 50%. And as it turns out, Hitmontop happens to have a large number of such moves, particularly in the department of priority attacks like Fake Out and Mach Punch. His signature move, Triple Kick, is similarly boosted, though it is a bit iffy on reliability; still, you can give it a whirl (pun completely intended) in-game.
In fact, it is this Technician ability that has given Hitmontop a unique niche in the 2010 Pokemon Video Game Championships tournament. This tournament was a Gen IV Doubles tournament with one unique rule: each team was allowed to have one high-level legendary Pokemon along the lines of Groudon, Kyogre, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. This, of course, created a very unusual metagame where powerful beasts ruled the land... joined by a small guy spinning on his head.
Team up with a giant rain-summoning orca? Sure, why not?
"TopOgre" was one of the more unusual partnerships to come out of this tournament, but boy was it effective. The Kyogre half almost speaks for itself; as if summoning rain to support an entire team wasn't enough, he had access to Water Spout, which hits both opponents with effectively a 253 Base Power Water attack after STAB, rain boost, and the 0.75x factor for targeting multiple opponents. Simply put, that is going to hurt. Hitmontop's job, then, is to support Kyogre by striking with priority attacks, particularly the flinch-inducing Fake Out, to weaken the opponent and cause a fair amount of disruption, not to mention the extra damage from Technician. Hitmontop also has Sucker Punch; though not Technician-boosted, it makes a great answer to Psychic- and Ghost-types. The combo was surprisingly effective, and TopOgre teams started appearing all over the place and winning or coming close to winning most regional tournaments. Hitmontop even appeared on the official decor for the World Championships, as recognition of his surprising role that year.
No time for losers, 'cause they'll be punched out by a supersonic spinning top.
It should be worth noting that the Hitmon family is all male, and so can only breed via Ditto; the offspring will always be Tyrogue. However, each one can contribute Egg Moves to Tyrogue, effectively allowing the three Hitmons to use some of each others' attacks. Among other moves, Hitmontop can pass along Rapid Spin, allowing both Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan to spin hazards away; both of them can also use the move alongside Foresight, as that move is one that Tyrogue starts with. Alas, a spinning Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan, as funny as that'd look, isn't quite as cool as Hitmontop, still. Also, it is through Hitmonchan that Hitmontop can learn Mach Punch.
Beyond that, Hitmontop has some other cool moves, like Pursuit, Close Combat, Stone Edge, and Technician-boosted Low Sweep. Whatever the moveset may be, one thing's for sure; Hitmontop has made his mark on the Pokemon competitive scene.
Next time: The non-legendary Grass-type with the highest Base Stat Total.
The Pokemon series has come up with a number of unusual ways for a Pokemon to evolve. It started with just level-ups, evolution stones, and trade evolutions, and then there were trade-while-holding-items, friendship evolutions, divergent evolutions based on stats, gender-specific evolutions, location-based evolutions...
Gen V joined the fun with a unique evolution method of its own, where two Pokemon evolve specifically when traded for each other. The reason? The extra energy of a Link Trade allows one to steal the shell off the other.
Yep, meet Pokemon's most knightly thief, Escavalier.
Yeah, I had a bit of a burglary incident during a power high, but don't worry, I'm all chivalry now.
#89: Escavalier
To understand Escavalier and his pre-evolution Karrablast, you also have to understand their counterparts, Shelmet and Accelgor (spoiler: they'll be covered later on in this list). Shelmet is a snail with a steel shell; Karrablast is based on the Japanese snail-eating beetle. Hence, you trade one for the other, and Karrablast steals Shelmet's shell. (Don't worry about Shelmet, though; he takes full advantage of his shell-less state in his evolution. More on that later.)
Putting his thieving ways in the past, though, Escavalier looks pretty darn awesome. One wonders just where he got those jousting lances, but they make him look very fearsome. Moreso if you find yourself on the receiving end of one of them.
Not so much a Megahorn as it is a Megalance.
Competitively, Escavalier sports a Base 135 Attack, which is absurdly high. This means his STAB moves, particularly Megahorn, can punch massive holes in his opponents' teams, even if they resist his attacks! He also has great defensive stats, with Base 70 HP and Base 105 Defense and Special Defense. The one really "bad" stat he has, though, is Base 20 Speed, tied with Ferrothorn for the lowest Base Speed among all fully-evolved Pokemon. Which makes his Pokedex entry rather puzzling.
If base 20 Speed is "high speed", then either the entry writer was in a Trick Room at the time, or I'd hate to see what he thinks of Snorlax.
Sure enough, that ridiculously-low Base Speed makes Escavalier a perfect choice for a Trick Room sweeper. His abilities are Swarm and Shell Armor, plus Overcoat in Dream World; the first two are decent abilities, though nothing earth-shattering. He has a pretty limited movepool, with STAB attacks like X-Scissor/Megahorn and Iron Head (he unfortunately can't learn Gyro Ball, which would be awesome with his low Speed) and some other moves like Pursuit, but nothing really in the way of coverage. Still, Megahorn in particular is a move with 120 Base Power coming off Base 135 Attack; that's going to cause a lot of damage even on a resisted hit.
