Pokemon Black 2 Ratings Topic

[Ema Skye]

Disclaimer: I have played the Japanese version rather extensively, so I am not basing these ratings off of a single day of playing.

Disclaimer #2: There will be spoilers in this thread. Read at your own caution.

So here's another rating topic for you. I figure this one would be useful to have around because the game just came out or is shortly coming out, depending on where you live. We're going to efficicent play here, with a minimal focus on level grinding. These ratings assume you will be trying to beat Pokemon Black Version 2 in as little time as possible. A final note: trade evolutions are assumed due to pretty much everyone having Wifi access.

Ratings will be done on a 0-10 scale. 10 means you're amazing. 0 means you should be left in the grass. There is a 0.5 margin of error.

10.0 - Magnemite

9.5 - Lillipup

9.0 - Oshawott, Drillbur

8.5 - Sewaddle, Riolu

8.0 - Tepig, Jolteon

7.5 - Magmar, Magmortar, Growlithe, Espeon

7.0 - Mareep, Buneary, Conkeldurr

6.5 - Psyduck, Zubat, Steelix

6.0 - Azurill, Koffing, Vaporeon

5.5 - Gurdurr

5.0 - Snivy, Patrat, Venipede

4.5 - Audino, Dunsparce

4.0 -

3.5 - Grimer, Flareon, Roggenrola

3.0 - Ratatta, Umbreon

2.5 - Cottonee

2.0 - Purrloin, Woobat

1.5 - Onix

1.0 - Sunkern

0.5 -

0.0 -

Postgame: Munna, Leafeon, Glaceon, Tirtouga, Archen, Heatmor, Durant, Cryogonal, Tornadus, Thundurus, Landorus, Palpitoad, Stunfisk, Vigoroth, Corphish, Jigglypuff, Lickitung, Yanma, Tropius, Carnivine, Croagunk, Pupitar, Zekrom, Kyurem

---

Snivy/Servine/Serperior

Snivy is basically Chikorita with more speed, but fails even more at attacking. And Chikorita wasn't that offensive to begin with...

Another thing Snivy has in common with Chikorita is that it's early game blows. Hard. While Cheren's Normal-gym isn't too bad for Snivy, it's not doing ANYTHIGNG significant to Roxie or Burgh. Heck, it doesn't even do much to Elesa beyond attacking Flaaffy. It starts to improve for Clay, and it's bulky enough that it can handle Excadrill reasonably well. Then Skyla comes in and Servine is back in the realm of uselessness. It's not doing much to Drayden's Dragons, aside from hitting Flygon neutrally. It is pretty boss against Marlon though, hitting Carracosta for 4x, although Wailord and Jellicent will be difficult to defeat quickly with Serperior due to their high bulk. Fast forward to the Elite Four, and Serperior's performance is mostly average. Only a few of the opponents will hit Serperior for 2x damage, although it only hits Golurk and Krookodile for x2. When it comes to Iris, it's only going to be working against Lapras and trying to take it out before it falls to Ice Beams.

Serperior's biggest problem in Black and White 1 was his lack of coverage, consisting of only Normal and Grass moves. The move tutors in BW2 help with this problem a fair bit. Getting both Aqua Tail and Dragon Pulse from the move tutors really help Serperior by giving it some way of handling all 7 types that resist Grass. Unfortunately, both of these moves cost a lot of shards (8 for Aqua Tail; 10 for Dragon Pulse), and there is a lack of generous NPCs that will give you the requested Blue Shards (whereas a nice guy in Nimbasa gives you 10 Red Shards, making those moves easy to pay for). Aqua Tail will take Serperior farther than Dragon Pulse will, because without Aqua Tail, Serperior is forever walled by Steel-types. As for level up and TM moves, Serperior really wants Coil (Lv.38), because it's crucial Aqua Tail, Leaf Blade and Return are physical attacks, and 75 Attack is a bit below average. Swords Dance would help it more, but considering you need to play the PWT lots to get it, it's not happening without slowing you down. Calm Mind would be useful for boosting Giga Drain and Dragon Pulse, but it's only available for the postgame. Hidden Power is way to unreliable to consider using on Serperior, as valuable as HP Ground would be for it. Lastly, Aerial Ace, Energy Ball, Dragon Tail and Rock Smash round out Serperior's movepool, and none of these really help it. Energy Ball is weaker than Giga Drain and isn't boosted by Coil. The other three are way too weak to consider using (Dragon Tail even ignores Serperior's awesome speed, talk about lame).

As for stats, Serperior's are interesting, but a let down for efficent play. Offensive parameters really matter in efficent play, because the faster you kill things, the lower your time will be. While Serperior's speed is among the best in Unova, it's offensive parameters leave plenty to be desired. 75 Attack/Special Attack is really lacking, and it really starts to get noticable later in the game when the enemies get bulkier. This only further makes Serperior's narrow movepool a bigger problem.

So really, the only positives about Smugleaf and his family are his solid performance for Marlon, and his perfect availability. But availability really doesn't matter if you can't make use of it. Serperior WILL be a liability until Lentimas Town when it can pick up Aqua Tail and Dragon Pulse, but you'll need major help to get you there when the reward comes.

5/10 - Takes forever to get going, and is even then only just good.

Tepig/Pignite/Emboar

Tepig's family is basically the opposite of Snivy. High offense, low speed, awesome movepool.

I love how the first bit of the game caters to Tepig and his family. For the first gym, you can have your trio of Fire (Tepig), Grass (Sewaddle) and Water (Psyduck), pretty much setting you up for the rest of the game, minus a few inclusions like Magnemite. But then right as your Tepig evolves into Pignite, you're handed a Poison gym, rendering your Pignite's newfound STAB moves useless. Things get much better for Burgh, who is left completely helpless by Pignite. Elesa isn't too bad for Pignite, because Emolga lacks Aerial Ace now, and your slow Pignite isn't really caring about the lowered speed from Thunder Wave. It's going to avoid Clay and Skyla at all costs, although it can handle Skarmory if need be. On the eastern side of Unova, it needs to rely on Return, Superpower (with Shards), or Hammer Arm, and it's obviously avoiding Marlon. As for the Elite Four, it's hit and miss against Shauntel (Golurk's Earthquake is a big one to avoid, as is Drifblim's Acrobatics), it destroys Grimsley, but watch out for Aerial Ace. Avoid Caitlin like the plauge, and just brute force your way through Marshal as he does the same to you. As for Iris, Emboar should only be taking on Aggron and Druddigon, as everything else is threatening for it (Hydreigon's Surf, Archeops' Acrobatics, Haxorus' Earthquake and Lapras' Surf). It's too bad really, as Emboar's Fighting-type would've been really useful for this fight.

