Reviewing the Pokedex by generation

[Nep Nep]

Gen 5 has inspired me to try to understand what I hate about some of its worst designs and why I like its best ones. I'm gonna go through every single Pokemon here and give them a rating of 1-5 based partially on usefulness and LARGELY on aesthetic.

This is obviously subjective and I welcome other view points during this long journey. Won't be using gen 1 sprites because they're all bad. This is mostly for fun and I'm just trying to process my thoughts and try to get to the root of why I hate so much of some gens mons.

1-3 Bulba line

I like the colors, its cute when small, tough looking when fully evolved. Objectively the best starter to beat the game with to boot. It's hard to take issue with the design it's a frog with a flower that gets bigger. 5/5

4-6 Char Line

The color scheme again carries a theme of contrast, sharp orange contrasted by a vivid green. Cute when small, badass dragon when fully evolved. It may be overplayed today but it was definitely cool back then. The simple designs seem to be elevated by careful color choice. Maybe that's why most gen 1 mons are pretty cool. 5/5

7-9 Squirtle line

Blue and brown don't contrast as strong as the others but the other two starters don't have giant launchers sprouting from their back either. Squirtle was my very first choice. I realize now how useful Fire as a type is offensively now of course but still it's cute when small, really cool when fully evolved. Also the poses in most gens sprites are really good for Blastoise. 5/5

10-12 Caterpie line

So Caterpie shares similar contrasting colors to the Bulba line, furthermore the perfectly round eye on Cateripie is rather striking, I dig it. Butterfree has a really nice bold color scheme, probably one of the busier gen 1 designs too. Not too great for most of the game 4/5

13-15 Weedle Line

Alright I don't like Weedle, why does it have a clown nose? The unicorn horn is weird. I love Red and Yellow but McDonalds has ruined that color combo for the world. Kakuna is pretty badass, won't say that often for middle forms. Beedrill is pretty cool looking. Too bad it doesn't keep up in terms of power. 3.5/5

16-18 Pidgey-Pidgeot

This is the coolest this Pokemon would ever look as the Pink is a more interesting color than the bland persimmon of later generations. It's kind of just a bird. It's not very inspired. It's pretty boring. Its stat distribution is equally boring. Gen 1 soon learned that balanced stats made for largely dull Pokemon that excelled at nothing, and often did everything pretty average. 2/5

19-20
Rat Line

It's a rat. A purple rat and then a regular rat. Super dull design. Not to shabby in game though cause of super and hyper fang. It's not ugly, just boring. This is a prevalent problem with gen 1, there are few ugly Pokemon but there's plenty of boring ones. 2/5

21-22
Spearow line

A slightly more interesting bird, sharper. Fearow has this mad chicken head with this stabby beak and an imposing size. Too bad its stats don't match. Neither too boring nor ugly but not that nice either. 3/5

23-24
Ekans Line

Besides being purple Ekans isn't that aesthetically pleasing, Arbok on the other hand with the red contrast is pretty cool looking, very imposing too. Again stat wise it's pretty sad though. It's a huge problem with Pokemon in general when cool designs just aren't useable. Totally useless typing for 5 gens too yikes. 1.5/5

25-26
Pika Line

So we reach our Mascot, the first example where the first form has the more striking colors. It has to be cute so I won't say it's not. Raich isn't boring, it's pretty cool in its own right. Can't take a hit of any kind though and isn't too powerful either.
3.5/5

27-28
Sand Line

Same thing as Pikachu really, bold color scheme to a muted one. It does look kinda tough so that's nice. It's not ugly, it's not super exciting, and it's not that boring either.
3/5

29-34
Nidoran line

This and the male counterpart are two favorites from the Kanto lot. They both look really cool design wise. They both project power and look vicious, especially Nidoking, let's not forget the pretty sweet movepool and useable stats, particularly on Nidoking.
I think it's hard to bash this design.
5/5

35-36
Clefairy Line

The original mascot, it's... weird. It's an alien. It's hard to judge the design in any objective sense cause it's not really an animal exactly, it's a moon fairy.
I don't like it aesthetically very much. It's decent in battle.
2.5/5

37-38
Vulpix Line

There aren't a lot of Fire types as a whole much less per generation. Thankfully 90% of them have very attractive designs. While the coloring is simple the cute design of Vulpix and graceful, elegant design of Ninetales makes it stand out. Decently useable stats too.
5/5

39-40
Jigglypuff Line

Ah yes the OTHER pink Normal type. It's slightly cuter I guess. Green eyes offer a better contrast, blue in gen 2 which imo looks even better but alas. It's less useful than Clefable. It's a cat balloon then a bunny balloon with terrifyingly large eyes.
2.5/5

41-42
Zubat Line

Golbat has one of the most terrifying and imo coolest sprites in Pokemon Red/Blue bit it gets significantly more boring through the generations. Not to mention it's common, it's typing sucks, and it's not great in the stat department. That said I still don't hate it. I don't look at it and cringe when it's in my party like some Pokemon.
3/5

43-45
Oddish Line

So it's a Radish, that grows a flower. Oddish has kind of a creepy design, Gloom just looks miserable, and Vileplume looks like it wants your soul. It's one of too many Grass/Poison in Gen 1, sharing this type with the superior Bulbasaur and the faster but frailer Victreebel. It's decent but not super exciting.
3.5/5

46-47
Paras Line

It's a mushroom bug with giant claws. Nobody can say it's not creative. Parasact looks pretty eerie as well which is fitting considering the fungus has invaded its mind. I'd give it more points if it was of any use ever.
2/5

48-49
Veno line

Someone inform me on how a bug type that's not a caterpillar evolves into a moth? I can't remember any gen off the top of my head where this happens again. Also it's just a furry butterfree face. Venomoth is a very dull monotone moth. Venonat is honestly fine on its own, clearly a repeated design but fine... Really it begs the question, did we really need this bug type it all? It feels like filler, especially compared to the mvp bug duo of this gen.
1.5/5

50-51
Dig line

It's a fucking shape with a.. clown nose? Quite frankly it feels like they just gave up here. It's simple but TOO simple. It looks like they just drew a face on their thumbs, had a laugh and made it a Pokemon.
It's fast but it's dead to anything that can hit it first honestly. The laziness of the design is almost inarguable so outside of personal feeling...
0/5

 

[Nep Nep]

52-53
Meowth line

It's a living lucky cat! It evolves into a graceful big cat. Pretty good in gen 1 for battle, pretty crappy afterward.
Aesthetically it's fine. I don't hate using it. It's really worth using in its debut gen.
3.5/5

54-55
Psyduck line

A bug eyed migraine duck that evolves into a kappa duck. Why isn't Psyduck part psychic? Like how is a fucking gem starfish psychic but not the massive brained duck that uses psychic moves? Whatever Gamefreak.
Golduck is pretty cool if rather pointless in its debut generation. Tentacruel is faster and has better defense, Blastoise has a higher stat total, Starmie is a monster sweeper with an obscene movepool, Gyrados has more stats too... honestly anything but Golduck works better. It's appealing look saves it from a lower score, specifically Golducks as Pysduck is dopey.
3/5

56-57
Mankey line

Angry pig monkey with giant fists. Probably more wild boar than monkey considering the temperament. Should have added tusks to be honest but it's inoffensive. It's not uncreative and not technically boring, just not a stand out design. Which is honestly the best place for a Pokemon to be if it can't be hyper appealing. A problem that I find doesn't happen in later generations in lieu of a worse problem of just having ugly Pokemon.. though those generations are farther away and we'll get to them. Useful against Brock and early hikers then pretty much not worth it in its debut generation.
3.5/5

58-59
Growlithe line

It's a giant fire tiger dog. No arguing against the creativity and I think most people would agree it looks great. Fire type really almost has universally appealing Pokemon, we'll get to the exception but I think you know who it is. Pretty decent mon, like Charizard it gets substantially better in gen 2 and then it benefits from the split in 4.
5/5

60-62
Poli line

A tadpole that evolves into... a bigger tadpole with limbs, LARGE limbs... A fighting tadpole. Can't say that's not creative, it's probably a high af on opium creation tbh. It wouldn't even evolve into a frog until gen 2 which is just weird when you think about it. It's not that useful in its debut sadly.
3.5/5