As a final note, there's a fair amount of Escavalier fanart around showing him being the protectorate knight of Lilligant. While I cannot pinpoint an exact origin for this pairing, I do know of a pixiv-based doujin comic series (the ShubaDore Playhouse by yosinoya35, which can be found on your local 'booru) that has the two and an Accelgor involved in assorted hijinks, which may have popularized the pairing. Either way, pics of the two together do tend to lean towards adorable.
Let's just hope they're not facing a Fire-type.
Next time: For the Pokemon Video Game Championships 2010, a doubles tournament-style competition where each team was allowed one high-end legendary along the lines of Kyogre and Giratina, this non-legendary Pokemon was used on the decor for the World Championships in recognition of him becoming a surprising threat in that particular competition.
There are a number of ways for a Pokemon to gain notoriety. Whether it be by a memorable role or appearance in the anime, or by having a unique competitive presence, these Pokemon are ones that many Pokemon fans know about.
This one, though, gains her notoriety for being used in one of the single most difficult in-game battles one will ever come across. She is a Pokemon that has infuriated Trainers all over with her ridiculous stats (especially for how early in the game one fights her) and a collection of rage-inducing moves. That's right, this Pokemon, famously used by a Gym Leader of Johto named Whitney, is none other than Miltank.
That lovin', stompin', rollin', milk-drinkin' Scrappy. Not even ghosts are safe.
#90: Miltank
Now, I'm not going to be judging Miltank based on any supposed bad memories I have of fighting Whitney (she did give me moderate trouble, which is more than I can say for most Gym Leaders). Rather, I will evaluate Miltank based on her own merits.
There's not too much to say about Miltank design- and concept-wise. She's a cow. She looks like a cow. Sure, she's bipedal and extra pink, but she's still very much a cow. She is a Gen II Pokemon, during a time when Pokemon designs generally leaned towards being more simplistic. Nothing wrong with that; the design works, even if it is nothing spectacular.
The most interesting thing about Miltank's concept is that she's no slow bovine. She can curl up into a ball and roll around at high speeds. It does make her more interesting than her male "counterpart", Tauros, who is basically just a bull. Even if it leads to one annoying Rollout attack.
They see me rollin'. They hatin'.
Competitively, Miltank has a number of nice qualities. Her stats lean towards defensive, with a Base 95 HP and Base 105 Defense; however, as mentioned before, she is surprisingly fast, boasting a Base 100 Speed. She also has not one, not two, but three great abilities to choose from. Thick Fat adds resistances to Fire and Ice, which always helps a defensive Pokemon. Scrappy allows Miltank to hit Ghost-types with her Normal-type STAB attacks, which can help reduce her need for coverage. Finally, Sap Sipper, her Dream World ability, gives her an immunity to Grass moves, including Sleep Powder/Spore and Leech Seed, while giving her an Attack boost.
Dreaming of eating those delicious Wood Hammers.
Miltank's movepool contains a number of cool support moves. Milk Drink is her signature move, providing instant 50% healing to boost her survivability. It also has some use in-game where she can donate 20% of her max HP to a teammate--she can then use the move herself to restore her lost health back. Heal Bell is her other great support move, allowing her to instantly cure her team of status. She also has access to Stealth Rock and status-inducing moves like Toxic and Thunder Wave.
Her offensive options are plentiful, and her decent Base 80 Attack can be put to good use with them to make an offensive presence. For STAB, Body Slam works well to not only do damage but also paralyze the opponent, making it the move of choice for support-oriented sets. Meanwhile, she also has Return and Double-Edge for more damage. For coverage, Miltank has moves like Earthquake, Hammer Arm, Brick Break, Zen Headbutt, and Punishment if you're not using Scrappy. Miltank can also boost her stats with Curse, even though this does drop her good Speed; however, with Scrappy, she can run just her Normal STAB with Curse, Milk Drink, and Heal Bell and not worry about Ghosts in her way.
All this makes Miltank as great of a member for your own team as she was for Whitney, and that is why she makes my list. Though a question comes up... how does Milk Drink even work?
To be fair, Chansey's Softboiled is just as much of a headscratcher.
It's time for Pixie Theater! Please welcome the members of Pixie Theater, Celebi, Jirachi, Mew, and Manaphy!
Jirachi: Hello, everyone! I would like to take this moment to introduce some of the other members of Pixie Theater. I am Jirachi, of course, your not-really-an-expert on commentating on the competitive metagame.
Celebi: And I am Celebi, the in-game expert.
Jirachi: Mew is the Keeper of CDs, and will provide us with music for this episode. Mew, do you have a tune to start us off with?
Mew: Of course! It's the final battle with N in Black and White!
Mew: Gotta love that organ.
Celebi: Agreed. And now, here's our final member, Manaphy! What are you here for, anyways?
Manaphy: I'm here to report on some corrections from the last episode!
Jirachi: Wait, did we make a mistake somewhere?
Manaphy: Sort of. You talked about trying to find Eevee and Zangoose with their hidden abilities, without mentioning that they can be found in the Dream World's newest area, Dream Park.
