Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver In-Game Tier List

[Ryota Mitarai]

Credits: Turdterra (tier list leader), ceal, DrumstickGaming, Ryota Mitarai (major contributors) and other people that helped with the list
(Approved for posting by DHR; this was approved a while ago, but delays caused this to get posted later)

Introduction
Welcome to the Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver in-game tier list! The goal of this list is to rank every Pokemon in Johto into six tiers, from S to E, according to its viability. The major factor under which each is ranked is efficiency; a Pokemon that is efficient provides faster and easier solutions to major battles, which include rival fights, Gym Leaders, Team Rocket Executives, Elite Four members, and Champion Lance. Pokemon in higher ranks, such as S and A, are considered very efficient, while those in lower tiers, such as D and E, are considered not very efficient.

Although the game features an entire journey in the Kanto region after completing the main game, the Pokemon are ranked solely off their performance in the Johto region. This is due to three reasons:

1. The first seven Gym Leaders in Kanto can be fought in absolutely any order, which means that some Pokemon's performance may vary greatly, depending on which Gym Leaders are fought first or last.
   
   
2. Due to high level differences in some of the fights (particularly Blue and Red), it is almost impossible to complete the entire game efficiently in the traditional sense of the word.
   
   
3. Almost all Pokemon that become available after completing Johto would rank very low due to coming very late and/or being underleveled.

Please note that this list is aimed at the Western versions of the games (which do not have buyable Game Corner coins, unlike the Japanese versions).

What are the tiers?
There are 6 tiers in this list:

• S-tier
• A-tier
• B-tier
• C-tier
• D-tier
• E-tier

Why is a Pokemon in a certain tier?
Pokemon are ranked under the following five factors:

• Availability: This is how early a Pokemon becomes available in the game and how hard it is to find (read: encounter rate). Pokemon will also be scored lower if they require significant backtracking, HM moves, or have a low encounter rate.
  • Most Pokemon that are obtained in the Safari Zone will be severely penalized in this ranking. This is because, upon the player's first visit to the Safari Zone, the player receives one out of ten default layouts at random and cannot change the areas within it until they complete Baoba's first test and wait three in-game hours to pass. This means that obtaining Safari Zone Pokemon is not only inconsistent, but also highly inefficient if the player does not get a default layout with the needed area.
• Typing: A Pokemon's typing can be of great importance for an efficient playthrough. How does the Pokemon's typing fare throughout the entire game? If a Pokemon has a better typing, it is often ranked higher.
• Stats: A Pokemon's stat distribution is crucial for its success. Does the Pokemon have a stat distribution that complements its movepool and typing? If a Pokemon has a stat distribution that favors both its typing and movepool, it will often be higher on the tier list. In general, a Pokemon with low Speed will often be ranked lower.
• Movepool: A Pokemon's movepool (both level-up and TM/HM) is crucial. What moves does the Pokemon naturally learn, and which ones can it be taught? If a Pokemon requires a TM found in a detour off the main path (like TM18 Rain Dance on the lower floor of Slowpoke Well) or from the Goldenrod Department raffle, it will be knocked down a bit.
• Major Battles: Major battles consist of rival fights, Gym Leaders, Team Rocket Executives, the Elite Four, and Champion Lance. How does the Pokemon contribute to these battles? A Pokemon that contributes to many major battles will often be ranked higher than those that do not.

What tools is the player allowed to use?
The player is allowed to use almost any legitimate means within the cartridge for completing the game efficiently. The player is only allowed to trade to evolve Pokemon and not to receive outside help otherwise. The player is allowed to use items such as Potions, TMs, Battle Items, and Berries. Keep in mind that items have opportunity costs associated with them and can negatively contribute to a Pokémon's rank if it requires a multitude of items.

The Game Corner TMs are not considered for the purposes of this list due to being very inefficient to obtain; the most viable ones, in particular, cost a lot of coins and thus require a lot of effort to obtain. However, the player is allowed to buy Pokemon and items from the Game Corner. Note that coins can be bought in the Japanese versions of the games, making the TMs considerably easier to obtain there.

The Pokewalker is also not considered for the purposes of this list, as its usefulness is impacted too much by the player's real-life circumstances and therefore cannot be tiered consistently.

Under what conditions were Pokemon tested?
Every Pokemon was tested and ranked under these additional conditions:

• Every Pokemon's level was generally the same as most major opponents' ace Pokemon, at most outleveling them by two levels. Some opponents, like Jasmine and Clair, have ace Pokemon that are at very high levels by the time the player faces them and therefore weren't level-matched. Typical levels for the Elite Four ranged from 42 to 44, depending on how many Rare Candies were used.
• The list assumes a run with four Pokemon. However, smaller teams tend to perform better, as the Pokemon gain more experience and there is less competition for valuable TMs.
• Tampering with the clock to obtain items or Pokémon that are only available in specific times of the day or days of the week was allowed and did not negatively affect any Pokémon's viability.
• After defeating Morty, the player can complete Gyms 5-7 (and any related quests) in any order. Each Pokemon was tested with the order that is the most optimal for it. In most cases, this would be completing the Team Rocket HQ quest first, as this provides extra experience, the Sludge Bomb TM, Choice Specs, and the shiny Gyarados significantly earlier.
• Viability was determined up until Lance; anything that is exclusive to post-game (such as the Psychic TM) was not taken into account for the Pokémon's viability.

All Pokemon are ordered alphabetically within a tier. The availability listed in each Pokemon's entry is considered its most optimal one.

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

S-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon that possess the highest levels of efficiency. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO an overwhelming majority of foes, limit the amount of attacks used against them, and function with minimal reliance on items to defeat opponents at similar levels. These Pokémon typically show up before the late-game, and any flaws they have are absolutely made up by their advantages.

S Tier

Abra (Trade)

Availability: Early-game (buy at Goldenrod Game Corner for 200 coins, level 15).
Typing: Psychic is only outright bad against Karen's Dark-types and Jasmine and is mostly neutral elsewhere, with Morty, Chuck, Koga, and Bruno being particularly good matchups. Alakazam is also excellent for most of Team Rocket.
Stats: Alakazam is a fast and powerful special attacker whose only flaw is its physical frailty. Even then, it will often outspeed and OHKO potential threats, so even that is not a huge issue.
Movepool: Alakazam starts out with Confusion, which upgrades to Psybeam at level 24 and later Psychic at level 40. Calm Mind at level 36 increases Alakazam's sweeping potential for the endgame. Coverage comes through TMs, with Focus Blast covering Dark- and Steel-types, Shadow Ball covering Will, and Charge Beam providing useful Special Attack boosts early on.
Major Battles: Alakazam can overwhelm most opponents and foes just by using its Psychic STAB moves, with Whitney's Miltank, Karen's Houndoom, and Jasmine falling to Focus Blast. It can set up on Clair's Dragonair, heal off paralysis when it's done, and sweep from there. Will is handled by Choice Specs Shadow Ball and Pryce can be swept with the help of Charge Beam boosts, leaving Lance as Alakazam's only truly bad matchup.
Additional Comments: Alakazam is one of the best Pokemon to use in HGSS due to its early arrival, ease of training due to a Medium Slow growth rate, and ability to crush most opponents effortlessly. Synchronize is the preferred ability in order to also paralyze Clair's Dragonair when they paralyze it.

Gyarados

Availability: Mid-game (Lake of Rage, requires Surf, level 30).
Typing: Water / Flying gives Gyarados all-around neutral matchups, save for Lance and Clair who resist its Water-type attacks.
Stats: Gyarados has great stats, save for a mediocre Special Attack, though Choice Specs can help fix it up.
Movepool: Gyarados starts off with Ice Fang and can be taught Thunder and Surf via TMs, the latter of which should be deleted through the move deleter and replaced with Waterfall. Dragon Dance at level 44 helps it sweep endgame opponents. Alternatively, Gyarados can be used as an HM slave, as it learns all three Water HMs and Strength.
Major Battles: Gyarados performs reasonably well against Gyms 5-7 and tends to have a favorable matchup against the Team Rocket Executives. At the Pokemon League, Gyarados can set up as many Dragon Dances as needed and sweep every single opponent there, including Lance, though it may occasionally need one healing item if setting up over an extended period of time.
Additional Comments: While Gyarados doesn't come very early, it is nevertheless one of the best Pokemon to use, as it has a reasonable Gym performance and is the only Pokemon that can sweep the entre Elite Four and Lance. Magikarp can also be encountered at level 50 on Route 43 by repel tricking with a level 26 or higher Pokemon, although it will require a Rare Candy to evolve quickly, a Heart Scale to relearn Dragon Dance, and potentially Proteins. Magikarp can be caught as early as Route 32 via Old Rod, although the effort to evolve it makes it a worse option, though it performs well against Whitney and Morty after evolving.

A-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency, in terms of completing the game, is considered to be very high. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a lot of foes and are not very reliant on items to succeed, but they either have some visible flaws that hurt their efficiency or have their usefulness counterbalanced by a late arrival.

A Tier

Cyndaquil

Availability: Early-game (New Bark Town, level 5).
Typing: Fire typing is neutral barring its super effective nature towards Bugsy and Jasmine and being resisted by Clair and Lance.
Stats: Cyndaquil is a special attacker with great Speed. Its defensive stats are not the greatest, however.
Movepool: Cyndaquil has a fairly lackluster movepool and will carry Flame Wheel all the way until level 35, when it learns Lava Plume. This will later on be upgraded to Flamethrower. It's better to get Fire Blast in Goldenrod for the immediate upgrade until this point.
Major Battles: Cyndaquil handles Bugsy, Whitney (Fire Blast required), Jasmine, Pryce's Piloswine, Koga, and anything it hits neutrally. Early on, it depends on Fire Blast not missing. It struggles against Chuck's Poliwrath, Clair, and Lance.
Additional Comments: Cyndaquil is one of only 5 available Fire-types and the best one in the games. Choice Specs allows its Fire Blast to destroy a majority of the game.

Gastly (Trade)

Availability: Early-game (Sprout Tower (1F-3F), levels 3-6, 85% (nighttime)).
Typing: Ghost / Poison is very useful for Will and Team Rocket and is mostly neutral elsewhere, though it's a double-edged sword against Morty and is bad for Karen's Dark-types and Jasmine.
Stats: Gengar is fast and has a great Special Attack, though it's not very bulky. Its Special Attack can be further augmented by Choice Specs.
Movepool: Gastly relies on Lick as its main attacking move until Night Shade at level 15. Curse at level 12 and Hypnosis allow it to be useful against difficult ace Pokemon early on. Once it evolves into Gengar, it can be taught Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Thunder, and Focus Blast through TMs, with Shadow Punch at level 25 and Shadow Claw through TMs being its best moves against Morty.
Major Battles: Gengar can typically contribute to all fights by using its most powerful move while holding Choice Specs. It is very good for the Elite Four, able to crush Will and claim a few KOs from the other members. It can also KO most of Morty's Pokemon, though it is unlikely to sweep. Before evolution, however, Gastly cannot sweep major opponents reliably, though it can contribute against them with Hypnosis and Curse.
Additional Comments: Gengar is a great Pokemon whose biggest flaws are the annoying Gastly period and slight reliance on inaccurate moves, although the Gastly period isn't too long thanks to its Medium Slow growth rate, and Gastly can still be useful in the earlier fights.

Geodude

Availability: Early-game (Route 46, level 2 or 3, 40% (morning / daytime) or 45% (nighttime)).
Typing: Rock / Ground gives Geodude good matchups against Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney, Jasmine, Koga, and Lance, although it makes it pretty weak to Pryce.
Stats: Geodude has excellent Attack and Defense along with decent HP, although its Speed is abysmal.
Movepool: Rock Throw at level 11 and Magnitude at level 15 are Geodude's STAB moves early on, with Rock Polish being an essential move at level 8 to help Golem sweep. Defense Curl can form a good combo with Rollout at level 22 to help Geodude overpower multiple foes. Earthquake at level 33 is the line's best Ground STAB move, though Golem can utilize Dig via TM until then.
Major Battles: Geodude handles Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney, and, for the most part, Team Rocket. Morty can be potentially swept, depending on if Gastly uses Curse, with Chuck, Pryce, and Clair being bad matchups. The Geodude line is good for most of the Elite Four, save for Will, able to crush Lance by setting up Rock Polish and using Defense Curl + Rollout on Aerodactyl.
Additional Comments: While a tad unreliable with a few inaccurate moves, Geodude is one of the best options for a playthrough of HGSS. There's generally very little difference between Graveler and Golem, so you don't lose too much if you are unable to trade to evolve Geodude. Consider getting the Wide Lens from the Game Corner for 1,000 Coins to make Rollout 99% accurate.

Lugia

Availability: Endgame (Whirl Islands, level 45) (SS).
Typing: Psychic / Flying gives Lugia neutral matchups for Will and Lance and favorable ones for Koga and Bruno, though Karen can be problematic.
Stats: Lugia has fantastic defensive stats and Speed with above-average offenses.
Movepool: Lugia starts out with Extrasensory and Aeroblast and can be taught Hail or Blizzard through TMs, with Weather Ball through relearner being an alternative to Blizzard.
Major Battles: Choice Specs Aeroblast and Extrasenory decimate the Elite Four, 2HKOing and even OHKOing a lot of threats. Lance will need some setup with Hail and Blizzard / Weather Ball, though Lugia will get worn down in the process.
Additional Comments: Despite coming late, Lugia ravages the Elite Four efficiently, though you might need some Ethers to replenish Aeroblast PP.

Heracross

Availability: Early-game (Azalea Town (Headbutt), levels 2-5, 30%).
Typing: Bug / Fighting is handy against Whitney, Jasmine, Pryce, and Karen's Dark-types but is outright bad against several opponents like Team Rocket, Will, and Koga.
Stats: Heracross packs a great Attack, coupled with mostly average other stats.
Movepool: Heracross relies on Headbutt through tutors and Aerial Ace until it learns Brick Break at level 19, which becomes its main STAB move. Close Combat at level 37 provides an even stronger STAB move, and Shadow Claw and Earthquake through TMs provide coverage. Counter at level 25 can be used in niche cases against strong physical attackers (like Bruno's Machamp).
Major Battles: Heracross handles Whitney effortlessly with Brick Break and performs well against Morty with Shadow Claw. It can easily KO Karen's Umbreon and generally hits any opponent hard it can hit neutrally.
Additional Comments: Heracross is a strong Pokemon that is handy against some of the most difficult opponents. However, its Slow growth rate and low join level, coupled with a few bad matchups, prevent it from being perfect. In Azalea Town, there are two types of trees, of which only one has Heracross; Heracross can be found on ones where Spearow and Aipom come at levels 3-5.

Machop (Trade)

Availability: Early-game (Goldenrod Department Store (5F), in-game trade for Drowzee).
Typing: Fighting is incredibly helpful against Whitney and also sees some use against Jasmine, Pryce, and Karen. It is bad against Morty, Will, Koga, and Team Rocket, though.
Stats: Machamp has an excellent Attack, but it is rather slow, and its other stats are somewhat average.
Movepool: Machop starts out with Low Kick and Karate Chop and learns Revenge and Vital Throw at levels 22 and 25. Payback, Dig, and Earthquake through TMs provide coverage and Cross Chop at level 37 is its strongest STAB level up move.
Major Battles: Machop is great against Whitney and can get a few KOs against Morty. It also performs well against Chuck with Vital Throw, takes out Jasmine's Magnemite, and sweeps Pryce. It can beat Clair's Dragonair thanks to Thunder Wave triggering Guts and get a few KOs against Bruno while also being reliable against Karen's Umbreon with Vital Throw and OHKOing Houndoom with Cross Chop.
Additional Comments: Machamp is all-around a great Pokemon that can take on many key opponents and is easy to train due to traded experience. However, Fighting is resisted often, and as a result is mediocre in a few matchups. The traded Machop, Muscle, comes with an IV spread of 15/25/20/15/15/20, Guts, and a Lonely nature. It is also female, which helps it greatly against Whitney, and holds Macho Brace, which can help it gain EVs since it will often be outsped anyways.

Onix (Trade)

Availability: Early-game, Violet City (in-game trade for Bellsprout).
Typing: Onix begins with the Rock / Ground typing, which gives it good STAB options and resistances for the early Gyms. As Steelix, it replaces its Rock typing in favor of Steel, providing it with a fantastic defensive typing.
Stats: Steelix sports a titanic base 200 Defense, assuring that even super effective physical attacks will do minimal damage. Its 85 Attack is average overall, (comma) but its high-power STAB moves and ability to boost its Attack allow it to overcome this issue. Steelix's other stats are similarly average, with a particularly bad base Speed stat of 30.
Movepool: Onix starts out with a solid STAB move in Rock Throw, which gives it good coverage in early battles. It also comes with Screech, which, for a while, will be its best alternative to boosting Attack. Curse at level 38 is its most important level-up move, allowing Steelix to sweep many late-game opponents. Steelix gains access to the elemental fangs, most notably Ice Fang for coverage against Lance. Notable TMs include Dig, Iron Tail, Payback, and Earthquake.
Major Battles: Onix's typing gives it positive matchups against the first three Gym leaders, although being over level 10 against Falkner can result in disobedience hampering its performance. Once you upgrade to Steelix, it has the typing and stats to get through most major battles, including all of Team Rocket, even contributing to ones such as Chuck and Bruno where Steelix has the type disadvantage. Its only truly bad matchups are Clair, Karen, and Lance.
Additional Comments: The traded Onix, Rocky, comes with an IV spread of 25/20/25/15/15/15 and a Hasty nature. You can obtain Steelix as early as before Burned Tower, but it requires either grinding in Pokeathalon or using Thief on wild Magnemites for their Metal Coats; the former is preferred, as it is comparatively less time-consuming. Steelix's amazing typing and good coverage makes it a fantastic Pokemon, but the hassle it takes to evolve it prevents it from ranking among the very best in the game. If you are unable to trade, Steelix can also be caught at Cliff Cave, but it won't be as useful due to missing some of its best matchups and having a 2% encounter rate, though it can be found more easily using the Repel trick with a level 23 Pokemon.

Totodile

Availability: Early-game (New Bark Town, level 5).
Typing: The Water typing is all-around neutral, save for being resisted by Clair, Lance, and 2/3 of Pryce's team.
Stats: Totodile is a tank with good Attack and Defense and decent HP and Special Defense. Overall, it's jack of all trades outside of Attack and Defense.
Movepool: Totodile has a versatile movepool via level up and TMs, consisting of Water Gun at level 6, Bite at level 13, Ice Fang at level 21, Crunch at level 32, and Waterfall, Strength, Rock Tomb, and Earthquake via TM/HM. This enables Totodile to hit everything it needs to neutrally or super effectively.
Major Battles: Totodile can handle Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney with Rage, and Morty before starting to have issues in the mid to early late-game. Chuck's Poliwrath, Pryce, Clair, and Lance all give it issues.
Additional Comments: Totodile is one of the best Waters in the game, only really struggling in the mid-game and the beginning of the late-game, a common trait shared with other Water-types.

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

B-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon with high efficiency in terms of completing the game. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a fair number of foes but may require a bit of item reliance to sweep opponents' teams. These Pokémon are very useful, but they either have several flaws holding them back or are encountered fairly late.

B Tier

Abra (No Trade)

Availability: Early-game (buy at Goldenrod Game Corner for 200 coins, level 15).
Typing: Psychic is only outright bad against Karen's Dark-types and Jasmine and is mostly neutral elsewhere, with Morty, Chuck, Koga, and Bruno being particularly good matchups.
Stats: Kadabra is a typical glass cannon, being a fast and powerful special attacker with very little bulk.
Movepool: Confusion upgrades to Psybeam at level 24 and then Psychic at level 40. Charge Beam and Shadow Ball through TMs provide coverage. Reflect can patch up its poor physical bulk.
Major Battles: Kadabra typically needs to OHKO the foe to perform well, as it is easily OHKOed otherwise. It can crush most of Team Rocket, Morty, Chuck, Koga (bar Forretress), and Bruno. It can also contribute against Will with Shadow Ball and Pryce with Charge Beam, though neither is a sweep and the latter requires lucky boosts for Kadabra to perform well.
Additional Comments: While Kadabra can crush many major opponents, its lack of bulk practically mandates it to be used only when it has a type advantage, as it risks being KOed itself if it fails to KO the foe.

Aipom

Availability: Early-game (Azalea Town (Headbutt), levels 3-5 or 6-8, 20%).
Typing: Pure Normal gives Aipom neutral matchups everywhere save for Chuck and Bruno.
Stats: Aipom has good Speed and decent Attack for how early you get it. Ambipom has excellent base 115 Speed and 100 Attack, but its defenses are still below average.
Movepool: Most of Aipom's level-up movepool is irrelevant, barring Tickle at level 15 for a fast debuff, though Double Hit at level 32 is required to evolve. Generally, the Return TM is all Aipom will be using once its happiness is high, though the Shadow Claw and Dig TMs can help with coverage, and Last Resort at level 43 can be handy with proper use of the move deleter.
Major Battles: Aipom is great for Morty with Shadow Claw, while Chuck is surprisingly good for Ambipom as long as you disrupt Focus Punch. Jasmine's Steelix is handled by Tickle + Dig (the Magnemite are OHKOed without Tickle). Ambipom will generally KO quite a few Pokemon in the endgame, particularly with Last Resort.
Additional Comments: Aipom is a solid Pokemon if you can catch it in a Friend Ball for a powerful early Return, though its catch rate of 45 can prove troublesome. However, Aipom has a Fast growth rate, making it easy to train.

Chinchou

Availability: Mid-game (New Bark Town (Good Rod), level 20, 7%).
Typing: Water / Electric is a unique combination that grants Chinchou super effective STAB damage on several common types as well as two strong STAB options. Defensively, it grants the line key resistances to Water, Fire, Ice, and Flying.
Stats: Lanturn's most notable stat is its colossal base 125 HP, which gives it a lot of tanking potential, even with its mediocre defensive stats. Its Special Attack is average at 76, but its strong STAB moves and compatibility with Choice Specs make it stronger than it appears. 67 Speed does leave it somewhat lagging behind, however.
Movepool: Chinchou doesn't start with very good level-up moves, but it does gain Signal Beam later on at level 35 for effective coverage versus Grass- and Psychic-types. The real beauty is in its TM and HM coverage; Chinchou will already have access to Surf and Thunder when caught, and, with a detour, it can obtain Rain Dance as well, making both moves even more formidable. Charge Beam is worth a mention, as it is Chinchou's only alternative to Thunder until Discharge at level 40. Blizzard can also be taught late-game to target Clair's and Lance's Dragon-types.
Major Battles: Chinchou can contribute to Morty, but it really gets going upon evolving into Lanturn. From then on it simply fails to have a bad matchup, performing admirably against the Gym Leaders, Team Rocket, and most of the Elite Four save for Bruno, who is only a decent encounter. Lance overwhelms it, but it can take a Dragonite or two with it thanks to Blizzard.
Additional Comments: Chinchou provides a strong contender for a Water-type team member, but it requires a significant amount of detouring to get it as early as possible, as well as to acquire the items it wants to best succeed (the Rain Dance TM and Mystic Water). The TM cost is also considerable, and overall this requirement for investment, alongside the incredibly low encounter rate, bars it from ranking any higher.

Eevee (Vaporeon)

Availability: Mid-game (Goldenrod City after talking to Bill in the Ecruteak City Pokemon Center, level 5).
Typing: Water typing is all-around neutral, save for being resisted against Clair, Lance, and 2/3 of Pryce's team.
Stats: Vaporeon is a special attacker with incredibly high HP and good Special Defense. Its other stats are mediocre.
Movepool: Vaporeon comes in at the right time and has immediate access to Surf and Shadow Ball. Aurora Beam comes in at level 36 and allows it to have an easier time against Clair and Lance.
Major Battles: Vaporeon deals with Chuck's Primeape, Jasmine, Pryce's Piloswine, a good chunk of Clair, Will, some of Koga, Bruno, Karen, and some of Lance, using the Choice Specs against all of them, alongside anything it hits neutrally. It struggles to sweep but can put in the work.
Additional Comments: Vaporeon is all-around a solid Water-type Pokemon that is useful in many places, but it struggles to sweep and requires you to spend some time getting the Water Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome.

Gastly (No Trade)

Availability: Early-game (Sprout Tower (1F-3F), levels 3-6, 85% (nighttime)).
Typing: Ghost / Poison is very useful for Will and Team Rocket and is mostly neutral elsewhere, though it's a double-edged sword against Morty and is bad for Karen's Dark-types and Jasmine.
Stats: Haunter is fast and has a good Special Attack, though it's not very bulky. Its Special Attack can be further augmented by Choice Specs.
Movepool: Gastly relies on Lick as its main attacking move until Night Shade at level 15. Curse at level 12 and Hypnosis allow it to be useful against difficult ace Pokemon. Once it evolves into Haunter, it can be taught Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb through TMs, with Shadow Punch at level 25 and Shadow Claw through TMs being its best moves against Morty.
Major Battles: Haunter can typically contribute to all fights by using its most powerful move while holding Choice Specs. It is good for the Elite Four, being able to crush Will and claim a few KOs from the other members. It can also KO most of Morty's Pokemon, though it is unlikely to sweep. It can contribute to the first fights with Curse and Hypnosis, which can later be useful against opponents like Clair's Kingdra and Karen's Umbreon.
Additional Comments: Haunter is a good Pokemon and its biggest flaw is the annoying Gastly period, although it isn't too long thanks to the Medium Slow growth rate, and Gastly can still be useful in the earlier fights. Haunter also lacks coverage, so it will miss out on a few important KOs due to that, though this lacking coverage also allows it to run Curse and Hypnosis for the entire game, which can be useful against more difficult opponents.

Girafarig

Availability: Mid-game (Route 43, level 15, 30%)
Typing: Normal / Psychic is excellent against Morty and provides it with a type advantage against Team Rocket, Chuck, Koga, and Bruno, and it gives mostly neutral matchups elsewhere.
Stats: Girafarig's stats tend to be average, with its highest stat being 90 Special Attack, though its base 65 defenses can cause some longevity issues.
Movepool: Confusion upgrades to Psybeam at level 19 and then to Psychic at level 37. Girafarig can be taught Strength immediately or make good use of Return if caught in a Friend Ball. Shadow Ball, Charge Beam, and Earthquake through TMs provide coverage.
Major Battles: Girafarig performs excellently against all foes it can hit super effectively with Psychic STAB moves. However, even with STAB moves and coverage, it misses on a few vital KOs at the Pokemon League, which can prove fatal for Girafarig.
Additional Comments: Girafarig is a decent Pokemon, as its typing is very favorable for Johto, but its average stats prevent it from making an impact in neutral matchups. Note that Mahogany Town can be reached through Mt. Mortar before getting Surf, which allows you to use Girafarig against Morty.

Ho-Oh

Availability: Endgame (Bell Tower (roof), level 45) (HG).
Typing: Fire / Flying is decent for Koga and Bruno and neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Ho-Oh has excellent stats as a whole, being a strong physical attacker and a special wall. Its stats are further enhanced by a high join level.
Movepool: Ho-Oh starts out with Sacred Fire and Sunny Day and can be retaught Brave Bird. The fourth moveslot can go to either Extrasensory, Fire Blast, or Shadow Ball, though Ho-Oh will be using those only to preserve Sacred Fire PP.
Major Battles: Ho-Oh crushes Will and Koga with Sunny Day and Sacred Fire while also claiming a few KOs against Karen. Brave Bird OHKOes everything on Bruno's team bar Onix (though Hitmonlee can outspeed and finish Ho-Oh off if it took too much recoil). Lance is a terrible matchup for Ho-Oh.
Additional Comments: Ho-Oh is excellent for most of the remaining fights, but its super late arrival and bad Lance matchup prevent it from ranking higher. It is best that you catch Ho-Oh with Master Ball due to it having a very low catch rate.

Lapras

Availability: Mid-game (Union Cave (B2F), Fridays, requires Surf, level 20).
Typing: Water / Ice means Lapras is average for most matchups aside from Chuck and Bruno (which are bad for Lapras). Notably, Lapras is one of the few Pokemon with a type advantage against Clair's Dragonair as well as Lance.
Stats: Lapras has an enormous base 130 HP and average other stats aside from base 60 Speed.
Movepool: Lapras starts with Ice Shard, Confuse Ray, and Body Slam and should be taught Surf immediately. Lapras picks up Rain Dance at level 22 and Perish Song at level 27, which has a use if a boss is down to one Pokemon left. At level 32, Lapras gets its most reliable Ice-type STAB move in Ice Beam. Thunder via TM is effective with Lapras's natural Rain Dance.
Major Battles: Rain Dance and Thunder work well for Chuck and Pryce, while all of Jasmine's Pokemon are beaten by Choice Specs and Surf. Lapras can take on Clair effectively with Choice Specs and Ice Beam, though it's unlikely to sweep without healing. Lapras generally OHKOes or 2HKOes targets at the League with the appropriate STAB move, though it will struggle against Bruno and beat a couple of Lance's Pokemon only if healed while it's not on the field.
Additional Comments: Lapras is a great Pokemon, though the Slow growth rate and backtracking required to obtain it hold it back.

Magmar

Availability: Mid-game (Burned Tower (BF1), level 14 (morning and nighttime) or level 16 (daytime), 5% (morning and nighttime) or 10% (daytime)).
Typing: Pure Fire typing gives Magmar the advantage against Jasmine and Pryce's Piloswine, and it's neutral for most other battles in the game while giving it trouble versus Clair and Lance.
Stats: Magmar has high Speed, Attack, and Special Attack, making it a deadly mixed sweeper. This is offset by its poor defenses, however.
Movepool: Magmar has a steady series of STAB moves to upgrade to throughout the game; it begins with Ember, then gets Fire Punch at 29, Lava Plume at 36, and Flamethrower at 42. Outside of Fire-type moves, though, its level-up movepool is limited to Faint Attack and some status moves like Smokescreen and Confuse Ray. TM-wise, Fire Blast from Goldenrod is vital to give it a strong nuking option early on and Focus Blast can be taught to give it some coverage.
Major Battles: Magmar does very well against Morty, Jasmine, SIlver, Team Rocket in general, Koga, and Bruno. It does decently against Chuck, Pryce, Will, and Karen, not doing better thanks to their Fire-resistant team members, while it falls flat versus Clair and Lance, who wall it entirely.
Additional Comments: Magmar is a solid Fire-type, and its primary advantages over others are its solid stats from capture and series of strong, reliable STAB moves. Its main downside, aside from its small movepool outside of Fire-type attacks, is its mid-game availability causing it to miss out on key battles.

Magnemite

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, level 16, 20%).
Typing: Electric / Steel provides Magnemite with many useful resistances, including against Morty, Team Rocket, Pryce, Will, and Koga, although it leaves Magnemite weak to Chuck and Bruno's type.
Stats: Magneton has a very high Special Attack and above-average Defense, though its other stats are below-average.
Movepool: Magnemite can be taught the Flash Cannon and Charge Beam TMs from the Goldenrod Department Store raffle on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, with Discharge at level 40 being its most reliable Electric-type STAB move. Outside of those, Magnemite can also be taught Thunder and Rain Dance for a powerful move combination early on.
Major Battles: Magnemite provides some help against Morty and can sweep Chuck if it successfully sets up rain. It can sweep Pryce easily and crushes most of Team Rocket. It is also particularly useful against Will and Koga with Choice Specs + Discharge and beats Lance's Gyarados and Aerodactyl.
Additional Comments: Magnemite is useful in many matchups thanks to its excellent typing and great Special Attack. However, it requires two TMs from the Goldenrod Department Store raffle to become usable immediately, and Magnemite is easy to KO until it evolves due to its low HP and Speed. Note that Magneton cannot evolve into Magnezone within HGSS due to the lack of special magnetic fields.

Mareep

Availability: Early-game (Route 32, level 6, 20% (morning and daytime) or 10% (nighttime)).
Typing: Electric gives Mareep advantages against Falkner and Will, as well as handful of assorted boss Pokemon, but Jasmine is a shaky matchup.
Stats: Mareep and Flaaffy have good HP and special stats, but their other stats are lacking. Ampharos patches up its stats to be a well-rounded bulky attacker with an excellent 115 Special Attack. However, its 55 Speed means it is fairly slow.
Movepool: Mareep notably doesn't get Thundershock until level 10, and then it is stuck with that until the Charge Beam or Thunder TM. Both moves are fairly unreliable, but if you hold off evolving Flaaffy until level 31, it will learn Discharge in time for the three mid-game Gyms, finally making it a reliable damage dealer. Focus Blast via TM serves as decent coverage, and the Rain Dance TM can be utilized with Thunder if you desire.
Major Battles: Mareep fares well against Falkner with Thundershock. Bugsy's Scyther and Flaaffy 3HKO each other, but Flaaffy will generally lose unless you get lucky with paralysis. From then on until Ampharos, Flaaffy generally relies on the unreliable Thunder to deal heavy damage against most major opponents. Thunder OHKOes all of Chuck's Pokemon while Focus Blast does the same for Jasmine. Ampharos is decent for Pryce and Clair while generally OHKOing or 2HKOing most targets with Choice Specs and Discharge at the Pokemon League.
Additional Comments: Ampharos is a good Pokemon but is held back by its pre-evolution phases, as Mareep and Flaaffy have low stats and poor movepools, which force them to rely on moves with imperfect accuracy or set up Rain Dance until Discharge.

Miltank

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, level 13, 5%).
Typing: Normal makes Miltank useful for Morty and bad for Chuck, Jasmine, and Bruno, being neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Miltank has all-around solid stats, being relatively fast and bulky and packing an acceptable amount of power.
Movepool: If caught in a Friend Ball, Miltank can be taught Return for immediate access to a powerful STAB move. Rollout at level 19, combined with Defense Curl, can help Miltank sweep some fights, albeit inconsistently due to Rollout's imperfect accuracy. Other useful moves include Zen Headbutt and Earthquake.
Major Battles: Miltank obliterates Morty with Scrappy and can generally hit most neutral foes hard with STAB Return. Defense Curl + Rollout allows it to potentially sweep some of the more difficult opponents like Pryce and, with an Intimidate teammate for Gyarados and healing, Lance.
Additional Comments: Miltank is a mostly solid Pokemon that is fairly hard to catch in a Friend Ball due to low encounter and catch rates. Miltank generally performs well against Pryce even without Thick Fat, so it's preferable that you get one with Scrappy to improve the Morty matchup. Wide Lens from the Game Corner can help fix Rollout's imperfect accuracy.

Nidoran-F

Availability: Early-game (Route 35, level 12, 30%).
Typing: Poison / Ground is useful against Chuck, Jasmine, Team Rocket, Koga, and Bruno, though it's pretty bad against Pryce, Clair, and Will.
Stats: Nidoqueen's stats are all-around solid, allowing it to hit both physically and specially, though its offensive stats may at times feel rather weak.
Movepool: Nidoqueen's movepool is mostly TM-based, with it utilizing Dig, Sludge Bomb, Thunder, Fire Blast, Blizzard, and Shadow Claw to hit various opponents' types super effectively. Earthquake through TMs is a direct upgrade from Dig.
Major Battles: If Nidoqueen has a super effective move, it can generally use it to deal heavy damage to almost anything it faces. The line is only useful against Morty if fully evolved, as Nidoqueen's pre-evolutions cannot learn Shadow Claw.
Additional Comments: Nidoqueen's usefulness comes mainly from its vast movepool, which allows it to hit a huge number of foes super effectively, though it's very reliant on the inaccurate TM moves to hit hard in many matchups. Moon Stone can be obtained from the Pokeathlon Dome, purchased by the player's mom, or gained from the Ruins of Alph with Surf, with the former two methods allowing the line to fully evolve before Morty.

Nidoran-M

Availability: Early-game (Route 35, level 12, 30%).
Typing: Poison / Ground is useful against Chuck, Jasmine, Team Rocket, Koga, and Bruno, though it's pretty bad against Pryce, Clair, and Will.
Stats: Nidoking's stats are all-around solid, allowing it to hit both physically and specially.
Movepool: Nidoking's movepool is mostly TM-based, with it utilizing Dig, Sludge Bomb, Thunder, Fire Blast, Blizzard, and Shadow Claw to hit various opponents' types super effectively. Earthquake through TMs is a direct upgrade from Dig.
Major Battles: If Nidoking has a super effective move, it can generally use it to deal heavy damage to almost anything it faces. The line is only useful against Morty if fully evolved, as Nidoking's pre-evolutions cannot learn Shadow Claw.
Additional Comments: Nidoking's usefulness comes mainly from its vast movepool, which allows it to hit a huge number of foes super effectively, though it's very reliant on the inaccurate TM moves to hit hard in many matchups. Moon Stone can be obtained from the Pokeathlon Dome, purchased by the player's mom, or gained from the Ruins of Alph with Surf, with the former two methods allowing the line to fully evolve before Morty.

Pinsir

Availability: Early-game (National Park (Bug-Catching Contest), level 13 or 14, 5%).
Typing: Bug is helpful against Will and Karen, but before that, it doesn't see much use offensively, as Pinsir learns X-Scissor somewhat late. It is useful for resisting Chuck and Bruno's type, though.
Stats: Pinsir is a physical tank with an excellent Attack. Its other stats aren't particularly impressive, though base 85 Speed lets it outspeed most of the game.
Movepool: Pinsir relies on Dig through TMs and Seismic Toss until it gets better moves, such as Brick Break at level 21 and X-Scissor at level 30. Earthquake through TMs is an upgrade from Dig, and Swords Dance at level 38 helps Pinsir sweep endgame fights.
Major Battles: Pinsir can beat Whitney's Miltank with Revenge as long as it doesn't get repeatedly flinched. Morty can be swept with Dig if Pinsir has Mold Breaker. It can OHKO Jasmine's Magnemite and beat Pryce's Seel and Dewgong. At the Elite Four, Pinsir sweeps Bruno easily by using Hitmontop as setup fodder and crushes Karen, notably OHKOing Umbreon with +2 X-Scissor.
Additional Comments: While Pinsir is decent for some key fights, it is very difficult to obtain due to its low catch rate and rarity, which is made worse by Mold Breaker being desired to perform well against Morty. Furthermore, it is in the Slow experience group, so it's a chore to train too.

Raikou

Availability: Mid-game (roaming Johto, after going to the lower floor of Burned Tower, level 40).
Typing: Electric is all-around great for all opponents, particularly against Pryce and half of Lance's team.
Stats: Most of Raikou's stats are excellent and are further enhanced by a high join level. Its physical bulk is somewhat average, though.
Movepool: Raikou mostly uses Thunder and Rain Dance to deal damage, with Charge Beam and Shadow Ball through TMs providing more reliable alternatives without setup.
Major Battles: If caught as early as possible, Raikou can handle Team Rocket and most Gym Leaders with little difficulty. At the Elite Four, it can sweep Will with Shadow Ball and generally performs well against the other members if it can get a Charge Beam boost. It can also beat Lance's Gyarados, Charizard, and Aerodactyl, though the latter is faster and thus can KO Raikou if it's too weakened.
Additional Comments: Raikou's great performance before the endgame is counterbalanced by the extreme difficulty of catching it. This catching difficulty can be circumvented by catching it with the Master Ball, which you get after obtaining the Rising Badge, at the cost of skipping those matchups. Raikou's Elite Four performance is decent, but its extremely late arrival if using the Master Ball + reliance on Charge Beam boosts for some remaining fights prevent it from ranking higher.

Rattata

Availability: Early-game (Route 29, levels 2-4, 5% (morning and daytime) or 15% (nighttime)).
Typing: Pure Normal gives Rattata strong neutral coverage and only one weakness in Fighting, although both Chuck and Bruno specialize in Fighting-types, and Jasmine's Steel-types resist Rattata's Normal-type moves.
Stats: Raticate boasts an average base 81 Attack as well as a surprisingly fast 97 Speed, but its other stats are poor.
Movepool: Hyper Fang at level 16 gives Rattata a very strong STAB option early-game at a time where strong moves are scarce and Normal-resistant Pokemon are scarcer. Crunch at 24 gives it super effective coverage versus Ghost-types. TM-wise, Return in Goldenrod City and Dig at National Park provide Raticate with an even better STAB move and coverage versus Rock- and Steel-types, respectively. With a Heart Scale, it can learn Swords Dance from the tutor in Blackthorn City, which is crucial for Raticate's late-game performance.
Major Battles: Pre-Swords Dance, Rattata generally manages to defeat the lesser Pokemon in most major fights but will falter against ace Pokemon due to their higher level / stats. Notable sweeps include Team Rocket and Morty. Post-Swords Dance, Clair can potentially be fully swept should you have a very fast Raticate. Raticate performs well against every Elite Four member save Karen and could potentially sweep Lance as well. if it is provided severe Intimidate support and possesses higher than average Speed.
Additional Comments: Rattata is all-around a good Pokemon due to coming early and taking on some of the more difficult opponents. However, it is reliant on having a very high Speed to sweep them, as it otherwise loses against them easily. Make sure to grab the guaranteed Heart Scale on Route 32 in order to teach Raticate Swords Dance at Blackthorn City (requires Surf).

Scyther (No Trade)

Availability: Early-game (National Park (Bug-Catching Contest), level 13 or 14, 5%).
Typing: Bug / Flying is very useful against Chuck, Will, and Bruno, but it is very bad against Jasmine and Pryce.
Stats: Scyther is a fast and strong physical attackers that can easily outspeed and KO most foes before they can touch it.
Movepool: Scyther will mainly use Wing Attack (learned at level 21), which hits very hard thanks to Technician. X-Scissor at level 41 helps out against Will and Karen's Umbreon. Rock Smash through HM provides Scyther with some Technician-boosted coverage against Rock- and Steel-types.
Major Battles: Scyther performs well against almost any opponent where it can hit their type neutrally with Wing Attack, including Whitney. Scyther also has an acceptable matchup against Will and Karen with the help of X-Scissor.
Additional Comments: Scyther is incredibly difficult to obtain, as it is hard to catch, has a low encounter rate, and requires Technician in order to perform well. This greatly offsets its all-around high utility.

Staryu

Availability: Mid-game (Route 40, Good Rod, level 20, 10% (night)).
Typing: Starmie is Water / Psychic type; Psychic is useful for resisting the types of Chuck, Will, and Bruno, but it has no use offensively, as Starmie doesn't learn Psychic-type moves during the main game.
Stats: Starmie has excellent Speed and Special Attack, but dismal HP and average other stats.
Movepool: Starmie's moveset is almost exclusively TM- and HM-based. Surf is its main STAB move, and Rain Dance can power it up while making Thunder always hit. Blizzard via TM can provide Ice-type coverage.
Major Battles: Starmie handles most of Morty's and Jasmine's teams with Surf, which is also useful against most of the Elite Four with Rain Dance or Choice Specs. Thunder helps it against Pryce, though it has to play around Seel's Hail to set up Rain Dance. It also handles Clair's Dragonair and Lance's Dragonite with Blizzard.
Additional Comments: Starmie is a good Pokemon, but the sheer annoyance of obtaining a Water Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome to evolve it and the Slow growth rate, alongside its occasional reliance on inaccurate moves, keep it from the higher tiers.

Tauros

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, level 13, 4%).
Typing: Normal is decent for Morty and mostly neutral elsewhere, though it gives Tauros a weakness to Chuck and Bruno.
Stats: Tauros is fast and hits very hard physically, though its low Special Attack means that it cannot take great advantage of its wide special learnset.
Movepool: Tauros can be taught Strength immediately or make good use of Return if caught in a Friend Ball. Payback at level 24 is decent for Morty and Tauros learns other coverage moves, including Earthquake, Surf, and Fire Blast.
Major Battles: Tauros sweeps Morty easily and is usually decent in any neutral matchup with full-power Return. It can also KO Jasmine's Magnemite with Choice Specs and Fire Blast. Morty is generally the only matchup it will reliably sweep.
Additional Comments: Tauros is a decent Pokemon due to its high damage output, but several problems like rarity, low join level, a Slow growth rate, and the difficulty of catching it in a Friend Ball hold it back. However, Tauros can be caught at Route 48 with a 21% encounter rate at level 20 or 24 at the cost of skipping Morty.

Tentacool

Availability: Mid-game (Route 40 (surfing), levels 15-29, 10%) (Tentacruel).
Typing: Water / Poison is excellent aside from against Will, as it hits most opponents' types neutrally and provides useful resistances for Chuck, Koga, Bruno, and Team Rocket.
Stats: Tentacruel is fast and very specially bulky. Its other stats aren't impressive, though Tentacruel hits decently hard with Choice Specs.
Movepool: Tentacruel should be taught Surf immediately and Sludge Bomb by TM later on. Blizzard through TM provides some coverage and Barrier at level 26 improves matchups against physical attackers. Rain Dance through TM, combined with Mystic Water, allows it to hit as hard as possible with Surf.
Major Battles: Tentacruel is decent for Gyms 5-7 and easily beats the Team Rocket Executives. It can notably defeat Clair's Kingdra with Choice Specs and Sludge Bomb due to its great special bulk and Clear Body blocking Smokescreen. Its Elite Four performance is unimpressive, though Tentacruel is decent against Koga and can contribute to Bruno with Barrier and healing when needed.
Additional Comments: Tentacruel can be caught at an incredibly high level if you resort to Repels and lead Pokemon leveled in the high 20s. This and its decent performance until the endgame make Tentacruel a handy Pokemon as a whole. Tentacool can be caught as soon as you obtain the Old Rod, but its performance until you get the Good Rod is terrible, so that's generally not worth bothering with. Note that Tentacruel is in the Slow experience group, which can make it annoying to train.

