Pokémon Colosseum In-game Tier List

Availability: Realgam Tower via Cipher Admin Baila. Found late game at level 45. Can also be found at Snagem Hideout in the postgame.
Overview: Sunflora smiles all the time to hide the pain inside, cause Sunflora has never been a good Pokemon. A weak base 55 defense, very slow 30 base speed. It does have a good 105 base special attack, but can barely take advantage of it since unless you get a good hidden power, Solarbeam and Giga Drain are the only special moves it can use. Typical of grass types, its movepool is pretty garbage. Its way too reliant on the sun since its entire kit revolves around it, but at least with the sun up, its speed stat actually becomes respectable, but due to it being so slow, it most likely won't be able to get it up by itself. Sunflora's biggest flaw is that is requires too much set up to become usable, and then when it does, it's most likely dead at that point.
Additional Notes: 7000 points in the heart gauge, which is about half the time it takes for most of the Admin Mons to purifiy, but its still too long at the point one even captures it, but at least with base 75 attack, its Shadow Rush isn't complete crap. If's best to pair Sunflora, with a fast Sunny Day user like Entei, Typhlosion, or simply anyone else that can learn the TM.


Availability: The Under Subway via Chaser Liaks. Found mid-late game at level 43. Can also be encountered at Snagem Hideout in the postgame
Overview: Stantler has an interesting stat distribution. A 95/85/85 offensive distribution lets it hit pretty hard on both sides, and a colorful movepool lets it hit quite a good number of Pokemon with super effective damage. It also has Intimidate which is good for softening Shadows as well as good general use for the primarily physical based AI. It can learn a good amount of supportive moves like Dual Screens and Hypnosis which further helps it with its capture ability. A clever usage of Intimdate and Reflect can make Stantler deceptively bulky, but Stantler itself is pretty frail with only 73/62/65 defenses. It also is one of the only two Calm Mind users you can use in the game, and is the better user of it by far. Stantler is far from the best Pokemon, but it has a good amount of variety, carving itself a few niches in a playthrough.
Additional Notes: 6000 points in the heart gauge. Due to being Normal typing, Stantler makes a good consumer for Vivid Scents, as well as the TM Return. Stanter's wide movepool mostly comes from TM usage, and thus is fairly TM hungry. Stantler makes a good partner for physically frail Pokemon, and can do some things with Espeon due to Espeon being able to learn Psych Up. Since Colosseum runs on the RS level up movepool, Stantler does miss out on Role Play.


Availability: Pyrite Town via Rogue Cail. An early game encounter at level 33. Can be rematched multiple times throughout the game, such as after Miror B. is defeated, after the first Email from Duking is received (which triggers the Mt. Battle questline) and after the game is beat. After the Miror B. defeat rematch is triggered, Cail can typically be rematched every time you reload Pyrite Town.
Overview: Furret at the time of capture has some pretty fantastic stats. A sweet 90 base speed lets it outspeed nearly every encounter before Shadows can be purified and a base 76 attack lets it fire off powerful Shadow Rushes. It also happens to be one of the three users of Helping Hand and the only user of both Quick Attack and Follow Me. Follow Me is a very useful move as depending on the partner Pokemon, you can bait out SE from the AI while Furret takes them. It especially comes in handy if the partner Pokemon is weak to Ghost. Even though Furret has a wide offensive movepool, its better to use those TMs on other Pokemon as Furret's power and bulk really starts to wan during the later encounters.
Additional Notes: Furret does have 5000 points in the heart gauge, but considering that it will be on the team for quite a while until you reach Agate Village, it will most likely be purified at that point. Furret's stats tend to deteriorate pretty quickly, but with 3 forms of priority, Furret can always have a use in a battle, whether its to simply take a hit a Pokemon could not, finish off a weakened Pokemon or act as a cheerleader.


Availability: Pyrite Building via Miror B. Peon Ferma. An early game encounter at level 33. Also can be caught postgame in Pyrite Cave.
Overview: Mantine has some pretty solid stats from when it is caught. 70 base speed is "good enough" and 80 base special attack is pretty nice. It has 65/70 physical bulk which is average, but Mantine's best feature is it's massive 140 base special defense, making it the special equlivant of Skarmory (funny enough, most of Mantine's stats are a mirror of Skarmory's). Mantine also has two good abilities in Swift Swim and Water Absorb. Even with good abilities and a good stat spread, Mantines movepool, as well as its lame 40 base attack is it's biggest downfall. Since Colosseum misses out on all HMs, Mantine misses out on Surf and even Waterfall, and the complete reliance on Bubblebeam for STAB really starts to show later in the game. Mantine falls off hard after Dakim, even though it has the best matchup against Dakim by far of any Pokemon in the game, due to being Water type and also being immune to his EQ spam. At least its great special bulk makes it a good user of Toxic tho.
Additional Notes: With 5000 points in the heart gauge, its not a lengthy purification process but with its weak Shadow Rushes, even with abusing the extremely high critical hit ratio, makes the process quite the pain in the ass, and even more so since Shadow Rush takes up what would be Wing Attack so it can't even do that well against Miror B besides letting it tank moves to heal up your other Pokemon. Mantine's trainer also battles you immediately after Remoraid's (Reath) so theres a good chance you may not have Pokeballs. It's best to grab some extra before you scale up the building. Mantine is only worth using until Dakim and a big maybe on Venus before trashing it in the box.
 
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Karxrida

Death to the Undying Savage
is a Community Contributor Alumnus
MellowBusiness I'm going to go over your write-ups in more detail later, but you need to avoid first person langauge. These are supposed to be posted in an on-site article eventually, so they need to be professional.

I also don't see much of a point in pointing out specific Shadow Gauge numbers. It's not exactly helpful information between general progression of difficulty and your average reader probably not having a good frame of reference for how significant individual values are.
 
MellowBusiness I'm going to go over your write-ups in more detail later, but you need to avoid first person langauge. These are supposed to be posted in an on-site article eventually, so they need to be professional.
My bad, I'll keep that in mind in my future posts.

I also don't see much of a point in pointing out specific Shadow Gauge numbers. It's not exactly helpful information between general progression of difficulty and your average reader probably not having a good frame of reference for how significant individual values are.
The reason I was mentioning the amount of points in each Pokemon's shadow gauge is because Bulbapedia has an article about the whole purification process and I was going to link that and make a post about that when all the write ups were done. I made the choice so that the post wouldn't get lost inbetween the pages and that I could go more into detail because as you know each process lowers a certain amount, while depending on the nature, some values are increased while others are decreased. I should have let you know first that I had this thought process in mind.
 
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Because of Karxrida's above post, I added the article of Bulbapedia about the Heart Gauge (which I've mistakenly called the Shadow Gauge for quite some time) in post #84, because I keep mentioning the amount of points in the gauge, without any guideline to look at. Take a look at it, it gives a nice judge as to how long or short some purifications will take.

Availability: Shadow Pokemon Lab via Cipher Peon Cole. Found mid-late game at level 43.
Overview: Aipom is a sad state of affairs. An early game Pokemon shoved into the mid-late game and it really shows. Aipom's stats are all pretty low except for its speed with a base 85 in it. Aipom's wide movepool makes its sad stat distribution even more tragic as it does have amazing coverage, but can barely utilize it with its low offensive stats. Aipom is also the only Pokemon in the game you can catch in the game that know Tickle so it at least has that going for it, even if it may not survive very long due to being extremely frail. It is also the only other user of Baton Pass so it can pass stats, but the only notable stat it can pass is speed. There are overall much better normal types found much earlier in the game.
Additional notes: Aipom has 6000 points in its heart gauge. Unless you're doing some self imposed challenge, there is really no reason to use it over other Pokemon. Pick Up ability has a 1% chance to grab a Kings Rock.


Availability: Shadow Pokemon Lab via Cipher Admin Ein. Found late game at level 40. Can also be found at Realgam Tower or postgame in the Deep Colosseum.
Overview: Raikou has some great stats. It hits hard on the special side, and its very fast too. It also has impressive 90/100 special bulk, but is a bit weaker on the physical defense. Like most Electric types, its special movepool tends to lack, but it has a respectable 85 base attack if you really need to use physical attacks on it. Plus in Colosseum, Raikou is one of the three only Electric types in the game and even though Raikou and Ampharos have the same base special attack, Raikou trades paralysis utility for more bulk and a much higher speed stat. Raikou's role in most battles will be to set up Rain Dance and proceed to spam hard hitting Thunders. In the battles that Raikou can take part in, there are quite a few EQ users so one must be wary when using Raikou, but Raikou can learn Reflect to mitigate some of that damage. It's late encounter and low caught level are what mostly hurt Raikou, but if taken the time, Raikou can prove to be a valuable asset for the remaining battles.
Additional Notes: With 13k points in the Heart Gauge, Raikou makes a good candidate for the Time Flute but there is a good chance you already used your two free Time Flutes on Entei and Suicune. The only other Time Flute you can get is getting up to floor 100 in Mt. Battle, which isn't hard to do more so than being very time consuming, and if you don't delve into the postgame, may not end up being worth doing in the long run. Arguably, Raikou makes the best candidate for the Time Flute due to how late its caught compared to Entei and Suicune, and the Rain Dance+Thunder combo is hard to pass up compared to its decent Shadow Rush considering the attack power and level difference at that point in the game. Interestingly enough, the Beasts have a somewhat higher capture rate due to the fact that the Pokeball always shakes at least once.


