My Top 15 favorite Pokemon, part 1
So I actually had another blog I was setting up, then I quit my teaching job and one of my students gave me a Pikachu doll. So yea, that got me thinking about Pokemon and which ones I liked.....so here it is. Originally this was going to be a top 10 list.....but I figured with over 700 pokemon maybe a bit more was called for, so here we go the Pokemon top 15....part 1.
#15 Talonflame
And then it became Talonflame and oh my god. First it winds up being one of the most bad ass looking bird pokemon ever created.....including looking more bad ass than Braviery the generation before. And it still has a distinctly avian look, and looks "theoretically real" IE isnt a dragon or on fire or a rainbow like its 3 type mates. And furthermore, it turns out its got the stats to back up its badassness. Its actually pretty close stat wise to the famous Charizard....and its speed stat surpasses not only Charizard, but both of its mega forms and both of the two legendary birds it shares a type with. Add to that its abilities, the normal one of having a chance of burning any pokemon that touches it, or its hidden one giving it priority with flying attacks and you have a suprising uber badass.
And honestly its the surprise that got it on this list. After 20 years pokemon seems formulaic...but from time to time Gamefreak tries to turn that formula on its head....and well Talonflame actually being amazing is probably the best surprise to come out of those attempts in generations.
#14 Chesnaught
It seems to me that Grass type starters usually tend to be lizard/reptile based slow weakish tanks, with a very limited moveset, mostly there to leech seed/drain their opponents out of battle while regaining their own health to keep tanking. In other words, very much a one trick pony. Chesnaught plays to this theme for sure, with an incredible low speed, and the highest defense of any starter period.
But then we hit the two major differences that have resulted in Chesnaught being the only grass starter I like. First it can actually hit back....and hard, with the highest attack of any grass starter. And its bipedal one of the only grass starter to be so. Which means, as it has arms, it gets access to a variety of moves other grass starters just dont have. All of which would also be true for Sceptile (who is in some ways Chesnaughts couterpart, having the highest speed and special attacks of any grass starter).
Difference is, Chesnaught looks like it can pound the fuck out of you and shake off anything you hit it with.....Sceptile just looks like a two legged lizard trying to run away from you. Plus Chesnaught has spiky shield, a defensive move that will take away 1/8 the hp of anyone who dares to touch it...and protects it from any kind of attack that turn. Plus hes half fighting, giving him STABed fighting moves....which are one of the more common weaknesses in the game. Not to mention Chesnaught naturally learns moves to counter all of its weaknesses bar one (Fairy), and while there are better options for him, thats still an amazing boost to his potential.
So yea, turns out Chesnaught can tank with his other grass starting brethren....but unlike them, he can switch to the offense as well. Plus hes not a reptile so he stands out among the grass starters.
#13 Flareon
Problem is, Gamefreak never saw fit to give him any thing to do with those stats. See Flareon's a fire type....and up until generation 4 all fire type moves were special (again flareon's special attack isnt bad, but pales in comparison to his attack). And even now he only learns 3 physical fire attacks, the strongest of which hurts him as well as the target and he lacks a recovery move, and the second strongest of which does a paltry 65 damage
But he was one of the best users of Shadow Ball in the earlier generations, making him a great and unexpected psychic (and ghost) killer...except that he lost that when shadow ball became special in generation 4.
So sadly, Flareon still remains to this day one of the pokemon I really like....but have never managed to use. But who knows, maybe in Generation 7, Jolteon will have finally taught his brother how to kick and Flareon can have access to Blaze Kick (and possibly Double Kick for versatility) thereby finally giving it a decent damage STAB move to use.
#12 Kingler.
So I admitted back in my worse pokemon design blog, this thing is about as lazy a design as you can get. But it still works. Kingler is basically a crab that is over 4 feet tall. Which probably puts that big claw at near 2 feet. Thats terrifying. And as it is still basically a crab, its not hard to imagine this thing could actually exist. Which is more terrifying. So yea, its lazy as fuck, but really it doesnt need anything else to look like a monster, and a legit threat.
Sadly though, like Flareon, this is a pokemon I basically never get to use. Unlike Flareon though, its probably very possible to use this thing, it has a shallow movepool, especially for a water type, but you do have options at least that allow you to make use of that whopping 130 attack. Thing is, I pretty much always pick the water starter (except for BW, which Kinglers not in till post game), and without a secondary type, this thing is just redundant.
#11 Donphan
Donphan is the first pokemon that made me pick a version. Granted I owned Gold and Silver, but I got Silver first and considered it my main game for that pairing, in part because of Donphan. To me Donphan is what Pokemon should be at its most basic, a cool looking real world animal shrunk down and made to look more like it can fight. Plus the idea of a tire/elephant combo one of the most unique to say the least.