Vulpix

Availability: Early-game (Route 36, 10% (morning and night, level 13), 15% (day, levels 13-15) (SS).
Typing: Pure Fire is great for Jasmine and Koga, bad for Clair and Lance, and neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Vulpix and Ninetales have good Speed and Special Defense, but average stats elsewhere.
Movepool: Vulpix needs to be caught at level 13 to have Ember. Vulpix gets Flamethrower at level 24, which will be its main attack with Choice Specs. Ninetales can relearn Nasty Plot at level 1 and be given Fire Blast and Sunny Day via TMs if desired.
Major Battles: Vulpix is too frail to stand up to Whitney's Miltank, but Ninetales can take on all of Morty's Pokemon save Gengar reliably. From there, Ninetales tends to take out one Pokemon in major battles save Jasmine (where it sweeps) and Clair (bad matchup) until the Pokemon League, where Ninetales tends to use Nasty Plot at least once and OHKO most non-resistant Pokemon that aren't particularly bulky.
Additional Comments: Despite needing a Fire Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome, Vulpix is still a solid damage dealer with either Choice Specs mid-game or Nasty Plot at the endgame. Make sure to only evolve Vulpix after it learns Flamethrower at level 24.

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

C-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon having moderately high efficiency at completing the game. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a reasonable portion of foes, but they are matchup based enough to need some item assistance in sweeping some opponents' teams. These Pokémon are useful; however, they either have several flaws holding them back or barely make up for their late arrivals.

C Tier

Caterpie

Availability: Early-game (Route 31, level 3 or 4, 50% (morning) or 35% (daytime) (HG); National Park (Bug Contest), levels 7-18, 20% (SS)).
Typing: Bug / Flying isn't great, as offensively it's only good against Bugsy, Chuck, and Bruno, and it doesn't provide a lot of defensive utility and instead worsens the matchup against Falkner and Pryce.
Stats: Butterfree's stats are relatively high for the early game, but they fall off as the game progresses and the opponents start using Pokemon with much higher stats.
Movepool: Butterfree learns Confusion at level 10, which upgrades to Psybeam at level 24, and Sleep Powder and Stun Spore at level 12, with Gust at level 16 being its only Flying-type STAB move. Silver Wind and Bug Buzz at levels 28 and 40 are its only good Bug-type STAB moves.
Major Battles: Butterfree can see use against any opponent that doesn't resist its moves, as it can outspeed most foes, put them to sleep with a near-perfectly accurate Sleep Powder, and slowly take them down. Butterfree is particularly useful for the first two Gym Leaders if playing HG, though it also sees use against Morty, Chuck, and some of the Team Rocket Executives, although it struggles to sweep the former two.
Additional Comments: Butterfree can beat a lot of foes one-on-one as long as it can outspeed them and hit them neutrally, though this method tends to be slow. Compound Eyes gives Butterfree a lot of utility, as it makes Sleep Powder near-perfectly accurate and also makes Butterfree great for item hunting, boosting the chances of wild Pokemon holding an item, which is further helped by its ability to learn Thief through TMs.

Chikorita

Availability: Early-game (New Bark Town, level 5).
Typing: Grass is a terrible type for Johto, being resisted in most matchups aside from Whitney, Chuck, Pryce, and Bruno.
Stats: Chikorita's stats are balanced save for above average Defense and Special Defense.
Movepool: Razor Leaf upgrades to Petal Dance at level 32, with Strength providing Normal-type coverage. Otherwise, Chikorita gets both Reflect and Light Screen naturally or via TMs from the Goldenrod Department Store.
Major Battles: Chikorita loses to Falkner, Bugsy, Morty, and Jasmine's Magnemite by virtue of being resisted. However, it is good for Whitney, Chuck, Pryce, and Clair's Kingdra. Most of Team Rocket and the Pokemon League aside from Bruno are unfavorable, as the foes tend to resist Grass.
Additional Comments: The Chikorita line with Choice Specs and Petal Dance is decent, but this is not enough to save a Pokemon with middling offensive stats and lackluster typing.

Drowzee

Availability: Early-game (Route 34, levels 10-12, 50%).
Typing: Psychic is useful against Bruno, Koga, and Chuck and also resists Will's type, but it makes Drowzee weak to Morty, along with Karen's Dark-types.
Stats: The line is plagued by a below-average Speed and has mostly average stats aside from its excellent Special Defense.
Movepool: Drowzee starts out with Confusion, which upgrades to Psybeam at level 26. Hypno also learns Shadow Ball and Focus Blast through TMs for coverage. Meditate at level 21 can be combined with the Drain Punch TM, from the Goldenrod Department Store raffle on Thursday, and Headbutt to improve the Whitney matchup.
Major Battles: Drowzee can potentially sweep Whitney with Drain Punch if it sets up Meditate to the maximum against Clefairy. It sees some success against Chuck, Koga, Bruno, and Team Rocket with Choice Specs + Psybeam and Jasmine and Pryce with Focus Blast, though it tends to be mediocre elsewhere. However, it may struggle to OHKO even with super effective hits due to its unimpressive Special Attack.
Additional Comments: While Drowzee is handy against a few matchups, its reliance on super effective hits and lack of raw power hold it back. Insomnia is the preferred ability.

Dunsparce

Availability: Early-game (Dark Cave, Rock Smash, levels 4-8, 90%).
Typing: Pure Normal typing leaves Dunsparce neutral to most everything save for unfavorable matchups against Morty, Chuck, and Bruno.
Stats: Dunsparce has great HP, but average other stats aside from a dismal base 45 Speed.
Movepool: Dunsparce starts with Rage and picks up Defense Curl at level 5 with Rollout to complement it at level 17, getting Yawn and Glare in the interim levels. Dunsparce also gets Roost at level 33 or via TM. Dunsparce has a wide variety of offensive TMs at its disposal like Fire Blast and Dig, but they only hit a few targets. Headbutt via the Ilex Forest tutor and Return via TM can serve as STAB options.
Major Battles: Dunsparce can use Defense Curl and use Rollout until it wins against Bugsy and Whitney, but it will lose to Morty due to Curse wearing it down. Dunsparce flops against Chuck but can handle Jasmine with Choice Specs + Fire Blast if it outspeeds. Defense Curl and Rollout work against the remaining opponents, but by then Dunsparce's stats won't hold up anymore.
Additional Comments: Dunsparce is useful early-game, but its thoroughly average stats hold it back later on despite Rollout access. If you're willing to find the 1% variant before Rock Smash, Dunsparce can get past Falkner with Rage, though this is inefficient. Serene Grace is the preferred ability, as it pairs particularly well with Glare and Headbutt.

Eevee (Espeon)

Availability: Mid-game (Goldenrod City after talking to Bill in the Ecruteak City Pokemon Center, level 5).
Typing: Psychic typing gives Espeon advantages against Morty, Chuck, Koga, and Bruno, though it is bad for Jasmine and Karen.
Stats: Espeon has high Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed, but its other stats are poor.
Movepool: Espeon picks up Confusion at level 15, which upgrades to Psybeam at level 36. Shadow Ball via TM is its only relevant coverage option, though Swift at level 29 can help on routes.
Major Battles: Espeon fares well against Morty, but it will not sweep due to losing to Gengar. Espeon is great for Chuck, Koga, and Bruno with Psychic-type STAB moves, though it is ineffective for Jasmine and Karen and average elsewhere.
Additional Comments: Eevee has to be evolved by level 15 so that Espeon can learn Confusion. The required friendship is very difficult to achieve in just ten levels, and as a result, evolving Eevee takes a lot of time and effort. Haircuts via the Goldenrod Tunnel and the Soothe Bell from the National Park expedite this process.

Eevee (Flareon)

Availability: Mid-game (Goldenrod City after talking to Bill in the Ecruteak City Pokemon Center, level 5).
Typing: Fire typing leaves Flareon good for Jasmine and Koga, but average for everything else aside from Clair and Lance.
Stats: Flareon has great Attack and good special stats, though its Speed is slightly below average.
Movepool: Flareon's natural learnset is mostly irrelevant, as it uses Fire Blast via the Goldenrod Department Store TM for almost all battles, with Dig and Return through TMs serving as other options. Fire Fang at level 43 is outclassed by Choice Specs + Fire Blast.
Major Battles: Flareon OHKOes most of Morty's team save Gengar with Charcoal-boosted Fire Blast, though it is slower. Flareon can OHKO Chuck's Primeape, Pryce's Piloswine, and all of Jasmine's team with Charcoal- or Choice Specs-boosted Fire Blast. It can pick off a few targets at the Pokemon League with Choice Specs + Fire Blast.
Additional Comments: Flareon is decent but the inefficiency of getting a Fire Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome on Tuesday for 2,500 Points, alongside its relatively average performance, hold it back.

Eevee (Jolteon)

Availability: Mid-game (Goldenrod City after talking to Bill in the Ecruteak City Pokemon Center, level 5).
Typing: Electric typing means Jolteon is good for Chuck and Pryce aside from Piloswine, though it is bad for Jasmine and average elsewhere.
Stats: Jolteon is exceptionally fast with good special stats, but its other stats are low.
Movepool: Jolteon's main attack is the Charge Beam TM, though it also gets Thundershock at level 15. Otherwise, Jolteon tends to use the Rain Dance TM in combination with the Thunder TM for high damage. Shadow Ball via TM can serve as coverage if need be.
Major Battles: Jolteon doesn't stand out in major battles until it gets Rain Dance and Thunder, which destroy Chuck and help against Pryce save for Piloswine. Jolteon is also moderately effective with this strategy at the Pokemon League in general.
Additional Comments: Combined with the inefficiency of getting a Thunder Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome on Thursday for 2,500 Points, Jolteon requires too many TMs to be called truly efficient.

Entei

Availability: Mid-game (roaming Johto, after going to the lower floor of Burned Tower, level 40).
Typing: Fire is only resisted by Clair and Lance and is neutral at worst elsewhere.
Stats: Most of Entei's stats are excellent and are further enhanced by a high join level. Its defenses are somewhat average, though.
Movepool: Entei mostly uses Flamethrower, which is a starting move, and Fire Blast and Sunny Day through TMs. Strength and Dig through TMs provide coverage if using it as early as possible.
Major Battles: If caught as early as possible, Entei can destroy most fights bar Clair. At the Elite Four, it can handle Will and Koga well with Choice Specs + Flamethrower while nabbing a few KOs against Karen. It's not great against Bruno and Lance, though.
Additional Comments: Entei's great performance before the endgame is counterbalanced by the extreme difficulty of catching it. This catching difficulty can be circumvented by catching it with a Master Ball, which you get after obtaining the Rising Badge, at the cost of skipping those matchups Entei's Elite Four performance is acceptable, but its two bad matchups and the extremely late arrival if you go the Master Ball route prevent it from ranking higher.

Goldeen

Availability: Mid-game (Route 42, Surf, 10% for Seaking, levels 15-25).
Typing: Pure Water means Goldeen is average in most matchups save for Clair and Lance.
Stats: Goldeen and Seaking have mostly average stats aside from good Attack.
Movepool: Most of Seaking's movepool is irrelevant aside from Choice Specs-boosted Surf early on, but Seaking can get Poison Jab from the move relearner and Blizzard from the TM. Later on, Seaking uses Rain Dance via TM and Waterfall via HM for fast rain-boosted damage with Swift Swim. Goldeen gets Water Pulse at level 17 if you use the earlier variant.
Major Battles: Seaking beats Chuck's Primeape and Pryce's Piloswine with Choice Specs + Surf and OHKOes all of Jasmine's team. In addition, it is relatively good for most Team Rocket battles. At the Pokemon League, Seaking tends to use Mystic Water alongside rain-boosted Waterfall to 2HKO or OHKO most foes.
Additional Comments: Goldeen can also be caught in Union Cave via Old Rod at level 10, though its early matchups aren't good, so it is better to get Seaking directly post-Surf to skip the late evolution level. Swift Swim is the preferred ability for greater sweeping potential.

Growlithe

Availability: Early-game (Route 36, 10% (morning and night, level 13), 15% (day, levels 13-15)) (HG).
Typing: Pure Fire is great for Jasmine and Koga, bad for Clair and Lance, and neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Arcanine has decent offenses and Speed and is relatively bulky with base 90 HP and 80 defenses. Growlithe's stats aren't particularly great, though, which affects its performance if you hold off evolving it until it learns Flamethrower.
Movepool: Ember upgrades to Flame Wheel at level 20 and Flamethrower at level 34 if Growlithe is left unevolved until then. It can also be taught Dig, Fire Blast, and Sunny Day through TMs.
Major Battles: Growlithe's performance depends on whenever it's evolved immediately or not. If evolved immediately, Arcanine is better against most Gym Leaders (particularly Morty), but it requires Fire Blast to do anything against the Elite Four. If waiting until Flamethrower, Growlithe is worse against most Gym Leaders, but Arcanine's performance against the endgame opponents is much more consistent with Flamethrower, allowing it to be useful against every single Elite Four member bar Bruno.
Additional Comments: Growlithe requires you to spend time getting the Fire Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome on Tuesday and is also hard to train due to a Slow growth rate. It is generally better to evolve it after getting Flamethrower, since the Elite Four matchups are much more valuable and Growlithe can cover some of the earlier matchups reasonably well. Ultimately, being a stone evolution with a somewhat shaky performance until the Pokemon League, as well as leveling up slowly, greatly impact Growlithe's usefulness.

Hoothoot

Availability: Early-game (Route 29, levels 2-4, 85% (nighttime)).
Typing: Hoothoot and Noctowl's Normal / Flying typing gives them advantages against Morty, Chuck, Koga, and Bruno, though it is weak versus Pryce and Jasmine.
Stats: Hoothoot and Noctowl have good HP, special stats, and Speed, but their physical stats are lacking.
Movepool: Hoothoot will be relying on Tackle and Peck for low physical damage until it gets Uproar at level 13 and Confusion when it evolves. Noctowl gets its main attack in Air Slash at level 32. Hoothoot also naturally gets Hypnosis and Reflect early on for support and can be taught Roost and Shadow Ball from TMs. The only other relevant moves Noctowl gets are Extrasensory at level 42 and Hyper Beam via TM.
Major Battles: Hoothoot is mediocre for both Falkner and Bugsy, as it fails to take on their ace Pokemon effectively; however, Noctowl 2HKOes Whitney's Miltank with Hyper Beam (though Noctowl is slower). Confusion makes Noctowl good for Morty and Chuck. Noctowl is good for Will with Choice Specs and Shadow Ball and the rest of the Pokemon League is handled by Choice Specs + Air Slash.
Additional Comments: Hoothoot's unimpressive start and slightly unwieldy movepool make it difficult to use until later in the game, making it a thoroughly average Pokemon in spite of its early availability. Insomnia is the preferred ability.

Machop (No Trade)

Availability: Early-game (Goldenrod Department Store (5F), in-game trade for Drowzee).
Typing: Fighting is incredibly helpful against Whitney and also sees some use against Jasmine, Pryce, and Karen. It is bad against Morty, Will, Koga, and Team Rocket, though.
Stats: Machoke has a decent Attack, but it is pretty slow and its special stats aren't great. Its HP and Defense are also somewhat average.
Movepool: Machop starts out with Low Kick and Karate Chop and learns Revenge and Vital Throw at levels 22 and 25. Payback, Dig, and Earthquake through TMs provide coverage, and Cross Chop at level 37 is its strongest STAB level-up move.
Major Battles: Machop is great against Whitney and can get a few KOs against Morty and Pryce. It also takes out Jasmine's Magnemite. Its performance becomes pretty bad after this, though it can cover Karen's Umbreon reliably with Vital Throw and OHKO Karen's Houndoom with Cross Chop.
Additional Comments: Machoke is useful for a few key matchups, but its somewhat poor stats and movepool prevent it from sweeping most fights. The traded Machop, Muscle, comes with an IV spread of 15/25/20/15/15/20, Guts, and a Lonely nature. It is also female, which helps it greatly against Whitney, and holds Macho Brace, which can be used to help it gain EVs, since it will often be outsped anyways.

Mantine

Availability: Mid-game (Route 41, levels 15-25, 10%).
Typing: Water is all-around neutral, save for being resisted against Clair and Lance. Flying gives it a resistance for Chuck and Bruno, though it sees little use offensively.
Stats: Save for the incredibly high Special Defense, most of Mantine's stats aren't particularly high. Its low Attack stat prevents it from using its Flying-type STAB moves effectively and its HP can make it easy to wear down, although it can hit relatively hard when equipped with Choice Specs.
Movepool: Mantine relies on Surf most of the time to take down foes, with Rain Dance through TMs increasing its power and activating Swift Swim. The other moveslots can be dedicated to the other Water-type HMs or to Wing Attack, Bounce, Signal Beam, and Psybeam, though these either come off its low Attack stat or are only available through the move relearner. Blizzard through TMs is also an option for coverage.
Major Battles: Mantine tends to perform well against opponents' teams it can hit neutrally with Choice Specs and Surf, such as Jasmine and most of the Team Rocket executives. It can claim a few KOs against the Elite Four, but it won't sweep any of them. It can also KO some of Clair's and Lance's Pokemon if it gets lucky with Blizzard.
Additional Comments: Mantine as a whole is mostly a useful Pokemon but falls off at the end of the game due to unremarkable stats, and it struggles against most Water-resistant Pokemon due to lacking strong and reliable coverage moves. It is recommended to catch it at a high level (such as through the Repel trick), as the Slow growth rate can make it a chore to catch up if caught underleveled.

Mankey

Availability: Mid-game (Route 42, levels 15-17, 10%) (HG).
Typing: Fighting makes Primeape favorable for Jasmine, Pryce, and Karen, but it is average elsewhere aside from Will, Koga, and Lance, who are negative matchups.
Stats: Primeape has good Attack and Speed, but slightly below average defenses.
Movepool: Mankey starts with Karate Chop and picks up Seismic Toss at level 17, with Cross Chop at level 41 as Primeape being powerful, yet inaccurate. Primeape gets Dig, Shadow Claw, Focus Punch, Payback and U-turn via TMs if necessary.
Major Battles: Morty is a decent matchup for Mankey if you give it Payback by TM, as it beats everything but Gengar (Vital Spirit blocks Hypnosis). Despite the type advantage, Primeape is mediocre for Pryce, as it only 3HKOes his Pokemon with Karate Chop unless it gets a Focus Punch off. Likewise, Primeape can only reliably beat Jasmine's Magnemite with Dig. In most other matchups, Primeape is mediocre due to having unreliable moves, aside from Karen's Umbreon and Houndoom.
Additional Comments: Mankey's main niche is its ability to OHKO a few otherwise problematic targets with a well-timed Focus Punch or Cross Chop. It has minor utility mid- and end-game due to this, but it is otherwise hard to justify using.

Oddish (Vileplume)

Availability: Early-game (Ilex Forest, level 5 or 6, 60% (nighttime)).
Typing: Grass / Poison is all-around unhelpful, being a double-edged sword against Pryce and resisted against a lot of major opponents, though Poison removes its weakness to Team Rocket's Poison-type attacks.
Stats: Vileplume can hit pretty hard with base 100 Special Attack combined with Choice Specs, but it's rather slow and its other stats are somewhat average.
Movepool: Oddish starts out with Absorb, which upgrades to Solar Beam through TMs, and learns Acid at level 9, which upgrades to Sludge Bomb through TMs. Sunny Day through TMs combines well with Solar Beam and Chlorophyll. Sleep Powder at level 17 can assist Oddish against more difficult opponents.
Major Battles: Vileplume is useful for Chuck and can get a few KOs against Pryce. It can typically survive many of Team Rocket's hits and take their Pokemon out with Choice Specs + Sludge Bomb, even if it's resisted. Its Elite Four performance is mostly bad, with Bruno being the only matchup where it isn't outright bad.
Additional Comments: Vileplume's typing and somewhat poor movepool cause it problems against many of the Johto major opponents. Nevertheless, it is one of the best Grass-type Pokemon available in the main game due to its ability to get past some Pokemon that wall other Grass-types. Evolve it with Leaf Stone from Pokeathlon Dome immediately, as Gloom doesn't learn any useful moves by level.

Poliwag (Politoed)

Availability: Mid-game (Ecruteak City (Good Rod), level 20, 60%).
Typing: Water is all-around neutral, save for being resisted against Clair and Lance.
Stats: Politoed's stats are all-around average or above average, save for a good base 100 Special Defense.
Movepool: Level 20 Poliwag comes with Rain Dance and can be taught Surf and Blizzard immediately. Focus Blast can also be taught through TMs for coverage. Perish Song can be retaught to bring down a difficult last Pokemon, most notably Clair's Kingdra.
Major Battles: Poliwhirl can get a few KOs against Morty and Pryce and sweeps Jasmine. The line can KO most of Team Rocket's Pokemon and then from then on stops contributing much due to its stats falling off, though Politoed can beat Karen's Houndoom.
Additional Comments: Politoed's mostly bad endgame and the extensive backtrack for King's Rock hold it back greatly. Poliwag can be caught as early as Violet City via the Old Rod, but it doesn't do much before you can obtain the Good Rod, so it is generally better to catch the Good Rod one to skip the awkward period.

Poliwag (Poliwrath)

Availability: Mid-game (Ecruteak City (Good Rod), level 20, 60%).
Typing: Water / Fighting is all-around neutral, except for being particularly good against Jasmine and Pryce and bad against Will.
Stats: Poliwrath's stats are all average or above average, with the highest one being base 95 Defense.
Movepool: Level 20 Poliwag come with Rain Dance and can be taught Surf and Blizzard immediately. Poliwrath's only Fighting-type STAB move for most of the game is Focus Blast through TMs.
Major Battles: Poliwrath can get a few KOs against Morty and sweeps Jasmine and Pryce. It can KO most of Team Rocket's Pokemon and then from then on stops contributing much due to its stats falling off, though it can beat Karen's Houndoom and Umbreon if it can land Focus Blast twice.
Additional Comments: Poliwrath's mostly bad endgame and the time spent getting the Water Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome on Wednesday hold it back greatly. Poliwag can be caught as early as Violet City via the Old Rod, but it doesn't do much before you can obtain the Good Rod, so it is generally better to catch the Good Rod one to skip the awkward period. Evolve Poliwhirl with Water Stone immediately.

Psyduck

Availability: Mid-game (Route 35, Surf, 90% for Psyduck at levels 10-25, 10% for Golduck at levels 15-31).
Typing: Pure Water leaves Psyduck resisted against Clair and Lance, but neutral in most other matchups.
Stats: Golduck has decent stats all around, with its highest being base 95 Special Attack.
Movepool: Concise, but effective. Surf, Focus Blast, and Blizzard via TMs are all Golduck needs, though it does get a few Psychic-type moves like Confusion and Zen Headbutt naturally. The Rain Dance TM is an option when combined with Mystic Water, if desired.
Major Battles: Golduck mainly sees success in major battles via Choice Specs + Surf, though Choice Specs-boosted Focus Blast can OHKO Pryce's Dewgong and Piloswine, while Choice Specs-boosted Blizzard can OHKO Clair's Dragonair and Lance's Dragonite (though the latter are faster and may potentially OHKO Golduck).
Additional Comments: Golduck's main draw is that it can potentially be caught at a high level with little hassle. The Repel trick with a Pokemon level 26 or higher is useful for this. Damp is the preferred ability because Cloud Nine interferes with Rain Dance strategies.

Sandshrew

Availability: Early-game (Union Cave, level 6, 30% (HG); Goldenrod Game Corner, 700 Coins (SS)).
Typing: Ground typing is neutral for most matchups save Morty, Pryce, Clair, and Lance, which are negative.
Stats: Sandslash has great physical stats and average HP, though its special stats and Speed are below average.
Movepool: Sandshrew starts with Defense Curl and picks up Rollout at level 21. The only other notable moves it gets are Dig and Earthquake via TM for STAB moves, as well as Rock Tomb and Shadow Claw via TMs.
Major Battles: If playing HG, Bugsy's Scyther can be 2HKOed by Rock Tomb, but Scyther 3HKOes it with U-turn and is faster even after a Speed drop. Whitney can be swept with Defense Curl + Rollout, and Sandslash is good for Jasmine with Dig. It can take on a few Elite Four Pokemon with a Ground-type STAB move, like Koga's Muk and Karen's Houndoom, but is generally average elsewhere.
Additional Comments: Sandshrew's main problems stem from having an unimpressive movepool and set of matchups despite decent stats.

Scyther (Trade)

Availability: Early-game (National Park (Bug-Catching Contest), level 13 or 14, 5%).
Typing: Bug / Steel provides Scizor with a plethora of useful resistances, including against Morty, Pryce, Team Rocket, Will, and Koga. However, it has little use offensively.
Stats: Scizor has a high Attack and great physical bulk, but it is rather slow at times.
Movepool: If evolved at level 21, Scizor can have both Wing Attack (from Scyther) and Metal Claw. X-Scissor at level 41 provides a Bug-type STAB move. Agility at level 17 can mitigate the Speed issues and Iron Defense at level 37 can help with sweeping.
Major Battles: It performs well as a Scyther against Whitney. As a Scizor, it can sweep Pryce and is useful against Morty, Will, Koga, and Karen, though its low Speed will make it hard to sweep them.
Additional Comments: While Scizor is useful against many opponents, it is incredibly difficult to obtain one, as Scyther is hard to catch, has a low encounter rate, and requires Technician for it and Scizor to perform well. Furthermore, you need to grind at the Pokeathlon for Metal Coat in order to evolve Scyther. Due to this, keeping Scyther unevolved is generally preferred, as, with few exceptions, Scyther generally either performs very similarly to or outright outperforms Scizor in major battles.

Sentret

Availability: Early-game (Route 29, levels 2-4, 40% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Pure Normal is neutral for most matchups aside from Chuck, Jasmine, and Bruno, which are unfavorable.
Stats: The line's best stat is its good Speed. Furret has average physical stats and HP, but dismal special stats.
Movepool: Sentret starts with Scratch and picks up Quick Attack at level 7. Strength and the Return TM around mid-game are its most reliable STAB moves later. Furret learns a variety of decent physical TMs, including Dig, Shadow Claw, and U-turn, among others. It gets a wide variety of HMs for utility (Cut, Surf, Strength, Waterfall, and Rock Smash), but most of its natural learnset and special options are irrelevant.
Major Battles: The line is average for the first three Gym Leaders, but it can be great for Morty with Shadow Claw and Jasmine with Dig. It also fares decently against Chuck (if the AI repeatedly goes for Focus Punch) and Pryce. In general, Furret's stats fall off late-game, at which point it can be converted entirely into an HM slave.
Additional Comments: Sentret and Furret are mostly underwhelming Pokemon that consolidate a few niche matchups and HMs into one teamslot. Keen Eye is the preferred ability.

Slowpoke (Slowbro)

Availability: Mid-game (Slowpoke Well (B2F), requires Surf and Strength, levels 15-30, 10% as Slowbro).
Typing: Water typing is all-around neutral, save for being resisted against Clair and much of Lance's and Pryce's teams. The Psychic typing helps out with Pryce, Will, Bruno, and Koga while hindering Slowbro against Karen.
Stats: Slowbro is a special attacker with very good bulk, oriented more towards taking physical hits. Its Speed is abysmal, however.
Movepool: Slowbro comes in fairly high leveled for when it's caught if you opt to search for a Slowbro directly. It can be given Shadow Ball and Surf for immediate power upgrades. Slack Off comes in at level 41, which will come right before the Pokemon League. Unfortunately, you will not have access to Psychic, as it is learned at level 54.
Major Battles: Slowbro deals with Chuck, Jasmine, Pryce, Will, Koga, and Bruno. Due to how slow it is, it might require additional healing.
Additional Comments: The easiest way to get a Slowbro is to use the Repel trick with a level 26-30 Pokemon in the lead. Slowpoke can be obtained earlier (just before Bugsy) but, due to its horrendous stats and late evolution level, you are better off waiting and getting Slowbro directly.

Slowpoke (Slowking)

Availability: Mid-game (Azalea Town, Slowpoke Well (B2F), requires Surf, levels 10-25, 90% as Slowpoke).
Typing: Water typing is all-around neutral, save for being resisted against Clair and much of Lance's and Pryce's teams. The Psychic typing helps out with Pryce, Will, Bruno, and Koga while hindering Slowking against Karen.
Stats: Slowking is a special attacker with very good bulk, oriented more towards taking special hits. Its Speed is abysmal, however.
Movepool: Slowking can come in fairly high leveled if you opt to search for a high-level Slowpoke. It can be given Shadow Ball and Surf for immediate power upgrades. Nasty Plot comes in at level 39, just in time for the Pokemon League. Unfortunately, you will not have access to Psychic, as it is learned at level 48.
Major Battles: Slowking deals with Chuck, Jasmine, Pryce, Will, Koga, and Bruno. Due to how slow it is, it might require additional healing.
Additional Comments: Slowking can put in a decent amount of work, but it's fairly middling due to the low Speed holding it back. The easiest way to obtain a high-leveled Slowpoke is through the Repel Trick. King's Rock to evolve Slowpoke can conveniently be obtained from a man on Slowpoke Well B2F.

Spearow

Availability: Early-game (gate between Route 35 and Goldenrod City, from Webster, level 20).
Typing: Normal / Flying is all-around neutral, save for giving Fearow a bad matchup against Jasmine and Pryce and giving it a type advantage against Chuck and Bruno. If caught as early as possible instead of getting Kenya from Webster, the typing can also help out against Bugsy.
Stats: Fearow has decent Attack and Speed, but its other stats are below average.
Movepool: Level 20 Spearow starts out with Aerial Ace, Pursuit, Fury Attack, and Leer. Return replaces Fury Attack once it becomes powerful enough and Fly can provide an alternative Flying-type STAB move.
Major Battles: Spearow can help against Whitney's Miltank with Leer and weakening it, though it may struggle to beat it. It sweeps Morty easily and is great against Chuck due to Aerial Ace ignoring Primeape's Double Team. After this point, Kenya struggles to do much against most major opponents, either because of a type disadvantage or because its stats simply do not cut it, though it sees some use against Koga and Bruno.
Additional Comments: Due to Fearow's stats, poor movepool, and somewhat unhelpful typing, it struggles to shine outside of a few good matchups. Kenya comes with an IV spread of 15/20/15/20/20/20, a Hasty nature, and a 1.5x experience boost. Spearow can also be caught as early as Route 46, but it isn't very good for the first two Gym Leaders, and the only thing catching it early provides is a stronger Return upon getting the TM.

Stantler

Availability: Mid-game (Route 36, level 13, 5%).
Typing: Pure Normal is average against everything bar Chuck and Bruno.
Stats: Stantler has decent offensive stats and Speed, but below-average other stats.
Movepool: Stantler starts with Astonish, Hypnosis, and Stomp and picks up Take Down at level 21, though Return via TM is its best STAB move. The only other notable move it gets is Zen Headbutt at level 38. The only decent physical coverage it gets is the Earthquake TM. Natural Calm Mind is practically useless for it outside of the Shadow Ball and Charge Beam TMs.
Major Battles: Stantler is mediocre for Morty because Astonish is weak. Stantler is decent with Return for most major battles, but it will generally only take out one or two Pokemon before being KOed.
Additional Comments: Stantler has interesting attributes but fails to utilize them effectively due to roughly average stats and a limited movepool. Try to catch Stantler in a Friend Ball to have a stronger Return immediately. Intimidate is the preferred ability.

Voltorb

Availability: Mid-game (Olivine City, in-game trade for Krabby).
Typing: Pure Electric typing is average against most major opponents aside from Jasmine, who it has a bad matchup against.
Stats: Electrode has a blistering 140 Speed but its other stats, save for low Attack, are average.
Movepool: Voltorb picks up Charge Beam at level 26, which is its only relevant level-up move aside from Light Screen at level 22 and Screech at level 19 for fast buffing and debuffing. Other than that, Voltorb can use the Rain Dance and Thunder TMs.
Major Battles: Electrode needs the power of Choice Specs + Thunder against most Gym Leaders save for Pryce, but it tends to be unreliable as a result, which is not helped by its lacking bulk. At the Pokemon League, it mostly shifts to using Rain Dance + Thunder.
Additional Comments: Voltorb and Electrode's severe lack of power and unreliable moves make the line risky to use. You can catch a Krabby just outside Olivine City on Route 40 via the Good Rod at level 20. Alternatively, you can catch level 23 Electrode in Team Rocket HQ, but these do not get the boosted experience the traded one does and are thus inferior.

Wooper

Availability: Early-game (Route 32, level 6, 35% (nighttime)).
Typing: Water / Ground gives Wooper and Quagsire neutral matchups against everyone aside from Jasmine, whom the line excels against.
Stats: Wooper and Quagsire have good physical stats and great HP, but their special stats are below average and their Speed is terrible.
Movepool: Wooper gets Water Gun, Mud Shot, and Mud Bomb before evolution, but it is unable to use them effectively due to base 25 Special Attack. These moves are ultimately supplanted by the Dig TM and the Surf HM as Quagsire, but it only becomes moderately strong when it picks up Earthquake at level 36 and Waterfall via HM around the same time.
Major Battles: Wooper is unable to fight Falkner's Pidgeotto or Bugsy's Scyther due to lacking stats, though Quagsire can hold its own against Whitney's Miltank, particularly if it is female. Quagsire isn't particularly effective against the other Gyms aside from Jasmine's, and its Elite Four performance is abysmal due to having few targets to hit super effectively with STAB moves, the most notable being Karen's Houndoom.
Additional Comments: Wooper's early availability is offset by its unwieldy stats and movepool until it becomes Quagsire, which also fails to be impressive in several major battles. Unless you really need something that can take on Whitney's Miltank, consider catching a level 10-25 Quagsire at the Ruins of Alph or Union Cave via Surf, which skips the underwhelming Wooper period. Water Absorb is the preferred ability.

Zubat

Availability: Early-game (Dark Cave (Route 31 side), levels 2-4, 39%).
Typing: Poison / Flying is excellent against Bugsy, Chuck, and Bruno while also providing a useful resistance for Koga and Team Rocket, but it is bad against Jasmine, Pryce, and Will.
Stats: Crobat is an incredibly fast Pokemon with mostly average stats elsewhere.
Movepool: Zubat is stuck with Leech Life and Astonish until Bite and Wing Attack at levels 13 and 17. Fly provides a stronger Flying-type STAB move, while Sludge Bomb through TMs and Cross Poison through the relearner provide Poison-type STAB options, though Crobat will rarely need Poison-type moves. Return through TMs also provides some neutral coverage.
Major Battles: Zubat helps out against Bugsy's Scyther if it knows Wing Attack and performs well against Morty and Chuck. The line has little difficulty against Team Rocket as a whole and can KO most of Koga's and Bruno's teams, but Crobat tends to be bad elsewhere.
Additional Comments: Crobat is useful in a few matchups, but it starting rough and being hard wall by multiple major opponents prevent it from being a great Pokemon. Zubat can also be caught slightly later with a Friend Ball to circumvent the happiness evolution difficulties and make Return powerful from the get-go, but this skips the Bugsy matchup and Zubat typically doesn't need to fully evolve until after Whitney. Furthermore, Zubat will be underleveled this way, so it will have to catch up in level.

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

D-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency in terms of completing the game is considered to be average. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a small amount of foes and tend to be quite matchup based, needing items to sweep a few opponents. The usefulness of these Pokémon is typically counterbalanced by many notable flaws or very late availability.

D Tier

Bellsprout

Availability: Early-game (Route 32, level 6, 20% in nighttime, 30% otherwise).
Typing: Grass / Poison is all-around unhelpful, only having some use against Chuck, being a double-edged sword against Pryce, and being bad elsewhere.
Stats: The line has great offensive stats with somewhat low bulk and average Speed.
Movepool: Bellsprout is stuck with Vine Whip and Growth until it learns Solar Beam and Sludge Bomb through TMs. Sunny Day through TMs can help Victreebel sweep some fights by triggering Chlorophyll and skipping Solar Beam's charge turn. Sleep Powder at level 13 can also come in handy against more difficult opponents.
Major Battles: Victreebel has some use against Chuck and Pryce, though it will have problems sweeping the latter. It can also potentially pull off a sweep against Bruno. Victreebel is generally bad in other matchups due to bad typing and a lack of coverage to make up for that.
Additional Comments: Due to its unhelpful typing and lackluster movepool, Victreebel fails to distinguish itself in most major battles. Furthermore, you need to spend time getting the Leaf Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome to fully evolve it.

Clefairy

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Meadow area), level 17, 10% (nighttime)).
Typing: Normal makes Clefairy weak to Chuck and Bruno and is mostly neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Clefable's stats are mostly average, capping at 95 HP and Special Attack, though it hits decently hard with Choice Specs.
Movepool: Clefable's movepool consists almost entirely of TMs, and it includes Strength, Return, Fire Blast, Blizzard, Thunder, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Dig, and Charge Beam. The only relevant move upon capture is Encore, which can turn foes like Pryce's Piloswine and Karen's Houndoom into dead weight by locking them into status moves.
Major Battles: Clefable generally relies on super effective hits via TMs to defeat opponents. In particular, it can contribute to beating Will with Shadow Ball, Jasmine and Koga with Fire Blast, Pryce with Thunder, Fire Blast, or Focus Blast, and Clair's Dragonair with Blizzard. However, many of those matchups rely on inaccurate moves, so they aren't always consistent.
Additional Comments: The Meadow area appears in only five out of ten Safari Zone default area layouts, meaning you may not be able to obtain Clefairy until after three in-game hours have passed since completing Baoba's test. Clefairy is a Pokemon that can catch up quickly thanks to its Fast growth rate, but its performance is inconsistent due to its reliance on inaccurate moves. Evolve it immediately with Moon Stone, which you can obtain at the Ruins of Alph instead of taking time to obtain it from the Pokeathlon Dome. Magic Guard is the preferred ability.

Dratini

Availability: Early-game (Goldenrod Game Corner, 2,100 Coins).
Typing: Pure Dragon means Dratini and Dragonair have mostly neutral matchups aside from Pryce, Clair, and Lance, who it is weak against.
Stats: Dratini and Dragonair have average stats with a slight preference for Attack. The line doesn't get to utilize Dragonite's excellent stats due to an extremely late evolution level of 55.
Movepool: Dratini starts with Dragon Rage, which will be its main source of damage until it gets the Surf HM and Choice Specs, which also allows it to utilize Fire Blast via TM effectively. Dragon Rush at level 39 is generally inferior to Choice Specs-boosted Dragon Pulse via TM. Most of the line's other moves are either weak or unnecessary, but it can learn Whirlpool and Waterfall for HMs and Return through TM.
Major Battles: Dratini 2HKOes both of Whitney's Pokemon with Dragon Rage, but it fails to make an impact against Morty due to Curse. Choice Specs Dragonair can take on Chuck's Primeape with Surf and Jasmine with Fire Blast, though Pryce and Clair are unfavorable. Choice Specs Dragonair will be moderately effective against Koga with Fire Blast and decent with Dragon Pulse everywhere else, though it won't sweep.
Additional Comments: Aside from the inefficiency of using the Voltorb Flip time sink to get Dratini, the line's Slow growth rate and middling matchups keep Dratini out of the higher tiers despite having a decently diverse special movepool aided by Choice Specs.

Ekans

Availability: Early-game (Route 32, level 4, 30% (SS); buy at Goldenrod Game Corner for 700 coins (HG)).
Typing: Poison is only useful defensively, as it doesn't hit any major opponent's type super effectively. It grants Ekans with resistances for Chuck, Team Rocket, Koga, and Bruno, but it leaves it with a weakness to Will.
Stats: Arbok's stats are average at best, with its highest one being 85 Attack. Its 65 Special Attack means it won't hit relatively hard with Choice Specs either.
Movepool: Ekans relies on Wrap and Poison Sting until Bite at level 9. Glare and Screech at levels 13 and 17 provide support, the latter of which pairs well with Dig through TMs and Crunch upon evolution. Sludge Bomb through TMs is the line's strongest STAB move.
Major Battles: If playing SS, Ekans can come in handy against Falkner and Bugsy. If it's evolved, Arbok also sees some use against Whitney and Morty. Against the rest, it typically needs to spam Screech to OHKO most foes, though it can contribute with Intimidate and Glare as well.
Additional Comments: Ekans is a Pokemon that quickly falls off due to its unremarkable stats, typing, and movepool, being too slow in KOing foes later on in the game.

Exeggcute

Availability: Early-game (Route 34 (Headbutt on trees), levels 9-12, 20%).
Typing: Grass / Psychic is useful for Chuck and Bruno and is a double-edged sword against Pryce, Team Rocket, and Koga.
Stats: Save for an excellent 125 Special Attack, most of Exeggutor's stats are average, with its Speed being particularly low.
Movepool: Exeggcute's only good way of dealing damage until Confusion at level 27 is with Solar Beam through TMs. Reflect and Leech Seed at levels 7 and 11 provide support, and Sunny Day through TMs combines well with Chlorophyll and Solar Beam.
Major Battles: Exeggcute has little to no offensive presence until it learns Confusion and evolves. It is good for Chuck and deals with most of the Team Rocket Executives, as well as KOing some of Koga's and Bruno's Pokemon.
Additional Comments: Exeggcute's unremarkable period until level 27, which is further worsened by its Slow growth rate, offsets most of its positive contributions. Furthermore, you need to spend time getting a Leaf Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome to evolve it. Evolve it immediately after learning Confusion.

Farfetch'd

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, level 16, 10% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Normal / Flying gives it an advantage against Chuck and Bruno but is very bad against Jasmine and Pryce.
Stats: Farfetch'd's stats are mediocre and quickly fall off. It will need to use Swords Dance multiple times before it can OHKO most foes later on.
Movepool: Farfetch'd starts out with Aerial Ace, which can be upgraded to Fly, and can be taught Return, which has immediate power if Farfetch'd is caught in a Friend Ball. Swords Dance and Agility at levels 25 and 31 are needed for Farfetch'd to sweep fights.
Major Battles: In almost every fight, Farfetch'd has to set up a few Swords Dances, and it sometimes needs one Agility. Due to its poor bulk, it will often have to be healed to reach the needed amount of setup. This strategy is ineffective against Jasmine, Pryce, and Lance, and it's unreliable against opponents whose lead Pokemon have confusion-inducing moves such as Will.
Additional Comments: Farfetch'd is a Pokemon that can have some uses but is ultimately very inefficient, as it needs huge amounts of setup and healing to consistently take down most opponents it faces. Stick is not worth trying to get, as wild Farfetch'd hold it only 5% of the time.

Hoppip

Availability: Early-game (Route 32, level 6, 10% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Grass / Flying is mostly terrible, as Grass doesn't hit major opponents' types super effectively, and Hoppip lacks Flying-type attacks. It provides Hoppip with a resistance to Fighting for Chuck and Bruno, but a weakness to Pryce, Team Rocket, and Koga.
Stats: Jumpluff is a fast Pokemon with mediocre offenses and average bulk.
Movepool: Hoppip has no damaging moves whatsoever until it learns Bullet Seed through TMs. Most of its movepool is support-based, taking advantage of Sleep Powder at level 16 and Leech Seed at level 24 after evolving. Its best STAB moves are Mega Drain upon evolving into Jumpluff and Solar Beam through TMs, with Headbutt through tutor providing some coverage.
Major Battles: Due to its lacking offenses, Hoppip generally fails to beat opponents on its own. Instead, it can put them to sleep and then inflict them with Leech Seed, although this method is slow and unreliable due to both moves' imperfect accuracy. This strategy notably can be used to take down Clair's Kingdra.
Additional Comments: Hoppip is generally a bad Pokemon to use due to its inability to win major fights on its own. It is only saved because its support can be significantly helpful against more difficult opponents, but Hoppip is still generally not suited for efficient runs.

Horsea

Availability: Late-game (Whirl Islands (surfing), levels 10-20, 30%).
Typing: Water is resisted by Clair and Lance's type and is neutral elsewhere. Kingdra's Dragon typing is a double-edged sword against Lance and (if available at that point) Clair.
Stats: Seadra and Kingdra can hit decently hard with 95 Special Attack and Choice Specs while also being relatively fast. Seadra, however, is rather frail specially, though that's not much of an issue for Kingdra.
Movepool: Horsea can be taught Surf, Blizzard, and Rain Dance immediately, with Rain Dance pairing well with Kingdra's Swift Swim. Kingdra's only good Dragon-type STAB moves are Dragon Pulse through TMs and Draco Meteor through tutor. Hydro Pump at level 40 provides a stronger, but inaccurate alternative to Surf.
Major Battles: With Choice Specs, Horsea can sweep Jasmine and its evolutions perform well against most of Team Rocket. If you have a Kingdra for Clair, you can potentially defeat her own Kingdra by surviving a Dragon Pulse and OHKOing with Draco Meteor. At the Elite Four, Seadra and Kingdra will typically perform the same, needing rain and Hydro Pump to achieve OHKOes, though Kingdra is slightly better than Seadra against Will due to its superior special bulk.
Additional Comments: In order to obtain Horsea as soon as possible, you have to beat Pryce first to enable the use of Whirlpool in the overworld, which means that you may have to face him underleveled and thus make the fight harder for your team. Dragon Scale can be obtaned either at Mt. Mortar (2F) after getting the Rising Badge or through wild Horsea; the former method requires a significant backtrack, while the latter method allows you to have a Kingdra before Clair, but it is time-consuming, as wild Horsea hold the item only 5% of the time. Ultimately, late evolution and the need for the inaccurate Hydro Pump to KO foes in the endgame make the line bad compared to other Water-types and roughly equal in terms of efficiency, with Kingdra being slightly better at the cost of the time spent getting the Dragon Scale.