Availability: Pyrite Town via Rider Nover. Found early game at level 30.
Overview: Noctowl will mostly be reserved as a supportive role due to it learning Reflect and Hypnosis, as well as its good bulk which lets it take on Shadow Pokemon relatively well. Flying type is also a good type to have due to the usage of EQ in the game. It's offensive movepool is bad, as well as its coverage but will serve its time during the moment you utilize it and has good showings in major battles up until Venus. Noctowl can either have Keen Eye or Insomina. They're both not great or even ideal, but can come in handy for some rather annoying battles.
Additional notes: With 3000 points, Noctowl takes a relatively short time to purify. Noctowl does also make a good user of Toxic due to the TM being given to you for free for the forced Pyrite Colosseum round.


Availability: Agate Village via Cipher Peon Skrub. Found early-mid at level 38. Can also be caught at the Shadow Pokemon Lab or postgame at Snagem Hideout
Overview: Hitmontop comes at a high level as well as the ever useful Intimidate making him pretty handy for the battles when he is a Shadow until the Lab. He also has a respectable 50/95/110 bulk as well as a good 95 base attack firing off powerful Shadow Rushes. Hitmontop is arguably a better Shadow Pokemon than it is a standard Pokemon because his level up movepool is atrocious and very much lacking in power, which makes it heavily reliant on TMs for offensive presence. If one does use TMs on Top, he can use them pretty well.
Additional Notes: Hitmontop only has 6000 points in its Heart Gauge Hitmontop is probably the best fighting type to teach either Brick Break or Focus Punch not because Hitmontop is the hardest hitter of the moves (far from it actually), but more because Triple Kick is a pretty awful move. due to its weak base power as well as the unreliability of all three hits connecting.
 
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Because of Karxrida's above post, I added the article of Bulbapedia about the Heart Gauge (which I've mistakenly called the Shadow Gauge for quite some time) in post #84, because I keep mentioning the amount of points in the gauge, without any guideline to look at. Take a look at it, it gives a nice judge as to how long or short some purifications will take.

Availability: Shadow Pokemon Lab via Cipher Peon Cole. Found mid-late game at level 43.
Overview: Aipom is a sad state of affairs. An early game Pokemon shoved into the mid-late game and it really shows. Aipom's stats are all pretty low except for its speed with a base 85 in it. Aipom's wide movepool makes its sad stat distribution even more tragic as it does have amazing coverage, but can barely utilize it with its low offensive stats. Aipom is also the only Pokemon in the game you can catch in the game that know Tickle so it at least has that going for it, even if it may not survive very long due to being extremely frail. It is also the only other user of Baton Pass so it can pass stats, but the only notable stat it can pass is speed.
Additional notes: Aipom has 6000 points in its heart gauge. Unless you're doing some self imposed challenge, there is really no reason to use it over other Pokemon. Pick Up ability also has a 1% chance to grab a Kings Rock.


Availability: Shadow Pokemon Lab via Cipher Admin Ein. Found late game at level 40. Can also be found at Realgam Tower or postgame in the Deep Colosseum.
Overview: Raikou has some great stats. It hits hard on the special side, and its very fast too. It also has impressive 90/100 special bulk, but is a bit weaker on the physical defense. Like most Electric types, its special movepool tends to lack, but it has a respectable 85 base attack if you really need to use physical attacks on it. Raikou in most battles will set up Rain Dance and proceed to spam hard hitting Thunders. In the battles that Raikou can take part in, there are quitre a few EQ users so one must be wary when using Raikou, but Raikou can learn Reflect to mitigate some of that damage. It's late encounter and low caught level are what mostly hurt Raikou, but if taken the time, Raikou can prove to be a valuable asset for the remaining battles.
Additional Notes: With 13k points in the Heart Gauge, Raikou makes a good candidate for the Time Flute but there is a good chance you already used your two free Time Flutes on Entei and Suicune. The only other Time Flute you can get is getting up to floor 100 in Mt. Battle, which isn't hard to do more so than being very time consuming, and if you don't delve into the postgame, may not end up being worth doing in the long run.


Availability: Pyrite Town via Rider Nover. Found early game at level 30. Nover is rematchable as long as you continuously reload the area.
Overview: Noctowl will mostly be reserved as a supportive role due to it learning Reflect and Hypnosis, as well as its good bulk which lets it take on Shadow Pokemon relatively well. Flying type is also a good type to have due to the usage of EQ in the game. It's offensive movepool is bad, as well as its coverage but will serve its time during the moment you utilize it and has good showings in major battles up until Venus. Noctowl can either have Keen Eye or Insomina. They're both not great, but can come in handy for some rather annoying battles.
Additional notes: With 3000 points, Noctowl takes a relatively short time to purify. Noctowl does also make a good user of Toxic due to the TM being given to you for free for the forced Pyrite Colosseum round.


Availability: Agate Village via Cipher Peon Skrub. Found early-mid at level 38. Can also be caught at the Shadow Pokemon Lab or postgame at Snagem Hideout
Overview: Hitmontop comes at a high level as well as the ever useful Intimidate making him pretty handy for the battles when he is a Shadow until the Lab. He also has a respectable 50/95/110 bulk as well as a good 95 base attack firing off powerful Shadow Rushes. Hitmontop is arguably a better Shadow Pokemon than it is a standard Pokemon because his level up movepool is atrocious and very much lacking in power, which makes it heavily reliant on TMs for offensive presence. If one does use TMs on Top, he can use them pretty well.
Additional Notes: Hitmontop only has 6000 points in its Heart Gauge Hitmontop is probably the best fighting type to teach either Brick Break or Focus Punch to due to Triple Kick's weak power as well as its unreliability.
I'm not sure how Karxrida feels about including an external link to Bulbapedia (idk it feels a little weird to me - maybe it can be recreated on the actual Smogon article or something). The info is definitely important tho and something I didn't realize when I first played Colosseum (I wondered why it took so long for Suicune to lower its Heart Gauge lol), so it should be incorporated somehow I think.

As for your write-ups, they look good to me. You hit on the main points of everything like Intimidate support, Aipom being bad and Noctowl's ground immunity (tho the wording on Top's part about being the best fighting-type to teach Brick Break is a little misleading - sounds like it's the best user of the move which isn't necessarily true given Hariyama's higher attack stat. It's more like the other way around as in Top desperately needs it; not that it's the best user of the move. You probably want to reword a little to stress that if using Top, you really need to teach it something like Brick Break bc of how bad Triple Kick is - otherwise good!). I would also still argue that Raikou is still a very good user of a Time Flute (probably ahead of Suicune), but that is very minor and not really related to the write up.

Thanks for the work you're putting in on this!
 
I'd argue that Raikou is a more efficient use of the Time Flute in an "All Beast" scenario even. Suicune comes halfway through the Under, where you have the Shadow Pokemon Lab ahead of you, loaded with mooks to level up fighting before your next major battle. Raikou has Realgam ahead of it, loaded with boss fights, in addition to coming a bit behind the leveling curve at that point when comparing their respective level 40's, so letting him gain EXP and have the Thunder/Rain combo faster is an extremely noticeable increase in performance.

Also, while I know comparisons are usually not a grounds to rank a mon, I do think they bear some mentioning in terms of a playthrough context. Suicune has a couple decent Water types for competition beforehand (most notably Crocanaw and Quagsire) who have time to put in work and have decently similar performance when it comes into the picture. Raikou does have a more distinct niche from Ampharos (its only type wise competition) in that it is a fast Electric type.

One other minor question. Given the Double battle emphasis, is it reasonable to consider generalized team support for a Pokemon's performance? For example, giving credit to a mon who can use Fire/Water coverage thanks to fairly common access to Rain Dance/Sunny Day across other members of the roster?
 

Karxrida

Death to the Undying Savage
is a Community Contributor Alumnus
One other minor question. Given the Double battle emphasis, is it reasonable to consider generalized team support for a Pokemon's performance? For example, giving credit to a mon who can use Fire/Water coverage thanks to fairly common access to Rain Dance/Sunny Day across other members of the roster?
I think this is fair to consider. Crocanaw and Quagsire are throwing out pretty weak Surfs if you're not giving them Rain Dance/Helping Hand support.
 
I think this is fair to consider. Crocanaw and Quagsire are throwing out pretty weak Surfs if you're not giving them Rain Dance/Helping Hand support.
Yeah, I mainly meant this in regards to support that could be generally assumed like Weather or HH, compared to something more specific like a specific partner to cover a weakness. Given the game is all doubles and options are more limited, I assume considering team support options is inevitably vital.
 
Yeah, I mainly meant this in regards to support that could be generally assumed like Weather or HH, compared to something more specific like a specific partner to cover a weakness. Given the game is all doubles and options are more limited, I assume considering team support options is inevitably vital.
If I understand what you're saying, then yes, doubles support should play a fairly large role in ranking pokemon. Considering this is a double battle-centric game, the strategies that can be utilized in double battles should be incorporated. As it stands, I see the following as good doubles support: Intimidate, Levitate/Flying-type for EQ spam, Helping Hand, Rain (+ Thunder), Sun (+ Solarbeam), and Follow Me + setup (tho that one is more meh because Furret is the only notable Follow Me user and there aren't many setup options in Colosseum)
 

Karxrida

Death to the Undying Savage
is a Community Contributor Alumnus
I'm actually on my computer for once instead of my phone, so I'm going to go over a couple of Mellow's write-ups. I'm cherry picking right now instead of doing them in order since Espeon and Umbreon are easy to analyze.

