G/S/C In-Game Tier List

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The Original Thread has Died, so I thought I'd Revive it to try and Finish it.

I've seen a few other attempts to Finish this, so I thought I could Further the cause and Pull it back. This is NixHex's most recently updated List.

Hello guys, to a community project for OI! I've decided to take on a full In-Game Tier List for Pokemon Gold, Sliver, and Crystal. Well, I decided that since we have such a great community here at smogon, I'll just make this a community project. The rule is simple, pick a few Pokemon available in the GSC games, decide what tier it belongs in. Of course, you'll need to refer to the list of users who I've trusted of expertly choosing what tier a Pokemon belongs in. Please refer to this list when deciding what tier a Pokemon belongs in



Pokemon GSC In-Game Tier List

Top Tier:



Cydaquil

Availability: Starter
Stats: Above Average
Movepool: Above Average
Additional Comments: Fire STAB is one of the best in-game, with only Rock, Water and Fire resisting it, none of which feature prominently on opposing teams. It also obtains super effective coverage on three gym leaders pre-e4. Defensively it resists Grass, Steel, Fire, Ice and Bug, the latter two being important for gyms.



Abra
Availability: Early
Stats: Above Average
Movepool: Above Average
Additional Comments: Useless against Whitney, the first leader you can fight after catching it, but excels later. Cleans out Morty's Gym by itself, same with Chuck's Gym, slaughters Jasmine with Fire Punch, fares well vs Pryce and Clair, and does well vs Elite Four. Also cleans out every Team Rocket member by itself except for the final one at Radio Tower.



Red Gyarados
Availability: Required event
Stats: Above Average
Movepool: Above Average
Additional Comments: The Red Gyarados rolls around at about the same level or higher than the rest of your team. It dominates everything in its path with Thrash (which even conserves PP thanks to being a multi hit attack!) and makes a decent Surf user if you lack one already. If worse comes to worse, it's an excellent HM slave.



Lapras - Top Tier
Availability:
Right after the 4th Gym at level 20, you need to use Surf inside the Union Cave. The only downfall is that you can find it only on Fridays.
Stats: The HP stat is incredible, combined with its average defenses it allows Lapras to weather all sorts of hits. Offenses are kind of mediocre, but still enough to pull the job. Speed is just high enough to outspeed what is needed, provided Lapras isn't too underleveled.
Movepool: It comes with Body Slam, and you can teach it Surf immediately (as well as Thunder from the TM25 you can buy at Goldenrod Game Corner). That alone should be enough as a start. Ice Beam comes at level 36, just in time to wipe Clair's Gym. Rain Dance at level 43 synergizes well with Thunder and Surf, completing your moveset for the rest of the game.
Power: Pretty high from the get-go, and still holding its own throughout the game thanks to his high powered STAB attacks.
Type: Water/Ice is amazing offensively, especially since Lapras can beat most Water-types one on one thanks to Thunder. Defensively is somewhat decent, especially when backed by that titanic base 130 HP stat.

Suicune (Crystal)


High Tier:




Gastly
Availability: Early
Stats: Above Average
Movepool: Above Average
Additional Comments: Very High; Good Speed and powerful Special Attack, low defenses. Literally the only reasons it's in High and not Top is that it requires trading and evolves late (Level 25 is late in GSC).

Machop

Availability: Early
Stats: High
Movepool: Average
Additional Comments: Useful immediately to power through Whitney's team, and matches up fairly well with other gym leaders and the Elite 4.



Mareep
(Gold and Silver only)
Availability: Early
Stats: Above Average
Movepool: Above Average
Additional Comments: Great special attack and rather good defenses with all things considered, but is lacking speed. It is also weak to what is probably the least common attacking type in the game, Ground.



Geodude

Availability: Early
Stats: Average
Movepool: Average
Additional Comments: Geodude absolutely dominates the first three gyms and fairs fairly well against Morty if you bring a Mint Berry or two along. Rock Throw is amazing against titans like Falkner's Pidgeotto and Bugsy's Scyther and it can go toe to toe with Whitney's Miltank of all things! Even after the first half of the gyms, it does great in the Team Rocket Portions of the game and walls Rattata and Zubat all day.