Jigglypuff

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Meadow and Swamp areas), levels 15-17 (Meadow) or levels 16-17 (Swamp), 40%).
Typing: Normal makes Wigglytuff weak to Chuck and Bruno and is mostly neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Wigglytuff has an enormous 140 HP. It's counterbalanced by somewhat average offenses and poor defenses and Speed, though Choice Specs can help it hit hard with special moves.
Movepool: Wigglytuff's movepool consists of Defense Curl as a starting move, Rollout at level 17, and TMs or HMs to provide STAB moves or coverage, including Strength, Return, Fire Blast, Thunder, Charge Beam, Shadow Ball, and Blizzard.
Major Battles: Wigglytuff generally relies on super effective hits to KO foes. In particular, it needs Fire Blast for Jasmine, Thunder for most of Pryce's fight, and Blizzard for Clair's Dragonair. It can also claim a few KOs at the Elite Four with the same moves, but it will generally take out only a few Pokemon per member. Most of Team Rocket can be covered with Defense Curl + Rollout, though the lacking accuracy may prove problematic.
Additional Comments: Jigglypuff levels up quickly and sees some use against major opponents due to its wide TM learnset and Choice Specs, but it isn't very consistent, as it relies almost the entire time on inaccurate moves to KO foes. Out of the ten Safari Zone default area layouts, only one has neither the Meadow nor the Swamp area, so you are very likely to be able to obtain Jigglypuff on your first visit to the Safari Zone.

Jynx

Availability: Late-game (Ice Path, level 22, 10% (daytime) or 5% (morning and nighttime)).
Typing: Ice lets it hit Clair's Dragonair and Lance's Dragon-types super effectively, as well as hitting the other opponents neutrally. Its Psychic typing serves no offensive purposes, as it learns no Psychic-type moves for the main game.
Stats: Jynx has a great Special Attack and is relatively fast, but it is very frail physically.
Movepool: Jynx's special movepool is poor, as it consists only of Blizzard, Focus Blast, and Shadow Ball through TMs. Hail through TMs makes Blizzard accurate and Lovely Kiss through the relearner can be useful against more difficult opponents.
Major Battles: Jynx can net a few KOs against Will with Choice Specs and Shadow Ball, but against the rest, it simply has to rely on Choice Specs + Blizzard and hope that it doesn't miss. Hail can remove the accuracy issues, but this means that Jynx cannot use Choice Specs, and it also doesn't have the bulk to set Hail up safely.
Additional Comments: Jynx comes late and is reliant on the inaccurate Blizzard to achieve anything in the remaining fights, though it hits very hard when it lands a Choice Specs-boosted attack.

Kangaskhan

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Wasteland area), levels 15-17, 10% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Normal makes Kangaskhan weak to Chuck and Bruno and is neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Kangaskhan's stats, save for Special Attack, are all-around decent, giving it an edge in most neutral matchups.
Movepool: Kangaskhan mainly relies on Strength as its STAB move, as it cannot be caught in a Friend Ball to boost Return. Kangaskhan also has Fake Out upon capture to deal some chip damage turn one. Other useful moves include Crunch and Outrage at levels 31 and 37 and Dig, Earthquake, and Shadow Claw through TMs.
Major Battles: Kangaskhan performs reasonably well against most opponents by using its strongest move, with Will and Bruno being the only matchups that are somewhat mediocre for it. Notably, Kangsakhan can beat Chuck's Poliwrath if it has Early Bird and Clair's Dragonair with Outrage.
Additional Comments: While Kangaskhan is an excellent Pokemon, the Wasteland area appears in only six out of the ten default area layouts; thus, you may not be able to get Kangaskhan until after three in-game hours have passed since completing Baoba's test. Furthermore, Kangaskhan is fairly hard to catch in a Safari Ball due to its low catch rate.

Koffing

Availability: Mid-game (Burned Tower (1F), levels 14-16, 35%).
Typing: Poison doesn't hit any major opponent's type super effectively and makes the Will matchup bad, though it provides useful resistances against Chuck, Koga, Bruno, and most of the Team Rocket Executives.
Stats: Koffing's stats aren't very good and it's stuck with them for most of the game due to its late evolution. It can deal decent damage with Choice Specs, though.
Movepool: Koffng initially relies on Sludge at level 24 as its STAB move, which upgrades to Sludge Bomb through TMs. Thunder and Fire Blast through TMs provide coverage, while Assurance at level 15 can be useful for Morty.
Major Battles: Koffing relies on super effective damage to OHKO most of the foes its facing. This means that it's incredibly dependent on the inaccurate Fire Blast and Thunder to take down foes efficiently. These moves do let it be potentially good against Jasmine, Pryce, and most of the Team Rocket Executives, though it can also claim a few KOs elsewhere with Choice Specs and Sludge Bomb.
Additional Comments: Due to its low stats and late evolution, Koffing is forced to rely on inaccurate moves and super effective damage to contribute meaningfully, making it all-around unreliable for an efficient run. Weezing can be caught directly at the Safari Zone's Marshland area to circumvent the Koffing stage, but, as the area is not guaranteed to be one of the six areas you get on your first visit, this alternative proves unreliable.

Krabby

Availability: Mid-game (Olivine City, Good Rod, level 20, 37%)
Typing: Water is resisted by Lance's and Clair's Dragon-types and is offensively neutral elsewhere, with it making the matchup against Jasmine's Magnemite worse defensively.
Stats: Krabby has a very high Attack stat, but a mediocre Special Attack. It is also very frail specially, though it can survive some physical hits thanks to its 115 Defense.
Movepool: The line doesn't learn any physical Water-type moves for the main game, so it's stuck with Surf as its best option. Its physical coverage includes Return, Strength, Dig, and Rock Tomb through TMs. Whirlpool can also be taught for HM utility if Kingler has a free moveslot.
Major Battles: Kingler can sweep Jasmine with Dig and Surf and also sweeps Archer. It can take out Pryce's Seel and Dewgong and Chuck's Primeape. Kingler is unhelpful against the Elite Four, as it struggles to take out more than one threat per opponent.
Additional Comments: Krabby is an unimpressive Pokemon, as it's unable to use its STAB moves effectively due to a lackluster Special Attack, as well as struggling against many opponents due to its poor special bulk. If possible, try to catch it in a Friend Ball to give it an 80 BP Return immediately.

Lickitung

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Mountain area), levels 15-17, 20% (morning and daytime)) or late-game (Route 44, levels 24-26, 15%).
Typing: Normal makes Lickitung weak to Bruno and Chuck and leaves it with mostly neutral matchups elsewhere.
Stats: The line mostly has average stats, though Lickilicky is partcularly bulky with 110 HP. However, the line's Speed is pretty low.
Movepool: Lickitung's strongest STAB move will be either Strength or Return through TMs, depending on if it was caught in a Friend Ball. It can be taught Dig by TM for coverage, which can be upgraded to Earthquake through TMs. Lickitung caught at level 24 or lower comes with Defense Curl, which combines well with Rollout at level 33, which is needed to trigger an evolution.
Major Battles: Before evolution, the line's only positive contribution is KOing Jasmine's Magnemite with Dig. After evolution, Lickilicky generally relies on Defense Curl + Rollout to defeat opponents, particularly seeing some success against Will and Koga.
Additional Comments: The Mountain area appears in only five out of the ten default area layouts you can get on your first Safari Zone visit, so if you do not get the Mountain area, it is better to go for the Route 44 encounter, in spite of the later arrival. In general, Lickitung is fairly weak until evolution and is reliant on Rollout consistently hitting to perform well, making it an unreliable Pokemon as a whole. Own Tempo is the preferred ability to improve matchups against confusion-inducing Pokemon, most notably Will's Xatu.

Marill

Availability: Mid-game (Mt. Mortar 1F (Entrance), 1%, level 15).
Typing: Pure Water is neutral in most matchups aside from Clair and Lance, where it is disadvantageous.
Stats: Azumarill has excellent 100 / 80 / 80 bulk and good Attack with Huge Power, though its Speed and Special Attack are low.
Movepool: Marill starts with Defense Curl and Rollout, which it will be using frequently until the Waterfall HM after seven badges. Double-Edge at level 33 or Return and Dig via TMs can be used for coverage. Azumarill can learn all three Water-type HMs as well as Rock Smash and Strength, though it will typically have room for only one of these by the endgame.
Major Battles: Azumarill is ineffective for Morty due to Curse interrupting Rollout strategies. Azumarill can utilize Strength for Chuck and Choice Specs + Surf for Jasmine's Steelix. Against everyone else, Defense Curl and Rollout can be used. Azumarill will get worn down in the process, though there are a few Pokemon League targets Azumarill can pick off with Waterfall.
Additional Comments: Huge Power is the recommended ability, but getting Huge Power is unlikely unless you get a Marill from the Safari Zone's Meadow area later. This method is unreliable though, as the Meadow area is available in only five out of the ten default area layouts, meaning you may have to wait three in-game hours after completing Baoba's first test. Regardless, Marill's rarity or late availability holds it back from the higher tiers.

Misdreavus

Availability: Mid-game (Cliff Cave, level 20, 5% (nighttime)).
Typing: Ghost makes Misdreavus useful against Will but weak to Karen's Dark-types, being mostly neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Misdreavus's special stats and Speed are mostly average with somewhat poor physical bulk, though Choice Specs helps it hit decently hard. Since you cannot obtain a Dusk Stone until after beating Lance, it is stuck with those stats for the main game.
Movepool: Misdreavus's only STAB option is Shadow Ball through TMs. Other useful TMs include Charge Beam and Thunder + Rain Dance. Perish Song at level 41 can be used on the last Pokemon of each opponent, if needed, assuming that Misdreavus can outspeed or survive an attack from the Pokemon, and Psybeam at level 23 provides some coverage against Chuck, Bruno, and Team Rocket.
Major Battles: Misdreavus is unreliable for Chuck and Jasmine but can get a KO or two against Pryce. At the Elite Four, Misdreavus can KO a few of Will's Pokemon but is unlikely to sweep due to not outspeeding everything, and it generally doesn't KO many Pokemon from the rest of the Elite Four.
Additional Comments: Misdreavus's somewhat unimpressive performance, coupled with its rarity and significant reliance on TMs to perform well, makes it a mediocre choice for an efficient run. However, Misdreavus does level up quickly thanks to its Fast growth rate.

Mr. Mime

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Forest area), level 16 or 17, 15% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Psychic makes Mr. Mime useful against Chuck, Koga, Bruno, and most of Team Rocket, but it's not so great against Jasmine and Karen's Dark-types.
Stats: Mr. Mime is relatively fast with great special stats, but its other stats are subpar.
Movepool: Mr. Mime doesn't have a STAB move until Psybeam at level 25, which upgrades to Psychic at level 39. It learns a variety of coverage moves, most notably Charge Beam, Shadow Ball, and Focus Blast through TMs. Encore and Substitute at levels 11 and 29 can heavily assist Mr. Mime in some fights.
Major Battles: Mr. Mime can win many fights just by hiding behind a Substitute and then locking the foe into a status move with Encore; foes that this strategy can be useful against include Chuck's Poliwrath, Pryce's Piloswine, Clair's Dragonair, and Will's Xatu and Slowbro. In addition, it crushes most of Team Rocket, Chuck, and Bruno with Choice Specs and Psychic-type STAB moves. In addition to beating Pryce's Piloswine (by locking it into Hail), it can also use Seel as setup fodder for Charge Beam boosts, as its Icy Wind is too weak to break Substitute.
Additional Comments: Mr. Mime's performance is excellent, but due to the Forest area appearing in only five out of the ten default area layouts you can get upon your first Safari Zone visit, you may not be able to get it until after three in-game hours have passed since completing Baoba's test. In addition, it is fairly hard to catch in a Safari Ball due to its low catch rate.

Oddish (Bellossom)

Availability: Early-game (Ilex Forest, level 5 or 6, 60% (nighttime)).
Typing: Bellossom's pure Grass typing is all-around unhelpful, being a double-edged sword against Pryce and being resisted by a majority of the major opponents.
Stats: Bellossom can hit decently hard with Choice Specs and 90 Special Attack. It also has good Special Defense, but it is very slow and the other stats are average.
Movepool: Oddish starts out with Absorb, which upgrades to Magical Leaf at level 23 (Bellossom) and Solar Beam through TMs, and learns Acid at level 9, which can be upgraded to Sludge Bomb through TMs. Sunny Day through TMs combines well with Solar Beam and Chlorophyll. Sleep Powder at level 17 can assist Oddish against more difficult opponents.
Major Battles: Bellossom can be helpful against Chuck with Magical Leaf ignoring Primeape's Double Team, and it can get a few KOs against Pryce. From then on, Bellossom's attacks will be resisted quite often and Bellossom's contributions will be restricted to the few foes that don't resist Grass, unless it gets lucky with sleep.
Additional Comments: Bellossom's poor offensive movepool and Grass typing make it all-around ineffective against most of the main game opponents. Furthermore, a Sun Stone can be fairly difficult to obtain due to having to win the Bug-Catching Contest, but once you do obtain it, evolve Gloom immediately, as Gloom doesn't learn any useful moves by level. As a whole, it is better to evolve Gloom into Vileplume due to it retaining the Poison typing and having a higher Special Attack, both of which can improve several matchups.

Onix (No Trade)

Availability: Early-game (Violet City, in-game trade for Bellsprout).
Typing: Onix begins with the Rock / Ground typing, which gives it good STAB coverage and resistances for the early Gym Leaders. After beating Whitney, though, the typing becomes mostly irrelevant, as Onix won't have the stats to take full advantage of it later on.
Stats: Onix's base 45 Attack makes it relevant only for the early-game and prevents it from threatening most opponents later on. Its titanic physical bulk is counterbalanced by poor HP and Special Defense.
Movepool: Onix learns Rock Throw at level 9, with Dig and Earthquake through TMs being its Ground-type STAB options. Screech at level 6 is useful against bulky foes and Curse at level 38 can increase its power, though it won't hit very hard even with extensive setup.
Major Battles: Onix is great for the first three Gym Leaders, though it should avoid being higher than level 10 against Falkner due to disobedience. Screech helps greatly against Whitney's Miltank, but after this, Onix becomes dead weight, with its only useful contribution being KOing Jasmine's Magnemite. Even with Curse, its Elite Four performance is subpar, as it will struggle to OHKO foes at +6 and has a hard time setting up that many Curses anyways.
Additional Comments: Onix is one of the best Pokemon early-game but, if left unevolved, is basically dead weight for the rest of the game. The traded Onix, Rocky, comes with an IV spread of 25/20/25/15/15/15, a Hasty nature, and Sturdy.

Pineco

Availability: Early-game (Route 34 (Headbutt), 30%, levels 9-10)
Typing: Bug doesn't do Pineco any favors before evolution. Forretress's Bug / Steel typing is mediocre for Jasmine, but good for Pryce and Clair to an extent. Against the Pokemon League, Forretress is decent for Will, Koga, and some of Karen's Pokemon. Elsewhere, it is average.
Stats: Pineco and Forretress have good Attack and excellent Defense with average stats elsewhere aside from Speed.
Movepool: Pineco starts with Bug Bite for STAB as well as Self-Destruct. Pineco picks up Bide at level 20, which will be its method of offense for most major battles. Payback at level 33 can serve as decent coverage, as can Dig and Return via TM. Forretress's best Steel-type STAB move is Gyro Ball at level 45, though this may be too late to be helpful. Spikes at level 28 and Toxic Spikes via move relearner can also be helpful.
Major Battles: Pineco can use Self-Destruct on Whitney's Miltank and potentially use Dig for Jasmine. Forretress with Bug Bite is decent for Will as well as Karen's Umbreon, but otherwise it fails to do much in major battles aside from using Bide.
Additional Comments: Pineco's late evolution and situational use in major battles hold it back from being consistently useful. Consider catching Pineco in a Friend Ball to make Return powerful immediately (it usually hits harder than Bug Bite at full power).

Phanpy

Availability: Late-game (Route 45, level 20, 10%) (HG).
Typing: Ground typing is only useful against Koga and is neutral at best elsewhere, with Clair's Water-type moves being particularly dangerous.
Stats: Donphan has excellent physical stats (120 each), but its other stats are rather poor.
Movepool: The line mostly gets by with its starting moves of Rollout and Defense Curl, with Strength through HMs providing some coverage. Phanpy's only STAB options are Earthquake through TMs and Magnitude through the relearner after evolving.
Major Battles: Donphan is useful for Koga by KOing Muk with Earthquake and the Bug-types with Defense Curl and Rollout, and it is fairly good for Bruno, especially if you set up Defense Curl to handle his team's attacks better. It can also KO Karen's Houndoom but fails to do much elsewhere.
Additional Comments: Phanpy's late arrival and small number of good matchups make it an unremarkable Pokemon.

Qwilfish

Availability: Mid-game (Route 32 (Good Rod), 5%, level 20)
Typing: Water / Poison gives Qwilfish resistance for Chuck, Bruno, and Koga. Qwilfish has shaky matchups for Jasmine and Pryce and outright loses to Will while being average elsewhere.
Stats: Qwilfish has good Attack, Defense, and Speed, but its special stats are dismal.
Movepool: Rollout is the only decent move Qwilfish has for a long time, as Surf is weak due to Qwilfish's lacking Special Attack and most other options are too situational. Qwilfish gets a good STAB move via the Waterfall HM later on though.
Major Battles: It can take out most of Morty and Clair with Rollout, but otherwise Qwilfish is ineffective against most bosses due to its lacking stats and moves.
Additional Comments: Due to requiring a backtrack and not having good special stats, Qwilfish is outclassed by almost all other Water-types, with Rollout being its sole distinguishing trait.

Seel

Availability: Mid-game (Route 47 (surfing), levels 10-20, 30%).
Typing: Water / Ice provides it with a type advantage against Clair and Lance and mostly neutral matchups elsewhere.
Stats: Seel's stats, save for the average Special Defense, are very low, and it is stuck with those for most of the game due to a late evolution. Even after it evolves, Dewgong's offensive stats aren't anything to write home about either.
Movepool: Seel can be taught Surf immediately, with Aurora Beam at level 27 and Blizzard through TMs providing more STAB options for Dewgong. Encore at level 13 can help Seel in some matchups by locking its foes into status moves.
Major Battles: Seel beats Pryce's Piloswine and performs well against Team Rocket once it evolves. Its Aurora Beam, even with Choice Specs, fails to OHKO any of the notable Dragon-type Pokemon, so it will need Blizzard there. It's somewhat mediocre against the Elite Four, claiming a KO or two at best against each member.
Additional Comments: The line's mediocre offensive stats, coupled with Seel's late evolution level, prevent it from being very useful, as it struggles to OHKO its foes even when hitting super effectively. Either ability is fine for Seel, since Thick Fat doesn't see much use aside from against Pryce, and Hydration is only useful when combined with Rain Dance.

Shellder

Availability: Mid-game (New Bark Town (Good Rod), level 20, 3%).
Typing: Water / Ice is useful against Clair and Lance and is mostly neutral elsewhere, save for Chuck and Bruno, whose type hits it super effectively.
Stats: Cloyster has a monstrous Defense, but its offenses and Speed are average (though its Special Attack can be boosted by Choice Specs) and its HP and Special Defense are poor.
Movepool: Cloyster's only majorly relevant moves are Surf, Blizzard, and Rain Dance through TMs. Spikes at level 28 after evolving Shellder can provide some support. Whirlpool can also be taught for HM purposes.
Major Battles: Cloyster has some success against Morty and sweeps Jasmine, as well as performing somewhat well against Team Rocket. Its endgame performance is subpar due to the abudance of special attackers.
Additional Comments: Due to a mostly unimpressive performance, along with the inefficiency of obtaining a Water Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome and its Slow growth rate, Shellder is all-around a mediocre Pokemon in comparison to other Water-types. Shellder doesn't learn any useful moves by level, so evolve it immediately. Shellder can also be caught on Route 41 with a Good Rod with a 10% encounter rate, but this comes at the cost of skipping Morty.

Snubbull

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, 1%, level 13).
Typing: Pure Normal is decent for Morty, bad for Chuck and Bruno, and average elsewhere.
Stats: Granbull has excellent 120 Attack and mostly average stats otherwise, save for a dismal 45 Speed.
Movepool: Snubbull starts with Bite and picks up Headbutt at level 19, though Return via TM is its best STAB move. Granbull can get the elemental fangs via the move relearner, with Ice Fang being the most relevant. Granbull can learn Dig and Payback via TMs, and Strength via HM can suffice until Return is powerful enough.
Major Battles: Despite having Bite for Morty, Granbull is ineffective there due to Curse whittling it down. In most major battles, Granbull will generally only take one Pokemon down due to its low Speed being detrimental to sweeps.
Additional Comments: Snubbull's Run Away ability changes to Quick Feet on evolution. Intimidate is generally more useful, but Quick Feet can work well with the Facade TM from the Goldenrod Department Store raffle on Fridays. Regardless, Snubbull's sheer rarity and painfully low Speed normally render it unviable despite good attributes. Consider catching Snubbull in a Friend Ball to make Return powerful immediately.

Sudowoodo

Availability: Mid-game (Route 36 (Squirt Bottle), level 20).
Typing: Rock typing is neutral for Morty, but weak to Chuck and Jasmine. Sudowoodo is decent for Pryce and Will and has a favorable matchup against Koga. Sudowoodo loses to Bruno but is okay for Karen and Lance aside from its Speed.
Stats: Sudowoodo is a decent physical tank with average HP and Special Defense, but it is very slow.
Movepool: Rock Throw eventually upgrades to Rock Slide at level 33. As for other options, Sudowoodo starts with Low Kick, gets Sucker Punch at level 41, and can relearn Wood Hammer if desired.
Major Battles: Sudowoodo loses to Morty due to his speedy use of Curse, but Sudowoodo can take on one of Jasmine's Magnemite with Dig. Sudowoodo beats Pryce's Dewgong but loses to his Pilowswine and Clair due to its Speed. Sudowoodo can hit various targets weak to Rock at the Pokemon League, but its slow Speed will be a deterrent.
Additional Comments: Sudowoodo has a decent movepool and is by no means unusable, but the Rock typing and Speed are big problems. Rock Head is the preferred ability to negate Wood Hammer recoil.

Swinub

Availability: Late-game (Ice Path, levels 21-24, 40%).
Typing: Ice / Ground is useful for Clair, Koga, and Lance, but it leaves Mamoswine weak to Bruno.
Stats: Mamoswine has an excellent Attack and good HP, though its other stats are average at best.
Movepool: Mamoswine relies on Dig via TM until it learns Earthquake at level 40. Piloswine can be retaught Ice Fang and Ancient Power, the latter of which is required to evolve Piloswine. Ice Shard at level 28 provides useful priority, and Ice Fang can be substituted with Avalanche via TM for more power in exchange for negative priority.
Major Battles: Mamoswine sees success against Clair's Dragonair with Ice Fang and can typically nab a few KOs against each Elite Four member bar Bruno. It struggles to do much against Lance, as Ice Shard isn't enough to OHKO the Dragonite and they tend to outspeed Mamoswine, especially if using Avalanche.
Additional Comments: Swinub comes late and is very weak until it evolves into Mamoswine. Furthermore, in order to use Mamoswine to its full potential, you need two Heart Scales; one can be found on Route 32 with Surf (hidden), while a second one can be obtained by breaking rocks with Rock Smash at Cianwood City until you get one, or from the Pokeathlon Dome for 1000 points on Sunday and Wednesday.

Tangela

Availability: Late-game (Route 44, level 23, 30%).
Typing: Grass isn't useful for the remainder of the game due to not hitting anything super effectively. It is also particularly bad against Koga.
Stats: Tangrowth has excellent offenses and is bulky physically, but its Special Defense and Speed are poor.
Movepool: Tangela starts out with Growth and can be taught Solar Beam and Sunny Day through TMs, which combine well with Chlorophyll. Sleep Powder can be learned through the move relearner. Ancient Power is learned at level 33 and is needed to evolve Tangela.
Major Battles: Tangrowth can sweep some fights by putting a foe to sleep, then setting up Sunny Day and enough Growths to attempt to sweep with Solar Beam. This strategy is particularly effective against Clair, Will if you lure in Slowbro, and Bruno, but you may need to heal it if going for many Growth boosts, and this strategy isn't very effective against the other opponents.
Additional Comments: Tangela comes late and is rather inefficient against the remainder of the game due to needing extensive setup to sweep. Its only saving grace is its ability to sweep Clair if given enough support.

Teddiursa

Availability: Late-game (Route 45, 10%, level 20) (SS).
Typing: Pure Normal is average for what is left of the game, aside from a negative matchup against Bruno.
Stats: Ursaring has poor Speed. but outstanding Attack with good stats everywhere else.
Movepool: Aside from Faint Attack (which Teddiursa starts with), all of Ursaring's natural learnset is irrelevant. TM-wise, Return is generally Ursaring's standard STAB move, with Payback and Earthquake being adequate coverage. If you plan to activate Guts or Quick Feet, Facade from the Goldenrod Department Store raffle on Friday is recommended.
Major Battles: Ursaring fares best for major battles with either of its two abilities activated beforehand, giving it a 50% boost to Attack (Guts) or Speed (Quick Feet), preferably through being poisoned. However, Bruno is still a bad matchup regardless.
Additional Comments: The best way to status Ursaring is through battling either gender of Nidoran on Route 35 and activating Poison Point, though this will require healing after walking to major battles. The line's biggest flaw is low Speed, so Pickup (which turns into Quick Feet upon evolution) on Teddiursa is recommended.

Togepi

Availability: Early-game (Violet City, Elm's Aide (Egg)).
Typing: Togepi's pure Normal typing usually changes to Normal / Flying as Togetic around Chuck. Togepi is neutral to Bugsy's and Whitney's types, but good for Morty on account of a Ghost immunity. Togetic's typing is shaky for Chuck and Jasmine while being average for Clair and most of the Pokemon League aside from Koga.
Stats: Togetic has good special stats and Defense, but its other stats are poor.
Movepool: Togepi starts with Extrasensory and picks up helpful support moves in Yawn and Encore at levels 15 and 19, respectively, with the only other relevant natural move being Ancient Power at level 33. Togetic also gets quite a few good TMs like Hyper Beam (STAB), Roost, and Fire Blast.
Major Battles: Togepi loses to Bugsy and Whitney due to its lacking stats, but the line is decent for Morty and Chuck's Poliwrath due to Extrasensory (Primeape has Rock Slide for Togetic). Togetic is decent for Jasmine with Choice Specs and Fire Blast if it can outspeed Magnemite. The only endgame opponent Togepi is particularly notable for is Koga thanks to Fire Blast and Extrasensory (Bruno will wear it down).
Additional Comments: Togepi isn't a terrible Pokemon, but it is very inefficient between hatching it and requiring a friendship evolution. Serene Grace is the preferred ability, but the ability is determined when you receive the Egg. Even if you can overlook its issues, low Speed and average overall stats make Togepi difficult to use effectively.

Venonat

Availability: Early-game (National Park (Bug-Catching Contest), 10%, levels 10-16).
Typing: Bug / Poison makes Venonat average for Whitney and Morty, while Venomoth is favorable against Chuck and weak to Jasmine. Clair is average for Venomoth, while Will is shaky. Venomoth is decent for Koga and average for Bruno, Karen, and Lance.
Stats: Venomoth has average stats apart from good Special Attack and Speed.
Movepool: Venonat picks up Psybeam at level 25 and Sleep Powder at level 29, with Signal Beam at level 37 and Sludge Bomb via TM providing STAB moves. TM-wise, Venonat can learn Silver Wind from the Goldenrod Department Store raffle on Saturday and Roost as Venomoth.
Major Battles: Venonat will be too weak for Morty in spite of having Psybeam, but Venomoth can fare better for Chuck with Choice Specs and Psybeam. Venomoth is ineffective against Jasmine and average for Pryce and Clair, though it can beat Will's Exeggutor. Venomoth is good for Koga with Choice Specs and Psybeam, but it doesn't have other good matchups beyond Karen's Umbreon and Vileplume (Bruno has super effective coverage).
Additional Comments: Either ability is great: Compound Eyes makes Sleep Powder 97.5% accurate, but Tinted Lens pairs well with Choice Specs. Venonat is a decent Pokemon, but it is hard to use effectively until it evolves due to its weak stats and movepool.

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

E-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon that have low efficiency in completing the game. Pokémon in this tier are generally only able to OHKO or 2HKO specific foes and suffer from being matchup based, generally relying on items to sweep several foes. These Pokémon either have flaws that outshine their strengths or are decent Pokémon that come too late to be of any major use.

E-Tier

Corsola

Availability: Mid-game (Route 40 (Good Rod), 10% (morning and daytime), level 20).
Typing: Water / Rock leaves Corsola weak to Chuck and Jasmine's Magnemite while giving it an advantage for Pryce and a neutral type matchup for Clair. Corsola boasts type advantages against several Elite Four Pokemon, but it can't take advantage of them effectively.
Stats: Corsola has terrible Speed and mediocre offenses, but slightly above average bulk.
Movepool: Corsola's notable starting moves are Rock Blast and Recover, with Ancient Power and Power Gem coming at levels 32 and 44, respectively. The Surf HM is Corsola's best Water-type STAB move, with Strength and Rock Smash providing HM utility. Most of Corsola's wide learnset via TMs is ineffective due to Corsola's lacking offensive stats.
Major Battles: Corsola should avoid Chuck, but it can take out Jasmine's Steelix. Corsola fares well against Pryce aside from Piloswine, but from then onward, Corsola's dismal stats will let it down.
Additional Comments: Corsola has a decent movepool, but its stats render it inferior to most other options.

Cubone

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Desert), level 16 or 17, 20% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Ground typing gives Marowak a neutrality to Chuck's Primeape and an advantage against Jasmine, but weaknesses to Pryce and Clair. Most of the Pokemon League is decidedly neutral aside from Lance, where all of his Pokemon have a Ground immunity.
Stats: Marowak has decent bulk and Attack, sporting an impressive base 110 Defense, though its Speed is abysmal.
Movepool: Cubone starts with Bone Club, which upgrades to Bonemerang at level 21. Strength or Thrash at level 33 provides Normal-type coverage. Most other options via TM are either too weak or situational, like Iron Tail and Focus Punch.
Major Battles: Marowak beats Chuck's Primeape but loses to his Poliwrath. Marowak beats Jasmine effectively but loses to Pryce and Clair. Aside from it flopping against Lance, the Pokemon League is generally decent aside from Will, who has physically bulky Pokemon. The line's performance can be improved significantly with Thick Club as well.
Additional Comments: Marowak is unviable not just because it comes underleveled, but also because the Desert area is not part of any of the ten default Safari Zone layouts, meaning three hours must pass in-game before you can obtain a Cubone. Thick Club is generally too rare to bother with, as Cubone and Marowak (which you can also catch in the Safari Zone) only hold it 5% of the time.

Delibird

Availability: Late-game (Ice Path, level 22 or 23, 20%) (SS).
Typing: Ice / Flying gives Delibird an advantage against Clair, some of Koga, Bruno, and Lance, while being neutral for Will and Karen.
Stats: Delibird has below average stats in everything aside from 75 base Speed.
Movepool: Delibird only learns Present naturally, which is too RNG-based to be viable. It can learn Fly for Flying-type STAB coverage and a few Ice-type and Fighting-type moves through TMs, but they are generally ineffective.
Major Battles: Delibird is too weak to do anything in the remaining fights due to lackluster stats, even with type advantages.
Additional Comments: There is no reason to use Delibird at all. Not even Hustle-boosted Aerial Ace makes it worth trying.

Diglett

Availability: Mid-game (Route 48, level 20, 4%).
Typing: Ground is useful for Jasmine and Koga, but it doesn't help much elsewhere, especially since it makes Dugtrio weak to Pryce and Clair.
Stats: Dugtrio is fast, but its bulk is poor and its Attack is average.
Movepool: Diglett naturally comes with Dig upon capture, which can be upgraded to Earthquake through TMs. Shadow Claw and Rock Tomb through TMs provide coverage.
Major Battles: Dugtrio beats Jasmine's Magnemite easily and can be used to take out Archer's Houndour line, Koga's Muk, and some of Bruno's Pokemon. Despite the Ground typing, it's not the best Pokemon to use against most of the Team Rocket Executives, as many of their Pokemon (including the Poison-types) are physically bulky and are not weak to Ground.
Additional Comments: Due to its rarity and poor performance as a result of its non-existent bulk and unhelpful typing, Diglett is not worth using in any efficient run.

Ditto

Availability: Early-game (Route 34, level 10, 5%).
Typing: Pure Normal is average everywhere aside from Morty, Chuck, and Bruno.
Stats: Ditto has base 48 stats all around until it uses Transform, which retains base 48 HP but copies the foe's other stats and moveset.
Movepool: Transform is Ditto's only available move.
Major Battles: Entirely dependent on what Ditto uses Transform on: most of the time, the ace Pokemon of the opponent is the best candidate. You will always Speed tie with the Pokemon you transformed into, making matchups shaky.
Additional Comments: Ditto has a 50% chance to hold Quick Powder, which doubles its Speed before using Transform. Metal Powder, which does the same for Defense, is a 5% chance and generally inferior. However, Ditto is too situational to bother with regardless of what you transform into.

Dodrio

Availability: Late-game (Blackthorn City, in-game trade for a female Dragonair).
Typing: Normal / Flying is useful for Koga and Bruno and is neutral for the other opponents.
Stats: Dodrio is fast and has a decent Attack, although its bulk is rather poor.
Movepool: Due to coming late and not being obtainable in a Friend Ball, Dodrio cannot use Return effectively, so it has to use Giga Impact or Facade through TMs, although the latter may take some time to get from the Goldenrod lottery on Fridays. Pluck and Fly through TMs are its best Flying-type moves due to Drill Peck coming too late to be learned efficiently.
Major Battles: Dodrio can typically claim a few KOs by OHKOing with Giga Impact and then switching out due to the recharge turn. It can also claim a few KOs with Fly when hitting super effectively. It generally won't sweep due to the Giga Impact recharge turns, though statused Facade can threaten a sweep at the cost of longevity and the time taken to get Dodrio statused.
Additional Comments: While Dodrio isn't totally useless in the remaining fights, it does not perform well enough to counterbalance it coming late and forcing you to train a female Dratini, which takes a lot of time and effort to be obtained and trained to level 30. The traded Dodrio, Doris, comes with an IV spread of 20/20/20/15/15/15, Run Away, and an Impish nature. Doduo can also be obtained at the Safari Zone, but the Rocky Beach area is not part of any of the default layouts you can get on your first visit, so you always have to wait three in-game hours before you can obtain it.

Eevee (Umbreon)

Availability: Mid-game (Goldenrod City, gift from Bill after visiting the Ecruteak City Pokemon Center, level 5).
Typing: Dark is only useful against Morty and Will and isn't too helpful elsewhere, being particularly weak to Chuck and Bruno.
Stats: Umbreon is very bulky, but it lacks offensive stats. Therefore, it will generally take a lot of time to defeat a foe, and this often means that it will need healing to achieve sweeps.
Movepool: Umbreon can be taught Payback through TMs for STAB, which combines well with its not-so-good Speed. Dark Pulse and Shadow Ball through TMs can be combined with Choice Specs for usable offense. Dig through TMs can also provide additional coverage.
Major Battles: Umbreon is great for Morty and can contribute against Will with Choice Specs and Dark Pulse, although his Xatu and Jynx are faster and thus can put it to sleep or confuse it, making the matchup not 100% reliable. It can also beat Jasmine's Magnemite with Dig. Umbreon typically doesn't deal much damage elsewhere and as a result isn't great for most other fights.
Additional Comments: Although Umbreon has its uses, it is a highly inefficient Pokemon as a whole, as it takes time and effort to evolve it, and it's typically too weak to KO its foes in a timely manner.

Gligar

Availability: Late-game (Route 45, level 24, 20%) (HG).
Typing: Ground / Flying is useful defensively for Koga and Bruno, though it makes Gligar somewhat weak to Clair. It is neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Outside of 105 Defense, Gligar's stats are average at best. In particular, it will need to use Swords Dance multiple times to OHKO most foes with its unimpressive Attack.
Movepool: Gligar's STAB move options are Dig, Earthquake, and Aerial Ace through TMs, with X-Scissor at level 42 and Strength providing coverage. Swords Dance at level 34 allows it to hit harder than it would normally.
Major Battles: Gligar can perform well only if it sets up Swords Dance to the maximum, meaning that it will often have to be healed. Even then, only Koga and Bruno can ever be swept this way, as Will makes it hard to set up and the rest have the means to stop Gligar's sweep.
Additional Comments: Gligar comes late and, while it can sweep some fights, is inefficient to use, as it requires multiple Swords Dance uses each fight and thus needs to be healed constantly. Razor Fang can only be obtained at the Battle Frontier, which is not accessible until after you defeat Lance.

Grimer

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Marshland area), level 17, 10% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Poison is only useful defensively for Chuck, Koga, Bruno, and most of Team Rocket, but it doesn't hit any major opponent's type super effectively.
Stats: Grimer's stats are all pretty bad, save for 80 HP and Attack, which aren't too impressive either. Muk is very bulky, but it will need Choice Specs to deal decent damage with Sludge Bomb.
Movepool: Grimer relies on Sludge at level 20 as its STAB move until it learns Sludge Bomb through TMs. It learns a wide variety of coverage moves through TMs, including Dig, Fire Blast, Thunder, and Strength. However, its poor Special Attack hinders the effective use of most of them, though Choice Specs can help fix that.
Major Battles: Grimer generally contributes little to major fights, taking out at best one or two members per opponent and needing healing to do anything beyond that. Its Elite Four performance is particularly abysmal due to bad matchups against Will and Bruno and needing Fire Blast to do anything against Koga.
Additional Comments: Grimer is incredibly weak and, to make things worse, evolves very late and at a point where Muk isn't that useful anymore. Furthermore, the Marshland area appears in only five out of the ten default layouts you can get on your first Safari Zone visit, so you may have to wait three in-game hours after completing Baoba's test before you can obtain Grimer.

Larvitar

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Mountain), level 17, 10% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Rock / Ground leaves Larvitar weak to Chuck, Jasmine, and Pryce, though it can hit the latter two's types super effectively. Clair is mostly a neutral matchup, though Pupitar does have a type advantage for a few of Will's and Karen's Pokemon. Pupitar has somewhat favorable matchups for Koga and Lance, but it is bad against Bruno.
Stats: Larvitar and Pupitar have mostly average stats with decent Attack, but dismal Speed.
Movepool: The line's saving grace. Larvitar starts with Rock Slide and gets Thrash at level 23, so it can fend for itself fine. Payback and Crunch later on provide useful Dark-type coverage, but Earthquake and Stone Edge come too late to be learned efficiently. Dig via TM provides useful Ground-type STAB coverage.
Major Battles: Pupitar will generally falter against Chuck and Pryce due to low Speed. Pupitar is effective against Jasmine with Dig, but it must watch out for Steelix. At the Pokemon League, Pupitar will generally be too frail to do much at that point.
Additional Comments: Larvitar's Slow growth rate, low level, and inability to evolve to Tyranitar without massive level grinding mean that, despite good moves, Larvitar is too much of a hassle to bother with.

Ledyba

Availability: Early-game (Route 30, level 3, 30% (morning)) (SS).
Typing: Bug / Flying means Ledian can resist Bugsy's attacks, but that's all the type is notable for until the Elite Four, where it gets a mild advantage against Will through its Bug-type moves. Elsewhere, it is average to bad.
Stats: The line has abysmal stats everywhere save for great Special Defense (weakened by terrible HP) and good Speed.
Movepool: Ledyba has weak Normal-type moves and Mach Punch until Silver Wind at level 29 or via TM, but it gets Reflect and Light Screen for support at level 14. Roost via TM can help Ledian survive longer. All of its other support options are too situational to bother with, and its wide offensive movepool is largely unviable with its pitiful offensive stats.
Major Battles: Ledian's stats are too lackluster to do much of anything in major battles, as even opponents like Chuck and Bruno have ways to hit it super effectively.
Additional Comments: Despite coming at the start of the game, Ledyba is drastically inefficient thanks to dismal offenses and a terrible movepool for in-game purposes.

Meowth

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, level 16, 30% (morning) or 40% (nighttime)) (SS).
Typing: Pure Normal is decent for Morty, bad for Chuck and Bruno, and average elsewhere.
Stats: Meowth and Persian have average stats apart from very high Speed.
Movepool: Meowth starts with Scratch, Bite, Fake Out, and Fury Swipes, with Return via TM being a reliable STAB move. At level 30, only Meowth learns Pay Day, requiring holding off evolution for two levels. Persian gets Power Gem at level 32 and has decent TM options like U-turn, Dig, and Iron Tail. Most of its status moves are situational aside from a fast Screech (level 17).
Major Battles: Persian's only significant performance will be against Morty, as it can pick off the Gastly line with Bite. While Persian is average elsewhere aside from Chuck and Bruno, Taunt (level 25) can be helpful for Chuck's Primeape and Karen's Umbreon to stop Double Team.
Additional Comments: While Persian has Fake Out, a couple decent support options, and a wide movepool, this isn't enough for it to be relevant due its stats being painfully average aside from Speed. Technician is the preferred ability.

Murkrow

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Swamp area), levels 15-17, 10%).
Typing: Dark / Flying gives Murkrow a type advantage against Chuck, Will, and Bruno, though it's not good for Jasmine and Pryce.
Stats: Murkrow's offensive stats and Speed are somewhat average and it is very frail. It is stuck with those stats for the main game, as a Dusk Stone to evolve it cannot be obtained before defeating Lance.
Movepool: Murkrow relies on Wing Attack and Fly as its Flying-type STAB moves. In regards to Dark-type moves, It starts out with Pursuit, which upgrades to Assurance, then Feint Attack, then Dark Pulse through TMs, which can be combined with Choice Specs.
Major Battles: Due to its somewhat unimpressive stats, Murkrow doesn't really perform well anywhere, as it struggles even against opponents it has the type advantage against. As a result, it can typically get a few KOs, but it won't really have much of an impact in major battles.
Additional Comments: Murkrow isn't worth using due to its unimpressive performance even when it has the type advantage. Furthermore, the Swamp area appears in only six out of the ten default layouts you can get on your first Safari Zone visit, so there's a chance that you may not be able to get a Murkrow until after three in-game hours have passed since completing Baoba's test.

Natu

Availability: Mid-game (Ruins of Alph (area accessed through Union Cave with Surf), levels 18-24, 90%).
Typing: Psychic / Flying has little use offensively, as Xatu doesn't learn Psychic or special Flying-type moves during the main game. Defensively, it grants resistances for Chuck, Will, and Bruno but makes Xatu weak to Pryce and Karen's Dark-types.
Stats: Xatu's stats are all-around average, capping at 95 Special Attack and Speed. Thus, it won't hit relatively hard with non-STAB moves unless they are super effective against the foe, though Choice Specs can help fix that.
Movepool: The line is forced to rely on non-STAB moves to deal damage. Its main options include Shadow Ball and Solar Beam through TMs, the latter of which can be combined with the Sunny Day TM. Fly is its strongest Flying-type move, though Xatu's 75 Attack makes it a mediocre choice when not hitting super effectively.
Major Battles: Xatu struggles in most major fights, as by the time you get it, few foes have a weakness to its moves. It can see some use against Chuck and Bruno with Fly and Will with Choice Specs + Shadow Ball, but it doesn't sweep any of those fights. Xatu also has some use against some of the Team Rocket Executives, but beyond those, Xatu fails to make much of an impact in the other major fights.
Additional Comments: Due to possessing no good STAB moves to work with, Natu is generally an unexceptional Pokemon that contributes little to an efficient run and is heavily dependent on the Shadow Ball TM to achieve most of its contributions. Early Bird is the preferred ability to deal better with opponents that rely on sleep strategies.

Pidgey

Availability: Early-game (Route 29, levels 2-4, 55% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Normal / Flying gives it a type advantage against Bugsy, Bruno, and Chuck, as well as giving a Ghost immunity for Morty. However, it is pretty bad for Jasmine and Pryce.
Stats: The line will be stuck with Pidgeotto's mediocre stats for most of the game due to it evolving late. Pidgeot's stats are mostly average and simply do not cut it for the endgame.
Movepool: The line generally lacks strong moves for most of the game and possesses little coverage. It starts out with Tackle, which upgrades to Quick Attack at level 13 and Return through TMs. Its Flying-type STAB move will be initially Gust at level 9, which upgrades to Pluck and Fly through TM or HM.
Major Battles: Pidgey struggles in most major fights, including ones in which it has a type advantage. It will need a Super Potion against Bugsy's Scyther to guarantee a victory, and it doesn't have a guaranteed win against Chuck and some of Bruno's Pokemon. Its performance is even worse against foes it cannot hit super effectively due to the line's unimpressive stats.
Additional Comments: Despite the incredibly early arrival, Pidgey is mostly a bad Pokemon due to a poor learnset, awkward stats, and late evolution, which render it mediocre against most of the major opponents. Keen Eye is the preferred ability.

Paras

Availability: Early-game (Bug-Catching Contest, levels 10-17, 10%).
Typing: Bug / Grass leaves Parasect with mostly neutral type matchups aside from losing to Bugsy, Jasmine, and Koga.
Stats: Paras and Parasect are very slow and have average stats aside from Attack, which doesn't matter because of Paras learning very few good physical moves.
Movepool: Paras gets Spore at level 17, but it doesn't mean much because of the line's pathetic damage output with its weak early STAB moves (Leech Life, Bullet Seed via TM). Slash at level 22 is your best attack, as both Giga Drain at level 39 and Solar Beam (TM from the Goldenrod Department Store) run off Parasect's inferior Special Attack. Dig and Aerial Ace via TMs serve as other options.
Major Battles: Paras struggles to beat most major opponents on its own due to its bad stats, typing, and movepool. You can put something to sleep with Spore, but that's where Parasect's relevance ends.
Additional Comments: Despite coming early and having access to Spore, Paras is exceptionally inefficient due to having an unwieldy movepool. Effect Spore is the preferred ability. Paras can also be caught slightly earlier at the Ilex Forest, but it comes very underleveled and will be hard to get up to appropriate levels, so it's better to catch it slightly later at a higher level.

