Pokemon Diamond and Pearl In-Game Tiers

[Jubilee]

GP Checks: [ 2 [Fatecrashers]/ [Oglemi] 2]

Introduction:

The best possible Pokemon for an in-game team are the ones that are obtainable at the start of the game, can OHKO enemies easily, take little damage from nearly any attack, can learn many HMs, can heal itself, can learn useful moves upon level up, doesn't need excessive TMs, and has a useful ability. Such a Pokemon doesn't exist of course, but this means that Pokemon closer to this ideal are obviously the best ones possible.

The goal of this in-game tier list is to recommend a select group of Pokemon for an efficient run through the game. The ones that fit most of the above requirements are placed in the high tier. Very inefficient Pokemon will be put in the low tier. Ones that are neither efficient nor inefficient, for example Pokemon that have some opportunity costs but don't end up as good as high tiered ones, will be put in the middle tier.

Don't confuse an efficient run with a speed run. Speed runs are often ones that are segmented and recorded with luck manipulation through resets, and aim for the absolute fastest time recorded, but the real time spent on them is usually much more. Just assume you want to play through in a relatively fast time frame.

Team size is actually most efficient if you use only one member, but I'm assuming something more like 3 members, as otherwise you get extremely centralized lists with starters and early game Pokemon at the far top and everything else pretty much too inefficient to bother with.

Also note when reading through this guide that some of the moves and abilities listed for a Pokemon may only be obtained by their evolutions. Some Pokemon may be placed in higher tiers due to their evolution's capabilities as well.

High Tier:

Abra
Availability: Early
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has very high Special Attack and Speed stats, however, needs to be traded to fully evolve.

Azelf
Availability: Late
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Very wide
Additional Comments: Although it is available very late in the game it is available at a high level of 50 which compensates for this. Also has very high Attack, Special Attack, and Speed stats.

Bidoof
Availability: Very Early
Stats: Decent
Movepool: Wide
Additional Comments: Very useful in-game Pokemon because it learns a vast amount of HMs, such as Cut, Rock Climb, Rock Smash, Strength, Surf, and Waterfall.

Buizel
Availability: Early
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has high Attack and Speed stats.

Chimchar
Availability: Beginning
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Very wide
Additional Comments: Has great offensive stats, a high Speed stat, and learns a vast amount of TMs and useful moves upon level up.

Cranidos (Diamond only)
Availability: Early
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has an incredibly high Attack stat capable of OHKOing many Pokemon.

Dialga (Diamond only)
Availability: Late
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Although obtained late in the game, it is captured at a high level of 47 and has excellent stats all-round.

Gastly
Availability: Early
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Wide
Additional Comments: Has a very high Special Attack and Speed stat, however, needs to be traded to fully evolve.

Machop
Availability: Early
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Average
Additional Comments: Has a very high Attack stat and good defenses, learns useful STAB attacks upon level up, and has a useful ability in No Guard. However, it needs to be traded to fully evolve.

Magikarp
Availability: Early
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Despite being useless as a Magikarp, once it evolves it is an incredibly useful Pokemon. Gyarados has a very high Attack stat, great defenses, learns Dragon Dance upon level up, and has a useful ability in Intimidate.

Palkia (Pearl only)
Availability: Late
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Wide
Additional Comments: Although obtained late in the game, it is captured at a high level of 47 and has excellent stats all-round.

Piplup
Availability: Beginning
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has a good typing and has a high Special Attack stat.

Shinx
Availability: Very Early
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has great offensive stats and a useful ability in Intimidate.

Starly
Availability: Very Early
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Wide
Additional Comments: Has a very high Attack and Speed stat and learns powerful moves upon level up such as Close Combat and Brave Bird.

Turtwig
Availability: Beginning
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has a high Attack stat and learns powerful moves upon level up such as Earthquake and Wood Hammer.

Middle Tier:

Bronzor
Availability: Early
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has great defensive stats, great typing, learns Hypnosis upon level up, and has useful abilities.

Croagunk
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has a high Attack stat and useful ability in Dry Skin.

Marill
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has an incredibly high Attack stat with the ability Huge Power and has good bulk.