Teddiursa (Crystal)
Magmar


Mid Tier:


Chikorita
Availability: Starter Pokemon
Stats: The Chikorita family has fairly balanced stats. They have pretty good defenses, and their attack stats are not great but usable.
Movepool: Chikorita’s level-up movepool is not the best offensively, only giving it Razor Leaf (which has been nerfed in Gen 2) and Body Slam. However, it does learn a ton of great support moves, such as Reflect, Light Screen, PoisonPowder, and Synthesis.
Additional Comments: Chikorita is certainly an interesting starter. It struggles in many places, but its a good team supporter and can excel in some of the games harder match ups, such as Whitney and Red.


Girafarig Tier: Mid/High

Availability: Right after the 4th gym. Surf to Mahogany Town, go north to Route 43, and you should be able to find one within a short amount of time.

Stats: Average, but usable. With base 90 Sp. Atk, 80 Atk, and 85 Spd, he can go mixed, which is recommended. He has 70/65/65 defenses, which leave something to be desired though.

Movepool: Kinda shallow, but it's nothing bad. He gets almost everything he needs through level-up. He comes with Stomp right away, which will be a good STAB. He also starts with Confusion, which comes in handy for the Rocket base in Mahogany. The only TMs you will need to give him are Psychic and Shadow Ball.

Power: Varies. Right away, he starts off pretty good. Later on, though, his power starts to decline, but not much.

Type: Normal/Psychic. He's Neutral to fighting, immune to Ghost, and only weak to Bug and Dark. Gets great STAB moves in Stomp and Psychic.


-Jumpluff - Mid Tier

-Availability: Hoppip is found early on. Only reason this is not High Tier is because you have to baby Hoppip for a while.
-Stats: Extremely Fast, Usable HP, Def, and Spec. Def., Low Offense.
-Movepool: Status Moves (SleepPowder, Poision Powder, Stun Spore, Toxic), Synthesis, and Leeching Moves (Leech Seed, Mega Drain,), make Jumpluff the best support for any team. It helps those High Level Match Ups
-Power: Surprisingly enough, Jumpluff can easily Assist in Sweeping an Entire Team.
-Type: Immune to Ground, and Resists Water and Fighting. Crippling Weakness to Ice, but others on the team can handle that.
-Match-ups: Jumpluff is useful at all stages, because of its Speed. Switch it into tough Pokemon. Put them to sleep and Leech Seed to let any Sweeper massacre an entire team unscathed.
Bad Match-ups:
Pryce, where Ice, the Bane of Jumpluff, has the most to fear. Even then, its speed may let it escape Unscathed
Anything else is pretty even.



Bellsprout
Availability: Early
Stats: Average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Bellsprout can be caught right around the first gym and, although it's useless in that particular battle, it does very well in Union Cave. Vine Whip is not to be underestimated when it's striking Onix and Geodude for Quad super effective damage. As time goes by, Bellsprout stays useful by learning Sleep Powder(!) and later on Sludge Bomb and Razor Leaf. Using Vine Whip for so long gets annoying, but it gets the job done when it's needed. Sadly, it will take ages for it to reach its full potential as a Victreebel in Gold and Silver, but it can get off the round pretty early if you're playing Crystal.

Sentret

Availability: Early
Stats: Below Average
Movepool: Wide
Additional Comments: Has bad offensive stats but respectable Speed. Makes an excellent HM slave, learning Surf, Cut, and Strength.

Caterpie


Low Tier:


Jigglypuff
Suicune (GS)
Teddiursa (GS)
Pidgey

Pidgey

Availability: Early
Stats: Below Average
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Has weak stats all around and doesn't fully evolve until level 36, very late into the game and past the point of usefulness. It does learn Fly, however, and is available rather early.

Bottom Tier:



Murkrow

Availability: Late
Stats: Low
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: It is extremely unavailable, has a poor stat distribution, a terrible movepool, as well as being weak and those defenses aren't helping much. However, it has a niche over Sabrina and Red, but its too late to warrant use.



Misdreavus

Availability: Late
Stats: Low
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Very rare, only found in Mt.Silver at night. It learns two attacking moves via level up, and only 8 total. It can't really put good TMs to use either besides Psychic.


Ledyba (Sliver and Crystal Only)
Availability: Early
Stats: Low
Movepool: Shallow
Additional Comments: Weak to Ice, Electric, Fire, Rock and Flying. Not exactly good news. It isn't worth commenting on its STABS because it has no STAB moves (not even Fury Cutter).