Celebi: Oh... yeah, that was so new, that my sources didn't even update that info properly.
Manaphy: Well, a lot of information about Dream Park still isn't known. What is known is that certain Pokemon only appear if you access the place with a Black or White cartridge, and others only appear with a Black 2 or White 2 cartridge. Zangoose, in particular, belongs with the former group. Eevee is still unknown as to what games she appears with, or if one needs points to find her. Oh, and to have a higher chance of going to Dream Park, be sure to tuck in a Normal-type.
Jirachi: Looks like this aspect still has developments. You will keep us updated, right?
Manaphy: Certainly! Especially since I've got nothing else to do...
Celebi: Nothing else?
Manaphy: ...I just missed out on ranking in the Top 100. I'm something like #109.
Jirachi: ...aww, poor thing. Well, see you later.
Celebi: Say, don't we have a fifth member?
Jirachi: Oh, you must mean Victini. He does have a role, which is to inform us of changes to the metagame. The next tiering update will be in January, so he'll pop up around then.
Celebi: Oh, cool. Shall we get started on the main event?
Jirachi: Of course!
#95: Zapdos
OU: 1.545%, 77th place
UU Suspect: 12.335%, 12th place
An UU native, and a top threat there.
C: I'd be surprised if he wasn't at least that. Wasn't he OU for four generations before now?
J: Yes, he was. No point in talking abilities, as Lightningrod is not legal yet, so all Zapdos have Pressure by default.
C: Items, then...
J: In UU Suspect, 55.5% hold Leftovers, 24.8% hold a Life Orb, 8.4% hold Choice Specs, and 4.2% hold a Choice Scarf.
As for natures, though, 45.5% are Timid, 21.4% are Modest, 18.1% are Calm, and 10.5% are Bold.
C: That is odd. About half hold Leftovers but nowhere near that many are of the two defensive natures. That's Calm and Bold, for those not familiar with natures.
J: Well, it's not like Leftovers is bad on an offensive set, since Zapdos has pretty good defenses regardless.
C: I guess so. What about moves?
J: They are as follows.
86.7%: Thunderbolt. Naturally. It only really competes with Discharge, which got 8.4% usage.
79.4%: Roost. Good option for pretty much any Zapdos set other than the Choice sets.
74.5%: Heat Wave. Extra coverage is always great.
35.5%: Hidden Power Ice. The poor man's BoltBeam.
26.5%: Hidden Power Grass. For when you just hate Swampert and Rhyperior that much.
20.5%: Toxic. This one's only used on the more defensive sets. The Smogon analysis always puts it as an alternative to Heat Wave, which may explain how the two together just about add up to 100%.
14.8%: Volt Switch. About corresponds to the usage of Choice items.
14.6%: Substitute.
8.5% run Hidden Power Flying for STAB, and as mentioned earlier, 8.4% use Discharge.
C: Is it time for in-game stuff now?
J: The floor is yours.
C: Unfortunately, Zapdos currently is not available in any of the Gen V games, so it is time to take a bit of a time warp!
J: Wait, what...
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C: Welcome back to Gen III! Specifically, welcome to FireRed and LeafGreen!
J: ...did you just take us back in time?
C: Of course! How else can I show people where to find a Zapdos?
J: By telling them?
C: That's no fun. Anyways, Zapdos can be found at the same place he could be found in the original Red and Blue: at the end of the Power Plant. Well, technically in these remakes, Zapdos is outside of the Power Plant at an area only accessible by going through the plant, but still. You can also get one in Pokemon XD at Citadark Isle, and it will have the unique move Baton Pass after purification.
After capturing either one, you can transfer it via Pal Park into a 4th generation game. You can also grab one of the ones that appear in a 4th-gen game... so, ready to time warp again, Jirachi?
...
Jirachi? Why are you tearing up?
J: *sniff* ...it's just that... this is where it all started for me... when I appeared on that Pokemon Colosseum bonus disc and could be transferred over... and then I was able to start terrorizing the metagame...
C: Oh... I guess this was your debut, huh. We have a show to do, though...
J: Wait!
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C: Welcome to Gen IV! Particularly, Platinum. Come on, Jirachi, cheer up already...
J: *sniff* No, this place is sentimental, too...
C: How come?
J: ...because this is where I learned Iron Head and learned how to flinch-hax all my opponents to death!
C: ...you know there are people out there that are going to be pissed if they heard you say that. Anyways, here, Zapdos is a roaming Legendary, obtainable after getting the National Dex and visiting Professor Oak in Eterna City. He can also be found in HeartGold and SoulSilver on Route 10 right next to the Power Plant after obtaining all 16 badges. Whether you catch one in these games or have transferred one over from Gen III, you can then transfer him to a Gen V through PokeTransfer.
J: ...okay, I'm done being all sentimental. Can we go back to the present time?
C: In a flash!
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J: So, you have your Zapdos, but what's a good set for him?
Fly is a good in-game move since CPU opponents can never quite figure out how to take advantage of the charge turn, and with Zapdos's decent Attack, it'll do good STAB damage. Thunder Wave or Volt Switch can be used if your Zapdos has an Attack-lowering nature, though, as Electric+Fire has pretty good coverage.