63-65
Abra line

We all know we're looking at one of the most broken Pokemon of all time, largely due to Gen 1's plain idiotic choices to make special one stat and to completely fuck up ghost type.
Design wise apparently it's some mutated child in lore? That's pretty dark. The color scheme is nice enough, and it's definitely another opium dream baby.
4.5/5

66-68
Machop line

And now the opposite, a member of one of the most screwed types of all time. Fighting is almost useless in gen 1 sadly, so much so that it's one use against normal types isn't even relevant.
It's got good stats but just can't handle gen 1's brokenness through no fault of it's own of course.
Design wise it's some kinda multi armed muscle dude. It's skin bursts and shows it's muscles beneath. It's creative enough... it's tough looking.
3.5/5

69-71
Bell line

Victreebel is one of my favorite Pokemon period. It's pre-evos are ugly but not ugly in terms of being a bad or hideous design but in the sense that they're purposely puny and bug eyed. I don't hate using them though.
It has great stats and its typing is decent. Razor leaf is broken in its gen. The yellow and green is a really attractive color combo. It's certainly creative enough being a bright colored venus fly trap but I acknowledge my bias here, it could be more creative it is largely just the animal it's based on.
4.5/5

72-73
Tenta line

So this is another Pokemon I really like. The red and blue contrast is always nice and while incredibly common it has effective stats and decent typing largely due to being Water type which has stayed consistently good throughout the generations.
It's just a jellyfish though. I can't say it's all that creative but it IS aesthetically pleasing.
4/5

74-76
Geo line

So this is essentially a boulder crossed with a golem. A lot of people JUST call it a boulder but it's in the fucking name people. It's not JUST a rock.
Golem is kinda cool looking and rock/ground isn't too shabby in gen 1. I don't mind using it at all.
3.5/5

77-78
Ponyta line

So here we have modern horsepower turned back into an actual horse. It's not SUPER creative but it's not bad, it's definitely aesthetically pleasing like most fire types tend to be. Sadly it's among one of the worst fire types of all time so that seriously knocks down its usability and usability is a big point of what makes a Pokemon game fun. If half of its roster is ugly and/or unusable then you have a Pokemon game that isn't fun to play.
3/5

79-80
Slow line

So this is apparently a salamander/hippo cross. Definitely creative. For some reasons it's half psychic. It has a lore connection with Shellder, honestly it's probably one of the most creative gen 1 designs and it's a decent Pokemon to boot. Dopey looking by design but not ugly in that sense.
4/5

81-82
Mag line

Alright this is one of my favorite Pokemon of all time. It's a cluster of eyeball magnets. It's super useful in a playthrough and probably the best electric type in the game that isn't legendary. It's not SUPER creative but I feel like if it came from later generations it would just be a u shaped magnet and that would be that.
4.5/5

83
Farfetch'd

One of few single stage non-legendaries. Creative enough being a leek wielding bird but totally and utterly useless even just among its own type.
It's rarity and lack of use makes it a pointless addition and that really brings down its score.
1/5

84-85
Doduo line

Best non-legendary flying type hands down in gen 1. It's some kinda ostrich with a little bit of a hydra twist on it. Maybe it should have been the one for a dragon/flying mega evo.
It's decently creative and it's fairly useful given it's typing.
4/5

86-87
Seel line

It's a fucking seal and it's name is seel. Dewgong is a bigger seal with a slightly more creative name.
It's lousy in battle, completely pointless filler.
0/5

88-89
Grimer line

Okay so... I actually like this purple toxic sludge, I think it's tough looking. It's just not creative. Magneton at least isn't JUST magnets, it's also all the metal and screws those magnets attract.
So while I do think this isn't an ugly Pokemon I will admit it's not creative. Poison type is pretty much useless in battle too. Considering this is meant to try to rank creativity and usability by game I have to ignore the fact that Gen 1 is unbalanced in the score here. That's not my problem it's Gen 1's problem and it will hurt their final score.
1/5

90-91
Shellder line

Okay so this is another personal favorite of mine. It is basically a clam/oyster sure but Cloysters face is just diabolical, looks like they shoved a Gastly in it. It's pretty usable, has a great typing, and I think just looks cool. I'll have to take a bit off for mostly just being a clam/oyster though.
4.5/5

92-94
Gastly Line

Another favorite and a stand out in Gen 1 from a design standpoint. Very cool Pokemon that suffers from probably the most hard fucked type in Pokemon history. No real battle usage and no good stab moves. So as much as this is one of my favorites and it's VERY creative AND aesthetically awesome I have to take off a good chunk for being more or less useless in its debut gen.
3/5

95
Onix

The iconic original master of defense, showing newbs that they better learn their fucking type advantages or they'll get rekt.
It's cool but sadly completely and utterly useless. That takes away points despite me personally liking it because it's still not worth having in your party. Graveler/Golem is probably a better choice.
2/5

96-97
Drowzee line

So this is definitely creative. Starts as a tapir and becomes more humanoid. Hypno is probably among the most terrifying and therefore cool looking mons in this gen. I dig it and due to its typing being broken it's pretty decent.
3.5/5

98-99
Krabby line

This is another favorite, I love it's size and it's giant masturbator claw. Sadly Gamefreak hated it in gen1.
It has 50 fucking special in a game where it's stab is special. No stab for it's massive attack, dies to any special attack.
It's so frustrating, I love it but it's literally just a crab and it really sucks battle wise making it a pointless choice.
2/5

100-101
Volt line

Okay so this is the first gen 1 Pokemon I consider truly ugly from a design standpoint. It's just a poke ball bomb and it's ugly as sin. It's a pointless addition and Iirc iirc it doesn't even learn any electric moves in gen 1 by level up. So you HAVE to waste a tm on this useless prick.
0/5

 

[Nep Nep]

102-103
Eggs line

Exeggutor is one of the best Pokemon in single competitive but that's not as relevant here. It's half psychic so that means it's half broken. It's got obscene special and good typing. Design wise it's egg like seeds that grow into a coconut headed palm tree. That's pretty creative I'd say. It's dopey looking but that's by design so it actually works.
4/5

104-105
Cubone line

I'll start by saying it's definitely creative. Aesthetically it's fine not the most exciting Pokemon but not one I'd complain about looking at. Battle wise however it's useless. It's outclassed by every other ground type in the game. It's slow, it's frail, has common weaknesses, and sadly is more or less filler as nobody is going to use it in their party over the many superior options.
2/5

106
Hitmonlee

It's a kicking demon and design wise my one of my favorites. It looks super menacing. It learns the only good fighting type moves in gen 1. Too bad it's fighting type. Again, to judge this generation accurately I can't let it's faults slip and one of those faults is severe type imbalance which makes some types completely worthless. Hitmonlee sadly falls into this category.
2/5

107
Hitmonchan

Hitmonchan is like when your teenager asks for an Iphone and you give him a blackberry. You're the adult after all, you know better but the blackberry still does suck.
Naturally unlike the scenario above, using Hitmonchan does not prepare your teenager to be a less vapid and materialistic shit head. Though if you're lucky, it may inspire your teenager to achieve their goals, cause nobody wants to be a fucking Hitmonchan.
1/5

108
Lickingu

I don't know what this is supposed to be. Perhaps a fat balding Japanese dude that frequents those dirty panty machines you see in anime? Either way I won't say it's not creative but that's where any positives to its design end... oh yeah and wrap I guess. Its stats suck. Wigglytuff is weaker but can at least inflict status. Clefable has a better movepool, Tauros and Snorlax are broken beyond belief.
There's no reason to use this weirdo. You have to trade for him or get him the Cerulean cave in Yellow, you know the place in post game where you catch fucking Mewtwo and you probably have a team whose total bst could be divided by 20 and still beat this useless shit. He's not even relevant to a Pokemon journey.
0/5

109-110
Koffing line

I like this Pokemon, It kinda reminds me of a sentient diseased lung. I'd say it could be used to deter people from smoking but nah, it's a cool looking Pokemon.
Too bad Poison is one the shittiest types and will be for generations to come making this a completely pointless addition to your party and automatically making it more or less filler.
1/5