Meditite
Availability: Early
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has an extremely high Attack stat with the ability Huge Power capable of OHKOing Pokemon easily. However, it has a poor level up movepool.

Misdreavus (Pearl only)
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has above average Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed stats.

Murkrow (Diamond only)
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has very high Attack and Special Attack stats.

Pikachu
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Wide
Additional Comments: Has an above average Attack, Special Attack, and Speed stat, and learns a wide variety of moves through TM.

Ponyta
Availability: Early
Stats: Decent
Movepool: Very shallow
Additional Comments: One of the few Fire-types in the game if you don't choose Chimchar as a starter; however, has a shallow movepool outside of Fire-type attacks.

Rotom
Availability: Early
Stats: Average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has a great typing and useful ability.

Shellos
Availability: Early
Stats: Average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has a very high HP stat, above average defenses, and learns Recover upon level up.

Low Tier:

Bonsly
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has below average stats and a shallow movepool.

Budew
Availability: Early
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has poor offensive stats as a pre-evolution and has a shallow movepool outside of Grass-type attacks. However, outside of Turtwig, it is the best Grass-type in-game.

Buneary
Availability: Early
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has below average offensive stats.

Chatot
Availability: Late
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has below average offensive stats, a shallow movepool, and is available late in the game.

Clefairy
Availability: Early
Stats: Decent
Movepool: Very wide
Additional Comments: Has decent stats all-round and a very wide movepool, but its movepool relies on TMs.

Drifloon
Availability: Early
Stats: Decent
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has a shallow movepool and is only available on one day of the week (Friday).

Geodude
Availability: Early
Stats: Decent
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has a bad typing, low Speed stat, and needs to be traded to be fully evolved.

Gible
Availability: Late
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Available too late in the game and evolves at a high level of 48.

Girafarig
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has a shallow movepool and below average offensive stats.

Glameow (Pearl only)
Availability: Late
Stats: Decent
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Below average offensive stats and a shallow movepool outside of Normal-type attacks.

Hoothoot
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has below average offensive stats and a shallow movepool.

Mesprit
Availability: Late
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Very wide
Additional Comments: Available too late in the game and must be found in the wild randomly to be captured.

Psyduck
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has below average stats and a shallow movepool.

Stunky (Diamond only)
Availability: Late
Stats: Average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Has high HP and Attack stats and learns useful moves upon level up; however, it is found quite late in the game.

Uxie
Availability: Late
Stats: Decent
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Despite having excellent defensive stats, its offensive stats are quite poor.

Wingull
Availability: Late
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has below average offensive stats and a shallow movepool, but learns 3 useful HMs in Fly, Surf, and Defog.

Wooper
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has below average offensive stats and a shallow movepool, but has good defenses and a useful ability in Water Absorb.

Zubat
Availability: Early
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has poor offensive stats and a shallow movepool.

Bottom Tier:

Aipom
Availability: Early
Stats: Decent
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Only capturable from honey trees (which takes 6 hours for a Pokemon to appear), has a low encounter rate, and you would have to rely on luck to find one.

Barboach
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Decent
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has below average offensive stats.

Burmy
Availability: Early
Stats: Poor
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Only capturable from honey trees (which takes 6 hours for a Pokemon to appear), has poor stats overall, and has a shallow movepool.

Carnivine
Availability: Late
Stats: Decent
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Available too late in the game and has a shallow movepool outside of Grass-type attacks.

Chansey
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Very shallow
Additional Comments: Has very poor offensive stats, a very shallow movepool, and very low Defense and offensive stats.

Cherubi
Availability: Early
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Only capturable from honey trees (which takes 6 hours for a Pokemon to appear), has below average offensive stats, and a shallow movepool outside of Grass-type attacks.

Chingling
Availability: Early
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has poor offensive stats and a shallow movepool.

Combee
Availability: Early
Stats: Poor
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Only capturable from honey trees (which takes 6 hours for a Pokemon to appear), has a shallow movepool, and has poor offensive stats.

Feebas
Availability: Late
Stats: Very poor
Movepool: Very shallow
Additional Comments: Available too late in the game, too hard to capture, too hard to evolve, and practically useless until it does evolve.

Finneon
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Poor
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has poor offensive stats and a shallow movepool outside of Water-type attacks.