Sadly, I didnt know Donphan switched versions when I bought Soul Silver, and he's been basically unavailable during the regular game since GS (I know hes in the ORAS Safari Zone, but at a high level so has to be bred to get without average to bad stats), so its been a long long time since I've had one on any of my teams.
#10 Empoleon
So I really like water types, and tend to pick them for my first run though of any game. So of course I picked Piplup. Then it turned into this thing. Which looks awesome. Penguins are normally dorky looking birds, and the only other example in Pokemon, Delibird, doesnt do anything to dispel that idea, nor for that matter do Piplup and Prinplup.
But this thing? this is a dork made bad ass. Like this thing looks like it could kill you, just because its bored. Also props to the design, as it looks like it could be a totally organic creature, and still is reminsant of metal (for its steel typing) at the same time. Thats a hard balance to pull off and this thin did it perfectly.
Add the fact that its resistant or immune to 11 of the 18 pokemon types, and has no 4x weaknesses, and gets STAB damage against one of its 3 weakness (ground), and you have a surprising defensive wall....with a 111 special attack. So yea, it can kill you too.
One downside though, that blue "metal" part coming out of what I'm going to generously call its belly.....well yea, dont thinka giant blue metal dick is a selling point.
#9 Lugia
Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of most legendary designs. I mean they are good for the most part, but nothing that stands out as legendarily great. That said I do really like this one. Lugia's design actually makes it look intelligent, calm and peaceful....while also clearly able to get angry....just like the Ocean. And since its gimmick is Guardian of the Seas, this is one of the best design/role matches I think pokemon has.
Well except for the fact that for some reason that makes no sense at all, Lugia, The Diving Pokemon, isnt actually a water type. Even though its most powerful move is a water type move, and it learns rain dance, and it lives in underwater caves, for some logic defying reason Gamefreak made it a Psychic Type. Which is actually what keeps Lugia so far down on this list, the mismatch between its premise and its typing is just a little too much for me to accept.
#8 Chandelure Evolutionary Line
#15 Talonflame
On paper the chances for Talonflame to be good were immensely small. For starters it starts life as Fletchling, Generation VI's early game bird type. As a rule those pokemon tend to be good early in the game, and be totally ineffective and overshown later. And while the fact it didnt stay a normal/flying type upon evolving into Flecheinder did make for a nice surprise and shack up...well given that the other pokemon with that type combination are Charizard, Moltres and Ho-Oh, AKA a starter and 2 legionaries, all of whom have higher than normal stats because of that, well it seemed this thing was destined to the instantly over-shined and forgotten pile of pokemon.
And then it became Talonflame and oh my god. First it winds up being one of the most bad ass looking bird pokemon ever created.....including looking more bad ass than Braviery the generation before. And it still has a distinctly avian look, and looks "theoretically real" IE isnt a dragon or on fire or a rainbow like its 3 type mates. And furthermore, it turns out its got the stats to back up its badassness. Its actually pretty close stat wise to the famous Charizard....and its speed stat surpasses not only Charizard, but both of its mega forms and both of the two legendary birds it shares a type with. Add to that its abilities, the normal one of having a chance of burning any pokemon that touches it, or its hidden one giving it priority with flying attacks and you have a suprising uber badass.
And honestly its the surprise that got it on this list. After 20 years pokemon seems formulaic...but from time to time Gamefreak tries to turn that formula on its head....and well Talonflame actually being amazing is probably the best surprise to come out of those attempts in generations.
But then we hit the two major differences that have resulted in Chesnaught being the only grass starter I like. First it can actually hit back....and hard, with the highest attack of any grass starter. And its bipedal one of the only grass starter to be so. Which means, as it has arms, it gets access to a variety of moves other grass starters just dont have. All of which would also be true for Sceptile (who is in some ways Chesnaughts couterpart, having the highest speed and special attacks of any grass starter).
Difference is, Chesnaught looks like it can pound the fuck out of you and shake off anything you hit it with.....Sceptile just looks like a two legged lizard trying to run away from you. Plus Chesnaught has spiky shield, a defensive move that will take away 1/8 the hp of anyone who dares to touch it...and protects it from any kind of attack that turn. Plus hes half fighting, giving him STABed fighting moves....which are one of the more common weaknesses in the game. Not to mention Chesnaught naturally learns moves to counter all of its weaknesses bar one (Fairy), and while there are better options for him, thats still an amazing boost to his potential.
So yea, turns out Chesnaught can tank with his other grass starting brethren....but unlike them, he can switch to the offense as well. Plus hes not a reptile so he stands out among the grass starters.
