Pokemon Crystal Ratings

[a.f.k.a. Howard Hughes]

The problem is that the Spearow you get is only lv. 10 in the 2nd generation (it is indeed lv. 20 in gen 4, ready to evolve, as you pointed out). So if one is to make use of Spearow in this generation, catching one at the earliest convenience is the best idea.

lol my bad,

plays some more remakes

[Espinosa]

Geodude

Another Pokemon available on Route 46 is Geodude, and it's as good as it was in the previous generation, before the type split into physical and special, and all that.

Geodude starts rather unimpressive, with a turtlelike speed stat, and lacking a STAB attack until lv. 11. Anyone who has ever used a Geodude in generation 2 (generation 1 has an almost immediate Mega Punch TM) can recall having to switch to their starter simply because the thing couldn't deal any decent damage before levelling up a few times, in spite of its supreme early game tanking ability.

Which leads me to the most important point regarding Geodude - its typing and physical defence makes it an excellent tank, because the in-game movesets are very often completely walled by its rock/ground typing (perhaps moreso by the rock part of the hybrid, as there's never a shortage of normal-type attacks coming one's way).

Geodude has a bit of trouble learning Rock Throw and preparing for Falkner (because let's face it, Rock Throw makes Geodude a perfect Pokemon to train for the first gym), because as good of a levelling spot the Sprout Tower is, Geodude can't survive their Vine Whips in any imaginable way. Nevertheless, it is a good idea to baby Geodude at this point of the game, because its effectiveness in the first half of the game is top tier.

Just look at that gym performance: effective against Falkner, OHKOs Scyther with Rock Throw before it can even squeak, resists Miltank's attacks (however, some Leer support, or perhaps the Rollout TM, might be necessary to deal more damage to it than Milk Drink can heal... otherwise, Stomp's flinching and Rollout's gradually increasing damage shift the odds against Geodude). Magnitude, a bit of gambling tool in Geodude's arsenal, but fairly reliable nevertheless if you don't want to waste that Dig TM on it, makes it excellent for all the ghosts in Morty's gym (who do not have Levitate just yet), as well as those Magnemites. Its typing and rock/ground STABs also make it perfect to face most Rockets who use samey Pokemon throughout the maingame.

Later on, Geodude (either Graveler or Golem by that point, depending on whether you can trade or not) doesn't feel nearly as comfortable in the key battles, because things rely on strong special attacks, like Psychic, to deal damage, and its special defence just doesn't cut it. However, it can face those Dragonairs and Dragonites that have only normal and electric/fire type attacks (I wouldn't switch my Graveler into that lv. 50 Dragonite's Outrage however), and takes on Koga singlehandedly. It deals with some Pokemon Karen and Lance use nicely too (like Charizard, and especially Aerodactyl).

Geodude's typing can be seen as a shortcoming at the same time, because it has those common 4x weaknesses to water and grass, as well as 4 other weaknesses. Its speed ensures it won't be outspeeding too many things, so the "kill it before it kills you" strategy is hardly applicable here, and the bitter truth is that Geodude is perhaps the least self-sufficient Pokemon (out of the really useful ones anyway) in the game, demanding support from other Pokemon who would cover its weaknesses.

Geodude's movepool is very good. Rock Throw and Magnitude provide excellent coverage early game, and Earthquake replaces the latter around the time you reach Elite Four (you might as well learn it naturally and not waste the TM). Selfdestruct also deserves a mention. When you're facing Pokemon that are too difficult to take down with any separate Pokemon you may have trained, just put Golem into a situation where it can boom into their face! Kingdra is one such Pokemon. The presence of Surf in its moveset means you either switch into its Hyper Beam (it's not too hard to bait it to use it, with an untrained Tentacruel or something if you have it), or paralyse it so that you can outspeed it. The way the game's mechanics work, you essentially have a 400 base power move and a respectable phys attack to go with it. It's a great tool for taking out those really troublesome Pokemon out there. Sadly, there isn't a TM or a tutor for Rock Slide in this generation, so for a rock-type STAB you either have to be content with that same Rock Throw, or teach it Rollout if you don't mind the 10% chance of its base power going all the way down each turn.

While Geodude doesn't really solo the game, it makes some problematic battles a lot less problematic. It's not without its faults, but it's still pretty damn great at what it does, regardless of whether it evolves into Golem or not. Just don't forget to give it team support to cover its many weaknesses.

Geodude is a great partner for Chikorita (taking care of the fire, bug, poison and flying types that threaten it), has okay synergy with Totodile (covering its weakness to electric, but not grass obviously), but isn't really the best team mate for Cyndaquil, as the two cover similar Pokemon types with their STABs, and the two of them are still weak to water-types.

Rating: 8.5/10

You can really tell I use Geodude nearly all the time lol.

Edited October 19, 2012 by Espinosa

[samthedigital]

Geodude is a great partner for Chikorita (taking care of the fire, bug, poison and flying types that threaten it), has okay synergy with Totodile (covering its weakness to electric, but not grass obviously), but isn't really the best team mate for Cyndaquil, as the two cover similar Pokemon types with their STABs, and the two of them are still weak to water-types.

Totodile can eliminate its problems with grass attacks once it gets Ice Punch, but I don't see why Totodile is getting the same score as Geodude. Geodude is actually better in tool assisted conditions as far as I know, but without all the luck required it's worse than Totodile, though you give them the same score. You'll see that you list weaknesses for Geodude (namely the speed issue it has and the weaknesses that actually matter) don't exists for Totodile. Even if Totodile compares to the other Water Pokemon (and Totodile doesn't, just to be sure) that would only mean that they would all deserve a higher score, or that Geodude deserves a lower one. I'm not saying that Geodude deserves a lower score since it is still a great Pokemon, but Totodile is still better which I feel is still getting ignored.

Edited August 30, 2011 by samthedigital

[dondon151]

There's also trade evolution, which is usually unavailable. Trade evolution for Golem is great (though he still has a spe problem); absence of trade evolution and being stuck forever with Graveler kind of sucks.

[Espinosa]

Yeah, I think I'll give Totodile a 9.5 for now, since it's a lot more self-sufficient than Geodude is. Going to have to re-write its review later on though, to emphasise the strengths that have been brought up and which a quick attempt at a run only confirmed. I also found a speed run video where the game is beaten in under 3 hours practically as a Totodile solo, and the player needed only one additional hour to beat Red with the same Feraligatr. So maybe that's a 10, but 9.5 will do until we have more top tier Pokemon to compare its capabilities with.

There's also trade evolution, which is usually unavailable. Trade evolution for Golem is great (though he still has a spe problem); absence of trade evolution and being stuck forever with Graveler kind of sucks.