Ditto
Availability: Early
Stats: Low
Movepool: Transform
Additional Comments: Ditto is so terrible it needs no explanation. It's better left waiting until it becomes a Wifi mod.



Smeargle
Availability: Early
Stats: Low
Movepool: ADD
Additional Comments: Smeargle can learn any move it wants, but it's extremely painful to do so once every ten levels with no move tutor and no double battles to copy partner attacks. Did I mention it's hard to get too?


Larvitar - Bottom

Availability:
Very Rare, Very Late.
Stats: Slow, But its monstrous Attack more than makes up for it. Good Def and Spec. Def, as well as a Decent Spec Att, allow for a very strong addition to any team.
Movepool: Amazingly diverse for such a seemingly offensive pokemon. Give it whatever you are lacking on your team, and it will work.
Additional Comments: Pretty much Useless in-game due to Availability. Found after every important battle bar Red, and too underleveled there to be of much use. Of course, if you can trade for it early, it is definitely top tier material.



Pikachu - Bottom Tier
Availability: Horrid. In GS, he's found only on Route 2. In Crystal, however, not only is he found on Route 2, but also at the Celadon Game Corner. Better, but still really bad.
Stats: Decent speed, everything else is blow average.
Movepool: Above average. Other than Electric and Normal attacks, he can also make use of some TMs such as Rollout or DynamicPunch, but it's not recommended.
Type: Pure Electric. Weak to ground, resisits itself and Flying, but Pikachu will crumple under any decently powered STAB move anyway.
Power: Base 50 Atk and Base 55 Sp. Atk isn't going to get him very far, unless you trade him from Yellow and let him keep the Light Ball, which is unlikely.
Match-ups: Without a copious amount of grinding, Pikachu won't be contibuting anything significant in any major battles after you catch him.
Additional Comments: You could snag a Thunder Stone and evolve him, but GSC made it very hard to get your hands on one.

These Pokemon Need New Reviews:

Larvitar
Spinarak
Pineco

Refer List:

TrollFreak
TalkingLion

TheMantyke
Texas Cloverleaf
DTC


Please Use This Format:

-Pokemon Name - Top/High/Mid/Low Tier (PICK ONE)
-Availability: Can you get them early on and are they easy to get?
-Stats: Do they have a usable stat distribution?
-Movepool: Do they have a good movepool that needs little TM support? (By that I mean hard to replace TMs such as ones you get from gyms.)
-Power: Are they strong enough to sweep through enemies without taking too much damage in return?
-Type: Do they have useful STABs and resistances?
-Match-ups: Do they fare well in gym and/or boss battles?

Happy Posting!

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Entei_%28Pok%C3%A9mon%29/Generation_II_learnset

Doesn't look like Entei gets Bite. I'd say definitely low or even bottom tier though, It's way too unavailable for mid. It's basically pure luck.
 

Girafarig Tier: Mid/High

Availability: Right after the 4th gym. Surf to Mahogany Town, go north to Route 43, and you should be able to find one within a short amount of time
.
Stats: Average, but usable. With base 90 Sp. Atk, 80 Atk, and 85 Spd, he can go mixed, which is recommended. He has 70/65/65 defenses, which leave something to be desired though.

Movepool: Kinda shallow, but it's nothing bad. He gets almost everything he needs through level-up. He comes with Stomp right away, which will be a good STAB. He also starts with Confusion, which comes in handy for the Rocket base in Mahogany. The only TMs you will need to give him are Psychic and Shadow Ball.

Power: Varies. Right away, he starts off pretty good. Later on, though, his power starts to decline, but not much.

Type: Normal/Psychic. He's Neutral to fighting, immune to Ghost, and only weak to Bug and Dark. Gets great STAB moves in Stomp and Psychic.