Goldeen
Availability: Late
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has below average stats and a shallow movepool.

Heracross
Availability: Early
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Wide
Additional Comments: Only capturable from honey trees (which takes 6 hours for a Pokemon to appear), has a low encounter rate, and you would have to rely on luck to find one.

Hippopotas
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Poor
Additional Comments: Has a shallow movepool and an ability that hinders the rest of the team.

Kricketot
Availability: Early
Stats: Poor
Movepool: Very shallow
Additional Comments: Has very poor stats besides its Attack stat, has a very shallow movepool, and is useless until it evolves.

Mantyke
Availability: Late
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Available too late in the game and has below average offensive stats.

Mime Jr.
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has a shallow level-up movepool outside of Psychic-type attacks.

Munchlax
Availability: Early
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Wide
Additional Comments: Only capturable from honey trees (which takes 6 hours for a Pokemon to appear), only has a 1% chance of appearing, and is only available on certain trees which depend on your ID/SID combination.

Onix
Availability: Early
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has a shallow movepool and a poor Speed and Special Defense stat.

Pachirisu
Availability: Early
Stats: Poor
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has poor stats overall and a shallow movepool.

Remoraid
Availability: Late
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Available too late in the game and has below average offensive stats.

Riolu
Availability: Late
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Obtained too late in the game and at too low of a level.

Shieldon (Pearl only)
Availability: Early
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has below average offensive stats and a terrible typing.

Skorupi
Availability: Late
Stats: Average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Available too late in the game and has a shallow movepool.

Sneasel
Availability: Late
Stats: Above average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Available too late in the game and has a shallow movepool.

Snover
Availability: Late
Stats: Average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Available too late in the game and has an ability that hinders the rest of the team.

Spiritomb
Availability: Early
Stats: Average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Very hard to obtain since it can only be caught once 32 people have been talked to in the underground over Wi-Fi.

Tentacool
Availability: Late
Stats: Average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Available too late in the game.

Togepi
Availability: Late
Stats: Below average
Movepool: Decent
Additional Comments: Available too late in the game and obtained as an egg. Is also very hard to evolve.

Unown
Availability: Mid-game
Stats: Poor
Movepool: Very shallow
Additional Comments: Has very poor stats and can only learn the move Hidden Power.

Wurmple
Availability: Early
Stats: Poor
Movepool: Very shallow
Additional Comments: Has poor stats overall and has a shallow movepool.

-----------

Old format incase I need it...

High Tier:

Abra- Available early in the game and has very high Special Attack and Speed stats. However, you have to trade him in order for him to fully evolve.

Azelf- Although available late in the game it is available at a very high level of 50. Also learns a variety of useful moves upon level up and has very high Attack, Special Attack, and Speed stats.

Bidoof- Available in the beginning of the game and learns almost every HM.

Buizel- Available early in the game, has a very high Attack and Speed stat, and learns a vast amount of HM's.

Chimchar- Available in the beginning of the game, has a very high Attack, Special Attack, and Speed stats, learns a vast amount of TM's, HM's, and useful moves upon level up. Is also the only Fire-type Pokemon available in the game outside of Ponyta.

Cranidos (Diamond only)- Available early in the game and has an extremely high Attack stat capable of OHKOing many Pokemon easily.

Dialga (Diamond only)- Although available late in the game it is caught at a high level of 47. Also has very high stats all around, wide movepool, and useful typing.

Machop- Available early in the game, has a very high HP, Attack, and Special Defense stats, and learns a vast amount of HM's. However, you have to trade him in order for him to fully evolve.

Magikarp- Available early in the game. Despite it being practically useless as a Magikarp when it does evolve into Gyarados it is a high payoff reward for raising Magikarp. Gyarados has above average stats all around and especially has a high Attack stat. Gyarados also learns a few HM's and the move Dragon Dance upon level up.

Meditite- Available early in the game and has an extremely high Attack stat with the Ability Pure Power.

Palkia (Pearl only)- Although available late in the game it is caught at a high level of 47. Also has very high stats all around, wide movepool, and useful typing.

Piplup- Available in the beginning of the game, good typing, and has a very high Special Attack stat.

Shinx- Available in the beginning of the game, has a very high Attack stat, useful ability, and wide movepool. Learns useful moves upon level up and via TM.