I didn't differentiate between Graveler and Golem because the main difference is HP - Golem is quite a bit healthier, and therefore more durable. Their key stats - attack and defence - are only separated by 15 base points, which is not a big deal, and Graveler does a fine job against the appropriate Elite Four Pokemon, as I've learnt myself. Same TM movepool, same natural learnset. In cases like Haunter/Gengar, I will definitely have to differentiate between two drastically different units, but this one isn't nearly as crucial, I believe.

[Espinosa]

Phanpy

The last Pokemon on Route 46 in the Crystal version, replacing Jigglypuff who is found here if you're playing Gold/Silver. Its availability is very much in contrast to what it was in the Silver version, as it can now be caught at the very beginning of the game. Surely that's a great thing?

One immediate concern is that you're only 5% likely to encounter the baby elephant, and only in the morning at that. Players who start their runthroughs at a different time will just say "screw it" and fill their PokeDex entry with it much later - assuming they even care about it. What makes matters even worse for those who do indeed intend to use Phanpy on their playthrough is that it... runs away, just like that. If the player fails to put it to sleep or otherwise catch it on the first turn, you'll be looking for the elusive thing over and over again until luck is on your side.

So, Phanpy is available early but isn't easily available.

Still, let's judge it for its combat capabilities regardless. Phanpy is yet another ground-type, like Geodude or Onix (who becomes shortly available through trade), but it's the first pure ground-type you meet, which makes it rather remarkable. You need to do something with it until lv. 25, which is when it evolves into the great Donphan, so let's see how good it is prior to the evolution.

Its base stats show... that its HP is very high for a first tier form. Which is not necessarily a good thing when not accompanied by equally high defences. Sure, if it allows you to survive until the next Pokemon Centre, then it's fine, but HP without defence means you'll be using more Potions (and better ones) when your condition is critical. Think of using Chansey as an extreme example - how many Hyper Potions would that hungry thing demand? This is the point I'm trying to get across here - Phanpy lacks Geodude's rock-typing and high physical bases, and the HP doesn't really save it in the long run.

It is also extremely reliant on the TM you give it. Mud-Slap, Dig, Rollout, perhaps Earthquake, and some easily available ones like Headbutt - are the moves you should be expecting to teach your elephant at one point or another of its steady growth. Being a pure ground-type, as mentioned before, still retains its immunity to electric attacks, but since those aren't terribly common, you'd wish you had a resistance to all those types that the rock typing fortifies against instead. Of course, water and grass moves sting you not nearly as hard, but why would you use Phanpy against those anyway? That's the question.

Donphan might make it look like Phanpy is worth all the babying (since it's stuck with Tackle for a long while, until you teach it Mud-Slap and Headbutt via TM), and while that's a great Pokemon right there, with excellent physical attack and defence, it's not really any better than Sandslash, and catching and training a Sandshrew is quite a bit more convenient than raising a Phanpy from Route 46.

In the end, you will find that Donphan can't sweep tough opponents on its own due to its low speed and movepool limitations, leaving it a limited range of roles it can perform during your run. Still, not a poor Pokemon at all in spite of the difficulty of catching it, and training it so that it evolves.

Rating: 6/10

Edited August 31, 2011 by Espinosa

[Espinosa]

Caterpie

First of the four annoying bugs I have to cover (all can be captured when you reach Route 30), and probably not the worst? This isn't saying much though.

Caterpie's stats are just disastrous, and it has trouble beating anything on its own, besides maybe those Splashing Magikarps before Union Cave (though if it's still a Caterpie by that point, I wonder why you didn't grind it earlier using other Pokemon to quickly KO for experience). It gets a little tanky at lv. 7, when it evolves into Metapod, but not terribly so, and only becomes somewhat decent at lv. 10, when it evolves into Butterfree.

Butterfree was quite good in RBY, when players had trouble with Brock with Charmander or Pikachu (I'd still argue Charmander should face Brock on its own regardless, and Mankey/Nidoran would make better Pokemon to take care of Geodude and Onix, especially the latter with its long lasting effect - Nidoran, I mean). Its Confusion was very rare as an early game means of dealing special damage to a very physically sturdy opposition.

Butterfree's Confusion doesn't seem nearly as wanted in the second generation. It's at a type disadvantage on the very first gym battle (which takes place at the peak of Butterfree's potential relatively to the strength of the opposition, as its base grow gradually more and more obsolete afterwards), and does nothing remarkable besides maybe nailing Morty's and Chuck's weaknesses (who hit it very hard with neutral attacks in return).

Butterfree's natural learnset is unimpressive - while Confusion at lv. 10 is nice when it is learnt, the next update, Psybeam, has to wait until lv. 34, which is far too late. Its flying-type STAB, Gust, is only learnt at lv. 28, too, so it'll have to rely on Confusion and perhaps also the Swift TM to deal some below decent damage. Its TM learnset is about as shallow as it gets, Solarbeam being the best option before the Elite Four. Needless to say, being frail and not very threatening offensively either, Butterfree fails to compete with other psychic-type move users out there. Add to that the many boring minutes spent switching Caterpie out to something that can actually crush the opposition.

In the end, Butterfree doesn't justify the effort needed to evolve it and train it further. Its best use lies in putting things to sleep with Sleep Powder (lv. 15), at a better accuracy than sleepers with Hypnosis or Sing. However, it is a slow sleeper indeed (with the same base speed as Poliwrath), and you won't outspeed that legendary dog, should you be lucky to run into one.

Rating: 3/10

[Espinosa]

Weedle

The next annoying bug (who also carried over here from Kanto) is dual bug/poison, meaning that if you're patient enough, you can train on those Bellsprouts the Sages in the tower are fond of using so much. You resist Vine Whip 4x, but your own Poison Sting won't really sting that much (nor will it poison). So yeah, you do need to dedicate some special attention to get it to evolve fully.

Beedrill, in contrast to Butterfree, is a physical attacker, and eventually it has very good options available to it, like Twineedle and Sludge Bomb (this one will seriously hurt things); however, until lv. 20, it doesn't get any STAB moves, unless you count the Fury Cutter TM (which should probably be taken into account as it's a good offensive option), depending heavily on normal-type attacks like Fury Attack and Swift to take out its foes.

While the introduction of Sludge Bomb is a major advantage for Beedrill users, it did also lose some things in the transition from the first generation to the second. One thing is that bug and poison types are now mutually resistant, as opposed to being mutually effective. No longer can you nail those numerous Koffings and Grimers you meet with Twineedle. The second loss is access to Swords Dance via TM, depriving Beedrill of a chance to set up so that it can take care of even the strongest enemy on the foe's team. It learns Agility at lv. 40, so with Swords Dance it would've been a great set-up Pokemon in this generation as well.

But oh well.

Rating: 5/10

[Espinosa]

Ledyba

Since our old friends Caterpie and Weedle were clearly not enough, we have two more useless earlygame bugs, and one of these is Ledyba.

