Top 100 Pokemon "Countdown to Pokemon X & Y" Edition 7: #35-#31

The release of Pokemon X and Y is just a week away! In counting down this last week until the game is released, I will be posting one five-Pokemon list a day. The Pokemon from here on out are all fantastic and ones that I absolutely love. So, without further ado, let's start!

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#35: Blaziken

My favorite Gen III starter, Blaziken is a fighting chicken on fire, which is already awesome. His design is also great. That said, Blaziken’s claim to fame is in getting Speed Boost from Dream World, a change that rocketed this bird from UU and into Ubers. Even there, where he has to face up to Pokemon’s most terrifying beasts, Blaziken can hold his own; he just needs to get a Speed Boost or two to outpace everyone, get in a Swords Dance, and then start throwing around his powerful STAB moves in Hi Jump Kick and Flare Blitz. He has some coverage moves too, particularly Shadow Claw, if you want to use them. Otherwise, Blaziken is a Pokemon that finally got his time to shine in Gen V, and did so by smashing and burning everything in his path at such speeds that you’ll never want to eat fried chicken again.

#34: Gliscor (and Gligar)

First, just look at this guy. His very design is just full of so much win. Aside from his design, he has an interesting Ground/Flying typing and great stats, with a high Defense and decent Attack, and a serviceable Speed for a defensive Pokemon. Getting Poison Heal from the Dream World, though, really makes him killer, as he can hold a Toxic Orb and suddenly gain incredible healing every turn. Gliscor has many moves he can use in the meantime; he can attack with Earthquake, inflict status with Toxic, heal with Roost, or even use Baton Pass. You might even see some offensive Hyper Cutter variants that use Swords Dance before throwing out the deadly Flying Gem + Acrobatics combo. Truly a terrifying menace. That he could easily pass for the Batman of the Pokemon world is just a nice bonus.

#33: Lucario (and Riolu)

Lucario is a Pokemon that's a lot of fun to use in-game, while also being strong competitively, albeit in a much more limited way. In the competitive metagame, Lucario is a powerful OU threat that uses Swords Dance to boost its already high Attack, and then smacks opponents around with Close Combat or gets the jump on them with ExtremeSpeed. He can then gain additional coverage with either Ice Punch or Crunch, or take another priority attack in Bullet Punch, mainly to hit Ghost- and Rock-types. In-game, he's more versatile and actually gets quite a lot of cool attacks. He actually has a higher Special Attack than Attack, and has moves like Aura Sphere, Vacuum Wave, Dark Pulse, and Shadow Ball, and he can use either Calm Mind or Nasty Plot to boost his Special Attack. He can also be a fun mixed attacker. Don't expect those special sets to work too well in the metagame, but in-game, they're great.

Lucario is also just one cool dog, with his neat design, Aura-based abilities and just generally cool demeanor. He's one of the Pokemon that's shown in the anime to be more humanlike, even being able to telepathically speak human language in the eighth movie. And, of course, there's his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where he's a fun risk/reward fighter for whom certain attacks get stronger the more damage he takes.

A special shout-out goes out to Riolu, his pre-evolution, who got Prankster from the Dream World. What makes him dangerous is that he gets Copycat, which Prankster gives priority to; a well-timed Copycat can cause all sorts of havoc, up to and including priority Roar, which if entry hazards are on the field and the opponent doesn't have any way of getting past it, is essentially an instant win, making this little guy usable even in upper tiers, including OU!

#32: Arcanine (and Growlithe)

The very first Legendary Pokemon, at least if the Pokedex is to be believed. While Arcanine himself isn't technically a Legendary in the traditional sense, he does have a higher Base Stat Total than most non-legendary Pokemon, distributed fairly evenly with a good amount put into his Attack and Special Attack. He has two fantastic abilities, Intimidate and Flash Fire, and he has a very impressive movepool that not only contain both physical and special STAB in Flare Blitz and Flamethrower/Fire Blast respectively, but also great coverage moves in Wild Charge, Close Combat, and Crunch, priority in ExtremeSpeed, and even healing in Morning Sun. He fits well on Sun teams, using SolarBeam to good effect there, and can even serve a defensive role with solid defensive stats, Intimidate, and Morning Sun. All this makes him quite a nice Pokemon in combat. Of course, he's also a giant dog, which should appeal very well to dog lovers...