111-112
Rhyorn line

So this is a pretty fucking badass rock rhinoceros. It's pretty tough looking and while it's typing isn't as good as it would be later it's still pretty good. It's got obscene attack and defense but it'll go down to basically any special hit. It's still pretty good despite that though.
4/5

113
Chansey

Ah yes, one of the most broken Pokemon to ever exist thanks to Gen 1. Normal type, obscene HP, obscene special, and fighting types suck. It can learn psychic but fighting types are so garbage in Gen 1 that it doesn't bother to carry it most times. In SP you can probably wall and break everything in your path with it. It's not easy to catch but it's not that hard, especially in the generations before natures. (I fucking hate natures) It's one of the most useful Pokemon in gen 1 and it's certainly not just a palette swapped animal either so it meets the criteria to be a standout for this gen.
5/5

114
Tangela

Welp. That's the wrong color Pokemon S/G.
Tangela is strange, a child in vines? A monster in vines? Ever seen the beta one? It looks cooler. It can take a hit and it can hit decently hard in gen 1 but not too hard. It's alright. Pure grass typing isn't that great. Pretty middling grass type on reflection really.
3/5

115
Kangaskhan

It's a monstrous looking kangaroo with plenty of liberties taken on its physical make up. It has pretty great stats, one of gen 1's broken typings, a decent movepool and a solid crit rate too. It's one of the better normal types out there, just falling short of touching godly Tauros, Snorlax, and Chansey, the real holy trinity you should be praying to else you're gonna have to start paying for those softboils.
Anyways design is fine, perfectly usable, good even, and a pretty fun mon.
4/5

116-117
Horsea line

It's a sea horse. Not super creative. Pretty uncreative considering it's another blue fucking water type when sea horses come in a range of colors. It's a middle of the road water Pokemon swimming in a literal sea of superior species though several inferior ones as well. It's fine but uninspired.
3/5

118-119
Goldeen line

Speaking of inferior species we have easily the worst water type in the entire game. Did you know Waterfall was introduced in Gen 1? Probably not because only these fucks learn it and no sane human being was using these useless, uninspired, bottom feeders.
It's a fucking fish man. Why is it here? Why does it suck so much?
0/5

120-121
Star line

Following the previous waste of air is the total opposite. Godmi- I mean, Starmie. Blazingly fast with a disgusting crit rate, relatively powerful with 100 special, and a truly diabolical movepool that includes Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Surf, and even fucking Recover and.. Thunder wave?!? C'mon Gamefreak what the hell?
Starmie is definitely a star, the star of water Pokemon in Gen 1. It's only let down by it's pretty basic design, I personally like it but I have to give it to those Gen 1 haters. Yeah, if there's Genwunners there's Gen 1 haters. Dirty unwashed Zoomers who started with gen 3 and don't know what's good... Sorry I mean distinguished Pokemon fans who simply grew up in an easier time and can't go back to the days where we could only carry 20 items and we had to change PC boxes manually.
Anyways pretty fucking sweet mon, gonna go put muscle rub on my back now, broke my spine when I shook my fist at those new Pokefans.
4.5/5 Go fuck yourself it's still good, just a liiiiitle uninspired this is totally fair rating

122
Mr.Pedo

Fresh from banging Ashes mom, it's Mr.Mime! His favorite hobby is hanging out at your local middle school while breathing heavily and occasionally wiping drool from its chin.
Okay so this is a legitimately UGLY design, it's creepy and I'm pretty sure everyone hates this fuck.
Yeah it has the most broken typing in Gen 1 and yeah it's not actually that bad but there are better and way nicer looking psychic types. It gets saved from a zero by pure decent usability.
1/5

123
Scyther

Enter Scyther, part of the special group of totally assfucked types that allow Psychic to go completely unchecked. No stab whatsoever but god damn does it look awesome. Ridiculously good stats too, though the typing is pretty lousy.
I want to score it higher but there's not much reason to use it. You could spam slash with it sure but Persian does that better. Even so I won't drop it too low either cause it's not unusable, just not usable in the way it should be and it looks amazing.
3/5

124
Jynx

One of Gen 1's truly hideous designs, Jynx only manages to save itself from a zero by being decently useful with a great typing and decent moves and good stats. Even so I would never use it in my team and this analysis ultimately boils down to eliminating Pokemon so ugly or fucking useless that they make the game less fun when you have to use them.
Watch her mouth she sucks souls, and probably rancid cocks in the back alleys of Cerulean at night.
1/5

125
Electabuzz

This one is so creative I couldn't tell you what it is. It's got a decent typing, amazing movepool, awesome speed and therefore crit rate, and decent special and usable bulk to boot. This is a personal favorite and it's simply an ideal example of a nigh perfect Gen 1 Pokemon. Simple and attractive design, good moves, good stats, good fucking time using it.
5/5

126
Magmar

Introducing Mr.Burny Anus Face (If I was an IGN journalist I'd be like HYUCK HE NEEDS TO LAY OFF THE CHIPOTLE!), burny anus here finally ends the trend of Fire type having universally aesthetically appealing Pokemon. He's dopey, and again he has an ass head and a fiery anus mouth.
Being Electabuzz' fire type counterpart means most of what I said about it applies to Magmar, great moves, good stats.
That said, one could warm up to a burny anus. Maybe even come to love a burny anus. This is no Jynx but nor is this a Muk, he's ugly but not hideous, ugly but not appealingly so.
3.5/5 (Too much Chipotle )

127
Pinsir

This is one of the most intimidating and therefore coolest Pokemon in gen 1 in my humble opinion. Unfortunately it's bug type and even more unfortunately it's not normal type to make use of it's already massive 130 attack Hyper Beams with fucking SWORDS DANCE. Decent speed and physical bulk too, it just sadly belongs to the Quartet of brutally ass fucked types in Gen 1.
Thankfully for Pinsir it's still so powerful that it almost rises above that. Almost. Still pretty solid for your playthrough.
3/5

128
Tauros

The king of all gods, the almighty Tauros is here. In contrast to our previous Pokemon, Tauros is part of the broken ass duo of godly typings therefore any half usable stat spread would have made it the devil incarnate, or well not the devil cause the devil lost and Tauros doesn't lose.
Solid attack, usable bulk, and obscene speed with its broken normal typing make for literally the best non-legendary Pokemon in the entire game. It may be hard to catch but you might as well if you want to steamroll everything.
In terms of design it's just a bull though so it's gonna lose a little bit for it, but even so it's boring but not ugly and the most usable Pokemon there is among the non legends.
4.5/5

129-130
Magi line

Here's one of the most useless Pokemon in the game that turns into a serious powerhouse with one of the coolest designs in Pokemon ever. Ever seen the Pokemon Yellow sprite? It's fucking awesome. It's definitely creative, well Gyarados is anyways and its design is pretty amazing.
This is definitely a personal favorite and I see nothing truly wrong with it. Even if you are that one prick who never shuts the fuck up about Gen 3 just cause that was your first game there's no way you can look me in the eye and say this Pokemon doesn't look amazing. Unless you're some kind of fucking Mr.Mime diddler.
5/5

131
Lapras

Here we have another personal favorite of mine, Lapras. Bulky, powerful, fantastic typing. It's some kind of dinosaur and that's pretty sweet. Super iconic Pokemon here, and it's another case where it'd be hard to trash its design. It just looks good and it can easily be your teams water/ice type.
5/5

132
Ditto

Ah shit... JERRY DID YOU SPIT YOUR FUCKING CHEWING GUM ON THE DESIGN SHEETS AGAIN?!?
Yeah sorry mark!
You're fired Jerry! Die in a fire thankkkkksssss!
Alright so the concept of a shapeshifter Pokemon isn't uncreative but the actual Pokemons design is. It's a blob and while that works with the lore it could have looked more interesting. It's also fucking useless with terrible stats.
0/5

133-136
Eevee line

While Eevee is somewhat of an unusual case, it is essentially one Pokemon line and I'm going to treat it like other staged evos.
Eevee is not just one of my favorites but one of most people's favorites. It's evolutions have incredible bsts and decent enough movepools. Flareon almost made them lose a point for its biggest stat lacking stab but 110 special is still incredible for gen 1 so they get a pass here. All of the eeveelutions are more than adequate at their jobs and they look fucking good while they do it.
5/5