Ponyta

Availability: Endgame (Route 26, level 32, 20%).
Typing: Pure Fire gives Ponyta an advantage against Koga and a disadvantage against Lance, being average elsewhere.
Stats: Ponyta and Rapidash have good Attack and Speed with average other stats.
Movepool: Ponyta starts with Flame Wheel, which is its best STAB move (Flare Blitz is too late to be learned). As a Rapidash, it can relearn Megahorn and Poison Jab as coverage.
Major Battles: With Megahorn, Rapidash can be decent for Will, and Rapidash can take on a few of Koga's Pokemon with Flame Wheel, though it isn't very useful for the battles afterward.
Additional Comments: Ponyta comes way too late to be useful and comes too underleveled to make much of an impact in the final battles.

Remoraid

Availability: Late-game (Route 44, Good Rod, level 20, 5%).
Typing: Water is resisted by Clair and Lance's type and is neutral against the remaining opponents.
Stats: Octillery has decent offensive stats, but it is very slow and its bulk is rather average.
Movepool: Octillery can be equipped with Surf and Fire Blast through TMs, with Aurora Beam adding in more coverage. It can also be taught moves such as Psybeam and Gunk Shot through the relearner. Blizzard through TMs is a more powerful, but inaccurate alternative to Aurora Beam, and Rain Dance through TMs boosts Surf's power.
Major Battles: Octillery isn't great for the remaining fights, as it's slow and has difficulties surviving hits. It can get a KO or two in each fight (although it will need Blizzard to contribute against Clair and Lance), but will often be taken down quickly before it can make an impact.
Additional Comments: Remoraid is a mediocre Pokemon due to its bad performance, late availability, and rarity. Sniper is the preferred ability.

Rhyhorn

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Savanna area), level 17, 10% (morning or daytime)).
Typing: Rock / Ground is pretty bad at this point, having a type advantage only against Jasmine and Koga and being mediocre elsewhere.
Stats: Rhydon has a great HP, Attack, and Defense, although its other stats are subpar. However, it is stuck as a Rhyhorn until the Elite Four, which has average stats at best.
Movepool: The line relies on Dig through TMs and Rock Blast at level 25 as its STAB moves for most of the game. Dig eventually upgrades to Earthquake through TMs, while Rock Blast can upgrade to Stone Edge at level 45, although that level may not be feasible for Rhydon.
Major Battles: Rhyhorn beats Jasmine's Magnemite and Archer's Houndour line and is bad elsewhere until the Elite Four. There, Rhydon beats most of Koga's Pokemon and can claim a few KOs against the other opponents, but it won't sweep any of them.
Additional Comments: The Savanna area appears in only six out of the ten default Safari Zone area layouts, which means you may not be able to get Rhyhorn on your first visit and thus may have to wait three in-game hours after completing Baoba's test. Furthermore, Rhyhorn comes underleveled and takes time to train due to its Slow growth. Combined with its late evolution and mediocre performance until then, Rhyhorn simply has too many issues to be worth using.

Shuckle

Availability: Mid-game (Cianwood City, gift from Kirk, level 20).
Typing: Bug / Rock leaves Shuckle weak to Jasmine and neutral elsewhere.
Stats: 230 base Defense and Special Defense make Shuckle a great wall, but its other stats are awful, including HP.
Movepool: Shuckle's only notable starting move is Encore, which can work well with Bide from the move relearner. Rest at level 27 or via TM can be helpful for survivability. Any offensive option you can give Shuckle is borderline worthless.
Major Battles: Shuckle's best bet in major battles later on is using Bide: otherwise, it is too weak to do much.
Additional Comments: Shuckle's terrible offenses make it completely ill-suited for in-game, and its defensive options aren't worth much in-game either. The gift Shuckle, Shuckie, comes with the trade experience boost, making it slightly easier to train.

Skarmory

Availability: Late-game (Route 27, level 27, 5%) (SS).
Typing: Skarmory's biggest selling point: Steel / Flying gives Skarmory resistances or immunities for Clair, Will, Koga, Karen, and a few of Lance's Pokemon while being neutral to Bruno.
Stats: Average all around save for a colossal 140 base Defense and awful Special Attack.
Movepool: Most of Skarmory's learnset is irrelevant aside from Spikes (level 28), Steel Wing (level 34), and Fly (HM), though Night Slash at level 45 can be useful for Will. Roost via TM is invaluable to help Skarmory stick around for longer.
Major Battles: Skarmory can wall a lot of the remaining battles, but it won't KO anything quickly due to its average Attack and mediocre STAB combination. Spikes is completely useless on Lance but decent elsewhere.
Additional Comments: Despite Skarmory's stellar typing, its late appearance, low level, rarity, and low offenses prevent it from making any meaningful contributions.

Slugma

Availability: Early-game (Violet City, from Primo (Egg)).
Typing: Slugma has type advantages against Bugsy and Jasmine, but it is weak to moves from a few Gym Leader aces (like Miltank's Rollout and Poliwrath's Surf) while being neutral elsewhere. Magcargo loses to Clair and Bruno, but it is good for some of Will's and Karen's Pokemon. Koga and Lance are somewhat favorable for Magcargo.
Stats: Slugma's only decent stat is base 70 Special Attack. As Magcargo, its Special Attack is a modest 80 and it has decent bulk of 60 / 110 / 80, though it still has atrocious Speed.
Movepool: Slugma starts with Ember and Rock Throw, as well as Yawn for inflicting reliable sleep one turn later. Rock Throw and Ember are upgraded to Ancient Power at level 26 and Lava Plume at level 40, unless you use TM Fire Blast from the Goldenrod Department Store. Slugma also gets several physical options as well as moves like Recover and Amnesia naturally, but its low Attack and Speed make both unviable.
Major Battles: Slugma can be useful for Bugsy but it is too slow to take on Whitney's Miltank and Morty reliably, and Chuck overpowers Slugma. Jasmine may seem like a favorable matchup, but all of her Pokemon are faster than Slugma. Elsewhere, Macargo is limited to picking off niche targets aside from Koga and Lance.
Additional Comments: Slugma is a hassle to hatch, evolves too late to be effective, and has overly inferior stats to most other Fire- and Rock-types to warrant using. Flame Body is the preferred ability over Magma Armor, but its ability is determined when you receive the Egg and thus cannot be reasonably controlled. Online tools can be used to find out the two sets of phrases you need to tell Primo in Violet City to receive the Slugma Egg based on the Trainer ID.

Smeargle

Availability: Mid-game (Ruins of Alph (area accessed through Union Cave with Surf), levels 20-22, 10%).
Typing: Normal gives it a weakness to Chuck and Bruno and is mostly neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Smeargle's only stat that isn't outright bad is its 75 Speed. Due to this, it doesn't hit hard and is fairly easy to KO.
Movepool: Smeargle can use virtually any move it wishes by copying it permanently with Sketch. Smeargle learns Sketch at level 1 and then once every subsequent ten levels. This means that Smeargle won't have a full moveset until the Elite Four, and that is only if it's caught at level 20.
Major Battles: No matter what moves Smeargle has, it will generally be utterly bad against anything it faces, as it lacks the offenses and bulk to stand up to foes. At best, it may be able to copy Destiny Bond off a wild Wobbuffet and take advantage of its Speed and low bulk, but even then, that's generally not impactful.
Additional Comments: Despite its ability to run any moveset it may want, Smeargle's terrible stats make it ineffective against any opponent it's facing, unless it's using a strategy that revolves around it deliberately getting KOed, which prevents it from meaningfully contributing much.

Spinarak

Availability: Early-game (Route 30, level 2, 30% (nighttime)).
Typing: Bug / Poison is all-around terrible, as it doesn't grant Spinarak many advantages outside of resisting Bruno and Chuck's type, being particularly bad against Falkner, Jasmine, and Will.
Stats: The line's stats are all-around mediocre, with Ariados's 90 Attack being the only stat that comes close to decent.
Movepool: Spinarak's only ways of consistently damaging foes until evolution are Poison Sting, Leech Life, Night Shade, and Shadow Sneak at levels 1, 12, 15, and 19. Ariados's strongest moves are Dig and Sludge Bomb through TMs, the latter of which can be made to deal somewhat decent damage with Choice Specs.
Major Battles: Spinarak and Ariados will generally struggle against any major opponent they are facing. Ariados can beat Jasmine's Magnemite with Dig and contribute against Morty with Shadow Sneak, but the rest typically wall it completely, or they have only a Pokemon or two defeated by Choice Specs-boosted Sludge Bomb.
Additional Comments: Although Spinarak comes early and levels up quickly, it is still a very bad Pokemon to use due to its terrible stats, typing, and movepool. Insomnia is the preferred ability, as the line doesn't get to use Bug-type moves effectively for Swarm.

Sunkern

Availability: Early-game (National Park, level 10 or 12, 25% (daytime)).
Typing: Grass isn't useful for Sunkern at all, as it only hits Pryce's team super effectively (which also hits Sunkern super effectively) and makes it bad for Jasmine, Team Rocket, Clair, Koga, and Lance.
Stats: Sunflora has a decent Special Attack, but it's incredibly slow and its bulk is somewhat average.
Movepool: Sunkern starts out with Mega Drain and Growth, with Solar Beam through TMs and Petal Dance at level 33 providing stronger Grass-type options. Grass Whistle and Leech Seed at levels 13 and 17 can be used for support, though they are time-consuming and inaccurate.
Major Battles: Sunflora has a chance of beating Whitney's Miltank with a +2 Solar Beam, though Stomp flinches and Attract make this inconsistent. Sunflora can also find some use against Pryce, though it is unlikely to sweep. Sunflora is typically too unreliable against the other opponents.
Additional Comments: Sunflora's bad typing, movepool, and Speed make it all-around inconsistent and unreliable against every opponent it's facing. Evolve Sunkern immediately with Sun Stone, which you get as a prize for winning the Bug-Catching Contest.

Tyrogue

Availability: Endgame (Mt. Mortar (B1F, requires Waterfall), from Kiyo after beating him, level 10).
Typing: Fighting is only useful for Karen's Dark-types and is neutral against Bruno, being bad elsewhere.
Stats: Tyrogue's evolutions are all specially bulky Pokemon with mostly average Speed and poor HP. Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan have a good Attack, whilst Hitmontop's is moreso above-average.
Movepool: All of Tyrogue's evolutions learn Drain Punch and Earthquake through TMs. Hitmonlee can be taught Brick Break or Meditate through the relearner and High Jump Kick and Blaze Kick at levels 29 and 41. Hitmonchan learns the elemental punches at level 31. Unfortunately, Hitmontop doesn't have notable moves to make it stand out, outside of Counter at level 28.
Major Battles: The line can be useful against Karen's Umbreon and Houndoom and some of Bruno's Pokemon. Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee see some success against Koga with their Fire-type coverage, while the former can also contribute against Lance with Ice Punch if it can outspeed his Dragonite.
Additional Comments: No matter what Tyrogue evolves into, it is all-around a very inefficient Pokemon due to coming extremely late and underleveled while also requiring an extensive backtrack to obtain.

Unown

Availability: Early-game (Ruins of Alph (underground areas), after completing one puzzle, level 5, 100%).
Typing: Psychic has only defensive purposes, unless Hidden Power happens to be Psychic-type. It is good for resisting Chuck and Bruno's type and is bad against Morty and Karen's Dark-types.
Stats: Unown's base 72 offenses are pretty average and its other stats (48 all) are pretty poor and fall off quickly.
Movepool: Hidden Power.
Major Battles: If you happen to have the correct Hidden Power type, you may be able to KO certain foes you are facing. However, as the game progresses and the opponents start using bulkier Pokemon, the Hidden Power type is generally irrelevant, since Unown has poor stats and as a result will lose anyways.
Additional Comments: Due to poor stats and an even poorer learnset, Unown is not worth using outside of joke runs. Unown pairs particularly well with Choice Specs, since it doesn't have to worry about switching moves.

Weedle

Availability: Early-game (Route 31, level 3 or 4, 50% (morning) or 35% (daytime) (SS); National Park (Bug Contest), levels 7-18, 20% (HG)).
Typing: Bug / Poison is all-around unhelpful, as it doesn't hit many opponents' types super effectively and makes Weedle weak to Falkner and Will.
Stats: Beedrill has an average Attack, Special Defense, and Speed, with its other stats being terrible.
Movepool: Weedle has only Poison Sting until it learns Fury Attack upon evolving into Beedrill. Beedrill's only physical Bug-type options are Twineedle and Pin Missile at levels 16 and 28, U-turn through TMs, and Bug Bite at level 15 as a Weedle. Its only physical Poison-type option is Poison Jab at level 37.
Major Battles: The line sees little success in any major fight as a result of its unimpressive Attack, terrible typing, and poor learnset. At best it may be able to assist against opponents by setting up Toxic Spikes, which it learns at level 25, or get a KO or two against Morty with Pursuit at level 22.
Additional Comments: Weedle is all-around a Pokemon that is suited only for joke runs, as it has nothing positive going for it that would justify a serious consideration on an efficiency-oriented run.

Wobbuffet

Availability: Late-game (Dark Cave (Blackthorn side), levels 20-25, 15%).
Typing: Wobbuffet will never use Psychic offensively and ideally wants to take neutral damage to quickly KO its foes with Counter and Mirror Coat. In this regard, Psychic gives it resistances for Will and Chuck and a weakness to Karen's Dark-types, so its typing is best suited for the other opponents.
Stats: Wobbuffet has a titanic HP with low defensive stats, making it ideal for taking a lot of damage without getting OHKOed. Its other stats are irrelevant in most cases, but its bad Speed hinders Destiny Bond.
Movepool: Counter, Mirror Coat, Safeguard, and Destiny Bond.
Major Battles: Wobbuffet is highly ineffective for defeating opponents efficiently, as it relies on taking damage to deal damage back. It may be able to take down one foe (especially a more difficult one like Clair's Kingdra), but it will often require several healing items after that to sweep. Furthermore, if facing a foe with a mixed moveset, it may have to predict correctly whether they go for a physical or a special move.
Additional Comments: Wobbuffet should never be used outside of joke runs due to its inability to take out multiple foes without significant support. It is important to mention that training Wobbuffet will also prove difficult, as it will require switch grinding almost the entire time.

Yanma

Availability: Early-game (Route 35, level 12, 1%).
Typing: Bug / Flying has little use offensively, as Yanma doesn't learn great Flying-type STAB moves within the main game, and Bug doesn't hit many major foes super effectively.
Stats: Most of Yanma's stats, save for an above-average 95 Speed, are either average or somewhat poor, and it is stuck with those for a long time due to Yanma learning Ancient Power and then evolving fairly late. It does get a significant boost in Special Attack upon evolving, though.
Movepool: Yanma's only viable STAB move for the entire game is Silver Wind through TMs. Ancient Power at level 33 is needed for Yanma to evolve. Other moves that can be useful to Yanma include Solar Beam + Sunny Day and Shadow Ball through TMs.
Major Battles: Yanma is mostly unimpressive until evolution due to its poor movepool and stats. Once it evolves into Yanmega, it can net a few KOs against major opponents when holding Choice Specs, though it won't sweep any of them.
Additional Comments: Yanma's insanely low encounter rate, coupled with a poor movepool and subpar performance until evolution, make it a highly-inefficient Pokemon that simply cannot be justified on any efficient run.

Untiered
These Pokémon are in the Johto Pokedex but can't be obtained in-game without use of events or come post-game and thus can't be tiered.

Untiered

Aerodactyl


Articuno


Bulbasaur


Celebi


Chansey


Charmander


Electabuzz


Houndour


Kabuto


Mew


Mewtwo


Moltres


Omanyte


Pikachu


Porygon


Sneasel


Snorlax


Squirtle


Suicune


Zapdos

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

Reserving this post just in case. Tagging shiny finder for an additional check before moving this to GP. As always, I am not the leader of the list (merely a major contributor), but am hosting the thread for the purposes of applying checks

e: in case you are wondering why we are using DP sprites, it's because I have a script to generate me the HTML code for all the entries and it requires the built-in sprites to parse it correctly. The actual article will obviously be using the HGSS ones

 

[shiny finder]

Reserving this post just in case. Tagging shiny finder for an additional check before moving this to GP. As always, I am not the leader of the list (merely a major contributor), but am hosting the thread for the purposes of applying checks

e: in case you are wondering why we are using DP sprites, it's because I have a script to generate me the HTML code for all the entries and it requires the built-in sprites to parse it correctly. The actual article will obviously be using the HGSS ones

Looks fine, thanks. Only suggestion would be maybe to point out that everything is listed by first evo (base evo/form?) somewhere in the OP, maybe in that last line about the ordering (I guess the only exception being Gyarados since you're presumably talking about the shiny one).

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

Only suggestion would be maybe to point out that everything is listed by first evo (base evo/form?) somewhere in the OP, maybe in that last line about the ordering (I guess the only exception being Gyarados since you're presumably talking about the shiny one).

They aren't exactly listed by first or base evolution, rather they are listed by:

1) the stage at which they are obtained (e.g. Gyarados, traded Dodrio)
2) the variant to which the entry refers to (e.g. trade/branch evolutions)

also, not sure if it would be consistent to mention, as the BW/RBY lists don't mention anything about that either (granted, I don't think they have any notable cases of #1). Could throw in something if it's really important, but seems a bit of an overkill to me

also, yes, the Gyara refers to the shiny one; the article will be using the shiny sprite, I am just using the normal one cause I don't think shiny sprites are supported by Smogon

Anyways, will mark this as GP (and implement the above if really needed) if it's not an issue. If someone catches something, let me know and I will implement it

 

[shiny finder]

They aren't exactly listed by first or base evolution, rather they are listed by:

1) the stage at which they are obtained (e.g. Gyarados, traded Dodrio)
2) the variant to which the entry refers to (e.g. trade/branch evolutions)

also, not sure if it would be consistent to mention, as the BW/RBY lists don't mention anything about that either (granted, I don't think they have any notable cases of #1). Could throw in something if it's really important, but seems a bit of an overkill to me

also, yes, the Gyara refers to the shiny one; the article will be using the shiny sprite, I am just using the normal one cause I don't think shiny sprites are supported by Smogon

Anyways, will mark this as GP (and implement the above if really needed) if it's not an issue. If someone catches something, let me know and I will implement it

it's cool, not hard pressed on it. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Adeleine]

D Tier

D-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency in terms of completing the game is considered to be average. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a small amount of foes and tend to be matchup-based enough to need items for sweeping quite matchup based, needing items to sweep (assuming this still makes sense) a few opponents. The usefulness of these Pokémon are is typically counterbalanced by many notable flaws or very late availability.

D Tier

Bellsprout

Availability: Early-game (Route 32, level 6, 20% in nighttime, 30% otherwise).
Typing: Grass / Poison is all-around unhelpful, only having some use against Chuck, being a double-edged sword against Pryce, and being bad elsewhere.
Stats: The line has great offensive stats with somewhat low bulk and average Speed.
Movepool: Bellsprout is stuck with Vine Whip and Growth until it learns Solar Beam and Sludge Bomb through TMs. Sunny Day through TMs can help Victreebel sweep some fights by triggering Chlorophyll and skipping Solar Beam's charge turn. Sleep Powder at level 13 can also come in handy against more difficult opponents.
Major Battles: Victreebel has some use against Chuck and Pryce, though it will have problems sweeping the latter. It can also potentially pull off a sweep against Bruno. Victreebel is generally bad in other matchups due to bad typing and a lack of coverage to make up for that.
Additional Comments: Due to its unhelpful typing and lackluster movepool, Victreebel fails to make an impact distinguish itself in most major battles. (previous desc did not sound like "average" at all. tinker if needed, but something should change here) Furthermore, you need to spend time getting the Leaf Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome to fully evolve it.

Clefairy

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Meadow area), level 17, 10% (nighttime)).
Typing: Normal makes Clefairy weak to Chuck and Bruno and is mostly neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Clefable's stats are mostly average, capping at 95 HP and Special Attack, though it hits decently hard with Choice Specs.
Movepool: Clefable's movepool consists almost entirely of TMs, which and it includes Strength, Return, Fire Blast, Blizzard, Thunder, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Dig, and Charge Beam. The only relevant level-up move is Encore upon capture is Encore, (pick between level-up and capture) which can turn opponents foes like Pryce's Piloswine and Karen's Houndoom into deadweights dead weight by locking them into status moves.
Major Battles: Clefable generally relies on super effective hits via TMs to defeat opponents. In particular, it can contribute to beating Will with Shadow Ball, Jasmine and Koga with Fire Blast, Pryce with Thunder, Fire Blast, or Focus Blast, and Clair's Dragonair with Blizzard. However, many of those matchups rely on inaccurate moves, so they aren't always consistent.
Additional Comments: The Meadow area appears in only five out of ten Safari Zone default area layouts, meaning you may not be able to obtain Clefairy until after three in-game hours have passed since completing Baoba's test. Clefairy is a Pokemon that can catch up quickly thanks to its Fast growth rate, but its performance is inconsistent due to its reliance on inaccurate moves. Evolve it immediately with Moon Stone, which you can obtain at the Ruins of Alph instead of taking time to obtain it from the Pokeathlon Dome. Magic Guard is the preferred ability.

Dratini

Availability: Early-game (Goldenrod Game Corner, 2,100 Coins).
Typing: Pure Dragon means Dratini and Dragonair have mostly neutral matchups aside from Pryce, Clair, and Lance, who it is weak against.
Stats: Dratini and Dragonair have average stats with a slight preference for Attack. The line doesn't get to utilize Dragonite's excellent stats due to an extremely late evolution level of 55. (i know doing so is out of the way, but is it so not worth grinding up to 55/dnite for endgame that it's not even worth mentioning? i'll take your word if the answer is "yes")
Movepool: Dratini starts with Dragon Rage, which will be its main source of damage until it gets the Surf HM and Choice Specs, which also allows it to utilize Fire Blast via TM effectively. Dragon Rush at level 39 is generally inferior to Choice Specs-boosted Dragon Pulse via TM. Most of the line's other moves are either weak or unnecessary, but it can learn Whirlpool and Waterfall for HMs and Return through TM.
Major Battles: Dratini 2HKOes both of Whitney's Pokemon with Dragon Rage, but it fails to make an impact against Morty due to Curse. Choice Specs Dragonair can take on Chuck's Primeape with Specs Surf and Jasmine with Specs Fire Blast, though Pryce and Clair are unfavorable. Choice Specs Dragonair will be moderately effective against Koga with Specs Fire Blast and decent with Specs Dragon Pulse everywhere else, though it won't sweep.
Additional Comments: Aside from the inefficiency of using the Voltorb Flip timesink time sink to get Dratini, the line's Slow growth rate and middling matchups keep Dratini out of the higher tiers despite having a decently diverse Special special movepool aided by Choice Specs.

Ekans

Availability: Early-game (Route 32, level 4, 30% (SS); buy at Goldenrod Game Corner for 700 coins (HG)).
Typing: Poison is only useful defensively, as it doesn't hit any major opponent's type (or did you mean "foe"?) super effectively. It grants Ekans with a resistance to with resistances for Chuck, Team Rocket, Koga, and Bruno, but it leaves it with a weakness to Will.
Stats: Arbok's stats are average at best, with its highest one being 85 Attack. Its 65 Special Attack means it won't hit relatively hard with Choice Specs either.
Movepool: Ekans relies on Wrap and Poison Sting until Bite at level 9. Glare and Screech at levels 13 and 17 provide support, the latter of which pairs well with Dig through TMs and Crunch upon evolution. Sludge Bomb through TMs is the line's strongest STAB move.
Major Battles: If playing SS, Ekans can come in handy against Falkner and Bugsy. If it's evolved, Arbok also sees some use against Whitney and Morty. Against the rest, it typically needs to spam Screech to OHKO most opponents, foes, though it can contribute with Intimidate and Glare as well.
Additional Comments: Ekans is a Pokemon that quickly falls off due to its unremarkable stats, typing, and movepool, being too slow in KOing opponents foes later on in the game.

Exeggcute

Availability: Early-game (Route 34 (Headbutt on trees), levels 9-12, 20%).
Typing: Grass / Psychic is useful for Chuck and Bruno and is a double-edged sword against Pryce, Team Rocket, and Koga.
Stats: Save for an excellent 125 Special Attack, most of Exeggutor's stats are average, with its Speed being particularly low.
Movepool: Exeggcute's only good way of dealing damage until Confusion at level 27 is with Solar Beam through TMs. Reflect and Leech Seed at levels 7 and 11 provide support, (AC) and Sunny Day through TMs combines well with Chlorophyll and Solar Beam.
Major Battles: Exeggcute has little to no (removed hyphen) offensive presence until it learns Confusion and evolves. It is good for Chuck and deals with most of the Team Rocket Executives, while also as well as KOing some of Koga's and Bruno's Pokemon.
Additional Comments: Exeggcute's unremarkable period until level 27, which is further worsened by its Slow growth rate, offsets most of its positive contributions. Furthermore, you need to spend time getting a Leaf Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome to evolve it. Evolve it immediately after learning Confusion.

Farfetch'd

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, level 16, 10% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Normal / Flying gives it an advantage against Chuck and Bruno (RC) but is very bad against Jasmine and Pryce.
Stats: Farfetch'd's stats are mediocre and quickly fall off. It will need to use Swords Dance multiple times before it can OHKO most opponents foes later on.
Movepool: Farfetch'd starts out with Aerial Ace, which can be upgraded to Fly, and can be taught Return, which has immediate power if Farfetch'd is caught in a Friend Ball. Swords Dance and Agility at levels 25 and 31 are needed for Farfetch'd to sweep fights.
Major Battles: In almost every fight, Farfetch'd has to set up a few Swords Dances and (if applicable) Dances, and it sometimes needs one Agility. Due to its poor bulk, it will often have to be healed to reach the needed amount of setup. This strategy is ineffective against Jasmine, Pryce, and Lance, while being and it's unreliable against opponents whose lead Pokemon have confusion-inducing moves such as Will.
Additional Comments: Farfetch'd is a Pokemon that can have some uses (RC) but is ultimately very inefficient, as it needs huge amounts of setup and healing to consistently take down most opponents it faces. Stick is not worth bothering with, trying to get, as wild Farfetch'd hold it only 5% of the time.

Hoppip

Availability: Early-game (Route 32, level 6, 10% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Grass / Flying is mostly terrible, as Hoppip doesn't get to use it for hitting opponents super effectively. Grass doesn't hit major opponents' types super effectively, and Hoppip lacks Flying-type attacks. (as long as this makes sense) It provides it Hoppip with a resistance to Fighting for Chuck and Bruno, but a weakness to Pryce, Team Rocket, and Koga.
Stats: Jumpluff is a fast Pokemon with mediocre offenses and average bulk.
Movepool: Hoppip has no damaging moves whatsoever until it learns Bullet Seed through TMs. Most of its movepool is support-based, taking advantage of Sleep Powder at level 16 and Leech Seed at level 24 after evolving. Its best STAB moves are Mega Drain upon evolving into Jumpluff and Solar Beam through TMs, with Headbutt through tutor providing some coverage.
Major Battles: Due to its lacking offenses, Hoppip generally fails to beat opponents on its own. Instead, it can put them to sleep and then infict inflict them with Leech Seed, although this method is slow and unreliable due to both moves' imperfect accuracy. This strategy notably can be used to take down Clair's Kingdra.
Additional Comments: Hoppip is generally a bad Pokemon to use due to its inability to win major fights on its own. It is only saved by the fact because its support can be significantly helpful against more difficult opponents, but Hoppip is still generally not suited for efficient runs.

Horsea

Availability: Late-game (Whirl Islands (surfing), levels 10-20, 30%).
Typing: Water is resisted by Clair and Lance's type and is neutral elsewhere. Kingdra's Dragon typing is a double-edged sword against Lance and (if evolved available at that point) Clair.
Stats: Seadra and Kingdra can hit decently hard with 95 Special Attack and Choice Specs while also being relatively fast. Seadra, however, is rather frail specially, though that's not much of an issue for Kingdra.
Movepool: Horsea can be taught Surf, Blizzard, and Rain Dance immediately, with Rain Dance pairing well with Kingdra's Swift Swim. Kingdra's only good Dragon-type STAB moves are Dragon Pulse through TMs and Draco Meteor through tutor. Hydro Pump at level 40 provides a stronger, but inaccurate alternative to Surf.
Major Battles: With Choice Specs, Horsea can sweep Jasmine and its evolutions perform well against most of Team Rocket. If you have a Kingdra for Clair, you can potentially defeat her own Kingdra by living surviving a Dragon Pulse and OHKOing with Draco Meteor. At the Elite Four, Seadra and Kingdra will typically perform the same, needing rain and Hydro Pump to achieve OHKOes, though Kingdra is slightly better than Seadra against Will due to its superior special bulk.
Additional Comments: In order to obtain Horsea as soon as possible, you have to beat Pryce first to enable the use of Whirlpool in the overworld, which means that you may have to face him underleveled and thus make the fight harder for your team. Dragon Scale can be obtaned either at Mt. Mortar (2F) after getting the Rising Badge or through wild Horsea; the former method requires a significant backtrack, while the latter method allows you to have a Kingdra before Clair, but it is time-consuming, as wild Horsea hold the item only 5% of the time. Ultimately, late evolution and the need for the inaccurate Hydro Pump to KO opponents foes in the end-game endgame make the line bad compared to other Water-types, with Kingdra being slightly better at the cost of the time spent getting the Dragon Scale. (imo if possible say whether kingdra or seadra is more efficient overall–or if their efficiency levels are very close)

Jigglypuff

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Meadow and Swamp areas), levels 15-17 (Meadow) or levels 16-17 (Swamp), 40%).
Typing: Normal makes Wigglytuff weak to Chuck and Bruno and is mostly neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Wigglytuff has an enormous 140 HP, although it's 140 HP. It's counterbalanced by somewhat average offenses and poor defenses and Speed, though Choice Specs can help it hit hard with special moves.
Movepool: Wigglytuff's movepool consists of Rollout at level 17 and Defense Curl 17, Defense Curl (at level __?), and TMs or HMs to provide STAB moves or coverage, including Strength, Return, Fire Blast, Thunder, Charge Beam, Shadow Ball, and Blizzard.
Major Battles: Wigglytuff generally relies on super effective hits to KO opponents. foes. In particular, it needs Fire Blast for Jasmine, Thunder for most of Pryce's fight, and Blizzard for Clair's Dragonair. It can also claim a few KOs at the Elite Four with the same moves, but it will generally take out only a few Pokemon per member. Most of Team Rocket can be covered with Defense Curl + Rollout, though the inaccuracy lacking accuracy may prove problematic.
Additional Comments: Jigglypuff levels up quickly and sees some use against major opponents due to its wide TM learnset and Choice Specs, but it isn't very consistent, as it relies almost the entire time on inaccurate moves to KO opponents. foes. Out of the ten Safari Zone default area layouts, only one has neither the Meadow nor the Swamp area, thus so you are very likely to be able to obtain Jigglypuff on your first visit to the Safari Zone.

Jynx

Availability: Late-game (Ice Path, level 22, 10% (daytime) or 5% (morning and nighttime)).
Typing: Ice lets it hit Clair's Dragonair and Lance's Dragon-types super effectively, while also as well as hitting the other opponents neutrally. Its Psychic typing serves no offensive purposes, as it learns no Psychic-type moves for the main game.
Stats: Jynx has a great Special Attack and is relatively fast, but it is very frail physically.
Movepool: Jynx's special movepool is poor, as it consists only of Blizzard, Focus Blast, and Shadow Ball through TMs. Hail through TMs makes Blizzard accurate and Lovely Kiss through the relearner can be useful against more difficult opponents.
Major Battles: Jynx can net a few KOs against Will with Choice Specs and Shadow Ball, but against the rest, it simply has to rely on Choice Specs + Blizzard and hope that it doesn't miss. Hail can remove the inaccuracy issues, but this means that Jynx cannot use Choice Specs, (AC) and it also doesn't have the bulk to set it Hail up safely.
Additional Comments: Jynx comes late and is reliant on the inaccurate Blizzard to achieve anything in the remaining fights, though it hits very hard when it lands a Choice Specs-boosted attack.

Kangaskhan

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Wasteland area), levels 15-17, 10% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Normal makes Kangaskhan weak to Chuck and Bruno and is neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Kangaskhan's stats, save for Special Attack, are all-around decent, giving it an edge in most neutral matchups.
Movepool: Kangaskhan mainly relies on Strength as its STAB move, (AC) as it cannot be caught in a Friend Ball to boost Return. Kangaskhan also has Fake Out upon capture to deal some chip damage turn one. Other useful moves include Crunch and Outrage at levels 31 and 37 and Dig, Earthquake, and Shadow Claw through TMs.
Major Battles: Kangaskhan performs reasonably well against most opponents by using its strongest move, with Will and Bruno being the only matchups that are somewhat mediocre for it. Notably, Kangsakhan can beat Chuck's Poliwrath if it has Early Bird and Clair's Dragonair with Outrage.
Additional Comments: While Kangaskhan is an excellent Pokemon, the Wasteland area appears in only six out of the ten default area layouts, thus layouts; thus, you may not be able to get Kangaskhan until after three in-game hours have passed since completing Baoba's test. Furthermore, Kangaskhan is fairly hard to catch in a Safari Ball due to its low catch rate.

Koffing

Availability: Mid-game (Burned Tower (1F), levels 14-16, 35%).
Typing: Poison doesn't hit any major opponent's type super effectively and makes the Will matchup bad, though it provides a resistance useful resistances against Chuck, Koga, Bruno, and most of the Team Rocket Executives.
Stats: Koffing's stats aren't very good and it's stuck with them for most of the game due to its late evolution. It can deal decent damage with Choice Specs, though.
Movepool: Koffng initially (I imagine?) relies on Sludge at level 24 as its STAB move, which upgrades to Sludge Bomb through TMs. Thunder and Fire Blast through TMs provide coverage, while Assurance at level 15 can be useful for Morty.
Major Battles: Koffing relies on super effective damage to OHKO most of the opponents foes its facing. This means that it's incredibly dependent on the inaccurate Fire Blast and Thunder to take down foes efficiently. In particular, this allows it to These moves do let it be potentially good against Jasmine, Pryce, and most of the Team Rocket Executives, though it can also claim a few KOs elsewhere with Choice Specs and Sludge Bomb.
Additional Comments: Due to its low stats and late evolution, Koffing is forced to rely on inaccurate moves and super effective damage to contribute meaningfully, making it all-around unreliable for an efficient run. Weezing can be caught directly at the Safari Zone's Marshland area to circumvent the Koffing stage, but, (AC) as the area is not guaranteed to be one of the six areas you get on your first visit, this alternative proves unreliable.

Krabby

Availability: Mid-game (Olivine City, Good Rod, level 20, 37%)
Typing: Water is resisted by Lance's and Clair's Dragon-types and is offensively neutral elsewhere, with it making the matchup against Jasmine's Magnemite worse defensively.
Stats: Krabby has a very high Attack stat, but a mediocre Special Attack. It is also very frail specially, though it can live survive some physical hits thanks to its 115 Defense.
Movepool: The line doesn't learn any physical Water-type moves for the Johto part, main game, so it's stuck with Surf as its best option. Its physical coverage includes Return, Strength, Dig, and Rock Tomb through TMs. Whirlpool can also be taught for HM utility if Kingler has free moveslots. a free moveslot.
Major Battles: Kingler can sweep Jasmine with Dig and Surf and also sweeps Archer. It can take out Pryce's Seel and Dewgong and Chuck's Primeape. Kingler is unhelpful against the Elite Four, as it struggles to take out more than one threat per opponent.
Additional Comments: Krabby is an unimpressive Pokemon, (AC) as it's unable to use its STAB moves effectively due to a lackluster Special Attack, while also as well as struggling against many opponents due to its poor special bulk. If possible, try to catch it in a Friend Ball to give it an 80 BP Return immediately.

Lickitung

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Mountain area), levels 15-17, 20% (morning and daytime) (removed extra close paren) or late-game (Route 44, levels 24-26, 15%)). (added extra close paren)
Typing: Normal makes Lickitung weak to Bruno and Chuck and leaves it with mostly neutral matchups elsewhere.
Stats: The line mostly has average stats, though Lickilicky is partcularly bulky with 110 HP. However, the line's Speed is pretty low.
Movepool: Lickitung's strongest STAB move will be either Strength or Return through TMs, depending on if it was caught in a Friend Ball. It can be taught Dig by TM (I imagine?) for coverage, which can be upgraded to Earthquake through TMs. Lickitung caught at level 24 or lower comes with Defense Curl, which combines well with Rollout at level 33, which is needed to trigger an evolution.
Major Battles: Before evolution, the line's only positive contribution is KOing Jasmine's Magnemite with Dig. After evolving, Lickitung evolution, Lickilicky generally relies on Defense Curl + Rollout to defeat opponents, particularly seeing some success against Will and Koga.
Additional Comments: The Mountain area appears in only five out of the ten default area layouts you can get on your first Safari Zone visit, so if you do not get the Mountain area, it is better to go for the Route 44 one, encounter, in spite of the later arrival. In general, Lickitung is fairly weak until evolution and is reliant on Rollout consistently hitting to perform well, making it an unreliable Pokemon as a whole. Own Tempo is the preferred ability to improve matchups against confusion-inducing Pokemon, most notably Will's Xatu.

Marill

Availability: Mid-game (Mt. Mortar 1F (Entrance), 1%, level 15).
Typing: Pure Water means Marill is neutral to in most matchups aside from Clair and Lance, where it is disadvantageous.
Stats: Azumarill has excellent 100 / 80 / 80 bulk and good Attack with Huge Power, though its Speed and Special Attack are low.
Movepool: Marill starts with Defense Curl and Rollout, which is what it will be using frequently (or like "which will be its staple moves") until the Waterfall HM after seven badges. Otherwise, Double-Edge at level 33 or Return and Dig via TMs can be used for coverage. Azumarill can learn all three Water-type HMs as well as Rock Smash and Strength, though it will typically have room for only one of these end-game. by the endgame.
Major Battles: Azumarill is ineffective for Morty due to Curse stalling interrupting (I imagine?) Rollout strategies. Azumarill can utilize Strength for Chuck and Choice Specs + Surf for Jasmine's Steelix. Against everyone else, Defense Curl and Rollout can be used, but used. Azumarill will get worn down in the process, though there are a few Pokemon League targets Azumarill can pick off with Waterfall.
Additional Comments: Huge Power is the recommended Ability, ability, but getting Huge Power is unlikely unless you get a Marill from the Johto's Safari Zone's Meadow area later. This method is unreliable though, as the Meadow area is available in only five out of the ten default area layouts, (AC) meaning you may have to wait three in-game hours after completing Baoba's first test. Regardless, Marill's rarity or late availability hold holds it back from the higher tiers.

Misdreavus

Availability: Mid-game (Cliff Cave, level 20, 5% (nighttime)).
Typing: Ghost makes Misdreavus useful against Will (RC) but weak to Karen's Dark-types, being mostly neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Misdreavus's special stats and Speed are mostly average with somewhat poor physical bulk, though Choice Specs helps it hit decently hard. Since you cannot obtain a Dusk Stone until after beating Lance, it is stuck with those stats for the main game.
Movepool: Misdreavus's only STAB option is Shadow Ball through TMs. Other useful TMs include Charge Beam and Thunder + Rain Dance. Perish Song at level 41 can be used on the last Pokemon of each member, opponent, if needed, assuming that Misdreavus can outspeed or live survive an attack from the Pokemon, (AC) and Psybeam at level 23 provides some coverage against Chuck, Bruno, and Team Rocket.
Major Battles: Misdreavus is unreliable for Chuck and Jasmine and but (or did you mean like "Misdreavis is unreliable but useful... and..."?) can get a KO or two against Pryce. At the Elite Four, Misdreavus can KO a few of Will's Pokemon but is unlikely to sweep due to not outspeeding everything, (AC) and it generally doesn't KO many Pokemon from the rest of the Elite Four.
Additional Comments: Misdreavus's somewhat unimpressive performance, coupled with its rarity and significant reliance on TMs to perform well, make makes it a mediocre choice for an efficient run. On the other hand, However, Misdreavus does level up quickly thanks to its Fast growth rate.

Mr. Mime

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Forest area), level 16 or 17, 15% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Psychic makes Mr. Mime useful against Chuck, Koga, Bruno, and most of Team Rocket, but it's not so great against Jasmine and Karen's Dark-types.
Stats: Mr. Mime is relatively fast with great Special special stats, but its other stats are subpar.
Movepool: Mr. Mime doesn't have a STAB move until Psybeam at level 25, which upgrades to Psychic at level 39. It learns a variety of coverage moves, most notably Charge Beam, Shadow Ball, and Focus Blast through TMs. Encore and Substitute at levels 11 and 29 can heavily assist Mr. Mime in some fights. (added period)
Major Battles: Mr. Mime can win many fights just by hiding behind a Substitute and then locking the opponent foe into a status move with Encore; opponents foes that this strategy can be useful against include Chuck's Poliwrath, Pryce's Piloswine, Clair's Dragonair, and Will's Xatu and Slowbro. In addition, it crushes most of Team Rocket, Chuck, and Bruno's Pokemon with Choice Specs Psychic STAB. and Psychic-type STAB moves. In addition to beating Pryce's Piloswine (by locking it into Hail), it can also use Seel as a set up setup fodder for Charge Beam boosts, as its Icy Wind is too weak to break Substitute.
Additional Comments: Mr. Mime's performance is excellent, but due to the Forest area appearing in only five out of the ten default area layouts you can get upon your first Safari Zone visit, you may not be able to get it until after three in-game hours have passed since completing Baoba's test. In addition, it is fairly hard to catch in a Safari Ball due to its low catch rate.

Oddish (Bellossom)

Availability: Early-game (Ilex Forest, level 5 or 6, 60% (nighttime)).
Typing: Bellossom's pure Grass typing is all-around unhelpful, being a double-edged sword against Pryce and being resisted by a majority of the major opponents.
Stats: Bellossom can hit decently hard with Choice Specs and 90 Special Attack. It also has good Special Defense, but it is very slow and the other stats are average.
Movepool: Oddish starts out with Absorb, which upgrades to Magical Leaf at level 23 (Bellossom) and Solar Beam through TMs, and learns Acid at level 9, which can be upgraded to Sludge Bomb through TMs. Sunny Day through TMs combines well with Solar Beam and Chlorophyll. Sleep Powder at level 17 can assist Oddish against more difficult opponents.
Major Battles: Bellossom can be helpful against Chuck with Magical Leaf ignoring Primeape's Double Team, (AC) and it can get a few KOs against Pryce. From then on, Bellossom's attacks will be resisted quite often and Bellossom's contributions will be restricted to the few opponents foes that don't resist Grass, unless it gets lucky with sleep.
Additional Comments: Bellossom's poor offensive movepool and Grass typing make it all-around ineffective against most of the main game opponents. Furthermore, a Sun Stone can be fairly difficult to obtain due to having to win the Bug-Catching Contest, but once you do obtain it, evolve Gloom immediately, as Gloom doesn't learn any useful moves by level. As a whole, it is better to evolve Gloom into Vileplume due to it retaining the Poison typing and having a higher Special Attack, both of which can improve several matchups.

Onix (No Trade)

Availability: Early-game (Violet City, in-game trade for Bellsprout).
Typing: Onix begins with the Rock / Ground typing, which gives it good STAB coverage and resists resistances for the early Gym Leaders. After beating Whitney, though, the typing becomes mostly irrelevant, as Onix won't have the stats to take full advantage of it later on.
Stats: Onix's base 45 Attack makes it relevant only for the early-game and prevents it from threatening most opponents later on. Its titanic physical bulk is counterbalanced by poor HP and Special Defense.
Movepool: Onix learns Rock Throw at level 9, with Dig and Earthquake through TMs being its Ground-type STAB options. Screech at level 6 is useful against bulky opponents foes and Curse at level 38 can increase its power, though it won't hit very hard even with extensive set up. setup.
Major Battles: Onix is great for the first three Gym Leaders, though it should avoid being higher than level 10 against Falkner due to disobedience. Screech helps greatly against Whitney's Miltank, but after this, Onix becomes a deadweight dead weight, with its only useful contribution being KOing Jasmine's Magnemite. Even with Curse, its Elite Four performance is subpar, as it will struggle to OHKO opponents foes at +6 and has a hard time setting up that many Curses anyways.
Additional Comments: Onix is one of the best Pokemon for the early-game but, (moved comma) if left unevolved, is basically a deadweight dead weight for the rest of the game. The traded Onix, Rocky, comes with an IV spread of 25/20/25/15/15/15, a Hasty nature, and Sturdy.

Pineco

Availability: Early-game (Route 34 (Headbutt), 30%, levels 9-10)
Typing: Bug doesn't do Pineco any favors before evolution. Forretress's Bug / Steel typing is mediocre for Jasmine, but good for Pryce and Clair to an extent. Against the Pokemon League, Forretress is decent for Will, Koga, and some of Karen's Pokemon. Elsewhere, it is average.
Stats: Pineco and Forretress have good Attack and excellent Defense with average stats elsewhere aside from Speed.
Movepool: Pineco starts with Bug Bite for STAB as well as Selfdestruct. Self-Destruct. (yes i know) Pineco picks up Bide at level 20, which will be its method of offense for most major battles. Payback at level 33 can serve as decent coverage, as can Dig and Return via TM. Forretress's best Steel-type STAB move is Gyro Ball at level 45, though this may be too late to be helpful. Spikes at level 28 or and Toxic Spikes via move relearner are generally irrelevant.
Major Battles: Pineco can Selfdestruct use Self-Destruct on Whitney's Miltank and potentially use Dig for Jasmine. Forretress with Bug Bite is decent for Will as well as Karen's Umbreon, but otherwise it fails to do much in major battles aside from using Bide.
Additional Comments: Pineco's late evolution and situational use in major battles hold it back from being consistently useful. Consider catching Pineco in a Friend Ball to make Return powerful immediately (it usually hits harder than Bug Bite at full power).