Espeon
Availability: It's your trusty starter Pokemon, at level 25.
Overview: There are many reasons why its unanimously agreed upon all Colosseum players that Espeon is the best Pokemon in the game. With a massive base 130 special attack and quick 110 base speed it has no issues OHKOing the majority of the game (it helps that the majority of the game is also filled with NFEs). With it being Psychic as well as Gen 3, it still is a pretty strong offensive typing due to Darks and Steels still being fairly uncommon typing's seen ingame. Espeon even has Syncronize as an ability, which comes in handy more often than one thinks, due to the AI's tendency to try and status Espeon.
But not everything is sunshines and rainbows for the purple cat-thing. Espeon's offensive movepool is very shallow on the special side, and sadly missing out on Bite due to not coming with the move unlike Umbreon, its Psychic moves are really the only moves it needs for offense, heavily damaging even Pokemon that resist it, unless they have good special bulk on their side. Espeon is also pretty frail on the physical side which can lead it to being OHKO'd itself in a good amount of situations, but Reflect mostly patches that up. Luckily, Espeon's support movepool is pretty varied, being able to use Reflect, Light screen, and Helping hand to help out its teammate during the very few moments that Espeon struggles. Due to its very high strengths, Espeon will always have a place in major battles and on the team in general.
Additional Notes: The AI seems to love double targeting Espeon, which is something I've noticed in my many many playthroughs of this game. One should keep this in mind during certain battles as being KO'd early can lead it to missing out on valuable EXP in the major battles. It's best to pair Espeon with a Pokemon that can handle ghost and dark types easily as they are usually Espeon's biggest worry.
While Espeon is a good Pokemon, I think the overview oversells its killing potential a bit. Confusion and Psybeam will definitely miss out on OHKOs against neutral targets since the game starts in the mid- and late- 20s for levels, where 50 and 65 BP moves are kind of meh.

I don't really have any other problems here outside of structure. The main thing is that I'd prefer to front load Espeon's positive traits so they're all together.

Umbreon
Availability: Also your trusty starter Pokemon, at level 26
Overview: Umbreon is the much less revered Eeveelution compared to Espeon, to the point where people simply abandon poor ol Blacky to the deepest parts of the box the moment a player gets the Shadow Pokemon they specifically want. Umbreon may not be nearly as appericated as Espeon due to not being an OHKO machine, but this does not mean Umbreon is bad in any way.
With a fantastic 95/110/130 bulk, Umbreon is one of the bulkiest Pokemon in the game, being able to shrug off any neutral hit, and able to tank even the most powerful of super effective hits. The bulk also comes in handy when trying to capture the Shadows as well as for healing up your back row as it can take a very thorough beating. Its 65/60 offenses may not seem like a lot but in most cases its actually "good enough" for most battles. The low offenses also are very useful for capturing Shadow Pokemon as you can safely whittled them down, even if an untimely crit comes along where as Espeon comes in danger of OHKOing them (unless you keep Return around). Just like Espeon, it comes with Synchronize.
Umbreon does good status moves such as Confuse Ray, Screech, Snatch, Taunt, and the only Pokemon in the game with Secret Power, which can act like a pseudo Body Slam in most of Colosseum's situations.
Additional Notes: 65 base speed may not seem like much, but its quicker than you'd think due to a lot of Pokemon in the game being slower, as well as the random speed EV's one will get throughout the game. Opposite to Espeon, the AI tends to avoid double targeting Umbreon unless they can get multiple super effective hits on it. This does let Umbreon last even longer on the field and spread around status debuffs or stack on the damage, but one must take this into consideration when it is on the field as it can lead to an untimely demise of the other teammate.
This write-up is a little bloated in the Overview (that entire first paragraph could do with being cut) and back loads two important selling points: Confuse Ray and Taunt. Taunt is especially important to note early since it screws with a bunch of the strategies used by bosses.

The point about Speed in Additional Notes is also probably better off in the Overview.
 
I'm actually on my computer for once instead of my phone, so I'm going to go over a couple of Mellow's write-ups. I'm cherry picking right now instead of doing them in order since Espeon and Umbreon are easy to analyze.


While Espeon is a good Pokemon, I think the overview oversells its killing potential a bit. Confusion and Psybeam will definitely miss out on OHKOs against neutral targets since the game starts in the mid- and late- 20s for levels, where 50 and 65 BP moves are kind of meh.

I don't really have any other problems here outside of structure. The main thing is that I'd prefer to front load Espeon's positive traits so they're all together.


This write-up is a little bloated in the Overview (that entire first paragraph could do with being cut) and back loads two important selling points: Confuse Ray and Taunt. Taunt is especially important to note early since it screws with a bunch of the strategies used by bosses.

The point about Speed in Additional Notes is also probably better off in the Overview.
Gotcha. Cleaned them both up and stuffs, but I'll still look at them from time to time in case i want to add or change more stuff to it.

Availability: Shadow Pokemon Lab via Cipher Peon Remil. Found late game at level 43. Can also be found in the same area in postgame.
Overview: Frankly, Vibrava sucks. Its frail, weak, and the moves it comes with leave much to be desired, but Vibrava is commonly held in a positive light in Colosseum. A Ground/Dragon typing with Levitate gives it a nice selection of resists and immunities, and the reason why its praised is for what it becomes, not it starts out as. When Vibrava becomes a Flygon, which is only two levels from when it is caught, it gets a big boost in all of its stats. That 50/50/50 "bulk" becomes 80/80/80 which lets it take quite a few hits. It now has a good base 100 attack and speed letting it hit hard, and fast consisting of coverage that includes its dual STAB, fire, steel, dark, and grass. But even with Flygon's well rounded capabilities, it is TM hungry, and has a nasty x4 weakness to Ice, which is pretty common to come across in the later and more difficult battles it can partake in
Additional notes: Because of how useful Flygon is, and how trashy Vibrava is, Vibrava makes one of the best candidates for the Time Flute, even though it only has 6000 points in the Heart Gauge. If one happened to save those Rare Candies from The Under, Vibrava also makes a good choice to use two of them if one immediately decides to purify it with the Time Flute. The TM for Earthquake also comes right after Ein, and Flygon is arguably the best user of Earthquake due to its speed, power and gaining STAB for it.
Vibrava oddly enough has a very long confusion animation so if one does use it for battles, try to avoid opponents with confuse ray/supersonic.


Availability: Pyrite Building via Cipher Peon Nore. Found early game at level 33. Also found postgame in Snagem Hideout.
Overview: Yanma has two fantastic abilities in both Speed Boost and Compoundeyes. These abilities on a good Pokemon would prove to be great or in some cases downright broken as shown in later gens. Unfortunately, Yanma is not a good Pokemon in the slightest. Bug/Flying is a terrible defensive typing boasting many common weaknesses. It is also not a good offensive typing either since it lacks many moves it could use for STAB. Yanma is also very frail, boasting a pitiful 65/45/45 bulk, leading to many OHKO's even from neutral hits. Yanma's level up movepool is downright offensive to the mind. It only learns a bunch of cruddy normal moves, and the only STAB it gets is Wing Attack. This leaves Yanma to require extensive TM usage to become slightly less trash, though if one goes through all the effort to gain those TMs, why not just use them on a vastly better Pokemon? Using Yanma is an exercise in masochism and is strongly advisable to not put it on a team, even as a joke. It will not bring good fortune to you in any battle.
Additional notes: If any of the above wasn't enough of a deterrent to use Yanma, it also is a very frequent victim of double targeting due to its doughy defenses and typing, and can't typically retaliate in any meaningful way back. Though one can play this to their advantage with Detect/Protect as one will know it will get singled out in a battle, leaving a teammate with a free turn, but this can also be done with many other Pokemon and said Pokemon can at least contribute something back besides a free turn.
 
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Availability: Shadow Pokemon Lab via Cipher Peon Lesar. Found mid-late at level 43
Overview: Ariados is yet another tragic Pokemon that is typically an early game encounter found late game. It's slow, its frail due to being part Bug having a slew of weaknesses and its movepool in general is pretty sad. The only thing that really saves this Pokemon (and just barely at that) is that it comes with Sludge Bomb. A base 90 move coming off of a base 90 attack with STAB does pack quite a punch , but that's all Ariados has going for it.
Additional Notes: Leech Life pre Gen 7 is a whopping 20 base power, so its pretty much useless at the point you have it. Even Psychic is better used on Ariados than Leech Life.


Availability: Pyrite Town via Duking. Gifted after saving it from Miror B. Found at level 13.
Overview: Many people tend to ignore Plusle due to coming at the very low level of 13 (even lower than the Shadow Remoraid while most of your Pokemon at that point are around the early to mid 30's and pass it over, well, every other Pokemon in the game. Plusle's biggest weakness is the investment it takes to level it up due to being obtained at such a low level and that Plus is a useless ability without Minus, but this doesn't mean that Plusle is a bad Pokemon. Plusle has the unique attribute of having a different ID than all other obtainable Pokemon (with the exception of Ho-oh) and combined with the Medium-Fast exp growth, Plusle levels up surprisingly fast. With its wide support move, consisting of moves such as T-Wave, Helping Hand, Encore, Fake Tears, and on the TM side Rain Dance, and Light Screen, Plusle will fill the role of support whether its softening up or crippling the opposing team or even capturing Shadow Pokemon.
Additional Notes: The EXP Share can be found directly after obtaining Plusle, in Agate Village and makes a good recipient for the item to bring it within level of the team very quickly.


