Pokemon RBY In-game Tiers

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Call me crazy, but I think Caterpie can stay out of Bottom tier just because of Butterfree's Confusion. Confusion wrecks Brock and holds true through Mount Moon.
Butterfree has a lot going for it as a utility. Access to Stun Spore and Sleep Powder allows you to catch pokemon much easier, and it levels up quick so it gets those moves quick. However, late game its all sorts of terrible as a battler. I wouldn't say its bottom-tier, I'd say its low-tier, because its useful but it just can't keep up. But yeah.

And Glen, to respond as quickly as I can: Yes I read your posts and I was just trying to be succinct instead of answering ever sentence line by line, Venasaur does not KO everything with Razor Leaf/Body Slam (Gengar mostly), and yes I remember this game because I've played through it multiple times. Also, I mentioned above that I'm not weighing in on this anymore, I've been argued down by everybody, so I don't know why you needed to respond so whatever, hell I don't even know why I'm responding in return. Wherever Charmander lands on the tiering is wherever he lands. You win, I lose, whatever.

As long as Alakazam is still king of RBY, I'm fine. Also, I think I will re-do Abra because the entry I submitted looks a little loose.
 
Looking back on it, I should put an addendum in Lickitung's entry saying it's bottom tier in Yellow since you can only get it post-game, thus making it completely irrelevant.
 

breh

強いだね
Omanyte, Jigglypuff, Hitmonlee, Dodrio, Mr. Mime


Omastar:
-Availability: Rather late, after the fifth gym
-Stats: Amazing; even as an Omanyte, it has great 90 base Special, which later goes up to 115 base as an Omastar
-Movepool: Its movepool consists of Water moves/Ice moves. Of course, this is far from a bad thing - its Water moves are strong (you have Surf by the time you have Omanyte and Hydro Pump is a neat little bonus) while the Ice moves come in the form of Ice Beam and Blizzard. Both fit well on to Omastar if they're not already on something else.
-Power: 115 base Special and a 95 BP move. That's pretty damn good if you ask me. It has great 125 base Defense, too.
-Type: Its type is essentially like Water + Normal resist. I don't think I saw a single super-effective attack hit it throughout most of the game; its weaknesses are just that poorly distributed. Having a resistance to Normal- and Poison-type moves is nice in Silph Co. as well.
-Match-ups:
Blaine: ha
Sabrina: You could use it - its Special is pretty high - but it's easier to just stick with a physical attacker. With enough Potions, you can get it through.
Giovanni: ha
Lorelei: Everything on her team resists Omastar's moves; it's not a good idea to use here.
Bruno: It can take out Hitmonchan and the Onix with ease, but be careful leaving in in on Machamp and Hitmonlee - they 2HKO.
Agatha: If you have enough Awakenings or get lucky with Hypnosis accuracy, Omastar will do fine. It has high enough Special to withstand Dream Eater, too.
Lance: Bar Gyarados, not a single one of his Pokemon can hit you neutrally. Ice Beam away.
Champion: Hurts Pidgeot, can take an Alakazam Psychic + Psybeam and eventually win, wins against the Fire mon no problem, and OHKOes Rhydon. Does well.

Tier: Mid, if only because you get it so late and because it has only ok Speed. Has no issues training and has very high power when you get it.

Jigglypuff:
-Availability: Very early, Route 3
-Stats: As a Jigglypuff, it's pretty bad, but it gets better as Wigglytuff. Its HP is gargantuan, which in itself is an ingame problem (high HP means more Potions); however, as Wigglytuff, its Attack is sufficient, its Defense is the same, and its Special is bad.
-Movepool: It doesn't need much TM support because it doesn't learn anything good to begin with. If you feel like getting rid of the Body Slam TM as soon as you get it, it will do you very well. If you're like me, you can also level it to 34 to get Body Slam by level and then evolve it. I'm not kidding when I say that Jigglypuff's Mega Punch is actually not that bad.
-Power: Surprisingly, having Normal-type STAB is really good. Body Slam will carry Wigglytuff through the game and, oddly enough, deal sufficient damage.
-Type: Switch if you see a Rock- (if you don't team it Submission) or Ghost-type, but otherwise, it gets nice neutral coverage.
-Match-ups:
Misty: IIRC its Mega Punch OHKOed Staryu as a Jigglypuff.
Lt. Surge: It can take down a few of his mons; it won't solo his team, but it'll hold its own.
Erika: You could use it, but there are better mons to use. It'll work if nothing else is sufficient.
Koga: See above
Blaine: You should probably keep Wigglytuff away; Fire Blast hurts, even with its gargantuan HP.
Sabrina: See above, but it will hurt any one of her Pokemon with STAB Body Slam after taking a Psychic. All the better if you paralyze turn 1.
Giovanni: See Erika
Lorelei: See Erika
Bruno: Bad idea
Agatha: Can't touch her non-Ghost-types at all
Lance: See Erika; can tank a few hits, which is nice.
Champion: Surprisingly good; it can tank a few hits when you need it to and hit back hard enough.

Tier: Low; Wigglytuff is actually not as terrible as you'd expect it to be. STAB Body Slam is really just that solid of a move. Unfortunately, everything it does is done better, more or less, by Clefable, which is similar in most facets, but trades lower defenses for better stats everywhere. Definitely not Bottom, though, that's for sure.

Hitmonlee:
-Availability: As soon as you get to Celadon, which means after the third gym, I think
-Stats: Good Attack, OK Speed, terrible Special and HP
-Movepool: It has Double Kick and Meditate to start (and can be bought Submission as soon as you get it) and really learns very little that can help it from there. If you have Body Slam, its life becomes easier - it can actually do damage to anything that resists Fighting - but it's difficult to train otherwise.
-Power: It's not overwhelmingly strong (it relies on a 60 BP move) and dies often. Sure, its Attack is strong, but it gets little in the way of moves to support it.
-Type: Although it's nice to OHKO Raticates, bar that, it's just an extra weakness. If Hitmonlee was Normal-typed, it would have an easier time.
-Match-ups:
Erika: Everything resists Fighting bar Tangela.
Koga: See above.
Blaine: You could try, but be careful; Fire Blast will hurt.
Sabrina: ha ha ha
Giovanni: I don't suggest you try. It doesn't fare too well against anything.
Lorelei: I was happy to discover that you can OHKO the whole of her team because her Dewgong will use Rest on Hitmonlee over and over because of the poor AI rules. Set up 6 Meditates and you're good.
Bruno: You can also set up 6 Meditates against Onix and sweep.
Agatha: ha ha ha
Lance: Bad idea; nothing takes Double Kick all that badly and everything hits hard back.
Champion: It doesn't get to do much, to be honest.