Starly- Available in the beginning of the game, has very high Attack and Speed stats, and learns very powerful moves upon level up.

Turtwig- Available in the beginning of the game, has a very high Attack stat, and learns useful moves upon level up.

Middle Tier:

Bronzor- Available early in the game, has a great typing, useful ability, very high Defense and Special Defense stats, and learns Hypnosis upon level up.

Clefairy- Available early in the game, above average stats all around, and has a very wide movepool.

Croagunk- Available mid-game, learns a variety of moves upon level up, TM, and HM, and has a useful ability.

Gastly- Available early in the game and has very high Special Attack and Speed stats. However, you need to trade him in order for him to fully evolve.

Gible- Available mid-game, but once evolved he has an extremely high Attack stat and above average HP, Defense, and Speed stats. However, he evolves at a high level of 48.

Marill- Available mid-game and has an incredibly high Attack stat with the ability Huge Power.

Misdreavus (Pearl only)- Available early in the game and learns a wide variety of useful moves upon level up.

Murkrow (Diamond only)- Available early in the game and has very high Attack and Special Attack stats.

Pikachu- Available mid-game, learns a wide variety of TM's, and has an above average Attack, Special Attack, and Speed stats.

Ponyta- Outside of Chimchar Ponyta is the only available Fire-type Pokemon. Available early in the game and has above average Attack, Special Attack, and Speed stats.

Shellos- Available early in the game, has a very high HP stat, above average Defense and Special Defense stats, and learns the move Recover upon level up.

Stunky (Diamond only)- Available mid-game and has decent stats overall.

Low Tier:

Bonsly- Has below average stats.

Buneary- Has below average stats.

Drifloon- Has a very shallow movepool.

Geodude- Has bad typing and needs traded to be fully evolved.

Girafarig- Has a shallow movepool and below average stats.

Glameow (Pearl only)- Available too late in the game, has below average stats overall, and has a shallow movepool.

Goldeen- Has below average stats.

Hoothoot- Has below average stats and has a shallow movepool. However, has a useful movepool.

Mesprit- Available too late in the game, and must be found in the wild before you can capture it.

Psyduck- Has below average stats.

Remoraid- Available too late in the game and has below average stats.

Snover- Available too late in the game and has a hindering ability to the team.

Uxie- Available too late in the game, despite having excellent defensive stats its offensive stats are lacking.

Wingull- Available too late in the game, has a shallow movepool, and below average offenses. However, learns a few useful HM's.

Wooper- Available mid-game, but has a shallow movepool, and below average offensive stats.

Zubat- Has a poor offensive stats and has a shallow movepool.

Bottom Tier:

Aipom- Only capturable from honey trees. Has a low encounter rate as well and would have to rely on luck to find one.

Barboach- Has below average stats.

Budew- Has a poor offensive stats as a pre-evolution and has a shallow movepool outside of Grass-type attacks.

Burmy- Has below average stats and has a shallow movepool.

Carnivine- Available too late in the game and has a shallow movepool outside of Grass-type attacks.

Chansey- Has very poor offensive stats and has a shallow movepool.

Chatot- Available too late in the game and has a shallow movepool.

Cherubi- Has a shallow movepool and has below average stats.

Chingling- Has very poor stats overall and has a shallow movepool.

Combee- Has a very shallow movepool and has below average stats.

Feebas- Available too late in the game, too hard to capture, too hard to evolve, and practically useless untill it does evolve.

Finneon- Available too late in the game, has below average stats overall, and a shallow movepool.

Heracross- Only capturable from honey trees. Has a low encounter rate as well and would have to rely on luck to find one. However, if you are patient and lucky enough to find one he has a very high Attack stat, high Speed and Special Defense stats, and a useful ability.

Hippopotas- Has a hindering ability to the rest of the team.

Kricketot- Has below average stats besides Attack and has a shallow movepool.

Mantyke- Available too late in the game has below average offensive stats, and bad typing.

Munchlax- Only capturable from honey trees which you would have to rely on luck for Munchlax to appear.

Onix- Has a shallow movepool and below average stats.

Pachirisu- Has below average stats and a shallow movepool.