Availability: Pyrite Town via Bandana Guy Divel. Found early game at level 30.
Overview: Quagsire makes its mark by being one of the few fully evolved Pokemon one will have for the first quarter of the game. With a base 85 attack, it has a strong Shadow Rush when its obtained and also has a good 95/85/65 bulk to its name. Water/Ground is also a good offensive and defensive typing having only one weakness and hitting 6 types super effectively. Quagsire also has the choice of either Water Absorb or Damp. Damp does have its occasional usage such as stopping a few Explosion using Pokemon, but Water Absorb is the more useful ability due to having way more chances to proc. Quagsire also has a great movepool, letting it learn good type coverage from TMs such as fighting, steel, and ice, a good support movepool such as Yawn, and Amnesia, and also naturally learns Earthquake, letting another Pokemon have the option to be taught the move via TM. Even though Surf is missing as an HM, Quagsire is one of the few users of the move. It has a lowish base 65 base special attack and combined with Surf's double battle properties, Quagsire misses out on quite a few OHKO's it would normally get in the mainline games. Quagsire does have some issues in the early game with the common usage of grass types and being slow, and especially has a pretty awful performance against Miror B, but after that has a good showing in all other major battles.
Additional Notes: Quagsire being an early game Pokemon only has 4000 points in the heart gauge, which will easily be reached by the time one gets to Agate Village. Yawn during certain major battles can force the AI to switch as they don't want the Yawn to proc the sleep status. One can abuse this AI oversight to completely immobilize one side of the opponent if used correctly.


Availability: Phenac City via Cipher Peon Verde. Can also be caught at Realgam Tower If Croconaw/Quilava are chosen instead, it can be found either in the Shadow Pokemon Lab or the Snagem Hideout during the postgame.
Overview: Bayleef is probably the worst Johto starter to choose but still manages to be the best offensive based grass type in the game. Its offenses are below average while its defenses are above average and does have a pretty good mixture of offensive moves and supportive moves. When it evolves into a Meganium, its below average offenses become above average (82/83/80) and its bulk becomes commendable (80/100/100). It can have reliable recovery in Synthesis, good utility in moves like Body Slam and can potentially be taught good coverage in Earthquake if need be. Overall, Meganium doesn't really shine anywhere in the major battles but its well rounded usage makes it quite usable in all of them, even if Typhlosion and Feraligatr are vastly better choices in the story.
Additional Notes: Easy purification with 3000 points in the Heart Gauge. Solarbeam can be found in the Phenac Colosseum, which isn't a long or time consuming detour and makes the best user of the move, tied with Entei, since they both come with Sunny Day already taught. Phenac Colosseum does not allow the usage of Shadow Pokemon so to obtain the TM early (Pre Mt. Battle), one will have to beat it with only Espeon and Umbreon in their party. It does learn Solarbeam naturally, but its typically far too late into any standard playthough.


Availability: The Under via Cipher Peon Kloak. Found mid game at level 40. Can also be found postgame in Snagem Hideout.
Overview: Ledian is infamous for being terrible and it's no different in Colosseum with it being as restricting of a game it already is. It does have a good support movepool, its speed is also good and has a pretty beefy special defense stat, but with non-existent offenses and a terrible type combo makes Ledian's only use being a support Pokemon, which many other Pokemon in the game due better.
Additional Notes: 6000 points in the Heart Gauge combined with a trash tier attack stat means Ledian has a very tough time in purifying. But since Ledian is so bad, it make a very good user of the Day Care.


Availability: Realgam Tower via Cipher Peon Dioge. Found late game at level 45. Can also be found postgame in Snagem Hideout.
Overview: Heracross has some very nice stats. A hard hitting 125 base attack with a good 80/75/95 bulk. A nice speed of 85 and a good offensive typing of part Fighting. Two abilities, Swarm and Guts, with the latter acting like a Choice Band if poisoned, paralysed, or burned (which also negates Burn's attack drop effect). But how come Heracross is "bad" per say? Well, its biggest flaw is that its the second to last Shadow Pokemon obtained before the Realgam Colosseum, which is also the final stretch of the game so that means Heracross has very little time and opportunity to flex, as well as 45 being a generally low level. In most cases, it will be a Shadow Pokemon during those final battles and the levels will show during the final two battles, but even if it is a shadow at that point, it still has a hard hitting Shadow Rush and can potentially hit like a freight train if it gets status'd when having Guts as an ability. If one does take the time to purifiy it and level it up, it actually has a great showing in the final battles, but at that point its just a heavy time investment that generally isn't worth the effort.
Additional notes: Heracross can make a good recipient of the Time Flute if one planned their team around the inclusion of Heracross, which lets it gain a few levels to help it out even more during the final battles.
 
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Availability: Shadow Pokemon Lab via Cipher Peon Lesar. Found mid-late at level 43
Overview: Ariados is yet another tragic Pokemon that is typically an early game encounter found late game. It's slow, its frail due to being part Bug having a slew of weaknesses and its movepool in general is pretty sad. The only thing that really saves this Pokemon (and just barely at that) is that it comes with Sludge Bomb. A base 90 move coming off of a base 90 attack with STAB does pack quite a punch , but that's all Ariados has going for it. Even its abilities are near useless for it since Swarm only can work with Leech Life, and Insomina, but since Ariados is pretty slow and frail, the AI would opt to just OHKO it outright if it can instead of affecting it with status.
Additional Notes: Leech Life pre Gen 7 is a whopping 20 base power, so its pretty much useless at the point you have it. Even Psychic is better used on Ariados than Leech Life.


Availability: Pyrite Town via Duking. Gifted after saving it from Miror B. Found at level 13.
Overview: Many people tend to ignore Plusle due to coming at the very low level of 13 (even lower than the Shadow Remoraid while most of your Pokemon at that ;point are around the early to mid 30's and pass it over, well, every other Pokemon in the game. Plusle's biggest weakness is the investment it takes to level it up due to being obtained at such a low level and that Plus is literally a useless ability without Minus, but this doesn't mean that Plusle is a bad Pokemon. Plusle has the unique attribute of having a different ID than all other obtainable Pokemon (with the exception of Ho-oh) and combined with the Medium-Fast exp growth, Plusle levels up surprisingly fast. It is pretty physically frail, and lacking in physical attack but it has a nice 95 base speed and a good enough base 85 Sp.attack. Plusle's main strength is its wide support move, consisting of moves such as Growl, T-Wave, Helping Hand, Encore, Fake Tears, Baton Pass, Agility, and on the TM side Rain Dance, and Light Screen. All of these moves can be very useful in the many major battles to come as they can support your teammate or to completely cripple the opposing side.
Additional Notes: The EXP Share can be found directly after obtaining Plusle, in Agate Village and makes a good recipient for the item. Supposedly the reason Plusle is in the game in the first place because there was suppose to be a Shadow Minun obtainable but they scrapped that aspect for unknown reasons.


Availability: Pyrite Town via Bandana Guy Divel. Found early game at level 30. Rematchable as long as the area is refreshed.
Overview: Quagsire makes its mark by being one of the few fully evolved Pokemon you will have for the first quarter of the game. With a base 85 attack, it has a strong Shadow Rush when its obtained and also has a good 95/85/65 bulk to its name. Water/Ground is also a good offensive and defensive typing having only one weakness and hitting 6 types super effectively. Quagsire also has the choice of either Water Absorb or Damp. Damp does have its occasional usage such as stopping a few Explosion using Pokemon, but Water Absorb is the more useful ability due to having way more chances to proc. Quagsire also has a great movepool, letting it learn good type coverage from TMs such as fighting, steel, and ice, a good support movepool such as Yawn, and Amnesia, and also naturally learns Earthquake, letting another Pokemon have the option to be taught the move via TM. Quagsire does have some issues in the early game with the common usage of grass types and being slow, and especially against Miror B, but after that has a good showing in all other major battles.
Additional Notes: Quagsire being an early game Pokemon only has 4000 points in the heart gauge, which will easily be reached by the time one gets to Agate Village. Yawn during certain major battles can force the AI to switch as they don't want the Yawn to proc the sleep status. One can abuse this AI oversight to completely immobilize one side of the opponent if used correctly.


Availability: It's earliest encounter is in Phenac City via Cipher Peon Verde. Can also be caught at Realgam Tower if failed to capture the first time. If Croconaw or Quilava are chosen instead, it can be found either in the Shadow Pokemon Lab or the Snagem Hideout during the post game.
Overview: Bayleef is probably the worst Johto starter to choose but still manages to be the best offensive based grass type in the game. Its offenses are below average while its defenses are above average and does have a pretty good mixture of offensive moves and supportive moves. When it evolves into a Meganium, its below average offenses become above average (82/83/80) and its bulk becomes commendable (80/100/100). It can have reliable recovery in Synthesis, good utility in moves like Body Slam and can potentially be taught good coverage in Earthquake if need be. Overall, Meganium doesn't really shine anywhere in the major battles but its well rounded usage makes it quite usable in all of them, even if Typhlosion and Feraligatr are vastly better choices in the story.
Additional Notes: Easy purification with 3000 points in the Heart Gauge. Solarbeam can be found in the Phenac Colosseum, which isn't a long or time consuming detour and makes the best user of the move, tied with Entei, since they both come with Sunny Day already taught. Phenac Colosseum does not allow the usage of Shadow Pokemon so to obtain the TM early (Pre Mt. Battle), one will have to beat it with only Espeon and Umbreon in their party. It does learn Solarbeam naturally, but its typically far too late into any standard playthough.