Tier: Low; I totally expected this thing to suck less than it did. 60 BP STAB move or kill yourself a bit more with every blow is, more or less, the choice that you make every turn. Its movepool is lacking.

Doduo:
-Availability: Before the fourth Gym, which is great, considering it sweeps Erika
-Stats: Yes; Dodrio is like Tauros with less bulk but a bit more power. It's strong, fast, and crits often.
-Movepool: You get Fly as soon as you have access to it. I literally learned Drill Peck as soon as I began to run out of Fly PP in Rocket HQ. It is one of the few mons in the game to get STAB on Tri Attack, which is a pretty useless TM otherwise. Normal/Flying is really good enough, tbh.
-Power: It OHKOes most frail things with Drill Peck; if it doesn't OHKO, it won't be OHKOed back.
-Type: Drill Peck is a pretty good STAB and so is Tri Attack; it doesn't have much in the way of resistances.
-Match-ups:
Erika: You catch Doduo at around level 20 and by the time you exit you'll be around level 30.
Koga: If you want, you can use it, but it's probably smarter to refrain from using it.
Sabrina: It OHKOes and outspeeds her team.
Blaine: You probably shouldn't use it, but it'll pull its weight.
Giovanni: Don't use it here.
Lorelei: Again, don't use it here.
Bruno: It OHKOes his Fighting-types; stay away from the Onix.
Agatha: Fares well against the Ghost-types; switch from Golbat for the sake of confusion hax.
Lance: It'll work here, but be careful.
Champion: OHKOes his Grass-type, fares well against the rest of his team bar Rhydon, but not exceptionally so.

Tier: High; Does really well throughout the game, hits really hard or just crit OHKOes most things due to its high speed, has good enough coverage. Good for Fly; a generally satisfactory mon.

Mr. Mime
-Availability: Before the third Gym (after you get Cut)
-Stats: Yes; its stats are really quite good. It's a Psychic-type; it can't be bad.
-Movepool: It starts with Confusion, gets Thunderbolt, and is happy from there. Once you get Psychic, Mr. Mime is set. Light Screen is a nice bonus.
-Power: 100 base Special and the best STAB in the game serve it well. It levels up stupidly fast and will get to the point that it disobeys you just out of the sheer volume of experience it receives.
-Type: It's a Psychic-type. It has no relevant weaknesses and its STAB is neutral on everything but Psychic-types. Only Exeggutor does not take at least neutral from its moves.
-Match-ups:
Lt. Surge: I'd imagine it does well, but I can't say anything because I accidentally took on Surge before getting Mr. Mime.
Erika: It will happily OHKO her team with Confusion/Psychic.
Koga: ha
Blaine: Be careful, but it'll work.
Sabrina: If you're out of Pokemon that can take on Alakazam / Kadabra, Mr. Mime can wall them both and wait for Special falls.
Giovanni: Although it's a bit risky to use, it hits hard as always.
Lorelei: You could use it here - it does have Thunderbolt - but tread carefully.
Bruno: Be careful with the Onix, but otherwise have fun.
Agatha: She's a Poison-type Elite Four; she doesn't fare too well.
Lance: It OHKOes Gyarados and does okay against the rest. Don't make it take Hyper Beams; it will not live them.
Champion: It'll hurt Venusaur, seriously damage Gyarados (hope it doesn't Hyper Beam), 2HKO Pidgeot, and can stall for time against Alakazam, even while grossly underleveled.

Tier: High; if you can't trade Abra, you might as well use this. It doesn't get Psybeam for the sake of PP, crits a bit less, and is a bit weaker, but is a bit sturdier to compensate and levels up stupidly fast.
 
Looking back on it, I should put an addendum in Lickitung's entry saying it's bottom tier in Yellow since you can only get it post-game, thus making it completely irrelevant.
If you can only get it post-game, then it should be in the "untiered" category. I also think that Red/Blue Lickitung should be Bottom Tier, due to the fact that you have to raise the mediocre Slowpoke all the way to Lv. 37 before you can get it, and you'll have better options when you get it, such as Clefable and Snorlax, who both have better availability and movepools. The only advantage Lickitung has above those two is boosted experience, but that alone doesn't justify using a Pokemon.

@breh
If you don't mind, I'm going to go through each of your submissions, and put them in hide tags individually, giving my opinions on each of them.
You seem to commonly note its high Special and Surf, while not mentioning its even higher Defense. I also noticed that you didn't talk much about Ice Beam or Blizzard, seemingly focusing more on its resistance to Normal and Base 115 Special. Personally, I think Low fits it better.

Looks pretty good, no problems here.

I don't think you even mentioned Jump Kick and Hi Jump Kick, 2 of the best Fighting moves in the game. I think that it's better in Mid, mainly because of the fact that it's one of the few Fighting-types that doesn't have to worry about recoil damage very much.

Looks good to me.

I have no problems with it, except I think that it should be Mid, because it's outclassed by Abra, and has good competition in Drowzee.
 

breh

強いだね
Omanyte: It's not low because although you get it rather late, it really pulls its weight once you get it. Omanyte/star was good throughout the game; I never felt like I was lugging something useless around. Mid is where it should go if that's where Lapras (which is very similar, comes later and at a lower level, and has worse resistances; I don't think Thunderbolt and higher HP make that much of a difference) goes.

Hitmonlee:
The problem with the Jump Kicks is that they're still unpleasantly weak. Jump Kick looks cool, but Double Kick might as well be the same thing, except slightly more accurate with a better crit chance and better PP. Hi Jump Kick is indeed stronger than Double Kick and stronger than Submission to boot, but... unless you grind Hitmonlee (you'll need to do so; it doesn't get levels very easily to begin with), you're not going to have Hi Jump Kick by the time you get to the Elite Four. Perhaps I didn't fight enough trainers, but Hitmonlee was (to be frank) a pain to level and has trouble with most of the things in the game, which it really can't hit hard enough before death. IIRC I got HJK in the middle of the Bruno fight, lol.