Phanpy

Availability: Late-game (Route 45, level 20, 10%) (HG).
Typing: Ground typing is only useful against Koga and is neutral at best elsewhere, with Clair's Water-type moves being particularly dangerous.
Stats: Donphan has excellent physical stats (120 each), but its other stats are rather poor.
Movepool: The line mostly gets by with its starting moves of Rollout and Defense Curl, (AC) with Strength through HMs providing some coverage. Phanpy's only STAB options are Earthquake through TMs and Magnitude through the relearner after evolving.
Major Battles: Donphan is useful for Koga by KOing Muk with Earthquake and the Bug-types with Defense Curl and Rollout, (AC) and it is fairly good for Bruno, especially if you set up Defense Curl to handle their his team's attacks better. It can also KO Karen's Houndoom but fails to do much elsewhere.
Additional Comments: Phanpy's late arrival and small amount number of good matchups make it an unremarkable Pokemon.

Qwilfish

Availability: Mid-game (Route 32 (Good Rod), 5%, level 20)
Typing: Water / Poison gives Qwilfish resistances to for Chuck, Bruno, and Koga. Qwilfish has shaky matchups for Jasmine and Pryce and outright loses to Will while being average elsewhere.
Stats: Qwilfish has good Attack, Defense, (AC) and Speed, but is dismal on the Special side. its special stats are dismal.
Movepool: Rollout is the only decent move Qwilfish has for a long time, as Surf is weak due to Qwilfish's lacking Special Attack and most other options are too situational. Qwilfish gets a good STAB move via the Waterfall HM later on though.
Major Battles: It can take out most of Morty and Clair with Rollout, but otherwise Qwilfish is too ineffective against most bosses due to its lacking stats and moves.
Additional Comments: Due to requiring a backtrack and not having good Special-oriented special stats, Qwilfish is outclassed by almost all other Water-types, (AC) with Rollout being its sole distinguishing trait.

Seel

Availability: Mid-game (Route 47 (surfing), levels 10-20, 30%).
Typing: Water / Ice provides it with a type advantage against Clair and Lance and mostly neutral matchups elsewhere.
Stats: Seel's stats, save for the average Special Defense, are very low, (AC) and it is stuck with those for most of the game due to a late evolution level. Even after evolving, it evolves, Dewgong's offensive stats aren't anything to write home about either.
Movepool: Seel can be taught Surf immediately, with Aurora Beam at level 27 and Blizzard through TMs providing more STAB options for Dewgong. Encore at level 13 can help Seel in some matchups by locking its opponents foes into status moves.
Major Battles: Seel beats Pryce's Piloswine and performs well against Team Rocket once it evolves. Its Aurora Beam, even with Choice Specs, fails to can't reliably (calc suggests abeam can possibly ohko dnite even at 5 level disadvantage w neutral nature/no evs, and i assume youll have some spa evs by then. if im missing something lmk, or we can talk if needed) OHKO any of the notable Dragon-type Pokemon, so it will need Blizzard there. It's somewhat mediocre against the Elite Four, claiming a KO or two at best against each member.
Additional Comments: The line's mediocre offensive stats, coupled with Seel's late evolution level, prevent it from being very useful, as it struggles to OHKO its opponents foes even when hitting super effectively. Either ability is fine for Seel, since Thick Fat doesn't see much use aside from against Pryce, (AC) and Hydration is only useful when combined with Rain Dance.

Shellder

Availability: Mid-game (New Bark Town (Good Rod), level 20, 3%).
Typing: Water / Ice is useful against Clair and Lance and is mostly neutral elsewhere, save for Chuck and Bruno, which hit whose type hits it super effectively.
Stats: Cloyster has a monstrous Defense, but its offenses and Speed are average (though its Special Attack can be boosted by Choice Specs) and its HP and Special Defense are poor.
Movepool: Cloyster's only majorly relevant moves are Surf, Blizzard, and Rain Dance through TMs. Spikes at level 28 after evolving Shellder can provide some support. Whirlpool can also be taught for HM purposes.
Major Battles: Cloyster has some success against Morty and sweeps Jasmine, while also as well as performing somewhat well against Team Rocket. Its end-game endgame performance is subpar due to the abudance of special attackers.
Additional Comments: Due to a mostly unimpressive performance, along with the inefficiency of obtaining a Water Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome and its Slow growth rate, Shellder is all-around a mediocre Pokemon in comparion comparison to other Water-types. Shellder doesn't learn any useful moves by level, so evolve it immediately. Shellder can also be caught on Route 41 with a Good Rod with a 10% encounter rate, (AC) but this comes at the cost of skipping Morty.

Snubbull

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, 1%, level 13).
Typing: Pure Normal means Snubbull and Granbull are is decent for Morty, bad for Chuck and Bruno, and average elsewhere.
Stats: Granbull has excellent 120 Attack and mostly average stats otherwise, (AC) save for a dismal 45 Speed.
Movepool: Snubbull starts with Bite and picks up Headbutt at level 19, though Return via TM is its best STAB move. Granbull can get the elemental fangs via the move relearner, with Ice Fang being the most relevant. Granbull can learn Dig and Payback via TMs, and Strength via HM can suffice until Return is powerful enough.
Major Battles: Despite having Bite for Morty, Granbull is ineffective there due to Curse whittling it down. In most major battles, Granbull will generally only take one Pokemon down due to its low Speed being detrimental to sweeps.
Additional Comments: Snubbull's Run Away Ability ability changes to Quick Feet on evolution. Intimidate is generally more useful, but Quick Feet can work well with the Facade TM from the Goldenrod Department Store raffle on Fridays. Regardless, Snubbull's sheer rarity and painfully low Speed normally render it unviable despite good attributes. Consider catching Snubbull in a Friend Ball to make Return powerful immediately.

Sudowoodo

Availability: Mid-game (Route 36 (Squirt Bottle), level 20).
Typing: Rock typing means Sudowoodo is neutral to is neutral for Morty, but weak to Chuck and Jasmine. Sudowoodo is decent for Pryce and Will and has a favorable (removed stray period) matchup against Koga. Sudowoodo loses to Bruno but is okay for Karen and Lance aside from its Speed.
Stats: Sudowoodo is a decent physical tank with average HP and Special Defense, but it is very slow.
Movepool: Rock Throw eventually upgrades to Rock Slide at level 33. As for other options, Sudowoodo starts with Low Kick, gets Sucker Punch at level 41, and can relearn Wood Hammer if desired.
Major Battles: Sudowoodo loses to Morty due to his speedy use of Curse, but Sudowoodo can take on one of Jasmine's Magnemite with Dig. Sudowoodo beats Pryce's Dewgong but loses to his Pilowswine and Clair due to its Speed. Sudowoodo can hit various targets weak to Rock at the Pokemon League, but its slow Speed will be a deterrent.
Additional Comments: Sudowoodo has a decent movepool and is by no means unusable, but the Rock typing and Speed are big problems. Rock Head is the preferred ability to negate Wood Hammer recoil.

Swinub

Availability: Late-game (Ice Path, levels 21-24, 40%).
Typing: Ice / Ground is useful for Clair, Koga, and Lance, but it leaves Mamoswine weak to Bruno.
Stats: Mamoswine has an excellent Attack and good HP, though its other stats are average at best.
Movepool: Mamoswine relies on Dig via TM until it learns Earthquake at level 40. It and (I assume?) Piloswine can be retaught Ice Fang and Ancient Power, the latter of which is required to evolve Piloswine. Ice Shard at level 28 provides useful priority, and Ice Fang can be substituted with Avalanche via TM for more power in exchange for negative priority.
Major Battles: Mamoswine sees success against Clair's Dragonair with Ice Fang and can typically nab a few KOs against each Elite Four member bar Bruno. It struggles to do much against Lance, as Ice Shard isn't enough to OHKO the Dragonite and they tend to outspeed Mamoswine, especially if using Avalanche.
Additional Comments: Swinub comes late and is very weak until it evolves into Mamoswine. Furthermore, in order to use Mamoswine to its full potential, you need two Heart Scales; one can be found on Route 32 with Surf (hidden), while a second one can be obtained by breaking rocks with Rock Smash at Cianwood City until you get one, (AC) or from the Pokeathlon Dome for 1000 points on Sunday and Wednesday.

Tangela

Availability: Late-game (Route 44, level 23, 30%).
Typing: Grass isn't useful for the remainder of the game due to not hitting anything super effectively. It is also particularly bad against Koga.
Stats: Tangrowth has excellent offenses and is bulky physically, but its Special Defense and Speed are poor.
Movepool: Tangela starts out with Growth and can be taught Solar Beam and Sunny Day through TMs, which combine well with Chlorophyll. Sleep Powder can be learned through the move relearner. Ancient Power is learned at level 33 and is needed to evolve Tangela.
Major Battles: Tangrowth can sweep some fights by putting the opponent a foe to sleep, then setting up Sunny Day and (I imagine sday should come first for sbeam+chloro?) enough Growths and then sun and from there on it can to attempt to sweep with Solar Beam. This strategy is particularly effective against Clair, Will if you lure in Slowbro, and Bruno, but you may need to heal it if going for many Growth boosts, (AC) and this strategy isn't very effective against the other opponents.
Additional Comments: Tangela comes late and is rather inefficient against the remainder of the game due to needing extensive setup to sweep. Its only saving grace is its ability to sweep Clair if given enough support.

Teddiursa

Availability: Late-game (Route 45, 10%, level 20) (SS).
Typing: Pure Normal makes Ursaring is average for what is left of the game, (AC) aside from a negative matchup against Bruno.
Stats: Ursaring has poor Speed. but outstanding Attack with good stats everywhere else.
Movepool: Aside from Faint Attack (which Teddiursa starts with), all of Ursaring's natural learnset is irrelevant. TM-wise, Return is Ursaring's best STAB outside of status, generally Ursaring's standard STAB move, (if this is not true, facade should probably be described first) with Payback and Earthquake being adequate coverage. If you plan to activate Guts or Quick Feet, Facade from the Goldenrod Department Store raffle on Friday is recommended.
Major Battles: Ursaring fairs fares best for major battles with either of its two Abilities abilities activated beforehand, giving it a 50% boost to Attack (Guts) or Speed (Quick Feet), preferably through being Poisoned. poisoned. However, Bruno is still a bad matchup regardless.
Additional Comments: The best way to status Ursaring is through battling either gender of Nidoran on Route 35 with and activating Poison Point, though this will require healing from after walking to major battles. Teddiursa's The line's biggest flaw is low Speed, so Pickup (which turns into Quick Feet upon evolution) on Teddiursa is recommended.

Togepi

Availability: Early-game (Violet City, Elm's Aide (Egg)).
Typing: Togepi's pure Normal typing usually changes to Normal / Flying as Togetic around Chuck. Togepi is neutral to Bugsy's and Whitney's types, but good for Morty on account of a Ghost immunity. Togetic's typing (I imagine?) is shaky for Chuck and Jasmine while being average for Clair and most of the Pokemon League aside from Koga.
Stats: Togetic has good Special special stats and Defense, but its other stats are poor.
Movepool: Togepi starts with Extrasensory and picks up helpful support moves in Yawn and Encore at levels 15 and 19, (AC) respectively, with the only other relevant natural move being Ancient Power at level 33. Togetic also gets quite a few good TMs like Hyper Beam (STAB), Roost, (AC) and Fire Blast.
Major Battles: Togepi loses to Bugsy and Whitney due to its lacking stats, but the line is decent for Morty and Chuck's Poliwrath due to Extrasensory (Primeape has Rock Slide for Togetic). Togetic is decent for Jasmine with Choice Specs and Fire Blast if it can outspeed Magnemite. The only end-game endgame opponent Togepi is particularly relevant notable for is Koga thanks to Fire Blast and Extrasensory (Bruno will wear it down).
Additional Comments: Togepi isn't a terrible Pokemon, but it is very inefficient between hatching it and requiring a friendship evolution. Serene Grace is the preferred Ability, but this is ability, but the ability is determined when you receive the Egg. Even if you can overlook its issues, low Speed and average overall stats make Togepi difficult to use effectively.

Venonat

Availability: Early-game (National Park (Bug-Catching Contest), 10%, levels 10-16).
Typing: Bug / Poison makes Venonat average for Whitney and Morty, (AC) while Venomoth is favorable to against Chuck and weak to Jasmine. Clair is average for Venomoth, (AC) while Will is shaky. Venomoth is decent for Koga and average for Bruno, Karen, (AC) and Lance.
Stats: Venomoth has average stats apart from good Special Attack and Speed.
Movepool: Venonat picks up Psybeam at level 25 and Sleep Powder at level 29, with Signal Beam at level 37 and Sludge Bomb via TM providing STAB moves. TM-wise, Venonat can learn Silver Wind from the Goldenrod Department Store raffle on Saturday and Roost as Venomoth.
Major Battles: Venonat will be too weak for Morty in spite of having Psybeam, but Venomoth can fare better for Chuck with Choice Specs and Psybeam. Venomoth is ineffective against Jasmine and average for Pryce and Clair, though it can beat Will's Exeggutor. Venomoth is good for Koga with Choice Specs and Psybeam, but it doesn't have other good matchups beyond Karen's Umbreon and Vileplume (Bruno has super effective coverage). (added period)
Additional Comments: Either ability is great: Compound Eyes makes Sleep Powder 97.5% accurate, but Tinted Lens pairs well with Choice Specs. Venonat is a decent Pokemon, but it is hard to use effectively until it evolves due to its weak stats and movepool.

 

[dex]

Intro and other stuff GP Check

Introduction
Welcome to the Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver in-game tier list! The goal of this list is to rank every Pokemon in Johto in one of the six tiers, from S to E, each vaguely determining its viability. The major factor under which each is ranked is efficiency; a Pokemon that is efficient provides faster and easier solutions to major battles, which include rival fights, Gym Leaders, Team Rocket Executives, Elite Four members, and Champion Lance, than ones that are inefficient. Pokemon in higher ranks, such as S and A, are considered very efficient, while those in lower tiers, such as D and E, are considered not very efficient.

Although the game features an entire journey in the Kanto region after completing the main game, the Pokemon are ranked solely off their performance in the Johto region. This is due to three reasons:

1. The first seven Gym Leaders in Kanto can be fought in absolutely any order, which means that some Pokemon's performance may vary greatly, depending on which Gym Leaders are fought first or last.
   
   
2. Due to high level differences in some of the fights (particularly Blue and Red), it is almost impossible to complete the entire game efficiently in the traditional sense of the word.
   
   
3. Almost all Pokemon that become available after completing Johto would rank very low due to coming very late and/or being underleveled.

Please note that this list is aimed at the Western versions of the games (which do not have buyable Game Corner coins, unlike the Japanese versions).

What are the tiers?
There are 6 tiers in this list:

• S-tier
• A-tier
• B-tier
• C-tier
• D-tier
• E-tier

Why is a Pokemon in a certain tier?
Pokemon are ranked under the following five factors:

• Availability: This is how early a Pokemon becomes available in the game and how hard it is to find (read: encounter rate). Does it require significant backtracking, require HM moves, or just have a low encounter rate?
  • Most Pokemon that are obtained in the Safari Zone will be severely penalized in this ranking. This is because, upon the player's first visit to the Safari Zone, the player receives one out of ten default layouts at random and cannot change the areas within it until they complete Baoba's first test and wait three in-game hours to pass. This means that the obtainment of those obtaining Safari Zone Pokemon is not only inconsistent, but also highly inefficient if the player does not get a default layout with the needed area.
• Typing: A Pokemon's typing can be of great importance for an efficient playthrough. How does the Pokemon's typing fare throughout the entire game? If a Pokemon has a better typing, it is often considered a ranked higher rank.
• Stats: A Pokemon's stat distribution is crucial for its success. Does the Pokemon have a stat distribution that complements its movepool and typing? If a Pokemon has a stat distribution that favors both its typing and movepool, it will often be higher on the tier list. In general, a Pokemon with low Speed will often be ranked lower.
• Movepool: A Pokemon's movepool (both level-up and TM/HM) is crucial. What moves does the Pokemon naturally learn, (AC) and which ones can it be taught? If a Pokemon requires a TM found in a detour off the main path (like TM18 Rain Dance on the lower floor of Slowpoke Well) or from the Goldenrod Department raffle, it will be knocked down a bit.
• Major Battles: Major battles consist of rival fights, Gym Leaders, Team Rocket Executives, the Elite Four, and Champion Lance. How does the Pokemon contribute to these battles? A Pokemon that contributes to many major battles will often be ranked higher than those that do not.

What tools is the player allowed to use?
The player is allowed to use almost any legitimate means within the cartridge for completing the game efficiently. The player is only allowed to trade to evolve Pokemon and not to receive outside help otherwise. The player is allowed to use items such as Potions, TMs, X Battle Items, and Berries. Keep in mind that items have opportunity costs associated with them and can negatively contribute to a Pokémon's rank if it requires a multitude of items, such as two or more.

The Game Corner TMs are not considered for the purposes of this list due to being very inefficient to obtain; the most viable ones, in particular, cost a lot of coins and thus require a lot of effort to be obtained obtain. However, the player is allowed to buy Pokemon and items from the Game Corner. Note that coins can be bought in the Japanese versions of the games, making the TMs considerably easier to obtain there.

The Pokewalker is also not considered for the purposes of this list, as its usefulness is impacted too much by the player's real-life circumstances and therefore cannot be tiered consistently.

Under what conditions were Pokemon tested?
Every Pokemon was tested and ranked under these additional conditions:

• Every Pokemon's level was generally the same as most major opponents' ace Pokemon, at most outleveling them by two levels. Some opponents, like Jasmine and Clair, have ace Pokemon that are at very high levels by the time the player faces them and therefore weren't level-matched. Typical levels for the Elite Four ranged from 42 to 44, depending on how many Rare Candies were used.
• The list assumes a run with four Pokemon. However, smaller teams tend to perform better, as the Pokemon gain more experience and there is less competition for valuable TMs.
• Tampering with the clock to obtain items or Pokémon that are only available in specific times of the day or days of the week was completely allowed and did not negatively affect any Pokémon's viability.
• After defeating Morty, the player can complete Gyms 5-7 (and any related quests) in any order. Each Pokemon was tested with the order that is the most optimal for it. In most cases, this would be completing the Team Rocket HQ quest first, as this provides extra experience, alongside the Sludge Bomb TM, Choice Specs, and the shiny Gyarados significantly earlier.
• Viability was determined up until Lance; anything that is exclusive to post-game (such as the Psychic TM) was not taken into account for the Pokémon's viability.

All Pokemon are ordered alphabetically within a tier. The availability listed in each Pokemon's entry is considered its most optimal one.

This part is good to go.

 

[dex]

S-rank and A-rank GP Check

S-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon that possess the highest levels of efficiency. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO an overwhelming majority of foes, limit the amount of attacks used against them, and function with minimal reliance on items to defeat opponents at similar levels. These Pokémon typically show up before the late-game, and any flaws they have are absolutely made up by their advantages.

S Tier

Abra (Trade)

Availability: Early-game (buy at Goldenrod Game Corner for 200 coins, level 15).
Typing: Psychic is only outright bad against Karen's Dark-types and Jasmine and is mostly neutral elsewhere, with Morty, Chuck, Koga, and Bruno being particularly good matchups. Alakazam is also excellent for most of Team Rocket.
Stats: Alakazam is a fast and powerful special attacker whose only flaw is its physical fraility frailty. Even then, it will often outspeed and OHKO potential threats, so even that is not a huge issue.
Movepool: Abra starts out with Confusion upon evolving (Abra doesn't evolve. Perhaps you meant Alakazam?), which upgrades to Psybeam at level 24 and later Psychic at level 40. Calm Mind at level 36 increases Alakazam's sweeping potential for the end-game. Coverage comes through TMs, with Focus Blast covering Dark- and Steel-types, Shadow Ball covering Will, and Charge Beam providing useful Special Attack boosts early on.
Major Battles: Alakazam can overwhelm most opponents and foes just by using its Psychic STAB moves, with Whitney's Miltank, Karen's Houndoom, and Jasmine falling to Focus Blast. It can set up on Clair's Dragonair, heal off paralysis when it's done, and sweep from there. Will is handled by Choice Specs Shadow Ball and Pryce can be swept with the help of Charge Beam boosts, leaving Lance as Alakazam's only truly bad matchup.
Additional Comments: Alakazam is one of the best Pokemon to use in HGSS due to its early arrival, ease of training due to a Medium Slow growth rate, and ability to crush most opponents effortlessly. Synchronize is the preferred ability in order to also paralyze Clair's Dragonair when they paralyze it.

Gyarados

Availability: Mid-game (Lake of Rage, requires Surf, level 30).
Typing: Water / Flying gives Gyarados all-around neutral matchups, save for Lance and Clair who resist its Water-type attacks.
Stats: Gyarados has great stats, (AC) save for a mediocre Special Attack, though Choice Specs can help fix it up.
Movepool: Gyarados starts off with Ice Fang and can be taught Thunder and Surf via TMs, the latter of which should be deleted through the move deleter and replaced with Waterfall. Dragon Dance at level 44 helps it sweep the end-game opponents. Alternatively, Gyarados can be used as an HM slave, as it learns all three Water HMs and Strength.
Major Battles: Gyarados performs reasonably well against Gyms 5-7 and tends to have a favorable matchup against the Team Rocket Executives. At the Pokemon League, Gyarados can set up as many Dragon Dances as needed and sweep every single opponent there, including Lance, though it may occassionally occasionally need one healing item if setting up for a long over an extended period of time.
Additional Comments: While Gyarados doesn't come very early, it is nevertheless one of the best Pokemon to use, as it has a reasonable Gym performance and is the only Pokemon that can sweep the entre Elite Four and Lance. Magikarp can also be encountered at level 50 on Route 43 by repel tricking with a level 26 or higher Pokemon, although it will require a Rare Candy to evolve quickly, a Heart Scale to relearn Dragon Dance, and potentially Proteins. Magikarp can be caught as early as Route 32 via Old Rod, although the effort to evolve it makes it a worse option, though it performs well against Whitney and Morty after evolving.

A-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency, (AC) in terms of completing the game, (AC) is considered to be very high. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a lot of foes and are not very reliant on items to succeed, but they either have some visible flaws that hurt their efficiency or have their usefulness counterbalanced by a late arrival.

A Tier

Cyndaquil

Availability: Early-game (New Bark Town, level 5).
Typing: A Fire typing is neutral barring its super effective nature towards Bugsy and Jasmine and being resisted by Clair and Lance.
Stats: Cyndaquil is a special attacker with great Speed. Its defensive stats are not the greatest, however.
Movepool: Cyndaquil has a fairly lackluster movepool and will carry Flame Wheel all the way until level 35, when it learns Lava Plume. This will later on be upgraded to Flamethrower. It's better to get Fire Blast in Goldenrod for the immediate upgrade until this point.
Major Battles: Cyndaquil handles Bugsy, Whitney (Fire Blast required), Jasmine, Pryce's Piloswine, and Koga, (AC) and anything it hits neutrally. Early on, it depends on Fire Blast not missing. It struggles against Chuck's Poliwrath, Clair, and Lance.
Additional Comments: Cyndaquil is one of the only 5 available Fire-types and the best one in the games. Choice Specs allows its Fire Blast to destroy a majority of the game.

Gastly (Trade)

Availability: Early-game (Sprout Tower (1F-3F), levels 3-6, 85% (nighttime)).
Typing: Ghost / Poison is very useful for Will and Team Rocket and is mostly neutral elsewhere, though it's a double-edged sword against Morty and is bad for Karen's Dark-types and Jasmine.
Stats: Gengar is fast and has a great Special Attack, though it's not very bulky. Its Special Attack can be further augmented by Choice Specs.
Movepool: Gastly relies on Lick as its main attacking move until Night Shade at level 15. Curse at level 12 and Hypnosis allow it to be useful against difficult ace Pokemon early on. Once it evolves into Gengar, it can be taught Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Thunder, and Focus Blast through TMs, with Shadow Punch at level 25 and Shadow Claw through TMs being its best moves against Morty.
Major Battles: Gengar can typically contribute to all fights by using its most powerful move while holding Choice Specs. It is very good for the Elite Four, being able to crush Will and claim a few KOs from the other members. It can also KO most of Morty's Pokemon, though it is unlikely to sweep. Before evolution, however, Gastly cannot sweep major opponents reliably, though it can contribute against them with Hypnosis and Curse.
Additional Comments: Gengar is a great Pokemon whose biggest flaws are the annoying Gastly period and slight reliance on inaccurate moves, although the Gastly period isn't too long thanks to the its Medium Slow growth rate, (AC) and Gastly can still be useful in the earlier fights.

Geodude

Availability: Early-game (Route 46, level 2 or 3, 40% (morning / daytime) or 45% (nighttime)).
Typing: Rock / Ground which (RC) gives it Geodude good matchups against Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney, Jasmine, Koga, and Lance, although it makes it pretty weak to Pryce.
Stats: Geodude has excellent Attack and Defense (RC) along with decent HP, although its Speed is abysmal.
Movepool: Rock Throw at level 11 and Magnitude at level 15 are Geodude's STAB moves early on, with Rock Polish being an essential move at level 8 to help Golem sweep. Defense Curl can form a good combo with Rollout at level 22 to help Geodude overpower multiple foes. Earthquake at level 33 is the line's best Ground STAB move, though Golem can utilize Dig via TM until then.
Major Battles: Geodude handles Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney, and, for most parts the most part, Team Rocket. Morty can be potentially swept, depending on if Gastly uses Curse, with Chuck, Pryce, and Clair being bad matchups. The Geodude line is good for most of the Elite Four, save for Will, being able to crush Lance by setting up Rock Polish and using Defense Curl + Rollout on Aerodactyl.
Additional Comments: While a tad unreliable with a few inaccurate moves, Geodude is one of the best options for a playthrough of HGSS. There's generally very little difference between Graveler and Golem, so you don't lose too much if you are unable to trade to evolve Geodude. Consider getting the Wide Lens from the Game Corner for 1,000 Coins to make Rollout 99% accurate.

Lugia

Availability: End-game (Whirl Islands, level 45) (SS).
Typing: Psychic / Flying gives Lugia neutral matchups for Will and Lance and favorable ones for Koga and Bruno, though Karen can be problematic.
Stats: Lugia has fantastic defensive stats and Speed with above-average offenses.
Movepool: Lugia starts out with Extrasensory and Aeroblast and can be taught Hail or Blizzard through TMs, with Weather Ball through relearner being an alternative to Blizzard.
Major Battles: Choice Specs Aeroblast and Extrasenory decimate the Elite Four, 2HKOing and even OHKOing a lot of threats. Lance will need some setup with Hail and Blizzard / Weather Ball, though Lugia will get worn down in the process.
Additional Comments: Despite coming late, Lugia ravages the Elite Four efficiently, though you might need some Ethers to replenish Aeroblast PP.

Heracross

Availability: Early-game (Azalea Town (Headbutt), levels 2-5, 30%).
Typing: Bug / Fighting is handy against Whitney, Jasmine, Pryce, and Karen's Dark-types (RC) but is outright bad against several opponents like Team Rocket, Will, and Koga.
Stats: Heracross packs a great Attack, coupled with mostly average other stats.
Movepool: Heracross relies on Headbutt through tutors and Aerial Ace until it learns Brick Break at level 19, which becomes its main STAB move. Close Combat at level 37 provides an even stronger STAB move and Shadow Claw and Earthquake through TMs provide coverage. Counter at level 25 can be used in niche cases against strong physical attackers (like Bruno's Machamp).
Major Battles: Heracross handles Whitney effortlessly with Brick Break and performs well against Morty with Shadow Claw. It can easily KO Karen's Umbreon and generally hits hard any opponent hard it can hit neutrally.
Additional Comments: Heracross is a strong Pokemon that is handy against some of the most difficult opponents. However, its Slow growth rate and low join level, coupled with a few bad matchups, prevent it from being perfect. In Azalea Town, there are two types of trees, of which only one has Heracross; Heracross can be found on ones where Spearow and Aipom come at levels 3-5.

Machop (Trade)

Availability: Early-game (Goldenrod Department Store (5F), in-game trade for Drowzee).
Typing: Fighting is incredibly helpful against Whitney and also sees some use against Jasmine, Pryce, and Karen. It is bad against Morty, Will, Koga, and Team Rocket, though.
Stats: Machamp has an excellent Attack, but it is rather slow, (AC) and its other stats are somewhat average.
Movepool: Machop starts out with Low Kick and Karate Chop and learns Revenge and Vital Throw at levels 22 and 25. Payback, Dig, and Earthquake through TMs provide coverage and Cross Chop at level 37 is its strongest STAB level up move.
Major Battles: Machop is great against Whitney and can get a few KOs against Morty. It also performs well against Chuck with Vital Throw, takes out Jasmine's Magnemite, and sweeps Pryce. It can beat Clair's Dragonair thanks to Thunder Wave triggering Guts and get a few KOs against Bruno while also being reliable against Karen's Umbreon with Vital Throw and OHKOing Houndoom with Cross Chop.
Additional Comments: Machamp is all-around a great Pokemon that can take on many key opponents and is easy to train due to traded experience. However, Fighting is resisted often, (AC) and as a result is mediocre in a few matchups. The traded Machop, Muscle, comes with an IV spread of 15/25/20/15/15/20, Guts, and a Lonely nature. It is also female, which helps it greatly against Whitney, and holds Macho Brace, which can help it gain EVs since it will often be outsped anyways.

Onix (Trade)

Availability: Early-game, Violet City (in-game trade for Bellsprout).
Typing: Onix begins with the Rock/Ground typing, which gives it good STAB options and resists resistances for the early Gyms. As Steelix, it replaces its Rock typing in favor of Steel, providing it with a fantastic defensive typing capable of resisting the majority of types in the game.
Stats: Steelix sports a titanic base 200 Defense, assuring that even super effective physical attacks will do minimal damage. Its 85 Attack is average overall but its high-power STAB moves and ability to boost its Attack allow it to overcome this issue. Steelix's other stats are similarly average, with a particularly bad base Speed stat of 30.
Movepool: Onix starts out with a solid STAB move in Rock Throw, which gives it good coverage in early battles. It also comes with Screech, which, for a while, will be its best alternative to boosting your own Attack. Curse at level 38 is its most important level-up move, allowing Steelix to sweep many late-game opponents. As a Steelix, you gain Steelix gains access to the elemental fangs, most notably Ice Fang for its coverage against Lance. Notable TMs include Dig, Iron Tail, Payback, and Earthquake.
Major Battles: Onix's typing gives it positive matchups against the first three Gym leaders, although being over level 10 against Falkner can result in disobedience hampering its performance. Once you upgrade to Steelix, you have the typing and stats to get through most major battles, including all of Team Rocket, even contributing to ones such as Chuck and Bruno where Steelix has the type disadvantage. Its only truly bad matchups are Clair, Karen, and Lance.
Additional Comments: The traded Onix, Rocky, comes with an IV spread of 25/20/25/15/15/15 and a Hasty nature. You can obtain Steelix as early as before Burned Tower, but it requires either grinding in Pokeathalon (RC) or Thiefing using Thief on wild Magnemites for their Metal Coats; the former is preferred, (AC) as it is comparatively less time-consuming. Steelix's amazing typing and good coverage makes it a fantastic Pokemon, but the hassle it takes to evolve it prevents it from ranking among the very best in the game. If you are unable to trade, Steelix can also be caught at Cliff Cave, but it won't be as useful due to missing some of its best matchups and having a 2% encounter rate.

Totodile

Availability: Early-game (New Bark Town, level 5).
Typing: The Water typing is all-around neutral, save for being resisted by Clair, Lance, and 2/3 of Pryce's team.
Stats: Totodile is a tank, meaning it has good Attack and Defense and decent HP and Special Defense. Overall, it's an all arounder jack of all trades outside of Attack and Defense.
Movepool: Totodile has a versatile movepool via level up and TMs, consisting of Water Gun at level 6, Bite at level 13, Ice Fang at level 21, Crunch at level 32, (AC) and Waterfall, Strength, Rock Tomb, and Earthquake via TM/HM. This enables Totodile to hit everything it needs to neutrally or super effectively.
Major Battles: Totodile can handle Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney with Rage, and Morty before starting to have issues in the mid-game to early late-game. Chuck's Poliwrath, Pryce, Clair, and Lance all give it issues.
Additional Comments: Totodile is one of the best Waters in the game, (AC) with only really struggling in the mid-game and the beginning of the late-game, a common trait shared with other Water-types.

This is good to go as well.

 

[Adeleine]

E and Untiered

E-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency in terms of completing the game is considered to be low. Pokémon in this tier are generally only able to OHKO or 2HKO specific opponents foes and suffer from being matchup based, (removed hyphen) generally relying on items to sweep several opponents. foes. These Pokémon either have flaws that outshine their strengths or are decent Pokémon that come too late to be of any major use.

E-Tier

Corsola

Availability: Mid-game (Route 40 (Good Rod), 10% (morning and daytime), level 20).
Typing: Water / Rock leaves Corsola weak to Chuck and Jasmine's Magnemite (RC) while giving it an advantage for Pryce and a neutral type matchup for Clair. Corsola boasts type advantages against several Elite Four Pokemon, but it can't take advantage of them effectively.
Stats: Corsola has terrible Speed and mediocre offenses, but slightly above average bulk.
Movepool: Corsola's notable starting moves are Rock Blast and Recover, with Ancient Power and Power Gem coming at levels 32 and 44, (AC) respectively. The Surf HM is Corsola's best Water-type STAB move, with Strength and Rock Smash providing HM utility. Most of Corsola's wide learnset via TMs is ineffective due to Corsola's lacking offensive stats.
Major Battles: Corsola should avoid Chuck, but it can take out Jasmine's Steelix. Corsola fares well against Pryce aside from Piloswine, but from then onward, Corsola's dismal stats will let it down.
Additional Comments: Corsola has a decent movepool, but its stats render it inferior to most other options.

Cubone

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Desert), level 16 or 17, 20% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Ground typing gives Marowak a neutrality to Chuck's Primeape and an advantage against Jasmine, but weaknesses to Pryce and Clair. Most of the Pokemon League is decidedly neutral aside from Lance, where all of his Pokemon have a Ground immunity.
Stats: Marowak has decent bulk and Attack alongside Attack, sporting an impressive base 110 Defense, though its Speed is abysmal.
Movepool: Cubone starts with Bone Club, (AC) which upgrades to Bonemerang at level 21. Strength or Thrash at level 33 provide Normal provides Normal-type coverage. Most other options via TM are either too weak or situational, like Iron Tail and Focus Punch.
Major Battles: Marowak beats Chuck's Primeape but loses to his Poliwrath. Marowak beats Jasmine effectively but loses to Pryce and Clair. Aside from it flopping against Lance, the Pokemon League is generally decent aside from Will, who has physically bulky mons. Its Pokemon. The line's performance can be improved significantly with Thick Club as well.
Additional Comments: Marowak is unviable not just due to the fact because it comes underleveled, but also because the Desert area is not part of any of the ten default Safari Zone layouts, meaning three hours must pass in-game before you can obtain a Cubone. Thick Club is generally too rare to bother with, as Cubone and Marowak (which you can also catch in the Safari Zone) only hold them it 5% of the time.

Delibird

Availability: Late-game (Ice Path, level 22 or 23, 20%) (SS).
Typing: Ice / Flying gives Delibird an advantage against Clair, some of Koga, Bruno, and Lance, (AC) while being neutral for Will and Karen.
Stats: Delibird has below average stats in everything aside from 75 base Speed.
Movepool: Delibird only learns Present naturally, which is too RNG-based to be viable. It can learn Fly for Flying-type STAB coverage and a few Ice-type and Fighting-type moves through TMs, but they are generally ineffective.
Major Battles: Delibird is too weak to do anything in the remaining fights due to lackluster stats, even with type advantages.
Additional Comments: There is no reason to use Delibird at all. Not even Hustle-boosted Aerial Ace makes it worth trying.

Diglett

Availability: Mid-game (Route 48, level 20, 4%).
Typing: Ground is useful for Jasmine and Koga, but it doesn't help it much elsewhere, especially since it makes Dugtrio weak to Pryce and Clair.
Stats: Dugtrio is fast, but its HP and Defense are bulk is (i think 35/70 is fair to call "poor" for special bulk) poor and its Attack is average.
Movepool: Diglett naturally comes with natural Dig upon capture, which can be upgraded to Earthquake through TMs. Shadow Claw and Rock Tomb through TMs provide coverage.
Major Battles: Dugtrio beats Jasmine's Magnemite easily and can be used to take out Archer's Houndour line, Koga's Muk, and some of Bruno's Pokemon. Despite the Ground typing, it's not the best Pokemon to use against most of the Team Rocket Executives, as many of their Pokemon (including the Poison-types) are physically bulky and do not take super effective damage from Ground moves. are not weak to Ground.
Additional Comments: Due to its rarity and poor performance as a result of its non-existant non-existent bulk and unhelpful typing, Diglett is not worth using in any efficient run.

Ditto

Availability: Early-game (Route 34, level 10, 5%). (removed stray comma)
Typing: Pure Normal gives Ditto average matchups is average everywhere aside from Morty, Chuck, and Bruno, being neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Dittto has base 48 stats all around until it uses Transform, where base 48 HP is retained as it which retains base 48 HP but copies the foe's other stats and moveset.
Movepool: Transform is Ditto's only available move.
Major Battles: Entirely dependent on what it Ditto uses Transform on: most of the time, the ace Pokemon of the opponent is the best candidate, but they are often the last Pokemon to beat, limiting Ditto's contribution. (I assume?) You will always Speed tie with the Pokemon you Transformed transformed into, making matchups shaky.
Additional Comments: Ditto has a 50% chance to hold Quick Power, Powder, (god i wish ditto could get power quickly) which doubles its Speed before using Transform. Metal Powder, which does the same for Defense, is a 5% chance and generally inferior. However, Ditto is too situational to bother with regardless of what you Transform transform into.

Dodrio

Availability: Late-game (Blackthorn City, in-game trade for a female Dragonair).
Typing: Normal / Flying is useful for Koga and Bruno and is neutral for the other opponents.
Stats: Dodrio is fast and has a decent Attack, although its bulk is rather poor.
Movepool: Due to coming late and not being obtainable in a Friend Ball, Dodrio cannot use Return effectively, so it has to use Giga Impact or Facade through TMs, although the latter may take some time to get from the Goldenrod lottery on Fridays. Pluck and Fly through TMs are its best Flying-type moves due to Drill Peck coming too late to be learned efficiently.
Major Battles: Dodrio can typically claim a few KOs by OHKOing with Giga Impact and then switching out due to the recharge turn. It can also claim a few KOs with Fly when hitting super effectively. It generally won't sweep due to the Giga Impact recharge turns, though statused Facade can achieve similar results threaten a sweep (I imagine?) at the cost of longevity and the time taken to get Dodrio statused.
Additional Comments: While Dodrio isn't totally useless in the remaining fights, it does not perform well enough to counterbalance the fact that it comes late and forces it coming late and forcing you to train a female Dratini, which takes a lot of time and effort to be obtaned obtained and trained to level 30. The traded Dodrio, Doris, comes with an IV spread of 20/20/20/15/15/15, Run Away, and an Impish nature. Doduo can also be obtained at the Safari Zone, but the Rocky Beach area is not part of any of the default layouts you can get on your first visit, so you always have to wait three in-game hours before you can obtain it.

Eevee (Umbreon)

Availability: Mid-game (Goldenrod City, gift from Bill after visiting the Ecruteak City Pokemon Center, level 5).
Typing: Dark is only useful against Morty and Will and isn't too helpful elsewhere, being particularly weak to Chuck and Bruno.
Stats: Umbreon is very bulky, but it lacks offensive stats. Therefore, it will generally take a lot of time for it to defeat an opponent to defeat a foe, and this often means that it will have to be healed need healing to achieve sweeps.
Movepool: Umbreon can be taught Payback through TMs for STAB, (AC) which combines well with its not-so-good Speed. Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse and Shadow Ball through TMs can be combined with Choice Specs for usable offense. Dig through TMs can also provide additional coverage.
Major Battles: Umbreon is great for Morty and can contribute against Will with Choice Specs and Dark Pulse, although his Xatu and Jynx are faster and thus can put it to sleep or confuse it, making the matchup not 100% reliable. (is synchronize worth mentioning for xatu? up 2 u) It can also beat Jasmine's Magnemite with Dig. Umbreon typically doesn't deal much damage elsewhere and as a result isn't great for most other fights.
Additional Comments: Although Umbreon has its uses, it is a highly inefficient Pokemon as a whole, as it takes time and effort to evolve it, (AC) and it's typically too weak to KO its opponents foes in a timely manner.

Gligar

Availability: Late-game (Route 45, level 24, 20%) (HG).
Typing: Ground / Flying is useful for resisting defensively for Koga and Bruno, though it makes it Gligar somewhat weak to Clair. It is neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Outside of 105 Defense, Gligar's stats are average at best. In particular, it will need to use Swords Dance multiple times to OHKO most opponents. foes with its unimpressive Attack.
Movepool: Gligar's STAB move options are Dig, Earthquake, and Aerial Ace through TMs, with X-Scissor at level 42 and Strength providing coverage. Swords Dance at level 34 allows it to hit harder than it would normally do.
Major Battles: Gligar can perform well only if it sets up Swords Dance to the maximum, meaning that it will often have to be healed. Even then, only Koga and Bruno can ever be swept this way, as Will makes it hard to set up and the rest have the means to stop Gligar's sweep.
Additional Comments: Gligar comes late and, while it can sweep some fights, is inefficient to use, as it requires multiple Swords Dance uses each fight and thus needs to be healed constantly. Razor Fang can only be obtained at the Battle Frontier, which is not accessible until after you defeat Lance.

Grimer

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Marshland area), level 17, 10% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Poison is only useful for resisting defensively for Chuck, Koga, Bruno, and most of Team Rocket, but it doesn't hit any major opponent's type super effectively.
Stats: Grimer's stats are all pretty bad, save for 80 HP and Attack, which aren't too impressive either. Muk is very bulky, but it will need Choice Specs to deal decent damage with Sludge Bomb.
Movepool: Grimer relies on Sludge at level 20 as its STAB move until it learns Sludge Bomb through TMs. It learns a wide variety of coverage moves through TMs, including Dig, Fire Blast, Thunder, and Strength. However, its poor Special Attack prevents hinders the effective use of most of them, though Choice Specs can help fix that.
Major Battles: Grimer generally contributes little to major fights, taking out at best one or two members per opponent and needing healing to do anything beyond that. Its Elite Four performance is particularly abysmal due to bad matchups against Will and Bruno and needing Fire Blast to do anything against Koga.
Additional Comments: Grimer is incredibly weak and, to make things worse, evolves very late and at a point where Muk isn't that useful anymore. Furthermore, the Marshland area appears in only five out of the ten default layouts you can get on your first Safari Zone visit, so you may have to wait three in-game hours after completing Baoba's test before you can obtain Grimer.

Larvitar

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Mountain), level 17, 10% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Rock / Ground leaves Larvitar weak to Chuck, Jasmine, and Pryce, though it can hit the latter two's types super effectively. Clair is mostly a neutral matchup, though Pupitar does have a type advantage for a few of Will's and Karen's Pokemon. Pupitar has somewhat favorable matchups for Koga and Lance, but it is bad against Bruno.
Stats: Larvitar and Pupitar have mostly average stats with decent Attack, but dismal Speed.
Movepool: The line's saving grace. Larvitar starts with Rock Slide and gets Thrash at level 23, so it can fend for itself fine. Payback and Crunch later on provide useful Dark-type coverage, but Earthquake and Stone Edge come too late to be learned efficiently. Dig via TM provides useful Ground-type STAB coverage.
Major Battles: Pupitar will generally falter against Chuck and Pryce due to low Speed. Pupitar is effective against Jasmine with Dig, but it must watch out for Steelix. At the Pokemon League, Pupitar will generally be too frail to do much at that point.
Additional Comments: Larvitar's Slow growth rate, low level, and inability to evolve to Tyranitar without massive level grinding mean that, (AC) despite good moves, Larvitar is too much of a hassle to bother with.

Ledyba

Availability: Early-game (Route 30, level 3, 30% (morning)) (SS).
Typing: Bug / Flying means Ledian can resist Bugsy's attacks, but that's all the type is notable for until the Elite Four, where it gets a mild advantage against Will through its Bug-type moves. Elsewhere, it is average to bad.
Stats: The line has abysmal stats everywhere save for great Special Defense (mitigated weakened by terrible HP) and good Speed.
Movepool: Ledyba has weak Normal-type moves and Mach Punch until Silver Wind at level 29 or via TM, but it gets Reflect and Light Screen for support at level 14. Roost via TM can help Ledian survive longer. All of its other support options are too situational to bother with, and its wide offensive movepool is largely unviable with its pitiful offensive stats.
Major Battles: Ledian's stats are too lackluster to do much of anything in major battles, as even opponents like Chuck and Bruno have ways to hit it super effectively.
Additional Comments: Despite coming at the start of the game, Ledyba is drastically inefficient thanks to dismal offenses and a terrible movepool not suited to for in-game purposes.

Meowth

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, level 16, 30% (morning) or 40% (nighttime)) (SS).
Typing: Pure Normal means Persian is decent for Morty, bad for Chuck and Bruno, and average elsewhere.
Stats: Meowth and Persian have average stats apart from very high Speed.
Movepool: Meowth starts with Scratch, Bite, Fake Out, and Fury Swipes, with Return via TM being a reliable STAB move. At level 30, only Meowth learns Pay Day, requiring holding off evolution by for two levels. Persian gets Power Gem at level 32 and has decent TM options like U-Turn, U-turn, Dig, and Iron Tail. Most of its status moves are situational aside from a fast Screech (level 17).
Major Battles: Persian's only significant performance will be against Morty, as it can pick off the Gastly line with Bite. While Persian is average elsewhere aside from Chuck and Bruno, Taunt (level 25) can be helpful for Chuck's Primeape and Karen's Umbreon to stop Double Team.
Additional Comments: While Persian has Fake Out, a couple decent support options, (AC) and a wide movepool, this isn't enough for it to be relevant due its stats being painfully average aside from Speed. Technician is the preferred Ability. ability.