Availability: The Under via Cipher Peon Kloak. Found mid game at level 40. Can also be found postgame in Snagem Hideout.
Overview: Yet another sad state of affairs. Ledian is infamous for being terrible and it's no different in Colosseum with it being as restricting of a game it already is. Ledian has atrocious offenses, and it can't even use STAB. It does have a good support movepool, and its speed is pretty, and a pretty beefy special defense lets it take special attacks. It can utilize Dual Screens as well as Safeguard but thats pretty much all it does. Any other Dual Screen user is better due to actually having a usable offense and also not having a awful defensive Bug/Flying typing. It's role in all major battles consist of: setting up some type of barrier, and then dying due to the major battle all having some coverage against Bug/Flying.
Additional Notes: 6000 points in the Heart Gauge combined with a trash tier attack stat means Ledian has a very tough time in purifying. But since Ledian is so bad, it make a very good user of the Day Care.


Availability: Realgam Tower via Cipher Peon Dioge. Found late game at level 45. Can also be found postgame in Snagem Hideout.
Overview: Heracross has some very nice stats. A hard hitting 125 base attack with a good 80/75/95 bulk. A nice speed of 85 and a good offensive typing of part Fighting. Two abilities, Swarm which it can actually use (unlike Ariados) with a powerful Megahorn and Guts, which acts like a Choice Band if poisoned, paralysed, or burned (which also negates Burn's attack drop effect). But how come Heracross is "bad" per say? Well, its biggest flaw is that its the second to last Shadow Pokemon obtained before the Realgam Colosseum, which is also the final stretch of the game so that means Heracross has very little time and opportunity to flex, as well as 45 being a pretty low level as a standard team at that point will have all six slots filled as well as the levels being around the early to mid 50's. In most cases, it will be a Shadow Pokemon during those final battles and the levels will show during the final two battles, but even if it is a shadow at that point, it still has a hard hitting Shadow Rush and can potentially hit like a freight train if it gets status'd when having Guts as an ability. If one does take the time to purifiy it and level it up, it actually has a great showing in the final battles, but at that point its just a heavy time investment that generally isn't worth the effort.
Additional notes: 7000 points in the Heart Gauge makes it a lengthy purification process, but not nearly as bad as its other Shadows due to having a powerful Shadow Rush.
Looking pretty good. The only comments I have are about Quagsire and Heracross. For Quagsire, I think mentioning Surf is a big point since not every water-type gets surf (thanks to no HMs in Colosseum). This helps set Quag apart from Remoraid and Mantine.

As for Heracross, I think a mention of it being a time flute candidate is fair (at least that gives an opportunity to gain experience right before and during the final colosseum challenge). Mentioning the Heart Gauge is a good point for other pokes, but I'm not sure it's too important for Heracross since you're likely not purifying it in during the main game (unless you spend a lot on scents or just walk around forever lol not efficient). This is where I would mention the time flute part - obviously there are better candidates (the legendary dogs and Vibrava to start), but it could work if you don't plan on using more than one of those aforementioned pokes. So add a mention of the unlikely/inefficient purification process and a small part on the Time Flute and I think it's mostly there. Thanks!

e: Also for Heracross, I take minor issue with the "a standard team at that point will have all six slots filled" part. If you're planning on using Heracross, I think you would leave a spot for it rather than filling it with something that would have to be replaced later (esp. since you don't need HM slaves in Colosseum). Maybe I'm the only one that actually plans their teams out ahead of time, but that's a slight logic flaw / situation that also bothered me.
 

Karxrida

Death to the Undying Savage
is a Community Contributor Alumnus
Could do without some of the commentary for Ariados. The length of the write-up is pretty ideal but it could be shorter.

The Pulse overview is a little too long. The note about Minun is also totally irrelevant while bloating the length further.

Quagsire has no mention of its lowish Special Attack, which is really important to note since it's one of the few Surf users.

Ledian has some unnecessary commentary like Ariados. The overview could easily be condensed into 3 sentences.

I'd axe the mention of Megahorn in Heracross's write-up. Getting it before the final boss is kind of unrealistic.
 
I believe we're down to the last 10 or so Pokemon that need write ups. I should have them all done by the end of the weekend. And to OrangeGuru and Karxrida, I made the edits that were stated in your above posts.

Availability: Pyrite Town via Roller Boy Lon. Early game at level 30.
Overview: Slugma is an odd Pokemon with a very late evolution considering its low base stats. Being slow, frail, and not very powerful is a whole lot of trouble. It does have a good fire STAB as it comes with Flamethrower letting it hit a lot of types super effectively and a good amount of those types are pretty common to see throughout the game but Slugma during its pre-evolve stage requires a lot of babysitting. Slugma has either Magma Armor or Flame Body to choose from, and Flame Body in 99% of situations is the superior ability. When it does evolve into a Magcargo, it gains some power and much needed bulk, but still manages to struggle due to Fire/Rock being an awful defensive typing, with its weaknesses being nearly everywhere. Due to its common weaknesses, Magcargo sees problems during most major battles but because of its fire typing, can take out some of the more problematic members on most major battles. It still manages to by far be the worst Fire type in the game (excluding Houndoom).
Additional Notes: Even though it has a low 4000 points in its Heart Gauge, Slugma is a pain to purify due to its fragility and low physical attack.


Availability: Pyrite Building via Miror B. Peon Reath. Found early game at level 20. Can also be found postgame in the Pyrite Cave
Overview: Remoraid is tied with Togetic for being the lowest leveled Shadow Pokemon obtainable, and unlike Plusle, it doesn't get the EXP boost since it doesn't have a different trainer ID when obtained. It's low level and paper thin defenses make Remoraid a very tough Pokemon to raise, and it will stay at level 20 until one completes Agate Village. When it's able to evolve into Octillery, it gets better. It trades some speed for a big boost in offenses and bulk. Octillery has wide coverage, able to learn grass, ice, fire, poison and psychic moves so it can hit a lot of Pokemon super effectively. Even though Octillery's coverage is large and has a good level up movepool, it also requires the most investment of all Pokemon in the entire game, and only puts out an above average showing for it.
Additional notes: Since HMs are absent in Colosseum, its strongest STAB move only ends up being Bubblebeam/Octazooka. Also Sniper is a Gen 4 ability so it can't really abuse Focus Energy in this case.


Availability: Pyrite Building via Hunter Doken. Found early game at level 33.
Overview: Qwilfish makes for a good Shadow Pokemon due to a hard hitting Shadow Rush running off base 95 attack and at a higher level than most other Pokemon obtainable at that point. It can either have Poison Point or Swift Swim as abilities, both are pretty useful, tho Swift Swim comes in handy in more major battles than Poison Point does. With a good typing and stats, it has great use from the moment of capture up until the end of Agate Village. Unfortunately, Qwilfish is one of those Pokemon that get worse once it's purified. For one, Qwilfish has a pretty awful level up movepool so for the most part it has to rely on the weak and unreliable Pin Missile and Poison Sting for physical damage. Qwilfish does get Surf, but with it only having base 55 special attack, its a weak move, even under the influence of rain. Thus, Qwilfish desperately requires the usage of TMs to be good, but can't get most of them until during or after The Under is completed. Most of what it will do after purification is spam minimize and slowly whittle away at the HP of opponents, which is something notable as it happens to be the only minimize user obtainable so it at least has that going for it.
Additional Notes: 5000 points in the Heart Gauge isn't a whole lot (its more than most of the early game obtainables) but at the point of Qwilfish's capture, it most likely won't be fulfilled by the time of Agate Village. Due to Colosseum running on the RSE level up movepool, Qwilfish also misses out on moves such as Revenge and Destiny Bond, as well as an early Hydro Pump. Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball can only be gotten through completing Under Colosseum, which can only be challenged after one can get to the Shadow Pokemon Lab. The Under Colosseum also hosts Pokemon within the mid 50's. It's only recommended to try it out when your Pokemon are in the mid to late 40's or higher.


Availability: Pyrite Cave via Rider Twan. Found early game at level 33.
Overview: Meditite's stats may look average or even below average with base 40 offenses, but thanks to Pure Power which doubles the physical attacking stat, not the base stat, Meditite actually has the equivalent of base 102. This makes Meditite have the hardest hitting Shadow Rush at that point in the game, making it an absolute powerhouse able to break through even the sturdiest of walls. When it evolves into a Medicham at 37, it becomes even stronger with a pseudo-base 140 which grants Medicham the award of the hardest hitter in the game.
Medicham is a high risk, high reward Pokemon. It lives by the High Jump Kick, and dies by the High Jump Kick. HJK for a good chunk of the game is its bread and butter. If it hits, it will most likely OHKO the Pokemon outright, and if it misses, Medicham will most likely be KO'd itself. During the very few disadvantages it does have, it can reliably set up Dual Screens if need be or even opt to use Calm Mind to hit poison types harder. Medicham will bring out great results in nearly any battle, that is if its results actually make their mark.
Additional Notes: Meditite does have 5000 points in the Heart Gauge, but that matters very little due to its extremely hard hitting moves. Both the TM for Focus Punch and Brick Break can be obtained in the Pyrite Colosseum, which can be done with little issue when your Pokemon are in the high 30's or low 40's. Focus Punch is a lot riskier than both HJK and Brick Break, but obliterates anything in its path. If Focus Punch is taught, it is best to pair Medicham with Pokemon that can prevent turns or redirect damage such as Jumpluff and Furret. Brick Break is a much safer alternative to HJK due to HJK only being base 85 power in Gen 3, while Brick Break is only 10 base power less, and has the extra utility of removing screens. Shadow Ball TM can be obtained in the Under Colosseum which gives Medicham unresisted coverage.