Emboar's TM movepool is amazing, but there are a few harsh realities about it. If Emboar can't get Superpower, it wouldn't mind Brick Break, but that comes from the PWT. Scald and wild Charge give some awesome coverage, but both come very late, as do Flamethrower and Fire Blast (although Flamethrower will probably be learned before you get the TM at Lv.43). Due to Earthquake being postgame, Bulldoze is worth it for Emboar. Rock Slide helps but it costs time. Poison Jab is redundant, and Bulk Up comes late. Again, Emboar is Serperior's opposite. It's early game is amazing, but it falters late game. ThunderPunch from the Driftveil tutor makes a solid move for the portion of the game where you lack Wild Charge (read as: most of it), and doesn't require Shard grinding.

In terms of stats, Emboar again shows us it's Serperior's opposite. We see low speed, high attack and special attack, and high HP (which helps cushion the low defenses). So while Emboar really wishes it was faster, it will hit hard when it gets it's turn. Not to mention that it's also competition-less until Growlithe/Magby (both of which are inferior to Pignite until evolution, and Magmortar is a long way away). Darmanitan is the first Pokemon you get that really competes with Pignite, but an early evolved Arcanine can also join them. In terms of Fighting-types, it's only competiting with Riolu until Route 4's Scraggy. So life is pretty sweet for GANONPIG!

7/10 - One of the best starts in the game, and while it does crash a bit in the late game, it's still a solid Pokemon.

Oshawott/Dewott/Samurott

Looing back at previous Water starts such as Squirtle and Mudkip, Oshawott has a lot to live up to. Fortunately, it delivers.

In the beginning, Oshawott is no different than the other two starters moveset wise. Unlike Servine and Pignite, Dewott doesn't struggle against Roxie, although he does have a rough time against Burgh and Elesa. Things get better once he gets to Clay, and Dewott can handle Excadrill pretty solidly. Like the other two, it doesn't have much for Skyla, but it doesn't fear her Pokemon like the other two do. Come Opelucid, you can pick up Blizzard from the PokeMart and perform admirably against Drayden. Marlon pits Water type vs Water type, and Samurott lacks the tools to come out as a victor here. As for the Elite Four, it fears Shauntel's coverage moves (Thunderbolt, Grass Knot, Energy Ball), while it doesn't mind Grimsley at all. You can use the move rememberer in Driftveil to get Megahorn and utterly destroy Grimsley and Caitlin. As with the other two starters, it's brute force against Marshal. For Iris, it only fears Hydreigon's initially weak Charge Beam, and Lapras' Thunderbolt. Everything else can be downed by Surf or Ice Beam (found in the Giant Chasm), although you may need to administer healing items to prepare for Archeops and Haxorus and their strong attacks.

From the move tutors, Samurott only cares about Superpower, but it's mostly superflous coverage with Surf and Ice Beam/Blizzard. For TMs, you guessed it, it really only needs Ice Beam/Blizzard. Samurott is very self sufficent and generally requires few resources.

Seeing all these mentions of Ice-type attacks, you might be wondering how this family does without the crucial ice type attack. The answer is simple: It still performs pretty good. It would only need the Ice-type attack for Burgh's Swadloon (Leavanny would outspeed), and Skyla's Unfezant. Late game is when it really wants the Ice-type moves, and that's when you get them. In fact, Drayden is the first battle where it really needs Blizzard, and it's in the PokeMart. Megahorn from the move rememberer is the third attack Samurott wants, and Heart Scales are really common and don't require a lot of time to get (there are at least 2 in Undella Town, and they're on the main beach). With those two moves and Surf, Samurott is ready to steal the show (as long as it has support for Marlon). Oshawott and his family never stop slowing down, and they have very few flaws. The only problem it really has is a shaky midgame due to Burgh and Elesa, and Marlon will be problematic as well. Beyond that, Oshawott is a solid choice and lives up to people's expectations from Mudkip and Squirtle.

9/10 - Very few flaws. Loses a point for the iffy midgame.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Piss Sick Lawyer Lucina

[Bluedoom]

I support them ratings

[Dandragon]

if the only other fire type is friggin darmanitan, im still choosing tepig

[Samias]

Oshawott has some midgame speed issues but he is the strongest water type for a long time. I mostly agree with the rating because water coverage is so good. Oshawott does get hard blocked by Frillish though.

Notables:

Magnemite. Amazing early game, decent mid game. Definitely a beast until Elesa, where poor coverage becomes an issue against grass and ground types in abundance. Sturdy isn't really as helpful for the player as it is for wild and trainer Mons, sadly. Wouldn't recommend magnet pull since enemy switch outs are rare.

Growlithe. His move pool is a lot more full than ever before with lots of natural coverage. He also learns most moves sooner. A great pick for Burgh, but good to keep around for the long run. You get a fire stone early in the game if you use your Dowsing Machine liberally. Not AMAZING, since there aren't as many grass types as you'd expect, but he really shines between Driftveil and Mistralton.

Riolu. Learns elemental punches from the red shard tutor but I am not really finding him great either. Maybe mine has poor IVs but his level up moves leave a lot to be desired. Even with eviolite his durability is a little suspect before he evolves. He picks up as Lucario after the midgame with a large number of coverage moves.

Zebstrika. Catch it for the Mistralton gym to replace any fighting-weak members of the party. Teach it volt switch and have fun between it and Magnezone. Better than expected compared to how I felt about Blitzle. Long-term viability is unclear, but I know its durability is not really good so I'll give it 6.5/10 for being a failsafe against Skyla and probably good against Marlon too.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Samias

[Ema Skye]

I don't mean to sound rude, but if you're going to post ratings, can you post them in a topic of your own, please?. Anyways, have some early Pokemon.

Patrat/Watchog

Typical early rodant #5. Only this time, Watchog tries to differ from the norm.

How does it do so? Watchog's level up moves consist of lots of supporting moves, including Hypnosis (Lv.18) and Confuse Ray (Lv.20), even Super Fang (Lv.22). Watchog gets some quality moves early, notably Crunch (LV16!) and the aformentioned Super Fang.

But like the other early rodants, Watchog lacks solid stats. Nothing is over 85, meaning that while Watchog evolves early (Lv.20 is awesome for a two Poke family in this game), it's going to get replaced once your other Pokemon catch up to it. Once you get to Lentimas Town, Watchog turns into a bit of a liability when its stats catch up to it. Fortunately, it still has moves like Super Fang and Hypnosis to try to pull it's weight, but it's generally not worth the spot. It's sort of like FE11's Jeigan or FE12's Arran. It's pretty good early game when you have nothing better, but you'll need to take some creative liberties to make it useful in the late game.

