Pokemon Top 10's & Discussions

[Hatchet]

So I'm sort of bored and having issues getting into the zone for rps with my arm in as much pain as it is. So instead I'm going to be one-hand typing out this stupid little thing.

I've been a fan of Pokemon since the tail end of 3rd Gen (Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald) and loved it ever since. Now I'm only 20 so the only time I have ever experienced Gen 1 (Red, Blue, Yellow) was when those three mentioned games were released for 10.00 bucks on Nintendo eShop for download during their 20th anniversary special.

I've made this just to see what other people are like, Pokemon fan-wise and want to see if anyone is a bitter nerd than I am, so I will semi-regularly post here with top tens and discussions with you Poke-nerds out there. Here's how it'll go, I will try to find a top 10 (doesn't always have to be 10) and list my thoughts, and then list a discussion question for those who would like to answer. I welcome all Pokemon fans, even if you've only played one game, its fine, some people just sort of fell out of it or couldn't afford new systems and games. Again, I welcome all.

Little background before I get started, the first game I ever played was a friend's Sapphire version. I literally knew NOTHING. About the franchise, he was gone on a trip with his family and couldn't bring electronics so he let me borrow his Sapphire version and told me to level up and catch any Pokemon he didn't have. At this time he was at the second gym in Dewford Town and...Me being so fasconated leveled up his Grovyle until it evolved as well as evolved his main team until he crushed the game for the next two to three badges. After that, I was hooked. For Christmas I wanted nothing more than a DS lite and Pokemon Diamond, which I got and beat the first gym that day. Again, still didn't know anything except type matchups basically. Playground rumors were still my main source of information since I didn't know Bulbapedia and Serebii.net were things yet...Took me until tail end of Gen 5 to use those two sources...Yeah...Story for another day.

Alright first top list, I'll make it easy.

I used this here, it has options and will help you pick out your top ten favorite pokemon while making you pick through different sets. The more you pick one, the closer it is to showing up at the bottom.

https://www.dragonflycave.com/favorite.html

I'll also give some explanation and honorable mentions.

10. Zangoose - Ugh...It's not available in Sapphire. I really wanted it because I liked that it hated Seviper and even though I don't use it, I love its design and it is just killer with Toxic Boost, Poison Orb, Facade set. Before I knew of version exclusives I spent hours upon hours looking for this sucker because of how much I wanted it on my team. Ended up settling for Exploud.

9. Arcanine - Along with Nidoking, Arcanine was one of the first pokemon I ever saw and it being based off of a lion, tiger, wolf creature was just cool. One of the pokemon I wish was real.

8. Nidoking - Once, Nidoking was my favorite pokemon of all time and will still always hold a special place in my heart. It and Arcanine were the first Pokemon I was ever introduced to even before Sceptile.

7. Toxicroak - When I was little, I LARPED with Toxicroak all the time with friends. It's design and typing to me is just awesome.

6. Zoroark - For the longest time, Dark was my favorite of all types and this being based off of a mythical fox that changes forms is just cool as can be. I whined and whined until my parents drove up to the nearest city that offered the mythical beasts so I could get the Zoroark in game from the movie.

5. Lucario - I spent. Hours. Trying to train the Riolu you get in Diamond to evolve and help me in my main game against the elite four. Also one of my favorite megas, loved its movie when I was younger and based off of my favorite Egyptian God, Anubis.

4. Sceptile - First pokemon I've ever used in my entire life, based off of a dinosaur/lizard and I love me some dinos. Also my favorite mega next to mega Rayquaza and mega Lucario.

3. Garchomp - Pokken main and my favorite non legendary Dragon Type, honestly it's hard to pick between Garchomp and Luxray. It's design is awesome, a land shark is just terrifying. Too bad its mega sucks.

2. Luxray - First. Shiny. Ever. Favorite type and also based off of a lion one of my favorite animals.

1. Zekrom - Favorite typings, Dragon and Electric. It is based off of a Western dragon and I love me some dragons. Zekrom also is the legendary from my favorite generation, Gen 5 and he symbolizes Yang and I've always loved counterparts and Yin and Yang symbolism. Also heavily helped me polish my longest and favorite rp character, Cynister.

Honorable Mentions:

Dialga - First legendary, at one time my favorite Pokemon as well and still one of my favorite type combinations. It was the mascot of the first game I ever owned and it deserves to be mentioned.