Match-ups: (This assumes you catch him right after the 4th gym)
Chuck: He should be able to OHKO or 2HKO his Pokemon, though they have a good chance to do the same back.
Jasmine: All her Pokemon resist his attacks, so this gyms a no-go.
Pryce: No real advantages here, although he can hit Piloswine for decent damage.
Clair: Just about every Pokemon struggles here, and Girafarig is no different.
Will: If you taught Girafarig Shadow Ball, he'll have a fairly easy time, only struggling with Slowbro.
Koga: He should do very well here. Watch out for Foretress, though.
Bruno: Again, he should do very well, but do note that Psybeam may fail to OHKO, which could cause him to get hurt bad.
Karen: Girafarig can do well against her Gengar and Vileplume, but otherwise, stay away.
Lance: Neutral match-up. He can contribute somewhat, but with his defenses, he may not do much other than be heal fodder.
Lt. Surge: Again, neutral match-up.
Erika: He should do fine here, since her Pokemon either are weak to Psychic, or have low Sp. Def.
Janine: Clean sweep. No problems here.
Sabrina: He resists her Pokemon's STAB, and can hit back hard with Shadow Ball/Crunch.
Misty: Only has a type advantage over Starmie, otherwise neutral match-up
Brock: He can hit all his Pokemon on their weaker Sp. Def. side, so that's a plus. Though if he doesn't OHKO, he will take quite a bit of damage.
Blaine: Neutral match-up, but his Pokemon carry strong STAB moves that can possibly one-shot him, so be cautious.
Blue: He can take on Alakazam one-one one, and possibly Exeggutor and Rhydon as well. Otherwise, he doesn't do too bad
Red: He can do well against Espeon and Venasaur, but he can't really do too much outside of them.

Additional Comments: Girafarig is a solid choice for a team member, but his low defenses may let you down. He does require a small amount of TMs to work, so he may also let you down there. Otherwise, he can contribute quite a bit.
 

atsync

Where the "intelligence" of TRAINERS is put to the test!
is a Pokemon Researcheris a Contributor to Smogon
@LegitLolz: You seem to be starting off with NixHex's list, when Redew already has a more recent list here (albeit one that hasn't been touched in a few months).

Did you actually ask Redew permission to take this over? You never actually stated that you did and it's kinda rude to just start doing this without asking first.
 
@LegitLolz: You seem to be starting off with NixHex's list, when Redew already has a more recent list here (albeit one that hasn't been touched in a few months).

Did you actually ask Redew permission to take this over? You never actually stated that you did and it's kinda rude to just start doing this without asking first.
I didn't see Redew's List. Thank you for that.
Also, haven't got a reply back from NixHex yet. I decided to put it up until then, as I can always request this be closed.

I will ask for Redew's Permission to hi-jack his list.
 
I was given permission to rewrite Chikorita in that older thread, so copy and pasting it again.

Chikorita
Availability: Starter Pokemon
Stats: The Chikorita family has fairly balanced stats. They have pretty good defenses, and their attack stats are not great but usable.
Movepool: Chikorita’s level-up movepool is not the best offensively, only giving it Razor Leaf (which has been nerfed in Gen 2) and Body Slam. However, it does learn a ton of great support moves, such as Reflect, Light Screen, PoisonPowder, and Synthesis. It also can learn the always great Earthquake TM, but keep in mind that is a high-demand TM.
Gyms that it fares well against: While Chikorita may struggle against the first two Johto gyms due to a weakness to Flying and Bug, it actually serves as one of the best checks to Whitney’s infamous Miltank due to Reflect + Synthesis. Chikorita hits another bumpy road with Morty’s ghosts, but fairs well against mid game gym leaders as Razor Leaf will deal good damage to Chuck’s Poliwrath, Jasmine’s Steelix, and Pryce’s Piloswine. Meganium can also set up a Light Screen in the face of Clair's Kingdra and take it on, but watch out for paralyze hax or SmokeScreen accuracy drops. When it comes to the Elite 4, Bruno is the main target. Onix is OHKO by Razor Leaf, and a Reflect helps keep Meganium gets by the Fighting moves. In Kanto, Razor Leaf allows Meganium to plow though Brock and Misty. Meganium also resists Electric and Grass, thus allowing her to be a great help in the battles against LT Surge and Erika. In the battle against Red, Meganium walls Pikachu and Venusaur, and with a Light Screen up it can take out Blastoise,
Additional Comments: Chikorita is certainly an interesting starter. It struggles in many places, but its a good team supporter and can excel in some of the games harder match ups, such as Whitney and Red. One good early-game partner for Chikorita is Geodude. Geodude can help cover Chikorita's weakness to Flying, Bug, Poison, and Fire types, where as Chikorita can help cover Geodudes weakness to the Water and Grass types.
 