As a normal type, Watchog gets lots of moves. It's mostly locked to special moves through TMs, although it can pick up an elemental punch from Driftveil. Seed Bomb and Gunk Shot round out the move tutor list, and are kinda nifty, albeit unrealistic due to high Shard amounts (and it's ill advised to spend shards on a utility Pokemon).

Due to higher evolution levels in this game, at least the Unova Pokemon, Watchog's early evolution does let it function as a crutch. But as your other Pokemon evolve, they'll eventually outshine Watchog's mediocrity.

5/10 - Solid crutch, but terrible lategame

Purrloin/Liepard

And here I thought it was hard to be worse than Mightyena.

Oh my, where to start? As cool as Purrloin looks, it's evolution family really sucks. While type wise it only fears Burgh and Marshal, it's terrible set of level up moves (Lv.34's Slash is the first move you'll get via level up that has more than 50BP) and stats (but in terms of offensive stats, it's better than Serperior's), it's just hard for Liepard to do anything in the late game.

Looking at Liepard's level up moveset, it's plain to see that it will be relying on TMs and move tutors for it's offense. And even then, Shadow Ball is the only one worth considering, although Snarl can be used too for midgame. It'll get Dark Pulse (YES), Seed Bomb and Gunk Shot, but all three cost a lot of shards and only come towards the late game (Lentimas Town, when Liepard starts to really falter). You could probably pull something up with Dark Pulse/Shadow Ball/Gunk Shot/Seed Bomb if you don't care about time, but that's not happening.

Due to it's lack of suporting moves, Liepard has pretty much no late game use. Watchog could put something to sleep or cut HP in half, but Liepard has nothing. While it's stats may make it a better offensive crutch than Watchog, it's lacking the powerful moves that Watchog gets (Lv.16 Crunch, whereas Liepard NEVER gets it).

2/10 - Just really meh, and has no way of staying afloat among the lategame's titans.

Pidove/Tranquil/Unfezant

In BW1, Pidove's family got a lot of hate for having lots of special moves, but bad special attack. ...that hasn't changed a bit.

For starters, Pidove's stats are depressing to say the least. What's even worse is that Gust runs off of Pidove's lame base 36 Sp.Attack. 55 Attack is nice, until you realize it only powers up it's Normal-type moves (which is just Quick Attack, Facade and Return). What's cool is that it does get Heat Wave to get past Steels, but that's also a special move. When your physical movepool is FLY and RETURN, you've got problems worse than Flareon.

As for gym performance, Pidove's only really needed for Burgh. It can try against Clay, but it's not making it through Excadrill. Same with Skyla and Skarmory. It's too frail to function well against Drayden and Marlon though. Fast forward to the Elite Four, it's really not good against any of them, even Marshal due to his Rock-type attacks.

There's really not a whole lot to save about Pidove. It's movepool is about as tiny as it is, and it's stats further hinder its potential (swapped Attack and Special Attack would've done SO much for it). Heat Wave and Uproar are the only good moves from the tutors, but they're both special so they're pointless.

4/10 - Got hit by the Flareon curse of a movepool that doesn't work for the stats.

Sunkern/Sunflora

Sunkern here happens to be the statistically weakest Pokemon in existance. It's Japanese name is also Himanuts, which basically "I'm nuts", which you are for using it.

Sunkern's really glad that BW2 totally revamped it's movepool, because it loves getting Giga Drain at Lv.22 now (before Roselia and Petilil get it). It's about at this point where you'll get the first Sun Stone, which can be used on Sunkern instantly without any opprotunity cost (Sunflora and Sunkern have the same movepool, unlike other Stone evos like Petilil and Starmie). Sunflora is a definite improvement over Sunkern, but it's still as slow as Snorlax. It's movepool is forever lame though, consisting of just Giga Drain (although Earth Power is cool if you can get the shards for it). This narrow movepool means it has no chance of being helpful in battles that resist Grass (which are: Roxie, Burgh, Skyla and Drayden), and even then it wants to avoid Elesa due to Zebstrika and Emolga.

Yeah, this review is pretty short. But there's really not much else to say about Sunkern and Sunflora. They lack the diversity of Roserade and Leavanny, while also majorly lacking in the speed department.

1/10 - Way too much of a hinderance than a help. Incredibly hard to use to boot. It's the only Grass-type not getting walled by Steels though.

Sewaddle/Swadloon/Leavanny

WOAH GUYS IT'S ACTUALLY SOMETHING GOOD!

Throw everything you know about early bug types out the Window, because Sewaddle is of a different breed than Caterpie/Weedle/Ledyba/Spinarak/Wurmple/Burmy. Sewaddle gets good moves FAST. Bug Bite at Lv.8! and Razor Leaf at Lv.15! It gets it's two best stab moves before it even evolves! Upon evolution, Swadloon turns out to be a BETTER crutch than Watchog and Liepard due to better defenses than both of them, as well as better offensive moves than both of them (Watchog's Crunch is good, but Swadloon gets STAB on Razor Leaf to close the gap). But Swadloon's not done yet. Enter Leavanny, one of the best Grass-type Pokemon in Unova. Unlike Roserade and Lilligant, it's main competitors, it's got a focus on attack (heck, it even can pick up Swords Dance before the Elite Four). Happiness evolutions can happen at any time, but it's probably happening somewhere between Castelia and Driftveil.

If you get the evolution in time for Burgh, Leavanny can do excellent against both Swadloon and Dwebble, but it should leave LEavanny to someone else. It again shows it's worth against Clay's first two Pokemon, and it can handle Excadrill if sufficently levelled (it will get nuked by Rock Slide though). It's avoiding Skyla, and doesn't actually do too bad against Drayden due to a lack of fire-type moves (Flygon's Rock Slide hurts though). As for Marlon, it's in good shape as long as it avoids Scald burns. For the elite four, it's excellent for both Caitlin and Grimsley, although it does struggle against Shauntel and Marshal due to their coverage attacks (although the Shadow Claw TM helps a lot for Shauntel). Lots of Iris' team resists Bug and Grass so it's not doing much in that fight either.

Leavanny's movepool is solid, about as good as Roserade's, although it really wishes it got some form of Fighting-type attack. Sewaddle's Bug Bite and Razor Leaf will be enough to carry Leavanny though the game, although it appreciates the aforementioned Shadow Claw and Swords Dance. X-Scissor and Leaf Blade both come through level ups in the 30s, giving it even better offense. To sum it up, Leavanny is a solid Pokemon and is totally worth using. It pays off in spades.

8.5/10 - A bit of a shakey midgame stops it from being perfect, as does the uncertainty of a happiness evolution.