Riolu- Available too late in the game and at too low of a level.

Shieldon (Pearl only)- Has bad typing and has below average offensive stats.

Skorupi- Available too late in the game.

Sneasel- Available too late in the game and has a shallow movepool.

Spiritomb- Can only be caught once 32 people have been talked to in the underground.

Tentacool- Available too late in the game.

Togepi- Available too late in the game and at too low of a level.

Unown- Has a very poor stats and can only know the move Hidden Power.

Wurmple- Has poor overall stats and has a shallow movepool.

Un-Tiered:

Manaphy- Is only available if you have Pokemon Ranger.

-------------------


Any opinions on whether a Pokemon should be moved up or down a tier is appreciated.

 

[macle]

You should mention how Chimchar is one of the only fire-types you can get in the game.

 

[Nix_Hex]

Just a minor nit-pick but you should mention that Machop requires trading for full evolution. Otherwise, looks like a good primer.
[edit]Heatran, Giratina and Cresselia are also an "In-game" Pokemon but of course can only be obtained after Elite 4, so they may be mentioned as untiered. Also, where are Porygon and Eevee? Four of its evolutions can be obtained without stones, though I could only see Espeon and Glaceon as viable options. Leafeon can be obtained earlier than Glaceon, though.

 

[Jubilee]

You should mention how Chimchar is one of the only fire-types you can get in the game.

Edited that in, thanks!

Just a minor nit-pick but you should mention that Machop requires trading for full evolution. Otherwise, looks like a good primer.
[edit]Heatran, Giratina and Cresselia are also an "In-game" Pokemon but of course can only be obtained after Elite 4, so they may be mentioned as untiered. Also, where are Porygon and Eevee? Four of its evolutions can be obtained without stones, though I could only see Espeon and Glaceon as viable options. Leafeon can be obtained earlier than Glaceon, though.

>_< Thought I did mention that... Guess I didn't. Edited that in as well, thank you for catching that. :)

EDIT: I didn't put Giratina, Heatran, and Cresselia down because they are not on the Sinnoh Pokedex. They are only on the National Pokedex you get after the Elite Four so I saw no point in putting them on the list. However, if others think I should put them on in the un-tiered section I will.

 

[Nix_Hex]

Also, I highly recommend Ponyta as an upper tier Pokémon. The flaming horse, long before it evolved, was very helpful in getting me through Platinum. She's fast, has strong Fire attacks physically and specially (learns Fire Blast at 38 and Flare Blitz at 46, though if you evolve it, Rapidash learns it at 58 which is rather high). Bounce and Stomp are also surprising options.

 

[Jubilee]

Also, where are Porygon and Eevee? Four of its evolutions can be obtained without stones, though I could only see Espeon and Glaceon as viable options. Leafeon can be obtained earlier than Glaceon, though.

According to Bulbapedia Eevee and Porygon are only available in the trophy garden after you have beaten the elite four.
Same goes for the Eevee Bebe gives you.

Also, I highly recommend Ponyta as an upper tier Pokémon. The flaming horse, long before it evolved, was very helpful in getting me through Platinum. She's fast, has strong Fire attacks physically and specially (learns Fire Blast at 38 and Flare Blitz at 46, though if you evolve it, Rapidash learns it at 58 which is rather high). Bounce and Stomp are also surprising options.

The problem I have with moving Ponyta to high is the only Fire-type attacks it has untill it learns Fire Blast is Ember and Fire-Spin, which both have terrible base power (40 for Ember and 15 for Fire-Spin). Also the fact that it evolves at a late level of 40 doesn't help much either.

 

[Aerodactyl Legend]

I always like rating the guys on my own for in-game.

You know Magikarp should be in the upper section. Gyarados is usually always one of the strongest Pokemon in your team. Taking on opponents 10 to over 15 levels above you easily is not something that a whole lot of Pokemon can do.

 

[Jubilee]

I always like rating the guys on my own for in-game.

You know Magikarp should be in the upper section. Gyarados is usually always one of the strongest Pokemon in your team. Taking on opponents 10 to over 15 levels above you easily is not something that a whole lot of Pokemon can do.