Mr. Mime I put in High simply because although it gets significant competition from Hypno and Alakazam (which is in Top anyway), the former does not fully outclass it - it lacks Thunderbolt, is not traded (and thus will not level does not rise as if made of yeast), and is slower, giving it what equates to a Life Orb boost on average. Mr. Mime also has Light Screen and Barrier, which can both make Mr. Mime nigh unkillable without crits. Hypno is bulkier, but it does not outclass Mr. Mime; the reverse is also true. Abra should be in Top while Mr. Mime and Drowzee should be in Top (don't know about the other Psychics).
 
Just one thing to note on the Mr Mime entry, you stated that you might as well use Mr Mime if you can't trade Abra, but Kadabra's base special is still 120 and his base speed is 105, in both cases it's the 4th best psychic-type stat-wise (and that's including Mew and Mewtwo). While even frailer than Alakazam, Kadabra still outpaces Mr Mime and outdamages him, so it's not necessarily a replacement in that scenario. That being said, Mr Mime isn't bad because Psychics are godly in this game and he is much bulkier.

If the choice comes between Hypno and Mr Mime, just remember that the choice comes between status, natural bulk and a decent physical movepool for the former and boosting moves, better natural speed and a wider special movepool.
 

Nix_Hex

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Mr. Mime doesnt get an attack other than Confusion until 31 where it learns the almighty DoubleSlap. In the mean time, it also eats up your only Thunderbolt TM, which is much better used on other high/top Pokemon like Jolteon and Zapdos. Mid tier because it levels up quickly and eating up your Psychic TM isn't a big deal.
 
Lapras is mid tier at worst. It doesn't require nearly as much babying as it's been mentioned. It EASILY grinds in Cinnibar (water/ice resists fire in RBY) and demolishes Blaine and Giovanni with its STABs alone.
None of Lorelei's pokemon can touch it, period and it only needs Body Slam, which it naturally learns via level up, to beat her.
That might be true, but why would you go to the trouble of grinding it if you could use Vaporeon or Gyarados instead? They both are obtained earlier and thus can be more useful with higher special bulk with the ability to gain levels faster (Vaporeon), or more power while still being able to learn Body Slam/Thunderbolt (Gyarados). You could even catch a Ponyta and trade it for a Seel, which has the same typing and gains boosted experience.
 

Nix_Hex

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Lapras is mid tier at worst. It doesn't require nearly as much babying as it's been mentioned. It EASILY grinds in Cinnibar (water/ice resists fire in RBY) and demolishes Blaine and Giovanni with its STABs alone.
None of Lorelei's pokemon can touch it, period and it only needs Body Slam, which it naturally learns via level up, to beat her.
Just a nitpick but Water/Ice is definitely neutral to Fire. Not that it matters aince its Special is decent and Lapras will be taking them out quickly enough with Surf anyway.
 
Just a nitpick but Water/Ice is definitely neutral to Fire. Not that it matters aince its Special is decent and Lapras will be taking them out quickly enough with Surf anyway.
Actually, it does resist Fire in RBY, kind of like how Grass/Poison-types are weak to Ground. It's a programming error.
 

Pinsir (Bottom Tier)
Availability: (Blue/Yellow Only) Players who want Pinsir can buy him from the Rocket Game Corner if they have the coins. He's only 2500 in Blue, but costs a ridiculous 6500 in Yellow. Alternatively, he's in the Safari Zone, but he's rare and pretty difficult to catch.
Stats: Pinsir has great Attack and good Defense, but is really let down by his average Speed and terrible HP and Special.
Movepool: Pinsir may have the worst move pool in the game. He learns no STAB moves and he can only learn non-Normal moves (besides Seismic Toss) through TM. It's not all horrible though; Pinsir gets Swords Dance and Guillotine through Level-Up and can make decent use of the buyable Submission TM. However, unless you want to waste your Body Slam TM on him, it'll be stuck with Slash in the fourth slot, which has pretty terrible synergy with Swords Dance. In Yellow it gets Bind, so it can trap whatever is slower with some luck.
Power: All in all, even though Pinsir has decent stats it's entirely outclassed by almost everything. It doesn't have the bulk to tank hits while setting up Swords Dance, and doesn't get any STAB to work with. Even off that great Attack stat, it'll hardly ever get OHKOs and gets wrecked by any Special, Flying, or Rock move sent his way. You can fish for OHKOs with Guillotine, but Pinsir's low Speed means it's not reliable. If you teach it Submission you can do some damage to things weak to Fighting, but it doesn't have any other redeeming qualities.
Type: Pinsir is really just a Fighting-type wannabe. It would be much better if it had STAB on Submission. Heck, even being Normal would be an improvement. As it is, Bug typing really hurts him since it means he has no STAB at all. Being weak to for somewhat common types (mainly Flying and Poison) doesn't help either.
Match Ups: Pinsir does horrible against almost everything. What did you expect with such horrible typing and coverage?
--Erika:It can chip away at Tangela, but shouldn't face anything with a poison-type move.
--Koga: Koga destroys you. End of story.
--Sabrina: Pinsir's low Special and HP means he can't take many Psychic hits. He should sit this one out too.
--Blaine: Lol
--Giovanni: Pinsir can actually do okay against Rhyhorn, Rhydon and Dugtrio in Blue and Persian in Yellow, but needs Submission.
--Lorelei: Pinsir can dish out some damage with Submission, but is let down by his low Special, so he can't take hits.
--Bruno: A Fighting resistance actually comes in handy here. You can set up Swords Dance against Hitmonlee and Machamp (both versions) or Hitmonchan in Blue and sweep with Strength or Submission.
--Agatha: Pinsir can't even touch 3/5 pokemon. Pass.
--Lance: Not great in Blue, but even worse in Yellow since Lance's Dragons get better moves.
--Blue: He can take on Rhydon in Blue and Sandslash in Yellow, but you should really have a better option for both of those.
Additional Comments: If the analysis hasn't convinced you, let me make this clear. There is no good reason to use Pinsir. He has horrible typing, an even worse move pool, and embarrassing Special and HP for a fully evolved pokemon. His middling Speed is the final nail in the coffin, meaning his great Attack is really wasted. He's not even a good HM slave since he comes too late for Cut and you probably have plenty of other things to learn Strength. In a nutshell, there's nothing Pinsir can do that something else can't do much better. If you must use Pinsir, be sure to teach him Submisison and then hope for the best.
 