[Jedi]

Nice and in-depth Lucina, I like these and I will keep this thread in mind when I get Black 2.

Watchog is surprisingly good for the early game still I see, due to those trolling moves it learns, nice lol

[Samias]

Sorry, with a quick rundown of the topic I'd assumed it was a more general thread, but I'll refrain from rating anything further.

Agreed on the ratings you gave, though I'm having a mental debate if Pidove is even worth a 4. It gets Return early but yeah... that movepool is dire. I guess rated in a vacuum you could do worse than flying STAB.

[Ema Skye]

Well Fly is kinda nice when you want to go back and reteach moves in Driftveil and Lentimas. This is a vacuum scenario though (otherwise nothing but Magnemite would hold any weight for the first half of the game).

Lillipup/Herdier/Stoutland

WE GOT OURSELVES A STREAK OF GOOD POKEMON HERE

In BW1, Lillipup was one of the best Pokemon for in-game, because it never really slowed down. It evolves so early (Lv.16 for Herdier is BEFORE the starters and Watchog), and it's actually competant for it's whole existance. It kinda lost some stream towards the end of the game when the levels and stats got too high and Stoutland's kinda became just average. Well in BW2, the introduction of Magnemite and a higher level curve both stop Stoutland from reclaiming it's throne, but it would be a mistake to think it fell far.

Looking at Lilipup's stats, it's easy to see that it doesn't lose steam. While it doesn't get Bite or Crunch as early as Watchog does (but still early), it's still very potent with them. 60 Atk/55 Spe is the most offensively inclined stat spread we've seen yet on a tier 1 Pokemon. It's comparable to Watchog on evolution, and it comes close to Liepard's attack (although it's speed is far away). During it's time as a Herdier, it will pick up Crunch, negating any offensive advantage Watchog had over it. Evolution into Stoutland at Lv.32 (again, before the starters) greatly improves it's stats, giving it all around solid offense (100 Atk/80 Spe), and even solid 85/90/90 defenses, which are even better with Intimidate. Most importantly, it picks up Superpower in Lentimas Town, giving it an option to get past Steel-types that walled it in BW1. From here on out, it's mostly the same old song and dance as it was in BW1. It'll still lose it's speed at around Victory Road, but a solid stat spread still makes it viable there and beyond.

As a normal-type, you can expect abolsute neutrality to all the gyms. It's never a help, but it's never a burden. It's just good in all of them. Same for the Elite Four, although Marshal will be painful.

Superpower/Crunch/Return are really the only moves it needs to get through the game, and they take him VERY far. Like Leavanny and Samurott, it's very self sufficent and requires hardly any resources. Heck, if you don't have the Shards, it can take Fire Fang from the move rememberer and get similar results.

9.5/10 - Will carry you through the game, but is never a liability

Mareep/Flaaffy/Ampharos

THE STREAK CONTINUES!

Mareep's family varies from your typical electric-type in that they're slow, although it makes it up for being rather bulky. Mareep's family evolves at about the same time as Stoutland's family does. It's movepool stays fairly tiny, even with move tutors (Outrage would've been cool if it was a special attack). Fortunately, Electric is a solid offensive type for the late game, although Ampharos will have to fall back to Power Gem for Drayden. It has a blast against both Skyla and Marlon though, and it's the fact that it's a special attacker lets it do pretty well against Roxie.

Like I said above, Mareep's movepool is tiny. It really wishes Focus Blast wasn't postgame (well, that and Focus Blast not sucking). Like with the two above it, Ampharos is self sufficent. It's lack of speed and diversity really do inhibit it at times though. It's a solid Pokemon. While it won't carry you through the game like Magnezone or Stoutland, it is a reliable Pokemon.

For TMs and Move Tutors, Focus Blast is the only worthwhile TM on it's list and it's postgame. Signal Beam is kinda cool, and it costs nothing due to the generosity of Nimbasa's OLD MEN. Everything else it gets is physical.

7/10 - Really wants more speed and something besides Thunderbolt and Power Gem for its Special Attack

Psyduck/Golduck

WOAH THIS FARM REALLY CONTAINS GOOD POKEMON!

Psyduck tries to be a mixed Water-type, having good, but not great, stats around the board, with a small emphasis on special attack. It's start is a bit bad though, relying on Scratch until Lv.8's Water Gun. But things improve after that and it gets Confusion at Lv.15, making it awesome for taking on Roxie. Then we don't see it again until Clay where it's picked up Water Pulse. It's a great option for this fight. It will evolve en route to Skyla, although you'll want to teach it Ice Punch before you depart for Driftveil. Ice Punch really helps it out for both Skyla and Drayden, for obvious reasons. Celestial Tower contains Shadow Claw, which gives it something to do vs Marlon, although it does hurt Jellicent reasonably well. Surf, Shadow Claw, Psychic and Ice Beam leave it set for the final 5 battles of the game, and they are all TM moves.

Golduck continues this streak of being a self reliant Pokemon, and while it isn't that interesting, it's very good. Water-types synergize well in game, needing little support from other teammates, although midgame isn't too kind to them. Golduck is much better than I think people give it credit for, and competes with Samurott for best Water-type in the game. It's also one of the last ones you'll see for a while, so you pretty much have no reason to avoid it if you didn't start with Oshawott. It will carry you through the game from the moment you get it, needing support for only Burgh's Grass-types and all of Nimbasa.

8.5/10 - Underrated, but amazing

Azurill/Marill/Azumarill

K, streak over

Azurill's start is PATHETIC! It's best move at base is BUBBLE! It may get Huge Power, but Lv.20's Slam is the FIRST move it gets that is a physical attack (and hopefully it evolves by then). Evolve it into Marill ASAP, hopefully before Lv.20. At Lv.20 Marill picks up Aqua Tail, which is a BIG help for it, as it is boosted by both STAB and Huge Power. Evolution into Azumarill will probably happen. From here on out, it's basically the same as Golduck once it picks up the Ice Punch and Superpower tutors, although Superpower isn't guaranteed as soon as you get access to it due to high shard cost. Gamefreak was kind though and gave Azumarill Superpower via levelup, making sure it will pretty much always get it before the Elite Four. Once it gets Ice Punch it's basically Golduck Jr for it's existance, doing the same things as Golduck, albeit slower. Superpower does let it have a better finish though, but it's not enough to make up for the terrible start as an Azurill.

Once you get past the Azurill stage, Azumarill is a solid Pokemon. If the Azurill stage really turns you off, you can wait until Route 11 and catch a Lv.36 Marill that will both learn Superpower and evolve after one level. Although you will miss out on the Skyla battle by waiting this long.

6/10 - Both weaker (Huge Power's benefits won't kick in until late game) and slower than Golduck with a terrible start.