Gyarados easily makes high tier with above average stats in everything and Dragon Dance, but the problem I have moving him to high is Magikarp.
You have to keep switching him in and out to gain experience untill he reaches level 20 to evolve because the only moves he has is Tackle and Flail.
I would like more opinions on this whether or not going through the trouble of leveling him up is a good enough payoff for having Gyarados on your in-game team.

 

[chocolate-kipp]

Gyarados easily makes high tier with above average stats in everything and Dragon Dance, but the problem I have moving him to high is Magikarp.
You have to keep switching him in and out to gain experience untill he reaches level 20 to evolve because the only moves he has is Tackle and Flail.
I would like more opinions on this whether or not going through the trouble of leveling him up is a good enough payoff for having Gyarados on your in-game team.

Even then, he gets Flail at level 30, so that's not exactly viable either. I'd put him in the middle tier mentioning how useful his evolution is but how annoying it is to train him.

 

[Aerodactyl Legend]

Gyarados easily makes high tier with above average stats in everything and Dragon Dance, but the problem I have moving him to high is Magikarp.
You have to keep switching him in and out to gain experience untill he reaches level 20 to evolve because the only moves he has is Tackle and Flail.
I would like more opinions on this whether or not going through the trouble of leveling him up is a good enough payoff for having Gyarados on your in-game team.

I don't mind leveling up Magikarp, but you can usually catch one at level 20 with the Good Rod.

As for his moves, though he only starts with Tackle, Thrash, and Bite (the best one), his Attack is enough to kill most foes in one or two hits. Later, Ice Fang and Aqua Tail/Waterfall do wonders. Dragon Dance is virtually gamebreaking.

 

[Oglemi]

I'm for moving Magikarp/Gyarados to high tier. I always just replaced my HM slave with Magikarp if I really wanted a Gyarados, and it's no harder to train Magikarp than it is Metapod/Kakuna/Kricketot/etc., and you get an awesome Pokemon out of the deal.

So, def. Magikarp for high tier.

 

[Sceats]

Just a heads up but rotom is found post game unless this list includes platinum. Also should there be a top tier? It seems crazy to see starly on the same list as cranidos.

 

[Jubilee]

I don't mind leveling up Magikarp, but you can usually catch one at level 20 with the Good Rod.

As for his moves, though he only starts with Tackle, Thrash, and Bite (the best one), his Attack is enough to kill most foes in one or two hits. Later, Ice Fang and Aqua Tail/Waterfall do wonders. Dragon Dance is virtually gamebreaking.

I'm for moving Magikarp/Gyarados to high tier. I always just replaced my HM slave with Magikarp if I really wanted a Gyarados, and it's no harder to train Magikarp than it is Metapod/Kakuna/Kricketot/etc., and you get an awesome Pokemon out of the deal.

So, def. Magikarp for high tier.

Alright moved Magikarp to the high tier, thanks you two.

Just a heads up but rotom is found post game unless this list includes platinum. Also should there be a top tier? It seems crazy to see starly on the same list as cranidos.

Ah ooops edited out Rotom, thank you for catching that out.

And as for more tiers I'm just following Mekkahs in-game tier list of just high, medium, low, and un-tiered for consistency.

 

[Aerodactyl Legend]

I also think you should merge the Platinum list into this post as well, as having a seperate post for that game is redundant. Since different Pokemon are available between D/P already, Platinum should be integrated just as easily.

 

[Jubilee]

I also think you should merge the Platinum list into this post as well, as having a seperate post for that game is redundant. Since different Pokemon are available between D/P already, Platinum should be integrated just as easily.

They were listed as seperate articles that needed done so I posted them seperately. Plus theres way too many differences between the games (such as pre E4 capturable Pokemon) beteen Diamond / Pearl and Platinum then there are between just Diamond and Pearl.
So I personally don't think they should be merged, unless others feel they should be merged as well?

 

[Aerodactyl Legend]

They were listed as seperate articles that needed done so I posted them seperately. Plus theres way too many differences between the games (such as pre E4 capturable Pokemon) beteen Diamond / Pearl and Platinum then there are between just Diamond and Pearl.

Ah, I see. Forgot about the list of all the needed articles.

I knew there are changes between versions, but are there really that much? I prolly didn't know because I tend to be less thorough when catching Pokemon on the remake version of each generation. I usually only notice if Ditto shows up.