137
Porygon

Space duck, fuck to fuck.
Porygon is one of just a handful of Pokemon terrible enough to disgrace the broken normal typing. While it's probably the best of those it's poor speed and average bulk will let you down time and time again despite a sweet movepool. It doesn't stand out, every normal type has a ridiculous movepool buut they have better stats or a better niche to fit your team better.
I personally don't care for the design either, I think it's pretty unappealing, not Jynx or Sawk/Throh burn it with fire, piss on it, and then beat it with a baseball bat ugly but you know, relatively uneappealing.
1/5

138-139
Lord Helix line

And now the man, the meme, the legend, Lord Helix.
Cool design, very nice typing, incredible defensive and special, and a good enough movepool. Pretty hard to complain about this Pokemon really. It's slow and a grass move will fuck it up but y'know you won't be using it on grass.
4/5

140-141
Kabuto line

Inferior in every way gameplay wise to Omastar outside of speed. It's speed is only 80 though so yes it can swords dance and slash but just fucking use Persian. It's design is VERY cool, who doesn't like scythe hands? It's just not as usable as it's counterpart.
Amusingly enough this was our very last Pokemon capable of evolution for this gen.
3/5

142
Aerodactyl

Probably the best of the fossils here, Aero boasts great speed and attack and a cool vicious design. That said it's not that creative, it's just a pterodactyl and it can't learn rock slide WHAT THE FUCK GAME FREAK?!? IT'S HALF ROCK TYPE!
Fuck me, who dropped the devs when they were babies?
4/5

143
Snorlax

Our final non legendary, the prince god of Gen 1 and the original fat activist.
Just like real fat activist any disagreeable actions will be met with a 500 ton body slam.
Seriously though, broken typing, simple but nice design, and just one of the best Pokemon you can get, also much easier to catch than Tauros so there's that.
4.5/5

144
Articuno

Now we begin reviewing the strongest Pokemon in the game, legends, mysticals, and pseudo legends.
Articuno is my favorite of the three birds, when I first saw it in Yellow in the telescope with it's gorgeous sweeping tail feathers and it's large imposing wings, I knew I had to find it. It's the most beautiful of the three birds imo. Unfortunately its not the strongest of the trio and later becomes the weakest too but in terms of legends that still means it whoops plenty of ass and having anything with Ice as a type is pretty damn useful. So while it's not perfect it's still scores perfect because it's only imperfect compared to legendaries, compared to gen 1 as a whole, Articuno is great.
5/5

145
Zapdos

The strongest of the birds and the best electric type in the entire game, Zapdos has an incredibly intimidating and cool design, it really smacks you in the face with the fact it's legendary. It's almost as perfect as it's possible to be and I don't think anyone could genuinely hate it.
5/5

146
Moltres

The dopiest looking and in this gen weakest of the three birds. Unlike Rapidash who looks like it has fur made of fire, Moltres looks like it's on fire. It's not an awfully ugly design it just doesn't work as well as the others. Fire type didn't really shine in Gen 1 and adding extra rock weakness doesn't help. This will be the only legend to score lower than perfect.
4/5

147-149
Dragons line

The one and only dragon Pokemon line in Gen 1, they're also our only pseudo legendary for gen 1. Design wise it's more than creative, Dragonite breaks the idea that dragons have to look tough and scary, it almost seems friendly, until you're on the defending end of it's massive attack stat of course. While dragons have no stab in gen 1 they have an excellent movepool and the stats to back it up. Just avoid ice and you have a great defensive Pokemon that can hit back VERY hard.
5/5

150
Mewtwo

The most powerful and broken Pokemon to ever exist, only dethroned by mega evolutions and Eternatus. It has gen 1's most broken typing and at the time the most eye bleedingly high special stat in the game at a terrifying 154.
It's design is totally unique and creative. If you say you hate this Pokemon's design then you're the one wearing nostalgia goggles not the genwunner.
5/5

151
Mew

Now the most versatile Pokemon to exist in gen 1 and the ancestor of Pokemon.
Perfectly even stats and the ability to learn any TM move means you have a Pokemon that can do just about anything. It's cute, it's a fucking adorable floating psychic cat, and we're done with Gen 1.
5/5
----------------------------------------
Generation 1 Average Score
After adding all the scores and dividing by 151, we get [1.68/5]
I was expecting better but this is what the math says. Pretty sorry score for Gen 1, the gen I started with too.

Starters
The starters all got a perfect score, I find them all visually appealing and they're all more than usable.
We don't need to do the math but I'll put the starter score here anyways, [5/5]
I rated these cause these are a huge part of enjoying a Pokemon game imo, they set the tone for the region you're in and they set the mood for how the game feels at the start.

Biggest design Issue
I found that the biggest issue plaguing Pokemon designs wasn't intensely hideous designs but lots of boring and plain ones instead, I'd still rather use them than a hideous Pokemon though, which is my problem with Gen 5 and why I started this. We're gonna try to fairly rate every gen and try to get to as objective a cause as possible given that aesthetics are subjective.

A total of 6 Pokemon scored a 0, enough to make a full fledged playthrough team! How terrifying exciting!

An additional 9 Pokemon couldn't even score a 2.

28 Pokemon scored 4 or more, with legendaries that makes 36/151 or 24%

Essentially 136 Pokemon of 151 are at least usable/tolerable or 90%

Gen 1 gets a final score of 7.4

Worst/ugliest possible team according to my scores -

Summary -> Gen 1 has enough designs that are usable without making you physically ill but most mons aren't worth it unless you really like them but at least they don't actively make looking at your screen difficult, except for those 6 0's of course.

 

[Yoshi]

I would actually place the Pikachu line slightly lower. Pikachu is great, but Game Freak did Raichu dirty in comparison.

 

[Nep Nep]

I would actually place the Pikachu line slightly lower. Pikachu is great, but Game Freak did Raichu dirty in comparison.

He'd look a liiiiittle better if they kept Fat Pikachu but I talked about Disney Pikachu since that's the final design.

 

[Yoshi]

Fat Pikachu was the shit. Disney Pikachu is bullshit.

 

[jane]

bring back plump pikachu

 

[Nep Nep]

Once I finish I'm going to average the score for this gen, discuss its major design problems, and give a summary why I like or dislike it as a single player existence. It'll be at the end of the final post.

 

[Ral]

bring back plump pikachu

Pikathiccccccccc

 

[Nep Nep]

Gen 2 is my favorite generation and as an old fuck the second generation I played after Gen 1. I loved all the advancements, day/night, time, held items, two regions... On the other hand shitty ass exp curve, and a bit too much attachment to Kanto. Let's see how the designs stack up.

151-153
Chikorita line

First is the worst. Chikorita is pretty adorable but Meganium is eh. It shares a near identical color palette to Venusaur, almost like the devs didn't want to stray too far. They gave it a worse stat spread than its predecessor. Defensive Pokemon are disadvantage in SP because the AI is dumb as shit. Why use reflect when you can nuke it to death while it uses leer for 6th turn in a row?
It's the very first starter where while I like it's first two evolutions I hate the 3rd. Grass typing had its gym stardom already in Gen 1 with Grass being the easiest type to smash through the game with but here Grass has the hardest early game run and really no gyms that help it, nor elite four members.
3/5

154-157
Cynda line

Second is the best.
Oh hey there Fire type. As appealing as always. Dinner later? W-with me? Holy fuck, yes!
So this is some kinda flaming ferret dinosaur looking thing. Blue and cream is a nice color combo, even more so with the flames contrasting it. Certainly creative. Also the best starter in gen 1.
While aesthetically creative it for some reasons just inherits the upgraded stats for Charizard since gen 2 split special into 2 distinct stats.
The real reason Typhlosion is the best is because despite being pure fire type it learns Thunderpunch, which can easily annihilate any Water type Pokemon in the SP game. This runs off it's quite large 109 sp.atk. Once it fully evolves and learns this cheap TM the game is essentially over. You can VERY easily solo the whole game besides Red with Typhlosion. This Pokemon is one of my favorites for this gen.
5/5

158-160
Toto line

This is a striking Pokemon design wise. The striking color combo of blue and red with a splash of white, or yellow in every other generation is really nice to look at. It's a crocodile if it was bipedal and more dinosaur-y. Sadly due to the physical and special split being 2 more generations away Feraligatr suffers from having a 105 base attack compared to a 79 base sp.atk. It's water and ice moves will be pretty flaccid as a result. This is also a personal favorite but I'll have to knock off some points for having its primary stab stat too low.
4.5/5

Well that was definitely a downgrade overall score wise. Johto will have to make it up pretty hard elsewhere...

