ITT I Rate Pokemon Emerald

[Smiley Jim]

Oddish/Gloom/Vileplume/Bellossom

Type: Grass/Poison, Grass (Bellossom)
Ability(s): Chlorophyll

The last new grass-type for a while, Oddish has one of the poorest starts. He starts with Absorb, which as I've already explained, does craptastic damage unless you are targeting a 4x weakness, even with a great 75 base Special attack (like that's gonna make a huge difference at this point). While the Bullet Seed TM can help a bit, remember that midgame as a whole isn't kind to grass types. Until he evolves at Lv21, he does pack powders, which can help a bit, but his offensive prowess leaves a lot to be desired. Lv24 Acid sounds cool and all, but he's not doing much other than sleeping something and switching out to something else otherwise.

Note that this is only applicable if you caught your Oddish on Route 110 or Route 117. It is possible to catch one at a significantly higher level on Routes 119-123, thus allowing you to evolve him into Gloom right away. From there, you can use either a leaf stone (acquired through itemfinder on Route 119) to get Vileplume or a sun stone (acquired from the Mossdeep Space Lab or from a wild Solrock) to get Bellossom.

Unlike in G/S/C, Vileplume/Bellossom isn't really hurting for a good grass attack. While both Vileplume and Bellossom get Petal Dance through level up, they have to wait until Lv44, which isn't happening until around the time you face Juan. Until then, they can grab the Giga Drain TM, or if you have Bellossom, you can get Magical Leaf through relearner. If you're really adventurous, they can utilize the SolarBeam TM, but you will need Sunny Day to make the best use of it, but that goes without saying.

Which evolution would you pick? While the first obtainable leaf stone is found earlier than the first easily obtainable sun stone, you'll find yourself wanting to evolve him before you get the first sun stone anyway. But both evolutions have their merits: Vileplume has more special attack and STAB on Sludge Bomb, but Bellossom doesn't have a psychic weakness as well as better special bulk, allowing him to deal with the twins better. Both are equally slow without sunlight support (they have Chlorophyll) and both have decent physical durability, so there you go.

It is also worth nothing that they can troll Juan and Wallace badly if they run Sunny Day. Just use the move as they use Rain Dance (you're slower than them, so you'll get your weather up last), and start blasting them with SolarBeams while you outspeed them. The only real obstacles to such a strategy are Wallace's Ludicolo and Tentacruel, but you can simply Sludge Bomb Ludi and sleep Tenta so you can kill him easier.

Overall, this line can do some serious damage lategame if utilized properly, but has a midgame rut if caught too early. Keep that in mind when using Oddish.

4.5

Edited October 29, 2014 by James the Salamander

[Smiley Jim]

Gulpin/Swalot

Type: Poison
Ability(s): Liquid Ooze/Sticky Hold

Caught at Lv13 in the grass on Route 110, Gulpin looks like a promising enough Pokemon to train, and his start isn't too bad since he gains Sludge one level after being caught, giving him a powerful nuke despite his low 43 base attack. Considering that most other Pokemon on this route don't get good moves until a bit later, this is good. Granted, Poison isn't a great offensive type to begin with and it gets resisted by quite a few things during the trek to Lavaridge, but it is an advantage that he has over his competition. And as an added kicker, he evolves at the same level as Electrike, even gaining Body Slam in the process.

Swalot's 73/73/55 offenses are good enough for midgame purposes, but they start to falter lategame when things get better offensive stats, but they remain decent, especially considering the coverage he gets, including Ice Beam, Giga Drain, and Shadow Ball, which allows him to deal with certain gym leaders and elites (stay the fuck away from the twins.) His only real gripe is that he wishes he learned Sludge Bomb earlier than Lv48, though the TM exists so he can enjoy a good STAB move all through the lategame.

While Swalot maintains good enough offense against mooks with his decent selection of moves, his prowess against the various gyms... isn't great to say the least. While he can do something to Watson and Flannery offensively, he really cannot stomach their attacks, and he should probably avoid Norman for more or less the same reason. He does alright against Winona due to Ice Beam access as well as his good bulk (100/83/83), though Skarm will undoubtedly give him some issues and Altaria hits him hard with EQ. While he should avoid the twins at all costs, he's a decent choice against Juan and Wallace if you failed to raise an electric type, and is great against Drake if he has Ice Beam (except against Flygon, but that goes without saying since EQ WILL kill you.)

In a nutshell, while Gulpin isn't the best Pokemon around, he is a decent filler choice if you need one.

5

Edited October 29, 2014 by James the Salamander

[Espinosa]

Why such a huge gap between Electrike and Plusle/Minun? They're essentially doing the same thing (the rats might not get Bite or a decent power Strength, but they don't have to wait for an evolution so that about evens it up).

[Smiley Jim]

Volbeat and Illumise

Type: Bug
Ability(s): Illuminate/Swarm (Volbeat), Oblivious (Illumise)

Well what do you know? More shitty early-mid bug types. And while they aren't the worst Pokes I've reviewed, they still are not very efficient choices. Also, doing the dual rating here like with the rats and Wurmple's evos because of how similar they are (the only difference here are atk/spa distribution and level up movepools.)

Volbeat:

The first of two fireflies to be found on Route 117, Volbeat is one of the most elusive bastards in the game, with a whopping 1% encounter rate, tying with Seedot and Kecleon for rarest wild Pokemon in the game (not counting Lati@s since that is postgame.) But this rating isn't about how rare something is, but rather how well Volbeat performs in battle. Starting at Lv13, Volbeat has issues catching up to your level thanks to a moveset consisting of Tackle and later Quick Attack until Lv25 when he gets Signal Beam, though he does have a good 73/85 physical offense, so it isn't all bad, but lack of STAB until Lv25 hurts.