#31: Houndoom (and Houndour)

...this particular entry has really gone to the dogs, hasn't it? Houndoom is much more of a menacing Pokemon than the ones above it, with his very devilish design and Pokedex entry that states that if you are burned by his fire, the pain will never go away. (Though, for some reason, that sounds oddly... romantic?) In battle, Houndoom's strong Special Attack and good Attack make him a nice mixed attacker that can hit with both strong physical Dark moves like Sucker Punch, Crunch, and Pursuit while also striking hard with special attacks like Flamethrower/Fire Blast and Dark Pulse. He can also go a more straight-up special attacker route with Nasty Plot. Houndoom was one of the Pokemon I fell in love with during my initial Silver playthrough, and I made a point of making sure I got one traded to me for SoulSilver, because as much as I'm the nice guy saving the world from an evil team's schemes, it's also fun to take a hellhound around and burning everything down.

Top 100 Pokemon: Digest Version #44-#36

Apparently, I skipped a Pokemon in my list. Go back to the #75-#65 post for a writeup on Nidoking at #70; the numbers for the Pokemon ahead of him have been updated as well.

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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.

Top 100 Pokemon Digest Version: #54-#45

We're crossing the halfway mark with this list. Needless to say, there are some really incredible Pokemon to follow, though the best is still yet to come.

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#54: Scrafty (and Scraggy)

These guys have style, in a way only a lizard that wears its molted skin like high school kids wear baggy pants can have style. They have a unique Dark/Fighting type, a typing that has incredible neutral coverage. He has good defensive stats, allowing him to play a role of a bulky sweeper, and while he doesn’t have that high an Attack stat, he can boost it easily with moves like Dragon Dance (which also boosts his low Speed) and Bulk Up, as well as his ability Moxie. He also can have the Shed Skin ability, as a way to shrug off status, possibly even giving him an early wake-up from Rest. From the Dream World, he gets Intimidate, which has its uses as well. All this makes Scrafty a stylish Pokemon that can very easily beat down his opponents.

#53: Chandelure (and pre-evolutions)

This guy’s a ghost chandelier. That in and of itself is a huge win, concept-wise. He’s a major competitive force, too; he has an absolutely insane base Special Attack of 145. To put that in perspective, that is only 5 points below the Special Attack of freaking Reshiram. He also gets Flash Fire to punish anyone throwing out Fire attacks willy-nilly (and making his own Fire attacks that much more devastating), or Flame Body to punish physical attackers. This is an awesome Pokemon with a great concept and absolutely devastating firepower (literally!). It’s also worth noting that he has, of all things, Shadow Tag as a Dream World ability, which makes him so broken that Chandelure is actually one of the very few non-starter, non-legendary Pokemon not yet to be officially release with his Dream World ability. Even Nintendo could tell how overpowered he’d be.

#52: Reuniclus (and pre-evolutions)

Check out this funky guy. His concept is based on organic cells, which is a very interesting concept that comes with a very unique design. He has a very high Special Attack, which is normal for Psychic-types, and very good overall defensive stats, which is not normal. His only “weak” stat is an incredibly low base Speed, which is actually a blessing in disguise as it makes Reuniclus possibly the best Pokemon to use Trick Room. What really makes Reuniclus dangerous is his Magic Guard ability, which I mentioned earlier with Clefable as being an amazing ability, and keeps Reuniclus safe from Life Orb recoil, entry hazard damage, weather damage, and Toxic/Burn damage; this combined with Recover, Calm Mind, and Reuniclus’s solid defenses make him incredibly difficult to knock out. Whether you want to use him for Trick Room or a more standard Calm Mind set, this funky guy will not disappoint.

#51: Scizor

Hoo boy. This guy is the #1 Pokemon in Smogon’s standard OU, and for good reason. First of all, he has an awesome design that definitely looks like he tears apart everything in his path. His Bug/Steel typing is very good, giving him numerous resistances and a lone (albeit crippling) weakness to Fire. He has a very high Attack stat and solid defenses; his Speed is a bit low, but this ends up not being that much of a problem. His Technician ability is one of his biggest draws, especially as he learns Bullet Punch, a Steel-type Quick Attack that is normally pretty weak, but with STAB, Technician, and Scizor’s high Attack, it becomes his best attack, bypassing his low Speed and dealing a good amount of damage quickly, making him great at picking off weakened opponents. Other attacks in his arsenal include U-turn, a very useful move that allows him to scout out opponents and make a switch while still doing good damage, Bug Bite, his strongest Bug-type attack factoring in Technician, Pursuit, and Superpower. He also gets Swords Dance to power up his moves, as well as Roost if you want to go a more defensive route. Heck, he even gets Baton Pass and Iron Defense if you want to use him on a Baton Pass team! There’s no doubt why this guy’s the most popular Pokemon in the competitive scene, and the only reason he isn’t higher is because, honestly, I’m not a huge fan of super-powerful Pokemon. And yet, I cannot ignore how cool Scizor is, and everything he is capable of on the battlefield.