Riolu/Lucario

Resume the streak! Kinda...

Riolu is an interesting case. It's a Fighting-type, but it's the only one around for the Normal gym. However, due to BW2 changing it's movepool, Force Palm is now out of reach for this gym (Lv.15 as opposed to Lv.11). So for that fight, it's basically just another Pokemon. Then it goes through a slum known as the rest of the game where everyone puts on their anti-fighting Pokemon hats. Roxie, Burgh, Elesa and Skyla all have ways around Riolu, leaving it helpless against all of them, and it's too slow to help out against Clay's Krookorok and Excadrill. But Riolu does have an ace up its sleeve: Lucario.

The big problem with Lucario is when does one evolve it? First of all, don't bother stalling and having one for Roxie, because Lucario will lack the moves to do sufficent damage. Sometime between Burgh and Clay is a good time to evolve it, as long as you get a Lucario before Skyla. Lucario's Steel-type is a blessing for it in the late game, letting it handle both Skyla and Drayden with ease and Ice Punch. Both Force Palm (good luck getting Aura Sphere and Close Combat for Marlon) and Dark Pulse (use move rememberer) help against Marlon, and the Steel-type lets it walk all over Grimsley, Shauntel and Caitlin. Unfortunately, four of Iris' 6 Pokemon have ways around Lucario, so it's not helping out a lot here unless it outspeeds stuff.

Riolu's start is kinda bad. You've got to wait for half of the game to be over before it really shows it's full potential. But Lucario is a very capable Pokemon, and is very helpful when you first get it.

7.5/10 - Solid choice with a solid late game

Venipede/Whirlipede/Scolipede

So you've got this bug type called Sewaddle. Then you see this other bug named Venipede. Having seen Sewaddle, you're hoping Venipede is as good as Sewaddle. Spoilers: It isn't.

It starts bad, with only Rollout and Poison Sting. While Venoshock runs off of it's low special attack, Venoshock is Venipede's most powerful move for a while. Poison Tail awaits it at Lv.19, and if your Venipede has Swarm, Poison Tail is worth it. At Lv.22 it'll pick up Bug Bite and evolve into Whirlipede. Outside of Venoshock, Whirlipede gets nothing worthwhile, so just sit with it until Lv.30 when it evolves. Evolution sees a nice boost to both speed and the attack stat. While it continues to get nothing through levels, TMs and move tutors give it lots of options including: Rock Slide, Aqua Tail, X-Scizzor and Superpower, but Megahorn through move relearner takes the cake. It's at this point where it becomes pretty comparable to Leavanny, although the Poison-typing does change gym performances. It fears Clay moreso than Leavanny, and it also lacks solid offense for Marlon.

Venipede's family is very resource-dependant for pretty much it's entire life. You will find yourself using lots of TMs on it (good thing they are infinite use), and Shards to take it to it's full potential.

5/10 - Has no independance, and in the end is only average.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Piss Sick Lawyer Lucina

[Shadow Mir]

Hmmm... Good work thus far. BTW, I personally preferred Oshawott in BW1 because of the lack of good waters that you could get in-game (Frillish was the best non-starter water, but came late and underleveled). I wonder if that's the case again... Though I guess not.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Golden Cucco

[Don Draper]

.

Edited July 5, 2020 by Don Draper

[Bluedoom]

I disagree with the Lilipup rating, eh. Its Crunch doesn't take it that far, and normal type is crap against steel or rock. Superpower is nice and all but don't you get that late?

Also I've tried using Psyduck and I never really got it to learn confusion by Roxie's gym, then again I was using a team of 3 at that point. Its decent I guess but training it to lvl 33 is a loong time. And its not as defensive/offensive a Scraggy.

Azurill is probably BS IMO, because that phase of Azurill really makes you wanna pull your hair out. Might be just me.

[Shadow Mir]

Riolu's closer to an 8-8.5 going by your rating scale.

First of all, Riolu actually does quite well against Cheren. He uses exclusively physical moves, so Counter is an easy way to take it down. He'll generally use Work Up first though, so keep that in mind when choosing whether to Counter or Quick Attack/Heal.

Second of all, Riolu is evolving around the sewers without any sort of favoritism whatsoever. He already starts with a base happiness of 70 and it grows relatively quickly just from making your way through the game. Level 17-18 is the average.

He has tremendous movepool versatility. Dig or Bone Rush for Elesa's gym. Ice Punch (using the 10 free Red shards from Nimbasa) for Clay, Skyla and Drayden's gym. He also has Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, Iron Tail, Rock Slide and Return as viable movepool options as well.

Then there's Swords Dance which is an excellent set-up move. I did some calculations, and he flat out sweeps Drayden with Swords Dance+Ice Punch. Same could be said for most of the Elite 4 (Swords Dance+Shadow Claw, etc).

So in conclusion, I'd say the only things holding him back are a somewhat sketchy start (although Counter spam is generally effective, it's a bit chance based as well) and not getting a better Fighting STAB than Force Palm until lategame. At least he gets Iron Tail from the move tutor for a 100 BP STAB though.

8.5/10 is where I'd rank it.

Hmmm... Having your strongest STAB have a lousy 75 accuracy sounds like it's pushing it. But that's just me. I'll see what Lucina thinks.

[Don Draper]

.

Edited July 5, 2020 by Don Draper

[Samias]

Lucario picks up in the late game but Riolu just fails to do much of anything until level 15, seeing as Lillipup is more durable and hits harder at that point in the game. And then Lucario is not particularly good at any of the gyms except against Elesa (except vs Emolga), Skyla and Drayden if you picked up ice punch. He doesn't like Clay's gym unless he can OHKO, because of his ground weakness. Riolu just isn't on, say, Sewaddle's level for a long time.

Lillipup's rating is fine as an efficiency rating. Learns wide coverage with few resources, a good BST spread, gets Return at the beginning of the game, and good abilities. He is like the Starly of this game, maybe there are better options out there but Lillipup sustains himself all game long.

Azurill's rating is just about right too. Azurill is just not good in an environment where everything knocks it out fast and its not getting type advantages with water moves yet. By the time you can catch Marill, you've already missed some of its best game had you stuck with evolving Azurill. Either way, its not really doing that well over Psyduck/Golduck.

[Don Draper]

.

Edited July 5, 2020 by Don Draper

[Karasz]

Sewaddle/Swadloon/Leavanny

WOAH GUYS IT'S ACTUALLY SOMETHING GOOD!