One of Volbeat's more interesting moves is Lv21 Tail Glow, which he can use to boost his crappy 47 base SpA to a level usable for special attacking. And he's not hurting for a good special movepool, either: Early on, he can be taught Shock Wave, which solves some of the issues regarding his coverage, and later, can wield Thunderbolt. Water Pulse is another option as well, but that comes too late to have any significant use, and Giga Drain doesn't blend well with Bug coverage wise, but remains an option to hit Gravelers. Aside from that, he does get access to Brick Break, Shadow Ball, and Aerial Ace to round out his physical coverage.

Volbeat's boss performance is quite sad to say the least. He's not doing anything significant to Watson at all, and gets utterly raped by Flannery and Winona (and doesn't want anything to do with Maxie or Norman). He's somewhat interesting against the twins and Sidney due to being the only bug with access to strong STAB throughout the game (Heracross doesn't get Megahorn until Lv53), but otherwise, his ability to deal with bosses is quite bad.

Volbeat isn't as bad as what you might expect, but there's much better options out there.

4


Illumise:

Illumise is like Volbeat, if Volbeat had worse atk, no STAB, and a shittier level up learnset.

Illumise is a lot more common than Volbeat, but in exchange, she has a much shittier start. Like him, she has a moveset consisting of Tackle and Quick Attack, but unlike him, her attack is only at 47 and she doesn't get any STAB moves through level up, instead getting a movepool consisting of relatively worthless support moves, which have no real bearing on a Pokemon's battle performance, which implies being able to kill shit fast, and Illumise really fails at that.

Her offense isn't completely hopeless, though, as while her attack is terrible, 73 SpA is actually decent, and she does get a fairly vast special movepool. She pretty much demands the Shock Wave TM early on to deal any meaningful damage, and later on, wants Thunderbolt for more or less the same reason. Water Pulse and Giga Drain can serve as ways of killing the Ground types that stop Thunderbolt, but take note that WP comes late and there's relatively heavy competition for Giga Drain. She also wishes she got Tail Glow like Volbeat did.

Remember when I said that Volbeat has a poor gym performance? Illumise has it a lot worse, lacking the STAB to reliable deal with the twins/Sidney nor having the attack stat to make Shadow Ball/Brick Break a decent substitute. I guess she can gib Juan and Wallace's Pokemon with Thunderbolt, but seriously. Even Minun kills them faster, and that's due to him actually getting STAB on Thunderbolt.

In a nutshell, I wouldn't touch Illumise with a 25 foot long pole.

2.5

Edited October 29, 2014 by James the Salamander

[Sasori]

Thanks for doing these ratings. I'm finally picking Emerald up again.

[Smiley Jim]

Numel/Camerupt

Type: Fire/Ground
Ability(s): Oblivious (Numel), Magma Armor (Camerupt)

Numel wishes he wasn't burdened with Fire/Ground typing.

Available to you in Route 112 and the Fiery Path, Numel is one of the four possible fire type replacements for those who didn't choose Torchic. Catch one at Route 112 and go train him at the Cycling Road where he Embers the Magnemites while no selling their Thundershocks. Magnitude comes at Lv19, a little slower than Geodude's, but still early, and has better initial offenses than the other fire types you can find around here (100/105/40 as Camerupt vs Torkoal's 85/85/20 or Magcargo's 50/80/30.) Numel's typing gives him an edge early on, allowing him to smoke the grass, bug, fire, rock, or steel types that inhabit the midgame, though it is a double edged sword as he is 4x weak to water, which there are a few trainers that use that type.

While he does sadly miss out on Watson, he really shines in Mt. Chimney and Lavaridge, what with all the fire types that can easily be gibbed with Magnitude, and it makes him a great choice against Flannery, so he gets points for that. However, everything after Norman is basically a long and winding road of misery and type disadvantages.

Hoenn's lategame is not especially kind to Camerupt. While he does alright against Winona thanks to gaining Rock Slide right after he evolves (stay away from Pelipper and Altaria) and hitting Tropius and Skarm hard with your fire move of choice (Flamethrower isn't out of the question since you probably have enough money to get the TM), and does great against the Magma grunts in Mt. Chimney thanks to Lv37 Earthquake, his typing bites him in the ass once you set off from Lilycove. Remember how I said that Graveler (Golem) gets fucked hard by all the water types here? Well, the same applies to Camerupt. And on top of that, he's slow and not exactly bulky. Not a good combination.

The remaining gyms aren't very kind to him either; the twins all have Pokemon that laugh at Earthquake while Lunatone and Solrock resist his fire as well, and let's not get started on Juan. As for his elite performance, he can get Sid's grass types as well as Glacia's Glalies, and does ok against Phoebe, but overall, he's not so great here. And Wallace handily destroys him.

Being a decent mixed attacker and getting some good moves make Numel an appealing option, but his typing combined with his speed make him a burden in the long run.

4

Edited October 29, 2014 by James the Salamander

[Smiley Jim]

Slugma/Magcargo

Type: Fire, Fire/Rock (Magcargo)
Ability(s): Flame Body/Magma Armor

Another denizen of the Fiery Path, this time being a terrible excuse of a fire slug that is in all honestly quite bad. Slugma's stats are just disastrous, with all of them being at 40, except for speed, which is at rock bottom and special attack, which is actually slightly higher than Numel's. He has issues surviving most strong neutral attacks and gets outsped by practically everything, but he can cause good damage to grass and bug types, which aren't really big threats regardless. He does become somewhat tanky once he evolves, but that happens quite late at Lv38, and Magcargo is still quite slow.

Slugma's movepool is somewhat interesting, since he has Rock Throw at base, allowing him to deal super effective damage to fire types, but it will not do as much damage as you would like due to 40 base attack and lack of STAB before evolution, not to mention most fire types you face are Numels, which aren't rock weak and have Magnitude to hit you with anyway. As well, he is one of the few Pokemon to get Yawn, which could prove useful in fighting tough Pokemon or catching legendaries. He does, however, wish he got stronger moves earlier. Flamethrower comes early enough at Lv36 (probably just in time for Winona, most likely after), but he has a long-ass wait for Rock Slide, gotten at Lv48.