Might as well get one of the late-game Water-types out of the way.


Goldeen - Bottom Tier
Availability: Most Routes that have water in them, but you need the Good/Super Rod. Keep in mind that it'll be Lv. 10 with the Good Rod, and Lv. 15 with the Super Rod. Evolves at Lv. 33. Can be caught as a Seaking in Route 23 and Fuchsia City with the Super Rod, but it'll still be Lv. 15.
Stats: If your highest base stat was 92 Attack, would you be proud of yourself?
Movepool: Learns Waterfall via level-up, which is clearly outclassed by Surf. The only other notable level-up moves are Horn Attack (65 base power...) and Horn Drill (relies on you being faster).
Power: Bla bla bla Lv. 15 when you get it, requires grinding to be useful, yadda yadda.
Type: Water might be a good typing if every other Pokemon you could get at this point in the game wasn't one. Because it doesn't have a secondary typing, there's nothing to distinguish it from the rest of the school.
Match-ups: Bla bla bla assuming you grinded enough, yadda yadda.
Koga: Does somewhat well as long as he doesn't spam Sludge/Minimize.
Sabrina: Gee, a team of fast Psychic-types up against a slow Water-type, I wonder who's going to win... [/sarcasm]
Blaine: He loses so long as you don't get Fire Spin spammed.
Giovanni: The only thing you have to worry about when fighting him in Red/Blue is Dugtrio's Slash. In Yellow, his Persian knows Slash instead of Dugtrio, and his Nidos know Thunder.
Lorelei: All of her team (minus Jynx) resists Water, and 3 of those can take repeated physical hits all day.
Bruno: His 2 Onix lose to every Water or Grass-type in the game, so beating them isn't really notable. Seaking also lacks the bulk to take more than 1 Hi Jump Kick or Submission.
Agatha: Her entire team (minus potentially Arbok, who has Glare to compensate) is faster than you, meaning you'll get statused like no tomorrow.
Lance: 4 of his Pokemon resist Water, and the one that doesn't can pelt you with a Hyper Beam. In Yellow, his first Dragonair and Dragonite know Thunderbolt and Thunder, respectively, discouraging Seaking from Ice Beaming his team.
Additional Comments: **** YEAH SEAKING
On a more serious note, Seaking is terrible and there is no reason to use it unless you like it.
 
Actually, it does resist Fire in RBY, kind of like how Grass/Poison-types are weak to Ground. It's a programming error.
It's an error alright, but not the way you think it is. It displays "It's super effective", but it actually isn't when it comes to damage calculation.

Also Pinsir can hit Ghosts with Seismic Toss, and should crit pretty much all the time with Slash.

High Critical Hit Moves

Razor Leaf, Slash, Crabhammer, and Karate Chop are attacks with a greater chance for a critical hit. Like normal critical hits, they are also based on base Speed, but the formula is slightly different, almost guaranteeing a critical hit on every attack.

Formula to calculate a Pokemon's High Critical Hit ratio: CH%=BaseSpeed*100/64.

85 base * 100 / 64 = 132% crit

Please, if you don't know your RBY mechanics, look them up before making an entry, or don't make one at all.
 
It's an error alright, but not the way you think it is. It displays "It's super effective", but it actually isn't when it comes to damage calculation.

Also Pinsir can hit Ghosts with Seismic Toss, and should crit pretty much all the time with Slash.
Yeah I know, but who in their right mind would actually run Seismic Toss? My mistake on the crit chance, I was looking at Pokemon Stadium's numbers. Ill fix it. Probably should've gotten some sleep before writing it :p
 
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Krabby - Low Tier (Bottom Tier in Red)
Availability: Can be caught as a Kingler in Seafoam Islands (Lv. 39 in Blue, Lv. 30 in Yellow). In Red, you'll have to make due with a Lv. 15 Krabby caught with a Super Rod in most Cities that have bodies of water in them.
Stats: Titanic Attack and Defense, but pathetic Special. Its Speed is barely high enough to be useful.
Movepool: Crabhammer, which is better than Surf thanks to its massive crit rate, would be game-breaking if it didn't have forgettable Special. At least it learns Stomp.
Power: Stomp coming off a base 130 is going to hurt, so long as you aren't a Rock- or Ghost-type, both of which aren't exactly common late-game. Unimpressive HP and disappointing Special mean that it has trouble taking even resisted special hits, however.
Type: Because of its awful Special, it can't use Water-type moves effectively, and it doesn't have a physical secondary typing to take advantage of its gigantic Attack.
Match-ups:
Sabrina: Her Pokemon have massive Special, in contrast to Kingler's pitiful Special.
Blaine: Low HP and Special mean that Fire Blast will leave quite a dent in your crab's exoskeleton. Crabhammer still hurts, though.
Giovanni: His Rhyhorn/don and Dugtrio have just low enough Special for Crabhammer to KO, but the Nidos can occasionally survive one. In Yellow, those Nidos now know Thunder, meaning that having Kingler fight them is inadvisable. Kingler generally has the bulk to take a Slash, even factoring in criticals.
Lorelei: All of her Pokemon are mainly special attackers, and 3 of them have respectable physical bulk.
Bruno: Crabhammer takes care of his 2 Onix, and gives his Hitmons respectable bruises. Kingler also has enough bulk to take a Hi Jump Kick and/or a Submission.
Agatha: 3 of her Pokemon are immune to Stomp, and have high Special, allowing them to take repeated Crabhammers, not to mention their easily higher Speed and access to status moves.
Lance: Kingler can take a Hyper Beam, but can't do much back, due to how weak his Ice Beam is.
Additional Comments: Kingler has good stats, but they're poorly distributed, giving it only average Speed and forcing it to use non-STAB attacks for an acceptable damage output. Water's also an overdone type by the time you get it, and it has nothing to offer aside from massive Attack and Defense. At least it comes at a great level 39/30 in Blue/Yellow, respectively.
 