It is a flying-type right off the bat, but its wings will never take the player to places. It lacks the bug- and flying-type STABs, but you probably wouldn't want to have any in the first place, as Ledyba's physical attack is completely atrocious, and it doesn't get better when it evolves either (35 base attack as Ledian; lower than Pidgey's by 10).

The one stat Ledyba was gifted in is... special defence, and with 55 base HP, 110 special defence its special bulk is okay! It's still weak to fire, electric and ice type moves, which you'll see quite a bit of as you progress the game, so it should be cautious what special attackers it is out against.

When you first catch it, it's really struggling to damage things, and you will need to do some serious grind-switching to keep it at competent level, even in comparison to the very low opposition levels in this generation. Its evolution helps its offence very little, and it's TMs that you'll have to invest if you ever want to deplete any HP in that upper-left corner of the screen.

Stuck with Tackle and Supersonic until lv. 15 (where it gets the unreliable Comet Punch), Ledyba will want the Swift TM if you really want to keep using it, but when its offence changes from craptacular to below average is Goldenrod, giving Ledyba access to Ice Punch and Thunderpunch, essentially boltbeam coverage off its slightly higher special attack stat. It might even start OHKOing Hoppips now, aren't you happy?

When Ledyba can't hit things (besides the instances where it penetrates 4x weaknesses, like when hitting a good half of Lance's Pokemon), it can support, and it gets Reflect, Light Screen, Baton Pass. Is any of this any good? Let's face it, there are a couple instances in the game where you wish you could halve the physical or special damage received. Claire's Kindra might be one troublesome opponent, and the E4 is also full of them. However, to permit Ledian to come in and put up a screen, it must be sufficiently trained and training it is serious tedium.

I guess 4x weakness to fighting makes Ledian decent against Chuck and the trainers in his gym but what's it hitting them with? It can Thunderpunch Poliwrath, but you'll need a lot more than one of these to take him down, while healing off Surf's damage, confusion and sleep.

Still more usable than Hoppip I suppose.

Rating: 2.5/10

Spinarak

Fourth useless earlygame bug, this one capturable at night!

Much like Ledyba, Spinarak has no cocoon stage, but this comes at the expense of having a later evolution (compared to gen 1 bugs). And until lv. 22, a long wait it is indeed! Poison Sting has 22,5 BP with STAB factored in, and you're not going to find too many grass-types weak to it to increase the damage besides the occasional Hoppip here and there. 4x resistance to grass allows it to gain some experience while slowly battling Bellsprouts in the tower, but it will need a bigger experience investment to reach lv. 17 for Night Shade for fixed, reliable damage.

When Spinarak finally evolves, it's got 90 base attack as Ariados, but still a glaring lack of offensive options. Poison Sting and Leech Life will be hurting things harder, but what you'll really want is a move like Dig or Return, both highly contested TMs. Before then it doesn't even get Swift.

Ariados starts 'shining' (rather faintly though) when you destroy the rockets in Mahogany and get your Sludge Bomb TM, and this move will be dealing very high damage with its high base power coupled with Ariados's STAB and very good physical attack stat.

Before it does get the chance to deal damage though, it will probably have to take some with that 40 base speed. With 70 HP/70 def/60 sp. def, its bulk leaves a lot to be desired for a Pokemon that will be taking damage a lot, so aside from good attack, it's really got little to offer and doesn't justify the 20 or so levels of babying.

Rating: 4.5/10

[Espinosa]

Zubat

Everyone's least favourite Pokemon, if not as far as training goes, then meeting in the wild most definitely. There is still no shortage of wild Zubats in this generation, but with the low levels the wild Pokemon have, you shouldn't have too many issues running away from them and their evolved forms (unless your lead is as slow as Christmas).

Zubat is no longer the same Pokemon he used to be in Kanto, with its third tier form now being readily available, and Crobat does offer better bases than Zubat's second form, with better bases all around, especially that overkill speed. Crobat can also perform Fly duty for you, and it's not impossible that you'll learn Fly before you get to Wing Attack (at lv. 30).

Learning Bite at lv. 12, Zubat is no longer the same burden it is in generations 1 & 3, where it is stuck with Leech Life and Supersonic for very well, unable to earn experience by fighting on its for a very long time. Bite targets the special defence that is generally weak on earlygame Pokemon (perhaps flinching those Geodudes to death if you lack any other way of dealing with them), and Zubat could also take the Union Cave's Swift TM for a physical move with 60 BP, as its physical attack is a bit stronger.

Zubat isn't bad but its beginnings are still very humble and unspectacular. If you wait until you get Surf, you could get your Friend Ball made for you and catch one of the wild Golbats with it (they're all over the place, really), giving you a quick evolution into Crobat who will wreck most things with those bases at that point of the game. Crobat is a good candidate for Return, as its movepool is generally lacking. It's deprived of Sludge Bomb access this gen in spite of being a poison-type, and Steel Wing/Giga Drain, which could have situational use, are unavailable until postgame.

Zubat doesn't do a whole lot about bugs without a flying-type STAB so it won't make Bugsy any easier for you (Bite being special makes it good against the cocoons but honestly, why would you have trouble with those), but later it does contribute to beating Chuck, Bruno and Koga. High speed allows it to go first against tougher enemies, like Kingdra, and use Confuse Ray against them, perhaps contributing to a sustained collective effort to take that Pokemon down.

It does its job, and you can catch it as soon as you get your first Poke Balls in the Crystal version but it's up to you how you want to go about training a Crobat - it might be a good idea to wait and start 20 happiness points away from Crobat instead.

6.5/10

[Espinosa]

Poliwag

The little tadpole in the second generation now boasts a second evolution (which may or may not be available to the player depending on whether they can trade), and is especially attractive as a water-type to choose due to earlier availability (appearing on route 30 at night when your journey's just begun) and Water Stone being an option during the maingame (which wasn't the case in Gold/Silver).

Poliwag starts out unimpressive with Bubble as its only means of offence even though phys attack is its best offensive stat. It learns Water Gun at lv. 13 and while you're stuck with Bubble and Hypnosis until then, there are plenty of hikers on your way on whom you can train your petite pole. Training on Geodudes most commonly encountered in Dark Cave is also a good idea for some 3-4 levels. Hypnosis could have situational use, such as in gym battles where your other Pokemon need help, and for capturing wild mons; for instance, an Abra on the entrance to Goldenrod who is otherwise very likely to escape your Great Balls, or a legendary dog if you're lucky to encounter and outspeed one.

Doubleslap comes at lv. 19 as the long-awaited physical move, but is unreliable and better replaced by Headbutt, one of which you get in Ilex Forest, and you can purchase as many as you wish in Goldenrod immediately after. This gives Poliwag a powerful attack (stronger than Water Gun with STAB taken into account) running off its strongest stat. At this point Poliwag has occasional use against water-weak trainers (plenty of those around) but besides sleeping things isn't remarkable in gym battles. This changes when you're facing Steelix and Piloswine, both of whom are afraid of Surf (be careful of Steelix's Sunny Day, but even with that in effect he shouldn't hurt you before you take him down), and there's Claire who could be Ice Punched.