Availability: Pyrite Cave via Rider Sosh. Found early game at level 33.
Overview: Dunsparce in many ways gets screwed over due to Colosseum's limitations and restrictions. Serene Grace is a fantastic potential ability and Dunsparce is bulky enough to abuse it, but it just misses out on a lot of moves it would love to have. Due to Colosseum's limited TMs and no HMs, it can't have moves such as Water Pulse, Secret Power and Rock Smash,AncientPower and Headbutt/Bite from breeding, and moves like Body Slam and Rock Slide from tutors. This really only leaves it with moves like Thunder, Fire Blast, Blizzard and Iron Tail to abuse. Thunder does have a high 60% paralysis rate w/Serene Grace and Fire Blast/Blizzard are now a 20% chance to proc. The problem with these moves is that they are pretty inaccurate and thus unreliable. Overall, if Dunsparce is caught with Serene Grace, it makes for a decent utility Pokemon, able to spread around major status conditions with the above moves as well as Glare and Yawn and makes for capturing Shadow Pokemon pretty simple and stress free.
Additional Notes: It has 5000 points in the Heart Gauge, but is also caught pretty late into Pyrite Town. If one wants to opt for the more accurate and reliable Flamethrower/Ice Beam/Thunderbolt, they can only be obtained at Mt. Battle, which takes investment to get, especially if all three are to be gotten.
 
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I believe we're down to the last 10 or so Pokemon that need write ups. I should have them all done by the end of the weekend. And to OrangeGuru and Karxrida, I made the edits that were stated in your above posts.

Availability: Pyrite Town via Roller Boy Lon. Early game at level 30.
Overview: Slugma is an odd Pokemon with a very late evolution considering its low base stats. Being slow, frail, and not very powerful is a whole lot of trouble. It does have a good fire STAB as it comes with Flamethrower letting it hit a lot of types super effectively and a good amount of those types are pretty common to see throughout the game but Slugma during its pre-evolve stage requires a lot of babysitting. Slugma has eithe rMagma Armor or Flame Body to choose from, and Flame Body in 99% of situations is the superior ability. When it does evolve into a Magcargo, it gains some power and much needed bulk, but still manages to struggle due to Fire/Rock being an awful offensive typing, with its weaknesses being nearly everywhere. Due to its common weaknesses, Magcargo sees problems during most major battles but because of its fire typing, can take out some of the more problematic members on most major battles. It still manages to by far be the worst Fire type in the game (excluding Houndoom).
Additional Notes: Even though it has a low 4000 points in its Heart Gauge, Slugma is a pain to purify due to its fragility and low physical attack. Yawn during some major battles can be abused just like how Quagsire can do.
I believe you meant awful defensive typing (it's not so terrible offensively, but is weak to common types as you said and has 2 4x weaknesses). Also, in Additional Notes, I'm not sure if mentioning Quagsire is completely warranted because I think these are generally meant to be read one at a time (as in with no context of Quagsire), so the random mention of Quagsire is a little random. Maybe rewording it can help, but I'd probably be in favor of just axing it - this is the profile on Slugma, what Quagsire can do is not important

Availability: Pyrite Building via Miror B. Peon Reath. Found early game at level 20. Can also be found postgame in the Pyrite Cave
Overview: Remoraid is tied with Togetic for being the lowest leveled Shadow Pokemon obtainable, and unlike Plusle, it doesn't get the EXP boost since it doesn't have a different trainer ID when obtained. It's low level and paper thin defenses make Remoraid a very tough Pokemon to raise, and it will stay at level 20 until one completes Agate Village. When it's able to evolve into Octillery, it gets better. It trades some speed for a big boost in offenses and bulk. Octillery has wide coverage, able to learn grass, ice, fire, poison and psychic moves so it can hit a lot of Pokemon super effectively. Even though Octillery's coverage is large and has a good level up movepool, it also requires the most investment of all Pokemon in the entire game, and only gives out an above average showing for it.
Additional notes: Since HMs are absent in Colosseum, its strongest STAB move only ends up being Bubblebeam/Octazooka. Also Sniper is a Gen 4 ability so it can't really abuse Focus Energy in this case.


Availability: Pyrite Building via Hunter Doken. Found early game at level 33.
Overview: Qwilfish makes at that point of capture a good Shadow Pokemon due to a hard hitting Shadow Rush running off base 95 attack and at a higher level than most other Shadows. It can either have Poison Point or Swift Swim as abilities, both are pretty useful, tho Swift Swim comes in handy in more major battles than Poison Point does. With a good typing and stats, ti has great use from the moment of capture up until the end of Agate Village. Unfortinately, Qwilfish is one of those Pokemon that get worse once it's purified. For one, Qwilfish has a pretty awful level up movepool so for the most part it has to rely on the weak and unreliable Pin Missile and Poison Sting for physical damage. Qwilfish does get Surf, but with it only having base 55 special attack, its a weak move, even under the influence of rain. Thus, Qwilfish desperate requires the usage of TMs to be good, but can't get most of them until during or after The Under is completed. Most of what it will do after purification is spam minimize and slowly whittle away at the HP of opponents, which is something notable as it happens to be the only minimize user obtainable so it at least has that going for it.
Additional Notes: 5000 points in the Heart Gauge isn't a whole lot (its more than most of the early game obtainables) but at the point of Qwilfish's capture, it most likely won't be fulfilled by the time of Agate Village. Due to Colosseum running on the RSE level up movepool, Qwilfish also misses out on moves such as Revenge and Destiny Bond, as well as an early Hydro Pump. Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball can only be gotten through completing Under Colosseum, which can only be challenged after one can get to the Shadow Pokemon Lab. The Under Colosseum also hosts Pokemon within the mid 50's. It's only recommended to try it out when your Pokemon are in the mid to late 40's or higher.
minor thing, but you say "ti" in there instead of "it" (I bolded it for you). Also, your first sentence for Qwilfish is awkward. I think the main point should be that base 95 attack and a higher level than other surrounding Shadows gives it a powerful Shadow Rush and makes it a quality Shadow Pokemon - just remove the phrase "makes at that point of capture a good" and reword from there

Availability: Pyrite Cave via Rider Twan. Found early game at level 33.
Overview: Meditite's stats may look average or even below average with base 40 offenses, but thanks to Pure Power which doubles the physical attacking stat, not the base stat, Meditite actually has the equivalent of base 102 (more or less depending on IVs, and EVs gains). This makes Meditite have the hardest hitting Shadow Rush at that point in the game, making it an absolute powerhouse able to break through even the sturdiest of walls. When it evolves into a Medicham at 37, it becomes even stronger with a pseudo-base 140 (or more/less depending on IVs and EVs) which grants Medicham the award of the hardest hitter in the game.
Medicham is a high risk, high reward Pokemon. It lives by the High Jump Kick, and dies by the High Jump Kick. HJK for a good chunk of the game is its bread and butter. If it hits, it will most likely OHKO the Pokemon outright, and if it misses, Medicham will most likely be KO'd itself. During the very few disadvantages it does have, it can reliably set up Dual Screens if need be. Medicham will bring out great results in nearly any battle, that is if its results actually make their mark.
Additional Notes: Meditite does have 5000 points in the Heart Gauge, but that matters very little due to its extremely hard hitting moves. Both the TM for Focus Punch and Brick Break can be obtained in the Pyrite Colosseum, which can be done with little issue when your Pokemon are in the high 30's or low 40's. Focus Punch is a lot riskier than both HJK and Brick Break, but obliterates anything in its path. Brick Break is a much safer alternative to HJK due to HJK only being base 85 power in Gen 3, while Brick Break is only 10 base power less, and has the extra utility of removing screens. Shadow Ball TM can be obtained in the Under Colosseum which gives Medicham unresisted coverage.