#50: Sigilyph

…what is up with this guy’s design? Probably the strangest, funkiest-looking Pokemon in the entire game, Sigilyph exists to be the weird guy. And just like the previously-mentioned funky Pokemon, Reuniclus, this guy gets the awesome ability Magic Guard, removing his Stealth Rock weakness entirely and making him hard to take down. Sigilyph does have decent offensive stats and a good movepool with Psychic, Psyshock, Air Slash, Heat Wave, and Energy Ball, as well as Roost combined with okay defenses and Magic Guard, that make a straight up offensive set with a Life Orb effective. You can also go a trickier route with Sigilyph, by taking advantage of Magic Guard and giving him a Flame Orb, giving him a burn that has no effect on him and keeps him safe from more dangerous status effects, and then using Psycho Shift to throw that burn onto an opponent. He also has a dangerous combo in which he uses Cosmic Power to increase his overall defenses, and then attacks with Stored Power, an attack that grows more powerful the more stat boosts he has; combined with the aforementioned Psycho Shift-burning strategy, Magic Guard, and Roost, makes it easy to get all six boosts and end up with an attack with a Base Power of 260 (390 with STAB), all while being impossible to knock out. This guy is definitely one of the funkiest Pokemon out there, in both his design and his unusual but deadly battle strategies.

#49: Togekiss (and Togepi)

As cute as Togepi is, with her Metronome-happy ways, her initial evolution in Togetic is kind of awkward-looking. With lackluster stats, Togetic is overall a disappointment. Thankfully, in Gen IV, she gets a new evolution in Togekiss. Togekiss’s design is nicer and more elegant, and her stats are far better, having very nice defensive stats (particularly Special Defense) while also having a high Special Attack. That said, as cute as Togekiss is, she is secretly a monster, wielding an Air Slash that, combined with her Serene Grace ability, gives her a 60% chance of flinching an opponent—and that’s not accounting for all the Nasty Plotting she’s doing beforehand! She’s nice enough to your team, though, with access to Heal Bell. She also has some cool additional coverage moves in Aura Sphere and Flamethrower/Fire Blast, and access to Roost just makes her that much harder to take down. And, of course, there’s always Metronome for random fun!

#48: Sceptile (and pre-evolutions)

The next starter Pokemon enters my list, and it is Gen III’s grass lizard Sceptile. Sceptile is unusual among Grass-types in that he’s a fast, offensive Grass-type that does not need to rely on sun for his speed. A good Special Attack with nice moves like Giga Drain, Leaf Storm, and an excellent coverage move in Focus Blast makes Sceptile a strong special attacker. However, Sceptile can make a potentially threatening physical attacker despite his rather average Attack stat, as he can use Swords Dance and has moves like Leaf Blade, Drain Punch, Earthquake, and Rock Slide; furthermore, if you got one with the Dream World ability Unburden, you can use the killer Flying Gem + Acrobatics combo and get a doubled speed on top of all of that! His design is also awesome.

#47: Froslass

Snorunt was kind of neat, but Glalie is a boring ball of ice with all Base 80 stats. Thankfully, in Gen IV GameFreak gave Snorunt an awesome new evolution in Froslass. Froslass is based on the yuki-onna, a Japanese mythical being that preys upon those lost in the cold. Froslass has the unique and very neat typing of Ghost/Ice, and while most of her stats are still rather average, she does have a much higher Base Speed. In competitive battling, this gives her one particular niche: she can easily lay down Spikes, she has a fast Taunt to stop others from stopping her from using Spikes, and being a Ghost-type, she automatically foils any attempts to Rapid Spin those Spikes away. This may not seem like much, but it was enough to get her banned from the UU tier, as she was just too good at her job. Overall, though, Froslass is a very interesting, unique Pokemon. (There; I refrained from ever using the word “cool” to describe Froslass.)

#46: Kingdra

The second Dragon to come to existence, and even back in Gen II when he had nothing in the way of a movepool, Kingdra was a significant improvement over Seadra, especially as it lacked notable weaknesses (pretty much no one used Dragon attacks in Gen II). Across the span of Gen IV, it got better as it gained new moves to use outside of Surf; it had a physical Water STAB in Waterfall that could be boosted with Dragon Dance, it had a notable Dragon STAB in Draco Meteor and Dragon Pulse, and then it got Outrage for a physical Dragon STAB. What really made Kingdra threatening was that the only Pokemon that resisted both Water and Dragon were Empoleon and Shedinja, meaning it didn't need much else other than its STAB attacks, leaving room for things like Dragon Dance, Rain Dance (to take advantage of Swift Swim), and other supporting moves. While now the dangerous Ferrothorn is among the list of Water/Dragon resistors, and in Smogon's OU tier it cannot be on the same team as Drizzle Politoed, it is still a major threat, especially as it can easily turn a rain team's weather against them. Of course, in-game no one cares if you use him with Drizzle--and the same applies with Ubers, where Kingdra actually does quite well. All in all, Kingdra is a perfect representative of the water dragons, especially with how he dominates in Rain. 