Nix_Hex

Uangaana kasuttortunga!
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I didn't see Redew's List. Thank you for that.
Also, haven't got a reply back from NixHex yet. I decided to put it up until then, as I can always request this be closed.

I will ask for Redew's Permission to hi-jack his list.
Haven't received a request yet ?_? Ask Redew.
 
Cyndaquil doesn't belong in Top IMO. Poor movepool in these games for a very long time.

Gastly is also too high, I believe, since it can't fight for itself until you get the Shadow Ball TM and doesn't really do anything until it evolves into Gengar. No T-bolt, and even Psychic is unavailable until you're done with Johto. Haunter can't learn the Goldenrod punches.
 
I was given permission to rewrite Chikorita in that older thread, so copy and pasting it again.

Chikorita
Availability: Starter Pokemon
Stats: The Chikorita family has fairly balanced stats. They have pretty good defenses, and their attack stats are not great but usable.
Movepool: Chikorita’s level-up movepool is not the best offensively, only giving it Razor Leaf (which has been nerfed in Gen 2) and Body Slam. However, it does learn a ton of great support moves, such as Reflect, Light Screen, PoisonPowder, and Synthesis. It also can learn the always great Earthquake TM, but keep in mind that is a high-demand TM.
Gyms that it fares well against: While Chikorita may struggle against the first two Johto gyms due to a weakness to Flying and Bug, it actually serves as one of the best checks to Whitney’s infamous Miltank due to Reflect + Synthesis. Chikorita hits another bumpy road with Morty’s ghosts, but fairs well against mid game gym leaders as Razor Leaf will deal good damage to Chuck’s Poliwrath, Jasmine’s Steelix, and Pryce’s Piloswine. Meganium can also set up a Light Screen in the face of Clair's Kingdra and take it on, but watch out for paralyze hax or SmokeScreen accuracy drops. When it comes to the Elite 4, Bruno is the main target. Onix is OHKO by Razor Leaf, and a Reflect helps keep Meganium gets by the Fighting moves. In Kanto, Razor Leaf allows Meganium to plow though Brock and Misty. Meganium also resists Electric and Grass, thus allowing her to be a great help in the battles against LT Surge and Erika. In the battle against Red, Meganium walls Pikachu and Venusaur, and with a Light Screen up it can take out Blastoise,
Additional Comments: Chikorita is certainly an interesting starter. It struggles in many places, but its a good team supporter and can excel in some of the games harder match ups, such as Whitney and Red. One good early-game partner for Chikorita is Geodude. Geodude can help cover Chikorita's weakness to Flying, Bug, Poison, and Fire types, where as Chikorita can help cover Geodudes weakness to the Water and Grass types.
Chikorita is a victim of circumstances, really. It doesn't really have a spammable move for the mid-game in Johto, or more accurately, too many things resist Razor Leaf - too many bugs, birds and Poison types thanks to Team Rocket. By contrast, Cyndaquil gets Flame Wheel/Fire Punch, Thunderpunch and Dig; and Totodile gets Bite, Surf, Dig and Ice Punch. And where it needs to grind, you still struggle.

Take your Whitney example - Chikorita learns Synthesis at level 22 (level 23 as a Bayleef) so it needs to grind. But it can't use Routes 35 and the National Park as well as the other starters as there are bugs, Nidoran and Pidgey everywhere. It's restricted to level 12 Drowzees while the other starters can use higher-level opponents and even the Bug Contest to grind (not to mention their fancy, expanded movepools at the time).

Another example is once you get Surf: You need to grind in the opposite direction towards Mahogany Town because Tentacool (Route 40/41) is hit normally by Chikorita and can retaliate with a super-effective Poison Sting.

It gets Body Slam naturally? Awesome. Getting there could be a bit of a struggle getting there, though, as that's the point where Team Rocket and their Koffings start to run rampant.

That's really it for Chikorita. :( It's a pretty good support Pokémon if you can grind, but it struggles to find good spots. It's probably a lot better if you don't compare it to the other starters and their fancy moves, but is that easy? It's almost as if it is a bad omen when many Pokémon near the start doubly-resist your spammable attack (Weedle, Bellsprout and Zubat).