All three Sinnoh Starters (but especially Torterra) - I went through the game with a Turtwig and bugged my friends over and over to send me a Piplup and Chimchar so I could go through my first ever game with all three starters. Final team was Infernape, Empoleon, Torterra, Luxray, Dialga, Staraptor.

Golisopod - Relatively new pokemon, it's design to me is just flawless and its shiny while simple is perhaps the best I've ever seen next to Charizard and Rayquaza.

Umbreon - Can't make a list without favorite eeveelution.

Alright and here's my discussion question/topic.

What are your favorite Pokemon and tell me why. Also, what was your most memorable team and why?

[Thete]

Pokemon is <3

I don't remember how what I got into first, the show or the games. I used to borrow people's gameboy to play it since I didn't have one of my own, so I experienced Red and Blue a lot before I got my own. For my tenth birthday I got a purple gameboy colour and Pokemon Yellow. I don't remember my team, but I know I had like 63 hours played on it. I had a lot of Pokemon stuff. I mean a serious amount. I had tons of cards and toys. The Pokemon card craze was about the only time I was popular in school, until my best friend at the time had a card 'stolen' and her mother complained and got the cards banned.

Still never quite forgiven her for that.

I have a lot of love for the second gen, though. I got a magazine at some point which was the first reveal of the GS Pokedex and I took that everywhere for ages. I planned out my team, I knew the japanese names more than the English ones. Gold will always be my favourite. I was never off of that thing. And when you went back to Kanto after the Johto league my mind was BLOWN. Oh my god it was amazing.

I had a brief love affair with Emerald and Diamond with my ex, she took my copy of FireRed off of me to play which left me stuck playing Emerald. She refused to battle me after I won unless I let her win, but that is another story for another place.

I like Pokemon a hell of a lot. I find the designs aesthetically pleasing, and because I am a massive furry, attractive.

Now with that background detail over, time to actually move back onto the topic. >_>

I can't remember my favourite team so I'm going to pop my Sun one in since I love it. I am currently rocking: Incineroar, Jolteon, Leafeon, Vaporeon, Alolan Persian and Umbreon. Eevee evolved last night and I wanted Espeon for team reasons but I love Umbreon too much to be able to hit B.

My favourites... (Sort of in order, sort of not)

1. Litten. All I have ever wanted was a proper cat in Pokemon, and Litten came along. Cat starter, fire type... I love him so much. His evolutions too. <33333333

2. Drifloon. It is a balloon. What isn't to love.

3. Mew. I had an ancient Mew card, I loved Mew in the film... I love Mew.

4. Typhlosion. My baby Cyndaquil and his evolutions. <3

5. Blaziken. Fire/fighting. Is a birb. Awesome design. I have a thing for fire starters.

6. Umbreon. I would include all Eeveelutions if I had the space, so I've gone for the one I love the design of most. Sylveon also is pretty up there since I love the method of evolution.

7. Ekans. Okay, so I got over my snake phobia last year and I was playing Go. In three weeks I hadn't found an Ekans and I was most upset, until I was over at future parents in law's place. About ten at night beside the park an Ekans appeared on tracker. An Ekans appeared on my screen. I caught Ekans. I screamed. Snekans was mine. Thete has issues.

8. Rayquaza. Huge legendary lightning dragon. Star of Emerald, I love this baby.

9. Raikou. The only wandering dog I managed to catch, actually.

10. Pidgey. Because so simple.

Hon. Mentions:

Dialaga, Charizard, Cutiefly, Solego, Lucario, Lycanroc, Persian & Alolan Persian, Zangoose.

[Mathim]

Funny, Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald was my least favorite generation (though I stopped playing the games after Diamond/Pearl/Platinum). I found it extremely hard to build a team with a decently diverse set of moves and no combination of types that would give them any quadruple-weaknesses. Not to mention so much of the region was covered in water, it became a chore to travel around.

I did enjoy generations 1 and 4 (never really got the opportunity to play much of Gold/Silver/Crystal) quite a bit, though. More than anything, though, I LOVE the Ranger games. If only the actual RPG games gave the player an opportunity to actually affect the chance of a capture more, like the Ranger games depend upon. Plus no random battles, you actually see them in the field and may need to try to avoid them or their attacks while exploring.