Just re-did the Abra post as some key points were missing, as were analysis on some of the gym leaders. Thoughts, opinions? Anything I missed? If its good to go, just copy/paste it over. Thanks :)

Abra - Top Tier

Availability: Early, before second gym. While hard to catch, Butterfree, Clefairy and Jigglypuff all learn Sleep Powder, and with RBY sleep mechanics, you can just keep putting Abra to sleep until you catch him so he doesn't teleport. Alternatively, you can wait until you reach Celadon to buy him for 180/120/230 (R/B/Y) coins.
Stats: Above Average
Movepool: Very limited, only gets STAB moves and utility moves. However it learns everything it needs by level 38 and can afford to run monotype offense.
Power: Having huge base stats in speed and special make Abra a huge threat to everything else. The strongest Psychic type in the game that isn't Mew or Mewtwo when it evolves, this gives it pure type advantage against everything. Confusion, Psybeam and Psychic are all really powerful in the game and hit everything that isn't a psychic type for neutral damage. It's worth noting that even if you can't evolve to get Alakazam, Kadabra's base Special is 125 and it's base Speed is 105, well above average. In addition, their speed means that they will both be dealing critical hits around 1/3rd of the time.
Type: No pokemon in RBY resists Psychic aside from other Psychics. In addition, Psychics resist Fighting and Poison, are immune to Ghost and are only weak to Bug which don't have any threatening moves in this game.
Match-ups:
Misty: If it's an Abra still it won't have any offensive moves. Kadabra/Alakazam can take Staryu and do some damage to Starmie, but it won't win unless its overlevelled or you get lucky with what moves it chooses.
Lt Surge: Kadabra makes short work of Voltorb and Pikachu. Raichu packs Thunderbolt which will hurt, but he shouldn't use it more than once on you depending on your level. Raichu can KO, so make sure to have a back-up waiting in the wings to finish the gym off.
Erika: If you used Kadabra/Alakazam to fight the rockets they/he should be more than strong enough to sweep the entire gym. You should OHKO everything in the gym with Psybeam, even Tangela who isn't weak to it. You can waste your Psychic TM on him at this point, but he learns it naturally in 10 levels anyway.
Koga: Way too easy with Psybeam. There are Jugglers in this gym who use Psychic-types, but none of them are a problem. Koga's entire team is weak to Psychic and nothing he has is as fast as Kadabra/Alakazam
Blaine: Will have Psychic by now and will have no trouble. Can take even Fire Blasts with its monster special but watch for Rapidash's Stomp or Arcanine's Take-Down.
Sabrina: Psychic is only resisted by other psychics, and Kadabra/Alakazam is the best of the bunch, so while the other psychics will resist your attacks, you will resist theirs in-turn. Watch out for Sabrina's Alakazam, for the same reasons that everyone else should watch out for yours. If you fought the gym leaders in this order though, you should be over-leveled though and have no trouble.
Giovanni: You are faster than all of his pokemon, and they all have terrible Special stats. You should sweep the gym no problem, just make sure to go all out as you can't take a single physical attack from anything. Your speed means you don't have to worry about Fissure or Horn Drill.
Lorelei: At this point you sweep her entire team and can take pretty much all special moves they can throw at you. Just don't go up against Jynx unless you have to, as it resists Psychic and can significantly wear out your sustainability.
Bruno: Sweeps. Of the 5 pokemon Bruno uses, the only 2 not weak to Psychic have terrible special stats and are incredibly slow. You should not have a problem.
Agatha: All her pokemon are weak to Psychic-type moves. Just use Psybeam, don't waste your Psychic PP.
Lance: Make sure you are a higher level than Aerodactyl, as its Hyper Beam will KO you and it's just faster than Alakazam at the same level. With that being said, you should sweep no problem, none of his Dragons are bulky enough to survive STAB Psychic.
Rival: If you've chosen Squirtle, your rival will have a Venusaur, and in that case there is nothing that can stop Alakazam except your rival's Alakazam. If you are a higher level, you should take it down though. Watch out for Exeggutor (Charmander and Bulbasaur only though) as it resist Psychic and will hit you with physical moves or hypnosis. In Yellow, your rival will likely have a Jolteon (if you beat him twice) which is often faster without a large level disparity and carries Pin Missile, which can crit over multiple hits and is supereffective. Still, Alakazam is not truly threatened and should OHKO in return.
Additional Notes: Even though Abra needs to be trained like Magicarp, it levels up to Kadabra at level 16 and it levels up quickly. You can then evolve it immediately to Alakazam if you have a friend and/or a trade cartridge. While not as potent as Alakazam, not being able to evolve doesn't make Kadabra useless, but will need to be 5-8 levels higher to do what Alakazam can reasonably do. As Kadabra/Alakazam, it is self-sufficient after that moment and requires no TM support. It is advisable to run Psybeam/Psychic/Recover with any other move of your choice as this allows Kadabra/Alakazam to have some staying power as well as not being limited by PP.
 
@Garud
It takes 6 Confusions for Alakazam to beat Misty's Starmie, while it only takes 3 Bubblebeams to beat Alakazam. Seismic Toss 3HKOes, but Bubblebeam can crit.
4 members of Koga's Gym are Jugglers, who have all Psychics, and the only Pokemon in Koga's gym that are weak to Psycic (besides Koga's team) are 2 Arbok.
Finally, Lance's Aerodactyl doesn't know Rock Slide, because Aerodactyl can't learn any Rock-type attacks.

Speaking of Aerodactyl...