Throw everything you know about early bug types out the Window, because Sewaddle is of a different breed than Caterpie/Weedle/Ledyba/Spinarak/Wurmple/Burmy. Sewaddle gets good moves FAST. Bug Bite at Lv.8! and Razor Leaf at Lv.15! It gets it's two best stab moves before it even evolves! Upon evolution, Swadloon turns out to be a BETTER crutch than Watchog and Liepard due to better defenses than both of them, as well as better offensive moves than both of them (Watchog's Crunch is good, but Swadloon gets STAB on Razor Leaf to close the gap). But Swadloon's not done yet. Enter Leavanny, one of the best Grass-type Pokemon in Unova. Unlike Roserade and Lilligant, it's main competitors, it's got a focus on attack (heck, it even can pick up Swords Dance before the Elite Four). Happiness evolutions can happen at any time, but it's probably happening somewhere between Castelia and Driftveil.

If you get the evolution in time for Burgh, Leavanny can do excellent against both Swadloon and Dwebble, but it should leave LEavanny to someone else. It again shows it's worth against Clay's first two Pokemon, and it can handle Excadrill if sufficently levelled (it will get nuked by Rock Slide though). It's avoiding Skyla, and doesn't actually do too bad against Drayden due to a lack of fire-type moves (Flygon's Rock Slide hurts though). As for Marlon, it's in good shape as long as it avoids Scald burns. For the elite four, it's excellent for both Caitlin and Grimsley, although it does struggle against Shauntel and Marshal due to their coverage attacks (although the Shadow Claw TM helps a lot for Shauntel). Lots of Iris' team resists Bug and Grass so it's not doing much in that fight either.

Leavanny's movepool is solid, about as good as Roserade's, although it really wishes it got some form of Fighting-type attack. Sewaddle's Bug Bite and Razor Leaf will be enough to carry Leavanny though the game, although it appreciates the aforementioned Shadow Claw and Swords Dance. X-Scissor and Leaf Blade both come through level ups in the 30s, giving it even better offense. To sum it up, Leavanny is a solid Pokemon and is totally worth using. It pays off in spades.

8.5/10 - A bit of a shakey midgame stops it from being perfect, as does the uncertainty of a happiness evolution.

Completely agree, Leavanny is amazing. It'll definitely carry you far in this game.

Riolu/Lucario

Resume the streak! Kinda...

Riolu is an interesting case. It's a Fighting-type, but it's the only one around for the Normal gym. However, due to BW2 changing it's movepool, Force Palm is now out of reach for this gym (Lv.15 as opposed to Lv.11). So for that fight, it's basically just another Pokemon. Then it goes through a slum known as the rest of the game where everyone puts on their anti-fighting Pokemon hats. Roxie, Burgh, Elesa and Skyla all have ways around Riolu, leaving it helpless against all of them, and it's too slow to help out against Clay's Krookorok and Excadrill. But Riolu does have an ace up its sleeve: Lucario.

The big problem with Lucario is when does one evolve it? First of all, don't bother stalling and having one for Roxie, because Lucario will lack the moves to do sufficent damage. Sometime between Burgh and Clay is a good time to evolve it, as long as you get a Lucario before Skyla. Lucario's Steel-type is a blessing for it in the late game, letting it handle both Skyla and Drayden with ease and Ice Punch. Both Force Palm (good luck getting Aura Sphere and Close Combat for Marlon) and Dark Pulse (use move rememberer) help against Marlon, and the Steel-type lets it walk all over Grimsley, Shauntel and Caitlin. Unfortunately, four of Iris' 6 Pokemon have ways around Lucario, so it's not helping out a lot here unless it outspeeds stuff.

Riolu's start is kinda bad. You've got to wait for half of the game to be over before it really shows it's full potential. But Lucario is a very capable Pokemon, and is very helpful when you first get it.

7.5/10 - Solid choice with a solid late game

I think Riolu's rating could be higher here. I only say this because it fills a niche of having very little access to Ice and Dragon-type Pokemon during the game.

Sure, Cubchoo can be found on Route 6 again, but only if it's Winter. Other Ice Types can't be found until you hit Twist Mountain, only accessible once the game is over, or Undella Bay/Route 13, in which the only way you can find Spheal is during the Winter seasons. Seel and Dewgong are accessible through training at Seaside Cave, which comes relatively soon after you beat Skyla, but Dewgong's stats aren't THE BEST in the world, having only 70 base Attack and Special Attack, with 80 base Defense and 90 base Special Defense; stats like that can't really help you against Drayden or Iris. Lucario can fill the niche by learning Ice Punch from the Driftveil City Move Tutor and help to take out Clay, Skyla, Drayden, and Iris rather easily (though if you REALLY want to cripple Skyla, go with Thunderpunch).

As far as Dragon Types go, you could always go out of your way to catch an Axew in Mistralton Cave, but by that time, the player would have either taken the time to catch a Trapinch in Desert Resort and evolve it into a Vibrava, or just skip it entirely. You can always catch Trapinch or Vibrava at Reversal Mountain before hitting the Opelucid Gym, but by THAT time, you'd have plenty of better Pokemon on your team already. And not only that, Lucario has access to both Dual Chop from the Driftveil City Move Tutor and Dragon Pulse from the Lentimas Town Move Tutor (whichever one you pick depends on how you raise your Lucario's Attack and Special Attack stats), meaning Drayden and Iris will be no problem for you at that point.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Karaszure

[Ema Skye]

Audino

ITS THE EXP GOLD MINE!

So Audino here is your typical normal type much like Clefairy, Jigglypuff and Chansey. It learns a lot of moves, and while it isn't as specialized as Stoutland, it's capable of going mixed with the Work Up TM. It is lacking in quality moves until Driftveil tutors though, where it picks up Signal Beam and the Elemental Punches, and it should have max power Return by then. Shortly afterwards, it can pick up Surf. It picks up Charge Beam in Lentimas Town, and while it isn't Thunderbolt, it's still solid. Lacunosa Town gives it Fire Blast, Blizzard and Thunder, and it picks up Ice Beam, Thunderbolt and Flamethrower en route to the Elite Four.

Due to it's Normal-typing, Audino is relying on coverage moves to get solid performances against the key fights. And because it's coverage doesn't come until the 5th Gym, it's a bit deadweight until then. Not to mention 60/60/50 offenses are rather bad. It has no way of fixing its bad speed either.

4.5/10 - Pretty useless for half the game, and then its stats hold it back late game.

Dunsparce

There be other things in the grass.