#45: Porygon-Z (and pre-evolutions)

This is really an entry for Porygon2 and Porygon-Z, who are in many ways very different Pokemon. Porygon2 has solid defensive stats, but more importantly, he can equip an Eviolite to become particularly difficult to take down. His good Special Attack means that he can dish out damage as well as take it, and he has three great abilities to use: Download, against the right opponent, can net him a free Special Attack boost; Trace is a very neat ability that allows him to particularly counter certain Pokemon (or just get a really nice ability to sweep with); Dream World ability Analytic is an ability that works well with Porygon2's low Speed to power up his attacks most of the time.

While Porygon2 is a bulky attacker, Porygon-Z is an outright glass cannon. His defensive stats aren't horrible, but compared to Porygon2 they're much worse, especially considering the lack of Eviolite. In exchange, he has a bit better Speed and much higher Special Attack. Porygon-Z is an oddball computerized duck of destruction. In addition to Porygon2's Download (and Analytic, though it isn't quite as good with his higher Speed), he also gets Adaptability, which takes his Normal-type Tri Attack STAB and gives it a boost in power, allowing him to do a ton of damage.

Both Porygon2 and Porygon-Z get all sorts of cool moves to attack with, such as Ice Beam, Thunderbolt/Discharge, Dark Pulse, and assorted extra moves like Recover, Toxic, and Trick Room for the slower, defensive Porygon2 or Agility, Nasty Plot, and Trick for the more offensive Porygon-Z. Both also use Tri Attack for STAB, which is a fun move that can either burn, freeze, or paralyze an opponent. These are definitely very interesting electronic ducks.

Top 100 Pokemon: Digest Edition #64-#55

Here's the next set of Pokemon from my Top 100.

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#64: Sharpedo

Here’s what you need to know about this guy. First of all, he’s a shark crossed with a torpedo. That alone is both awesome and terrifying. Second, he has great Attack and respectable Special Attack but paper-thin defenses, making him the very definition of a glass cannon (the addition of physical Water and Dark moves in Gen IV help him a lot here). Third, he can create earthquakes. And finally, because this isn’t scary enough (at least not with his kinda-low Base 95 Speed), in Gen V, GameFreak gave him freaking Speed Boost from the Dream World. So we have an accelerating torpedo shark that hits brutally hard, creates earthquakes, and gets harder to get away from the longer he’s alive. If a bunch of these guys ever form a tornado, we’re screwed.

#63: Meloetta

I admittedly have not had much chance yet to actually play around with Meloetta, but there’s still a lot I love about her. She has a very cool concept, in which through singing a Relic Song, she turns from the singing, specially-offensive Aria Forme to the dancing, physically-offensive Pirouette Forme. Her design remains elegant and musical-themed throughout all this, and this ability combined with very good stats for both forms makes her a unique sort of threat in battle. That said, I’m mostly a fan of her concept and design, which all come off as very interesting.

#62: Sawsbuck (and Deerling)

A number of things stand out about Sawsbuck. There’s his different appearances in different seasons, which is a very cool design concept. He also has two nice abilities in Chlorophyll and Sap Sipper, the former making him a good member of Sun teams, and the latter making him good at warding off opposing Grass-types. He has a signature move, Horn Leech (a physical Giga Drain), which is cool, as well as a more extensive movepool including things like Jump Kick, Wild Charge, and Nature Power. The combination of his various designs and his somewhat unique presence as a physical Grass-type with a Normal touch put this guy (and his adorable pre-evolution) on this list.

#61: Magnezone (and pre-evolutions)

As I am a fan of Electric-types, it should come as no surprise that I would have room for Magnezone on my list. There are a number of cool attributes about him. For one, he’s got a unique ability in Magnet Pull, which keeps Steel-types from escaping; in competitive battling, this means Magnezone is a great way of getting rid of Steel-types that are giving you and your dragons trouble. In-game it’s not as notable, since no one bothers switching out in-game, but it does have the side bonus of making it easier to encounter Steel-types in the wild, which is useful when hunting down some of the rarer Steel-types. Magnezone also gets the upgraded Sturdy to live through at least one earthquake, or Analytic from the Dream World, which works because Magnezone is rather slow. He has a pretty killer Special Attack, though, and he can easily electrify the competition with moves like Thunderbolt and Flash Cannon. He’s also the first Pokemon to change types across generations, being one of the heralds of the Steel-type. And finally, anyone who’s wanted more out of Join Avenue in BW2 should know the value of the Magnemite Coil, in which Magnemites are placed on the GTS to be traded for each other and thus rack up visitors.