If you are thinking about using Slugma in boss fights, forget it. While he does resist Flannery's attacks, he will end up getting killed a lot faster than he can kill them due to Rock Throw's generally shitty damage and the fact that Overheat is VERY strong, and he's not doing much against anyone else, except maybe Yawning Norman's Slaking and dying afterwards. Every other gym he royally sucks against, and the Rock typing he gains on evolution is more of a curse than anything, giving him a very unwanted fighting weakness as well as amplifying his water and ground weaknesses. While the rock typing would theoretically help out against Winona, he's not evolving by then since that happens at Lv38 and he's not being any higher than ~Lv33 (not to mention he can't face Pelipper or Altaria), and he's not facing the twins or Juan ever. It does not help that everything after Lilycove is water, water, water. And forget about the elites, he sucks there.

What an awe-inspiring joke.

1.5

Edited October 29, 2014 by James the Salamander

[Smiley Jim]

Torkoal

Type: Fire
Ability(s): White Smoke

The last new fire type you'll see for a long time, Torkoal is a more defensively oriented Pokemon, a nice change to the fast, frail fire types that we are used to seeing. He is very physically bulky with 70 HP/140 Def bases, actually tying Skarmory in that regard, and 70 Sp. Defense isn't bad either, especially since he's mono fire and doesn't have a double water weakness to worry about, though you will not take the hit very well (he can take most ground/rock moves just fine). Not only that, but he starts with Curse, allowing him to boost his defense to insane levels, and gets Amnesia at Lv40, right when special attackers start more prominent.

His offense leaves a little to be desired, but 85 in both attacking stats is relatively good for a defensive Pokemon, and Torkoal isn't hurting for good quality moves. Starting with Ember and Curse at ~Lv15, he can easily take the Secret Power TM until Lv20, when he gets Body Slam, and Flamethrower is learned at the low level of 30, which is around when you fight Norman. It does suck that he really doesn't get much other then Normal moves and Sludge Bomb for physical offense, but considering you get Curse and Fire STAB, it isn't all that bad. 20 speed is rather sad, which means that Torkoal gets outsped by virtually everything, but thankfully, unlike Slugma, he has the bulk to not really care about it.

While he's not so great against bosses type-wise, he can Curse up on Flannery's Slugma, Norman's Spinda (confusion bites, but a dose of yellow flute cures that) and Winona's Swablu (if it uses Perish Song, switch out), and proceed to rape face while the rest of their Pokemon do almost nothing to him. While you should not attempt this against Juan (rain boosted Water Pulses hurt even after +2 SpD) or the twins(Normal/Fire coverage isn't great here due to Lunatone and Solrock resisting you), he can do pretty much the same thing against the Elite Four (don't worry about Curse's low PP, you get more than enough Leppa Berries to fuel it if you keep growing them), and is great against Glacia as a whole outside of Walrein (and even then, two Amnesia buffs will protect you against the brunt of Surf and a Cursed Body Slam will take it out in 2 hits at worst. Watch out for Sheer Cold.) Obviously, don't attempt this against Wallace.

Overall, Torkoal is a niche Pokemon that can set up on unsuspecting gym leaders, but has some issues killing bulkier things before he's set up and doesn't like lategame enemies very much, though not to the extent of Camerupt and Magcargo.

6

Edited October 29, 2014 by James the Salamander

[Smiley Jim]

Machop/Machoke/Machamp

Type: Fighting
Ability(s): Guts

Machop is basically Makuhita if he joined later, had higher attack and speed, but worse HP.

Being a fighting type means that most things that are applicable to Makuhita, Breloom, and Combusken apply to Machop as well. While he does miss out on Watson, where he would have been a big help against Magneton, he is readily available for Norman, and does great against Team Aqua with all their Carvanha being hideously weak to fighting. And like most fighting types, Machop isn't short on physical muscle, with a mind blowing 80 base attack at base and his final form getting an astronomical 130 base attack, tying with Rhydon and Breloom, and beaten by only Salamence, Metagross, Groudon, and Rayquaza in the Hoenn Dex. And to top things off, Machop gets Guts, turning him into the Terminator if inflicted with any sort of status.

Like Makuhita, Machop wishes he were a little faster. 35 speed isn't all that impressive considering we're no longer in earlygame where base stats don't really come into play, and even as Machamp, 55 speed is quite painful. Thankfully, Machop has very nice bulk, sporting 70/50/35 bulk in the first form, and can eventually gain 90/80/85 defenses, making Machamp very difficult to kill unless the enemy has a psychic, but that goes without saying.

Unlike Makuhita, Machop learns an arsenal of good Fighting moves through level. Starting with Low Kick and Karate Chop, Machop is already self sufficient at base, and gains gems like Revenge (powers up if you get hit) and Vital Throw (ignores DT/Sand-Attack) relatively early, though these moves have the side effect of negative priority. While Cross Chop is a serious nuke that has an added chance of critting, it comes after Juan, and to top things off, its accuracy is shaky and has low PP, but 100 power still isn't anything to scoff at. As for coverage, fighting types in general were kind of shafted here. While Rock Tomb is nice early on, Machamp does wish the Rock Slide tutor came a little earlier than postgame. He can also take the Bulk Up TM and round off his set that way or go with Earthquake(has some competition) or Fire Blast (65 SpA isn't impressing anyone), but he really wishes he got a good way of smacking ghosts.

Now, most of this rating was assuming you had the ability to trade, so what if you don't? You will find that Machoke, while still decent against Norman, is an inferior Hariyama at best, and his special durability isn't so hot considering that lategame is full of powerful special attackers that can easily prey on a 80/60 muscled lizard (Machamp can take special attacks just fine with 90/85 special durability) and 45 speed just plain sucks. While 100 attack combined with Cross Chop and Bulk Up can still leave a dent in most things, you'll still wish you were using Hari since he has 120 attack to abuse and a much higher HP.