Dunsparce's stat spread is pretty similar to Audino. It's a bit better at offense due to 70/65/45 speed. It's a smidge slower than Audino though. Unlike Audino, it also lacks the elemental punches. However, it does pick up Rock Tomb and Bulldoze, with Rock Tomb being somewhat useful against Skyla. Roost gives it some longevity, although Coil is rather useless since it has Work Up. Rock Slide and Drill Run give it solid two move coverage that hits a lot for neutral damage. Rock Tomb (Relic Castle) and Dig (Route 4) are of some use against Elesa (although they won't help too much due to Volt Switch and low speed), and it can pick up Drill Run to attempt defeating Clay's Excadrill. Rock Slide from Mistraltron Cave is a bit out of the way, but a certain improvement on Rock Tomb that comes in time for Skyla. Then it can take Blizzard and do work on Drayden, but it's not taking as many hits as Audino. Same applies with Thunder vs Marlon.

So Dunsparce is basically just like Audino. Without coverage it's useless. So it's rating is dependant on when it gets said coverage. Which it gets at basically the same time Audino does (Drill Run comes at the same time as the elemental punches). It even improves at the same rate as Audino, with the snake getting Rock Slide a little bit before the nurse gets Shadow Ball. Audino can get more coverage than Dunsparce through through Driftveil.

Dunsparce's stats are all around lower than Audino's, with the only advantages being small boosts to offense (+10 Atk, +5 SAtk).

4/10 - Shares the same uselessness as Audino, but improves at about the same time as Audino does. Lower stats give it a lower score.

Magby/Magmar/Magmortar

The first B2 exclusive. You W2ers get Elekid instead.

Fire-types aren't really needed in Unova outside of Burgh's gym. Magby comes at the same time Growlithe does (Virbank Complex), and it posesses BETTER stats than Growlithe. However, Magby also lacks coverage that Growlithe does (Magby's Fire/Poison is very redundant, whereas Growlithe's Fire/Dark is pretty good). It's a solid choice for Burgh, especially considering Darumaka misses Burgh now. Evolution into Magmar comes at around Nimbasa or Driftveil, and all Magmar does improve stats. The Driftveil tutor gives it Thunderpunch, letting it do excellent against Skyla (Swanna will probably outspeed, but you'll be able to roast Skarmory). It's a good thing Magmar's stats are solid, because you aren't seeing the Magmarizer until right before Victory Road. This evolution gives a solid boost to stats (almost as high as Arcanine's), while giving it coverage in the form of Thunderbolt, Rock Slide (although it is redundant) and Earthquake. Psychic lets it perform well against Marshall. Shauntel is hit or miss, and it has no way to break through Caitlin and Grimsley other than brute force.

While it does lack Ice Punch, it can pick up Dual Chop comes in Driftveil and gives it something to do against Drayden as a Magmar. It'll still be outsped by Flygon and Haxorus though. Even though it has Thunderpunch, it isn't helping against Marlon.

Magby really doesn't dissapoint. It's pretty solid from the beginning. Even after Burgh, Thunderpunch and Dual Chop still let it hold it's weight when it's Fire-type normally wouldn't.

Can't Trade: Not a problem with Magmar, considering it's only evolving so late. You do miss out on coverage in the form of Thunderbolt and Rock Slide, but considering how little either of those moves matters, it's not worth a change in score.

7.5/10 - Solid Pokemon. A very late evolution stops it from being perfect, although Magmar can handle itself until then.

Growlithe/Arcanine

It's the other Fire-type from Virbank.

As touched on in the Magby review, Growlithe has lower stat total than Magby. However, it still matches it in Special Attack, and is a bit bulkier, especially with Intimidate. It gets some solid moves as it evolves, including Flamethrower (it gets it 15 levels before Magmar does). It's early game is basically the same as Magby's, hitting Burgh hard and using some creativity against Elesa. However, a Fire Stone is found in the Desert Resort, and we all know what that does to Growlithe: It causes it to evolve.

The biggiest problem with the Fire Stone is when to use it. Arcanine gets ExtremeSpeed at Lv.34. This is generally a good time to evolve it, as Growlithe also learns Flamethrower at the same level. As for Fire Stone competition, it's only competing with Flareon and Simisear for it, both of which suck. Missing out on Crunch and Outrage is unfortunate, but getting Dragon Pulse in Lentimas Town can make up for it. You can use the move rememberer to get it Thunder Fang for Skyla. Arcanine's statspread is nothing short of amazing. 110 Atk/100 SAtk/95 Spe is incredible, and 90/80/80 defenses at the same time are also great (especially with Intimidate). Victory Road sees it getting Wild Charge, although it's rather unecessary at this point. It's a bit worse against the Elite Four than Magmortar is due to a lack of solid coverage, but it's still potent enough to power through them.

In the end, Growlithe's family performs nearly identical to Magby's. Magmortar gets better coverage and stronger special attacks, while Arcanine evolves quicker and has better stats. Dragon Pulse is also much better for Drayden than Dual Chop is, although Dragon Pulse is more expensive.

7.5/10 - Basically the same as Magby in performance.

Koffing/Weezing

I miss my "D-O-G-A-R-S DOGARS!. ;_;

Koffing here is a very bulky Poison-type, at least on the physical side. It's got average offenses, although it is slow. With Sludge at Lv.18, it's a solid choice for Burgh, but not as good as Magby/Growlithe. As for Elesa, it's not bulky enough to tank Volt Switches, and it lacks a way of helping out here. It's really good against Clay due to solid physical bulk and LEVITATE. The problem is that it won't do much to any of them without Return (and even then, Excadrill exists). It's not too great against Skyla due to Swoobat's Psychic-type, Skarmory's Steel-type and Swanna's special moves. It's high bulk helps against Drayden, and it's not too great of a choice for Marlon due to low special defense. In the Elite Four, it really fears Caitlin, but doesn't mind Marshal at all. It'll do alright against Shauntel and Grimsley too, but mind Shauntel's special moves.

Dark Pulse is the only thing it gets from the tutors. It may help a little bit against Shauntel, but it's still not making Caitlin favorable.

It's too bad it's movepool is so small early on, because it would've been excellent against Clay if it could do solid damage to his team.

6/10 - Poison isn't really necessary in Unova, and it's all Koffing has.

Magnemite/Magneton/Magnezone

"Roxie stings hard. But then I got a Magnemite and I was okay" - Some NPC in Virbank.

Magnemite TEARS this game APART. It's a lot like NidoranM in that it's solid in pretty much every situation, excluding one gym battle (in this case, it's Clay). As a Steel-type, Roxie can do NOTHING to you outside of Pursuit and Tackle. You can use Sonicboom to plough through Burgh. For Elesa, you're only fearing Zebstrika. Once it's out of the way, you can Sonicboom through Emolga and Flaaffy. Avoid Clay at all costs. Use Volt Switch to beat Skyla. You wall Drayden's Haxorus, by far the biggest threat, and you've got Volt Switch for Marlon. In the Elite Four, watch out for Golurk, Krookorok and Marshal's team and you're in good shape. Iris has a lot of ways round Magnezone though, so it's not helping much outside of Lapras.