In fact, Surf + Ice Punch is Poliwhirl's selling point (something shared between a lot of waters), the former giving him a very strong move to take out most randoms in one action and the second providing additional coverage against things Surf doesn't handle. With only 50 base special attack however, Poliwhirl wants to evolve in order to hit things harder. Either evolution - Poliwrath or Politoed, gives you multiple advantages at the expense of losing some base speed, meaning you will be taking more hits in the event that you evolve Poliwhirl into whatever. Should you want to evolve Poliwhirl, either route provides excellent advantages.

Evolving into Poliwrath gives you duel water/fighting typing, so you're no longer safe around psychics and birds (making Poli a poor choice against Will around a half of whose Pokemon don't like being Ice Punched), but you grow extra resistant to rock, dark and bug-type moves (making Poliwrath a perfect Houndoom switch-in when up against Karen). Poliwrath becomes generally bulky, which is welcome as he's now slow enough to start taking hits. Though a fighting-type, Poliwrath waits until lv. 35 to learn Submission, its strongest physical STAB not counting Dynamicpunch. Submission hurts it when used and is quite imprecise, missing once every five uses on average. An unimpressive but nevertheless valid choice would be to teach Poliwrath Rock Smash which has the same base power with STAB counted as Dig used by a non-ground type. If you want to attack physically with your Poliwrath, teach him valuable TMs like Earthquake (all Poliwhirl's forms have access to this) or Return.

How early would one expect to evolve into Poliwrath now that Water Stones are available? You can get the fisherman's phone number after you get Sudowoodo out of the way (you could wait for Surf if you don't want to go inside Mt Mortar), and after that you might want to manipulate the clock to get the call from this fisherman, hopefully announcing a gift you're about to receive. If not on an emulator, one way to achieve this is to repeatedly adjust your mom's clock by 1 hour, and you should get the phone call eventually. Quite a few trips will be needed without Fly or Teleport though.

Politoed is your alternative if you want to evolve, offering more special attack and special defence and no dual water/fighting typing, allowing you to switch into many of Will's Pokemon with no worries, and also not having to fear Wing Attack from Lance's Aerodactyl and Dragonite. Your physical attacks won't be as strong but Surf/Ice Punch performance will noticeably improve. Players lacking the ability to quickly trade Poliwhirl to another cartridge and back will be unable to get one of these.

I would say both Poliwrath and Politoed are valid choices as far as evolving goes, and justify the cut in speed because you're probably going to be attacked if you have Poliwhirl's level of offence anyway. Might as well have better offence and OHKO Pokemon you do outspeed without taking damage.

Poliwag isn't fantastic by all means but it's very good as far as water-types go, and Poliwrath is one of the few fighting-types available fr you, even though the game's distribution of TM options still somehow makes him more proficient as a special attacker. Should you choose Politoed, you'll have a Feraligatr with less speed and physical stats but better special stats. A suitable replacement if you didn't pick Totodile.

Also worth mentioning is Poliwag/Poliwhirl having access to Body Slam, but chances are you're not waiting until lv. 35 as Poliwhirl to learn that (it can't be learnt if you do evolve). Still, it's there.

8/10

[Espinosa]

Bellsprout

Your earliest alternative to Chikorita, Bellsprout occupies a niche that isn't terribly wanted in this game. Grass-types penetrate the weakness of water, rock and ground type Pokemon, and since all of the Kanto gym types are gone for good (it's the only the third generation when the gym types start repeating, which I guess was inevitable unless you were to introduce 8+ new types every game which sounds like hard work), this means a grass-type isn't a role you'd be dying to fill. There are the hikers to be dealt with, and the early ones could be troublesome in the event you lack a water-type as well, so Bellsprout could be picked up temporarily and then dropped later on. Another instance where Bellsprout is a good Pokemon to train is if you started out with Quilava, making Croconaw a tough nut to crack during the second battle against your rival in Azalea (Mareep is entirely unavailable in Crystal, so you'll need to come up with a different strat to emerge victorious there).

But let us see if Bellsprout is any good if we assume it is used long-term.

What makes it better than Chikorita? For one, there's the dual poison typing. With Acid learnt at lv. 24 as Weepinbell and the Sludge Bomb TM available a little later, you'll be getting pretty good physical damage with this thing. Return is a very good TM to teach it as well. You're no longer afraid of being poisoned, and can now switch into fighting-types more safely, but this also means psychic-types will be able to deal destructive damage to you.

We see that Victreebel's physically offensive potential is quite high, but what about remaining a good grass-type for the whole game? With Giga Drain out of reach until postgame, Vine Whip is the only special STAB Victreebel will have unless you postpone the stone evolution until lv. 42 - that's how long Weepinbell has to wait for Razor Leaf. Is Razor Leaf worth the long wait with below average stats? It's up to you to decide, but I'd say when you're lv. 42 (probably ready to challenge the E4) Razor Leaf is no longer very desirable anymore.

If you do manipulate an early Leaf Stone, Victreebel can be yours as early as lv. 21, and its bases will make it very dominant for a long period of time.

Besides being able to fully evolve earlier than Meganium and generally hitting harder, Victrebel also gets access to proper powders - Sleep Powder at lv. 15 and Stun Spore at lv. 19 are excellent tools when you're dealing with a problematic gym or are trying to catch a rare Pokemon. However, Victreebel is considerably more frail than Meganium and also a little slower, requiring more healing to stay alive.

Victrebel's STABs are never really wanted to complete the game, but it's a good Pokemon with good availability and bases, as such it is, as you would expect... good.

6.5/10

[Espinosa]

Gastly

With some of the earliest possible availability, Gastly can be yours right from the start of your Pokemon journey, proud of its immunity to normal and fighting type moves. You're terribly tempted to catch one, am I right?

Maybe not. In RBY, Gastly could take Thunderbolt, Psychic and Mega Drain TMs the instant you caught it, threatening a lot of opponents with diverse coverage. GSC is cruel in the options it permits, not giving Gastly either of these three ever. In fact, Gastly has to deal with having Lick as its single offensive move until you defeat Morty, claiming the Shadow Ball TM as your rightful reward. That's quite a long period of the game, a period when Gastly fails to fight itself and requires babying. Even with Shadow Ball, it's still not hurting the most common Pokemon type you'll be facing in the areas to come, and using its physical attack stat, Shadow Ball won't hurt much.

If Haunter is as far as you can afford to evolve, things don't really improve upon evolution, all you get is a minor base stat upgrade. When you've gathered 100K money or so, you can purchase a Thunder TM from the Goldenrod game corner, which is a very generous investment to say the least. You can actually purchase 6 lv. 15 Cubones for the same cost (not saying this is a sane idea, just putting this here for sake of comparison). Assuming Haunter does get Thunder, it will have an inaccurate but nevertheless powerful way of nailing water and flying type weaknesses present in some of the toughest opposing mons you'll be facing, such as Dewgong, Crobat and Gyarados.