J: But what about hitting Rock/Grounds or Dragons?
C: You could try and see if you were lucky with Hidden Power, or you can use Signal Beam... or just use someone else.
J: All right... speaking of someone else...
#94: Samurott
OU: 0.228%, 200th place
UU Suspect: 0.152%, tied for 191st place
RU: 0.754%, 94th place
NU: 7.773%, 18th place
C: And back to the NU natives we go. Samurott's hidden ability of Shell Armor isn't legal yet, right?
J: Right, so no point evaluating abilities, since they'll all run Torrent. Let's go straight to items...
44.1% hold a Life Orb, 20.8% hold a Lum Berry, 13.1% hold Leftovers, and 6.9% hold a Salac Berry.
C: Wait, SubSalac is still a thing?
J: I guess so. As for natures... 31.6% are Adamant, 23.2% are Timid, 22.8% are Jolly, and 8.8% are Modest. As a reminder, Adamant and Jolly are for physical attackers and Timid and Modest are for special attackers, so that's about 53% physical Samurott and 31% special Samurott. The rest are mixed or who-knows-what.
C: Moves, then?
J:
65.1%: Aqua Jet. Priority is so important, even special sets will run it to pick off that last bit of health.
61.7%: Megahorn. Yes, the coverage move gets more use than normal STAB. But hey, it hits Grass-types hard, so I can't complain.
52.0%: Swords Dance. Just about matches the number of physical sets.
51.4%: Waterfall. See above.
42.8%: Ice Beam. Anything that can hit Grass-types super-effectively is important for a Water-type.
26.8%: Hydro Pump. As far as special STAB goes, it's either this or Surf, and it looks like more people prefer the extra power to accuracy.
17.1%: Hidden Power Grass and Surf.
12.6% run Grass Knot, 10.9% run Taunt, 10.5% run Superpower and 10.2% run Substitute.
That's all I have. Considering Samurott is a starter, I'm guessing you have a lot to say, Celebi...
C: Yes, I do! As Jirachi mentioned, Samurott--well, Oshawott--is one of the starter Pokemon for the Gen V games, and probably the best one as far as in-game use is concerned; Oshawott will easily help carry you through the entire game. He learns the very useful Razor Shell at level 17 when he evolves into Dewott, then learns moves like Water Pulse at level 25 and Aqua Jet at level 33, then evolves at level 36 into Samurott. If you really want to learn Hydro Pump earlier, you can delay that evolution to learn it at level 52 instead of level 62, though in-game Scald or Surf is better due to having more PP. When you do evolve him into Samurott, though, don't forget to use a Heart Scale to learn Megahorn!
He also learns some great TM moves, like Scald/Surf/Waterfall, Blizzard/Ice Beam, Grass Knot, X-Scissor, and even Return, which gets good neutral coverage with Water attacks. Really, once you get past Elesa, there isn't a major opponent he won't do well against.
J: What if you didn't start with Oshawott, though?
C: When you can, breed your starter, offer the offspring and ask for Oshawott over GTS. Starter-trading is very common there.
J: So what is your overall recommendation for a moveset?
Surf and Ice Beam are good for a mixed set, while Waterfall and Swords Dance work better for a pure physical set. Use whichever one fits your Samurott's nature better.
We're going to cover our first OU Pokemon next, aren't we?
J: Oh yes, we are!
#93: Garchomp
OU: 13.166%, 7th place
Ubers: 4.417%, 31st place
As a reminder, Garchomp is only legal in OU if he uses his Rough Skin hidden ability; in Ubers, he can use his normal ability of Sand Veil.
C: So in Ubers, how many still use Rough Skin?
J: As it turns out, in Ubers, 51.1% use Sand Veil, and 48.9% use Rough Skin. It really can go either way, since sandstorm is nowhere near as reliable as it is in OU. Though, for what it's worth, Tyranitar is one of Garchomp's teammates 44.3% of the time in Ubers.
C: We haven't really looked at teammates in this section.
J: Well, usually, the top teammates are just some of the most used Pokemon in that tier. I guess for Garchomp here it's a bit different, so it's worth mentioning, for instance, that he works with Excadrill 34.6% of the time in Ubers. OU teammates data is pretty boring, though.
C: What about items, then?
J: In OU, 32.7% hold a Choice Scarf, 14.9% hold Leftovers, 11.3% hold a Life Orb, 10.8% hold a Yache Berry, and 10.3% hold a Choice Band.
In Ubers, 40.1% hold a Choice Scarf, 18.2% hold Leftovers, and other items get less than 10% usage each.
C: Natures?
J: In OU, 71.4% are Jolly, 16.8% are Adamant. In Ubers, 63.4% are Jolly, 17.0% are Adamant.
C: And, of course, moves...
J: Right. OU first.
96.8%: Earthquake. Obvious.
76.0%: Outrage.
47.0%: Fire Fang, to hit those pesky Skarmory and Bronzong that resist his STAB combo.
45.6%: Stone Edge, to hit various Flying-types harder.
