Espinosa

Yeah, they even have the same availability. Magnemite is available earlier in Yellow but not here (it also kinda sucks in generation 1 without that dual steel typing). I think using your Master Ball on Zapdos is a good tradeoff for what it gives you back.

Yes, please start a similar series in FE6, I'd be really interested in reading those.

Dig, Iron Tail (for some reason I can't remember how early this one is available) and Shadow Ball make for a decent enough physical movepool, I think. Sure, it's got no access to Brick Break or Mega Punch/Kick, but it's one of the best candidates to get that Shadow Ball TM, which makes it a good anti-Psychic Pokemon, rivalling Snorlax (and unlike Snorlax, it still is speedier than plenty of low-levelled trainers' Pokemon you fight as you travel around Kanto). I think Gyarados should move up to High. You can fish them out at lv. 25 after you get a Super Rod at the same time you can start pulling Staryus, and it's very likely that it will learn Dragon Dance just on time for E4, at which point it can sweep. It certainly has nothing to do in Bottom, as raising it is efficient and the outcome is pretty much unrivalled. Thrash will last for a while, and then you teach it Earthquake (Graveler will learn it naturally on time anyway) and Return, and it won't mind the lack of a physical STAB.

I think all the Eeeveelutions have their merits. Even Flareon is great if you get it, assuming that you can afford Flamethrower for it. This destroys Erika's gym and gives it a solid STAB that lasts the entire game. It also has the combination of a high physical attack stat and a very good special defence, making it a good chance for facing Psychic-types. It's Flareon who often ends up beating Sabrina on my runs, after I teach it Shadow Ball. I think Vap, Flareon and Jolteon are about as good. Jolteon has less coverage than the other two, but excessive speed, and weakness to electric is one of the few important ones in Kanto.

IMO Squirtle > Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur has to wait until lv. 10 for Vine Whip, without which it cannot defeat Brock's Pokemon. Squirtle gets Bubble at lv. 7. Bulbasaur is also stuck with Vine Whip until lv. 22, and Razor Leaf is no longer the auto-crit it used to be in gen 1. It gets Giga Drain when you beat Erika, but with 5 PP and base power only 5 points higher than Razor Leaf, its offence is nothing impressive. Sludge Bomb might seem like a good STAB, but it's unavailable until postgame. Bulbasaur has a subpar earlygame as it needs to grind for Brock, runs out of Vine Whip PP too easily in dungeons, an okay midgame when it learns Razor Leaf and evolves, and is really not worth training for the E4, because Lorelei's Pokemon survive its attacks and threaten with their own super-effective moves (which are way more powerful than Giga Drain). If you ask me, Bulbasaur shouldn't be top tier at all - it's about as good as Charmander as a starter, and noticeably worse than Squirtle.

Would've been better if she had won a Kieran instead.

Waaah, I just saw the screenshots at the end of the page, and it actually looks perfect, as if the game were officially localised in English. I almost want to cry that I can't play it and enjoy the full experience. Gotta be patient though... Great to hear the project wasn't halted and that people are working on this.

Anybody know what the progress may be? Last time I heard of it was a year ago when it was supposedly finished and there was a search for somebody to proofread it.

I still think Aron and Geodude are way better than, say, Sandshrew.

Wait, what SubPunch? This isn't competitive play where you expect things to switch out. And Wigglytuff is still terrible, even if you can evolve it instantly as you catch it. Heracross should go way higher due to its fighting-type STAB and Bulk Up access. Pinsir gets no good STAB from fighting-type moves, lacks a good bug-type attack and learns Swords Dance a bit late, at lv. 49. None of them should be in Bottom, but Heracross deserves High Tier definitely. Pikachu should probably move up to Mid, IMO.

Neimi should rise above Garcia in her average rating just because of that picture.

Amelia is better only because she can provide utility with her horse after you baby her a little. If you baby Wendy a little, you'll just have to baby her some more and then some more again.

Crawdaunt's special attack is fine, about the same as Sharpedo's. Training a slow water-type with an average natural movepool just seems like a bad idea, though it's kinda bulky and has a good defensive typing. Also, I don't see the point in listing every single move a Pokemon learns, especially Ancientpower in case of Crawdaunt, which it requires breeding to learn.

I don't think so. It learns Crunch like 30 levels later than Sharpedo, which means it might not even learn it until E4 (where it would be great for Phoebe), and it gets no physical STAB so it's inferior to a whole lot of other water-types with decent speed.