Aerodactyl - Low Tier (at best)
Availability: Cinnabar Island, at Lv. 30. You need the Old Amber.
Stats: The second highest Speed in the game, with nice Attack to boot. It's very fragile, though.
Movepool: To sum its level-up movepool up: Wing Attack (35BP in Gen I), Supersonic, Normal-type Attacks. It can learn Fire Blast, but doesn't have the Special to use it effectively. It also doesn't have access to any Rock-type moves.
Power: It's one of the few Flying-types that are both walled by Rock-types and weak to the abundant Water-types. Lack of good STAB means that it'll generally be reliant on Fly and Take Down for damage. If the opponent can survive a crit Fly/Take Down, it can generally leave Aero in the yellow/red.
Type: Aerodactyl has a great offensive typing. Unfortunately, the best STAB it can use is Fly. Also, while it's the only Pokemon in RBY to resist Normal and Ground, it's also weak to Water, which is all over the place.
Match-ups:
Blaine: Because of Aero's mediocre defenses, STAB Fire Blast is seriously going to hurt, even though it's resisted. Basically, spam Fly and hope for Criticals.
Giovanni: You resist his entire team's moves, except for his Nidoking/queen in Yellow, because of Thunder. Also keep in mind that Aerodactyl can't exactly do anything to Rhyhorn/don.
Lorelei: Her team's STAB is SE on you. No further explanation is necessary.
Bruno: His 2 Onix (embarassingly) wall you, but the rest of his team is easily dealt with by Fly.
Agatha: Her entire team is physically frail, and Aero's naturally faster then all of them.
Lance: While Aerodactyl resists Hyper Beam, Lance's Gyarados knows Hydro Pump. Don't push your luck otherwise. In Yellow, his 2 Dragonair and Dragonite now know moves that are SE against your pterodactyl.
Additional Comments: Aerodactyl is a great example of how important STAB is, in the inverse manner. As you can see, Fly deals heavy damage to anything that doesn't resist it. Lack of Rock-type moves to use, late joining time, and a weakness to Water hamper its usefulness. At least Fly is good on it, thanks to STAB, base 105 Attack, and a 25% crit rate.
 

Brambane

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Ditto - Bottom Tier
Availability: The earliest you can get it is Route 13, but only in Red and Blue. You can find it in Pokemon Mansion in Yellow.
Stats: Untrasnformed, Ditto has a BST of 288, just enough to be absolutely useless. When transformed, Ditto copies the opponents stats aside from HP, which is still pitifully low. This works very much against Ditto. Unlike every other Pokemon in the game, Ditto's stats are forced to be terrible because he can never truly "outlevel" the opponent. He is stuck with the stats he Transforms, which takes away the advantage of being a higher level.
Movepool: Transform. Most ingame trainers use terrible movesets as well, so don't think that will save you, either.
Power: Depends entirely on what you turn in to. If you turn in to Fearow, who has high Attack but low Defense, you're golden. If you transform in to Onix, who has garbage Attack and insane Defense, well, you're not golden. Oh, and since the Special stat isn't split, you will always be doing disappointing damage there.
Type: Ditto is a Normal-type with no STAB. If a Pokemon is carrying a move super-effective against itself, pray you don't get hit by it after you Transform.
Match Ups:
Erika - You are REALLY going out of your way to get Ditto if you are using it against Erika. You can actually do pretty well here: she leads of with Pokemon that use trapping moves.
Koga - You are going to be walling each other, so expect a long fight. Except in Yellow version, since he runs Psychic on his Pokemon.
Sabrina - You wall each other. Not exactly the base way to go. You can probably oneshot Venomoth, though.
Blaine - Again, you pretty much wall each other. Don't bother.
Giovanni - In R/B, don't expect Ditto to do anything. In Yellow, Transform into Dugtrio and spam Earthquake, which hits everything but Persian and his own Dugtrio super-effective (but they are frail as hell anyways).
Lorelei - You wall each other. Don't use Ditto here.
Bruno -If you can Transform into Hitmonlee, you can spam Hi-Jump Kick. Good luck surviving long enough to do so.
Agatha - You can do extremely well against her with her high level Gengar. Just not anything else.
Lance - None of Lance's Pokemon are exceptionally vulnerable to each other, except for Yellow Dragonite who can easily clean his own team.
Additional Comments: Ditto may seems to do actually well against a few major fights, but keep in mind that they can use the same strategy to beat Ditto you are using to beat them. You can't breed in Gen I, so that utility is gone too. Don't use Ditto.
 

Chou Toshio

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Staryu-- is this thing really top tier? I mean, sure it can clear out Blaine, Giovanni, and the E4 with ease because of coverage / speed / special, but the thing comes so late, at such a low level, and to get it at its earliest (skip the celadon battle, run down to fusia by bike road not battling anyone, grab the Surf HM, beat Koga, surf to seafoam, catch a level 32 Staryu) is so convoluted, and separating from the main route of the game.

I can't help but compare it to Gyarados:

Gyarados:
Pros:
-Good Bulk
-100 Special
-Thunderbolt + Blizzard + Surf / Hydro Pump
-125 Attack
-Hyper Beam, Body Slam (or Strength), Earthquake
-You Get it before Mount Moon and hit helps you beat 80% of the game

Cons:
-Needs significant training to get to Gyarados.
-TM Hungry (like Starmie isn't?), but it could do well enough with just Strength + Surf (something Starmie can't boast since it has no ATK)
-"Only" 81 Speed (Still outspeeds most of the in-game, and you have the power to kill stuff without relying on crits)
-4x Weak to Electric; MUCH less relevant in-game since basically nothing has electric-type Attacks, and Starmie wants to steer clear anyway. The only late-game enemies with Electric-type attacks are Yellow Lance's Dragnite / Dragonair (destroyed instantly by Gyarados or Starmie's Blizzard), and Jolteon (which neither wants to take on anyway...). If anything, Gyara has an advantage here in that it can Earthquake all the Saffron Scientist's Magnetons.

Starmie:
Pros:
-100 Special
-Thunderbolt + Blizzard + Surf / Hydro Pump + Psychic (like you really need Psychic...)
-Recover (does this matter? You're almost never going to use it, and it's in-game... why not use Full Restore?)
-115 Speed

Cons:
-lower bulk
-extremely TM hungry, and can't use any physical attacks (no normal coverage...)
-Comes extremely late... it'll only help you through the last part of the game...
-Comes significantly underleveled...



Overall, I'd say Gyarados is the far superior candidate, if only because it's giving you more benefit by helping you through a LOT more of the game, and plays basically the same except having massive ATK too.

Starmie might be a high or mid tier, but Gyarados should be ranked higher, or at least as high.
 