#60: Excadrill

The Simon to Krookodile’s Kamina, Excadrill is a drilling mole with a steel helmet that will tear through the opposition without mercy. The guy already looks ferocious, but his incredible Attack and ability to double his speed in sandstorm through Sand Rush make him so powerful that he was actually banned from Smogon’s OU tier and is considered an Uber! Add in Swords Dance and Rapid Spin and you have a Pokemon that can stand up even to Uber’s domineering giants. This guy must run on Spiral Power or something.

#59: Clefable (and pre-evolutions)

Clefable and her pre-evolutions have always been favorites of mine. For starters, they were the first to be known for Metronome, by far the most fun attack in the game; sometimes, one wants to do nothing more than just spam Metronome and see what crazy moves come up, or even coordinate a Metronome Battle where everyone’s just throwing out whatever move the RNG wants to give them. However, should you want to use her in battle, she’s also capable of fighting seriously, thanks to her ability Magic Guard (which she alone possessed when she was given the ability in Gen IV). Magic Guard’s ability to prevent all passive damage means that Clefable can do everything from batter things with recoil-free Double-Edge, launch fearsome attacks from a Life Orb without pain, hold a Toxic Orb and be immune to any status that actually cripples her while launching powerful Facades, slot in comfortably on Sandstorm or Hail teams, or just enjoy all the various benefits of this powerful ability while doing stuff from her absolutely insane movepool.

#58: Crawdaunt

I’ve spent some of my childhood in Louisiana and have a love of crawfish as a result, but rest assured that my love for Crawdaunt has nothing to do with wanting to eat him. Rather, it has to do with his cool design and his battle prowess, in which he takes a high Attack stat, a Dream World ability of Adaptability (and he’s easily the best user of the ability, as Water and Dark have really good coverage between the two of them), and the ability to overcome his low Speed with Dragon Dance, all to create a fearsome crawfish that is more likely to make a meal out of the opponent.

#57: Mienshao (and Mienfoo)

A design and concept based on Chinese martial arts is already one major point for these guys. They’re also really cool in battle. Mienshao has an incredibly high Attack and great Speed, allowing him to hit hard and hit fast, especially with Hi Jump Kick. (He even has good Special Attack, though that’s more interesting for simulator battles where he can run Hidden Power Ice to hit some threats.) He has nice abilities; Regenerator is probably the most interesting, restoring 1/3 of his HP upon switching out, which synergizes well with U-Turn and Baton Pass, both of which he can learn. His Dream World ability Reckless makes Hi Jump Kick even more powerful, and Inner Focus is most useful in Doubles, where he can use Fake Out and be safe from opposing Fake Outs. Even his pre-evolution, Mienfoo, is an absolute terror in Smogon’s Little Cup, being considered possibly the best Pokemon there. Finally, one other thing I like about Mienshao is how stylish he is for a Fighting-type.

#56: Staraptor

Smogon describes this guy as an Angry Bird, and I find the description rather fitting. He flies headlong into battle, causes massive destruction very quickly, then just as quickly disappears in a puff of feathers (back into your Pokeball). Staraptor looks awesomely fearsome, but he is best known for breaking the trend of “starter birds” being generally not too good; he has the Attack and Speed needed to be offensively strong, and he has a great movepool that includes Close Combat to hit opponents that resist his other moves. However, I find the kamikaze nature of Staraptor’s battling style most interesting; his best STAB moves, Double-Edge and Brave Bird, are both recoil moves, and even Close Combat fits this style, as it lowers his defenses afterwards. Couple all this with low Defense stats and you have a Pokemon that won’t last long on the battlefield, but will completely tear up that field as long as it’s out there. It does get Intimidate to help mitigate its low Defense, or you can go with his Dream World ability Reckless, which fits this kamikaze battling style even better. This is a Pokemon whose battling style gives it quite a bit of personality, and in addition to his design and being by far the best of the starter birds makes Staraptor a truly awesome bird of prey.

#55: Terrakion

The first of the “musketeers” legendary trio, which is overall my favorite legendary trio (or quartet), Terrakion is actually my third favorite out of the four (Cobalion was the one that got left out). There’s plenty of reason to like this guy. He’s clearly the offensive powerhouse of the four, with an incredibly high Attack and great Speed, while his only really lacking stat is Special Attack, which is easy to ignore. He has a unique type, Rock/Fighting, that has incredible coverage with very few Pokemon that can resist both types of attacks, and he definitely has attacks to use, such as Close Combat, Sacred Sword, Stone Edge, and Rock Slide for doubles. The incredible coverage Terrakion has from just two moves means he has little use for coverage moves, allowing him to use remaining moveslots for stuff like Swords Dance, Rock Polish, Quick Attack, Stealth Rock, or what have you. His design is the more brutish of the four, fitting his concept of being based on Porthos from the original The Three Musketeers, though I do like the designs of the two musketeers later to come more. Still, with his incredible offensive presence, he is a great Pokemon; there’s a reason I kept a spot on my team open for him in White2.