Honestly, I'd rather train a Magikarp than a Ralts. The amount of time needed to turn one into something decent is ridiculous and not worth it at all.

This argument about Pokemon speed makes me wonder where Snorlax would be in a Kanto tier list, since it's also really slow, not to mention problematic to catch (though its other benefits are too obvious).

I don't know... Sure, you've got Absorb with which you can restore your health to full every time you face a Geodude, but Absorb is all you get (Bullet Seed is better offensively but is unreliable since it usually hits 2-3 times) until Leaf Blade is learnt at lv. 29. Combusken gets Double Kick at lv. 16 and Marshtomp gets Mud Shot as soon as it evolves at the same level, which are all better. I'd argue that having a powerful attack is better than not having one, even if it means having to use a Potion here and there. If you don't raise a team of six or something, you can easily train Marshtomp/Combusken to the point where they easily OHKO without requiring much healing.

So how much warpskipping is required to save yourself the headache of playing it raw? How much is recommended/possible?

Notice how I said "not an argument against Sableye in the versions where he is available by all means, but I've already said enough about that." Anyway, the purpose of that was to stress how you can't reject Taillow on the grounds that you're surely bringing a Sableye since Sableye isn't even available in every version (and when it is, it's not your best option for the gym either). Organising the tier list by lack of availability in specific versions is absurd and not something I suggested, much like it would be ridiculous to move down all the starter Pokemon because they're absent if you choose a different one.

One problem with stressing Sableye's supposed superiority in the second gym is that it by no means sweeps it - the best you get is an agonisingly long battle where you either use Leer and Scratch (Leer is a bad idea since those guys have Bulk Up) or Night Shade, which takes countless turns because Brawly uses Potions as well. Really, if you want to get done with the gym faster, you might as well bring in somebody who beats him quickly, and you might as well bring somebody who is worth raising - I would say Kadabra with Confusion, but a good-levelled Taillow works as well. It's easy to see that Swellow's prowess only declines after its evolution as the opposition grows stronger and it waits 25 levels just to learn Aerial Ace which has the same power as Wing Attack. Still, Swellow is a good Pokemon for Mudkip users, because it covers its evolution line's only weakness - to grass, and when your Marshtomp/Swampert is overlevelled enough to OHKO grass-types with Ice Beam, you might as well stop using Swellow. The downside to raising a Kadabra at that point is having to switch him out constantly, because it's a little while until you get your Exp Share from your first visit to Granite Cave. Alternatively, bring a sleeper and try to beat Brawly with your starter. But that raises the question, which sleeper? Slakoth? Who's slow and gets OHKO'd? I need to think what other earlygame sleeping options you have available. I don't think skipping avoidable battles is a good idea (I'm all for using Repels in grassy areas when you do not intend to catch anything, though). It will only result in longer gym leader battles because you failed to appropriately raise the relevant Pokemon. And Sableye doesn't deserve a long-term investment, and I would argue needn't be captured at all. Plus, Ruby players can't even catch one so you need to think of separate Brawly strategies for that version (not an argument against Sableye in the versions where he is available by all means, but I've already said enough about that).

Makuhita's not much faster than any of them. Makuhita also has less coverage (only fighting-type attacks are learnt naturally), and its defensive typing is far worse. I don't know where you're getting your information from, but steel is still the best defensive typing in the game boasting more resistances than any other type. Aron and its evolution line don't have to worry about being poisoned, they wall too many Pokemon and resist a large number of moves the opposition will throw at you. Aron learns Rock Tomb (and is possibly the best candidate for it) as soon as you catch it and it remains its best rock-type STAB for the rest of the game, and it can continue switching into poison, normal and flying types that you face. If you know well enough whom you're facing, you can switch Aron into earlygame water-types like Tentacool who haven't yet learnt a single water-type STAB and block them completely. Geodude comes just in time to wall Wattson, who is quite problematic if you didn't pick Mudkip as your starter. It also helps against Flannery and Norman.

