In Pokemon Red and Blue, depending on whether you bought that weird Pokemon at Mt. Moon's Pokemon Center or just waited until you could try out that Old Rod, you would sooner or later find yourself with a Magikarp... a weak Pokemon that only knew a move that did absolutely nothing. (And later, would learn Tackle.) Out of nothing but curiosity, you'd switch-train that Pokemon up a bunch of levels (or just feed it all those Missingno-glitched Rare Candies)... and suddenly, it'd evolve into the monstrous Gyarados! Which had a monstrous Attack stat... and no STAB to take advantage of it. But hey, it had a decent Special stat, so it wasn't too bad.
Then Gen II came around, and its Special Attack dropped like a rock, making it somewhat underwhelming.
Gen III helped a bit, giving it Earthquake to demolish Electric-types trying to prey on its 4x-weakness. It still had nothing other than Hidden Power Flying for physical STAB, but it could be a fearsome physical attacker all the same. However, for all his appearance of fearsomeness, Gyarados had always been something of a disappointment to me, particularly because of the inability for him to use Water STAB effectively--and as a Water-type fan, that was a real bummer. But then came Gen IV...
#76: Gyarados
The concept behind Gyarados is nice. Take a totally weak Pokemon and suddenly evolve him into an absolute monster. Makes for some fun jokes (and a fun T-shirt). Gyarados's design is perfectly fitting for the terror of the water he is, too.
His stats are amazing, too. He has a brutal Base 125 Attack and a solid Base 100 Special Defense and Base 95 HP. His Base 81 Speed is okay, but access to Dragon Dance means he can easily outspeed opponents quickly; meanwhile, Base 79 Defense might not seem that good, but with Intimidate, it might not matter, at least not in the short term. So the only particularly bad stat of Gyarados's is his Special Attack at Base 60. Unfortunately, for a Water-type, that meant losing one of his notable STABs, as Water attacks were all Special. Until...
Gen IV's Physical-Special split was an Arceus-send to Gyarados, as he now had a killer physical Water STAB in Waterfall that he could use to smash holes in the opposing team. Those who survived the hit might even be too terrified to strike back! Gyarados had also been lacking in good Flying STAB... and he's still kind of lacking there. But he does have Bounce, which while a bit inaccurate and having the charge turn that can be exploited, is still a good choice, particularly thanks to a 30% chance of paralysis that it can inflict.
Gyarados also has some strong coverage moves. Most notable of them is Earthquake, guaranteed to make most Electric-types trying to prey on his 4x weakness think twice. Other strong moves in his arsenal include Ice Fang, Stone Edge, and Double-Edge, as well as Dragon Tail for phazing utility.
If there's one move, though, that will really strike fear into the hearts of Gyarados's opponents, it is Dragon Dance. The move increases his Attack and Speed all at once, allowing him to strike first and strike hard. It is a combination that can easily leave an entire opposing team in shambles. Moves like Taunt and Substitute, as well as an excellent ability like Intimidate, only make his job easier. Alternatively, there's Gyarados's Dream World ability, Moxie, which increases his Attack after each KO he makes, quickly turning him into a destructive force that can take down even the hardiest opponent in one hit.
All this has allowed Gyarados to finally be the monster that Magikarp always dreamed of becoming. The weak Pokemon that becomes an absolute monster had been underwhelming for three generations, but now it has finally become a Pokemon worthy of my top 100.
As for who next... who the hell do you think he is? :P
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