Availability: Pyrite Cave via Rider Sosh. Found early game at level 33.
Overview: Dunsparce in many ways gets screwed over due to Colosseum's limitations and restrictions. Serene Grace is a fantastic potential ability and Dunsparce is bulky enough to abuse it, but it just misses out on a lot of moves it would love to have. Due to Colosseum's limited TMs and no HMs, it misses out on moves such as Water Pulse, Secret Power and Rock Smash, with no breeding it misses out on AncientPower and Headbutt/Bite and due to no move tutors, it also misses out on moves like Body Slam and Rock Slide. This really only leaves it with moves like Thunder, Fire Blast, Blizzard and Iron Tail to abuse. Thunder does have a high 60% paralysis rate w/Serene Grace and Fire Blast/Blizzard are now a 20% chance to proc. The problem with these moves is that they are pretty inaccurate and thus unreliable. Overall, if Dunsparce is caught with Serene Grace, it makes for a decent utility Pokemon, able to spread around major status conditions with the above moves as well as Glare and Yawn and makes for capturing Shadow Pokemon pretty simple and stress free.
Additional Notes: It has 5000 points in the Heart Gauge, but is also caught pretty late into Pyrite Town. If one wants to opt for the more accurate and reliable Flamethrower/Ice Beam/Thunderbolt, they can only be obtained at Mt. Battle, which takes investment to get, especially if all three are to be gotten.
For Meditite, I would just add a mention of Furret as a Follow Me user if you're going to mention Focus Punch being riskier (since Follow Me removes that risk for the most part, plus Togetic is irrelevant for this tiering discussion since it's postgame). Also, a mention of Calm Mind would be nice since set-up sweepers in Colosseum is rare (Follow Me helps here too); Meditite isn't that great of a user of CM, but options are limited and using it with Psychic can hit hard - admittedly Psychic takes some work to get, but that is an option and STAB. (And I'm not sure if mentioning the IVs and EVs is completely warranted because that's hard to control and account for, but maybe Karxrida is ok with it)
 
Availability: Phenac City via Cipher Peon Bluno. Potentially found early game at level 30. Can also be found at Realgam Tower, or can be found postgame in the Shadow Pokemon Labo or Snagem Hideout.
Overview: Croconaw is one of the three Johto starters obtainable in Colosseum and is the best one of the three. What makes Croconaw so great is its versatility in its offensive coverage and utility moves and well rounded stats. When it's a Shadow Pokemon, it has a hard hitting Shadow Rush as well good defenses which lets it take a lot of punishment as well as deal it too. It does have some times when it struggles such as against Miror B but can hit Miror B's Ludicolo's on their weaker defense for huge damage. Croconaw also evolves the earliest out of all the Johto starts at level 30 (technically it's suppose to be evolved already) and its well rounded stats become even better, with its lowest stat only being a base 78 speed. Feraligatr may only have base 79 special attack, but combined with its ability Torrent as well as the Rain Dance it gets when purified lets it utilize Surf very well. It even has a great base 105 attack to let it use moves such as Brick Break, Earthquake and Hyper Beam to its advantage.
Additional Notes: Croconaw comes with a low 3000 points in the Heart Gauge and is around for the entirety of the Pyrite Town and Agate Village so it should have zero issues with purification. Feraligatr makes a great user of Earthquake TM due to its high attack power.


Availability: Pyrite Town via St. Performer Diogo. found early game at level 30.
Overview: Flaaffy has a weird time as a Shadow Pokemon. It has to mostly rely on Shadow Rush, running off of a base 55 attack but as it comes further along, it relearns moves like Thunder Wave and Cotton Spore, which give it great utility in crippling Pokemon as well as capturing other Shadow Pokemon. Once it's purified, it gets the much more powerful Thunderbolt to use and when it evolves into Ampharos, it gets a big boost in power and defenses. Its offensive movepool, like most electric types, lacks on the special side but can mostly get the job done with Thunderbolt due to its high base 115 special attack. Flaaffy/Ampharos tends to struggle in the early due to the huge amount of ground types seen as well as the lack of power needed, but starts to excel after that as ground types become increasingly rare and gains further utility moves such as Light Screen.
Additional Notes: Flaaffy has only 3000 points in the Heart Gauge, and is caught early on so it can either be fully or close to purification when one reaches Phenac City. Ampharos does have a decent physical movepool, but those moves are better off taught to physically stronger Pokemon.


Availability: Pyrite Cave via Cipher Admin Miror B. Found early game at level 35. Can also be caught at Realgam Tower or postgame at Deep Colosseum
Overview: Sudowoodo is one of the two rock types obtainable in the game before the postgame. It has a strong Shadow Rush running off of a base 100 attack as well as a hefty base 115 defense to let it tank other Shadow Rushes. It has nice coverage in Rock Slide, Low Kick and Earthquake. Even with its advantages, the rock typing is more of a curse than a blessing due to its numerous weaknesses and all of them being common to come across in the major battles. It's two abilities are Sturdy and Rock Head, both which are seldom used due to Double-Edge only being learned at level 57 and OHKO moves being a rarity. Sudowoodo is also very slow, which doesn't help with its weaknesses being so common. It's wide coverage is useful as it can hit many Pokemon super effectively but won't get many chances to do so.
Additional notes: Sudowoodo has a high 10,000 points in the Heart Gauge, which is more than any other Shadow Pokemon seen at that point. Sudowoodo because of its low speed makes a good candidate for the Quick Claw. Due to being Gen 3, Sturdy does not act like a Focus Sash.


Availability: The Under via Cipher Admin Venus. Found mid game at level 40. Can also be caught at Realgam Tower or postgame at Deep Colosseum.
Overview: Suicune is a very strong water type. It has a very bulky 100/115/115 defenses letting it tank even super effective moves, and has a nice base 90 sp. attack as well as an above average base 85 speed. It comes with Surf and has the strongest non-boosted Surf in the game, and even learns Aurora Beam one level after purification. Even though Suicune is very bulky, its support movepool lacks in some areas; it doesn't learn much moves that can hinder the opposing side, rather having moves that can support its partner such as Rain Dance, Reflect, and Mist It does also struggle in some parts, like the Shadow Pokemon Lab where there are a ton of electric types to run into. Even with its faults, Suicune makes for a fine member and still ends up being one of the strongest Pokemon obtainable.
Additional Notes: Suicune has 13,000 points in the Heart Gauge, making it a high priority Time Flute user, with a second Time Flute being found within the area, though it does take a bit of exploring to get since one needs the U-Disk to even get to the area. Because of its bulk, Suicune makes one of the best users of the Toxic TM. Suicune also pairs best with other water types or Pokemon that can learn Thunder.


Availability: The Under via Hunter Frena. Found mid game at level 43. Can also be found postgame at Snagem Hideout
Overview: Gligar has arguably the second worst level up movepool in the entire game, where its level up moves are completely missing in STAB. Because of its terrible movepool, Gligar is at the complete mercy of TMs, which are in all cases better suited for the other Pokemon that can learn them. Its stats are also oddly distributed, as it has a high base 105 defense, and above average base 85 speed, but only an average base 75 attack, and 65 sp. defense, Without STAB, its 75 base attack also doesn't seem strong. Gligar has two abilities in Hyper Cutter and Sand Veil, but both aren't useful for Gligar for the main game. Ground/Flying is a good typing having 2 common immunities but it cannot utilize them to the best of its ability.
Additional Notes: Gligar has 6000 points in the Heart Gauge but due to its average stats, its struggles greatly during the purification process. Its dependency on TMs, most of which can only be obtained through the Colosseums, also makes it a heavy time sink.


Availability: Shadow Pokemon Lab via Cipher Peon Tanie. Found mid-late at level 43.
Overview: Granbull is a strong Pokemon with a high base 120 attack, which lets it easily abuse Shadow Rush. It comes with the ever useful Intimidate letting it be pretty physically tanky and helps out with capturing other Shadow Pokemon. It's level up movepool isnt anything to write home about, but with the usage of TMs it gets a wide coverage of moves. It can even use special attacks decently enough to hit physically defensive steel types and water types very hard with Fire Blast or Thunder. Though, like many obtainable Pokemon, Granbull is slow and has a below average special defense which can lead it to being OHKO'd very strong special attacks. Granbull is also encounters pretty late into the story so it doesn't have many major battles it can contribute to but with the right amount of support from its teammates, Granbull can punch holes through many opponents.
Additional Notes: Granbull has 6000 points in the Heart Gauge, but since it has a strong Shadow Rush, it isn't much of a problem. Prior to Gen 6, Granbull was a Normal typing so it also makes a great user of the Return TM, which can be gotten from beating Justy in Phenac City. Happiness can be brought up quickly with the usage of Vivid Scents, but Shadow Pokemon do not gain happiness until two out of the five bars of the Heart Gauge are depleted. Quick Claw makes for a great held item due to Granbull being naturally slow.


Availability: Shadow Pokemon Lab via Cipher Peon Vana. Found mid-late at level 43.
Overview: Forretress has a unique Bug/Steel typing, only granting it one weakness, and a massive base 140 defense. Theoretically this makes Forretress the most physically bulky Pokemon in the game. But Forretress has a bad offensive movepool, unable to learn STAB and has to rely on grass, ground and normal moves to do damage. It also has weird utility moves such as Bide, Rapid Spin, and Spikes which are unreliable in most battles. Forretress does have a unique niche in being the only Pokemon in the game that can learn Explosion, which nukes pretty much every Pokemon that doesn't resist or is immune to the move. It also can learn Dual Screens, and even though its slow, its great defensive typing lets it reliably set up both screens. Forretress' role mostly amounts to setting up screens, spamming a move such as Toxic, Hyper Beam, Protect or whatever, and then exploding on problematic Pokemon.
Additional notes: Forretress has 6000 points in the Heart Gauge. Forretress can learn Earthquake by TM, but that is typically suited for Pokemon that can better utilize the move. One can abuse Explosion by the usage of revives/revival herbs, but this is a very costly strategy and makes Forretress miss out on a lot of EXP.