7.5 (6 w/o trade)

Edited October 29, 2014 by James the Salamander

[Smiley Jim]

Koffing/Weezing

Type: Poison
Ability(s): Levitate

Another Poison type that you can collect on your quest, Koffing has a rather middling start. Gotten at Lv15-16, he starts with Tackle and Smog, neither of which are damaging much, especially since Smog actually has worse BP than Tackle after factoring in STAB. Lv17 Self Destruct can help with damage, but it will cause you to die, which deprives Koffing of any exp. However, you can use it, and later on, Explosion, to take down problematic Pokemon like Norman's Slaking or Juan's Kingdra, but Explosion is learned at Lv44. As for his main form of damage, he doesn't get Sludge until Lv21, but he can take the Secret Power TM conveniently placed a few steps outside the Fiery Path's north exit until that happens.

The Koffing line has a rather interesting stat spread for a gas-filled balloon. He is rather bulky on the physical end with 40 HP/95 Def, which combined with Levitate nulling his Ground weakness, means that Koffing is pretty bro at taking physical damage, and this trend continues after evolution where Weezing gets 65/120 physical durability. Unfortunately, 45 (70 as Weezing) Sp. Def is kind of depressing, especially with the huge special bias that lategame has.

On offense, he has very good 65/60 attacking stats, which combined with his TM movepool and evolution giving him 90 Atk/85 SpA, means that Weezing can do some great damage to most things, though 60 speed is quite depressing. Speaking of his movepool, his level up movepool is very uninteresting past Lv21 Sludge and a late Lv44 Explosion, mostly consisting of stuff like Haze, Destiny Bond, and Memento. Thankfully, his TM movepool his quite good. The Sludge Bomb TM comes around the time your Koffing is ready to evolve, and he can take the Thunderbolt and Flamethrower TMs to round off any coverage induced holes he may have, the former making him quite good against Winona, Juan and Wallace. Shadow Ball is another option to smack ghosts with, and it can do some damage to the twins, but using Weezing in that battle is not a smart idea, but it is still an option as a last resort.

Like a lot of mid-joining Pokemon, Koffing wishes he evolved sooner. Lv35 evolution isn't all that late, but Koffing does wish he were able to evolve before fighting Norman, because even with Selfdestruct access, 65 base attack doesn't really cut it against Slaking, though thankfully, he'll be able to evolve around the time you fight Winona, at which point you can really notice his good 65 HP/120 Def.

While Koffing can fill a role as an action bomb against hugely problematic Pokemon, he does have some issues getting started and doesn't particularly like the lategame very much.

5

Edited October 30, 2014 by James the Salamander

[MacLovin]

I look forward to Barboach and Chinchou being rated

[Smiley Jim]

Grimer/Muk

Type: Poison
Ability(s): Stench/Sticky Hold

Another poison type found in the Fiery Path, this one a rarity with a 2% encounter rate, and no way of isolating him through Repel usage, so you may have to do a lot of searching. Once caught, you will be surprised to know that Grimer is actually decent for a mid-joining Pokemon. Coming with 80 base attack and Sludge at base, Grimer is actually doing better for himself than Gulpin on offense, though 25 speed really hurts, and unlike Gulpin, has a late Lv38 evolution, which is around when you head off for Mossdeep, in which case his speed is still bad, but he gains a monstrous 105 base attack as well as 105/75/100 defenses. Speaking of which, he evolves right as special attackers get progressively more common.

Everything that I said about Gulpin's boss performance is basically applicable to Grimer, minus the utility against Drake due to a lack of Ice Beam. As in, Poison is a mediocre attack type offensively, and while no one except Phoebe resists Poison, the only things that Poison hits SE are Winona's Tropius, Sid's Cacturne and Shiftry, and Wallace's Ludicolo. And of course, Muk doesn't want anything to do with the twins, though he is quite good against Juan due to his natural special bulk as well as the fact that Juan is maining a 60 BP move as his STAB.

Taking a look at his learnset, it's not all that pretty, but what Grimer does get is quite good. Getting Sludge right off the bat is like a dream come true, but the wait for Sludge Bomb is a long one indeed; Muk has to wait until Lv47 to get Sludge Bomb, which is late enough to justify using the TM on him. His physical movepool is somewhat sparse, with his coverage consisting of Dig, Rock Tomb, and Brick Break, which either come too late to matter (BB) or are weak past midgame (the first two). While his special movepool is quite good (gets Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, and Giga Drain. Too bad he doesn't get Ice Beam like Gulpin does), his special attack is too low to make good use of them. He can also get Explosion from the move tutor in Pacifidlog, which allows him to, once again, take out bullshit like Kingdra, but that comes very late. As for anything else, an interesting option is Acid Armor, which basically solves any issues Muk had with his physical durability, turning him into a tank.

Grimer has the potential to be an ok tank/sweeper, but finding one is a total pain in the ass and you will probably wish you were using something that wasn't mono poison.

4.5

Edited October 30, 2014 by James the Salamander

[Smiley Jim]

Spinda

Type: Normal

Ability(s): Own Tempo

I seriously do not know what the fuck they were smoking when they designed Spinda's stats.

Found in droves in the ashy grass of Route 113, Spinda is one of those Pokemon that was made to be a practical joke, similar to Farfetch'd in the first generation. First off, this thing manages to be worse than Delcatty statwise, with 60's in every stat he has, and with no evolution to help him out, his contributions are already looking quite sour. While Normal typing is offensively beneficial to anyone who has it, Spinda doesn't learn his next STAB move until Lv27, when he gets Dizzy Punch, so you may want to invest in the Secret Power TM or Strength HM because Tackle's 35 power with 60 base attack doesn't cut it at this point in the game. Even so, you'll wish you were using something with a bit more bite, because even with STAB, Spinda isn't knocking anyone's heads off.