Top 100 Pokemon Digest Version: #75-#65

I know I haven't been able to keep up with this list, and with Pokemon X&Y soon to come out, I'll have to completely revamp my list of favorite Pokemon before long. So before that happens, I'll quickly go over the rest of the Pokemon with brief descriptions of what I like about each one. Apologies to anyone wanting more details out of any of these. I may try to do something like this again once I've decided on a list of favorites from Gen VI, but until then, you'll have to make do with what I have here...

#75: Krookodile (and pre-evolutions)

This guy’s got a pair of shades that’ll make Kamina jealous. He’s also got a unique typing in Ground/Dark, and with a strong Attack stat and great abilities in Moxie and Intimidate, he’s definitely a force to be reckoned with. Being crocodile-based gives him points for coolness, too. I don't really have much else for him; he's just a cool croc.

#74: Accelgor (and Shelmet)

I love the concept behind this guy. Shelmet starts off as a slug with surprisingly not-steel-typed armor, but when that armor gets stolen by a Karrablast, he decides to become a freaking ninja. Really, the fact that he’s a freaking ninja is already worth a ton of points, and he is one of the fastest Pokemon around, especially among non-legendaries, which combined with his solid Special Attack make him fearsome in battle. Still, it’s the little guy’s determination not to let the loss of his shell get to him that puts him on this list, especially when said determination involves becoming a ninja.

#73: Feraligatr (and pre-evolutions)

Two alligator/crocodile-based Pokemon separated by only one on this listing… Feraligatr has such an awesome name that it breaks the ten-character cap (hence the drop of a vowel), and looks every bit as fearsome as a real alligator ought to. Having solid Attack and Defense stats is nice in battle (moreso since Gen IV once he had access to physical Water moves), though what makes this guy really fearsome is access to both Swords Dance and Dragon Dance, meaning you can either deal with a fast alligator that hits fairly hard or a slow (but tough) alligator that hitsreally hard. (It’s too bad Sheer Force is yet to be legal with him, since that would really kick up the power of moves like Waterfall, Ice Punch, and Crunch.) He’s also the starter I had in the original Silver version (which is the game of nostalgia for me), so there’s some personal attachment to this guy, too.

#72: Whimsicott

This guy is so cute, you wouldn’t expect him to be such a Prankster. The two factors that put Whimsicott here are his cute design and his Prankster ability, which gives him priority on any non-damaging attack. The funny thing about Prankster was that it was one of my “predictions” for Gen V, in that before Black and White came out, I had thought of an ability that gave priority to non-damaging attacks, and wondered how dangerous it could be. The answer: quite dangerous, especially with someone like Whimsicott throwing around +1 Encores, Taunts, Leech Seeds, status moves, or even Memento.

#71: Ferrothorn

Another one of my predictions for Gen V was a Grass/Steel type, as I figured such a type could be quite formidable with its large slate of resistances, particularly with the Grass-type turning Steel’s neutrality to Water and Electric into outright resistances, while most of Grass’s weaknesses get neutralized or even nullified (Poison). My theorized Grass/Steel type came out as Ferrothorn, and he turned out to be far more fearsome than I had predicted. In addition to his typing, he has insane defensive stats, a respectable Attack stat, and a truly fearsome support movepool consisting of entry hazards, Leech Seed, Thunder Wave, and others. Even his low Base 20 Speed stat is not really a hindrance, as it just makes his Gyro Ball attack that much more powerful (alongside Power Whip). His Iron Barbs ability just makes the fools that dare try to attack him with contact attacks hurt themselves in the process (have him hold a Rocky Helmet if you really want to troll physical attackers). Plus, he just looks menacing.

#70: Nidoking

Here's a Gen I staple that was always pretty cool, both in design and in having a unique typing in Poison/Ground. He also had one of the most insane movepools ever, with both physical and special attacks of a ridiculous number of types. His stats only somewhat leaned towards offensive and weren't that special, but his huge movepool gave him something to use against pretty much anyone. However, it was in Gen V that he suddenly gained something huge: Sheer Force. Nidoking easily makes great use of the ability to boost the power of his attacks with additional effects (in exchange for losing said effects) with his huge movepool: both Sludge Wave and Earth Power are STAB attacks that get boosted, and he can get all the coverage he wants with moves like Fire Blast, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, or Focus Blast, all of which also get boosted as well. Don't forget that Nidoking doesn't suffer any recoil from Life Orb when using these moves! A terrifying Pokemon indeed.