Murkrow

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Swamp area), levels 15-17, 10%).
Typing: Dark / Flying gives Murkrow a type advantage against Chuck, Will, and Bruno, though it's not good for Jasmine and Pryce.
Stats: Murkrow's offensive stats and Speed are somewhat average and it isn't very bulky either. it is very frail. It is stuck with those stats for the main game, as a Dusk Stone to evolve it cannot be obtained before defeating Lance.
Movepool: Murkrow relies on Wing Attack and Fly as its Flying-type STAB moves. In regards to Dark-type moves, It starts out with Pursuit, which upgrades to Assurance, then Feint Attack, then Dark Pulse through TMs, (AC) which can be combined with Choice Specs.
Major Battles: Due to its somewhat unimpressive stats, Murkrow doesn't really perform well anywhere, as it struggles even against opponents it has the type advantage against. As a result, it can typically get a few KOs, but it won't really have much of an impact in major battles.
Additional Comments: Murkrow isn't worth using due to its unimpressive performance even when it has the type advantage. Furthermore, the Swamp area appears in only six out of the ten default layouts you can get on your first Safari Zone visit, so there's a chance that you may not be able to get a Murkrow until after three in-game hours have passed since completing Baoba's test.

Natu

Availability: Mid-game (Ruins of Alph (area accessed through Union Cave with Surf), levels 18-24, 90%).
Typing: Psychic / Flying has little use offensively, as Xatu doesn't learn Psychic or special Flying-type moves during the main game. Defensively, it grants it a resistance to resistances for Chuck, Will, and Bruno, but makes it Bruno but makes Xatu weak to Pryce and Karen's Dark-types.
Stats: Xatu's stats are all-around average, capping at 95 Special Attack and Speed. This means that Thus, it won't hit relatively hard with non-STAB moves unless they are super effective against the opponent, foe, though Choice Specs can help fix that.
Movepool: The line is forced to rely on non-STAB moves to deal damage. Its main options include Shadow Ball and Solar Beam through TMs, the latter of which can be combined with the Sunny Day TM. Fly is its strongest Flying-type move, though Xatu's 75 Attack makes it a mediocre choice when not hitting super effectively.
Major Battles: Xatu struggles in most major fights, as by the time you get it, few opponents foes have a weakness to its moves. It can see some use against Chuck and Bruno with Fly and Will with Choice Specs + Shadow Ball, but it doesn't sweep any of those fights. Xatu also has some use against some of the Team Rocket Executives, but beyond those, Xatu fails to make much of an impact in the other major fights.
Additional Comments: Due to possessing no good STAB moves to work with, Natu is generally an unnoteworthy unexceptional Pokemon that contributes little to an efficient run and is heavily dependent on the Shadow Ball TM to achieve most of its contributions. Early Bird is the preferred ability to deal better with opponents that rely on sleep strategies.

Pidgey

Availability: Early-game (Route 29, levels 2-4, 55% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Normal / Flying gives it a type advantage against Bugsy, Bruno, and Chuck, while also giving it an immunity against as well as giving a Ghost immunity for Morty. However, it is pretty bad for Jasmine and Pryce.
Stats: The line will be stuck with Pidgeotto's mediocre stats for most of the game due to it evolving late. Pidgeot's stats are mostly average and simply do not cut it for the end-game. endgame.
Movepool: The line generally lacks strong moves for most of the game and possesses little coverage. It starts out with Tackle, (AC) which upgrades to Quick Attack at level 13 and Return through TMs. Its Flying-type STAB move will be initially Gust at level 9, which upgrades to Pluck and Fly through TMs. TM or HM.
Major Battles: Pidgey struggles in most major fights, including ones in which it has a type advantage. It will need a Super Potion against Bugsy's Scyther to guarantee a victory, (AC) and it doesn't have a guaranteed win against Chuck and some of Bruno's Pokemon. Its performance is even worse against opponents foes it cannot hit super effectively due to the line's unimpressive stats.
Additional Comments: Despite the incredibly early arrival, Pidgey is mostly a bad Pokemon due to a poor learnset, awkward stats, and late evolution, rendering which render it mediocre against most of the major opponents. Keen Eye is the preferred ability.

Paras

Availability: Early-game (Bug-Catching Contest, levels 10-17, 10%).
Typing: Bug / Grass leaves Parasect with mostly neutral type matchups aside from losing to Bugsy, Jasmine, and Koga.
Stats: Paras and Parasect are very slow and have average stats aside from Attack, which doesn't matter because of... (is something missing here?)
Movepool: Paras gets Spore at level 17, but it doesn't mean much because of the line's pathetic damage output with its weak early STAB moves (Leech Life, Bullet Seed via TM). Slash at level 22 is your best natural move, attack, (I assume?) as both Giga Drain at level 39 and SolarBeam Solar Beam (TM from the Goldenrod Department Store) run off Parasect's inferior Special Attack. Dig and Aerial Ace via TMs serve as other options.
Major Battles: Paras struggles to beat most major opponents on its own due to its bad stats, typing, and movepool. You can put something to Sleep sleep with Spore, but that's where Parasect's relevance ends.
Additional Comments: Despite coming early and having access to Spore, Paras is exceptionally inefficient due to having an unwieldy movepool. Effect Spore is the preferred ability. Paras can also be caught slightly earlier at the Ilex Forest, but it comes very underleveled and will be hard to get up to appropriate levels, so it's better to catch it slightly later at a higher level.

Ponyta

Availability: End-game (Route 26, level 32, 20%).
Typing: Pure Fire gives Ponyta an advantage against Koga and a disadvantage against Lance, being average elsewhere.
Stats: Ponyta and Rapidash have good Attack and Speed with average other stats.
Movepool: Ponyta starts with Flame Wheel, which is its best STAB move (Flare Blitz is too late to be learned). As a Rapidash, it can relearn Megahorn and Poison Jab as coverage.
Major Battles: With Megahorn, Rapidash can be decent for Will, (AC) and Rapidash can take on a few of Koga's Pokemon with Flame Wheel, though it isn't very useful for the battles afterward.
Additional Comments: Ponyta comes way too late to be useful and comes too underleveled to make much of an impact in the final battles.

Remoraid

Availability: Late-game (Route 44, Good Rod, level 20, 5%).
Typing: Water is resisted by Clair and Lance's type and is neutral against the remaining opponents.
Stats: Octillery has decent offensive stats, but it is very slow and its bulk is rather average.
Movepool: Octillery can be equipped with Surf and Fire Blast through TMs, with Aurora Beam adding in more coverage. It can also be taught moves such as Psybeam and Gunk Shot through the relearner, with relearner. Blizzard through TMs being is a more powerful, but inaccurate alternative to Aurora Beam, (AC) and Rain Dance through TMs boosting boosts Surf's power.
Major Battles: Octillery isn't great for the remaining fights, as it's slow and has difficulties living surviving hits. It can get a KO or two in each fight (although it will need Blizzard to contribute against Clair and Lance), but will often be taken down quickly before it can make an impact.
Additional Comments: Remoraid is a mediocre Pokemon due to its bad performance, late availability, and rarity. Sniper is the preferred ability.

Rhyhorn

Availability: Mid-game (Safari Zone (Savannah Savanna area), level 17, 10% (morning or daytime)).
Typing: Rock / Ground is pretty bad at this point, having a type advantage only against Jasmine and Koga and being mediocre elsewhere.
Stats: Rhydon has a great HP, Attack, and Defense, although its other stats are subpar. However, it is stuck as a Rhyhorn until the Elite Four, whose stats are average which has average stats at best.
Movepool: The line relies on Dig through TMs and Rock Blast at level 25 as its STAB moves for most of the game. Dig eventually upgrades to Earthquake through TMs, while Rock Blast can upgrade to Stone Edge at level 45, although that level may not be feasible for Rhydon.
Major Battles: Rhyhorn beats Jasmine's Magnemite and Archer's Houndoom Houndour line and is bad elsewhere until the Elite Four. There, Rhydon beats most of Koga's Pokemon and can claim a few KOs against the other opponents, but it won't sweep any of them.
Additional Comments: The Savannah Savanna area appears in only six out of the ten default Safari Zone area layouts, which means you may not be able to get Rhyhorn on your first visit and thus may have to wait three in-game hours after completing Baoba's test. Furthermore, Rhyhorn comes underleveled and takes time to train due to its Slow growth. Combined with its late evolution and mediocre performance until then, Rhyhorn simply has too many issues to be worth using.

Shuckle

Availability: Mid-game (Cianwood City, gift from Kirk, level 20).
Typing: Bug / Rock leaves Shuckle weak to Jasmine and neutral elsewhere.
Stats: 230 base Defense and Special Defense make Shuckle a great wall, but its other stats are awful, including HP.
Movepool: Shuckle's only notable starting move is Encore, which can work well with Bide from the move relearner. Rest at level 27 or via TM can be helpful for survivability. Any offensive option you can give Shuckle is borderline worthless.
Major Battles: Shuckle's best bet in major battles later on is using Bide: otherwise, (AC) it is too weak to do much.
Additional Comments: Shuckle's terrible offenses make it completely ill-suited for in-game, and its defensive options aren't worth much in-game either. The gift Shuckle, Shuckie, comes with traded experience, the trade experience boost, (I imagine?) making it slightly easier to train.

Skarmory

Availability: Late-game (Route 27, level 27, 5%) (SS).
Typing: Skarmory's biggest selling point: Steel / Flying gives Skarmory resistances or immunities to for Clair, Will, Koga, Karen, and a few of Lance's Pokemon while being neutral to Bruno.
Stats: Average all around save for a colossal 140 base Defense and awful Special Attack.
Movepool: Most of Skarmory's learnset is irrelevant aside from Spikes (level 28), Steel Wing (level 34), (AC) and Fly (HM), though Night Slash at level 45 can be useful for Will. Roost via TM is invaluable to help Skarmory stick around for longer.
Major Battles: Skarmory can wall a lot of the remaining battles, but it won't KO anything fast quickly due to its average Attack and mediocre STAB combination. Spikes are is completely useless on Lance but decent elsewhere. (spikes were deemed mostly irrelevant for forretress in d rank: possible contradiction?)
Additional Comments: Despite Skarmory's stellar typing, its late appearance, low level, rarity, and low offenses prevent it from making any meaningful contributions.

Slugma

Availability: Early-game (Violet City, from Primo (Egg)).
Typing: Slugma has type advantages against Bugsy and Jasmine, but it is weak to moves from a few Gym Leader aces (Miltank's Rollout, Poliwrath's Surf) (should it be "e.g. ... and ..."? up to you) while being neutral elsewhere. Magcargo loses to Clair and Bruno, but it is good for some of Will's and Karen's Pokemon. Koga and Lance are somewhat favorable for Magcargo.
Stats: Slugma's only decent stat is base 70 Special Attack. As Magcargo, its Special Attack is a modest 80 and it has decent bulk of 60 / 110 / 80, though it still has atrocious Speed.
Movepool: Slugma starts with Ember and Rock Throw, (AC) as well as Yawn for inflicting reliable Sleep two turns sleep one turn later. Rock Throw and Ember are upgraded to Ancient Power at level 26 and Lava Plume at level 40, (AC) unless you use TM Fire Blast from the Goldenrod Department Store. Slugma also gets several physical options as well as moves like Recover and Amnesia naturally, but its low Attack and Speed make both unviable.
Major Battles: Slugma can be useful for Bugsy but it is too slow to take on Whitney's Miltank and Morty reliably, (AC) and Chuck overpowers Slugma. Jasmine may seem like a favorable matchup, but all of her Pokemon are faster than Slugma. Elsewhere, Macargo is limited to picking off niche targets aside from Koga and Lance.
Additional Comments: By entering your Trainer ID on this website, it will generate two sets of phrases you can tell Primo in Violet City to receive the Slugma Egg. Slugma is a hassle to hatch, evolves too late to be effective, and has objectively overly inferior stats to most other Fire- and Rock-types to warrant using. Flame Body is the preferred ability over Magma Armor, but this its ability is determined when you receive the Egg and is thus you cannot reasonably control which ability you will get. thus cannot be reasonably controlled.

Smeargle

Availability: Mid-game (Ruins of Alph (area accessed through Union Cave with Surf), levels 20-22, 10%).
Typing: Normal gives it a weakness to Chuck and Bruno and is mostly neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Smeargle's only stat that isn't outright bad is its 75 Speed. Due to this, it doesn't hit hard and is fairly easy to KO.
Movepool: Smeargle can use virtually any move it wishes by copying it permanently with Sketch. Smeargle learns Sketch at level 1 and then once every subsequent ten levels. This means that Smeargle won't have a full moveset until the Elite Four, (AC) and that is only if it's caught at level 20.
Major Battles: No matter what moves Smeargle has, it will generally be utterly bad against anything it faces, as it lacks the offenses and bulk to stand up to it. foes. At best, it may be able to copy Destiny Bond off a wild Wobbuffet and take advantage of its Speed and low bulk, but even then, that's generally not impactful.
Additional Comments: Despite its ability to run any moveset it may want, Smeargle's terrible stats make it ineffective against any opponent it's facing, unless it's using a strategy that revolves around it deliberately getting KOed, which prevents it from meaningfully contributing much.

Spinarak

Availability: Early-game (Route 30, level 2, 30% (nighttime)).
Typing: Bug / Poison is all-around terrible, as it doesn't grant it with Spinarak many advantages outside of resisting Bruno and Chuck's type, being particularly bad against Falkner, Jasmine, and Will.
Stats: The line's stats are all-around mediocre, with Ariados's 90 Attack being the only stat that comes close to decent.
Movepool: Spinarak's only way ways of consistently damaging opponents foes until evolution is through are Poison Sting, Leech Life, Night Shade, and Shadow Sneak at levels 1, 12, 15, and 19. Ariados's strongest moves are Dig and Sludge Bomb through TMs, the latter of which can be made to deal somewhat decent damage with Choice Specs.
Major Battles: Spinarak and Ariados will generally struggle against any major opponent they are facing. Ariados can beat Jasmine's Magnemite with Dig and contribute against Morty with Shadow Sneak, but the rest typically wall it completely, (AC) or they have only a Pokemon or two defeated by Choice Specs-boosted Sludge Bomb.
Additional Comments: Although Spinarak comes early and levels up quickly, it is still a very bad Pokemon to use due to its terrible stats, typing, and movepool. Insomnia is the preferred ability, as the line doesn't get to use Bug-type moves effectively for Swarm.

Sunkern

Availability: Early-game (National Park, level 10 or 12, 25% (daytime)).
Typing: Grass isn't useful for Sunkern at all, as it only hits Pryce super effectively (who also hits it Pryce's team super effectively (which also hits Sunkern super effectively) and makes it bad for Jasmine, Team Rocket, Clair, Koga, and Lance.
Stats: Sunflora has a decent Special Attack, but it's incredibly slow and its bulk is somewhat average.
Movepool: Sunkern starts out with Mega Drain and Growth, with Solar Beam through TMs and Petal Dance at level 33 providing stronger Grass-type options. GrassWhistle Grass Whistle and Leech Seed at levels 13 and 17 can be used for support, though they are time-consuming and inaccurate.
Major Battles: Sunflora has a chance of beating Whitney's Miltank with a +2 Solar Beam, though Stomp flinches and Attract make this inconsistent. Sunflora can also find some use against Pryce, though it is unlikely to sweep. Sunflora is typically too unreliable against the other opponents.
Additional Comments: Sunflora's bad typing, movepool, and Speed make it all-around inconsistent and unreliable against every opponent it's facing. Evolve Sunkern with Sun Stone immediately, immediately with Sun Stone, which you can get as a prize for winning the Bug-Catching Contest.

Tyrogue

Availability: End-game (Mt. Mortar (B1F, requires Waterfall), from Kiyo after beating him, level 10).
Typing: Fighting is only useful for Karen's Dark-types and is neutral against Bruno, being bad elsewhere.
Stats: Tyrogue's evolutions are all specially bulky Pokemon with mostly average Speed and poor HP. Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan have a good Attack, whilst Hitmontop's is moreso above-average.
Movepool: All of Tyrogue's evolutions learn Drain Punch and Earthquake through TMs. Hitmonlee can be taught Brick Break or Meditate through the relearner and High Jump Kick and Blaze Kick at levels 29 and 41. Hitmonchan learns the elemental punches at level 31. Unfortunately, Hitmontop doesn't have notable moves to make it stand out, outside of Counter at level 28.
Major Battles: The line can be useful against Karen's Umbreon and Houndoom and some of Bruno's Pokemon. Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee see some success against Koga with their Fire-type coverage, while the former can also contribute against Lance with Ice Punch if it can outspeed his Dragonite.
Additional Comments: No matter what Tyrogue evolves into, it is all-around a very inefficient Pokemon due to coming extremely late and underleveled while also requiring an extensive backtrack to be obtained. obtain.

Unown

Availability: Early-game (Ruins of Alph (underground areas), after completing one puzzle, level 5, 100%).
Typing: Psychic has only defensive purposes, unless Hidden Power happens to be Psychic-type. (added hyphen) It is good for resisting Chuck and Bruno's type and is bad against Morty and Karen's Dark-types.
Stats: Unown's base 72 offenses are pretty average and its other stats (48 all) are pretty poor and fall off quickly.
Movepool: Hidden Power.
Major Battles: If you happen to have the correct Hidden Power type, you may be able to KO certain opponents foes you are facing. However, as the game progresses and the opponents start using bulkier Pokemon, the Hidden Power type is generally irrelevant, since Unown has poor stats and as a result will lose anyways.
Additional Comments: Due to poor stats and an even poorer learnset, Unown is not worth using outside of joke runs. Unown pairs particularly well with Choice Specs, since it doesn't have to worry about switching moves.

Weedle

Availability: Early-game (Route 31, level 3 or 4, 50% (morning) or 35% (daytime) (SS); National Park (Bug Contest), levels 7-18, 20% (HG)).
Typing: Bug / Poison is all-around unhelpful, as it doesn't hit many opponents' types super effectively and makes Weedle weak to Falkner and Will.
Stats: Beedrill has an average Attack, Special Defense, and Speed, with its other stats being terrible.
Movepool: Weedle has only Poison Sting until it learns Fury Attack upon evolving into Beedrill. Weedle's Beedrill's only physical Bug-type options include are Twineedle and Pin Missile at levels 16 and 28, U-turn through TMs, or and Bug Bite at level 15 as a Weedle. Its only physical Poison-type option is Poison Jab at level 37.
Major Battles: The line sees little success in any major fight as a result of its unimpressive Attack, terrible typing, and poor learnset. At best it may be able to assist against them opponents by setting up Toxic Spikes, which it learns at level 25, or get a KO or two against Morty with Pursuit at level 22.
Additional Comments: Weedle is all-around a Pokemon that is suited only for joke runs, as it has nothing positive going for it that would justify a serious consideration on an efficiency-orientated efficiency-oriented run.

Wobbuffet

Availability: Late-game (Dark Cave (Blackthorn side), levels 20-25, 15%).
Typing: Wobbuffet will never use Psychic offensively and it ideally wants to take neutral damage to quickly KO its opponent. foes with Counter and Mirror Coat. In this regard, Psychic gives it a resistance against resistances for Will and Chuck and a weakness to Karen's Dark-types, so its typing is best suited for the other opponents.
Stats: Wobbuffet has a titanic HP with low defensive stats, making it ideal for taking a lot of damage without getting OHKOed. Its other stats are irrelevant in most cases, but its bad Speed hinders Destiny Bond. (I imagine?)
Movepool: Counter, Mirror Coat, Safeguard, and Destiny Bond. It doesn't learn anything else by level. (if there are TMs, you can just mention them here, or say something like "and a few unhelpful TMs")
Major Battles: Wobbuffet is highly ineffective for defeating opponents efficiently, as it relies on taking damage to deal damage back. It may be able to take down one opponent foe (especially if it's a more difficult one like Clair's Kingdra), but it will often require several healing items after that to sweep. Furthermore, if facing an opponent a foe with a mixed moveset, it may have to predict (optional, "guess", depending on how good ai actually is in this game) correctly whenever they are going for whether they go for a physical or a special move.
Additional Comments: Wobbuffet should never be used outside of joke runs due to its inability to take out multiple foes without significant support. It is important to mention that training Wobbuffet will also prove difficult, as it will require switch grinding almost the entire time.

Yanma

Availability: Early-game (Route 35, level 12, 1%).
Typing: Bug / Flying has little use offensively, as Yanma doesn't learn great Flying-type STAB moves within the main game, (AC) and Bug doesn't hit many major opponents foes super effectively.
Stats: Most of Yanma's stats, save for an above-average 95 Speed, are either average or somewhat poor, (AC) and it is stuck with those for a long time due to Yanma learning Ancient Power and then evolving fairly late. It does get a significant boost in Special Attack upon evolving, though.
Movepool: Yanma's only viable STAB move for the entire game is Silver Wind through TMs. Ancient Power at level 33 is needed for Yanma to evolve. Other moves that can be useful to Yanma include Solar Beam + Sunny Day and Shadow Ball through TMs.
Major Battles: Yanma is mostly unimpressive until evolution due to its poor movepool and stats. Once it evolves into Yanmega, it can net a few KOs against major opponents when holding Choice Specs, though it won't sweep any of them.
Additional Comments: Yanma's insanely low encounter rate, coupled with a poor movepool and subpar performance until evolution, make it a highly-inefficient Pokemon that simply cannot be justified on any efficient run.

Untiered
These Pokémon are in the Johto Pokedex but can't be obtained in-game without use of events or come post-game and thus can't be tiered.

Untiered

Aerodactyl


Articuno


Bulbasaur


Celebi


Chansey


Charmander


Electabuzz


Houndour


Kabuto


Mew


Mewtwo


Moltres


Omanyte


Pikachu


Porygon


Sneasel


Snorlax


Squirtle


Suicune


Zapdos

 

[Adeleine]

D, E, and Untiered are checked

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

Thanks to you two ! I have implemented most of your checks. There are a bunch of comments I will address for clarity's sake:

comments

(i know doing so is out of the way, but is it so not worth grinding up to 55/dnite for endgame that it's not even worth mentioning? i'll take your word if the answer is "yes")

(calc suggests abeam can possibly ohko dnite even at 5 level disadvantage w neutral nature/no evs, and i assume youll have some spa evs by then. if im missing something lmk, or we can talk if needed)

The levels for the E4 are assumed to be between 42 and 44, per the introductory paragraphs of the article. The reason for that is that the point of an efficient run is to get through the game relatively quickly and those levels are the highest ones you will typically reach with a standard team of four without grinding. Level 50 for Dewgong is very generous and thus this one is left unchanged (it is also worth pointing out that almost anything with semi-decent stats will ravage through most of the E4 at level 50+ purely due to level differences)

but they are often the last Pokemon to beat, limiting Ditto's contribution (I assume?)

Unlike in RB (idr about Yellow, think it is the same), the order of the Pokemon (beyond the lead) isn't fixed and the AI will just throw in whatever it considers the "best" option against whatever it is facing. Thus, there's no guarantee that the ace Pokemon is going to be last given the multitude of teams a player can come up with

(granted, this is Ditto, which would be in "joke" tier if such thing existed, so it barely matters, but it was worth pointing out anyways)

(is synchronize worth mentioning for xatu? up 2 u)

Unfortunately, Synchronize doesn't trigger on sleep/confusion

also, this is unrelated to GP, but I removed the link to the Primo website for Slugma, because I figured I'd be asked to remove it when I code this anyways. I have mentioned the possibility of using online tools to generate the phrases, though

anyways, I will consider this a "0.6/2" GP till B and C are checked, thank you again for your hard work!

 

[Adeleine]

cannot believe synchronize doesnt activate on sleep

reserving b-c

Finished B

B-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon whose with efficiency in terms of completing the game that is considered to be high. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a fair number of foes and but may require a bit of item reliance to sweep opponents' teams. These Pokémon are very useful, but they either have several flaws holding them back or are encountered fairly late.

B Tier

Abra (No Trade)

Availability: Early-game (buy at Goldenrod Game Corner for 200 coins, level 15).
Typing: Psychic is only outright bad against Karen's Dark-types and Jasmine and is mostly neutral elsewhere, with Morty, Chuck, Koga, and Bruno being particularly good matchups.
Stats: Kadabra is a typical glass cannon, being a fast and powerful special attacker with very little bulk.
Movepool: Confusion upgrades to Psybeam at level 24 and then Psychic at level 40. Charge Beam and Shadow Ball through TMs provide coverage. Reflect can patch up some of its physical bulk issues.. its poor physical bulk.
Major Battles: Kadabra typically needs to OHKO the opponent foe to perform well, as it is easily OHKOed otherwise. It can crush most of Team Rocket, Morty, Chuck, Koga (bar Forretress), and Bruno. It can also contribute against Will with Shadow Ball and Pryce with Charge Beam, though neither is a sweep and the latter requires lucky boosts for Kadabra to perform well.
Additional Comments: While Kadabra can crush many major opponents, its lack of bulk practically mandates it to be used only when it has a type advantage, as it risks being KOed itself if it fails to KO the opponent. foe.

Aipom

Availability: Early-game (Azalea Town (Headbutt), levels 3-5 or 6-8, 20%). (removed stray comma after 20%)
Typing: Pure Normal gives Aipom neutral matchups everywhere save for Chuck and Bruno.
Stats: Aipom has good Speed and decent Attack for how early you get it. Ambipom has excellent base 115 Speed and 100 Attack, but its defenses are still below average.
Movepool: Most of Aipom's level-up movepool is irrelevant barring Tickle at level 15 for a fast debuff, though Double Hit at level 32 is required to evolve. Generally, the Return TM is all Aipom will be using once its happiness is high, though the Shadow Claw and Dig TMs can help with coverage, and Last Resort at level 43 can be handy with proper use of the Move Deleter.
Major Battles: Aipom is great for Morty with Shadow Claw, while Chuck is surprisingly good for Ambipom as long as you disrupt Focus Punch. Jasmine's Steelix is handled by Tickle + Dig (the Magnemite are OHKOed without support). Tickle). Ambipom will generally KO quite a few Pokemon end-game, in the endgame, particularly with Last Resort.
Additional Comments: Aipom is a solid Pokemon if you can catch it in a Friend Ball for a powerful early Return, though its catch rate of 45 can prove troublesome. However, Aipom has a Fast growth rate, making it easy to train.

Chinchou

Availability: Mid-game (New Bark Town (Good Rod), level 20, 7%).
Typing: Water / Electric (added spaces around the slash) is a unique combination that grants Chinchou super effective STAB damage on several common types as well two strong STAB options. Defensively, it grants the line key resistances to Water, Fire, Ice, and Flying. (removed stray period)
Stats: Lanturn's most notable stat is its colossal base 125 HP, giving which gives it a lot of tanking potential, even with its mediocre defensive stats. Its Special Attack is average at 76, however but its strong STAB moves and access to compatibility with (reword if desired) Choice Specs make it stronger than it appears. 67 Speed does leave it somewhat lagging behind, however.
Movepool: Chinchou doesn't start with very good level-up moves, but it does gain Signal Beam later on at level 35 for effective coverage versus Grass- and Psychic-types. The real beauty is in its TM and HM coverage; Chinchou will already have access to Surf and Thunder when caught, and, with a detour, it can obtain Rain Dance as well, unlocking the formidable ThunderDance combination. making both moves even more formidable. (reword if desired) Charge Beam is worth a mention, (AC) as it is Chinchou's only alternative to Thunder until Discharge at level 40. Blizzard can also be taught late-game to target Clair's and Lance's Dragon-types.
Major Battles: Chinchou can contribute to Morty, but it really gets going upon evolving into Lanturn. From then on it simply fails to have a bad matchup, performing admirably against the Gym Leaders, Team Rocket, and most of the Elite 4 Four save for Bruno, who is only a decent encounter. Lance overwhelms it, but it can take a Dragonite or two with it thanks to Blizzard.
Additional Comments: Chinchou provides a strong contender for a Water-type team member, but it requires a significant amount of detouring to get it as early as possible, as well as to acquire the items it wants to best succeed (that being, the Rain Dance TM and MysticWater). Mystic Water). The TM cost is also considerable, and overall this requirement for investment, alongside the incredibly low encounter rate, bars it from ranking any higher.

Eevee (Vaporeon)

Availability: Mid-game (Goldenrod City after talking to Bill in the Ecruteak City Pokemon Center, level 5).
Typing: Water typing is all-around neutral, save for being resisted by against Clair, Lance, and 2/3 of Pryce's team.
Stats: Vaporeon is a special attacker with incredibly high HP and good Sp. Def. Special Defense. Its other stats are mediocre.
Movepool: Vaporeon comes in at the right time and has immediate access to Shadow Ball and Surf and Shadow Ball. Aurora Beam comes in at level 36 and allows it to have an easier time against Clair and Lance.
Major Battles: Vaporeon deals with Chuck's Primeape, Jasmine, Pryce's Piloswine, a good chunk of Clair, Will, some of Koga, Bruno, and Karen, (AC) and some of Lance, (AC) using the Choice Specs on against all of them (should there be comma here for meaning-of-sentence purposes?) and anything it hits neutrally. It struggles to sweep but can put in the work.
Additional Comments: Vaporeon is all-around a solid Water-type Pokemon that is useful in many places, but it struggles to sweep and requires you to spend some time getting the Water Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome.

Gastly (No Trade)

Availability: Early-game (Sprout Tower (1F-3F), levels 3-6, 85% (nighttime)).
Typing: Ghost / Poison is very useful for Will and Team Rocket and is mostly neutral elsewhere, though it's a double-edged sword against Morty and is bad for Karen's Dark-types and Jasmine.
Stats: Haunter is fast and has a good Special Attack, though it's not very bulky. Its Special Attack can be further augmented by Choice Specs.
Movepool: Gastly relies on Lick as its main attacking move until Night Shade at level 15. Curse at level 12 and Hypnosis allow it to be useful against difficult ace Pokemon. Once it evolves into Haunter, it can be taught Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb through TMs, with Shadow Punch at level 25 and Shadow Claw through TMs being its best moves against Morty.
Major Battles: Haunter can typically contribute to all fights by using its most powerful move while holding Choice Specs. It is good for the Elite Four, being able to crush Will and claim a few KOs from the other members. It can also KO most of Morty's Pokemon, though it is unlikely to sweep. It can contribute to the first fights with Curse and Hypnosis, which can later be useful against opponents like Clair's Kingdra and Karen's Umbreon.
Additional Comments: Haunter is a good Pokemon whose and its biggest flaw is the annoying Gastly period, although it isn't too long thanks to the Medium Slow growth rate, (AC) and Gastly can still be useful in the earlier fights. Furthermore, Haunter also lacks coverage, so it will miss out on a few important KOs due to that, though this lacking coverage also allows it to run Curse and Hypnosis for the entire game, which can be useful against more difficult opponents.

Girafarig

Availability: Mid-game (Route 43, level 15, 30%)
Typing: Normal / Psychic is excellent against Morty and provides it with a type advantage agaisnt Team Rocket, Chuck, Koga, and Bruno, (AC) and it gives mostly neutral matchups elsewhere.
Stats: Girafarig's stats tend to be average, with its highest stat being 90 Special Attack, though its base 65 defenses can cause some longevity issues.
Movepool: Confusion upgrades to Psybeam at level 19 and then to Psychic at level 37. Girafarig can be taught Strength immediately or make good use of Return if caught in a Friend Ball. Shadow Ball, Charge Beam, and Earthquake through TMs provide coverage.
Major Battles: Girafarig performs excellently against all opponents foes it can hit super effectively with Psychic-type STAB moves. However, even with STAB moves and coverage, it misses on a few vital KOs at the Pokemon League, which can prove fatal for Girafarig.
Additional Comments: Girafarig is a decent Pokemon, (AC) as its typing is very favorable for Johto, but its average stats prevent it from making an impact in neutral matchups. Note that Mahogany Town can be reached through Mt. Mortar before getting Surf, which allows you to use Girafarig against Morty.

Ho-Oh

Availability: End-game Endgame (Bell Tower (roof), level 45) (HG).
Typing: Fire / Flying is decent for Koga and Bruno and neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Ho-Oh has excellent stats as a whole, being a strong physical attacker and a special wall. Its stats are further enhanced by a high join level.
Movepool: Ho-Oh starts out with Sacred Fire and Sunny Day and can be retaught Brave Bird. The fourth moveslot can go to either Extrasensory, Fire Blast, or Shadow Ball, though Ho-Oh will be using those only to preserve Sacred Fire PP.
Major Battles: Ho-Oh crushes Will and Koga with Sunny Day and Sacred Fire while also claiming a few KOs against Karen. Brave Bird OHKOes everything on Bruno's team bar Onix (though Hitmonlee can outspeed and finish you Ho-Oh off if Ho-Oh it took too much recoil). Lance is a terrible matchup for Ho-Oh.
Additional Comments: Ho-Oh is excellent for most of the remaining fights, but its super late arrival and bad Lance matchup prevent it from ranking higher. It is best that you catch Ho-Oh with Master Ball due to it having a very low catch rate.

Lapras

Availability: Mid-game (Union Cave (B2F), Fridays, requires Surf, level 20).
Typing: Water / Ice means Lapras is average for most matchups aside from Chuck and Bruno (which are bad for Lapras). Notably, Lapras is one of the few Pokemon with a type advantage against Clair's Dragonair as well as Lance.
Stats: Lapras has an enormous base 130 HP and average other stats aside from base 60 base Speed.
Movepool: Lapras starts with Ice Shard, Confuse Ray, and Body Slam and should be taught Surf immediately. (added period) Lapras picks up Rain Dance at level 22 and Perish Song at level 27, (AC) which has a use if a boss is down to one Pokemon left. At level 32, Lapras gets its most reliable Ice-type STAB move in Ice Beam. Thunder via TM is effective with Lapras's natural Rain Dance.
Major Battles: Rain Dance and Thunder work well for Chuck and Pryce, while all of Jasmine's Pokemon are beaten by Choice Specs and Surf. Lapras can take on Clair effectively with Choice Specs and Ice Beam, though it's unlikely to sweep without healing. Lapras generally OHKOes or 2HKOes targets at the League with the respective STAB, appropriate STAB move, though it will struggle against Bruno and only beat a couple of Lance's Pokemon with offscreen (offscreen? not sure what you mean here. reword/clarify maybe) healing.
Additional Comments: Lapras is a great Pokemon, though the Slow growth rate and backtracking required to obtain it hold it back.

Magmar

Availability: Mid-game (Burned Tower (BF1), level 14 (morning and nighttime) or level 16 (daytime), 5% (morning and nighttime) or 10% (daytime)).
Typing: Pure Fire typing gives Magmar the advantage against Jasmine and Pryce's Piloswine, while being and it's neutral for most other battles in the game and while giving it trouble versus Clair and Lance.
Stats: Magmar has high Speed, Attack, and Special Attack, making it a deadly mixed sweeper. This is offset by its poor defenses, however.
Movepool: Magmar has a steady series of STAB moves to upgrade to throughout the game; it begins with Ember, then Fire Punch at 29, Lava Plume at 36, and Flamethrower at 42. Outside of Fire-type moves, though, its level-up movepool is limited to Faint Attack and some status moves like Smokescreen and Confuse Ray. TM-wise, Fire Blast from Goldenrod is vital to give it a strong nuking option early on and Focus Blast can be taught to give it some coverage.
Major Battles: Magmar does very well against Morty, Jasmine, SIlver, Team Rocket in general, Koga, and Bruno. It does decently against Chuck, Pryce, Will, and Karen, mostly owing to their Fire resists, not doing better (I imagine?) thanks to their Fire-resistant team members, while it falls flat versus Clair and Lance, who wall it entirely.
Additional Comments: Magmar is a solid Fire-type, (AC) whose and its primary advantages over others is are its solid stats from capture and series of strong, reliable STAB moves. Its main downside, aside from its small movepool outside of Fire-type attacks, is its availability at mid-game, mid-game availability causing it to miss out on key battles.

Magnemite

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, level 16, 20%).
Typing: Electric / Steel provides Magnemite with many useful resistances, including against Morty, Team Rocket, Pryce, Will, and Koga, although it leaves Magnemite weak to Chuck and Bruno's type.
Stats: Magneton has a very high Special Attack and above-average Defense, though its other stats are below-average.
Movepool: Magnemite can be taught the Flash Cannon and Charge Beam TMs from the Goldenrod Department Store raffle on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, with Discharge at level 40 being its most reliable Electric-type STAB move. Outside of those, Magnemite can also be taught Thunder and Rain Dance for a powerful move combination early on.
Major Battles: Magnemite provides some help against Morty and can sweep Chuck if it successfully sets up rain. It can sweep Pryce easily and crushes most of Team Rocket. It is also particularly useful against Will and Koga with Choice Specs + Discharge and beats Lance's Gyarados and Aerodactyl.
Additional Comments: Magnemite is useful in many matchups thanks to its excellent typing and great Special Attack. However, it requires two TMs from the Goldenrod Department Store raffle to become usable immediately, (AC) and Magnemite is easy to KO until it evolves due to its low HP and Speed. Note that Magneton cannot fully evolve into Magnezone within HGSS due to the lack of special magnetic fields.

Mareep

Availability: Early-game (Route 32, level 6, 20% (morning and daytime) or 10% (nighttime)).
Typing: Electric gives Mareep advantages against Falkner and Will, (AC) as well as handful of assorted boss Pokemon, but Jasmine is a shaky matchup.
Stats: Mareep and Flaaffy have good HP and special stats, but their other stats are lacking. Ampharos patches up its stats to be a well-rounded bulky attacker with an excellent 115 Special Attack. However, its 55 Speed means it is fairly slow.
Movepool: Mareep notably doesn't get Thundershock until level 10, and then it is stuck with that until the Charge Beam or Thunder TMs. Both moves are fairly unreliable, but if you hold off evolving Flaaffy until level 31, it will learn Discharge in time for the three mid-game Gyms, finally making it a reliable damage dealer. Focus Blast via TM serves as decent coverage, and the Rain Dance TM can be utilized with Thunder if you desire.
Major Battles: Mareep fares well against Falkner with Thundershock. Bugsy's Scyther amd and Flaaffy 3HKO each other, but Flaaffy will generally lose unless you get lucky with paralysis or a critical hit. (I imagine?) From then on until Ampharos, Flaaffy generally relies on the unreliable Thunder to deal heavy damage to against most major opponents. Thunder OHKOes all of Chuck's Pokemon, (AC) while Focus Blast does the same for Jasmine. Ampharos is decent for Pryce and Clair while generally OHKOing or 2HKOing most targets with Choice Specs and Discharge at the Pokemon League.
Additional Comments: Ampharos is a good Pokemon (RC) but it's is held back by its pre-evolution phases, as they Mareep and Flaaffy have low stats and poor movepools, which force them to rely on moves with imperfect accuracy without Rain Dance setup or set up Rain Dance until Discharge.

Miltank

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, level 13, 5%).
Typing: Normal makes Miltank useful for Morty and bad for Chuck, Jasmine, and Bruno, being neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Miltank has all-around solid stats, being relatively (RC) fast and bulky, and packing an acceptable amount of power.
Movepool: If caught in a Friend Ball, Miltank can be taught Return for an immediate access to a powerful Normal STAB move. Rollout at level 19, combined with Defense Curl, can help Miltank sweep some fights, albeit inconsistently due to Rollout's imperfect accuracy. Other useful moves include Zen Headbutt and Earthquake.
Major Battles: Miltank obliterates Morty with Scrappy and can generally hit hard most neutral opponents foes hard with STAB Return. Defense Curl + Rollout allows it to potentially sweep some of the more difficult opponents like Pryce and, with an Intimidate fodder teammate for (Lance's first Pokemon, I assume? If so, specify what that Pokemon is) and healing, Lance.
Additional Comments: Miltank is a mostly solid Pokemon that is fairly hard to catch in a Friend Ball due to low encounter and catch rates. Miltank generally performs well against Pryce even without Thick Fat, so it's preferrable that you get one with Scrappy to improve the Morty matchup. Wide Lens from the Game Corner can help fix Rollout's inconsistent imperfect accuracy.

Nidoran-F

Availability: Early-game (Route 35, level 12, 30%).
Typing: Poison / Ground with Nidoqueen is useful against Chuck, Jasmine, Team Rocket, Koga, and Bruno, though it's pretty bad against Pryce, Clair, and Will.
Stats: Nidoqueen's stats are all-around solid, allowing it to hit both physically and specially, though its offensive stats may at times feel rather weak.
Movepool: Nidoqueen's movepool is mostly TM-based, with it utilizing Dig, Sludge Bomb, Thunder, Fire Blast, Blizzard, and Shadow Claw to hit various opponents' types super effectively. Earthquake through TMs is a direct upgrade from Dig.
Major Battles: If Nidoqueen has a super effective move, it can generally use it to deal heavy damage to almost anything it faces. Nidoqueen The line is only useful against Morty if fully evolved, as its Nidoqueen's pre-evolutions cannot learn Shadow Claw.
Additional Comments: Nidoqueen's usefulness comes mainly from its vast movepool, (AC) that which allows it to hit a huge amount of opponents number of foes super effectively, though it's very reliant on the inaccurate TM moves to hit hard in many matchups. Moon Stone can be obtained from the Pokeathlon Dome, purchased by the player's mom, or gained from the Ruins of Alph with Surf, with the former two methods allowing the line to fully evolve before Morty.

Nidoran-M

Availability: Early-game (Route 35, level 12, 30%).
Typing: Poison / Ground for Nidoking is useful against Chuck, Jasmine, Team Rocket, Koga, and Bruno, though it's pretty bad against Pryce, Clair, and Will.
Stats: Nidoking's stats are all-around solid, allowing it to hit both physically and specially.
Movepool: Nidoking's movepool is mostly TM-based, with it utilizing Dig, Sludge Bomb, Thunder, Fire Blast, Blizzard, and Shadow Claw to hit various opponents' types super effectively. Earthquake through TMs is a direct upgrade from Dig.
Major Battles: If Nidoking has a super effective move, it can generally use it to deal heavy damage to almost anything it faces. Nidoking The line is only useful against Morty if fully evolved, as its Nidoking's pre-evolutions cannot learn Shadow Claw.
Additional Comments: Nidoking's usefulness comes mainly from its vast movepool, (AC) that which allows it to hit a huge amount of opponents number of foes super effectively, though it's very reliant on the inaccurate TM moves to hit hard in many matchups. Moon Stone can be obtained from the Pokeathlon Dome, purchased by the player's mom, or gained from the Ruins of Alph with Surf, with the former two methods allowing the line to fully evolve before Morty. (imo say which nido is significantly better, or whether theyre pretty comparable, here or on nidoran-F)

Pinsir

Availability: Early-game (National Park (Bug-Catching Contest), level 13 or 14, 5%).
Typing: Bug is helpful against Will and Karen, but before that, it doesn't see much use offensively, (AC) as Pinsir learns X-Scissor somewhat late. It is useful for resisting Chuck and Bruno's type, though.
Stats: Pinsir is a physical tank with an excellent Attack. Its other stats aren't particularly impressive, though base 85 Speed lets it outspeed most of the game.
Movepool: Pinsir relies on Dig through TMs and Seismic Toss until it gets better moves, such as Brick Break at level 21 and X-Scissor at level 30. Earthquake through TMs is an upgrade from Dig, (AC) and Swords Dance at level 38 helps Pinsir sweep end-game endgame fights.
Major Battles: Pinsir can beat Whitney's Miltank with Revenge as long as it doesn't get repeatedly (I imagine?) flinched. Morty can be swept with Dig if Pinsir has Mold Breaker. It can OHKO Jasmine's Magnemite and beat Pryce's Seel and Dewgong. At the Elite Four, Pinsir sweeps Bruno easily by using Hitmontop as a set up setup fodder and crushes Karen, notably OHKOing Umbreon with +2 X-Scissor.
Additional Comments: While Pinsir is decent for some key fights, it is very difficult to obtain due to its low catch rate and rarity, which is made worse by the fact that you want one with Mold Breaker being desired to perform well against Morty. Furthermore, it is in the Slow experience group, so it's a chore to train too.

Raikou

Availability: Mid-game (roaming Johto, after going to the lower floor of Burned Tower, level 40).
Typing: Electric is all-around great for all opponents, particularly against Pryce and half of Lance's team.
Stats: Most of Raikou's stats are excellent and are further enhanced by a high join level. Its physical bulk is somewhat average, though.
Movepool: Raikou mostly uses Thunder and Rain Dance to deal damage, with Charge Beam and Shadow Ball through TMs providing more reliable alternatives without setup.
Major Battles: If caught as early as possible, Raikou can handle Team Rocket and most Gym Leaders with little difficulty. At the Elite Four, it can sweep Will with Shadow Ball and generally performs well against the other members if it can get a Charge Beam boost. It can also beat Lance's Gyarados, Charizard, and Aerodactyl, though the latter is faster and thus can KO Raikou if it's too weakened.
Additional Comments: Raikou's great performance before the end-game is negated endgame is counterbalanced (or did you mean like "endgame is negated by the near infeasibility of catching it"?) by the extreme difficulty of catching it. This catching difficulty can be circumvented by catching it with a the Master Ball, which you get after obtaining the Rising Badge, at the cost of skipping those matchups and using the Master Ball on another Legendary Pokemon. (I assume?) Raikoui's Raikou's Elite Four performance is decent, but its extremely late arrival if you go the Master Ball route using the Master Ball + reliance on Charge Beam boosts for some of the remaining fights prevent it from ranking higher.