Spinda's offensive movepool is decent, to say the least. He gets Faint Attack and Psybeam at base, which allows him to hurt fighting types and ghosts that quite frankly, aren't common enough in the midgame, and god help you if a fighting type survives your Psybeam, because your 60/60/60 defenses will not hold up to that kind of abuse. Later, he can upgrade to Psychic and Shadow Ball, and additionally, he can wield Brick Break, Shock Wave, and Water Pulse. His support movepool is actually interesting, though, getting Hypnosis at Lv23, and Teeter Dance at Lv34. For those who don't know what Teeter Dance does, it is an AoE Confuse Ray that affects everything on the filed except Spinda, which can come in handy, but again, your defensive stats don't allow for that sort of thing.

I honestly can't find a good use for Spinda lategame, other than inflicting status conditions on bosses, and you're better off attacking them head on. Basically, don't bother.

1

Edited October 8, 2012 by James the Hero

[Smiley Jim]

Skarmory

Type: Steel/Flying
Ability(s): Sturdy/Keen Eye

Skarmory is undeniably one of the best Pokemon in tournament play, but this rating is based on how well he does ingame. The first gripe about this thing is that he is somewhat elusive and very hard to catch. Found in the same area as that shitty panda, Skarm has a low 5% encounter rate, and on top of that, a catch rate of 25, so you will need to be very, very patient when catching one, especially since Ultra Balls are at a premium if not nonexistent.

If you do succeed, you'll have a potent physical tank with 65 HP/140 Def bases and steel/flying typing who isn't in a rush to start cockblocking the many poison and bug using ninjas found on Route 113, as well as the plethora of grass, flying, and bug users on Routes 119 and 120. Sporting 9 resistances, 2 immunities, and no physical weaknesses, it is not hard to find a situation where Skarm can simply outlast the opposition. Granted, this typing does have weaknesses to Fire and Electric, which makes Skarm an extremely undesirable option against Flannery, but makes him absolute clutch against Norman, as well as a great option against Winona, though lategame isn't so kind to him since the game starts becoming more special based, and while 70 SpD is ok with all his resistances, water is one of the things he doesn't resist and it doesn't help that they resist his strongest consistent STAB option.

Skarm does have some offense issues on the outset, though. While 80 Atk/70 Spe is ok for midgame standards, it really starts to become insignificant as the game progresses due to stuff appearing or evolving that have higher offensive power, and the lack of a good movepool to offset this does not help. Steel Wing is a decent tool that Skarm can learn to deal with this somewhat, but this is learned at Lv32, but he can easily take the TM for it since it gives him a powerful midgame nuke. This is notable considering that his starting moveset consists of Peck and Swift, which is ass considering that he doesn't get his next STAB move until Lv29. Also, Skarm wishes he got Drill Peck through level up and not through breeding.

Another interesting move in his arsenal is Spikes, learned at Lv42. While this move is dead weight against the twins (around the time you reach Lv42), you can use Spikes to really wear down some of Juan's Pokes, mostly his Kingdra who has no easily exploitable weaknesses (and the one weakness he does have is killed instantly by Ice Beam), as well as the stuff on Phoebe, Glacia, and Wallace's teams, since the Pokes they have are somewhat bulky. However, to get its maximum effectiveness, you need to put up three layers, which is a waste of time, and you are open to attack at this time, and this is bad considering Juan, Glacia, and Wallace bombard you with strong neutral special attacks, which of course, fuck Skarm hard in the ass.

While I do give him points for his ability to tank the midgame, his offense as well as his mediocre lategame performance kind of doom him. Still, he's not bad.

6.5

Edited October 30, 2014 by James the Salamander

[RJWalker]

Spinda is great for EV training your Pokemon though.

[Ema Skye]

James is rating for efficient play, which generally means that EV training is non-existant.

[Smiley Jim]

Swablu/Altaria

Type: Normal/Flying, Dragon/Flying (Altaria)
Ability(s): Natural Cure

Oh look, another normal/flying type... wait. This thing becomes a dragon?!

Found in droves in the cesspit known as Route 114, Swablu looks, acts, and plays like any other normal/flying type I've ever seen. In a sense, you could say that it's the Hoenn equivalent of Doduo (mid-joining bird mon), but that's wishful thinking right there. Right off the bat, he has terrible offense with 40/40 attacking stats, 50 speed, and being stuck with Peck and Fury Attack for a natural movepool until Lv31, when he gets Take Down, and unfortunately, this doesn't improve a whole hell of a lot after evolution, which is at a rather late Lv35. As usual, the Secret Power TM can help somewhat, but even so, you will be wishing you were using Taillow.

Another look at Swablu's stats reveals that he is surprisingly bulky for a normal/flying, with 45 HP and 60/75 defenses, which can allow him to stick around for extended periods of time against most trainers, though with the lack of offense, you aren't doing much in return, and normal/flying isn't good defensive typing. Still, you'll appreciate it against all those scary bug catchers and aroma girls, which coincidentally are his only good matchups, because his attack sucks too much to make any significant impact against other trainers.

Going back to my first statement, the developers tried to spice things up by making Altaria a dragon type upon evolution, even gaining Dragon Breath in the process. While this opens up a few more defensive opportunities (you gain fire and water resistances as well as having your electric weakness neutralized, allowing you to make better use of your 75/90/105 defenses), offensively, Altaria loses STAB on Take Down and other assorted Normal goodies, and that is kind of a big deal considering he still has poor attack stats to deal with (though Lv40 Dragon Dance alleviates this somewhat on the physical end), and Dragon Breath's 60 BP doesn't cut it lategame with said attacking stats. The Dragon Claw TM is a welcome answer to this issue, but it appears very late.