STAB Shadow Ball remains weak and while it will secure OHKOs against underlevelled mooks, it won't help you against Will (you should be safe to switch into Karen's Gengar though), as the Psychic you'll be taking will be far stronger than your own effective attack.

You do still have Dream Eater, learnt late at lv. 39, but with Hypnosis being 60% accurate, you're not eating as many dreams as you would like - slow and unreliable.

Your ghost's potential changes quite drastically if we assume a trade evolution into Gengar is possible (which we should definitely consider). Gengar, unlike Haunter, has a body, opening a broad range of offensive options unavailable to its younger forms.

First and foremost, we're speaking of the three elemental punches here - Fire/Ice/Thunder. Might as well buy all three for Gengar if you have the money. Ice/Thunder provides nearly perfect coverage, but Fire Punch is there for bugs and pesky steel-types, like the ones Jasmine owns. With a high special attack stat, Gengar covers nearly everything with those three punches, and its typing permits it to switch into some dangerous Pokemon, including fighters and Hyper Beam users (Kingdra and Lance's bros). If you're not intentionally depriving Gengar of experience, it should be sufficiently strong to OHKO Gyarados and all Dragonites with the relevant 4x effective punch, and definitely outspeeding the victim (the latter being something electric/ice-type move users can't hope to replicate).

The other options include less attractive but still decent physical choices, like Strength, Dynamicpunch, Headbutt. Might as well take one of these when you're low on PP.

Gengar still needs a lot of effort and babying just to exist, but the potential it has exceeds what Haunter offers (inaccurate expensive Thunder nuking or bad stalling) by a mile. Sadly, there is no way to circumvent the largely impotent early stage, and the first Exp Share comes somewhat late, Gastly not contributing much beforehand.

Rating, first assuming a trade evolution then assuming one is not available: 8(3) out of 10

[Espinosa]

Teddiursa

Appearing early on in the Violet City side of Dark Cave, Teddiursa can be seen in the mornings at a low 5% encounter rate. What makes Ted even more elusive is his tendency to flee from combat, so you may not be able to catch your Teddy before the morning's over and you're forced to wait for tomorrow.

If you do succeed, you have an immediately proficient physical attacker with STAB Scratch and 80 base attack who isn't in a rush to evolve earlier than lv. 30, though Teddiursa could appreciate some extra speed in order to outspeed more mooks it should be OHKOing if well-trained.

As a normal-type, it never suffers from a lack of STAB - Swift TM in Union Cave, Headbutt in Ilex Forest, finally Return in Goldenrod. There's also the Strength HM a little later, which is a good option knowing happiness needs time to grow. It can take Dig and later Earthquake for extra coverage, Rock Smash and Dynamicpunch being its other less desirable options.

When Teddiursa evolves into Ursaring, it will have excessive offence, making it a good Pokemon to take on the later gyms and elites. With high offensive potential and good enough bulk, Ursaring only wishes it were a little faster. 75 base special attack is good enough, and makes it an okay user of the three elemental punches, though you will find that maxed happiness Return tends to hit stronger most of the time. It's also a ghost killer as soon as it comes around, learning Lick at lv. 8 and then getting Faint Attack for Morty's gym and perhaps the Dig TM to hit 'em ghosts even harder.

Besides being immune to ghost type attacks, the normal typing is never really the best defensive typing one could ask for, though you're only weak to just one attack typing (represented in both the gyms and the elites).

In short, Ursaring is a scary killing machine that only wishes it were easier to find and catch, as well as having some more speed. If you're fond of the bear, give him the Quick Claw to secure safe kills on things you can't outspeed every once in a while, you won't regret it.

Rating: 8/10

[Espinosa]

Dunsparce

Another Pokemon available to you in the Dark Cave, this one being a Swarm with a 1% encounter rate, improving to 40% if you come back here after beating Falkner, passing Union Cave, getting the hiker's phone and then returning back when he alerts you of the swarm being in effect. If you postpone Dunsparce's evolution, you'll need to spend some time training it since lv. 4 by Azalea Town is a bit low. Speaking of its natural learnset, Dunsparce waits until lv. 26 to learn its second offensive move besides Rage (that being... Pursuit), so it has to rely on TMs to beat up trainers on its own. It misses some of the good ones like Swift or Earthquake, but can still take Dig, Headbutt, Return or Strength.

As it has been pointed out in Totodile's discussion, Rage is a decent tool Dunsparce can play around with, especially early on, on gym leaders such as Whitney whose Clefairy can Doubleslap multiple attack boosts unto you in one single turn, giving you an unprecedented easy victory against the Miltank coming it.

As you keep playing, you will see that Dunsparce's stats grow obsolete too soon. That 100 base HP is high indeed but everything else is rather poor, and it is also very slow. This can be partially remedied by Glare, a 90% accurate paralysing move that even affects ground-types, unlike Thunder Wave, but when you're relying on paralysis to have better chances at beating stuff up successfully, you know you're dealing with a mediocre Pokemon at best. Defence Curl + Rollout might deserve a mention, former learnt naturally fairly early. Yeah, it's pretty uninteresting, not to mention hard to catch.

Rating: 3.5/10

[Espinosa]

Onix

Second rock-type you can train in this game after Geodude, Onix can be given you if you trade a Bellsprout conveniently available to you right before Violet City. Rocky the Onix gains boosted experience, but the drawback of training the traded one is that it has rather low IVs much like all other traded Pokemon before FireRed/LeafGreen and subsequent games in the series where the tradees are given excellent stats (usually complementing suitable natures).

Onix's typing before its possible evolution makes all things applicable to Geodude also applicable to Onix. It resists a lot of attack types present in the earlygame, as well as many to come, and does the tanking even better with that monstrous physical defence. Its physical attack is lacking however, and Rock Throw, which would resolve the problem, comes a little too late at lv. 14 (though probably just on time for Scyther), but accelerated exp gain helps a bit with keeping its level up. Nevertheless, Onix may want somebody else to do the fighting for it, as Screech + Tackle is a strategy that takes too many turns for taking out a simple mook. After Rock Throw, Dig and Headbutt help as well.

Mud-Slap is a decent move to put on Onix if it's high-levelled enough to take on Miltank, as you resist both Stomp and Rollout. Reducing Milty's accuracy is a good way to ensure Rollout won't be hitting the 5th time, and from there you can Screech away until you can easily take down the fearsome cow.