Rattata

Availability: Early-game (Route 29, levels 2-4, 5% (morning and daytime) or 15% (nighttime)).
Typing: Pure Normal gives Rattata strong neutral coverage and only one weakness in Fighting, although both Chuck and Bruno specialize in Fighting-types, and Jasmine's Steel-types resist Rattata's Normal-type moves.
Stats: Raticate boasts an average base 81 Attack as well as a surprisingly fast 97 Speed, but its other stats are poor.
Movepool: Hyper Fang at level 16 gives Rattata a very strong STAB option in the early-game at a time where strong moves are scarce and Normal-resistant Pokemon are scarcer. Crunch at 24 gives it super effective coverage versus Ghost-types. TM-wise, Return in Goldenrod City and Dig at National Park provide Raticate with a strong, reliable an even better STAB move and coverage versus Rock- and Steel-types, respectively. With a Heart Scale, it can learn Swords Dance from the tutor in Blackthorn City, which is crucial for Raticate's late-game performance.
Major Battles: Pre-Swords Dance, Rattata generally manages to defeat the lesser mons Pokemon in most major fights but will falter against ace Pokemon due to their higher level / stats. Notable sweeps include Team Rocket and Morty. Post-Swords Dance, Clair can potentially be fully swept should you have a very fast Raticate. Raticate performs well against every E4 Elite Four member save Karen and could potentially sweep Lance as well. (AC) if it is provided severe Intimidate support and the aforementioned possesses higher than average Speed.
Additional Comments: Make sure to grab the guaranteed Heart Scale on Route 32 in order to teach Raticate Swords Dance at Blackthorn City (requires Surf).

Scyther (No Trade)

Availability: Early-game (National Park (Bug-Catching Contest), level 13 or 14, 5%).
Typing: Bug / Flying is very useful against Chuck, Will, and Bruno, but it is very bad against Jasmine and Pryce.
Stats: Scyther is a fast and strong physical attackers which that can easily outspeed and KO most opponents foes before they can touch it.
Movepool: Scyther will mainly use Wing Attack (learned at level 21), which hits very hard thanks to Technician. X-Scissor at level 41 helps out against Will and Karen's Umbreon. Rock Smash through HMs provides Scyther with some Technician-boosted coverage against Rock- and Steel-types.
Major Battles: Scyther performs well against almost any opponent where it can hit their type neutrally with Wing Attack, including Whitney. Scyther also has an acceptable matchup against Will and Karen with the help of X-Scissor.
Additional Comments: Scyther is incredibly difficult to obtain, as it is hard to catch, has a low encounter rate, and requires Technician in order to perform well. This offsets greatly offsets its all-around high strength. utility.

Staryu

Availability: Mid-game (Route 40, Good Rod, level 20, 10% (night)).
Typing: Starmie is Water / Psychic type; Psychic is useful for resisting the types of Chuck, Will, and Bruno, but it has no use offensively, as Starmie doesn't learn Psychic-type moves during the main game.
Stats: Starmie has excellent Speed and Special Attack, but dismal HP and average other stats.
Movepool: Starmie's moveset is almost exclusively TM TM- and HM-based. Surf is its main Water STAB, which STAB move, and Rain Dance can power it up while making Thunder always hit. Blizzard via TM can provide Ice-type coverage. (is Recover on capture worth mentioning?)
Major Battles: Starmie handles most of Morty's and Jasmine's teams with Surf, which is also useful against most of the Elite Four with Rain Dance or Choice Specs. Thunder helps it against Pryce, though it has to play around Seel's Hail to set up Rain Dance. It also handles Clair's Dragonair and Lance's Dragonite with Blizzard.
Additional Comments: Starmie is a good Pokemon, but the sheer annoyance of obtaining a Water Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome to evolve it and the Slow growth rate keeps it from the higher tiers.

Tauros

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, level 13, 4%).
Typing: Normal is decent for Morty and mostly neutral elsewhere, though it gives Tauros a weakness to Chuck and Bruno.
Stats: Tauros is fast and hits very hard physically, though its low Special Attack means that it cannot take great advantage of its wide special learnset.
Movepool: Tauros can be taught Strength immediately or make good use of Return if caught in a Friend Ball. Payback at level 24 is decent for Morty and Tauros learns other coverage moves, including Earthquake, Surf, and Fire Blast.
Major Battles: Tauros sweeps Morty easily and is usually decent in any neutral matchup with full-power Return. It can also KO Jasmine's Magnemite with Choice Specs and Fire Blast. Morty is generally the only matchup it will reliably sweep.
Additional Comments: Tauros is a decent Pokemon due to its high damage output, but several problems like rarity, low join level, a Slow growth rate, and difficulty of being caught the difficulty of catching it in a Friend Ball hold it back. However, Tauros can be caught at Route 48 with a 21% encounter rate at level 20 or 24 at the cost of skipping Morty.

Tentacool

Availability: Mid-game (Route 40 (surfing), levels 15-29, 10%) (Tentacruel).
Typing: Water / Poison is excellent aside from against Will, (AC) as it hits most opponents' types neutrally and provides a useful resistance to useful resistances for Chuck, Koga, Bruno, and Team Rocket.
Stats: Tentacruel is fast and very bulky on the special side. specially bulky. Its other stats aren't impressive, though Tentacruel hits decently hard with Choice Specs.
Movepool: Tentacruel should be taught Surf immediately and the Sludge Bomb by TM later on. Blizzard through TMs provides some coverage and Barrier at level 26 improves matchups against physical attackers. Rain Dance through TMs, combined with Mystic Water, allows it to hit as hard as possible with Surf.
Major Battles: Tentacruel is decent for Gyms 5-7 and easily beats the Team Rocket Executives. It can notably defeat Clair's Kingdra with Choice Specs and Sludge Bomb due to its great special bulk and Clear Body blocking Smokescreen. Its Elite Four performance is unimpressive, though Tentacruel is decent against Koga and can contribute to Bruno with Barrier and healing when needed.
Additional Comments: Tentacruel can be caught at an incredibly high level if you resort to Repel tricking. Repels and lead Pokemon leveled in the high 20s. (I imagine?) This and its decent performance until the end-game, endgame make Tentacruel a handy Pokemon as a whole. Tentacool can be caught as soon as you obtain the Old Rod, but its performance until you get the Good Rod is terrible, so it's that's generally not worth bothering with. Note that Tentacruel is in the Slow experience group, which can make it annoying to train.

Vulpix

Availability: Early-game (Route 36, 10% (morning and night, level 13), 15% (day, levels 13-15) (SS).
Typing: Pure Fire is great for Jasmine and Koga, bad for Clair and Lance, and neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Vulpix and Ninetales have good Speed and Special Defense, but average stats elsewhere.
Movepool: Vulpix needs to be caught at level 13 to have Ember. Vulpix gets Flamethrower at level 24, which will be its main attack with Choice Specs. Ninetales can relearn Nasty Plot at level 1 and be given Fire Blast and Sunny Day via TMs if desired.
Major Battles: Vulpix is too frail to stand up to Whitney's Miltank, but Ninetales can take on all of Morty's Pokemon save Gengar reliably. From there, Ninetales tends to take out one Pokemon in major battles save Jasmine (where it sweeps) and Clair (bad matchup) until the Pokemon League, where Ninetales tends to use Nasty Plot at least once and OHKO most non-resists non-resistant Pokemon that aren't particularly bulky.
Additional Comments: Despite needing a Fire Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome, Vulpix is still a solid damage dealer with either Choice Specs mid-game or Nasty Plot end-game. at the endgame. Make sure to only evolve Vulpix after it learns Flamethrower at level 24.

 

[Adeleine]

B is complete, you can either implement it now or implement it after I finish C

note to self: tag gp team when this is done

C

C-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon whose having efficiency in terms of completing the game that is considered to be moderately high. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a reasonable portion of foes, (AC) but they are matchup based (removed hyphen) enough to need some item assistance in sweeping some opponents' teams. These Pokémon are useful; however, they either have several flaws holding them back or barely make up for their late arrivals.

C Tier

Caterpie

Availability: Early-game (Route 31, level 3 or 4, 50% (morning) or 35% (daytime) (HG); National Park (Bug Contest), levels 7-18, 20% (SS)).
Typing: Bug / Flying isn't great, as, offensively, it's only good against Bugsy, Chuck, and Bruno, and it doesn't provide a lot of defensive utility and instead worsens the matchup against Falkner and Pryce.
Stats: Butterfree's stats are relatively high for the early-game, early game, but they fall off as the game progresses and the opponents start using Pokemon with much higher stats.
Movepool: Butterfree learns Confusion at level 10, which upgrades to Psybeam at level 24, and Sleep Powder and Stun Spore at level 12, with Gust at level 16 being its only Flying-type STAB move. Silver Wind and Bug Buzz at levels 28 and 40 are its only good Bug-type STAB moves.
Major Battles: Butterfree can see use against any opponent that doesn't resist its moves, as it can outspeed most of them, and foes, put them to sleep with the nearly-accurate a near-perfectly accurate Sleep Powder, (AC) and slowly take them down. Butterfree is particularly useful for the first two Gym Leaders if playing HG, though it also sees use against Morty, Chuck, and some of the Team Rocket Executives, although it struggles to sweep the former two.
Additional Comments: Butterfree can 1v1 a lot of opponents beat a lot of foes one-on-one as long as it can outspeed them and hit them neutrally, though this method tends to be slow. Compound Eyes gives Butterfree a lot of utility, as it makes Sleep Powder nearly-accurate near-perfectly accurate and also makes it Butterfree great for item hunting, (AC) by boosting the chances of wild Pokemon holding an item, which is further helped by its ability to learn Thief through TMs.

Chikorita

Availability: Early-game (New Bark Town, level 5).
Typing: Grass is a terrible type for Johto, being resisted in most matchups aside from Whitney, Chuck, Pryce, and Bruno.
Stats: Chikorita's stats are balanced save for above average Defense and Special Defense.
Movepool: Razor Leaf upgrades to Petal Dance at level 32, (AC) with Strength providing Normal-type coverage. Otherwise, Chikorita gets both Reflect and Light Screen naturally or via TMs from the Goldenrod Department Store.
Major Battles: Chikorita loses to Falkner, Bugsy, Morty, and Jasmine's Magnemite by virtue of being resisted. However, it is good for Whitney, Chuck, Pryce, and Clair's Kingdra. Most of Team Rocket and the Pokemon League aside from Bruno are unfavorable, (AC) as the opponents foes tend to resist Grass.
Additional Comments: The Chikorita line with Choice Specs and Petal Dance is decent, but this is not enough to save a Pokemon with middling offensive stats and lackluster typing.

Drowzee

Availability: Early-game (Route 34, levels 10-12, 50%).
Typing: Psychic is useful against Bruno, Koga, and Chuck and also resists Will's type, but it makes Drowzee weak to Morty, along with Karen's Dark-types.
Stats: The line is plagued by a below-average Speed and has (optional) mostly average stats aside from their its excellent Special Defense.
Movepool: Drowzee starts out with Confusion, which upgrades to Psybeam at level 26. Hypno also learns Shadow Ball and Focus Blast through TMs for coverage. Meditate at level 21 can be combined with the Drain Punch TM, (AC) from the Goldenrod Department Store raffle on Thursday, (AC) and Headbutt to improve the Whitney matchup.
Major Battles: Drowzee can potentially sweep Whitney with Drain Punch if it sets up Meditate to the maximum against Clefairy. It sees some success against Chuck, Koga, Bruno, and Team Rocket with Choice Specs + Psybeam and Jasmine and Pryce with Focus Blast, though it tends to be mediocre elsewhere. However, it may struggle to OHKO even with super effective hits due to its unimpressive Special Attack.
Additional Comments: While Drowzee is handy against a few matchups, its reliance on super effective hits and lack of raw power hold it back. Insomnia is the preferred ability.

Dunsparce

Availability: Early-game (Dark Cave, Rock Smash, levels 4-8, 90%).
Typing: Pure Normal typing leaves Dunsparce neutral to most everything save for unfavorable matchups against Morty, Chuck, and Bruno.
Stats: Dunsparce has great HP, but average other stats aside from a dismal base 45 Speed.
Movepool: Dunsparce starts with Rage and picks up Defense Curl at level 5 with Rollout to complement it at level 17, getting Yawn and Glare in the interim levels. Dunsparce also gets Roost at level 33 or via TM. Dunsparce has a wide variety of offensive TMs at its disposal like Fire Blast and Dig, but they only hit a few targets. Headbutt via the Ilex Forest tutor or and Return via TM can serve as STAB options.
Major Battles: Dunsparce can use Defense Curl and then Rollout its way to victory use Rollout until it wins against Bugsy and Whitney, but it will lose to Morty due to Curse wearing it down. Dunsparce flops against Chuck but can handle Jasmine with Choice Specs + Fire Blast if it outspeeds. Defense Curl and Rollout work against the remaining opponents, but by then Dunsparce's stats won't hold up anymore.
Additional Comments: Dunsparce is useful in the early-game, but its thoroughly average stats hold it back later on despite Rollout access. If you're willing to find the 1% variant before Rock Smash, Dunsparce can Rage its way past Falkner if you get the 1% variant, get past Falkner with Rage, though this is inefficient. Serene Grace is the preferred ability, as it pairs particularly well with Glare and Headbutt.

Eevee (Espeon)

Availability: Mid-game (Goldenrod City after talking to Bill in the Ecruteak City Pokemon Center, level 5).
Typing: Psychic typing gives Espeon advantages against Morty, Chuck, Koga, and Bruno, though it is bad for Jasmine and Karen.
Stats: Espeon has high Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed, but its other stats are poor.
Movepool: Espeon picks up Confusion at level 15, (AC) which upgrades to Psybeam at level 36. Shadow Ball via TM is its only relevant coverage option, though Swift at level 29 can help on routes.
Major Battles: Espeon fares well against Morty, but it will not sweep due to losing to Gengar. Espeon is great for Chuck, Koga, and Bruno with Psychic-type STAB moves, though it is ineffective for Jasmine and Karen and average elsewhere.
Additional Comments: Eevee has to be evolved by level 15 so that Espeon can learn Confusion. This The required friendship is very difficult to achieve in just ten levels and, as a result, means that levels, and as a result, evolving Eevee takes a lot of time and effort. Haircuts via the Goldenrod Tunnel and the Soothe Bell from the National Park expedite this process.

Eevee (Flareon)

Availability: Mid-game (Goldenrod City after talking to Bill in the Ecruteak City Pokemon Center, level 5).
Typing: Fire typing leaves Flareon good for Jasmine and Koga, but average for everything else aside from Clair and Lance.
Stats: Flareon has great Attack and good Special special stats, though its Speed is slightly below average.
Movepool: Flareon's natural learnset is mostly irrelevant, as it uses Fire Blast via the Goldenrod Department Store TM for almost all battles, with Dig and Return through TMs serving as other options. Fire Fang at level 43 is outclassed by Choice Specs + Fire Blast.
Major Battles: Flareon OHKOes most of Morty's team save Gengar with Charcoal-boosted Fire Blast, though it is slower. Flareon can OHKO Chuck's Primeape, Pryce's Piloswine, and all of Jasmine's team with Charcoal- (added hyphen) or Choice Specs-boosted Fire Blast. Flareon It can pick off a few targets at the Pokemon League with Choice Specs + Fire Blast.
Additional Comments: Flareon is decent but the inefficiency of getting a Fire Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome on Tuesday for 2,500 Points, (AC) alongside its relatively average performance, (AC) hold it back.

Eevee (Jolteon)

Availability: Mid-game (Goldenrod City after talking to Bill in the Ecruteak City Pokemon Center, level 5).
Typing: Electric typing means Jolteon is good for Chuck and Pryce aside from Piloswine, though it is bad for Jasmine and average elsewhere.
Stats: Jolteon is exceptionally fast with good Special special stats, but its other stats are low.
Movepool: Jolteon's main attack is the Charge Beam TM, though it also gets Thundershock at level 15. Otherwise, Jolteon tends to use the Rain Dance TM in combination with the Thunder TM for high damage. Shadow Ball via TM can serve as coverage if need be.
Major Battles: Jolteon doesn't stand out in major battles until it gets Rain Dance and Thunder, which destroy Chuck and help against Pryce save for Piloswine. Jolteon is also moderately effective with this strategy at the Pokemon League in general.
Additional Comments: Combined with the inefficiency of getting a Thunder Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome on Thursday for 2,500 Points, Jolteon requires too many TMs to be called truly inefficient. efficient.

Entei

Availability: Mid-game (roaming Johto, after going to the lower floor of Burned Tower, level 40).
Typing: Fire is only resisted by Clair and Lance and is neutral at worst elsewhere.
Stats: Most of Entei's stats are excellent and are further enhanced by a high join level. Its defenses are somewhat average, though.
Movepool: Entei mostly uses Flamethrower, which is a starting move, and Fire Blast and Sunny Day through TMs. Strength and Dig through TMs provide coverage if using it as early as possible.
Major Battles: If caught as early as possible, Entei can destroy most fights bar Clair. At the Elite Four, it can handle Will and Koga well with Choice Specs + Flamethrower while nabbing a few KOs against Karen. It's not great against Bruno and Lance, though.
Additional Comments: Entei's great performance before the end-game is negated endgame is counterbalanced (i imagine this works?) by the extreme difficulty of catching it. This catching difficulty can be circumvented by catching it with a Master Ball, which you get after obtaining the Rising Badge, at the cost of skipping those matchups and using the Master Ball on another Legendary Pokemon. (I assume?) Entei's Elite Four performance is acceptable, but its two bad matchups and the extremely late arrival if you go the Master Ball route prevent it from ranking higher.

Goldeen

Availability: Mid-game (Route 42, Surf, 10% for Seaking, levels 15-25).
Typing: Pure Water means Goldeen is average in most matchups save for Clair and Lance.
Stats: Goldeen and Seaking have mostly average stats aside from good Attack.
Movepool: Most of Seaking's movepool is irrelevant aside from Choice Specs-boosted Surf early on, but Seaking can get Poison Jab from the move relearner and Blizzard from the TM. Later on, Seaking uses Rain Dance via TM and Waterfall via HM for fast Rain-boosted rain-boosted damage with Swift Swim. Goldeen gets Water Pulse at level 17 if you use the earlier variant.
Major Battles: Seaking beats Chuck's Primeape and Pryce's Piloswine with Choice Specs + Surf and OHKOes all of Jasmine's team. In addition, it is relatively good for most Team Rocket battles. At the Pokemon League, Seaking tends to use Mystic Water alongside Rain-boosted rain-boosted Waterfall to 2HKO or OHKO most foes.
Additional Comments: Goldeen can also be caught in Union Cave via Old Rod at level 10, though its early matchups aren't good, so it is better to get it Seaking directly (I imagine?) post-Surf to skip the late evolution level. Swift Swim is the preferred Ability ability for greater sweeping potential.

Growlithe

Availability: Early-game (Route 36, 10% (morning and night, level 13), 15% (day, levels 13-15) (HG)). (added close paren)
Typing: Pure Fire is great for Jasmine and Koga, bad for Clair and Lance, and neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Arcanine has decent offenses and Speed and is relatively bulky with base 90 HP and 80 defenses. Growlithe's stats aren't particularly great, though, which affects its performance if you hold off evolving it until it learns Flamethrower.
Movepool: Ember upgrades to Flame Wheel at level 20 and Flamethrower at level 34 if Growlithe is left unevolved until then. It can also be taught Dig, Fire Blast, and Sunny Day through TMs.
Major Battles: Growlithe's performance depends on whenever it's evolved immediately or not. If evolved immediately, Arcanine is better against most Gym Leaders (particularly Morty), but it requires Fire Blast to do anything against the Elite Four. If waiting until Flamethrower, Growlithe is worse against most Gym Leaders, but Arcanine's performance against the end-game endgame opponents is much more consistent with Flamethrower, allowing it to be useful against every single Elite Four member bar Bruno.
Additional Comments: Growlithe requires you to spend time getting the Fire Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome on Tuesday and is also hard to train due to a Slow growth rate. It is generally better to evolve it after getting Flamethrower, since the Elite Four matchups are much more valuable and Growlithe can cover some of the earlier matchups reasonably well. Ultimately, being a stone evolution with a somewhat shaky performance until the Pokemon League while leveling up slowly League, as well as leveling up slowly, greatly impact Growlithe's usefulness.

Hoothoot

Availability: Early-game (Route 29, levels 2-4, 85% (nighttime)).
Typing: Hoothoot and Noctowl's Normal / Flying typing gives them advantages against Morty, Chuck, Koga, and Bruno, though it is weak to versus Pryce and Jasmine. (comma -> period)
Stats: Hoothoot and Noctowl have good HP, Special stats special stats, and Speed, but their physical stats are lacking.
Movepool: Hoothoot will be relying on Tackle and Peck for low physical damage until it gets Uproar at level 13 and Confusion when it evolves. Noctowl gets its main attack in Air Slash at level 32. Hoothoot also naturally gets Hypnosis and Reflect naturally early on for support and can be taught Roost and Shadow Ball from TMs. The only other relevant moves Noctowl gets is are Extrasensory at level 42 and Hyper Beam via TM.
Major Battles: Hoothoot is mediocre for both Falkner and Bugsy, (AC) as it fails to take on their ace Pokemon effectively; however, Noctowl 2HKOes Whitney's Miltank with Hyper Beam (though Noctowl is slower). Confusion makes Noctowl good for Morty and Chuck. Noctowl is good for Will with Choice Specs and Shadow Ball and the rest of the Pokemon League is handled by Choice Specs + Air Slash.
Additional Comments: Hoothoot's unimpressive start and slightly unwieldy movepool make it difficult to use until later in the game, making it a thoroughly average Pokemon in spite of its early availability. Insomnia is the preferred Ability. ability.

Machop (No Trade)

Availability: Early-game (Goldenrod Department Store (5F), in-game trade for Drowzee).
Typing: Fighting is incredibly helpful against Whitney and also sees some use against Jasmine, Pryce, and Karen. It is bad against Morty, Will, Koga, and Team Rocket, though.
Stats: Machoke has a decent Attack, but it is pretty slow and its special stats aren't great. Its HP and Defense are also somewhat average.
Movepool: Machop starts out with Low Kick and Karate Chop and learns Revenge and Vital Throw at levels 22 and 25. Payback, Dig, and Earthquake through TMs provide coverage, (AC) and Cross Chop at level 37 is its strongest STAB level-up (added hyphen) move.
Major Battles: Machop is great against Whitney and can get a few KOs against Morty and Pryce. It also takes out Jasmine's Magnemite. Its performance becomes pretty bad after this, though it can cover Karen's Umbreon reliably with Vital Throw and OHKO Karen's Houndoom with Cross Chop.
Additional Comments: Machoke is useful for a few key matchups, but its somewhat poor stats and movepool prevent it from sweeping most fights. The traded Machop, Muscle, comes with an IV spread of 15/25/20/15/15/20, Guts, and a Lonely nature. It is also female, which helps it greatly against Whitney, and holds Macho Brace, which can be used to help it gain EVs, (AC) since it will often be outsped anyways.

Mantine

Availability: Mid-game (Route 41, levels 15-25, 10%).
Typing: Water is all-around neutral, save for being resisted by against Clair and Lance. Flying gives it a resistance against for Chuck and Bruno, though it sees little use offensively.
Stats: Save for the incredibly high Special Defense, most of Mantine's stats aren't particularly high. Its low Attack stat prevents it from using its Flying-type STAB moves effectively and its HP can make it easy to wear down, although it can hit relatively hard when equipped with Choice Specs.
Movepool: Mantine relies on Surf most of the time to take down opponents, foes, with Rain Dance through TMs increasing its power and activating Swift Swim. The other moveslots can be dedicated to the other Water-type HMs or to Wing Attack, Bounce, Signal Beam, and Psybeam, though they these either come off its low Attack stat or are only available through the move relearner. Blizzard through TMs is also an option for coverage.
Major Battles: Mantine tends to perform well against opponents' teams it can hit neutrally with Choice Specs and Surf, such as Jasmine and most of the Team Rocket executives. It can claim a few KOes KOs against the Elite Four, but it won't sweep any of them. It can also KO some of Clair's and Lance's Pokemon if it gets lucky with Blizzard.
Additional Comments: Mantine as a whole is mostly a useful Pokemon (RC) but falls off at the end of the game due to unremarkable stats, (AC) and it struggles against most Water-resistant Pokemon due to lacking strong and reliable coverage moves. It is recommended to catch it at a high level (such as through Repel tricking), the Repel trick), as the Slow growth rate can make it a chore to catch up if caught underleveled.

Mankey

Availability: Mid-game (Route 42, levels 15-17, 10%).
Typing: Fighting makes Primeape favorable for Jasmine, Pryce, (AC) and Karen, but it is average elsewhere aside from Will, Koga, and Lance, who are negative matchups.
Stats: Primeape has good Attack and Speed, but slightly below average defenses.
Movepool: Mankey starts with Karate Chop and picks up Seismic Toss at level 17, with Cross Chop at level 41 as Primeape being powerful, yet inaccurate. Primeape gets Dig, Shadow Claw, Focus Punch, Payback and U-Turn U-turn via TMs if necessary.
Major Battles: Morty is a decent matchup for Mankey if you TM give it Payback by TM, as it beats everything but Gengar (Vital Spirit blocks Hypnosis). Despite the type advantage, Primeape is mediocre for Pryce, (AC) as it only 3HKOes his Pokemon (I imagine?) with Karate Chop unless it gets a Focus Punch off. Likewise, Primeape can only reliably beat Jasmine's Magnemite with Dig. In most other matchups, Primeape is mediocre due to having unreliable moves, (AC) aside from Karen's Umbreon and Houndoom.
Additional Comments: Mankey's main niche is its ability to OHKO a few otherwise problematic targets with a well-timed Focus Punch or Cross Chop. It has minor utility for the mid-game and end-game due to this, but it is otherwise hard to justify using.

Oddish (Vileplume)

Availability: Early-game (Ilex Forest, level 5 or 6, 60% (nighttime)).
Typing: Grass / Poison is all-around unhelpful, being a double-edged sword against Pryce and being resisted by against a lot of major opponents, though Poison removes its weakness to Team Rocket's Poison-type attacks.
Stats: Vileplume can hit pretty hard with base 100 Special Attack when combined with Choice Specs, but it's rather slow and its other stats are somewhat average.
Movepool: Oddish starts out with Absorb, which upgrades to Solar Beam through TMs, and learns Acid at level 9, which upgrades to Sludge Bomb through TMs. Sunny Day through TMs combines well with Solar Beam and Chlorophyll. Sleep Powder at level 17 can assist Oddish against more difficult opponents.
Major Battles: Vileplume is useful for Chuck and can get a few KOs against Pryce. It can typically live survive many of Team Rocket's hits and take them their Pokemon out with Choice Specs + Sludge Bomb, even if it's resisted. Its Elite Four performance is mostly bad, with Bruno being the only member matchup where it isn't outright bad.
Additional Comments: Vileplume's typing and somewhat poor movepool cause it problems against many of the Johto major opponents. Nevertheless, it is one of the best Grass-type Pokemon that are available in the main game due to its ability to get past some Pokemon that wall other Grass-types. Evolve it with Leaf Stone from Pokeathlon Dome immediately, as Gloom doesn't learn any useful moves by level.

Poliwag (Politoed)

Availability: Mid-game (Ecruteak City (Good Rod), level 20, 60%).
Typing: Water is all-around neutral, save for being resisted by against Clair and Lance.
Stats: Politoed's stats are all-around average or (I imagine?) above average, (removed hyphen) save for a decent good base 100 Special Defense.
Movepool: Level 20 Poliwag come with Rain Dance and can be taught Surf and Blizzard immediately. Focus Blast can also be taught through TMs for coverage. Perish Song can be retaught to bring down a difficult last Pokemon, most notably Clair's Kingdra.
Major Battles: Poliwhirl can get a few KOs against Morty and Pryce and sweeps Jasmine. It The line (I imagine?) can KO most of Team Rocket's Pokemon and then from then on stops contributing much due to its stats falling off, though it Politoed (I imagine?) can beat Karen's Houndoom.
Additional Comments: Politoed's mostly bad end-game endgame and the extensive backtrack for King's Rock hold it back greatly. Poliwag can be caught as early as Violet City via the Old Rod, but it doesn't do much before you can obtain the Good Rod, so it is generally better to catch the Good Rod one to skip the awkward period.

Poliwag (Poliwrath)

Availability: Mid-game (Ecruteak City (Good Rod), level 20, 60%).
Typing: Water / Fighting is all-around neutral, except for being particularly good against Jasmine and Pryce and bad against Will.
Stats: Poliwrath's stats are all average or above average, with the highest one being base 95 Defense.
Movepool: Level 20 Poliwag come with Rain Dance and can be taught Surf and Blizzard immediately. Poliwrath's only Fighting-type STAB move for most of the game is Focus Blast through TMs.
Major Battles: Poliwrath can get a few KOs against Morty and sweeps Jasmine and Pryce. It can KO most of Team Rocket's Pokemon and then from then on stops contributing much due to its stats falling off, though it can beat Karen's Houndoom and Umbreon if it can land Focus Blast twice.
Additional Comments: Poliwrath's mostly bad end-game endgame and the need to spend time spent getting the Water Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome on Wednesday hold it back greatly. Poliwag can be caught as early as Violet City via the Old Rod, but it doesn't do much before you can obtain the Good Rod, so it is generally better to catch the Good Rod one to skip the awkward period. Evolve Poliwhirl with Water Stone immediately.

Psyduck

Availability: Mid-game (Route 35, Surf, 90% for Psyduck at levels 10-25, 10% for Golduck at levels 15-31).
Typing: Pure Water leaves Psyduck resisted by against Clair and Lance, but neutral to in most other matchups.
Stats: Golduck has decent stats all around, with its highest being base 95 Special Attack.
Movepool: Concise, but effective. Surf, Focus Blast, and Blizzard via TMs are all Golduck needs, though it does get a few Psychic-type moves like Confusion and Zen Headbutt naturally. The Rain Dance TM is an option when combined with Mystic Water, if desired.
Major Battles: Golduck mainly sees success in major battles via Choice Specs + Surf, though Choice Specs-boosted Focus Blast can OHKO Pryce's Dewgong and Piloswine, (AC) while Choice Specs-boosted Blizzard can OHKO Clair's Dragonair and Lance's Dragonite (though the latter are faster and may potentially (calc gives equal-level dragonite 8% to ohko w thunder and 5% w outrage. golduck prob will be lower level, but this calc didnt include any evs for it, so i imagine "may potentially" still makes sense here?) OHKO Golduck).
Additional Comments: Golduck's main draw is that it can potentially be caught at a high level with little hassle. The Repel trick with a Pokemon level 26 or higher is useful for this. Damp is the preferred Ability ability because Cloud Nine interferes with Rain Dance strategies.

Sandshrew

Availability: Early-game (Union Cave, level 6, 30% (HG); Goldenrod Game Corner, 700 Coins (SS)).
Typing: Ground typing is neutral for most matchups save Morty, Pryce, Clair, and Lance, which are negative.
Stats: Sandslash has great physical stats and average HP, though its special stats and Speed are below average.
Movepool: Sandshrew starts with Defense Curl and picks up Rollout at level 21. The only other notable moves it gets are Dig and Earthquake via TM as for STAB, (AC) as well as Rock Tomb and Shadow Claw via TMs.
Major Battles: If playing HG, Bugsy's Scyther can be 2HKOed by Rock Tomb, but Scyther 3HKOes it with U-Turn U-turn and is faster even after a Speed drop. (I assume?) Whitney can be swept with Defense Curl + Rollout, and Sandslash is good for Jasmine with Dig. It can take on a few Elite Four Pokemon with a Ground-type STAB move, like Koga's Muk and Karen's Houndoom, but is generally average elsewhere.
Additional Comments: Sandshrew's main problems stem from having an unimpressive movepool and set of matchups despite decent stats.

Scyther (Trade)

Availability: Early-game (National Park (Bug-Catching Contest), level 13 or 14, 5%).
Typing: Bug / Steel provides Scizor with a plethora of useful resistances, including against Morty, Pryce, Team Rocket, Will, and Koga. However, it has little use offensively.
Stats: Scizor has a high Attack and great physical bulk, but it is rather slow at times.
Movepool: If evolved at level 21, Scizor can have both Wing Attack (from Scyther) and Metal Claw. X-Scissor at level 41 provides a Bug-type STAB move. Agility at level 17 can help mitigate the Speed issues and Iron Defense at level 37 can help with sweeping.
Major Battles: It performs well as a Scyther against Whitney. As a Scizor, it can sweep Pryce and is useful against Morty, Will, Koga, and Karen, though its low Speed will make it hard to sweep them.
Additional Comments: While Scizor is useful against many opponents, it is incredibly difficult to obtain one, as it Scyther is hard to catch, has a low encounter rate, and requires Technician in order for it and Scizor (I imagine? ignore if wrong tho) to perform well. Furthermore, you need to grind at the Pokeathlon for Metal Coat in order to evolve Scyther. Due to this, keeping Scyther unevolved is generally preferred, as, with few exceptions, Scyther generally either performs either very similarly to or outright outperforms Scizor in major battles.

Sentret

Availability: Early-game (Route 29, levels 2-4, 40% (morning and daytime)).
Typing: Pure Normal leaves Sentret and Furrett neutral to is neutral for most matchups aside from Chuck, Jasmine, and Bruno, which are unfavorable.
Stats: The line's best stat is its good Speed. Furret has average physical stats and HP, but dismal special stats.
Movepool: Sentret starts with Scratch and picks up Quick Attack at level 7. Strength and the Return TM around mid-game are its most reliable STAB moves later. Furret learns a variety of decent physical TMs, including Dig, Shadow Claw, and U-Turn, U-turn, among others. It gets a wide variety of HMs for utility (Cut, Surf, Strength, Waterfall, and Rock Smash), but most of its natural learnset and special options are irrelevant.
Major Battles: The line is average for the first three gyms, but it can be great for Morty with Shadow Claw and Jasmine with Dig. It also fares decently against Chuck (if the AI repeatedly goes for Focus Punch) and Pryce. In general, Furret's stats fall off in the late-game, at which point it can be converted entirely into an HM slave.
Additional Comments: Sentret and Furret are mostly underwhelming Pokemon that consolidate a few niche matchups and HMs into one teamslot. Keen Eye is the preferred Ability. ability.

Slowpoke (Slowbro)

Availability: Mid-game (Slowpoke Well (B2F), requires Surf and Strength, levels 15-30, 10% as Slowbro).
Typing: Water typing is all-around neutral, save for being resisted by Clair, Lance, and Pryce's of his team. against Clair and much of Lance's and Pryce's teams. The added Psychic typing helps out with Pryce, Will, Bruno, and Koga (RC) while hindering it Slowbro against Karen.
Stats: Slowbro is a special attacker with very good bulk, oriented more towards the physical side. taking physical hits. Its Speed is abysmal, however.
Movepool: Slowbro comes in fairly high leveled at this point for when it's caught if you opt to search for one. a Slowbro directly. It can be given Shadow Ball and Surf for immediate power upgrades. Slack Off comes in at level 41, (AC) which is the will come right before the Pokemon (I imagine?) League. Unfortunately, you will not have access to Psychic, (AC) as it is learned at level 54.
Major Battles: Slowbro deals with Chuck, Jasmine, Pryce, Will, Koga, and Bruno. Due to how slow it is, it might require additional healing.
Additional Comments: The easiest way to get a Slowbro is to use the Repel trick with a level 26-30 Pokemon in the lead. Slowpoke can be obtained earlier (just before Bugsy) but, due to its horrendous stats and late evolution level, you are better off waiting and getting Slowbro directly.

Slowpoke (Slowking)

Availability: Mid-game (Azalea Town, Slowpoke Well (B2F), requires Surf, levels 10-25, 90% as Slowpoke).
Typing: Water typing is all-around neutral, save for being resisted by Clair, Lance, and Pryce's 2/3 of his team. against Clair and much of Lance's and Pryce's teams. The added Psychic typing helps out with Pryce, Will, Bruno, and Koga (RC) while hindering it Slowking against Karen.
Stats: Slowking is a special attacker with very good bulk, oriented more towards the special side. taking special hits. Its Speed is abysmal, (AC) however.
Movepool: Slowking can come in fairly high leveled if you opt to search for one. a high-level Slowpoke. It can be given Shadow Ball and Surf for immediate power upgrades. Nasty Plot comes in at level 39, (AC) just in time for the Pokemon League. Unfortunately, you will not have access to Psychic, (AC) as it is learned at level 48.
Major Battles: Slowking deals with Chuck, Jasmine, Pryce, Will, Koga, and Bruno. Due to how slow it is, it might require additional healing.
Additional Comments: Slowking can put in a decent amount of work, (AC) but it's fairly middling due to the slow speed Speed holding it back. The easiest way to obtain a high-leveled Slowpoke is through Repel tricking. the Repel Trick. King's Rock to evolve Slowpoke can conveniently be obtained from a man on Slowpoke Well B2F.

Spearow

Availability: Early-game (gate between Route 35 and Goldenrod City, from Webster, level 20) (Kenya).
Typing: Normal / Flying is all-around neutral, save for giving Fearow a bad matchup against Jasmine and Pryce and giving it a type advantage against Chuck and Bruno. If caught as early as possible instead of traded for, the typing can also help out against Bugsy.
Stats: Fearow has decent Attack and Speed, but its other stats are below average. (removed hyphen)
Movepool: Kenya starts out with Aerial Ace, Pursuit, Fury Attack, and Leer. Return replaces Fury Attack once it becomes powerful enough and Fly can provide an alternative Flying-type STAB move.
Major Battles: Kenya can help against Whitney's Miltank with Leer and weakening it, though it may struggle to beat it. It sweeps Morty easily and is great against Chuck due to Aerial Ace ignoring Primeape's Double Team. After this point, Kenya struggles to do much against most major opponents, either because of a type disadvantage or because its stats simply do not cut it, though it sees some use against Koga and Bruno.
Additional Comments: Due to Kenya's stats, poor movepool, and somewhat unhelpful typing, it struggles to shine outside of a few good matchups. Kenya comes with an IV spread of 15/20/15/20/20/20, a Hasty nature, and with the trade experience boost. Spearow can also be caught as early as Route 46, but it isn't very good for the first two Gym Leaders, (AC) and the only thing it catching it early provides is a stronger Return upon getting the TM.

Stantler

Availability: Mid-game (Route 36, level 13, 5%).
Typing: Pure Normal leaves Stantler is average against everything bar Chuck and Bruno.
Stats: Stantler has decent offensive stats and Speed, but below-average other stats.
Movepool: Stantler starts with Astonish, Hypnosis, (AC) and Stomp and picks up Take Down at level 21, though Return via TM is its best STAB move. The only other notable move it gets is Zen Headbutt at level 38. The only decent physical coverage it gets is the Earthquake TM. Natural Calm Mind is practically useless for it outside of the Shadow Ball and Charge Beam TMs.
Major Battles: Stantler is mediocre for Morty because Astonish is weak. Stantler is decent with Return for most major battles, but it will generally only take out one or two Pokemon before being KOed.
Additional Comments: Stantler has interesting attributes but fails to utilize them effectively due to roughly average stats and a limited movepool. Try to catch Stantler in a Friend Ball to have a stronger Return immediately. Intimidate is the preferred Ability. ability.

Voltorb

Availability: Mid-game (Olivine City, in-game trade for Krabby).
Typing: Pure Electric typing means Voltorb is average in most major battles against most major opponents aside from Jasmine, who it has a bad matchup against.
Stats: Electrode has a blistering 140 Speed but its other stats, save for low Attack, are average.
Movepool: Voltorb picks up Charge Beam at level 26, which is its only relevant level-up move aside from Light Screen at level 22 and Screech at level 19 for fast buffs / debuffs. buffing and debuffing. Other than that, Voltorb can use the Rain Dance and Thunder TMs.
Major Battles: Electrode needs the power of Choice Specs + Thunder against most Gym Leaders save for Pryce, but it tends to be unreliable as a result, which is not helped by its lacking bulk. At the Pokemon League, it mostly shifts to using Rain Dance + Thunder.
Additional Comments: Voltorb and Electrode's severe lack of power and unreliable moves make it the line risky to use. You can catch a Krabby just outside Olivine City on Route 40 via the Good Rod at level 20. Alternatively, you can catch level 23 Electrode in Team Rocket HQ, but these do not get the boosted experience the traded one does and are thus inferior.

Wooper

Availability: Early-game (Route 32, level 6, 35% (nighttime)).
Typing: Water / Ground gives Wooper and Quagsire neutral matchups everywhere against everyone aside from Jasmine, whom the line excels against.
Stats: Wooper and Quagsire have good physical stats and great HP, however their Special but their special stats are below average and their Speed is terrible.
Movepool: Wooper gets Water Gun, Mud Shot, and Mud Bomb before evolution, but it is unable to use them effectively due to base 25 Special Attack. These moves are ultimately supplanted by the Dig TM and the Surf HM as Quagsire, but it only becomes moderately strong when it picks up Earthquake at level 36 and Waterfall via HM around the same time.
Major Battles: Wooper is unable to fight Falkner's Pidgeotto or Bugsy's Scyther due to lacking stats, though Quagsire can hold its own against Whitney's Miltank, particularly if Quagsire it is female. Quagsire isn't particularly effective against the other Gyms aside from Jasmine's, and its Elite Four performance is abysmal due to having few targets to hit super effectively with STAB moves, the most notable being Karen's Houndoom.
Additional Comments: Wooper's early availability is offset by its unwieldy stats and movepool until it becomes Quagsire, which also fails to be impressive in several major battles. Unless you really need something that can take on Whitney's Miltank, consider catching a level 10-25 Quagsire at the Ruins of Alph or Union Cave via Surf, (AC) to skip which skips the underwhelming Wooper period. Water Absorb is the preferred Ability. ability.

Zubat

Availability: Early-game (Dark Cave (Route 31 side), levels 2-4, 39%).
Typing: Poison / Flying is excellent against Bugsy, Chuck, and Bruno (RC) while also providing a useful resistance to for Koga and Team Rocket, but it is bad against Jasmine, Pryce, and Will.
Stats: Crobat is an incredibly fast Pokemon with mostly average stats elsewhere.
Movepool: Zubat is stuck with Leech Life and Astonish until Bite and Wing Attack at levels 13 and 17. Fly provides a stronger Flying-type STAB move, while Sludge Bomb through TMs and Cross Poison through the relearner provide Poison-type STAB options, though Crobat will rarely need Poison-type moves. Return through TMs also provides some neutral coverage.
Major Battles: Zubat helps out against Bugsy's Scyther if it knows Wing Attack and performs well against Morty and Chuck. It The line has little difficulty against Team Rocket as a whole and can KO most of Koga's and Bruno's teams, but Crobat tends to be bad elsewhere.
Additional Comments: Crobat is useful in a few matchups, but its rough start it starting rough and being hardwalled hard wall by multiple major opponents prevent it from being a great Pokemon. Zubat can also be caught slightly later with a Friend Ball to circumvent the happiness evolution difficulties and make Return powerful from the get-go, but this skips the Bugsy matchup and Zubat typically doesn't need to fully evolve until after Whitney. Furthermore, Zubat will be underleveled this way, so it will have to catch up in terms of levels. level.

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

B is complete, you can either implement it now or implement it after I finish C

hi, is there progress on this? It's not urgent, just posting to make sure everything's ok

 

[Adeleine]

hi, is there progress on this? It's not urgent, just posting to make sure everything's ok

my b, i'll get to it soon

(if it wasn't clear, feel free to pursue second checks on parts that have been checked once)

 

[Adeleine]

at last

1/2
GP Team

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

.

Thank you very much for your hard work, this has been implemented. I will seek more checks for this in some time if no one else decides to give this a check

===

In addition to the check, I also made a quick mention on Steelix that the Cliff Cave one can be found more easily with Repel trick (not related to the check above whatsoever, just mentioning it for transparency sake)

 

[UT]

add remove conjecture

GP Check for Intro through A

Credits: Turdterra (tier list leader), ceal, DrumstickGaming, Ryota Mitarai (major contributors) and other people that helped with the list
(Approved for posting by DHR; this was approved a while ago, but delays caused this to get posted later)

Introduction
Welcome to the Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver in-game tier list! The goal of this list is to rank every Pokemon in Johto in one of the into six tiers, from S to E, each vaguely determining according to its viability. The major factor under which each is ranked is efficiency; a Pokemon that is efficient provides faster and easier solutions to major battles, which include rival fights, Gym Leaders, Team Rocket Executives, Elite Four members, and Champion Lance. Pokemon in higher ranks, such as S and A, are considered very efficient, while those in lower tiers, such as D and E, are considered not very efficient.

Although the game features an entire journey in the Kanto region after completing the main game, the Pokemon are ranked solely off their performance in the Johto region. This is due to three reasons:

1. The first seven Gym Leaders in Kanto can be fought in absolutely any order, which means that some Pokemon's performance may vary greatly, depending on which Gym Leaders are fought first or last.
   
   
2. Due to high level differences in some of the fights (particularly Blue and Red), it is almost impossible to complete the entire game efficiently in the traditional sense of the word.
   
   
3. Almost all Pokemon that become available after completing Johto would rank very low due to coming very late and/or being underleveled.

Please note that this list is aimed at the Western versions of the games (which do not have buyable Game Corner coins, unlike the Japanese versions).