Like I said before, Swablu's level up movepool is a greater joke than the Detroit Lions, consisting of stuff that's better off used in tournament play (though Sing is quite useful for catching Regis), and doesn't get a good damaging move until Lv31 when he gets Take Down. Not only that, he doesn't get any flying moves through level up until Lv59 when he gets Sky Attack, which is way too late to matter, not to mention the whole 2 turn thing where you're a big fucking target during the charge phase. Thankfully, Altaria has a good TM movepool. Since he does not get any flying moves through level-up, the Fly HM is almost mandatory, and DC is also needed during the endgame because DB does crap damage off that kind of SpA. As well, Altaria gets Earthquake and Flamethrower, among other things like Ice Beam and SolarBeam.

Swablu also has it rough when it comes to boss performance. While he should never participate in the Lavaridge or Petalburg gym leader matches, whether or not he's usable against Winona depends if he evolved or not. Even so, expect Skarm to be the bane of your existence, whatnot with its steel typing and her own Altaria can kill you just as quickly as you can kill it. And his performance against the last two gyms is quite forgettable since his damage output is below average, not to mention that two of Juan's Pokes pack Ice moves, and getting iced is the last thing Altaria needs. His elite performance is more or less the same, with Glacia and Drake tearing him apart with strong super effective STAB and Wallace doing much of the same with three of his mons packing ice moves.

In a nutshell, Nintendo thought that making Altaria a dragon type would instantly make him good. However, stats tell more of the tale, to be perfectly honest, and defensively oriented dragons just don't work.

3

Edited October 30, 2014 by James the Salamander

[RJWalker]

I know how and why the OP is giving the ratings he gives. What I was saying that regardless of how you're playing, EV training your mons is all Spinda is good for.

[Smiley Jim]

Seviper

Type: Poison
Ability(s): Shed Skin

Seviper is like Ekans from FRLG, except with more attack and a better movepool, but worse speed and no Intimidate.

Caught at ~Lv16 in the same grass that you found Swablu, Seviper looks promising enough at first glance. Unlike Ekans of FRLG fame, he is self sufficient right off the bat with 100/100 offenses and STAB Poison Tail. For starters, most midgame Pokemon would kill to have 100 in either offense, let alone both of them, so Seviper is doing alright for himself, but Poison is a very depressing type offensively, and while Bite can alleviate this to some extent, you are still quite helpless against Steel types, so you may want to consider the Dig TM.

Once you look beyond those sexy 100 attacking stats, however, Seviper's stats are quite lacking. 65 speed isn't exactly what I'd call fast; being barely faster than Swampert, Seviper will undoubtedly get outsped later on. Of course, Swampert has 100/90/90 defenses and a single weakness to a rare attack type to fall back on while Seviper has 73/60/60 defenses and weaknesses to Earthquake and Psychic, meaning that he will undoubtedly get killed very quickly, and the lack of Intimidate like FRLG Ekans does not help.

While Seviper's level up movepool is actually quite disgusting once you look past that early Poison Tail and Lv28 Crunch (Glare can help with catching legendaries, but sleep is overall better anyway), he does get his fair share of good TM moves. Dig has already been mentioned, and later on he can grab Earthquake for even more steel killing fun. As for his special moves, he can utilize Flamethrower and Giga Drain, the latter of which hits ground/rock types. Also, he really appreciates the Sludge Bomb TM considering his next Poison move through level is basically Poison Tail but with a 30% to inflict Toxic.

Basically, a slow glass cannon with awful offensive typing and a terrible level-up movepool.

4

Edited October 30, 2014 by James the Salamander

[Smiley Jim]

Solrock

Type: Rock/Psychic
Ability(s): Levitate

Solrock is kind of like FE6's Zealot: Useful when you get him, but really falls behind lategame.

The only new Pokemon that you can catch in Meteor Falls before you have access to Waterfall, Solrock has a good overall start, being a rock type when the typing is still useful. It helps that he can be caught at the high level of 18, so he can immediately begin pulling his weight with STAB Rock Throw coming off a good 95 base attack. What makes this even better is that he comes right before the firefest that is known as Mt. Chimney and Lavaridge, making him a good pick for those fights as well. I mean, it's like a dream come true! Secondary psychic typing is cool and all, but he's not doing much damage from that side with 55 SpA. He is also a fine pick against Norman as well due to normal resistance and good 70/85/65 defenses, though I should warn you that a lot of things on his team carry Faint Attack, so be wary.

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and in the case of Solrock, lategame is really unkind towards him. While he does have a type advantage against Winona, virtually all her Pokemon except Swablu and Altaria can hit him super effectively (and even those two can beat him due to Perish Song and DragonBreath parahax respectively) and you will find that Rock Throw's damage is quite underwhelming here; Rock Slide would fix this problem, but it's learned at Lv37, after the 6th gym fight. He does ok against the twins due to psychic resistance as well as being able to evade Claydol's Earthquake, though you WILL need the Shadow Ball TM here since you aren't doing much to them without it, and Juan is lol. Not to mention the fact that everything after Lilycove is a huge waterfest, which is bad news tidings for Solrock. The final nail in the coffin is the elite four, where Solrock is disadvantaged against every one of the final bosses (Sid, Phoebe, and Wallace beat him by type alone, while Glacia has Walrein as well as Dark/Ghost moves on both Glalies, and Drake has a Kingdra as well as Crunch on two of his guys.)

I already mentioned natural Rock Throw and the somewhat late upgrade to Rock Slide at Lv37, but he gets some interesting moves through level up, notably Cosmic Power, which can allow him to simply tank his way through boss fights, but in practice, this is hard to do since everyone and their mother hits him super effectively or has other means of disposing of him. Explosion could've been useful for taking out problematic Pokemon like Juan's Kingdra, if it wasn't learned at Lv49. The tutor exists, but it is better used on things that don't get Explosion naturally. As for TM coverage, I already mentioned Shadow Ball against the twins, but he also gets Earthquake a little bit after that, though both moves have heavy competition. While he gets special moves like Psychic, Flamethrower, and even natural Solar Beam (learned at Lv43, probably just in time for Juan), they seriously aren't doing much damage off 55 special attack.