161-162
Sentret line

It's a ferret. It only gets a point cause it's everyone's favorite HM slave which makes it slightly more than useless. Stats are meh, uninspired.
2/5

163-164
Hoot line

-Sigh- Awful stats, it's a fucking owl. It's name is Hoot twice and then nocturnal owl. Useless, pointless, uninspired, filler. Not even gonna say anything more about it.
2/5

165-166
Lady line

What the fuck Johto? It's a fucking ladybug, with the worst offensive stats of any fully evolved Pokemon. Oh and bug typing still sucks. Fucking weak, uninspired, and not that aesthetically pleasing. Fuck off Ledyba.
0/5

167-168
Spin line

So this is a cool looking spider Pokemon, the colors and patterns are creative enough. It has minor usage but the typing sucks. Sadly not really worth using but at least it's not unappealing.
2/5

169
Crobat

An evolution for what was a mediocre Kanto mon. It looks really cool, it's SUPER fast and has okay attack, lousy typing and movepool though. Nonetheless this is one of my personal favorites. It's not unusable there's just better choices for a team.
3/5

We're skipping some numbers because some Kanto mons have johto dex numbers and we already reviewed them. For the most part Gen 2 is still similar enough that most mons that are baked into this dex from last gen are more or less the same besides maybe Persian.

170-171
Chin line

Alright so this mon has a super interesting typing and a nice design. Its stats are fine. It's got a pretty great stab combo. Still there are better water types available.
3/5

172
Pichu

Baby Pokemon are completely pointless. Who's the fucking genius who thought that already weak Pokemon needed an even WEAKER form that often only evolve from high friendship?
There's no reasons for these filler mons to exist.

173
Cleffa

See Pichu.
0/5

174
Igglybuff

See above.
0/5

175-176
Togepi Line

So unlike above Togepi has what we would later consider average baby stats but considering it was introduced like this and doesn't get a shitty weaker form this just feels like the first form. Togetic is okay. Their design is unique and creative, Togetic just lacks speed, and the movepool to make use of its stats. It's fine. It's usable.
3/5

Not a good start for Johto so far unfortunately...

 

[Nep Nep]

Well, Kanto took forever but Johto really doesn't have much to look at. A portion of the Pokedex is full of Kanto Pokemon after all.
In any case, let's wrap this up. I'm ready for Hoenn, I feel like I like most of the Pokemon, I dislike gen 3 cause of Hoenn itself. The visuals and yes, I fucking hate the trumpets.



179-181
Mareep Line

It's a sheep that turns into... Uh something. This is one of my Johto favorites. Beautiful coloring, adorable design, creative particularly in the last evolution.
Good enough to be your electric mon for the game too. Very good sp.atk and decent enough defenses to mitigate the feel of it's 55 speed.
5/5

182
Bellossom

This was a weird fucking choice, why give an already decent Pokemon another evolution? Bellossom is more defensive, losing it's poison typing and thus has no weakness to Psychic.
It's okay. Nothing exciting, nothing offensive.
3/5

183-184
Azu line

This is gen 2. There are no abilities. It's attacking stats are fucking 50. Yeah it can take hits but that's it. It's design is fine but there's no point in using this during a playthrough. Defensive Pokemon can work but not when they don't do something good with status or have SOME offensive presence.
2/5

185
Sudo

Sudowoodo is a fossilized tree. It's the first pure rock type.
It's a tree. It has high attack and defense but it's slow and will go down to a strong special hit.
It's fine.
3/5

186
Politoed

Finally our boi Poli can become froge. Too bad its stats suck. Its design is fine but it can't really compete with literally any other water type. You can use it if you want, there's just better choices.
3/5

187-189
Hoppip line

It's a cotton plant but at least it's not just a pair of cotton balls GEN FUCKING FIVE. Ahem...
Hoppip is difficult to use. Skiploom is only good for support. Fine if you just need to sleep and leech a bunch of stuff and then switch out. Not great though. Better to just go with Bellosom or Vileplume.
2/5

190
Aipom

You know, I don't think I've ever liked a monkey Pokemon after Primeape, they're all stupid looking. Aipom is stupid looking and all it's good for is trolling. It's really not worth taking along unless using counter to kill something really makes your nips hard.
1/5

191-192
Sunkern line

Johto is starting to fucking depress me. Sunkern is one of the weakest Pokemon of all time. Sunflora has no speed and not enough defense to make up for it, also GRASS TYPING FUCKING SUCKS FOR DEFENSE GAMEFREAK FUCKING STOP IT!
God. If a grass Pokemon isn't Venusaur it's not gonna be very good defensively and that's only good cause it's blessed with a 525 bst. Sunflora has 100 less and it shows when you battle with it.
Useless, only mildly creative, and just no. Just fucking no Gamefreak.
0/5

193
Yanma

Oh my fucking god. Who. Designed. Gen 2s. Base stats. And. Have. They. Ever. Fucking. Played. Pokemon?
What were they THINKING? 95 Base speed is ALL this dumbass bug has going for it. NO fucking attack, 65 base attack for its stab moves! It can only learn hidden power bug. It's 4x weak to rock, what the fuck?
I want to shake the designer violently.
0/5

194-195
Wooper line

Okay, finally something usable again, somewhat imaginative too. Decent stats coupled with what remains one of the best type combinations to date. Has some good strategies it can make use of to be even better! This isn't too bad at all, perfectly usable Pokemon despite its low speed due to its bulk and single 4x weakness. Avoid grass and you're gucci.
3.5/5

196
Espeon

Eeveelutions are always appealing. Cute, awesome bst of 525 with great spreads, and just fucking adorable.
Espeon rocks up with a massive 130 sp.atk stat and an incredible 110 speed along with a respectable 95 sp.def. That and Psychic are all it needs to start bulldozing shit and it's basically free since Bill gives it to you. No trading necessary either. Total no brainer.
5/5

197
Umberon

The premier Eeveelution wall and one of the first Dark types. Completely immune to and super effective against Psychics who even if they could hit it, would probably have trouble getting past it's huge 130 sp.def and decent 95 hp.
It's mysterious, it's edgy, it's cute, and it's pretty great defensively. It can easily spread toxic, or use mean look and baton pass to help out any team.
5/5

198
Murkrow

Soooooo it's a crow. It's AWFUL defensively. Won't take any hit, at all. It can dish out decent damage though. You can catch Houndour nearby though so why bother with this Pokemon? Nevermind that it's only available when you really don't want to train another Pokemon.
2/5

199
Slowking

An evolution to Slowbro, a Pokemon that really didn't need an evolution honestly. It's basically Slowbro but has higher sp.def. That means it's a perfectly usable Pokemon. Not much to say about it really.
4/5

200
Misdreavus

This Pokemon is one of my all time favorites to this day. I L O V E the design, the colors, the cute little grin, ooouuugh.
Ofc Game Freak doesn't let you catch one until just before fucking Red because Game Freak make their decisions by huffing shit in a paper bag apparently. Morty? Oh LEt'S juST GiVe hIM THe GasTLY LiNE. Fucking idiots. Burned tower was the PERFECT place for it and Houndour too. Like what the actual fucking fuck? It makes me angry that I have to consider that in the score for what is otherwise a great design and usable stats.
It has a decent enough movepool and 85 special stats and 85 speed. Not amazing but not too bad at all.
4/5

201
Unown

It's a gimmick, it's pointless, it's filler.
Literally NOTHING would be lost if this Pokemon didn't exist. Or at least wasn't catchable. In fact if it wasn't catchable the fan theories would have made lore more fun. Instead we get one of the weakest Pokemon to ever exist with a single usable move.
Unown should have stayed Unown.
0/5