41.9%: Swords Dance. Obviously not going to be used on Choice sets.
41.0%: Dragon Claw, because sometimes being locked into Outrage sucks.
The rest are all under 10% each.
Ubers next.
94.8%: Earthquake.
74.1%: Outrage.
54.8%: Stone Edge, to hit Ho-Oh harder.
42.6%: Dragon Claw.
35.6%: Swords Dance.
24.2%: Fire Fang. Skarmory and Bronzong don't show up as much in Ubers.
16.0%: Substitute.
C: Man, I can't believe they brought back Garchomp to OU... moreso that he hasn't broken the tier yet. I guess it's time to go into in-game discussion.
I wonder how many Diamond/Pearl\ players even found a Gible to evolve into Garchomp. The guy resides in an area under a biking bridge, such that the entrance is concealed by the bridge above... yeah. They did appear in Victory Road in Platinum, but were rare there as well. Anyways, if you do have one, you can transfer it to the Gen V games. As for catching one there, you have two options. If you have Black 2, you can get one as a gift after beating Benga at the 10th floor of Black Tower.
J: That's going to be pretty tough, isn't it?
C: Yes, but as a bonus, the Gible will be shiny.
J: Ooh, shiny... The other option?
C: Find one in the Icy Cave area of Dream World. Be warned, you have to have 10,000 Dream World points before he will appear. Of course, these Gible will have their Dream World ability Rough Skin instead of Sand Veil.
If you run 4 attacks instead of 3 attacks and Swords Dance, you can use a Choice Band or Choice Scarf. Dragon Claw is mostly for if you are going to play in places without the Shift option to switch after a KO, though there aren't going to be many places in-game where being locked into Outrage will be a huge problem. Crunch is there because it destroys 2 of the 4 of the Elite Four.
Man, this guy's power overwhelms me. Can we take a break?
J: Well, if you must... Mew, how about you play another song for us in the meantime?
Mew: Ooh, is it party time?
J: Actually, that's perfect for our next Pokemon!
OU: 0.126%, 238th place
UU Suspect: 0.322%, 143rd place
RU: 5.822%, 46th place
He's a lower end RU native.
As for ability usage... 77.3% use Sap Sipper, 22.4% use Reckless, and a mere 0.2% use Soundproof. (The last 0.1% was lost to rounding.)
There's an interesting bit of teammate info here as Bouffalant's top partner isn't one of the top Pokemon, but rather, Lanturn, with 20.6% of Bouffalant pairing up with the anglerfish. This is probably because Lanturn attracts those Grass-type attacks that Bouffalant likes switching into to grab Sap Sipper boosts.
As for items, 41.5% hold Leftovers, 31.2% hold a Choice Band, 9.1% hold a Life Orb, 7.6% hold a Choice Scarf, and the rest are under 3% each.
Bouffalant are overwhelmingly Adamant, with 88.9% running that nature. The next common nature, Jolly, is only represented by 4.6% of these afro-buffalo.
Finally, moves.
87.1%: Earthquake. Always a good attack.
83.4%: Head Charge. Bouffalant's signature attack, though I guess some would rather go for something without recoil?
77.1%: Megahorn. A number of the tier's biggest defensive threats are weak to this attack.
44.6%: Stone Edge. Good to use with Earthquake.
29.4%: Superpower. Coverage attack alternative to Earthquake for Rocks and Steels. Will hit Levitate Pokemon, but the stat drop isn't desirable.
23.8%: Swords Dance.
22.3%: Substitute.
10.7%: Return. Apparently, some Pokemon run both this and Head Charge.
Okay, Celebi, in-game coverage is all yours! ...Celebi? You've been awfully quiet for this one; what are you doing...
...oh, I see you're still grooving to that song.
C: Doesn't it make you wanna dance?
J: I guess, but we have a show to do.
C: Okay, let me cover this guy in-game and you can go dance your heart out...
J: ...oh, the song ended. Guess that wasn't an extended version.
Mew: No problem; I've got Miror B.'s other theme here, and it is an extended version!
J: Ooh, funky.
C: Dance away, Jirachi.
Anyways, Bouffalant are found on the last route before Victory Road in each game. For Black and White, that is Route 10, and in Black 2 and White 2, that is Route 23. If you want a specific ability, try to Sleep Powder it to see if he has Sap Sipper.
Keep in mind that Bouffalant is slow and isn't particularly helpful in the final battles. Still, he's a cool Pokemon to use, if you like him. Try this set:
Bouffalant: Adamant, if possible
- Head Charge
- Megahorn/Wild Charge
- Earthquake/Rock Slide
- Swords Dance/Stone Edge/Protect/Wild Charge/Megahorn
Keep in mind, when I recommend natures, you can definitely use a different natured Pokemon if you want. Anyways, Wild Charge is more recommended for Reckless Bouffalant, since the attack does get boosted by the ability. Rock Slide is an option if you use Bouffalant in Doubles or Triples, particularly as a member of a Trick Room team; if that's the case, Brave is the recommended nature to make him as slow as possible. Protect is also specifically for Doubles and Triples Bouffalant.