Well, somebody has to make use of said TMs, so might as well pick their best user (namely for Shadow Ball and Return, perhaps Brick Break and Dig too). Makuhita hitting Rock and Steel types is not a very solid argument at all, because those have an absurd phys defence stat most of the time. As for normal and dark types, those are faster than Makuhita, so he'll be taking a hit from all of them before dealing damage. Since it's got high HP but low defences and it takes hits constantly, it demands more resources than any of the faster Pokemon you could use. Like Zangoose, for example. I'm also repulsed at how low Aron is (rock/steel typing is just too good), and how Magikarp is so much lower than Wingull. You don't even have to go fishing for a Magikarp and baby it in this game since it's captured as a ~lv. 40 Gyarados around the time you tackle the last gym. And soon enough it learns Dragon Dance with which it sweeps the whole E4 easily. Dragon Dance and Earthquake as Gyarados options make their first appearance in this gen. At least keep a separate entry for Gyarados, if you still want to stress that catching a Magikarp is inefficient (Top Tier material IMO).

Yep. Catch a Slakoth and trade him for MAKIT (or whatever) in the city of the first gym.

Manectric has one thing Magneton lacks - speed. It has a solid special attack and a solid speed, allowing it to OHKO things with Thunderbolt (even ones that aren't weak to it). If you're slow, you're susceptible to negative status effects, accuracy drops, confusion etc., and have a greater risk to eat critical hits since you take more attacks in general. An electric typing isn't nearly as good as it is in Kanto, but it's nevertheless a highly useful one, especially if you're playing Emerald. Zigzagoon provides not only HM utility but also valuable items, especially if you keep 2-3 of them in the party from the very start of the game. Nuggets for money, Rare Candies for levelling, stat boosters, Ultra Balls (get one and you can catch a Skarmory far easier). This is why it's probably a very good idea to keep him in a tier above Tropius and Tentacool. Taillow dominates earlygame and is probably the best choice for Brawley, better than Wingull anyway. Later on, it can function nicely with Facade if it's poisoned which isn't too hard to prepare. Top Tier is too good for it, but High Tier seems fitting. Shroomish has a slow start where it relies on leeching health and statuses to survive and deal damage. Once it evolves, it is a little too slow still, and its grass-type attacks are weak. Breloom is still great for all those Mightyenas and Sharpedos you face in such numbers, but training it early is a pain in the arse. Makuhita doesn't deserve a spot that high due to its speed, I would argue, even though the traded one grows at a very fast pace. Being a fighting-type is good in this game, however. Zangoose needs to go up due to its instantaneous sweeping capabilities and high attack/speed. Marill, on the other hand, doesn't deserve all the trouble of being trained, not even with Huge Power. Medicham, on the other hand, is THE Huge/Pure Power user you should care for in this game (Brick Break and Shadow Ball give perfect coverage, and it's faster than Breloom to be able to sweep with a Bulk Up set), but for some reason I don't see him anywhere in the list at all.

I believe an appeal to Fire Emblem is unfair to some extent, as Haar and Titania are essentially unparalleled and irreplaceable in Radiant Dawn, in that nobody can perform the same functions equally well. You also don't have to go out of your way to make them usable, but you actually need to catch a Staryu, get the right shard and trade it for the right stone, train it until it catches up with the trainers and feed all sorts of TMs to it. You needn't catch Haar or Titania in any metaphorical way (though you can ignore Haar in 2-P, but you're screwing yourself over if you do). If you're not planning to use Starmie, it just means you're using something else. A choice against Haar and Titania is not a poor choice only when it comes to taking them to Endgame (and they'd do just great there too). Your argument would make much sense if you stated directly that not training a Starmie is unreasonable (a statement I wouldn't have any problem with), but I'm not sure if you're implying it or not. One could have a different motivation for training a Starmie. Like you said, somebody just might want a solid water-type and Starmie fits the bill with high speed and special attack. Somebody might want their weaknesses covered. These are just two possible reasons to catch a Staryu and they don't necessarily involve putting all of the battle experience into the starfish Pokemon. Raichu gets Brick Break, Dig and Iron Tail, which is superior to what other electric-types get, but clearly pales in comparison to Starmie's TM movepool. Fully agreed otherwise. I agree that speed and offence take precedence over defensive abilities, but Pokemon play different roles. You may want to use Blaziken as your sweeper of choice and Starmie simply as a supplementary Pokemon to cover his weaknesses, or it could be the other way around. In the event Starmie is just there as somebody who takes out the problematic dragons with Ice Beam, not fed enough experience to outspeed the speedy, high-levelled Flygon and Salamence, you might as well train a bulkier Pokemon over whom Starmie wouldn't have an advantage at a level where both fail to outspeed higher-levelled quick hitters.