202
Wobbufet

It's a dumb gimmick Pokemon, it's stupid looking, and it's useless.
I can hardly even muster anger anymore. Johto is sucking serious balls.
0/5

203
Girafarig

I've never felt more unenthused by a Pokemon. Its stats are fine, its typing makes it the only Psychic immune to ghost in this gen.
But eh. You can make it work if you like it and that's all that matters really, it's not just about what I like but what is an actual workable option and it is one.
3/5

204-205
Pineco line

Okay this is one of my persona favorites from this gen. I think it looks really cool and from Pinecone to bagworm is creative enough.
Besides having one 4x weakness its typing is pretty good and it's got enough offense to put some hurt on enemies too.
I dig it, good design, usable stats, decent movepool.
5/5

206
Dunsparce

It's pretty creative but completely useless so you won't be using it. It exists but there's no reason for it to. Unimpressive typing, stats, and movepool.
0/5

207
Gligar

Nice colors, cool design, and nice typing. Stats let it down a bit but it's mostly fine for SP.
3/5

208
Steelix

Another awesome looking steel type. Menacing as hell and the second highest defense stat in the game! It's definitely a usable Pokemon and it looks good while being useful. That's all you should need to hear.
5/5

209-210
Snub line

Ah yes, that poor neighbors dog who is subject to its owners terrible taste decides it's time to bite back. It bites pretty hard too with a 120 attack stat. It's slow but it can take a hit and nothing will want to take a hit back from it. It's usable and Granbull is pretty cool.
4/5

211
Qwilfish

Hey guys, here's my design.
Oh hey John, yeah let's see.... uhuh.... Uh. John?
Yeah Terry?
This is just a shitty version of Tentacruel.
Uhuh?
Yeah it's not going in John.
No it's definitely going in Terry.
Rich when did you get here? Why would you add this Pokemon? It's pointless.
Nepotism. C'mon John I'll take you for ice cream.
-Seal clap-

1/5

Scizor
212

So like, steel is kinda fucking killin' it in this gen. Every single design has been fucking lit.
Stat distribution is amazing and so is the typing. Zero complaints, honestly this is the best offensive steel type in gen 2 and one of the best gen 2 Pokemon usability wise and design wise. A persona favorite and a favorite of many.
5/5

Shuckle
213

Cool looking and with the highest defense in the game but terrible stats everywhere else. It's like a worse version of Umbreon really so it's slightly usable, not a particularly good choice though so I have to knock it down in the rating.
2/5

214
Hera

Heracross has two of this games buffed types, fighting and bug. While bug was only boosted a little bit, fighting became much MUCH better. Stat spreads got better, actual useful fighting moves got invented!
This a fantastic Pokemon with great stats and a cool design. No complaints here.
5/5

215
Sneasel

This is a pretty cool looking Pokemon, with a crazy good speed stat of 115. It's a glass cannon though and it's 95 attack is about 20-25 points short of making it more consistent at its job.
3.5/5

216-217
Teddi line

So this Pokemon has the gen 1 problem of just kinda being a bit boring. It's not ugly, just not exciting. It's a little slow and lacking in bulk to make up for its speed. But it's about as usable as Granbull in SP so it works. It just loses a point for its boring design.
3/5

218-219
Slugma line

Wow so, I kinda like Slumga design wise but not Magcargo... further more this is the Pokemon to stop dead Fire Pokemon being generally at least decent. Its typing and stats guarantee a single molecule of H20 will make it explode into less than the atoms that comprise it. Unfortunate.
1/5

 

[Nep Nep]

220-221
Swinub line

YOUR FATHER WAS A SWWWWIIIINEEEE.
We really are living in the worst timeline, Alan Rickman is dead.
Swinub is alright. Kinda cute. Piloswine isn't so cute but it's got a cool offensive typing. Terrible defensive one. Its stats are alright. Nothing too great, nothing terrible.
3/5

222
Corsola

-Sigh- What the fuck is this? It's a piece of coral, with one of the most awful stat spreads I've ever seen. A mediocre dual 85 defenses backed up by a miserable 55 HP. Nevermind the atrocious 65 sp,atk, 55 atk, and most egregious of all, 30 speed. Someone fucking hates this thing at GF. It's U S E L E S S. It's also another stain on one of my favorite gens, I'm actually questioning why I love Johto so much now. Yikes.
0/5

223-224
Remoraid line

So here's an interesting one. Remoraid is a speedy little glass cannon with 65 for its attacking stats and 65 speed, pretty good for a first stage. When it evolves into Octillery those attacking stats jump to a sizeable 105 and his defenses hit 75 while his speed drops to 45. Because it's a water type this somewhat decent bulk is made better use of than it would otherwise be. It learns Flamethrower too so that's pretty cool. I dig it!
4/5

225
Delibird

Oh wow and just like that, my enthusiasm for Octillery is immediately desecrated by this abominable little gimmick mon.
This is a first form starter stat spread in a one stage Pokemon cause why not right? Why the fuck not make a Pokemon that can't evolve or change in any way weak as the fucking Pokemon you started this god forsaken game with?
0/5

226
Mantine

Oh good, yeah no. Kick me down and then kick me when I'm down. This Pokemon has an idiotic stat spread and typing. 140 sp.def, sounds good? Think again. That's paired with 65 hp. Oh and it's Water/Flying so 4x electric weakness (a big sin on any wall).
It's also ugly. Probably the first quite ugly Pokemon in Johto. The first to win the dishonor of even if it was good I wouldn't let it in my party. It looks like its ready to give you a gummy and I'm not having it.
0/5

227
Skarmory

We take a short break from the pain to bear witness to Skarmory, a truly badass design with great stats, a decent movepool, and a typing that lets it be one of the best physical walls anyone could ever ask for.
It's awesome, it's good, there's no reason not to add it to your team.
5/5

228-229
Hound line

This is one hell of an awesome Pokemon, single-handedly rescuing the fire type from the slump Slugma put it in. Amazing offensive typing, sizeable 110 special attack, good 95 speed.
Honestly if you didn't pick Cyndaquil, this should be your eventual fire Pokemon, I say eventual because it's quite far in the game due to more dumbass choices from the devs.
Normally I would take points off for that but I genuinely think it's worth it to stop and train this Pokemon up regardless of how late it comes.
5/5

230
Kingdra

Finally, an evolution for a Pokemon that actually desperately needed one. Kingdra is an amazing Pokemon with one weakness to a type that numbers 2 fully evolved members and 4 members total. Think about that for a second. It might as well have no weakness. It has a super balanced stats spread with 95 attack and defense, 85 speed, and 75 hp.
Its design is also a little less boring than previous ones.
5/5

231-232
Phanphy line

Alright so it's cool enough, it's like a tiny elephant that turns into a boar/elephant. Pure ground typing is cool. Stats are workable. It's decent enough really.
4/5

233
Porygon2

Alright so just like Porygon I don't really like the design of this weird little duck but it's hard to argue with its new stat spread.
105 sp.atk is more than solid and speaking of solid it has 85/90/95 defenses. Along with it's good movepool you've got a very usable Pokemon here and it's not so hideous that I'd never use it, the design just doesn't appeal to me.
4/5

234
Stantler

It's a reindeer, I could hardly call it an inspired design. What I can say is that it has a lot of movepool variety. With 95 attack and 85 speed it's not too shabby at all. It can definitely be a usable Pokemon even if not the most creatively designed.
3/5

235
Smeargle

So this here is probably the most creative concept in this gen. A dog artist Pokemon that essentialy works as a Final Fantasy blue mage. Normally gimmick Pokemon get bad ratings cause of their poor stats and limited usability but because Smeargle can learn literally any four moves its unpredictability allows it to play any role using it's serviceable 75 base speed.
I don't particularly like it but it's usable and even a fun gimmick sometimes.
3/5

236-237
Tyrogue & Hitmontop

Normally I'd trash a baby Pokemon like Tyrogue with its lousy 35 across the board stat spread. Normally I'd say it has no purpose and technically it doesn't. The Hitmons could have all been stand alone. Tyrogue makes it kind of fun and interesting though so I'll let this one slide.
Hitmontop still isn't amazing though.
3/5