----

Totodile should be top by virtue of its movepool, Surf and fact that it doesn't technically lose to anything in Johto except possibly Bellsprout, Chuck's Poliwrath and one of Clair's Dragonairs if it is slower (Dig beats both of Jasmines' Magnemites). Unlike Chikorita, it gets all the moves it needs at the right time - Dig to beat Electrics, Bite to one-shot Morty's gym (except perhaps Gengar), Surf when it starts to wish it had a better Water attack, and Ice Punch to beat its opposing starter when it can start to be troublesome. Maybe it's not as "exciting" as Cyndaquil, which probably beats more gyms, but Totodile rarely loses out to anything in Johto, and should be overleveled enough to beat Erika and Lt. Surge in Kanto one-on-one. Most notably, soloing with Totodile is an easy task.

Cyndaquil doesn't belong in Top IMO. Poor movepool in these games for a very long time.
I used to think that way until I tried Cyndaquil out - I can't stress how good Fire moves are in this game. While Cyndaquil will not like certain places full-stop (early caves, Clair and Lance), Thunderpunch allows it to one-shot nearly every single Water type (except perhaps similarly-leveled Tentacruels) for stupid amounts of EXP, and Rock types are easy to avoid later-on in the game; so effectively nothing you should be challenging anyway with Cyndaquil really resists Fire + Electric. In addition, both are spammable, have good PP and come just at a time when there aren't too many good places to level up.

While Flame Wheel/Fire Punch is a bit meh towards the end of Johto, and Flamethrower comes really late, it's not actually necessary since Fire Punch wastes Pryce and Koga anyway.
 
Cyndaquil doesn't belong in Top IMO. Poor movepool in these games for a very long time.

Gastly is also too high, I believe, since it can't fight for itself until you get the Shadow Ball TM and doesn't really do anything until it evolves into Gengar. No T-bolt, and even Psychic is unavailable until you're done with Johto. Haunter can't learn the Goldenrod punches.
Flame Wheel and Thunderpunch are almost enough to solo the game. Only Dragons and Rocks give Typhlosion any trouble. Definitely top tier. I guess you never gave Typhlosion Thunderpunch.

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

I'm not sure about Ghastly, I always get tired of training him, I'd put him in Mid to be honest.

Totodile top? Best part of his movepool uses weak SpAtk stat and his Slash can't compare to Gen I Charmander's. He could also be faster. In HG/SS yes but I'm not so sure about Gen II. High should fit Totodile better.
 
Even if you don't give it Thunderpunch, it just KOs everything it's neutral against so easily. Such are the benefits of being a starter, and of a pretty handy type too.
 
I'm just going to say that Quilava can't learn ThunderPunch, so you won't have TPunch access until Lv36. This should roughly be around your 6th-7th badge, but you need to factor that Quilava is granted two free wins against Bugsy and Jasmine.
Yeah, Cyndaquil for Top. Fire is a great typing in GSC overall.

Totodile is stupidly overpowered that any position below Top is plain stupid. Croconaw gets a 95 BP STAB move by the 4th gym so it will 2hko almost everything, taking into account enemies' generally bad level (you see level 17 mons everywhere until like uh, Ice Cave?) and STAB Surf's ridiculousness. Then you factor in that Totodile reaches his final form the earliest, and you really don't have any way to question that Totodile is just amazing.

The best part of his movepool using his weak SpA? 79 isn't something I'd call weak, it's passable and if he needs to he can always fall back on Slash.
 