#13 Flareon
My favorite Eeveeolution back in Generation 1, where due to special not being split he was beast.....and still my favorite today. I admit I usually use Vaporeon in game, it is has always been significantly more versatile than Flareon...but that doesnt mean I like Flareon any less. He's got the single best design of any of the Eeveeolutions in my opinion. And hes actually got pretty good stats to back up that awesome design, such as a 95 special attack, a 110 special defense (which was his special stat in gen1 ) and a 130 attack.
Problem is, Gamefreak never saw fit to give him any thing to do with those stats. See Flareon's a fire type....and up until generation 4 all fire type moves were special (again flareon's special attack isnt bad, but pales in comparison to his attack). And even now he only learns 3 physical fire attacks, the strongest of which hurts him as well as the target and he lacks a recovery move, and the second strongest of which does a paltry 65 damage
But he was one of the best users of Shadow Ball in the earlier generations, making him a great and unexpected psychic (and ghost) killer...except that he lost that when shadow ball became special in generation 4.
So sadly, Flareon still remains to this day one of the pokemon I really like....but have never managed to use. But who knows, maybe in Generation 7, Jolteon will have finally taught his brother how to kick and Flareon can have access to Blaze Kick (and possibly Double Kick for versatility) thereby finally giving it a decent damage STAB move to use.
#12 Kingler.
Sadly though, like Flareon, this is a pokemon I basically never get to use. Unlike Flareon though, its probably very possible to use this thing, it has a shallow movepool, especially for a water type, but you do have options at least that allow you to make use of that whopping 130 attack. Thing is, I pretty much always pick the water starter (except for BW, which Kinglers not in till post game), and without a secondary type, this thing is just redundant.
#11 Donphan
Donphan is the first pokemon that made me pick a version. Granted I owned Gold and Silver, but I got Silver first and considered it my main game for that pairing, in part because of Donphan. To me Donphan is what Pokemon should be at its most basic, a cool looking real world animal shrunk down and made to look more like it can fight. Plus the idea of a tire/elephant combo one of the most unique to say the least.
Sadly, I didnt know Donphan switched versions when I bought Soul Silver, and he's been basically unavailable during the regular game since GS (I know hes in the ORAS Safari Zone, but at a high level so has to be bred to get without average to bad stats), so its been a long long time since I've had one on any of my teams.
#10 Empoleon
So I really like water types, and tend to pick them for my first run though of any game. So of course I picked Piplup. Then it turned into this thing. Which looks awesome. Penguins are normally dorky looking birds, and the only other example in Pokemon, Delibird, doesnt do anything to dispel that idea, nor for that matter do Piplup and Prinplup.
But this thing? this is a dork made bad ass. Like this thing looks like it could kill you, just because its bored. Also props to the design, as it looks like it could be a totally organic creature, and still is reminsant of metal (for its steel typing) at the same time. Thats a hard balance to pull off and this thin did it perfectly.
Add the fact that its resistant or immune to 11 of the 18 pokemon types, and has no 4x weaknesses, and gets STAB damage against one of its 3 weakness (ground), and you have a surprising defensive wall....with a 111 special attack. So yea, it can kill you too.
One downside though, that blue "metal" part coming out of what I'm going to generously call its belly.....well yea, dont thinka giant blue metal dick is a selling point.
#9 Lugia
Well except for the fact that for some reason that makes no sense at all, Lugia, The Diving Pokemon, isnt actually a water type. Even though its most powerful move is a water type move, and it learns rain dance, and it lives in underwater caves, for some logic defying reason Gamefreak made it a Psychic Type. Which is actually what keeps Lugia so far down on this list, the mismatch between its premise and its typing is just a little too much for me to accept.
#8 Chandelure Evolutionary Line
The first of two nominations to be shared by the entire family. Honestly for me, I've always linked ghosts to candlesticks (possibly due to Disney's Haunted mansion making that connection throughout the ride and the fact I went on that ride ALOT growing up), so a candle based ghost type is a freaking awesome idea to me. And I love the logic to the evolution, where each is basically a more complicated version of its predecessor. Also, really glad they stayed with the ghostly blue/purple flame colors, it helps make these guys spooky and makes them stand out as fire types too....pretty sure they are the only ones on fire whos default flame pallet isnt red/orange/yellow. Basically this thing is full of win.....except Chandelure's shiny form, who trades an even spookier powed blue flame of Litwick and Lampent for a normal red/orange one.
And there you have it, the bottom 8 of my top 15 favorite pokemon. In just a bit hopefully I will be done with the top 7. So please for all of you who are going to ask where some major names are....please let me finish, then ream me for not liking the popular pokemon :P
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