Nice midgame utility, but holy god is his lategame bad.

5

Edited October 30, 2014 by James the Salamander

[Smiley Jim]

Spoink/Grumpig

Type: Psychic
Ability(s): Thick Fat/Own Tempo

Another psychic type who is an alternative to either Ralts or Abra if you want to try "something different" (which by the way, both Abra and Ralts are better.) While he doesn't have the offensive presence that the other two have, or the utility against Brawly, or their early evolutions (Spoink evolves 2 levels later than Kirlia FFS, and you can get an Alakazam before Ralts evolves), Spoink has good special durability for an unevolved Pokemon and Thick Fat access, allowing him to level up with relative safety in the Lavaridge gym (though Flannery's sun-boosted Overheats will probably still be too much for our little porkchop), but this is generally superfluous until lategame, when special attackers start showing en masse.

While he can't hold a candle to Kadabra on offense, Grumpig still has a good offensive game with 90 base special attack (70 as Spoink) and STAB Psybeam right off the bat, with Psychic being learned around the time Kadabra gets it. However, like with Kadabra, Grumpig has coverage issues, being basically limited to Shock Wave on the special side (no elemental punches until postgame.) While Grumpig does get access to things like Shadow Ball and Iron Tail, he's not impressing anyone with them since his attack is rock bottom. As far as other moves go, an interesting move of note is Magic Coat, which will bounce back most status effect moves, including but not limited to Toxic, Leech Seed, and Sand-attack, but you will generally find that attacking or setting up with Calm Mind is a better use of your time, and the rest of Grumpig's pre-postgame movepool is garbage.

As I may have said before, Psychic's best moment ingame was in the Brawly fight, which Spoink is far too late for, being available between Mt. Chimney and Lavaridge and all, so his contributions in boss fights are a bit limited since Psychic doesn't hit any of the remaining gym leaders' Pokemon super effectively, and he is dead weight against the twins due to their mutual resistance and the fact that your other options do didilly dick. The elites are also quite unkind to Grumpig, with the first two using types that have type advantages against psychic, with Sid simply laughing at your feeble attempts to Psychic his Pokemon. He is at least good against Glacia (no thanks to Thick Fat if he has it) provided you are mindful of her two Glalies, which pack super effective moves, though thankfully, you can tank non-STAB Crunch just fine with your 80/110 special bulk. He also hits Wallace's Tentacruel super effectively if you are interested.

Basically, mid to late joining psychics have it rough, and Spoink kind of proves it, but even so, he can still manage to be a decent Pokemon. Just don't expect anything exceptional like Gardevoir. That's just some wishful thinking right there.

5.5

Edited October 30, 2014 by James the Salamander

[Smiley Jim]

Wynaut/Wobbuffet

Type: Psychic
Ability(s): Shadow Tag

In Lavaridge Town, an elderly woman hands you an egg that will eventually hatch into this thing. Of course, hatching the egg in any reasonable timeframe for Wynaut to have any sort of use whatsoever is a pain in the ass because it takes at least 2560 steps (assuming you have a Slugma in the lead, otherwise, it's 5120 steps) to hatch, which means you either dick around and waste time hatching it and have it in time for the Lavaridge gym, or you carry on your journey and have the egg hatch while you explore the SS Cactus or something. Either way, the hatchling comes at Lv5, where he is not only hideously underleveled, but has as many offensive moves as One Piece has established romantic relationships (READ: zero), being stuck with Splash, Encore, and Charm until Lv15, when he finally gets Counter and Mirror Coat (and evolves into Wobbuffet.) This alone would make Wynaut one of the most inefficient Pokemon in the game, along with NosepASS, but thankfully, you can find wild Wobbs in the safari park, so why even BOTHER with the fucking egg, anyway?

Even if you do decide to catch a Wobb in the wild, you will find that he is nothing more than a living punching bag. Counter and Mirror Coat are literally the only tools he has to cause damage (other than Destiny Bond, but you need to die in order to get any damage from it), but considering his stats (both offenses are rock bottom at 33 apiece), they are all he needs to cause some good damage, and with his massive HP, he can take on most of the later gyms and elites (do be mindful of Sidney and Phoebe, who smack him around super effectively and are immune to Mirror Coat and Counter, respectively) and remove problematic Pokemon like Drake's Salamence, assuming he's properly trained, but that's where his issues begin. If your Wobb isn't freeloading off your other Pokemon with the Exp. Share (which isn't very enjoyable since your other dudes will end up slightly underleveled in return), he is either grossly underleveled, or simply dicking around and waiting for the opponent to deal enough damage to him to take the other guy out.

If used liberally, you will find that Wobb really hates being fucked over by status conditions, has his Counter/Mirror Coat hit rates being fucked up by assholes using Double Team or Sand-Attack, and just having to get damaged in order to have anything resembling a fucking offense. And to top things off, Wobb is a potion hog because of the fact that he needs to get damaged in order to cause damage, and because of his high HP, it usually takes more than 2 super potions to get his ass back to relatively full HP (thankfully, hyper potions exist by this point, so w/e.)

Overall, Wobbuffet can fill a niche, but that niche is usually detrimental to efficiency, and I'm going to be perfectly honest here: Lategame isn't a terribly great time to have psychic as a defensive typing. I do not know how the enemy's AI works in this game, but I'm pretty sure that they are a bit less predictable than in gen II. I will give him some slack for at least being able to troll powerful boss Pokemon like Drake's 'Mence and Glacia's Walrein.

4

Edited October 30, 2014 by James the Salamander

[Smiley Jim]

Sandshrew/Sandslash

Type: Ground
Ability(s): Sand Veil

One of the new Pokemon that you can find in the desert area of Route 111, Sandshrew seems like a decent option until you realize that being ground typed after midgame is more of a curse than a blessing.