Lapras - Top Tier
Availability:
Right after the 4th Gym at level 20, you need to use Surf inside the Union Cave. The only downfall is that you can find it only on Fridays.
Stats: The HP stat is incredible, combined with its average defenses it allows Lapras to weather all sorts of hits. Offenses are kind of mediocre, but still enough to pull the job. Speed is just high enough to outspeed what is needed, provided Lapras isn't too underleveled.
Movepool: It comes with Body Slam, and you can teach it Surf immediately (as well as Thunder from the TM25 you can buy at Goldenrod Game Corner). That alone should be enough as a start. Ice Beam comes at level 36, just in time to wipe Clair's Gym. Rain Dance at level 43 synergizes well with Thunder and Surf, completing your moveset for the rest of the game.
Power: Pretty high from the get-go, and still holding its own throughout the game thanks to his high powered STAB attacks.
Type: Water/Ice is amazing offensively, especially since Lapras can beat most Water-types one on one thanks to Thunder. Defensively is somewhat decent, especially when backed by that titanic base 130 HP stat.
Match ups:
Chuck: Not very useful, although it can damage Poliwrath with Thunder
Pryce: Seel and Dewgong are slaughtered by Thunder, while Piloswine loses to Surf
Team Rocket, Mahogany Town/Radio Tower: Aside for Grimer and Muk, nothing else can stand in Lapras's way
Clair: Ice Beam chews through the Dragonair, as well as Kingdra.
Will: Xatu and Exeggutor lose to Ice Beam, Slowbro loses to Thunder. If you still have Body Slam, Jynx loses as well
Koga: Ariados and Forretress are easily defeated thanks to their low Special Defense. Crobat is also easy prey for Ice Beam
Bruno: Aside for Onyx, Lapras shouldn't see any use here
Karen: Umbreon and Gengar can give some problems, but otherwise Lapras can sweep here
Lance: Aerodactyl can be somewhat of a problem but if you're healthy you should be able to weather a Rock Slide and KO in return. The rest of the team is a joke, as long as you outpace the Dragonite with Thunder
Lt Surge: No business here, sadly
Sabrina: If you still have Body Slam, Lapras can go toe to toe with most of her team thanks to their low Defense, as well as the paralysis chance.
Erika: Most of Erika's team is unable to directly harm Lapras, so you can go ahead and annihilate her team with Ice Beam
Janine: Most of her team is either Ice-weak or has low Sp. Defense. Aside from Venomoth you shouldn't run into problems.
Misty: Use Rain Dance if you have it, then lay down the pain with Thunder, and laugh as your boosted Surf murders Quagsire.
Brock: Easy game
Blaine: Easy game
Blue: Everything but Alakazam should be easily KOed with the right move. Alakazam could be a bit of a nuisance if you replaced Body Slam with Rain Dance (as you should have, by now)
Rival (Pokemon League): As long as you avoid Magneton and Gengar/Alakazam, everything else should go down easily, regardless of your chosen starter.
Red: This is the only tricky fight. Avoid Pikachu, Espeon, and Snorlax if possible. As for the other starters, Venusaur can be a bit of a nuisance if you can't KO him on 1st turn with Ice Beam, because he will likely use Sunny Day and follow with Solarbeam. Charizard is relatively easy, use Rain Dance to shield yourself against Flamethrower then put him in place with Surf. Blastoise is a joke, if you're lucky he'll give you Rain Dance so you can Thunder him into oblivion with ease.

Additional Comments: Don't let that low growth rate discourage you. If you give Lapras enough fodder to level up steadily, he'll carry you through the game like a breeze.

P.S.: Are we supposed to rewrite the old entries as well, given that they don't follow the new format?
 
I'm just going to say that Quilava can't learn ThunderPunch, so you won't have TPunch access until Lv36. This should roughly be around your 6th-7th badge, but you need to factor that Quilava is granted two free wins against Bugsy and Jasmine.
Yeah, Cyndaquil for Top. Fire is a great typing in GSC overall.
I might have confused it with Ampharos's Fire Punch + Thunderpunch coverage. :(

Totodile is stupidly overpowered that any position below Top is plain stupid. Croconaw gets a 95 BP STAB move by the 4th gym so it will 2hko almost everything, taking into account enemies' generally bad level (you see level 17 mons everywhere until like uh, Ice Cave?)
Team Rocket uses Level 20s. You might also find some while Surfing. Bite/Slash/Return will generally take care of the Water types, of course.

Another awesome plus about Totodile is that it hits its third stage at level 30; although by that point, Feraligatr is largely overkill (the additional power might help for the Dewgongs in Mahogany Town, however).
 
Yeah, Gastly is my fav Pokemon, but its way too high.

Chikorita is a victim of circumstances, really. It doesn't really have a spammable move for the mid-game in Johto, or more accurately, too many things resist Razor Leaf - too many bugs, birds and Poison types thanks to Team Rocket. By contrast, Cyndaquil gets Flame Wheel/Fire Punch, Thunderpunch and Dig; and Totodile gets Bite, Surf, Dig and Ice Punch. And where it needs to grind, you still struggle.

Take your Whitney example - Chikorita learns Synthesis at level 22 (level 23 as a Bayleef) so it needs to grind. But it can't use Routes 35 and the National Park as well as the other starters as there are bugs, Nidoran and Pidgey everywhere. It's restricted to level 12 Drowzees while the other starters can use higher-level opponents and even the Bug Contest to grind (not to mention their fancy, expanded movepools at the time).]
I suppose you could give it Headbutt early as filler before you get Body Slam.