A very valuable option opens to Onix as soon as you get rid of Sudowoodo (or catch it, but I personally don't like having more than one really slow Pokemon) blocking your way to Ecruteak. Wander a little to the west and you will find Magnemites in grassy areas, carrying Metal Coat 8% of the time. They're fairly common so you could take your time throwing poke balls at them and checking if one of them carries the item, or visit Mahogany first and get the Thief TM there so that you can check for the desired held item more easily. In any case, it's annoying and time-consuming, and how quickly you're done is mainly decided by luck (as well as your own perseverance).

So you can trade and you manage to evolve Onix, what changes now? It loses a lot of its speed, no longer outspeeding many generic trainers, and it loses the STAB it had for Rock Throw. You get the Steel-typing now, with it an even more workable set of immunities and resistances than what rock/ground gave, you get even more bulk, but most importantly your attack becomes very respectable, making moves like Dig and Headbutt hurt a lot. When you beat Jasmine, Iron Tail becomes a serious physical nuke, though an inaccurate one.

Steelix makes a great difference in the gyms and elites to come if you get one early. It can take on Jasmine on its own (the enemy Steelix has only resisted moves in its arsenal), has Iron Tail for Pryce (if you face the gyms in this order) and can handle the Thunderbolt-using Dragonair as well as maybe the Ice Beam one.

The elite four is where Steelix really shines. Will doesn't have any super-effective moves against it, while Koga fails to deal any decent damage to it whatsoever. Bruno you probably don't want to face. Steelix faces all of Karen's mons barring Houndoom nicely as well. In the final showdown with Lance, you will want to avoid Gyarados, Charizard and FBlast D-nite, but can take on the rest of his folks. Steelix appreciates Earthquake to do his job better (namely against Koga and Karen), but Iron Tail is not contested too much (it kinda exists just so that Steelix could use it, really) and still does the job though missing 25% of the time.

If you can't trade evolve or decide that Magnemite farming isn't worth it, well... The gap between Onix's offence and the opposition's defence only continues to grow as you progress, so even when you're relatively safe to switch in, you need to spend some time Screeching before your moves can deal good damage. Therefore, using unevolved Onix really slows you down.

Rating: 7(3.5) out of 10

[MacLovin]

You can get Wild Sleeping Noctowl in the Illex Forest.

Just something to toss here.

[Espinosa]

Thanks for pointing that out; I could've sworn I mentioned that but it looks like I didn't. I should also mention Ariados and Ledian being capturable pre-evolved after Whitney, but, just like Noctowl, I'm not sure if it affects their rating. Hoothoot misses out on pecking the bugs on the way (including Scyther maybe), though in the case of Ariados and Ledian, they can take TMs immediately and stop sucking (Ariados especially with Dig and maybe Return). Noctowl being at lv. 10 @ Ilex Forest is too low, and with those offensive stats he'll need to be grinded up, while Ariados and Ledian also come a little underlevelled.

As I'm producing more ratings, comparing them makes me wonder if I should add or remove 0.5/1 points in some places. Is Sentret really better than Cyndaquil? I mean in some ways that's the case (STAB normal-type moves and early evolution when Cyndaquil/Quilava are stuck with Ember for a long while), but Typhlosion is certainly doing quite a bit more endgame than Furret. Is 5.5 too low for Chikorita when Bellsprout has 6.5? Maybe adjustments will more transparent when I'm done with progressively more ratings.

Anyway, the next Pokemon is...

Growlithe

Available to you on Route 36 (the Violet City portion of it), Growlithe is one of the possible fire-starter replacements for those who didn't choose Cyndaquil as their starter. Catch one (Roar is annoying) and go train it at Sprout Tower where it Bites the Bellsprouts while resisting their Vine Whips. Ember comes at lv. 9, faster than Cyndaquil's, and Growlithe also has slightly better stats than Cyndaquil (less speed, but more HP and offence). Bite's flinching can be useful to avoid the occasional counter (and Growlithe is fast enough to flinch consistently) and works wonders against the ghosts and psychics you encounter. In fact, it's probably going to be your best way of dealing with these enemy types unless you invest some physical TMs, like Dig and Return. Rock Smash hurts normal-types more than most of its moves.

Azalea Town is Growlithe's time to shine, and when you reach Goldenrod, you could manipulate the clock to get the Fire Stone from Schoolboy Alan. Arcanine has great base stats and could well be your Pokemon of choice for facing Miltank. Its physical attack is actually its highest stat, so it appreciates TMs like Dig, Headbutt and Return very much, though its coverage isn't too huge. Iron Tail is an option for Arcanine, helping it deal with ice and rock types a bit more effectively than its other moves allow.

One major problem Growlithe faces is the lack of a good STAB after Ember. Flame Wheel is good enough, but you need to postpone the Arcanine evolution until lv. 34, and I'd argue it's a better idea to evolve early and enjoy the benefits of those fantastic stats Arcanine has without Flame Wheel. Fire Blast TM (Game Corner) is a helpful alternative, with twice the power compared to Flame Wheel, but with 5 PP it may not be worth the 100K or so money it demands. Who knows, you just might have that much cash when you're done with the gyms, but it seems to be an investment you'd hesitate to make.

Arcanine has access to good special moves too. Bite has already been mentioned; sadly, Crunch is never learnt naturally and remains a breeding-only move, and is therefore out of reach in an efficient run. Would've been a great help with Will. Dragonbreath is an option and could help with Lance.

Being able to evolve early and having great base stats in that event make Growlithe an appealing option, but it really wishes it could learn some better moves.

Rating: 7/10

[Espinosa]

Togepi

Oh boy, another bad one coming, this one's a real stinker. You get the egg after beating Falkner, and if Togepi hatched right away, at lv. 5, it'd be kinda underlevelled. But no, you either have to run around (no bike for you yet) if you want it to hatch immediately or proceed with the game's natural progression and have it come even more underlevelled when it comes to life. What sort of contribution could result from this wait?

Simply put, none. Togepi can take quite a few hits but its offence is non-existent when it joins, Mud-Slap and Swift TMs providing it its first offensive moves, and with 20 base attack those aren't hitting anything hard (as if Mud-Slap hits anything besides Magnemites hard anyway). Togepi's offence barely changes for the better when it evolves, granting it 40 base attack, which is below Pidgey-level offence. Its special attack is quite a bit higher, but Fire Blast and Solarbeam are the only special moves it can be learning, and neither is particularly convenient, efficient or applicable.

Friendship-based evolution allows you to evolve your Togepi potentially early, and since it comes from an egg, its base happiness is higher than that of Pokemon caught in the wild. This implies decent Return damage too, compensating for the low base attack.

But in the end, there's really nothing Togetic's doing that justifies the investment of your time and effort. Does it sleep? No. Put up screens? Not even that. Confusion, Encore, Charm and HM slaving with Fly and Flash exhaust the utility it offers, and none of that is of much use. Double-Edge at lv. 38 doesn't sound too bad, but even then you won't be wiping out elites with it, and good luck training it for so long. Also, 40 base speed good lord.