238
Smoochum

Okay so, good typing, usable stats for a baby Pokemon, like sure at least if you make one make it usable. Still it evolves into the hideous Jynx so despite its usability you probably won't want to use it over other options.
1/5

239
Elekid

So, baby Pokemon annoy me not just because they're unnecessary but because more often than not their bst's are disgustingly garbage.
Elekid is one of few examples of good baby Pokemon. A baby Pokemon for one of my favorites to boot. Like Smoochum it gets the same score as its evolved form.
5/5

240
Magby

I actually like Magby more than Magmar. It's cuter and like its counterpart Elekid, has a great bst for a baby Pokemon, it's pretty much better than a starter. So everything I like about Magmar and less of what I hate about it. So it'll actually get a higher score than Magmar.
4/5

241
Miltank

When I bothered to play online competitive Miltank was on my first team. I like this bulky normal type. Good utility, designs alright not super creative but decent appealing imo.
4/5

242
Blissey

Chansey line just isn't what it used to be. It's fallen a little bit but it's still a good Pokemon to use.
4/5

243
Raikou

So this is the least favorite of the three legendary dogs visually but sadly it's my favorite stat spread wise. Fast special attackers are my thing.
Even if it is my least favorite, GF always makes the legendary designs pretty awesome. No denying it's appealing and useful.
5/5

244
Entei

Second favorite dog here, stat distribution is fine after gen 4 but here... .ffs a legendary with a 90 special attack stat that's a fire type. Come the fuck on Gamefreak, you know better. You know better and you still do stupid shit like this. Fuck you.
Entei loses a point for that.
4/5

245
Suicune

My favorite design wise and... my least favorite stat wise. Defensive Pokemon are fine, I enjoy using them, they're just not as useful for the main game when you can one shot everything instead.
Beautiful Pokemon though and very useful.
5/5

246-248
Larvitar line

This generations pseudo legendary, sporting the new dark typing and also being half rock, a very sweet offensive typing!
Notably, this continues the trend of Pseudo-legendaries having their large 600 bst balanced by a 4x weakness, fighting in this case.
It's a giant godzilla and it's super adorable in its first form. Useful, cool looking.
5/5

249
Lugia

This generations super wall. Ridiculous defenses, decent typing. It's my favorite of the two birds visually, again weak attacker though unfortunately. It will still break the game in SP either way though so it's fine.
5/5

250
Ho-Oh

Our powerful attacker legendary this gen. For whatever reason it doesn't reach Mewtwo's sp.atk levels in atk but whatever.
It's a giant roasted rainbow turkey and it's stronk.
5/5

251
Celebi

The typical all 100s setup for a mythical Pokemon. It's kind of weird, Mew has the unique ability to learn any TM/HM. Celebi is just a well rounded Pseudo legendary stat wise.
Still enough to be a good Pokemon though, a very good one.
5/5

Generation 2 Average Score

Averaged out gen 2 gets a 2/5 to be fair there were only 99 Pokemon to rate compared to gen 1's 151. There are other factors that need to be considered before we can say this is truly better than gen 1.

Starters
They fall short of gen 1's perfect score with a 4.2/5

Biggest Design Issue
Gen 2 added tons and tons of completely useless Pokemon, it's honestly baffling. Most of the designs are appealing but there's so much unviability in the roster here. GameFreak needs to stop making Pokemon for the sake of them being unique and make thoughtful additions that have some kind of niche.

A whopping 12 Pokemon scored a 0, that's 2 times more than gen 1! You could have two full parties of these miserable wastes of Pokedex space!

4 Pokemon couldn't even reach a score of 2.

22 non legendary Pokemon scored a 4 or more, 29 if counted with legendaries. That's 29/99 or 29%

83 of 99 Pokemon are usable/appealing that makes 84%

So while the average is higher, that's due to their being less Pokemon overall, the other numbers reflect poorly on gen 2 compared to gen 1. We need a new scoring system.

Gen 2 gets a final overall score of 5.8(This lazy system works for now but I might need to actually make a logical system later)
This is compared to Gen 1 getting a final score of 7.4 Gen 1 offers significantly more and better choices.

This score is gotten by adding the average score and the starter score, then the decimals of each positive percentage. The Pokemon who scored zero number is multiplied by itself and then the Pokemon who scored less than 2 are added to that. that number is then divided by 100 and subtracted from the positive numbers to reach the score. Totally illogical but I think the resulting number shows the gap between the Kanto and Johto dex.

This gens shittiest Pokemon!

Fuck me that's a lot of losers. Just try a nuzlocke with these shit heaps.

 

[Yoshi]

Qwilfish actually had an evolution in the Gold & Silver Beta, but they scrapped it for whatever stupid reason. LOL.

 

[Nep Nep]

Qwilfish actually had an evolution in the Gold & Silver Beta, but they scrapped it for whatever stupid reason. LOL.

I have no idea how they make decisions sometimes. Like I get that not every Pokemon can be great but they seem to go out of their way to make certain ones completely unusable.

 

[Nep Nep]

So preamble here, as I said before Gen 2 is my favorite. Sadly it has scored the lowest, I started with Gen 1. I love a lot of Gen 3 Pokemon but I hate the Hoenn region, the music, the color palette, the whole feel. Hate it.


252-254
Treecko line

So this is easily my favorite grass starter, even a little bit over Venusaur. Blazing fast special attacker. Great stats, visually appealing, what more could you ask for from a starter?
5/5

255-257
Torchic line

A starter so good it would later be the only starter to ever touch Ubers in competitive. This is gen 3 though, and in gen 3? Still a pretty fucking great Pokemon. Props for being the only aesthetically appealing fire/fighting starter as well.
It's strong, it's got dual offensives, it looks good.
5/5

258-260
Mudkip line

What is it with Gen 3? Sceptile is amazing, Blaziken becomes a competitive god that can make legendaries bow down, and Mudkip is a meme so strong it inspired girls to strip down naked and paint themselves like it for our collective enjoyment. God bless the Kipz~
Swampert sports one of the best typings in the game to this day with Water/Ground, while it's hampered by water still being Special and it only having 85 sp.atk this will get fixed up later and it's not too big a deal during the game. Sweet design, good stats, meme worthy design.
5/5

261-262
Pooch line

Okay so this one's a little bit boring. It's Sirius Black. His stats are garbage sadly, his typing is fine, his ability, one of many changes in gen 3, is incredible. It all adds up to one ultra medicore Pokemon.
2/5

263-264
Zig line

This one's actually a little trickier than one might think. It has some capability throuugh its movepool to do something. Still it's typing is dull and its design is even duller.
2.5/5

265-269
Wurm line

Gen 3 tried to do quite a few new things with Pokemon themselves. Wurmple evolves based on personality value, which is impossible to check in game iirc. They're basically just Beedrill and Butterfree though.
2/5

270-272
Lotad line

A unique typing in grass/water, usable stats, a great ability in swift swim. I don't really like Ludicolo's design but it's a good Pokemon for sure.
4/5

273-275
Seed line

Kinda cool looking, interesting typing in Dark/Grass, it's actually better than its stats imply thanks to chlorophyll.
It's more than fine, it's pretty usable.
4/5

276-277
Taillow line

The first regional starting bird to have a stat higher than 95. Faster than Sceptile but without much to back it up. Its ability allows it to deal with its 85 attack but Game Freak probably thought guts would be more effective than it is.
3/5

278-279
Wing line

Pelipper is decent bulky, being a far superior Water/Flying choice than the previous gens Mantine. It's fine. This is a usable Pokemon. Nothing crazy.
3/5

280-282
Ralts line

While Mudkip made rule 34 enjoyable for many with its many painted fan girls, Gardevoir is specific to furries. An awesome Pokemon cursed to have some of the weirdest fan art devoted to it.
Good typing, great stats, really no reason not to use it in your party. Even if it is some greasy butterballs waifu.
5/5

283-284
Surskit line

Masquerain evolves from a Pokemon with a far more interesting typing, that wouldn't be done justice for 4 more ggenerations.
Masquerain is totally useless and that makes Surskit generally useless.
No Game Freak.
0/5