Sandshrew starts off quite impressive on paper, being at absolute worst 3 levels from evolution, where he gets 100/110 physical stats, and having access to the Dig TM right off the bat, giving him a strong STAB move that covers most of the things that you would find in the Magma Cavern (as well as the Space Center after the Mossdeep gym), but ground isn't very useful elsewhere due to enemies in between Mauville and Lilycove using types that are resistant or immune to ground, not to mention that both Winona and the twins laugh at Dig (Juan destroys him even if Ground was SE against Water, and while he's not bad against Norman, he isn't great either.)

Sandslash's level-up movepool is absolutely disgusting outside of Lv24 Slash, so TM support is absolutely vital. While I already mentioned Dig, Earthquake is yet another must if Sandslash is to stay relevant during the endgame stretch, and since he's a ground type, there is zero excuse to denying him EQ. The coverage he gets is also good, even if they are contested. Rock Tomb synergies well with Dig/EQ and allows our armadillo to do something to Winona, but you will find that its power really sucks by this point in the game and Rock Slide isn't available until the postgame. Likewise, he can use Aerial Ace, which gives him much needed coverage against grass/bug types and Brick Break, which gives mostly redundant coverage with EQ and is only useful against Sid's grass types (STAB EQ hits everything else for the same magnitude as an SE Brick Break), but like I said, those moves have huge competition.

Compared to someone like Golem, Sandslash will find that he doesn't have the Rock typing that makes them useful against Norman and Winona, and it does not help that while he is rather fast for his type, he is still rather sluggish and really wants the quick claw for some of the later fights, like against Drake. Also, compounding his sorrows is the fact that everything after Lilycove is a massive waterfest, though thankfully, he's only takes double damage from water unlike a certain rock ball and can OHKO most of them due to a level advantage. Still, it hurts, and Juan and Wallace obviously have their way with him.

Basically, ground typing is only really useful in the midgame, and Sandshrew misses that portion of the game and has to deal with a series of anti-ground routes followed by ocean.

3.5

Edited October 30, 2014 by James the Salamander

[Smiley Jim]

Trapinch/Vibrava/Flygon

Type: Ground, Ground/Dragon (Vibrava/Flygon)
Ability(s): Hyper Cutter/Arena Trap (Trapinch), Levitate (Vibrava/Flygon)

Another Pokemon that you can be found in the Route 111 desert area, Trapinch is, in a way, like Nino: Starts out quite bad, but given some training, can turn out to be quite devastating.

And boy oh boy does Trapinch start out unimpressive. On one hand, we've got 100 attack, which is completely insane for a first form and allows Trapinch to do some major damage, especially considering the Dig TM is gotten before you even get access to the desert. On the other hand, 10 speed is among the worst in the game, and Trapinch isn't especially bulky either, so more often than not, he'll end up getting killed before he can get a shot off (either through sheer force or getting flinched to death.) And unlike Sandshrew from before, Trapinch doesn't have an early evolution to look forward to, instead evolving at the high level of 35. Still, before then, Trapinch can still tear shit up with STAB Dig, the Strength HM, and maybe Bite/Crunch on ghosts/psychics, but face it: 10 speed with 45/45/45 defenses hurt, and like I said, ground typing simply isn't very helpful after Lavaridge.

So what if he is? Vibrava gains Dragon typing upon evolution, which neutralizes his water and grass weaknesses and gives him a fire resistance, as well as gaining Levitate, making him a perfect counter for those Numels you face in the Magma Hideout. Also added to his arsenal is STAB Dragon Breath, though that won't do much coming off 50 SpA. Speaking of stats, while his speed has increased sevenfold, he lost 30% of his attack upon evolving, effectively giving him Linoone level offense, and we all know how good Linoone's lategame offense is. This combined with durability that is worse than Spinda's makes him undesirable against the twins, though Crunch will still leave a dent in Xatu and Solrock. And using him against Juan is a joke and a half considering that not only does he take massive damage from his STAB Water moves, but both Sealeo and Kingdra have Ice moves, which pretty much kill him faster than you can say "fuck". Getting Earthquake at this point does help, but Vibrava is pretty much a negative in that fight, as a whole.

Thankfully, the fruits of the labor of training this failure of a Pokemon will come to pass once Vibrava reaches Lv45, when he finally evolves into Flygon, regaining his old attack stat, as well as getting massive all around boosts. Of course, this is likely going to happen when you are at Victory Road's doorstep, so Flygon's contributions are pretty much limited to the elites, which he has an ok performance in. Sid and Phoebe can be dealt with by him for the most part (you may want Flamethrower for Shiftry and Cacturne, EQ will take care of the rest of Sid's team), though you may want to be wary of Phoebe's second Dusclops, which has Ice Beam. Drake is hit or miss, since you hit him super effectively with Dragon Claw, but he's hitting you hard as well, and Glacia and Wallace are both no goes due to heavy Ice Beam usage.

There's not much to say about his movepool, other than the fact that outside of Dragon Breath and Crunch, his level up learnbase sucks. He needs TMs to have existing Ground STAB due to learning Dig too late as Trapinch (Lv41? Seriously?), and Dragon Claw comes hella late, nevermind the fact that Vibrava can't use it anyway. As for anything else, I already mentioned Flamethrower, which can help take out grass and bug types, but Giga Drain is also an option if you really hate Whiscash. And like with any ground type, Rock Tomb synergies well with EQ, but is laughably weak otherwise.

In a nutshell, Flygon is awesome, but the waiting period before that happens is too long, and Trapinch and Vibrava's stats do not justify waiting 25 levels.

3.5

Edited October 30, 2014 by James the Salamander

[MacLovin]

However, at least it comes at a passable time, with passable stats and all. And Flygon is pretty damn good.

Unlike, say Swablu->Altaria, Rhyhorn->Rhydon, or Grimer->Muk