Nothing in Black OR White 2 tears the game apart like Magenmite can. It takes any challenge out of Roxie, Burgh, Skyla and Marlon, while also taking on two-thirds of Elesa's team without breaking a sweat. Nothing in Unova can claim to this. Volt Switch, Flash Cannon and Sonicboom for early on are really all you need to get it through the game. You can even get Signal Beam from Driftveil and Tri Attack from the reminder girl (as a Magneton) to give you even more options. It does peeter out towards the end when Earthquake gets common, but it's like FE9!Titania. She'll carry you through the game. Magnemite's family does this even better than Stoutland.

10/10 - You're on some solid crack if you aren't using this.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Piss Sick Lawyer Lucina

[Shadow Mir]

Where's the Thunderbolt TM, again?

Edit: Victory Road? Phooey...

Edited October 10, 2012 by Golden Cucco

[Breezy Kanzaki]

You get it after you beat Rival at Victory Road.

[RJWalker]

We've come a long way. Magnemite is top dog now.

[SgtSmilies]

I honestly think Lucario and Azumarill should be ranked higher, but that might just be bias.

[Ema Skye]

Lucario has a massive midgame rut from Roxie to Elesa, and it's not taking on Excadrill.

Azumarill's start is pathetic, and it's never going to outdamage Golduck until lategame.

Ratatta/Raticate

Woah guys, we get two early rodants in this game!

Ratatta here joins midgame in Castelia's Sewars. It's pretty easy to find. What's sad is that it's statistically inferior to Watchog while also lacking in the supportive moves that Patrat had. It does get the same moves that Watchog gets for offense though (Crunch, Super Fang, Hyper Fang). Like Audino and Dunsparce, it gets a lot on TMs, although mostly all of them come late in the game and are special. The move rememberer gets Swords Dance for Raticate, although Return, Dig and Crunch are all it has for it.

Because all of it's coverage comes later, Raticate is never a help for a gym. The TMs that come late really don't help Raticate out much as it gets close to its expiration date.

3/10 - Lacks the oomph of the other Pokemon you have around this time, making it difficult to use.

Zubat/Golbat/Crobat

Ugh, not this thing again! :<

In the other games, Zubat got a lot of hate for having a bad start. It was stuck with Astonish, Leach Life and Bite that really didn't help it get out of its rut. Now it's somewhat different. Wild Zubats can be found at Lv.14 to 17, and it gets Wing Attack at Lv.15. That gives it an excellent move to get through Burgh's Grass-types. By Nimbasa it'll evolve to Golbat, improving it's stats a fair bit, but still not tht impressive. It's not enough to make it useful for Elesa or Clay. For Skyla, it's not doing much either, especially considering the typings of Skarmory and Swoobat. Around this point you'll get a Crobat on your hands, which is a solid improvement over Golbat. However, it's still only taking a single attack from Drayden, and maybe two from Marlon. Not to mention it gets nothing to get x2 on Drayden. But it can get Giga Drain for Marlon.

Much like fellow poison type Koffing, expect relative neutrality from Zubat for gyms, outside of Burgh. In the long run, it's better than Koffing, but not by much. It's the best non-Fire type for Burgh though.

6.5/10

[Espinosa]

It's funny but on my run, Magnemite actually was my saviour for beating Excadrill. Seeded him with Roselia for a good start, and after that first turn its coverage let it OHKO everything on my team, so I kept switching between Magnemite and Sigilyph (one took Rock Slide, the other could switch into Bulldoze without a scratch) until Leech Seed ran it out of its health.

[Ema Skye]

Grimer/Muk

Its that other Gen1 Poison-type. >.<

What sucks most about Poison-types in this game is that the Gunk Shot tutor is your only way to get Physical Poison STAB on something. Which is really bad news bears for Grimer as it's got solid Attack, but poor Special Attack. This means that Return will be Muk's main form of physical power until Drifteveil. Which sucks. Hard. In Driftveil it hits the jackpot and picks up Gunk Shot and the elemental punches, which really help it out as both a Grimer and a Muk. This is...really all of Muk's offense for it's whole life.

It's stat spread makes it a bulky-ish Pokemon, so it can take a hit. 105 Attack is pretty sweet, and really makes Gunk Shot all the more potent.

Grimer is interesting to say the least. Like Audino and Dunsparce, it's useless until Driftveil in terms of offense. However, Grimer isn't really competant until it evolves, which is happening at about Undella Town, which is pretty late.

3.5/10 - Takes a long time to get good, but then it's only good. Not great. Too mcuh effort for too little reward.

Cottonee/Whimsicott

Black 2's Grass type. You'll get Petilil in White 2, although you can make a trade for a Petilill on Route 4 after you've beat Burgh.

Cottonee asks everyone who uses it "What is Offense?". Between 27 Atk/37 Offense and MONO Grass for offense (well, that and Return), Cottonee's offense is barely better than Sunkerns. Of course Prankster Shenanigans are cool, but are totally unnecessary in-game. You get a Sun Stone in Nimbasa, and you'd be crazy to not evolve it immediately.

Evolution to Whimsicott gives offense that is at least tolerable (67/77). Evolution also expands the movepool to include... Gust (and Hurricane at Lv.47). At least Shadow Ball and Psychic exist for coverage now.

Like pretty much every Grass-type, it goes through a midgame rut due to Burgh and Elesa. Things slightly improve after that for Clay, but then Skyla and Drayden exist. Unova isn't a good place to have mono-Grass coverage. Whimsicott will only help out against Clay and Marlon.

2.5/10 - Terrible coverage until lategame. Offenses are either garbage or below average for it's whole life.

Buneary/Lopunny

White 2 Players get Skitty. I think this is a better trade.

So Buneary is another one of those happiness evolutions. But this time, you've got to work from a base happiness of 0 to get the evolution. It's happening at around Driftveil at the earliest, which is unfortunate.

As a normal type, Buneary gets the privalege of a massive movepool. Like Stoutland, it's focused on the physical side. It can match Stoutland's coverage with the Elemental Punches and Jump Kick. Evolution to Lopunny doesn't change things beside stats. It's basically Stoutland if you swap Attack and Speed.

You've got it figured out by now that Buneary gets good at around Driftveil. That's when it's punches come in and it has a chance at evolving. At this point it's about as good as Stoutland, minus the bulk. It won't hit as hard, but it will outspeed more. Worthy trade off.

7/10 - Solid Pokemon once you get it's start fixed.

[Shadow Mir]

As for that IGT Petilil... What ability does it have?