@Garud
It takes 6 Confusions for Alakazam to beat Misty's Starmie, while it only takes 3 Bubblebeams to beat Alakazam. Seismic Toss 3HKOes, but Bubblebeam can crit.
4 members of Koga's Gym are Jugglers, who have all Psychics, and the only Pokemon in Koga's gym that are weak to Psycic (besides Koga's team) are 2 Arbok.
Finally, Lance's Aerodactyl doesn't know Rock Slide, because Aerodactyl can't learn any Rock-type attacks.
Ok, fixed that up then. Hyper Beam is still trouble for Zam with Aerodactyl's speed. Coulda sworn I remember him using it, but maybe its the later gens thats warped my memory on that, I dunno.
Also fixed up the gym review. I remember I was way overlevelled when I fought Misty. It's still possible to win if its not using Bubblebeam, or if you are smart and use Disable on it when he does.
Koga's gym I'll adjust the wording, but it stands because Alakazam takes other Psychics.

Thanks for the feedback.
 

Carl

or Varl
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Maybe I misunderstood what you meant but.. Disable picks a move at random in RBY to disarm. It's not like later generations. So, in all likelihood, that won't help you against Misty much.
 
Maybe I misunderstood what you meant but.. Disable picks a move at random in RBY to disarm. It's not like later generations. So, in all likelihood, that won't help you against Misty much.
Yeah, in that case its a good point, if you use it you pretty much have to get lucky. I always thought Disable stopped the last move used, because even in RBY thats what it would always disable. I'd use a move, Drowzee would disable it. But its not in the entry so no harm, no foul there.
 

Chou Toshio

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Redoing Magikarp, because my original submission wasn't very impressive.


Magikarp - Mid Tier
Availability: You can buy it almost for free (500 Poke, to be precise), but at level 5.
Stats: As a Magikarp, it's got nothing going for it, except for okay Speed. Once it evolves, all of its stats (minus Speed) grow from pathetic to great.
Movepool: As a Magikarp, it starts out with the useless Splash, and can't properly defend itself until it grows to level 15 and learns Tackle. Once it's a Gyarados, however, it gets the more powerful Bite, and you can teach it the normally useless Water Gun via the normally useless TM12. It can also learn Thunderbolt and Ice Beam by TM, and Dragon Rage at level 25.
Power: For the first 15 levels, it won't be able to beat even a Caterpie 1-on-1. After it evolves, it can occasionally take on entire Routes by itself.
Type: Water's great when you get it, but it can't use any Water-type moves when you get it. When it evolves, its weakness to Electric becomes more amplified, but it now resists Grass and gains an immunity to Ground. Its newfound weaknesses to Ice and Rock aren't too bad, because Ice is rare in-game and Rock-types are washed away by Water Gun/Surf.
Match-ups: Because of how pathetic it is as a Magikarp, all of the following are assuming it's a Gyarados.
Misty: High Attack and resistance to Water mean that Misty's Pokemon are reliably beaten; however, it's quite unlikely that you'll have evolved Magikarp by the time you fight her.
Lt. Surge: Don't bother.
Erika: Gyarados resists Grass, but don't use it against her unless you're willing to teach it Ice Beam.
Koga: Surf hits his Pokemon's weaker Special, often KOing in 2 hits.
Sabrina: Bite/Body Slam/other Normal attack squishes her fragile Psychic-types.
Blaine: Gyarados's type advantage gives it the win.
Giovanni: See Blaine.
Lorelei: Gyara's weak to Ice, and needs Thunderbolt to harm her Pokemon, but her Lapras will usually survive a hit and send a Blizzard right back at it.
Bruno: His 2 Onix are turned to rubble by (insert Water-type attack here), and Hi Jump Kick/Submission is resisted by Gyarados's Flying secondary typing.
Agatha: Gyarados can't learn any moves that are SE against any of her Pokemon, except for Golbat. Don't use it against her unless you like seeing your sea serpent get statused.
Lance: 4 of his Pokemon resist Water, but all of them are weak to Ice. Keep in mind that all of his Pokemon know Hyper Beam, which preys on Gyarados's mediocre Defense. In Yellow, his 2 Dragonair and Dragonite know Thunderbolt/Ice Beam and Thunder+Blizzard, respectively.
Additional Comments: As shown above, Gyarados is awesome, but if you want to use it, you'll have to bear with the completely useless Magikarp for 15 long levels, due to its experience curve (Slow). Once it evolves, however, it becomes incredibly powerful and self-sufficient.
^

Got to fix this!