Rating: 1.5/10

[Espinosa]

Ekans

Caught at a low level of 4 after Falkner, Ekans could be a promising Pokemon to train, but its start is really unforgivable. Wrap/Leer means it can't really defeat something quickly on its own, L9 Poison Sting doesn't help it either. L15 Bite makes a big difference, in spite of Ekans's low special attack stat, but what you'll really want to do is teach it Headbutt and Dig when you get out of Azalea, the former being a TM that's available to you in infinite quantity.

Since Ekans's beginnings are so humble, you might find it a good idea to catch a wild Arbok after getting Sudowoodo out of the way instead, though the encounter rate is only 5%. By then you already have access to Headbutt, Strength, Dig and Return (and maybe even a Friend Ball to get Return to high level damage immediately), and in spite of being underlevelled, Arbok proceeds to kick ass. Sludge Bomb isn't too far away at this point, and this gives Arbok a very powerful nuke - in fact, it's one of the best users of Sludge Bomb around.

If you choose to catch the first Ekans you see, you won't wait until the evolution for too long - L22 is fairly early to fully evolve into a competent Pokemon. However, Ekans doesn't really pay off until effective options are opened for it.

Arbok's a good offensive Pokemon, make no mistake here. Its attack and speed bases are slightly higher than Nidoqueen's (whom many overhype as being a Pokemon to solo the whole game, every game), though it lacks the extensive special learnset and STAB on Earthquake the latter gets.

Is Arbok good outside of mook battles where it is fast enough to outspeed most things and strong enough to OHKO with Sludge Bomb? It resists Chuck's STABs, and could try Glaring Poliwrath to have better chances against him (Surf still hurts). It should OHKO Magnemites with Dig easily, and Sludge Bomb is a decent offensive options for Clair's gym where you may not have an ice-type move to nail the Dragonairs' weakness. Elite 4... It definitely doesn't want to see Will, not even to Sludge Bomb that Exeggutor who hurts you more than you hurt him. Return/Earthquake, if invested into Arbok, make him good against Koga, but you'll want to switch out if Forretress is in. Bruno's strongest moves are resisted so you could try to Screech+Sludge Bomb his fighters, letting somebody else deal with Onix. From Karen's Pokemon, Houndoom is a bit out of your league, but the rest you should handle with ease. No useful resistances are present when facing Lance but in a tough battle like this having an extra decent attacker could help you combine the strength of your Pokemon to take out some menacing. It does fairly well, as we can see.

The only thing Arbok users will regret not having at their disposal is that Intimidate ability which would help its bulk, but can't use that against it since it's the 2nd generation and all.

Rating: 7.5/10

[Espinosa]

Wooper

Likely the third water type Pokemon you will meet on your journey, Wooper also starts low-levelled just like Ekans, Water Gun and Leer being its only two moves. Leer is useless to it (when is it not, some will say; personally I find use for it every now and then) until it learns Slam at lv. 11, which with the base power of 80 is actually a really strong move to have at that point of the game, too bad it's as inaccurate as Iron Tail. Wooper comes at a convenient time when you've probably cleared the tower infested with Vine Whip Bellsprouts and are about to enter a dungeon with rock/ground types and two Hikers just waiting to give you easy experience. Though Wooper's special attack is at the bottom (25 base), Water Gun being 4x effective against many of Hikers' Pokemon ensures an OHKO assuming a sufficiently levelled Wooper.

As soon as you reach Route 32 though, a water-type is no longer anything extraordinary if you didn't pick Totodile as your starter, or ignored the opportunity to catch a Poliwag. Wooper is one of six new water-types you can catch at this point with the Old Rod given to you in the PokeCentre right before you make your way into Union Cave. So what's so peculiar about Wooper? All those other water-types that are so numerous also learn Surf HM early and enjoy its STAB, what makes Wooper special?

For one, you have the unique water/ground typing which as of generation 2 hasn't been terribly overused. The typing leaves Wooper weak to just one type of moves, giving it complete resistance to electric-type moves. There's no electric gym or elite in this game, but nevertheless it always feel good when you can switch into Pikachu and Mareep and their evolutions without fearing parahax. You also grow resistant to rock and poison type moves, both typing being ones Wooper is likely to be used as a counter to. Resistances to water and ice type moves are lost however.

One problem Wooper has is its low base stats, though early on you may not tell the difference besides consistently going second. Thankfully, the lv. 20 Quagsire evolution fixes that, though it still stays slow, and that's perhaps its most glaring weakness. It's only a little faster than Slowbro (heck, these two even look like distant cousins)!

Quagsire is slow and will get hurt, but luckily it can hurt things back very well. Lv. 31 Earthquake is very hard to ignore, possibly making it the hardest hitter in your party at that point depending on whom else you're training. It's definitely going to have Surf at that point, and while its special attack isn't too high, it's good enough with that STAB. Sludge Bomb and Ice Punch are useful for grass-types but be careful not to engage any that are too fast for you. Ice Punch also makes Quagsire an excellent counter to Claire's Dragonairs and Lance's Dragonites, though your special defence is probably not high enough to take more than one Outrage from the strongest Barney (and you're not OHKOing with Ice Punch in any imaginable scenario, unless you proc a crit, Quick Claw activates on the second turn or you get lucky with a freeze, and these three being possible actually makes your chances to beat a very admirable opponent pretty high). In general, Quagsire's typing makes it capable of taking on many tough enemies and hitting them hard back, though knowing how slow it is, its sweeping capabilities are non-existent and it will demand constant healing.

A very good Quick Claw user here as well.

Rating: 7.5

[Espinosa]

Magikarp

The usual tale about it being a burden to the team until the painstakingly slow evolution at lv. 15 applies here, except let's face, if we want to have a Gyarados, we'll catch the red one. It's faced as part of the storyline, it's flashing, it even has Magikarp's colours to remind you of the tedious times the poor thing must have endured before you saw it - and what's the best about it is that it comes at lv. 30, which enormously contrasts the average levels of the wild Johto Pokemon. It's comparable to Dugtrio from the first generation of games, though distinct.

It's probably missing out on Whitney and Morty (who's really going to catch a Magikarp with the Old Rod immediately) where it could make a decent contribution, but its gym performance is rich otherwise. Chuck can't hurt it, nor can Pryce. It's probably not OHKOing Magnemites, but Steelix doesn't threaten it too much with Rock Throw, though the battle might drag on if Sunny Day is used, followed by a potion. Clair's Kindra is neutralised surprisingly well thanks to Gyarados's typing, and out of her Pokemon, it's only the T-bolt Dragonair you should be scared of.