Anyways, initial list looks good. Maybe a little bit more info on the upper tier Pokemon to further justify them.

 

[Oglemi]

I feel the Low tier needs to be split in half. I don't like the mixing of meh Pokemon with Terribad Pokemon. There's no way I would place Zubat in the same tier as frickin' Pachirisu.

To me it would look like this (This is just my opinion, not that you have to do it. There is just too great of a difference between some of these Pokemon to be placed in the same tier):

Low Tier:
Aipom
Bonsly
Buneary
Drifloon
Geodude
Girafarig
Glameow
Goldeen
Hippopotas
Psyduck
Mesprit
Uxie
Wooper
Zubat

Terribad (Unusables)
Barboach
Budew
Burmy
Carnivine
Chansey
Chatot
Cherubi
Chingling
Combee
Feebas
Finneon
Heracross
Hoothoot
Kricketot
Mantyke
Munchlax
Onix
Pachirisu
Riolu
Shieldon
Skorupi
Sneasel
Snover
Spiritomb
Tentacool
Togepi
Unown
Wingull
Wurmple

 

[Jubilee]

I feel the Low tier needs to be split in half. I don't like the mixing of meh Pokemon with Terribad Pokemon. There's no way I would place Zubat in the same tier as frickin' Pachirisu.
To me it would look like this (This is just my opinion, not that you have to do it. There is just too great of a difference between some of these Pokemon to be placed in the same tier):

I'm fine with your suggestion.
I'll edit this "Unusable tier" into the other In-game guides I did as well, thanks!
EDIT: Instead of "unusable I think "bottom tier" sounds better, the Pokemon are usable they are just highly unrecommended...

 

[Aerodactyl Legend]

Hm, I'd move Heracross up one tier. He is a pain to catch, but it doesn't actually affect his usefulness in battle obviously. I also think Wingull should be moved up, just because of Pelipper. They suck, but Pelipper can carry the most important HMs, Fly and Surf. In most cases, the only time you'd carry Rock Smash, Rock Climb, Strength, etc. is when you're doin some heavy duty cave exploring (although Surfing isn't as important in this generation than others). He also evolves at 25.

Zubat has a purpose in life, Pachirisu doesn't.

 

[Jubilee]

Hm, I'd move Heracross up one tier. He is a pain to catch, but it doesn't actually affect his usefulness in battle obviously. I also think Wingull should be moved up, just because of Pelipper. They suck, but Pelipper can carry the most important HMs. In most cases, the only time you'd carry Rock Smash, Rock Climb, Strength, etc. is when you're doin some heavy duty cave exploring (although Surfing isn't as important in this generation than others). He also evolves at 25.

Zubat has a purpose in life, Pachirisu doesn't.

I don't think Heracross deserves low tier at all.
Yeah he has great stats but that isn't what this whole guide is based on its based on availability and efficiency as well.

To get a Heracross you have to slather honey on a tree, wait 6 hours (iirc moving the DS's clock forward doesn't work for honey trees) so you would actually have to wait 6 hours. And even after that theres only a 3.5% chance for a Heracross to appear, that isn't very efficient to me...

However, I'm fine with moving Wingull up because of the HM's it learns.

 

[Aerodactyl Legend]

I don't think Heracross deserves low tier at all.
Yeah he has great stats but that isn't what this whole guide is based on its based on availability and efficiency as well.

To get a Heracross you have to slather honey on a tree, wait 6 hours (iirc moving the DS's clock forward doesn't work for honey trees) so you would actually have to wait 6 hours. And even after that theres only a 3.5% chance for a Heracross to appear, that isn't very efficient to me...

However, I'm fine with moving Wingull up because of the HM's it learns.

Hm, I guess your right. I had bad memories when I was trying to catch some Burmy for the Macho Brace in Diamond a long time ago.

 

[Fireburn]

I feel you should mention Heracross is awesome IF AND ONLY IF you're lucky enough to get one.

Also I think Shinx should get high tier. Out of all of the available Electric-types, its the first and best one you can get. Luxray has very high Attack and respectable bulk (Esp with Intimidate), and it gets good enough coverage through Spark/Bite (and late game, Discharge/Crunch). The only problem I could see is lack of a very strong physical STAB. Evolutions are also relatively early and its level up movepool is good enough to not require many TMs, if at all.