#69: Smeargle

The next three Pokemon are linked by all being Normal types with a significant sense of versatility and changeability. First among these is Smeargle, the painter beagle that can learn practically every move in the game, thanks to Sketch (the only moves he can’t learn are Struggle and Chatter, and no one cares about those moves anyways). With this, the number of movesets Smeargle can have far outclass that of any other Pokemon in the game. That said, as cool as it might seem to wield a set consisting of V-Create/Aeroblast/Draco Meteor/Shell Smash, with Smeargle’s pitiful offensive stats, you’re better off using sets based around support moves. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of those, though. For starters, Smeargle is actually the fastest user of Spore, the game’s lone 100%-accuracy instant sleep-inducing move. That move, thus, tends to show up on all of Smeargle’s competitive sets. As for the rest… go wild. Entry hazards, Baton Pass, Trick Room… I’m not going to say the possibilities are endless, because Smeargle’s stats are really bad and there are just some things it’s better to have someone else do. But go look at his analyses on Smogon and then decide for yourself just what kind of Smeargle set you want. Or, you know, create your V-Create/Aeroblast/Draco Meteor/filler Smeargle and go to town on everyone in-game, because at level 100 no one’s going to last, anyways. This guy ranks up here because of his versatility and in how a Pokemon with such pitiful stats could still end up being such a threat.

#68: Arceus

Pokemon’s resident deity, Arceus has the highest Base Stat Total of any Pokemon, with all six of his stats being at a ridiculously high Base 120. I’m not normally a fan of these super-high-Base-Stat-Total legendaries (which is why Arceus is the only one of such a sort on this list), but Arceus takes a spot here because of his sheer versatility. Thanks to his Multitype ability, by holding an elemental plate, he can become any type of Pokemon. He has the movepool to take advantage of it too; his signature move Judgment guarantees a base 100 power special STAB of whatever type he is, but even beyond that, he has moves both physical and special of almost every type in the game. There’s simply a lot one can do with Arceus, and that makes him cool. He also did the whole “percussion-only battle theme” way before Ghetsis, so… yeah.

#67: Ditto

The previous two Pokemon had insane movepools. Ditto has one move that, competitively, it’ll never use. And yet, there’s something about this Gen I Pokemon with no movepool, pitiful stats (Base 48 across the board), and an incredibly simplistic (but still cute) design that makes it irresistible, and not just to all the Pokemon you put in the daycare with it. Ditto’s role in breeding is significant (if somewhat disturbing) and part of the reason why it’s such a big part of Pokemon. It was in BW2, though, when it gained its Imposter Dream World ability and could transform to the opponent as soon as it switched in, that it became a competitively viable Pokemon, capable of revenge-killing setup sweepers with a Choice Scarf adorned. Past that, though, Ditto is just a fun Pokemon. I’m sure the many Pokemon I’ve put in the daycare with it would agree with me.

#66: Shiftry (and Nuzleaf)

There’s a number of really cool things about this tengu tree. First of all, he’s a tengu. That right there already makes Shiftry interesting from a conceptual perspective. Beyond that, he’s got decent mixed attacking stats and a movepool to go along with it, with both physical and special STAB as well as some coverage moves, most notably Nature Power, a move that can become various other moves in different environments, most notably Earthquake in Wi-Fi battles (and hence, Smogon battles). He also has both Swords Dance and Nasty Plot, allowing him to become a menace in either physical or special attacks. Finally, with access to Chlorophyll, Shiftry can fit very well on a Sun team, where he can use Growth to boost both Attack and Special Attack to insane levels quickly. It says something that, despite being NU by usage, Shiftry has an analysis for all of Smogon’s metagames, even Uber. Not bad for this tengu. (On another note, he was one of the few Pokemon to get Extrasensory back in his debut, which I thought was an amusing move that let me get the jump on Fighting and Poison types.)

#65: Victini

The first “pixie” on this list, Victini is named after victory, which is what you will experience when using him. Like all pixies, he has Base 100 stats across the board, making him very well-rounded although not particularly strong in any way. That said, the main reason why Victini brings victory is really one particular move: V-Create. This physical move has an absolutely face-melting Base Power of 180 (in comparison, Fire Blast as a Base Power of 120), an accuracy of 95%—wait, scratch that, 100% thanks to Victini’s ability Victory Star, which makes all moves 10% more accurate, and the lone drawback of knocking down his Defense, Special Defense, and Speed one level each. The Speed drop is a pretty notable drawback, but the ability of this move to punch massive holes in the opponent’s team cannot be denied. Even Pokemon that resist the move could find themselves toast from one hit of this attack. It’s not his only option either; he has Psychic attacks, special Fire attacks, and all sorts of coverage moves, even including Reshiram’s and Zekrom’s signature moves, Fusion Flare/Bolt, Blue Flare, and Bolt Strike (depending on the event you receive him from). And that aforementioned Victory Star ability? It gives Victini’s various moves, such as Zen Headbutt, Focus Blast, and the aforementioned Blue Flare and Bolt Strike just an extra bit of reliability… and, it benefits teammates in Doubles and Triples, too, making for all sorts of cool strategies. Well, if he wasn’t banned from pretty much every official Nintendo tournament and in-game Battle Tower-esque challenge. Also, Victini is cute, which is mandatory for pixie Pokemon.