How's Gyarados dealing all the damage though? Not exactly fantastically, but well enough. 125 base attack makes you forget about the lack of a physical STAB and it gets Thrash right off the bat, wasting little PP when destroying those annoying rockets with their laughable Pokemon. Dragon Rage can find some use, and you'll also be teaching it Surf (or waiting for Hydro Pump at lv. 40 for extra power perhaps) because even with 60 base special attack after the gen 2 special split, STAB Surf is still a powerful thing to have, and there's no reason to not run a water-type STAB on one of your move slots when Gyarados's TM learnpool is quite lacking. Not even mentioning the absence of physical Waterfall, Avalanche/Ice Fang, Payback, Gyarados wouldn't mind having Earthquake access or at least Dig or something (would allow it to solo Jasmine). Icy Wind is the strongest ice-type move it gets during the maingame besides the expensive Blizzard, and while it could help with the dragons, Return will probably be doing similar, if not greater damage (there might be times when you appreciate that guaranteed speed fall though). And that's another point - catch it with a Friend Ball so that you have powerful Return damage as soon as you catch it and don't have to worry about not maxing friendship on time.

In the E4, Gyarados's typing allows it to face most things besides Thunderpunch Hitmonchan, Rock Slide Machamp and Thunder Dragonite, but it's only got Return as its strongest physical move there, with no STAB and no weakness to penetrate. Switching into something like Will's Slowbro, Gyarados can't possibly hope to emerge victorious (unless you're packing Thunder, but Slowbro could use Amnesia then too) because Slowbro sets up while Gyarados can't (no Dragon Dance yet). When up against Koga, you'll also regret that Gyarados doesn't have better moves (Earthquake only hits Muk super-effectively here) when the Double Team boosts are in effect as you struggle to OHKO without critting.

Gyarados is just fast enough to outspeed mooks and has the resources available to OHKO them immediately, but its learnpool is lacking for the really important battles, preventing you to beat gyms and elites faster. Still quite potent when you catch it after your 4th gym or so.

8/10

[Espinosa]

Tentacool

Another Pokemon you can hook with the route 32 Old Rod, Tentacool is everywhere, much like Zubat, which you mostly learn when you start Surfing. You will, however, find that Tentacool's early stage until L25 Bubblebeam is difficult to bring up, so most players wanting to train one will instead opt to wait until after Morty when you can surf in just about any area and catch a Tentacruel already evolved, which is handy because Tentacool normally waits until lv. 30 to evolve, which is rather late.

Tentacruel's stats are hard not to appreciate, in spite of the noticeable drop in special attack since generation 1. STAB Surf still hurts with 80 base spec atk, and Sludge Bomb is another decent to learn later on. Tentacruel users will be upset by the lack of a more powerful move than Icy Wind (besides the expensive and inaccurate Blizzard), but it's still a good one for engaging Clair's and Lance's dragons, against whom Tentacruel has a very favourable match-up with high special defence and Barrier, the latter helping it to survive multiple Hyper Beams about to be shot its way.

Tentacruel is fast, has a nice defensive typing for this game (water/poison) and its offence is good enough with good duel STABs. It's a good Pokemon to use against Chuck, Steelix and Piloswine, and most of the Elites. If you come with Blizzard (not terribly likely but possible), you can even take on some of Will's Pokemon because your special defence allows you to take a Psychic with ease, but it's still better to avoid the confrontation if you have more suitable Pokemon around.

Within the game's restraints on moves you can learn, Tentacruel does a very good job.

Rating: 8.5/10

[Espinosa]

Krabby

Another Pokemon you can fish out with that Old Rod, Krabby is an interesting Pokemon indeed. Unevolved, it has... 105 base attack (same as Feraligatr) and 90 base defence. Those are some impressive parameters that many fully evolved wouldn't mind having. However, it doesn't actually have a physical attack until Vicegrip at lv. 12, which is all it will need to kill things for a while, though you could still keep Bubble for those Geodudes. Mud-Slap is a decent choice just because it doesn't learn anything else - no Swift, no Headbutt. Fury Cutter is there if you somehow want it.

Things get better for Krabby when we get to Goldenrod, giving it access to Return, and later Surf and Strength. When Krabby evolves at lv. 28, its bases get a decent increase, and 75 base speed as Kingler is very respectable. However, it never gets a physical STAB, nor a good physical learnpool either, with weak moves like Fury Cutter, Rock Smash and Mud-Slap forming the entirety of its physical coverage besides normal-type moves. Icy Wind is available for taking on dragons, but you neither have the special attack to deal good damage with it, nor the special defence to survive an incoming attack that all of the dragons pack. Lack of special defence and below average HP also make Kingler for taking on the likes of Will and Karen.

Kingler is fast enough and generally does the same thing other water-types do with STAB Surf (which is helping with many of the lategame gyms), except not nearly as well, and is probably going to be hitting things with Return and/or Strength most of the time. It wishes Waterfall were physical, but it doesn't even cause flinching in this generation. Oh well, next time maybe.

6.5/10

[Espinosa]

Goldeen

Another water-type here, one you are unlikely to choose as the one to train in spite of its early availability.

What makes it special, besides those good offensive stats for an unevolved Pokemon, is that it starts with Peck, giving it something to hit those grass-types that threaten it, as well as bugs and fighters. Except... Spearow and Pidgey are still better at (though Goldeen actually has more base attack than Pidgeotto, but lacks the STAB). And when you do expect Goldeen to do the water-type niche duty, like OHKOing Onixes and Geodudes, it fails to deliver because the only water-type moves it ever gets are Surf and Waterfall. It's interesting to note that Waterfall is learnt naturally (or not so interesting if you're very well acquainted with generation 1 learnpools), so you can miss out on the Waterfall HM in the Icy Cave and still not get stuck with the storyline... except it's still obviously better to get the HM instead of training Seaking.

But that's okay, Surf comes early, and Goldeen makes use of it to become a good water-type "just like the rest", right? Not quite. It waits until lv. 33 to evolve, which is absurdly long, because Seaking barely gets any good base stat increases, besides ones in special attack and defence, making Surf hit decently (Goldeen has only 35 spec atk) and perhaps making a subpar user of Icy Wind for dragons. Gen 2 special split is not kind to Seaking, depriving it of some of its base special attack, when it isn't a spectacular Pokemon in the first place.

High physical attack is what the Goldeen line boasts, and it just doesn't get good moves there. Horn Attack at L15 is nice, as is Swift, but that's where your coverage ends. Teaching Return is an option to maintain high levels of damage dealt until midgame, after which Seaking simply isn't special, neither at physical attacks nor at special. Plus, it's slow and can't defend very well.

Maybe if it learnt Megahorn in this generation, and did so on time before the E4 we could give Seaking more credit? It would still have serious problems though. Don't wait until you can find evolved Seakings while surfing if you really want to train one, because Goldeen's earlygame is possibly better than everything pre-evolved Seaking has to offer. It will outspeed rockets and OHKO with STAB Surf and boosted Return and some of the gyms aren't terribly nasty to it, but that's because the rockets are easy and the gym leaders aren't terribly clever. Seaking's not taking on Poliwrath or Kingdra anytime soon.

5/10