Raichu is frail and requires a Stone to evolve. It actually has worse offenses than Luxray as well. (123/95 is way better than 90/90, and I guess you could use Light Ball Pikachu if you have the guts, but Pikachu takes hits like a wet paper bag.)

Pachirisu just sucks.

I agree with the rest of the list. :)

 

[Aerodactyl Legend]

Shinx was/is, honestly, a decent Pokemon in-game to begin with. Intimidate alone gave it an advantage over many foes in D/P. It's been proved because 95% of in-game and competitive teams carried Luxray at the beginning of the 4th Gen.

 

[Destiny Warrior]

Budew isn't that bad. I used it back when DP was released, and it consistently evolved by level 24. Roselia has rather poor coverage, true, but Grass STAB is decent enough to carry you till the cave where you pick up the Shiny Stone. After that, you can give it Sludge Bomb(a TM not many Pokemon are really going to use ingame anyway), and that will let it run till the elite 4. TMs like ENergy Ball and Shadow Ball I've skipped, because other mons might potentially need them.

I think it deserves to go up a tier.

I think Combee deserves Mid. Gust makes it a bit of a pain to train, true, but after level 21, it pays back its cost very nicely. Bug STAB is great in game, and to top it off, it gets Heal Order, and has good enough bulk to make it easy for it to tank a hit or 2 as you heal up. Its slow, but ingame, the Quick Claw is decent enough for it, and most of the time Vespiquen will be tanking the hits easily when it doesn't activate, so its not like it heavily relies on it. Basically, this is another Magikarp case, except its actually possible to train it without babying as much as Karp.

 

[Aerodactyl Legend]

Budew isn't that bad. I used it back when DP was released, and it consistently evolved by level 24. Roselia has rather poor coverage, true, but Grass STAB is decent enough to carry you till the cave where you pick up the Shiny Stone. After that, you can give it Sludge Bomb(a TM not many Pokemon are really going to use ingame anyway), and that will let it run till the elite 4. TMs like ENergy Ball and Shadow Ball I've skipped, because other mons might potentially need them.

I think it deserves to go up a tier.

I think Combee deserves Mid. Gust makes it a bit of a pain to train, true, but after level 21, it pays back its cost very nicely. Bug STAB is great in game, and to top it off, it gets Heal Order, and has good enough bulk to make it easy for it to tank a hit or 2 as you heal up. Its slow, but ingame, the Quick Claw is decent enough for it, and most of the time Vespiquen will be tanking the hits easily when it doesn't activate, so its not like it heavily relies on it. Basically, this is another Magikarp case, except its actually possible to train it without babying as much as Karp.

To address Combee first, you must get it from a Honey Tree. Though it's not a Heracross, there's still the annoyance of waiting six hours. If you adventure after "slathering" the honey, you'd might have to backtrack, to add to the annoyance. With a 30 base Special Attack, Gust is not doing any much better than Tackle. And when you evolve it, it's just a more defensive bug. It's nothing like Gyarados, who has 130 Attack and a powerful Stab move(Vespiquen has only 80 in both offenses and has to wait for Slash and Attack Order). Offensive Pokemon are always better in-game than defensive Pokemon. However, it can heal itself instantly very fast, and Power Gem is Ok at evolution I suppose. I just don't like the typing (hit by Rock, Fire, Electric, Ice, and Flying). If other people feel it should go up, then Low tier is alright.

Your mentioning of Budew had me thinking. Shouldn't (some) Baby Pokemon be treated differently? For several of them, you need to breed them by using an item. If you don't then you get their evolutions from the eggs. They changed the concept in DP though. You are able to catch them all now, so I guess their names are good enough for the evolutionary line. It could be different for previous Gens though.

Ok, you can catch Budew on your own, but it must be happy for it to evolve (and it must be at daytime). That will take a while without the Soothe Bell available as soon as you get it and only having Mega Drain to attack with. I'd rather catch Roselia and go from there. For those two at least, how should it be done? Add Roselia or move Budew up? Roserade is pretty good if you give it Shadow Ball or Sludge Bomb.