What are the tiers?
There are 6 tiers in this list:

• S-tier
• A-tier
• B-tier
• C-tier
• D-tier
• E-tier

Why is a Pokemon in a certain tier?
Pokemon are ranked under the following five factors:

• Availability: This is how early a Pokemon becomes available in the game and how hard it is to find (read: encounter rate). Does it require Pokemon will also be scored lower if they require significant backtracking, require HM moves, or just have a low encounter rate?.
  • Most Pokemon that are obtained in the Safari Zone will be severely penalized in this ranking. This is because, upon the player's first visit to the Safari Zone, the player receives one out of ten default layouts at random and cannot change the areas within it until they complete Baoba's first test and wait three in-game hours to pass. This means that obtaining Safari Zone Pokemon is not only inconsistent, but also highly inefficient if the player does not get a default layout with the needed area.
• Typing: A Pokemon's typing can be of great importance for an efficient playthrough. How does the Pokemon's typing fare throughout the entire game? If a Pokemon has a better typing, it is often ranked higher.
• Stats: A Pokemon's stat distribution is crucial for its success. Does the Pokemon have a stat distribution that complements its movepool and typing? If a Pokemon has a stat distribution that favors both its typing and movepool, it will often be higher on the tier list. In general, a Pokemon with low Speed will often be ranked lower.
• Movepool: A Pokemon's movepool (both level-up and TM/HM) is crucial. What moves does the Pokemon naturally learn, and which ones can it be taught? If a Pokemon requires a TM found in a detour off the main path (like TM18 Rain Dance on the lower floor of Slowpoke Well) or from the Goldenrod Department raffle, it will be knocked down a bit.
• Major Battles: Major battles consist of rival fights, Gym Leaders, Team Rocket Executives, the Elite Four, and Champion Lance. How does the Pokemon contribute to these battles? A Pokemon that contributes to many major battles will often be ranked higher than those that do not.

What tools is the player allowed to use?
The player is allowed to use almost any legitimate means within the cartridge for completing the game efficiently. The player is only allowed to trade to evolve Pokemon and not to receive outside help otherwise. The player is allowed to use items such as Potions, TMs, Battle Items, and Berries. Keep in mind that items have opportunity costs associated with them and can negatively contribute to a Pokémon's rank if it requires a multitude of items, such as two or more.

The Game Corner TMs are not considered for the purposes of this list due to being very inefficient to obtain; the most viable ones, in particular, cost a lot of coins and thus require a lot of effort to obtain. However, the player is allowed to buy Pokemon and items from the Game Corner. Note that coins can be bought in the Japanese versions of the games, making the TMs considerably easier to obtain there.

The Pokewalker is also not considered for the purposes of this list, as its usefulness is impacted too much by the player's real-life circumstances and therefore cannot be tiered consistently.

Under what conditions were Pokemon tested?
Every Pokemon was tested and ranked under these additional conditions:

• Every Pokemon's level was generally the same as most major opponents' ace Pokemon, at most outleveling them by two levels. Some opponents, like Jasmine and Clair, have ace Pokemon that are at very high levels by the time the player faces them and therefore weren't level-matched. Typical levels for the Elite Four ranged from 42 to 44, depending on how many Rare Candies were used.
• The list assumes a run with four Pokemon. However, smaller teams tend to perform better, as the Pokemon gain more experience and there is less competition for valuable TMs.
• Tampering with the clock to obtain items or Pokémon that are only available in specific times of the day or days of the week was completely allowed and did not negatively affect any Pokémon's viability.
• After defeating Morty, the player can complete Gyms 5-7 (and any related quests) in any order. Each Pokemon was tested with the order that is the most optimal for it. In most cases, this would be completing the Team Rocket HQ quest first, as this provides extra experience, alongside the Sludge Bomb TM, Choice Specs, and the shiny Gyarados significantly earlier.
• Viability was determined up until Lance; anything that is exclusive to post-game (such as the Psychic TM) was not taken into account for the Pokémon's viability.

All Pokemon are ordered alphabetically within a tier. The availability listed in each Pokemon's entry is considered its most optimal one.


S-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon that possess the highest levels of efficiency. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO an overwhelming majority of foes, limit the amount of attacks used against them, and function with minimal reliance on items to defeat opponents at similar levels. These Pokémon typically show up before the late-game, and any flaws they have are absolutely made up by their advantages.

S Tier

Abra (Trade)

Availability: Early-game (buy at Goldenrod Game Corner for 200 coins, level 15).
Typing: Psychic is only outright bad against Karen's Dark-types and Jasmine and is mostly neutral elsewhere, with Morty, Chuck, Koga, and Bruno being particularly good matchups. Alakazam is also excellent for most of Team Rocket.
Stats: Alakazam is a fast and powerful special attacker whose only flaw is its physical frailty. Even then, it will often outspeed and OHKO potential threats, so even that is not a huge issue.
Movepool: Alakazam starts out with Confusion, which upgrades to Psybeam at level 24 and later Psychic at level 40. Calm Mind at level 36 increases Alakazam's sweeping potential for the endgame. Coverage comes through TMs, with Focus Blast covering Dark- and Steel-types, Shadow Ball covering Will, and Charge Beam providing useful Special Attack boosts early on.
Major Battles: Alakazam can overwhelm most opponents and foes just by using its Psychic STAB moves, with Whitney's Miltank, Karen's Houndoom, and Jasmine falling to Focus Blast. It can set up on Clair's Dragonair, heal off paralysis when it's done, and sweep from there. Will is handled by Choice Specs Shadow Ball and Pryce can be swept with the help of Charge Beam boosts, leaving Lance as Alakazam's only truly bad matchup.
Additional Comments: Alakazam is one of the best Pokemon to use in HGSS due to its early arrival, ease of training due to a Medium Slow growth rate, and ability to crush most opponents effortlessly. Synchronize is the preferred ability in order to also paralyze Clair's Dragonair when they paralyze it.

Gyarados

Availability: Mid-game (Lake of Rage, requires Surf, level 30).
Typing: Water / Flying gives Gyarados all-around neutral matchups, save for Lance and Clair who resist its Water-type attacks.
Stats: Gyarados has great stats, save for a mediocre Special Attack, though Choice Specs can help fix it up.
Movepool: Gyarados starts off with Ice Fang and can be taught Thunder and Surf via TMs, the latter of which should be deleted through the move deleter and replaced with Waterfall. Dragon Dance at level 44 helps it sweep endgame opponents. Alternatively, Gyarados can be used as an HM slave, as it learns all three Water HMs and Strength.
Major Battles: Gyarados performs reasonably well against Gyms 5-7 and tends to have a favorable matchup against the Team Rocket Executives. At the Pokemon League, Gyarados can set up as many Dragon Dances as needed and sweep every single opponent there, including Lance, though it may occasionally need one healing item if setting up over an extended period of time.
Additional Comments: While Gyarados doesn't come very early, it is nevertheless one of the best Pokemon to use, as it has a reasonable Gym performance and is the only Pokemon that can sweep the entre Elite Four and Lance. Magikarp can also be encountered at level 50 on Route 43 by repel tricking with a level 26 or higher Pokemon, although it will require a Rare Candy to evolve quickly, a Heart Scale to relearn Dragon Dance, and potentially Proteins. Magikarp can be caught as early as Route 32 via Old Rod, although the effort to evolve it makes it a worse option, though it performs well against Whitney and Morty after evolving.

A-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency, in terms of completing the game, is considered to be very high. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a lot of foes and are not very reliant on items to succeed, but they either have some visible flaws that hurt their efficiency or have their usefulness counterbalanced by a late arrival.

A Tier

Cyndaquil

Availability: Early-game (New Bark Town, level 5).
Typing: A Fire typing is neutral barring its super effective nature towards Bugsy and Jasmine and being resisted by Clair and Lance.
Stats: Cyndaquil is a special attacker with great Speed. Its defensive stats are not the greatest, however.
Movepool: Cyndaquil has a fairly lackluster movepool and will carry Flame Wheel all the way until level 35, when it learns Lava Plume. This will later on be upgraded to Flamethrower. It's better to get Fire Blast in Goldenrod for the immediate upgrade until this point.
Major Battles: Cyndaquil handles Bugsy, Whitney (Fire Blast required), Jasmine, Pryce's Piloswine, Koga, (AC) left in a GP note and anything it hits neutrally. Early on, it depends on Fire Blast not missing. It struggles against Chuck's Poliwrath, Clair, and Lance.
Additional Comments: Cyndaquil is one of only 5 available Fire-types and the best one in the games. Choice Specs allows its Fire Blast to destroy a majority of the game.

Gastly (Trade)

Availability: Early-game (Sprout Tower (1F-3F), levels 3-6, 85% (nighttime)).
Typing: Ghost / Poison is very useful for Will and Team Rocket and is mostly neutral elsewhere, though it's a double-edged sword against Morty and is bad for Karen's Dark-types and Jasmine.
Stats: Gengar is fast and has a great Special Attack, though it's not very bulky. Its Special Attack can be further augmented by Choice Specs.
Movepool: Gastly relies on Lick as its main attacking move until Night Shade at level 15. Curse at level 12 and Hypnosis allow it to be useful against difficult ace Pokemon early on. Once it evolves into Gengar, it can be taught Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Thunder, and Focus Blast through TMs, with Shadow Punch at level 25 and Shadow Claw through TMs being its best moves against Morty.
Major Battles: Gengar can typically contribute to all fights by using its most powerful move while holding Choice Specs. It is very good for the Elite Four, being able to crush Will and claim a few KOs from the other members. It can also KO most of Morty's Pokemon, though it is unlikely to sweep. Before evolution, however, Gastly cannot sweep major opponents reliably, though it can contribute against them with Hypnosis and Curse.
Additional Comments: Gengar is a great Pokemon whose biggest flaws are the annoying Gastly period and slight reliance on inaccurate moves, although the Gastly period isn't too long thanks to its Medium Slow growth rate, and Gastly can still be useful in the earlier fights.

Geodude

Availability: Early-game (Route 46, level 2 or 3, 40% (morning / daytime) or 45% (nighttime)).
Typing: Rock / Ground gives Geodude good matchups against Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney, Jasmine, Koga, and Lance, although it makes it pretty weak to Pryce.
Stats: Geodude has excellent Attack and Defense along with decent HP, although its Speed is abysmal.
Movepool: Rock Throw at level 11 and Magnitude at level 15 are Geodude's STAB moves early on, with Rock Polish being an essential move at level 8 to help Golem sweep. Defense Curl can form a good combo with Rollout at level 22 to help Geodude overpower multiple foes. Earthquake at level 33 is the line's best Ground STAB move, though Golem can utilize Dig via TM until then.
Major Battles: Geodude handles Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney, and, for the most part, Team Rocket. Morty can be potentially swept, depending on if Gastly uses Curse, with Chuck, Pryce, and Clair being bad matchups. The Geodude line is good for most of the Elite Four, save for Will, being able to crush Lance by setting up Rock Polish and using Defense Curl + Rollout on Aerodactyl.
Additional Comments: While a tad unreliable with a few inaccurate moves, Geodude is one of the best options for a playthrough of HGSS. There's generally very little difference between Graveler and Golem, so you don't lose too much if you are unable to trade to evolve Geodude. Consider getting the Wide Lens from the Game Corner for 1,000 Coins to make Rollout 99% accurate.

Lugia

Availability: Endgame (Whirl Islands, level 45) (SS).
Typing: Psychic / Flying gives Lugia neutral matchups for Will and Lance and favorable ones for Koga and Bruno, though Karen can be problematic.
Stats: Lugia has fantastic defensive stats and Speed with above-average offenses.
Movepool: Lugia starts out with Extrasensory and Aeroblast and can be taught Hail or Blizzard through TMs, with Weather Ball through relearner being an alternative to Blizzard.
Major Battles: Choice Specs Aeroblast and Extrasenory decimate the Elite Four, 2HKOing and even OHKOing a lot of threats. Lance will need some setup with Hail and Blizzard / Weather Ball, though Lugia will get worn down in the process.
Additional Comments: Despite coming late, Lugia ravages the Elite Four efficiently, though you might need some Ethers to replenish Aeroblast PP.

Heracross

Availability: Early-game (Azalea Town (Headbutt), levels 2-5, 30%).
Typing: Bug / Fighting is handy against Whitney, Jasmine, Pryce, and Karen's Dark-types but is outright bad against several opponents like Team Rocket, Will, and Koga.
Stats: Heracross packs a great Attack, coupled with mostly average other stats.
Movepool: Heracross relies on Headbutt through tutors and Aerial Ace until it learns Brick Break at level 19, which becomes its main STAB move. Close Combat at level 37 provides an even stronger STAB move, (comma) and Shadow Claw and Earthquake through TMs provide coverage. Counter at level 25 can be used in niche cases against strong physical attackers (like Bruno's Machamp).
Major Battles: Heracross handles Whitney effortlessly with Brick Break and performs well against Morty with Shadow Claw. It can easily KO Karen's Umbreon and generally hits any opponent hard it can hit neutrally.
Additional Comments: Heracross is a strong Pokemon that is handy against some of the most difficult opponents. However, its Slow growth rate and low join level, coupled with a few bad matchups, prevent it from being perfect. In Azalea Town, there are two types of trees, of which only one has Heracross; Heracross can be found on ones where Spearow and Aipom come at levels 3-5.

Machop (Trade)

Availability: Early-game (Goldenrod Department Store (5F), in-game trade for Drowzee).
Typing: Fighting is incredibly helpful against Whitney and also sees some use against Jasmine, Pryce, and Karen. It is bad against Morty, Will, Koga, and Team Rocket, though.
Stats: Machamp has an excellent Attack, but it is rather slow, and its other stats are somewhat average.
Movepool: Machop starts out with Low Kick and Karate Chop and learns Revenge and Vital Throw at levels 22 and 25. Payback, Dig, and Earthquake through TMs provide coverage and Cross Chop at level 37 is its strongest STAB level up move.
Major Battles: Machop is great against Whitney and can get a few KOs against Morty. It also performs well against Chuck with Vital Throw, takes out Jasmine's Magnemite, and sweeps Pryce. It can beat Clair's Dragonair thanks to Thunder Wave triggering Guts and get a few KOs against Bruno while also being reliable against Karen's Umbreon with Vital Throw and OHKOing Houndoom with Cross Chop.
Additional Comments: Machamp is all-around a great Pokemon that can take on many key opponents and is easy to train due to traded experience. However, Fighting is resisted often, and as a result is mediocre in a few matchups. The traded Machop, Muscle, comes with an IV spread of 15/25/20/15/15/20, Guts, and a Lonely nature. It is also female, which helps it greatly against Whitney, and holds Macho Brace, which can help it gain EVs since it will often be outsped anyways.

Onix (Trade)

Availability: Early-game, Violet City (in-game trade for Bellsprout).
Typing: Onix begins with the Rock / Ground added space around the slash typing, which gives it good STAB options and resistances for the early Gyms. As Steelix, it replaces its Rock typing in favor of Steel, providing it with a fantastic defensive typing capable of resisting the majority of types in the game.
Stats: Steelix sports a titanic base 200 Defense, assuring that even super effective physical attacks will do minimal damage. Its 85 Attack is average overall, (comma) but its high-power STAB moves and ability to boost its Attack allow it to overcome this issue. Steelix's other stats are similarly average, with a particularly bad base Speed stat of 30.
Movepool: Onix starts out with a solid STAB move in Rock Throw, which gives it good coverage in early battles. It also comes with Screech, which, for a while, will be its best alternative to boosting Attack. Curse at level 38 is its most important level-up move, allowing Steelix to sweep many late-game opponents. Steelix gains access to the elemental fangs, most notably Ice Fang for coverage against Lance. Notable TMs include Dig, Iron Tail, Payback, and Earthquake.
Major Battles: Onix's typing gives it positive matchups against the first three Gym leaders, although being over level 10 against Falkner can result in disobedience hampering its performance. Once you upgrade to Steelix, you have it has the typing and stats to get through most major battles, including all of Team Rocket, even contributing to ones such as Chuck and Bruno where Steelix has the type disadvantage. Its only truly bad matchups are Clair, Karen, and Lance.
Additional Comments: The traded Onix, Rocky, comes with an IV spread of 25/20/25/15/15/15 and a Hasty nature. You can obtain Steelix as early as before Burned Tower, but it requires either grinding in Pokeathalon or using Thief on wild Magnemites for their Metal Coats; the former is preferred, as it is comparatively less time-consuming. Steelix's amazing typing and good coverage makes it a fantastic Pokemon, but the hassle it takes to evolve it prevents it from ranking among the very best in the game. If you are unable to trade, Steelix can also be caught at Cliff Cave, but it won't be as useful due to missing some of its best matchups and having a 2% encounter rate, though it can be found more easily using the Repel trick with a level 23 Pokemon.

Totodile

Availability: Early-game (New Bark Town, level 5).
Typing: The Water typing is all-around neutral, save for being resisted by Clair, Lance, and 2/3 of Pryce's team.
Stats: Totodile is a tank, meaning it has with good Attack and Defense and decent HP and Special Defense. Overall, it's jack of all trades outside of Attack and Defense.
Movepool: Totodile has a versatile movepool via level up and TMs, consisting of Water Gun at level 6, Bite at level 13, Ice Fang at level 21, Crunch at level 32, and Waterfall, Strength, Rock Tomb, and Earthquake via TM/HM. This enables Totodile to hit everything it needs to neutrally or super effectively.
Major Battles: Totodile can handle Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney with Rage, and Morty before starting to have issues in the mid to early late-game. Chuck's Poliwrath, Pryce, Clair, and Lance all give it issues.
Additional Comments: Totodile is one of the best Waters in the game, only really struggling in the mid-game and the beginning of the late-game, a common trait shared with other Water-types.

GP 2/2 for Intro through A; I can come back for more later if no one else beats me to it.

 

[UT]

add remove conjecture

Oh no the B rank was much larger

B-Tier
Reserved for Pokémon with high efficiency in terms of completing the game that is considered to be high. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a fair number of foes but may require a bit of item reliance to sweep opponents' teams. These Pokémon are very useful, but they either have several flaws holding them back or are encountered fairly late.

B Tier

Abra (No Trade)

Availability: Early-game (buy at Goldenrod Game Corner for 200 coins, level 15).
Typing: Psychic is only outright bad against Karen's Dark-types and Jasmine and is mostly neutral elsewhere, with Morty, Chuck, Koga, and Bruno being particularly good matchups.
Stats: Kadabra is a typical glass cannon, being a fast and powerful special attacker with very little bulk.
Movepool: Confusion upgrades to Psybeam at level 24 and then Psychic at level 40. Charge Beam and Shadow Ball through TMs provide coverage. Reflect can patch up its poor physical bulk.
Major Battles: Kadabra typically needs to OHKO the foe to perform well, as it is easily OHKOed otherwise. It can crush most of Team Rocket, Morty, Chuck, Koga (bar Forretress), and Bruno. It can also contribute against Will with Shadow Ball and Pryce with Charge Beam, though neither is a sweep and the latter requires lucky boosts for Kadabra to perform well.
Additional Comments: While Kadabra can crush many major opponents, its lack of bulk practically mandates it to be used only when it has a type advantage, as it risks being KOed itself if it fails to KO the foe.

Aipom

Availability: Early-game (Azalea Town (Headbutt), levels 3-5 or 6-8, 20%).
Typing: Pure Normal gives Aipom neutral matchups everywhere save for Chuck and Bruno.
Stats: Aipom has good Speed and decent Attack for how early you get it. Ambipom has excellent base 115 Speed and 100 Attack, but its defenses are still below average.
Movepool: Most of Aipom's level-up movepool is irrelevant, (comma) barring Tickle at level 15 for a fast debuff, though Double Hit at level 32 is required to evolve. Generally, the Return TM is all Aipom will be using once its happiness is high, though the Shadow Claw and Dig TMs can help with coverage, and Last Resort at level 43 can be handy with proper use of the Move Deleter. "move deleter" is lower case on Gyara, not sure which is more appropriate but pick one format
Major Battles: Aipom is great for Morty with Shadow Claw, while Chuck is surprisingly good for Ambipom as long as you disrupt Focus Punch. Jasmine's Steelix is handled by Tickle + Dig (the Magnemite are OHKOed without Tickle). Ambipom will generally KO quite a few Pokemon in the endgame, particularly with Last Resort.
Additional Comments: Aipom is a solid Pokemon if you can catch it in a Friend Ball for a powerful early Return, though its catch rate of 45 can prove troublesome. However, Aipom has a Fast growth rate, making it easy to train.

Chinchou

Availability: Mid-game (New Bark Town (Good Rod), level 20, 7%).
Typing: Water / Electric is a unique combination that grants Chinchou super effective STAB damage on several common types as well as two strong STAB options. Defensively, it grants the line key resistances to Water, Fire, Ice, and Flying.
Stats: Lanturn's most notable stat is its colossal base 125 HP, which gives it a lot of tanking potential, even with its mediocre defensive stats. Its Special Attack is average at 76, but its strong STAB moves and compatibility with Choice Specs make it stronger than it appears. 67 Speed does leave it somewhat lagging behind, however.
Movepool: Chinchou doesn't start with very good level-up moves, but it does gain Signal Beam later on at level 35 for effective coverage versus Grass- and Psychic-types. The real beauty is in its TM and HM coverage; Chinchou will already have access to Surf and Thunder when caught, and, with a detour, it can obtain Rain Dance as well, making both moves even more formidable. Charge Beam is worth a mention, as it is Chinchou's only alternative to Thunder until Discharge at level 40. Blizzard can also be taught late-game to target Clair's and Lance's Dragon-types.
Major Battles: Chinchou can contribute to Morty, but it really gets going upon evolving into Lanturn. From then on it simply fails to have a bad matchup, performing admirably against the Gym Leaders, Team Rocket, and most of the Elite Four save for Bruno, who is only a decent encounter. Lance overwhelms it, but it can take a Dragonite or two with it thanks to Blizzard.
Additional Comments: Chinchou provides a strong contender for a Water-type team member, but it requires a significant amount of detouring to get it as early as possible, as well as to acquire the items it wants to best succeed (the Rain Dance TM and Mystic Water). The TM cost is also considerable, and overall this requirement for investment, alongside the incredibly low encounter rate, bars it from ranking any higher.

Eevee (Vaporeon)

Availability: Mid-game (Goldenrod City after talking to Bill in the Ecruteak City Pokemon Center, level 5).
Typing: Water typing is all-around neutral, save for being resisted against Clair, Lance, and 2/3 of Pryce's team.
Stats: Vaporeon is a special attacker with incredibly high HP and good Special Defense. Its other stats are mediocre.
Movepool: Vaporeon comes in at the right time and has immediate access to Surf and Shadow Ball. Aurora Beam comes in at level 36 and allows it to have an easier time against Clair and Lance.
Major Battles: Vaporeon deals with Chuck's Primeape, Jasmine, Pryce's Piloswine, a good chunk of Clair, Will, some of Koga, Bruno, Karen, and some of Lance, using the Choice Specs against all of them, alongside anything it hits neutrally. It struggles to sweep but can put in the work.
Additional Comments: Vaporeon is all-around a solid Water-type Pokemon that is useful in many places, but it struggles to sweep and requires you to spend some time getting the Water Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome.

Gastly (No Trade)

Availability: Early-game (Sprout Tower (1F-3F), levels 3-6, 85% (nighttime)).
Typing: Ghost / Poison is very useful for Will and Team Rocket and is mostly neutral elsewhere, though it's a double-edged sword against Morty and is bad for Karen's Dark-types and Jasmine.
Stats: Haunter is fast and has a good Special Attack, though it's not very bulky. Its Special Attack can be further augmented by Choice Specs.
Movepool: Gastly relies on Lick as its main attacking move until Night Shade at level 15. Curse at level 12 and Hypnosis allow it to be useful against difficult ace Pokemon. Once it evolves into Haunter, it can be taught Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb through TMs, with Shadow Punch at level 25 and Shadow Claw through TMs being its best moves against Morty.
Major Battles: Haunter can typically contribute to all fights by using its most powerful move while holding Choice Specs. It is good for the Elite Four, being able to crush Will and claim a few KOs from the other members. It can also KO most of Morty's Pokemon, though it is unlikely to sweep. It can contribute to the first fights with Curse and Hypnosis, which can later be useful against opponents like Clair's Kingdra and Karen's Umbreon.
Additional Comments: Haunter is a good Pokemon and its biggest flaw is the annoying Gastly period, although it isn't too long thanks to the Medium Slow growth rate, and Gastly can still be useful in the earlier fights. Haunter also lacks coverage, so it will miss out on a few important KOs due to that, though this lacking coverage also allows it to run Curse and Hypnosis for the entire game, which can be useful against more difficult opponents.

Girafarig

Availability: Mid-game (Route 43, level 15, 30%)
Typing: Normal / Psychic is excellent against Morty and provides it with a type advantage agaisnt against Team Rocket, Chuck, Koga, and Bruno, and it gives mostly neutral matchups elsewhere.
Stats: Girafarig's stats tend to be average, with its highest stat being 90 Special Attack, though its base 65 defenses can cause some longevity issues.
Movepool: Confusion upgrades to Psybeam at level 19 and then to Psychic at level 37. Girafarig can be taught Strength immediately or make good use of Return if caught in a Friend Ball. Shadow Ball, Charge Beam, and Earthquake through TMs provide coverage.
Major Battles: Girafarig performs excellently against all foes it can hit super effectively with Psychic-type STAB moves. However, even with STAB moves and coverage, it misses on a few vital KOs at the Pokemon League, which can prove fatal for Girafarig.
Additional Comments: Girafarig is a decent Pokemon, as its typing is very favorable for Johto, but its average stats prevent it from making an impact in neutral matchups. Note that Mahogany Town can be reached through Mt. Mortar before getting Surf, which allows you to use Girafarig against Morty.

Ho-Oh

Availability: Endgame (Bell Tower (roof), level 45) (HG).
Typing: Fire / Flying is decent for Koga and Bruno and neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Ho-Oh has excellent stats as a whole, being a strong physical attacker and a special wall. Its stats are further enhanced by a high join level.
Movepool: Ho-Oh starts out with Sacred Fire and Sunny Day and can be retaught Brave Bird. The fourth moveslot can go to either Extrasensory, Fire Blast, or Shadow Ball, though Ho-Oh will be using those only to preserve Sacred Fire PP.
Major Battles: Ho-Oh crushes Will and Koga with Sunny Day and Sacred Fire while also claiming a few KOs against Karen. Brave Bird OHKOes everything on Bruno's team bar Onix (though Hitmonlee can outspeed and finish Ho-Oh off if it took too much recoil). Lance is a terrible matchup for Ho-Oh.
Additional Comments: Ho-Oh is excellent for most of the remaining fights, but its super late arrival and bad Lance matchup prevent it from ranking higher. It is best that you catch Ho-Oh with Master Ball due to it having a very low catch rate.

Lapras

Availability: Mid-game (Union Cave (B2F), Fridays, requires Surf, level 20).
Typing: Water / Ice means Lapras is average for most matchups aside from Chuck and Bruno (which are bad for Lapras). Notably, Lapras is one of the few Pokemon with a type advantage against Clair's Dragonair as well as Lance.
Stats: Lapras has an enormous base 130 HP and average other stats aside from base 60 Speed.
Movepool: Lapras starts with Ice Shard, Confuse Ray, and Body Slam and should be taught Surf immediately. Lapras picks up Rain Dance at level 22 and Perish Song at level 27, which has a use if a boss is down to one Pokemon left. At level 32, Lapras gets its most reliable Ice-type STAB move in Ice Beam. Thunder via TM is effective with Lapras's natural Rain Dance.
Major Battles: Rain Dance and Thunder work well for Chuck and Pryce, while all of Jasmine's Pokemon are beaten by Choice Specs and Surf. Lapras can take on Clair effectively with Choice Specs and Ice Beam, though it's unlikely to sweep without healing. Lapras generally OHKOes or 2HKOes targets at the League with the appropriate STAB move, though it will struggle against Bruno and beat a couple of Lance's Pokemon only if healed while it's not on the field.
Additional Comments: Lapras is a great Pokemon, though the Slow growth rate and backtracking required to obtain it hold it back.

Magmar

Availability: Mid-game (Burned Tower (BF1), level 14 (morning and nighttime) or level 16 (daytime), 5% (morning and nighttime) or 10% (daytime)).
Typing: Pure Fire typing gives Magmar the advantage against Jasmine and Pryce's Piloswine, and it's neutral for most other battles in the game while giving it trouble versus Clair and Lance.
Stats: Magmar has high Speed, Attack, and Special Attack, making it a deadly mixed sweeper. This is offset by its poor defenses, however.
Movepool: Magmar has a steady series of STAB moves to upgrade to throughout the game; it begins with Ember, then gets Fire Punch at 29, Lava Plume at 36, and Flamethrower at 42. Outside of Fire-type moves, though, its level-up movepool is limited to Faint Attack and some status moves like Smokescreen and Confuse Ray. TM-wise, Fire Blast from Goldenrod is vital to give it a strong nuking option early on and Focus Blast can be taught to give it some coverage.
Major Battles: Magmar does very well against Morty, Jasmine, SIlver, Team Rocket in general, Koga, and Bruno. It does decently against Chuck, Pryce, Will, and Karen, not doing better thanks to their Fire-resistant team members, while it falls flat versus Clair and Lance, who wall it entirely.
Additional Comments: Magmar is a solid Fire-type, and its primary advantages over others are its solid stats from capture and series of strong, reliable STAB moves. Its main downside, aside from its small movepool outside of Fire-type attacks, is its mid-game availability causing it to miss out on key battles.

Magnemite

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, level 16, 20%).
Typing: Electric / Steel provides Magnemite with many useful resistances, including against Morty, Team Rocket, Pryce, Will, and Koga, although it leaves Magnemite weak to Chuck and Bruno's type.
Stats: Magneton has a very high Special Attack and above-average Defense, though its other stats are below-average.
Movepool: Magnemite can be taught the Flash Cannon and Charge Beam TMs from the Goldenrod Department Store raffle on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, with Discharge at level 40 being its most reliable Electric-type STAB move. Outside of those, Magnemite can also be taught Thunder and Rain Dance for a powerful move combination early on.
Major Battles: Magnemite provides some help against Morty and can sweep Chuck if it successfully sets up rain. It can sweep Pryce easily and crushes most of Team Rocket. It is also particularly useful against Will and Koga with Choice Specs + Discharge and beats Lance's Gyarados and Aerodactyl.
Additional Comments: Magnemite is useful in many matchups thanks to its excellent typing and great Special Attack. However, it requires two TMs from the Goldenrod Department Store raffle to become usable immediately, and Magnemite is easy to KO until it evolves due to its low HP and Speed. Note that Magneton cannot evolve into Magnezone within HGSS due to the lack of special magnetic fields.

Mareep

Availability: Early-game (Route 32, level 6, 20% (morning and daytime) or 10% (nighttime)).
Typing: Electric gives Mareep advantages against Falkner and Will, as well as handful of assorted boss Pokemon, but Jasmine is a shaky matchup.
Stats: Mareep and Flaaffy have good HP and special stats, but their other stats are lacking. Ampharos patches up its stats to be a well-rounded bulky attacker with an excellent 115 Special Attack. However, its 55 Speed means it is fairly slow.
Movepool: Mareep notably doesn't get Thundershock until level 10, and then it is stuck with that until the Charge Beam or Thunder TM. Both moves are fairly unreliable, but if you hold off evolving Flaaffy until level 31, it will learn Discharge in time for the three mid-game Gyms, finally making it a reliable damage dealer. Focus Blast via TM serves as decent coverage, and the Rain Dance TM can be utilized with Thunder if you desire.
Major Battles: Mareep fares well against Falkner with Thundershock. Bugsy's Scyther and Flaaffy 3HKO each other, but Flaaffy will generally lose unless you get lucky with paralysis. From then on until Ampharos, Flaaffy generally relies on the unreliable Thunder to deal heavy damage against most major opponents. Thunder OHKOes all of Chuck's Pokemon, (comma) while Focus Blast does the same for Jasmine. Ampharos is decent for Pryce and Clair while generally OHKOing or 2HKOing most targets with Choice Specs and Discharge at the Pokemon League.
Additional Comments: Ampharos is a good Pokemon but is held back by its pre-evolution phases, as Mareep and Flaaffy have low stats and poor movepools, which force them to rely on moves with imperfect accuracy or set up Rain Dance until Discharge.

Miltank

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, level 13, 5%).
Typing: Normal makes Miltank useful for Morty and bad for Chuck, Jasmine, and Bruno, being neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Miltank has all-around solid stats, being relatively fast and bulky, (comma) and packing an acceptable amount of power.
Movepool: If caught in a Friend Ball, Miltank can be taught Return for immediate access to a powerful STAB move. Rollout at level 19, combined with Defense Curl, can help Miltank sweep some fights, albeit inconsistently due to Rollout's imperfect accuracy. Other useful moves include Zen Headbutt and Earthquake.
Major Battles: Miltank obliterates Morty with Scrappy and can generally hit most neutral foes hard with STAB Return. Defense Curl + Rollout allows it to potentially sweep some of the more difficult opponents like Pryce and, with an Intimidate teammate for Gyarados and healing, Lance.
Additional Comments: Miltank is a mostly solid Pokemon that is fairly hard to catch in a Friend Ball due to low encounter and catch rates. Miltank generally performs well against Pryce even without Thick Fat, so it's preferrable preferable that you get one with Scrappy to improve the Morty matchup. Wide Lens from the Game Corner can help fix Rollout's imperfect accuracy.

Nidoran-F

Availability: Early-game (Route 35, level 12, 30%).
Typing: Poison / Ground with Nidoqueen is useful against Chuck, Jasmine, Team Rocket, Koga, and Bruno, though it's pretty bad against Pryce, Clair, and Will.
Stats: Nidoqueen's stats are all-around solid, allowing it to hit both physically and specially, though its offensive stats may at times feel rather weak.
Movepool: Nidoqueen's movepool is mostly TM-based, with it utilizing Dig, Sludge Bomb, Thunder, Fire Blast, Blizzard, and Shadow Claw to hit various opponents' types super effectively. Earthquake through TMs is a direct upgrade from Dig.
Major Battles: If Nidoqueen has a super effective move, it can generally use it to deal heavy damage to almost anything it faces. The line is only useful against Morty if fully evolved, as Nidoqueen's pre-evolutions cannot learn Shadow Claw.
Additional Comments: Nidoqueen's usefulness comes mainly from its vast movepool, which allows it to hit a huge number of foes super effectively, though it's very reliant on the inaccurate TM moves to hit hard in many matchups. Moon Stone can be obtained from the Pokeathlon Dome, purchased by the player's mom, or gained from the Ruins of Alph with Surf, with the former two methods allowing the line to fully evolve before Morty.

Nidoran-M

Availability: Early-game (Route 35, level 12, 30%).
Typing: Poison / Ground for Nidoking is useful against Chuck, Jasmine, Team Rocket, Koga, and Bruno, though it's pretty bad against Pryce, Clair, and Will.
Stats: Nidoking's stats are all-around solid, allowing it to hit both physically and specially.
Movepool: Nidoking's movepool is mostly TM-based, with it utilizing Dig, Sludge Bomb, Thunder, Fire Blast, Blizzard, and Shadow Claw to hit various opponents' types super effectively. Earthquake through TMs is a direct upgrade from Dig.
Major Battles: If Nidoking has a super effective move, it can generally use it to deal heavy damage to almost anything it faces. The line is only useful against Morty if fully evolved, as Nidoking's pre-evolutions cannot learn Shadow Claw.
Additional Comments: Nidoking's usefulness comes mainly from its vast movepool, which allows it to hit a huge number of foes super effectively, though it's very reliant on the inaccurate TM moves to hit hard in many matchups. Moon Stone can be obtained from the Pokeathlon Dome, purchased by the player's mom, or gained from the Ruins of Alph with Surf, with the former two methods allowing the line to fully evolve before Morty.

Pinsir

Availability: Early-game (National Park (Bug-Catching Contest), level 13 or 14, 5%).
Typing: Bug is helpful against Will and Karen, but before that, it doesn't see much use offensively, as Pinsir learns X-Scissor somewhat late. It is useful for resisting Chuck and Bruno's type, though.
Stats: Pinsir is a physical tank with an excellent Attack. Its other stats aren't particularly impressive, though base 85 Speed lets it outspeed most of the game.
Movepool: Pinsir relies on Dig through TMs and Seismic Toss until it gets better moves, such as Brick Break at level 21 and X-Scissor at level 30. Earthquake through TMs is an upgrade from Dig, and Swords Dance at level 38 helps Pinsir sweep endgame fights.
Major Battles: Pinsir can beat Whitney's Miltank with Revenge as long as it doesn't get repeatedly flinched. Morty can be swept with Dig if Pinsir has Mold Breaker. It can OHKO Jasmine's Magnemite and beat Pryce's Seel and Dewgong. At the Elite Four, Pinsir sweeps Bruno easily by using Hitmontop as setup fodder and crushes Karen, notably OHKOing Umbreon with +2 X-Scissor.
Additional Comments: While Pinsir is decent for some key fights, it is very difficult to obtain due to its low catch rate and rarity, which is made worse by Mold Breaker being desired to perform well against Morty. Furthermore, it is in the Slow experience group, so it's a chore to train too.

Raikou

Availability: Mid-game (roaming Johto, after going to the lower floor of Burned Tower, level 40).
Typing: Electric is all-around great for all opponents, particularly against Pryce and half of Lance's team.
Stats: Most of Raikou's stats are excellent and are further enhanced by a high join level. Its physical bulk is somewhat average, though.
Movepool: Raikou mostly uses Thunder and Rain Dance to deal damage, with Charge Beam and Shadow Ball through TMs providing more reliable alternatives without setup.
Major Battles: If caught as early as possible, Raikou can handle Team Rocket and most Gym Leaders with little difficulty. At the Elite Four, it can sweep Will with Shadow Ball and generally performs well against the other members if it can get a Charge Beam boost. It can also beat Lance's Gyarados, Charizard, and Aerodactyl, though the latter is faster and thus can KO Raikou if it's too weakened.
Additional Comments: Raikou's great performance before the endgame is counterbalanced by the extreme difficulty of catching it. This catching difficulty can be circumvented by catching it with the Master Ball, which you get after obtaining the Rising Badge, at the cost of skipping those matchups. Raikou's Elite Four performance is decent, but its extremely late arrival if using the Master Ball + reliance on Charge Beam boosts for some remaining fights prevent it from ranking higher.

Rattata

Availability: Early-game (Route 29, levels 2-4, 5% (morning and daytime) or 15% (nighttime)).
Typing: Pure Normal gives Rattata strong neutral coverage and only one weakness in Fighting, although both Chuck and Bruno specialize in Fighting-types, and Jasmine's Steel-types resist Rattata's Normal-type moves.
Stats: Raticate boasts an average base 81 Attack as well as a surprisingly fast 97 Speed, but its other stats are poor.
Movepool: Hyper Fang at level 16 gives Rattata a very strong STAB option early-game at a time where strong moves are scarce and Normal-resistant Pokemon are scarcer. Crunch at 24 gives it super effective coverage versus Ghost-types. TM-wise, Return in Goldenrod City and Dig at National Park provide Raticate with an even better STAB move and coverage versus Rock- and Steel-types, respectively. With a Heart Scale, it can learn Swords Dance from the tutor in Blackthorn City, which is crucial for Raticate's late-game performance.
Major Battles: Pre-Swords Dance, Rattata generally manages to defeat the lesser Pokemon in most major fights but will falter against ace Pokemon due to their higher level / stats. Notable sweeps include Team Rocket and Morty. Post-Swords Dance, Clair can potentially be fully swept should you have a very fast Raticate. Raticate performs well against every Elite Four member save Karen and could potentially sweep Lance as well. if it is provided severe Intimidate support and possesses higher than average Speed.
Additional Comments: Rattata is all-around a good Pokemon due to coming early and taking on some of the more difficult opponents. However, it is reliant on having a very high Speed to sweep them, as it otherwise loses against them easily. Make sure to grab the guaranteed Heart Scale on Route 32 in order to teach Raticate Swords Dance at Blackthorn City (requires Surf).

Scyther (No Trade)

Availability: Early-game (National Park (Bug-Catching Contest), level 13 or 14, 5%).
Typing: Bug / Flying is very useful against Chuck, Will, and Bruno, but it is very bad against Jasmine and Pryce.
Stats: Scyther is a fast and strong physical attackers that can easily outspeed and KO most foes before they can touch it.
Movepool: Scyther will mainly use Wing Attack (learned at level 21), which hits very hard thanks to Technician. X-Scissor at level 41 helps out against Will and Karen's Umbreon. Rock Smash through HM provides Scyther with some Technician-boosted coverage against Rock- and Steel-types.
Major Battles: Scyther performs well against almost any opponent where it can hit their type neutrally with Wing Attack, including Whitney. Scyther also has an acceptable matchup against Will and Karen with the help of X-Scissor.
Additional Comments: Scyther is incredibly difficult to obtain, as it is hard to catch, has a low encounter rate, and requires Technician in order to perform well. This greatly offsets its all-around high utility.

Staryu

Availability: Mid-game (Route 40, Good Rod, level 20, 10% (night)).
Typing: Starmie is Water / Psychic type; Psychic is useful for resisting the types of Chuck, Will, and Bruno, but it has no use offensively, as Starmie doesn't learn Psychic-type moves during the main game.
Stats: Starmie has excellent Speed and Special Attack, but dismal HP and average other stats.
Movepool: Starmie's moveset is almost exclusively TM- and HM-based. Surf is its main STAB move, and Rain Dance can power it up while making Thunder always hit. Blizzard via TM can provide Ice-type coverage.
Major Battles: Starmie handles most of Morty's and Jasmine's teams with Surf, which is also useful against most of the Elite Four with Rain Dance or Choice Specs. Thunder helps it against Pryce, though it has to play around Seel's Hail to set up Rain Dance. It also handles Clair's Dragonair and Lance's Dragonite with Blizzard.
Additional Comments: Starmie is a good Pokemon, but the sheer annoyance of obtaining a Water Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome to evolve it and the Slow growth rate, alongside its occassional occasional reliance on inaccurate moves, keep it from the higher tiers.

Tauros

Availability: Mid-game (Route 38, level 13, 4%).
Typing: Normal is decent for Morty and mostly neutral elsewhere, though it gives Tauros a weakness to Chuck and Bruno.
Stats: Tauros is fast and hits very hard physically, though its low Special Attack means that it cannot take great advantage of its wide special learnset.
Movepool: Tauros can be taught Strength immediately or make good use of Return if caught in a Friend Ball. Payback at level 24 is decent for Morty and Tauros learns other coverage moves, including Earthquake, Surf, and Fire Blast.
Major Battles: Tauros sweeps Morty easily and is usually decent in any neutral matchup with full-power Return. It can also KO Jasmine's Magnemite with Choice Specs and Fire Blast. Morty is generally the only matchup it will reliably sweep.
Additional Comments: Tauros is a decent Pokemon due to its high damage output, but several problems like rarity, low join level, a Slow growth rate, and the difficulty of catching it in a Friend Ball hold it back. However, Tauros can be caught at Route 48 with a 21% encounter rate at level 20 or 24 at the cost of skipping Morty.

Tentacool

Availability: Mid-game (Route 40 (surfing), levels 15-29, 10%) (Tentacruel).
Typing: Water / Poison is excellent aside from against Will, as it hits most opponents' types neutrally and provides useful resistances for Chuck, Koga, Bruno, and Team Rocket.
Stats: Tentacruel is fast and very specially bulky. Its other stats aren't impressive, though Tentacruel hits decently hard with Choice Specs.
Movepool: Tentacruel should be taught Surf immediately and Sludge Bomb by TM later on. Blizzard through TM provides some coverage and Barrier at level 26 improves matchups against physical attackers. Rain Dance through TM, combined with Mystic Water, allows it to hit as hard as possible with Surf.
Major Battles: Tentacruel is decent for Gyms 5-7 and easily beats the Team Rocket Executives. It can notably defeat Clair's Kingdra with Choice Specs and Sludge Bomb due to its great special bulk and Clear Body blocking Smokescreen. Its Elite Four performance is unimpressive, though Tentacruel is decent against Koga and can contribute to Bruno with Barrier and healing when needed.
Additional Comments: Tentacruel can be caught at an incredibly high level if you resort to Repels and lead Pokemon leveled in the high 20s. This and its decent performance until the endgame make Tentacruel a handy Pokemon as a whole. Tentacool can be caught as soon as you obtain the Old Rod, but its performance until you get the Good Rod is terrible, so that's generally not worth bothering with. Note that Tentacruel is in the Slow experience group, which can make it annoying to train.

Vulpix

Availability: Early-game (Route 36, 10% (morning and night, level 13), 15% (day, levels 13-15) (SS).
Typing: Pure Fire is great for Jasmine and Koga, bad for Clair and Lance, and neutral elsewhere.
Stats: Vulpix and Ninetales have good Speed and Special Defense, but average stats elsewhere.
Movepool: Vulpix needs to be caught at level 13 to have Ember. Vulpix gets Flamethrower at level 24, which will be its main attack with Choice Specs. Ninetales can relearn Nasty Plot at level 1 and be given Fire Blast and Sunny Day via TMs if desired.
Major Battles: Vulpix is too frail to stand up to Whitney's Miltank, but Ninetales can take on all of Morty's Pokemon save Gengar reliably. From there, Ninetales tends to take out one Pokemon in major battles save Jasmine (where it sweeps) and Clair (bad matchup) until the Pokemon League, where Ninetales tends to use Nasty Plot at least once and OHKO most non-resistant Pokemon that aren't particularly bulky.
Additional Comments: Despite needing a Fire Stone from the Pokeathlon Dome, Vulpix is still a solid damage dealer with either Choice Specs mid-game or Nasty Plot at the endgame. Make sure to only evolve Vulpix after it learns Flamethrower at level 24.

GP 2/2 for the B-rank!

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

those checks should be implemented, I went with lowercase move deleter (mostly out of preference, idek which format is more appropriate either)

(I'd have applied this earlier, but I am still dealing with laptop issues)