285-286
Shroom line

This is a really cool one and our first Grass/Fighting type. Love the design, love the massive 130 atk. It's 70 speed is fine, 80 defense alright too. Best yet any Pokemon that hits this mon with a contact move will regret it cause of effect spore.
5/5

287-289
Slak line

So they tried a new thing here, give Slaking the bst of a legendary but give it an ability that only allows it to move every other turn. It's certainly strong as hell, but a couple of well placed special hits should bring it down on its off turn. Then again, that's what yawn is for.
It's more useful in SP cause of the crazy stats and ability to put as many mons asleep as you want but truant does cause some trouble regardless.
3.5/5

290-292
Ninja bug line

Ninjask is probably one of the best Pokemon to date, it shows you how weighted this game can be toward the speed stat. With a jaw smashing 160 base speed this thing is faster than everything but Doexys speed. It definitely has its use.
One quirk is that the shell of this Pokemon will take up an empty party slot and Pokeball if present. This is Shedinja which lacks the impressive stats but can only be hit by SE moves. It has a niche if you use it right but it's a lot easier to stop than Ninjask.
3.5/5

293-295
Whis line

Useless Pokemon. Terrible stat spread, situational ability. Decent design. Really no reason to use this over Zangoose or Slaking.
0/5

 

[Nep Nep]

296-297
Maku line

So, I'm not a huge fan of this design, it is creative though. It's not so bad that it's nearly objectively ugly though I can see how this would be a favorite for some. It has massive HP and Attack and two abilities that let it tank or attack. That makes it an even more creative and very usable.
3.5/5

298
Azurill

Like all baby Pokemon, this is a useless addition. It's pointless, most baby Pokemon are. Gen 3 gets its second 0 here.
0/5

299
Nosepass

This is one of gen 3's few truly hideous Pokemon. You see that mouth? It's a foot. Did you know that? I didn't.
Ugly, slow, 50% chance of having a shitty ability. Just no.
0/5

300-301
Skitty line

It's a very weak cat. Not really much use. Likely to get one shot before doing any thing, but it learns baton pass so it's not totally useless, just mostly useless.
2/5

302
Sableye

These stats would be a death sentence normally, but its typing means in gen 3 it has no weakness and it has recovery moves as well. That means it's a pain in the ass to kill. It's a useful Pokemon for spreading status.
3.5/5

303
Mawile

So I kinda dig this unusual design cute but dangerous/scary is kind of my thing, I have a couple of bunny plushies that have a lot of disturbing elements in their design, cuts, stitches, dual sided faces with one side happy and one side enraged.
It can be kind of okay with intimidate but otherwise eh...
2/5

304-306
Aron line

Now here's a pretty awesome looking Pokemon. It rocks a 180 defense and a 110 attack. It has decent abilities, one which ensures it will get in a hit no matter what.
Cool, useful, probably the best early steel type you can get.
5/5

307-308
Medi line

I don't like the design much.. but it's so usable that it's hard to knock it. Its ability gives it a massive 120 attack stat backed by an alright 80 speed. It's really good, great typing. It just looks a little weird.
4.5/5

309-310
Elec line

Amazing abilities, cool design, powerful, fast.
One of this generations truly incredible Pokemon.
5/5

311
Plusle

And now the Hoenn dex decides to disappoint us four times in a row. Plusle is useless when compared to Manectric but it misses a zero by having a teeny tiny niche in double battles and having an okay stat spread.
1/5

312
Minun

Minun, it's inferior to Plusle but again, its niche is double battles.
1/5

313
Volbeat

Useless. Ugly. Pointless. Burn it with a thousand flamethrowers.
0/5

314
Illumise

See above. The fuck Game Freak?
0/5

315
Roselia

This is basically inferior Venusaur, which in the Hoenn dex, is a good place to be. Useful all around and a decent design.
4/5

316-317
Gulpin line

So this is what happens if they made Roselia useless. Pure Poison is still a pure trash typing.
0/5

318-319
Carva line

This typing is offensively great, these stats make it a rocking glass cannon, and its ability makes sure any contact move will be punished even if Sharpedo doesn't live.
This is one of my personal favorites.
5/5

320-321
Wail line

It's really not that useful compared to other available water types. It's fine. Not great. Design is alright.
3/5

322-323
Numel line

This is a pretty solid Pokemon with a great offensive typing. It's slow so keep it well away from any water type attacks. Other then that, it's attacking stats will threaten most anything. While it is a little dopey looking I feel like the colors and usability fix that up.
4.5/5

324
Torkoal

Ineffective attacking stats, god awful speed, a defense stat that's good but doesn't save it, I don't really like the design but it's not objectively hideous or anything.
2/5

325-326
Spoink line

Offensively, just use Gardevoir. Defensively? Thick fat gives it some very nice extra bulk for fire and ice attacks.
It's pretty decent and doesn't look too bad.
3.5/5

327
Spinda

Game Freak just can't fucking help themselves can they? There HAS to be one stupidly useless gimmick mon every gen doesn't there?
Just fucking stop. Collecting them isn't fun unless you have no life and no future. They're terrible in battle, and they're not even aesthetically appealing.
0/5

328-330
Trap line

This is a personal Gen 3 favorite. This is one Dragon type that isn't actually a pseudo legendary but it still has a useful typing and speed/atk stats. One ice attack will end it but if there's no ice on the enemy team, it's gonna take some nasty Earthquakes.
5/5

331-332
Cacnea line

It's fucking cool, it's half dark, it has awesome attacking stats.
It's also half grass though and quite slow with lousy defenses. One SE attack will end it which sadly makes it less usable. Cool looking though.
3/5

333-334
Swablu Line

So while I don't personally like the design, this is one of gen 3's very effective attempts at widening the pool of dragon types and diversifying what they do and their overall identity.
It's an extremely versatile Pokemon with good stats and decent typing.

335
Zangoose

A badass speedy attacker with an awesome design and decent ability. Its attacks really hurt and it learns swords dance.
It definitely has its uses.
5/5

336
Seviper

So it's not that great. To start it's pure poison, still the worst typing in the game in this gen. It's slow and isn't that bulky. It does look cool though and its movepool isn't that bad. It can probably do something, just not much.
2.5/5

337
Lunatone

It's fine but I don't really like it. Dumb design, just usable stats, unhelpful typing.
3/5

338
Solrock

See above.
3/5

339-340
Barb line

Vastly inferior Swampert. You use it if you didn't pick Mudkip but want the sweet typing. It's not that nice looking. Meh.
2/5

 

[Nep Nep]

reserved for hoenn dex 3

 

[Yoshi]

244
Entei

Second favorite dog here, stat distribution is fine after gen 4 but here... .ffs a legendary with a 90 special attack stat that's a fire type. Come the fuck on Gamefreak, you know better. You know better and you still do stupid shit like this. Fuck you.
Entei loses a point for that.
4/5

Generation 4 may fix the physical and special split, but it still introduces overpowered gameplay mechanics like Stealth Rock. I at least find it and Generation 5 playable because the overpowered gameplay doesn't get ridiculous until Generation 6 and beyond, introducing things like Mega Evolutions.

 

[Nep Nep]

Generation 4 may fix the physical and special split, but it still introduces overpowered gameplay mechanics like Stealth Rock. I at least find it and Generation 5 playable because the overpowered gameplay doesn't get ridiculous until Generation 6 and beyond, introducing things like Mega Evolutions.

I DESPISE stealth rock. That was the stupidest most centralizing mechanic ever. Idk what Smogon was thinking allowing it for singles.

Like Charizard is popular but prior to gen 6 is GARBAGE competitively, did it really need to lose 50% fucking hp on entry? Omg man. Fuck Stealth Rock. Spikes and Toxic Spikes were less bullshit by far. SR, Garbage.

I'm gonna finish gen 3 soon~ Been lazy for sure but I do want to finish it. I feel like it will score well.

 

[Yoshi]

I agree that Smogon should have banned Stealth Rock.

I think Charizard was fine during Generations 1, 2, & 3. Most Pokemon were, actually. The Tiers were a lot more balanced back then.