Top 100 Pokemon #76: Gyarados

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

Top 100 Pokemon #77: Tyranitar

One of the reasons I probably have some of my best memories from Gen II (specifically Silver version) is because I played much of that game blind. With no Player's Guide and no information on the Internet, I was left to discover many of that game's new Pokemon on my own. As such, I found myself encountering all sorts of mysterious creatures which I would learn about only after I caught them.

Stumbling into Mt. Silver at the end, I would every once in a while run into a Larvitar. Compared to the more monstrous beasts inside the mountain, Larvitar seemed pretty... weird. He was a weak, low-level Pokemon, but my intuition was already alarming me that a beast was waiting to emerge...

...and boy, was I right!

#77: Tyranitar

Tyranitar is Gen II's answer to Gen I's Dragonite, thus making "pseudo-Legendaries" officially a thing (instead of Dragonite's abnormally high Base Stat Total being just an anomaly). His concept of a rock version of Godzilla and the resulting design are simple yet plenty effective in portraying how terrifying it is, and this is only helped by Tyranitar's appearances in the anime, especially in the 4th movie (the last Pokemon movie I watched from start to finish). (There's also his Pokedex entry about destroying mountains so that maps have to be re-written...

As terrifying as Tyranitar looks--or appears in the anime--it says nothing about how terrifying he is on the competitive circuit, where he's currently the 7th most popular Pokemon on Smogon's OverUsed tier. To start, there's his stats, and as I mentioned, Tyranitar belongs to the "pseudo-legendary" category of Pokemon, meaning his Base Stat Total is a Legendary-comparable 600... and that's being distributed with a massive Base 134 Attack, great Base 110 Defense, a very good Base 100 HP and Special Defense, and solid Base 95 Special Attack. Only his Base 61 Speed is on the low side. But wait! Tyranitar's stats in battle are actually even higher than these!

Tyranitar's formerly-signature ability is Sand Stream, which is Sandstorm's version of Drizzle and Drought, and summons a permanent sandstorm upon entering the field. As of Gen IV, Sandstorm grants a 50% boost to Rock-types' Special Defense while active... which means, as long Tyranitar's induced Sandstorm is not overwritten by another weather or negated by an ability, Tyranitar is fighting with an absolutely monstrous Special Defense stat. And that's to say nothing of the residual damage that sandstorm's forcing on the opponent...

(Tyranitar also gets Unnerve from the Dream World. You might end up using this on Doubles if you don't want to form a Sandstorm team, as berries are more commonly used there.)

Wait, you want some moves to go with those killer stats? Tyranitar has that covered easily. Crunch and Stone Edge (or Rock Slide for doubles) provide strong primary STAB, while Pursuit can be used to take down a frail opponent, particularly a Psychic- or Ghost-type, without them being able to switch out of impending doom. If you want some Special coverage, Tyranitar can also use Dark Pulse.

If you want coverage moves... oh goodness, does Tyranitar have coverage moves! Fire Blast, Surf/Aqua Tail, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Superpower, Earthquake, Outrage... Of those, Superpower is probably the most useful, going well with Crunch, while Fire Blast is the best option for any mixed set. But hey, if you want to just put a lot of elemental moves and powerful physical attacks together and just go to town on in-game opponents... why not? A couple of support moves, like Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave, are worth noting, but for the most part, you're better off just destroying stuff.

If it sounds like Tyranitar is near-unstoppable, well, he's not. His unique Rock-Dark type, while providing some nice resistances and immunities, also gives him a number of weaknesses, most notably a 4x weakness to Fighting, and he's also rather slow. Take advantage of this, and he will go down.

However, even if you take down Tyranitar, there's no saying what punishment awaits from his team. Tyranitar's ability to instantly start a Sandstorm allows him to form the basis of a Sand team, which uses residual damage and new abilities like Sand Rush and Sand Force to brutalize the opposition. Some may choose to use Hippowdon, who's more defensive, instead, but if you want your weather starter to come with some sheer power, Tyranitar is a fantastic choice.

As far as monstrous Pokemon go, few do it better than Tyranitar, both in concept and in battle. Tyranitar truly is one of the most terrifying Pokemon out there.

But the terror does not stop here! Next is a terror from the seas, emerging from the most unlikely of beasts.