Are you done grooving, Jirachi?
J: Huh? Oh, yes. Next Pokemon...
#91: Bisharp
OU: 0.647%, 129th place
UU Suspect: 4.748%, 50th place
C: So a low-end UU native this time?
J: Indeed. I guess it's time to pry into his UU Suspect usage...
Regarding abilities, Defiant is the overwhelming favorite, with 89.0% of Bisharp running the ability. Inner Focus takes up 9.4%, and the remaining 1.6% go to Pressure.
As for items, Leftovers is quite popular at 60.0%, while Life Orb usage is at 20.7%. Other items fall under 5% each.
C: Huh, why is Leftovers so popular?
J: There's a hint in the move usage stats. But first, natures... 72.1% are Adamant, while 20.5% are Jolly.
Now, the moves.
90.4%: Sucker Punch. This is definitely Bisharp's big selling point, compensating for his relatively low Speed and providing good STAB to work off his high Attack.
85.3%: Swords Dance. Boosting Attack seems to be the popular thing to do with Bisharp.
74.4%: Iron Head, as secondary STAB.
57.8%: Substitute. Not only does this provide a nice buffer against status, it also gives Bisharp some breathing room when trying to predict with Sucker Punch. It goes well with Leftovers, hence the close percentages with these two.
35.4%: Brick Break, for coverage.
17.3% use Night Slash as a more reliable Dark STAB, and 14.5% use Low Kick to target heavier opponents.
This segment is about to close, so Celebi, take us quickly through in-game stuff.
C: Okay! Find Pawniard on Route 9 on all Gen V games. If you send out a Pokemon with Intimidate, you will immediately find out if the Pawniard has Defiant; you can also use Fake Out to check for Inner Focus instead.
However, note that Pawniard's best move, Sucker Punch, cannot be learned by level-up. You will need to breed the move onto him, using a male Spinda, Cacnea/Cacturne, or Croagunk/Toxicroak that knows the move to pass it along.
From there, Pawniard evolves into Bisharp at level 52. This late evolution keeps Pawniard from being particularly useful in-game until after the Elite 4. If you want to use him, though, try out this set:
Bisharp
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Night Slash/Brick Break/Thunder Wave/Substitute
J: That's all, then?
C: That is all for today's Pixie Theater! This is Celebi and Jirachi, reminding everyone that, with the latest Christmas WiFi tournament offering a Custap Berry to participants, that that will soon become legal in the metagame, allowing one quick priority attack when the user hits 25% health. However, the tournament itself is only available to Japanese game players, being absolutely, completely open to every single Pokemon not named Chatot, and is essentially an Ubers Doubles tournament. And for the first time, event pixies like Jirachi and I are able to join, too! Whether we can weather the attacks of Pokemon's mightiest remains to be seen, but we'll definitely be there to see what it's like.
J: Stay tuned for the next episode of Pixie Theater!
Gold and Silver, a.k.a. the Gen II games, introduced two new Pokemon types, in part to help balance out the then-overpowered Psychic-type. The Dark-type provided a Pokemon immune to Psychics and strong against them while also providing a way to hit Ghost-types hard outside of their own type, while the Steel-type provided a slew of resistances (including to Psychic) to provide a very defensive typing.
It was only a matter of time before there would be a Pokemon that would have both of these types, and Gen V did not disappoint.
Call me the Psychic Exterminator.
#91: Pawniard/Bisharp
It's hard to say what exactly is the concept behind Bisharp. However, it is not hard to tell that he looks awesome. His body is made of blades, after all! He definitely has a very sleek design, and that alone is good reason to use him.
His concept has a number of possible origins. He may be based on the Black Knights of Arthurian legend, or on Japanese Super Sentai or Kamen Rider heroes, but there is also a definite resemblance to Pulseman, the hero of another GameFreak game.
Ken Sugimori: "Less Ledian-ness, more blades."
Bisharp commands a group of Pawniard to attack prey, with Bisharp doling out the finishing blow. A Bisharp must battle to become the boss, and if he loses, he is exiled from his group. Their English names are based off chess pieces (if you're still puzzled about the hint, remember that a Bishop can only move to a square the same color as the one he starts on), referring to how the pawns can be promoted and are generally led around by their leader.
Oh yeah, and their bodies are made of blades. Which is awesome.
Competitively, Bisharp has a great Base 125 Attack and good Base 100 Defense. Other stats aren't too notable, and Base 70 Speed is kind of on the slow side, but Bisharp does have a way around that--more on that later.
As mentioned, Dark/Steel is a very unique type that has a number of resistances as well as immunities to Poison and Psychic. However, he does have a 4x weakness to Fighting, so watch out for those moves.
As if Base 125 Attack wasn't brutal enough, he has the Defiant ability. I've talked about this ability on Braviary already, and Bisharp gets it as one of his normal abilities (the other one being Inner Focus); it means that attempts to lower his Attack will only make him stronger.
I dare you to try to Intimidate me.