I stopped caring about the series after generation 4 because generation 5 was supposed to have all original Pokemon, no connection to the previous generations, so no building upon them with alternate evolutions or pre-volutions. Would have been nice to see a pre-volution for Heracross and Pinsir, like a smaller beetle species that can evolve into either of them (or maybe a third alternate, like Hitmontop for the Tyrogue pre-volution). And just seeing so many rehashes of animals that they've already used so many times already, just made me think they weren't trying anymore. Even further generations seemed to be doing that, so if they're not going to put in the effort, neither am I.

[Inkidu]

Hah, I started at Gen 1 and quit at Gen 2. I've generally not played anything but the remakes of the first Gen. I don't know, I just think the game got too large and unfocused or if you wanted to play multiplayer too absurd, but I've still got my favorites.

10. Growlithe (Dogs are awesome.)
9. Dragonaire (so elegant)
8. Machamp (When you just need to hit something.)
7. Hoot-hoot (I like his cute little owl face)
6. Arcticuno (Best Legendary Bird ever)
5. Kabuto (I like horseshoe crabs)
4. Furret (Ferrets are awesome.)
3. Marril (F*** you Pickachu.)
2. Steelix (It's metal as hell.)
1. Squirtle (Because you never forget your first ever starter pick.)

[Gardsorm]

I've been playing Pokemon since RBY, and thus far the only games of a set i've missed were B2/W2. Otherwise i've played Blue, Yellow, Silver, Crystal, (Alpha) Sapphire, Pearl, Platinum, White, Y, and as of three weeks ago, Moon. Never had much reason to touch the opposite versions since i've always collaborated with friends who got opposite versions so we could trade between us. So yeah, my only regret is not having played Black 2 or White 2. Also played a few of the spinoffs, like most of the PMD games (Blue Rescue Team, Explorers of Darkness, missed out on Gates to Infinity, and finally Super Mystery Dungeon) and Colosseum/Gate of Darkness. I kinda wanna try Pokken Tournament next...

But as for my top 10...

10. Beedril (I generally dislike bees and hornets, but damn if I don't feel bad using one to harass opponents. Loved its Mega Form)
9. Rhydon (Loved how monstrous it looked way back in the ways. Rhyperior looks a little silly though, imo)
8. Avalugg (giant iceberg turtle looks awesome. Shame ice is such a crap defensive typing, but Avalugg is still one of my favorite designs)
7. Flygon (Poor thing just gets so much flak compared to other dragon types [Save maybe Dragalge and Altaria], but I love it.)
6. Decidueye (Favorite starter of the trio in Sun/Moon, has a fun typing and love its personal Z-Move. Sinister Arrow Raid is such a fun name. <3 )
5. Sylveon (Probably the first Fairy type I cared to get, looks nice and can pack a wallop)
4. Grimer (creepy sludge critter was fun. Made even more fun in Sun/Moon with its Alola form being Dark/Poison. Suck it, Psychics!)
3. Hydreigon (The latest evolver of all, the Brutality Pokemon was easily my favorite design from Black/White)
2. Mimikyu (Pikachu's unintended fan that wants all its popularity, and yet is amazingly strong in its own right. Still wonder what kind of cosmic horror it looks like underneath)
1. Sceptile (Favorite starter of RSE, and in the spinoff games like PMD when allowed. Absolutely love its Mega Form, and looks amazing in Pokken Tournament)

[Lux12]

I'm surprised no one's put Skarmory in their top 10.

Now this is in no particular order but these are the ones I'm most fond of at present.
1.Groudon-Honestly not a huge fan of ground types for the most part, but I took one look at this things appearance knew I liked it. It's quite powerful too.

2. Lugia- Lugia has always been one of my favorite legendary pokemon. Lugia is strong and has one of my favorite visual designs. What weaknesses it has are pretty well balanced out and it has a pretty damn good starting move set. Also for some reason, despite not being a water type or based off a marine mammal, it kind of reminds me of a Killer Whale and I like killer whales. Odd reason, but it is what it is.

3. Rapidash- It may not be the strongest fire type, but it's a pretty strong one. It's always been one of the best fire type pokemon in my opinion, plus I've got a fondness for it since my Chinese astrology sign is the horse.