But the trainers are not too big off a deal for him ,take the example you used of Zubat, Weedle, and Bellsprout. Zubat has bad stats and Leech Life, despite being SE, wont do much. Same case for Weedle. Chikorita actually destroys Bellsprout tower, as it resists Vine Whip and can spam Tackle to take them out....watch out for that Hoothoot though!
 
Updated. NixHex, sent you a new message, not sure what I did wrong the first time.

As for Gastly, If you want, rewrite his entry for Mid Tier.

Waiting on reply from Redew.
 
No, I just missed it. The lack of picture let it blend in. No problem, as there is already a sprite in the OP. Fixed.

Submitting Larvitar for Bottom Tier

Larvitar - Bottom

Availability:
Very Rare, Very Late.
Stats: Slow, But its monstrous Attack more than makes up for it. Good Def and Spec. Def, as well as a Decent Spec Att, allow for a very strong addition to any team.
Movepool: Amazingly diverse for such a seemingly offensive pokemon. Give it whatever you are lacking on your team, and it will work.
Additional Comments: Pretty much Useless in-game due to Availability. Found after every important battle bar Red, and too underleveled there to be of much use. Of course, if you can trade for it early, it is definitely top tier material.

Match-ups: Irrelevant. Basically never going to get him early enough to use. For what it's worth, it has only one REALLY bad match up. And one which is fairly rare. Fighting. It can handle almost anything else.
 
As for Gastly, If you want, rewrite his entry for Mid Tier.
I'm starting to think Haunter and Gengar may need seperate entries. Haunter isn't that great, no Shadow Ball until 4th gym (and remember, that move is physical in GSC). Psychic/Giga Drain/Thunderbolt you get in Kanto, which is way later. Gengar is better due to the fact that it gets the elemental punches.

Could be noted that the Ghosts are all immune to Red's Snorlax moves though.
 
No, I just missed it. The lack of picture let it blend in. No problem, as there is already a sprite in the OP. Fixed.

Submitting Larvitar for Bottom Tier

Larvitar - Bottom

Availability:
Very Rare, Very Late.
Stats: Slow, But its monstrous Attack more than makes up for it. Good Def and Spec. Def, as well as a Decent Spec Att, allow for a very strong addition to any team.
Movepool: Amazingly diverse for such a seemingly offensive pokemon. Give it whatever you are lacking on your team, and it will work.
Additional Comments: Pretty much Useless in-game due to Availability. Found after every important battle bar Red, and too underleveled there to be of much use. Of course, if you can trade for it early, it is definitely top tier material.

Match-ups: Irrelevant. Basically never going to get him early enough to use. For what it's worth, it has only one REALLY bad match up. And one which is fairly rare. Fighting. It can handle almost anything else.
Yeah, they fixed it in HG/SS by putting it in the Safari Zone. Makes it a lot more useful if you are willing to grind it up. But in GSC, Mt. Silver is WAAAYYYY too late to do much of anything.
 
For the record, a L40 Larvitar is available at the Celadon Game Corner in Pokemon Crystal, meaning you can get it as soon as you get to Kanto. Maybe Low in Crystal and Bottom in GS?
 
Geodude needs trade for last evolution. Larvitar can tank Grass/Water attacks and not Geodude ? Larvitar can use special attack ?

But, let's not forget that Geodude can be caught in the first 20 min of the game, and Larvitar in the last 20 of the game :D
 
Geodude needs trade for last evolution. Larvitar can tank Grass/Water attacks and not Geodude ? Larvitar can use special attack ?

But, let's not forget that Geodude can be caught in the first 20 min of the game, and Larvitar in the last 20 of the game :D
geodude is amazing for the first three gyms, almost needed if you want to beat whitney without machop or overlevelling, can beat morty with magnitude spam with some luck, and is a useful physical tank overall.

the only problem golem really has is that it's best rock attack is rollout so he will take some time to kill birds, but birds usually don't have much to kill him with unless their secondary type is advantageous.

i guess if you really feel trollish you can give geodude fire punch although expect it to do crap damage

larvitar on the other hand never gets to do all of these and grows so slowly that you might as well just make do with golem instead, no sand stream in this game makes tyranitar really not worth imo
 
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