Bisharp has two main tricks up his sleeve: Swords Dance and Sucker Punch. The former boosts his already high Attack to killer levels, and the latter bypasses his somewhat low Speed to strike first with an 80 Base Power attack against anyone that uses a direct attack against him. Combined, this makes Bisharp very dangerous to fight with, as one wrong move will get you sucker-punched out of the fight. Other attacks in his arsenal include a more reliable Dark STAB in Night Slash, a solid Steel STAB in Iron Head with a nice flinch chance against slower foes, Pursuit to chase after escaping Psychics and Ghosts, additional coverage through Low Kick or Brick Break, and even support moves like Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave.
This is all to say that Bisharp is cool, has a cool design, and is quite a handful in combat. Again, though, being a Dark-type, he's not quite going to reach the higher ranks on my list. And knowing that, I have a feeling that this Bisharp here is going to want to slice me up...
"You shall be annihilated... in a game of chess!"
...or he's going to force me to play chess with him. Which is probably worse.
Anyways, while I go and lose horribly at that, you all shall be treated to yet another episode of Pixie Theater to look at metagame stats and in-game usage for these last five Pokemon. And when you get back, expect a Pokemon that has gained a certain level of infamy in a certain generation...
#92: Bouffalant
I present yet another Pokemon for whom the concept is simple yet effective:
Buffalo + Afro = Bouffalant.
That's all. How much you like Funny Afros will determine how much you like Bouffalant. Me? I like them enough for him to rank at #92 but not enough to rank any higher.
(Oh, and yes, they are 50% female and the females have afros too.)
In fact, mister Afro Buffalo here needs no more explanation as far as concept or design goes, so let's just drop a pic and go straight to competitive discussion.
"Yo, I was just hangin' with my homey Miror B."
Competitively, Bouffalant's notable stats are a good Base 110 Attack and a very solid Base 95 HP, Defense, and Special Defense, giving him good power and bulk. However, his Speed is a low Base 55, so don't expect this buffalo to be charging in for the first attack. He has two great abilities in Reckless and Sap Sipper. The former increases the power of recoil moves by 20%, which powers up his signature move (more on that later), while the latter gives him an immunity to Grass attacks, including moves like (Stun) Spore and Sleep Powder, and gives him an Attack boost if he gets hit with such an attack.
Bouffalant's signature move is Head Charge, known as Afro Break in the Japanese games. (Why they didn't call it Afro Charge in the US version, we'll never know.) It is basically Double-Edge, with 120 Base Power and 100% accuracy, but with only 1/4 the damage done as recoil instead of 1/3. For additional coverage, he has moves like Megahorn, Earthquake, Stone Edge/Rock Slide, Superpower, and Wild Charge, the latter of which also gets boosted by Reckless if that is your ability of choice. He also gets Swords Dance if you want to hit even harder.
Overall, with solid power, decent bulk, and the ability to screw over various Grass-types, Bouffalant is definitely a powerhouse. And he's a buffalo with an afro. Good enough for #92 for me.
As a parting shot, one episode of the anime featured Bouffalant that would charge at anyone not wearing an afro. The results of this situation are what one could expect.
This is for everyone who wanted to see Ash, Pikachu, and/or Nurse Joy in an afro.
Next time: Black or White, whatever he starts on, that's the one he'll always be on.
As far as controversial Pokemon go, perhaps few are as controversial as this guy. In the history of Pokemon, he was the first Pokemon that was not an actual legendary Pokemon to be deemed too powerful for standard competitive play and thus banned out of OU and into the Uber tier. (And no, it's not Wobbuffet or Wynaut, who just had a stupidly broken combination of moves and ability that got him banned.)
That's right, it's that crazy land shark, Garchomp!
The OU tier can't handle his awesomeness.
#93: Garchomp
Meet Garchomp, the strongest non-legendary Pokemon from Generation IV. Concept and design-wise, he combines a dragon with a hammerhead shark with a jet plane, and then puts him at home on land because putting a shark in water isn't cool enough. Seriously, though, if that does not sound awesome, just look at him.
"Attention all passengers. You will soon be experiencing some major turbulence on this jet ride."
As absolutely ferocious as this guy is, though, it seems only fitting that he is the signature Pokemon of Cynthia, the Champion of Sinnoh. Aside from being a good strong Pokemon to go with the strongest trainer of the region, having such a menacing beast tamed by a trainer as nice as Cynthia (who is one of my favorite Champions) is quite appropriate.
"You're such a cute dragon-jet-land-shark, yes you are!"
Oh, but now we get to talk about Garchomp in competitive play. To understand how he got banned, we first look at his stats. Garchomp might not actually be a legendary Pokemon, but he does belong to the "pseudo-legendary" class of Pokemon, occupied by such folks as Dragonite, Tyranitar, Salamence, and Metagross: they have a Base Stat Total of 600, which is the same as Legendaries such as Mew and Latios. Garchomp specifically has a very nice stat distribution: a brutal Base 130 Attack, a Base 102 Speed that is not only fairly fast on its own, but also outspeeds the multiple Pokemon at Base 100, and very good defensive stats, with Base 108 HP, Base 95 Defense, and Base 85 Special Defense, meaning he hits hard, hits fast, and takes hits well. Now, there's also his typing, Ground/Dragon, which lacks notable weaknesses outside of 4x-Ice and the 2x-Dragon weaknesses; offensively, there is very little that resists both Ground and Dragon (currently, only Skarmory and Levitate Bronzong, though other Steels might get a temporary respite with an Air Balloon or Magnet Rise). Swords Dance means Garchomp needs only a moment to set up and then almost nothing can stop his Outrages and Earthquakes. In fact, a Yache Berry means not even an Ice Shard user can stop him. And, there is his ability, Sand Veil. All Garchomp needs is a Tyranitar or Hippowdon on his team to set up a sandstorm, and then he has that 20% chance of dodging that Ice Beam or Ice Shard that was otherwise supposed to stop him.