Magikarp - High Tier (it has to be better than or equal to Starmie)
Availability: You can buy it almost for free (500 Poke, to be precise), but at level 5 really early in the game, before Mt. Moon. You will have to cram to get it to level 20, which is a pain, but definitely doable. Considering that alternative Water-types with similar offensive prowess like Staryu and Lapras come extremely late in addition to being underleveled, it is definitely worth the effort.
Stats: As a Magikarp, it's got nothing going for it, except for okay Speed. Once it evolves, all of its stats grow from pathetic to fantastic. It has the same Special as Starmie, and more overall bulk than Blastoise. It has a monstrous 125 Base Attack, and a decent 81 Speed that will still outspeed most ingame opponents.
Movepool: Gyarados has a fantastic movepool, and performs terrifically throughout the game. Assuming you evolved the level 5 one you bought through cramming against wild Pokemon, you'll have a level 20 beast with Bite and Water Gun (by expendable TM). Water / Normal coverage carries Gyarados through the course of the game (hitting everything for neutral or better), and Gyarados becomes increasingly monstrous through the TMs of the next two gyms, Bubblebeam and Thunderbolt. Dragon Rage is a monstrous early game move that's wasted on Gyarados since it can OHKO everything with Bite and Bubblebeam. Gyarados also gets Ice Beam, Blizzard, Surf, Hydro Pump (at a very early level 41), Hyper Beam, Body Slam (or Strength), and Earthquake.
Power: For the first 15 levels, it won't be able to beat even a Caterpie 1-on-1. After it evolves, it can pretty much take the entire game on by itself once you clear Lt. Surge. Basically, using Gyarados is like starting the game with a Starmie or Lapras that also has 125 Base Attack to destroy shit using Normal Moves with. In other words, there's nothing in the game Gyarados can't over power really. If you go all out with TMs and teach it Earthquake / Thunderbolt / Blizzard / Surf (or Hydro Pump), Gyarados basically won't have any worthy opponents throughout the game.
Type: Water has perfect offensive coverage with Normal, and Gyarados is basically the only Water-type in the game that can mix-sweep successfully thanks to its 125 Attack and 100 Special. Its immunity to Ground, and resistances to Fire- and Water-type attacks are somewhat useful (especially since it can destroy Fire- and Water-types with Water- and Electric-type attacks), and its weaknesses to Electric- and Rock- are basically trivial since there are barely any opponents with Electric- or Rock- attacks...
Match-ups:
Misty: Matches Starmie at 100 Base Special and a Water-type resistance, but Gyarados has 125 Attack and neutral 60 base power Bite. In short, Gyarados has an overwhelming advantage here.
Lt. Surge: Lt. Surge is the one opponent Gyarados needs to steer clear from.
Erika: If you decide to teach it Ice Beam, Gyarados will destroy this gym. Otherwise, it's neutral to her weak Grass-type attacks, has 100 Special to soak them up, and can clobber her Pokemon's weaker Defense stats with Neutral attacks, especially if you taught it Body Slam. Dragon Rage can bring them down too.
Koga: Surf hits his Pokemon's weaker Special, often KOing in 2 hits.
Sabrina: Bite/Body Slam/other Normal attack squishes her fragile Psychic-types, and Gyarados's fat 100 Special holds up well.
Blaine: Gyarados's type advantage gives it the win with ease.
Giovanni: See Blaine.
Lorelei: Gyarados will rampage through her Pokemon, destroying them with Thunderbolt and crushing Jynx with a Normal-type attack or Earthquake. Lapras can survive a Thundebolt and hit Gyarados hard with its STAB Blizzard, so Gyarados will need to be at a decent level to beat it.
Bruno: His 2 Onix are turned to rubble by (insert Water-type attack here), and Hi Jump Kick/Submission is resisted by Gyarados's Flying secondary typing. All his Pokemon have low Special stats, on which Gyarados's STAB Surf will prey on.
Agatha: Gyarados will do well enough just spamming Surf, but if you have Earthquake, Gyarados one shots everything with Earthquake and Blizzard (or Thunderbolt for Golbat).
Lance: Thunderbolt Gyarados and Aerodactyle, Blizzard the rest. This is pretty straight-forward.
Rival: Jolteon and Magneton in Yellow, and MAYBE Alakazam, are the only Pokemon who give Gyarados any trouble.
Additional Comments: As shown above, Gyarados is awesome, but if you want to use it, you'll have to bear with the completely useless Magikarp for 15 long levels, due to its experience curve (Slow), and it is a real TM hog if you try to use it to its fullest. Once it evolves, however, it becomes incredibly powerful and self-sufficient. Excluding Alakazam, you will not find any Pokemon with the sheer destructive force of Gyarados until much later in the game, who will all be very underleveled on top of it. Give Magikarp the support it needs, and it will rampage through the game from start to finish. Keep in mind, even if you don't use Gyarados to its maximum potential with TMs, it will still be a tremendous asset to the team just by spamming Surf + Strength (in addition to being a useful HM slave).
 
Vulpix seems pretty bad. Either Ember is your only STAB until you get Fire Blast, or you spend almost as long to get Flamethrower. I don't see Vulpix having a relatively good match-up versus any gym leader with just Ember and its unevolved stats, not even Erika and Yellow Koga. Utility against those is low anyway, since they have so many weaknesses, and the difficulty in beating them lies in the spamming of status effect moves and Wrap.

The insta-Ninetales route seems a lot better. Still not stellar, but at least it'll be fast.

Agreeing that Staryu is being a little overrated. It blooms alright once you get it, but that's not for a very significant portion of the game. I think Mid tier is appropriate for it. I don't think you can argue Staryu gets the Thunderbolt/Ice Beam TMs: those are available way too early for them to be saved just so Staryu can get its seconds in the sun. Thunder and Blizzard are fair game.

I was gonna write Oddish for High tier initially but Grass is just so bad and Bellsprout was shoved into Mid so...


Oddish - Mid Tier

-Availability: Red and Yellow only. Available north of Cerulean (Route 24) and several others routes at L12-L14.
-Stats: The Oddish line is on the slow side (30-50 base), but most of the things it should be facing will be even slower. Everything else is about average (somewhere between 70 and 90 base).
-Movepool: Pretty much only learns Grass and Normal attacking moves. Absorb and Cut will have carry it for a pretty long time, which is rather bad when they don't get the job done. It does learn both Stun Spore and Sleep Powder extremely early, which are more useful than powerhouse attacks when capturing or fighting a really difficult enemy. Mega Drain TM can boost its power a little, but the only way to get some real power is to wait until L38 to evolve your Gloom and get Petal Dance. You can cleverly use the Shift mode to get around its side effect, but you really shouldn't be waiting that long to evolve Gloom.
-Power: Oddish isn't inherently powerful, but it does get the job done just fine when facing things weak or neutral to it. It's not going to steamroll through stronger opponents though unless it has a type advantage, and might have to rely on Sleep Powder to comfortably win a one on one, which is not good.
-Type: Grass is bad offensively for about half the game, good for a third, and okay versus the rest. It beats anything Hikers and Swimmers throw at it, but a lot of other generic enemies (such as Bird Keepers) make it seem mediocre.
-Match-ups: Oddish is really good against Misty's, which is the first gym you face after catching it, resisting Bubblebeam and Lt Surge's Thunderbolt and using Absorb to get health back. After that, its performance takes a dip as it can barely hurt Team Rocket, Gastly/Haunter, Erika, Sabrina, Koga or Blaine. The only things it really beats in Elite Four are non-threatening things that anything can beat (Onix and Rhydon).
 
I'd argue Vulpix for Low personally. It absolutely does NOT solo Erika's gym without some significant training, it gets Wrapped/Status spammed, because it's still pretty slow. Confuse Ray at level 28 boosts it a little bit, but it's still frail and weak. Flamethrower boosts it by a lot, but it's really got nothing going for it apart from Flamethrower, Confuse Ray and decent speed/special once it evolves. TM compatibility isn't great either. It gets Body Slam and Dig, but those are so contested it's not really worth giving them to Vulpix, especially when it really has little going for it in the late-game battles. Fire is a pretty bad offensive typing in this game.
 
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