4. Kommo-O- Definitely one of my favorites of the most recent gen. It may have a number of type weaknesses, but it's got a number of decent resistances that make up for it. Not to mention that it's got pretty good stats. Plus it's double type gives it access to a lot of moves that are pretty effective against a number of different types. Not to mention it's appearance kind of both badass and fabulous.

5.  Gardevoir. A bit of a glass cannon when it comes to how it functions, but's a psychic type that's found it's way into my roster many times over for more than one time over the years. The fact that it's now a psychic/fairy type added a bit of a new level of versatility to this one. Sort of a "squishy wizard" kind of pokemon,but an effective one. Not to mention it's so very elegant.

6. Mismagius- I think it's a pretty effective ghost type and I like the aesthetic. Not to mention that as a practicing witch, the whole ghost mage thing has a lot of appeal to me.

7. Mightyena- One of my favorite pure dark types. A fairly strong one with a slick appearance. Not to mention that despite being partly based off a hyena, the way they're described is more like that of a wolf, and as stereotypical as it sounds, I've often felt a spiritual connection to the wolf, so having one of these in my party often felt like it ensured good luck while playing the games.

8. Samurott- A nice, strong pure water type. Some good resistances, can pickup some strong moves, and a neat design. I've also had a certain fondness for otters and I was in some ways compared them by people who knew me when I was little. When I picked Oshawott out, it was because I had a good feeling. Otters are sort of a good luck thing for me and I was most certainly not disappointed.

9. Xerneas- Not gonna lie, this one is here for a number of non-combat related reasons. I love the design and the fact that it's sort of a walking shout out to a variety of elements from European Pagan lore. It's appearance has an otherworldly elegance and looks cool. They're pretty strong in combat as far as pure fairy types are concerned too. It's as if whoever came up with this one knew how to appeal to my cultural sensibilities and my sense of aesthetics.

10. Skarmory- The steel flying combination gives this one quite a bit of power against certain types and it has a host of resistances. Sure it doesn't have any flashy evolutions, but the practical advantages are excellent. I've had at least three different games where I had this one in my team. Besides, the whole concept and bits of lore behind it are pardon the pun, pretty fucking metal.

Honorable Mentions:
Kyogre, Charizard, Gothitelle, Lunala, Houndoom, Aggron, Blaziken, Greninja, Ho-Oh, Rayquaza, Manectric, Feraligatr, Typhlosion, Primarina, Sogaleo, Reshiram, Zekrom, Venusaur, Empoleon

[Mathim]

Huh, I never listed my top 10, did I?

1. Sharpedo. Ironic, being from my least favorite generation, but it's pretty much the only one from it that I like at all. Good water type, dark type not inflicting any quadruple weaknesses, and looks cool as shit.

2. Nidoking. I just like the way it looks and, as of the GBA FireRed/LeafGreen games, it was not only able to be evolved into at a relatively low level, but its moveset was also (from very early on) incredibly diverse and useful, and could learn some great TM moves.

3. Raichu. Only one weakness, some pretty decent power behind its electrical attacks, but could use a few more diverse moves.

4. Blaziken. Yeah, another of the Gen 3 ones, but was kind of the only decent starter and only decent fire-type in the game without increasing the number of weaknesses. Plus, fighting, my favorite type.

5. Dustox. Crap...too many Gen 3's for me to deny. But only because, at the time I was exploiting the hell out of the Pal Park in Diamond/Pearl, I was constantly replaying Emerald so I could keep transmitting more and more Master Balls to my DS games from my GBA games. Since it's the only Pokemon that learns a decent (and as far as I know, unique) Bug-type move, and could be gotten very early on, it was just convenient.

6. Lucario. Love its diverse moveset, appearance and how easy it is to evolve early on.

7. Dialga. Yeah, Legendaries don't usually appeal to me but when I was ambitiously trying to get one of every Pokemon through Generation 4 to level 100, this was one of my team of bruisers to fight high-level trainers for the most EXP and Poke-dollars.

8. Blastoise. My favorite starter from Generation 1, and Water-type from it. Just looks cool, but probably didn't have as good of a special attack stat as...

9. Starmie. Water/Psychic isn't rare to find but I think this one had a pretty decent sp. attack stat so I sometimes used this if I picked Charmander as my starter.

10. Jolteon. Again, one of the electric types with decent sp. attack, relatively easy to get and evolve, a bug-type move so rare to find in most of the games, and only one weakness.