All this added up to a Pokemon that was just too much to handle, so in both Gen IV and early Gen V, he was banned from standard OU play and into Ubers. Recently, though, he's been let back into OU on one condition: he use his Dream World ability of Rough Skin instead of Sand Veil. Under that condition, he does become a little more manageable, though you'd be a fool to think he's not a big threat still.
I'm back, and this time I ain't hidin' from your Ice Beams!
And speaking of Ubers, Garchomp does just fine fighting the titans that live there, as well. Yeah, he's just that good.
And there you have it: one of the strongest Pokemon out there, period. He looks menacing and plays menacingly; in fact, if I had to put a reason why he's not higher, it probably is because he's a bit too overwhelmingly powerful. Cynthia aside, there just isn't really room to talk about Garchomp in any other way than his crazy design or how good he is in battle. Still, those two things are definitely why Garchomp has ranked in this Top 100 ranking in the first place, so go ahead and take one last good look at this guy before he Outrages on out...
Swords Dancing in the rain.
Next time: This Pokemon's headbutt can derail a train.
Making a good first impression is always important, which is why the starter Pokemon are always among the most important Pokemon in a generation. They are among the first Pokemon ever revealed for a given generation, are the first Pokemon the player will pick up, and will very likely become the trainer’s companion for the rest of the game. For this reason, GameFreak usually puts additional effort into designing these Pokemon and making them competitive, and they are frequently mentioned among a fan's favorite Pokemon. This is no different for me, as of the 15 starter Pokemon lines, I'd have to say that I really like 11 of them, and of those 11, 8 have made it into this list. Making it at #94 on my list is, unfortunately for all you Gen V fans, the only line of the three there to make it onto my list. Not that the other two are bad (well, okay, Emboar is tiring out my tolerance for Fire/Fighting starters), but this is the guy that broke into the top listing...
Serperior? I saw him over at the Dream World trying to be Contrary.
#94: Oshawott/Dewott/Samurott This is a cool line of Pokemon. Their names indicate a basis on otters, which are cute animals, and Oshawott does not disappoint in realizing this design to maximum cuteness potential.
Those eyes can steal a soul.
Now, typically, the middle stages of three-stage-evolution Pokemon, starters included, don't get a whole lot of attention. They typically don't have particularly memorable designs and serve more as a bridge between the cuter first form and the more powerful-looking last form. Dewott, though, is one of the few that does remain fairly memorable, finding just that right balance of looking both adorable and badass.
You'll want to hug him and he'll want to cut you up with his Razor Shells.
So then we move on to the final form and... ...wait a second, what happened to the sea otter concept? Somehow, we switched to sea lions instead. Yeah, the evolution of Dewott into Samurott is kind of an awkward jump, and is part of the reason why Samurott isn't any higher. Though he still has a cool, samurai-inspired design. It can be a bit hard to tell exactly how a quadruped like Samurott is supposed to dual-wield the swords on his legs, though, so a visualization is in order here...
Badass = ability to switch from quadriped to biped in the blink of an eye.
Okay, I've got nothing else to say about Samurott's design. Even without the otter base, it's pretty clear how awesome it is. So let's talk combat capabilities. Samurott is a balanced Water-type with a good Base 100 Attack and Base 108 Special Attack, and solid stats elsewhere. Base 70 Speed is a bit on the slow side, though it's still good for lower tiers. He is a well-balanced Pokemon that has good attacks on both the physical and special side. Physically, he can use Swords Dance to power up attacks like Waterfall, Megahorn, and Aqua Jet. On the special side, he gets to use his slightly higher attacking stat to hit hard right off the bat with the usual moves like Surf, Hydro Pump, and Ice Beam. He can also go mixed, such as having a special set with Aqua Jet to pick off weakened foes. Unfortunately, there's not much else to this guy. He's cool and a good, solid Pokemon all-around competitively, though nothing particularly standout, and that does partially hurt him in these rankings. In the competitive scene he's a major threat in NU, especially with Swords Dance, and that's about as interesting as this guy gets. In-game, though, he's the best starter, at least in my opinion, and his overall strength and ability to learn strong moves like Razor Shell early will make him a top performer throughout your game. That's all I have for this guy; a pretty short entry all things considered. So have another picture of awesome bipedal Samurott.
Crouching sea lion, not-so-hidden samurai.
And, a picture showing that Samurott needs not exclude himself from the adorability of his former forms.