And I think that wraps up all the write ups, though I'm sure I'm missing a write up or two. I'll be going around my write ups making small tweaks here and there to either add or remove slightly or just make grammatical changes.
I will not make write ups on Miltank, Absol, Houndoom, Tropius, and Metagross because all it would amount to is "they're found in the very last legs of the main game, and require capturing them and then purposely losing the following battle(s) to be able to use them" so it's just pointless to do it. Tyranitar, Smeargle, Ursaring, Shuckle and Togetic are all postgame so writeups on them are pointless too.

Overall this was a pretty fun thing to do, and gave me another excuse to go through one of my favorite Pokemon games and also let me try out some combinations I've never did before. I want to thank all the people who bothered to read my regurgitation of an analysis and picking up on things I missed out on or didn't put in my analysis.
 
Last edited:

Karxrida

Death to the Undying Savage
is a Community Contributor Alumnus
Yo MellowBusiness, I'd like to thank you for doing so much hard work for this thread! I haven't been able to participate in making write-ups myself over the past few months due to my wonky and tiring schedule, so I very much appreciate everything you've done.

Before we move on, OrangeGuru and I will probably proofread your write-ups some more and finalize some other minor details.
 
Availability: Phenac City via Cipher Peon Bluno. Potentially found early game at level 30. Can also be found at Realgam Tower, or can be found postgame in the Shadow Pokemon Labo or Snagem Hideout.
Overview: Croconaw is one of the three Johto starters obtainable in Colosseum and is the best one of the three. What makes Croconaw so great is its versatility in its offensive coverage and utility moves and well rounded stats. When it's a Shadow Pokemon, it has a hard hitting Shadow Rush as well good defenses which lets it take a lot of punishment as well as deal it too. It does have some times when it struggles such as against Miror B but can hit Miror B's Ludicolo's on their weaker defense for huge damage. Croconaw also evolves the earliest out of all the Johto starts at level 30 (technically it's suppose to be evolved already) and its well rounded stats become even better, with its lowest stat only being a base 78 speed. Feraligatr may only have base 79 special attack, but combined with its ability Torrent as well as the Rain Dance it gets when purified lets it utilize Surf very well. It even has a great base 105 attack to let it use moves such as Brick Break, Earthquake and Hyper Beam to its advantage. Feraligatr ends up being so good that is one of the three Pokemon used in speedruns of this game, which further testifies to its viability.
Additional Notes: Croconaw comes with a low 3000 points in the Heart Gauge and is around for the entirety of the Pyrite Town and Agate Village so it should have zero issues with purification. Feraligatr makes a great user of Earthquake TM due to its high attack power.


Availability: Pyrite Town via St. Performer Diogo. found early game at level 30.
Overview: Flaaffy has a weird time as a Shadow Pokemon. It has to mostly rely on Shadow Rush, running off of a base 55 attack but as it comes further along, it relearns moves like Thunder Wave and Cotton Spore, which give it great utility in crippling Pokemon as well as capturing other Shadow Pokemon. Once it's purified, it gets the much more powerful Thunderbolt to use and when it evolves into Ampharos, it gets a big boost in power and defenses. Its offensive movepool, like most electric types, lacks on the special side but can mostly get the job done with Thunderbolt due to its high base 115 special attack. Flaafy/Ampharos tends to struggle in the early due to the huge amount of ground types seen as well as the lack of power needed, but starts to excel after that as ground types become increasingly rare and gains further utility moves such as Light Screen.
Additional Notes: Flaaffy has only 3000 points in the Heart Gauge, and is caught early on so it can either be fully or close to purification when one reaches Phenac City. Ampharos does have a decent physical movepool, but those moves are better off taught to physically stronger Pokemon.


Availability: Pyrite Cave via Cipher Admin Miror B. Found early game at level 35. Can also be caught at Realgam Tower or postgame at Deep Colosseum
Overview: Sudowoodo is one of the two rock types obtainable in the game before the postgame. It has a strong Shadow Rush running off of a base 100 attack as well as a hefty base 115 defense to let it tank other Shadow Rushes. It has nice coverage in Rock Slide, Low Kick and Earthquake. Even with its advantages, the rock typing is more of a curse than a blessing due to its numerous weaknesses and all of them being common to come across in the major battles. It's two abilities are Sturdy and Rock Head, both which are seldom used due to Double-Edge only being learned at level 57 and OHKO moves being a rarity. Sudowoodo is also very slow, which doesn't help with its weaknesses being so common. It's wide coverage is useful as it can hit many Pokemon super effectively but won't get many chances to do so.
Additional notes: Sudowoodo has a high 10,000 points in the Heart Gauge, which is more than any other Shadow Pokemon seen at that point. Sudowoodo because of its low speed makes a good candidate for the Quick Claw. Due to being Gen 3, Sturdy does not act like a Focus Sash.


Availability: The Under via Cipher Admin Venus. Found mid game at level 40. Can also be caught at Realgam Tower or postgame at Deep Colosseum.
Overview: Suicune is a very strong water type. It has a very bulky 100/115/115 defenses letting it tank even super effective moves, and has a nice base 90 sp. attack as well as an above average base 85 speed. It comes with Surf and has the strongest non-boosted Surf in the game, and even learns Aurora Beam one level after purification. Even though Suicune is very bulky, its support movepool lacks in some areas; it doesn't learn much moves that can hinder the opposing side, rather having moves that can support its partner such as Rain Dance, Reflect, and Mist It does also struggle in some parts, like the Shadow Pokemon Lab where there are a ton of electric types to run into. Even with its faults, Suicune makes for a fine member and still ends up being one of the strongest Pokemon obtainable.
Additional Notes: Suicune has 13,000 points in the Heart Gauge, making it a high priority Time Flute user, with a second Time Flute being found within the area, though it does take a bit of exploring to get since one needs the U-Disk to even get to the area. Because of its bulk, Suicune makes one of the best users of the Toxic TM. Suicune also pairs best with other water types or Pokemon that can learn Thunder.


Availability: The Under via Hunter Frena. Found mid game at level 43. Can also be found postgame at Snagem Hideout
Overview: Gligar has arguably the second worst level up movepool in the entire game, where its level up moves are completely missing in STAB. Because of its terrible movepool, Gligar is at the complete mercy of TMs, which are in all cases better suited for the other Pokemon that can learn them. Its stats are also oddly distributed, as it has a high base 105 defense, and above average base 85 speed, but only an average base 75 attack, 65 sp. defense, and bad base 35 sp. attack. Without STAB, its 75 base attack also doesn't seem strong. Gligar has two abilities in Hyper Cutter and Sand Veil, but both aren't useful for Gligar for the main game. Ground/Flying is a good typing having 2 common immunities but it cannot utilize them to the best of its ability.
Additional Notes: Gligar has 6000 points in the Heart Gauge but due to its average stats, its struggles greatly during the purification process. Its dependency on TMs, most of which can only be obtained through the Colosseum's, also makes it a heavy time sink.


Availability: Shadow Pokemon Lab via Cipher Peon Tanie. Found mid-late at level 43.
Overview: Granbull is a strong Pokemon with a high base 120 attack, which lets it easily abuse Shadow Rush. It comes with the ever useful Intimidate letting it be pretty physically tanky and helps out with capturing other Shadow Pokemon. It's level up movepool isnt anything to write home about, but with the usage of TMs it gets a wide coverage of moves. It can even use special attacks decently enough to hit physically defensive steel types and water types very hard with Fire Blast or Thunder. Though, like many obtainable Pokemon, Granbull is slow and has a below average special defense which can lead it to being OHKO'd very strong special attacks. Granbull is also encounters pretty late into the story so it doesn't have many major battles it can contribute to but with the right amount of support from its teammates, Granbull can punch holes through many opponents.
Additional Notes: Granbull has 6000 points in the Heart Gauge, but since it has a strong Shadow Rush, it isn't much of a problem. Prior to Gen 6, Granbull was a Normal typing so it also makes a great user of the Return TM, which can be gotten from beating Justy in Phenac City. Happiness can be brought up quickly with the usage of Vivid Scents, but Shadow Pokemon do not gain happiness until two out of the five bars of the Heart Gauge are depleted. Quick Claw makes for a great held item due to Granbull being naturally slow.


Availability: Shadow Pokemon Lab via Cipher Peon Vana. Found mid-late at level 43.
Overview: Forretress has a unique Bug/Steel typing, only granting it one weakness, and a massive base 140 defense. Theoretically this makes Forretress the most physically bulky Pokemon in the game. But Forretress has a bad offensive movepool, unable to learn STAB and has to rely on grass, ground and normal moves to do damage. It also has weird utility moves such as Bide, Rapid Spin, and Spikes which are unreliable in most battles. Forretress does have a unique niche in being the only Pokemon in the game that can learn Explosion, which nukes pretty much every Pokemon that doesn't resist or is immune to the move. It also can learn Dual Screens, and even though its slow, its great defensive typing lets it reliably set up both screens. Forretress' role mostly amounts to setting up screens, spamming a move such as Toxic, Hyper Beam, Protect or whatever, and then exploding on problematic Pokemon.
Additional notes: Forretress has 6000 points in the Heart Gauge. Forretress can learn Earthquake by TM, but that is typically suited for Pokemon that can better utilize the move. One can abuse Explosion by the usage of revives/revival herbs, but this is a very costly strategy and makes Forretress miss out on a lot of EXP.



And I think that wraps up all the write ups, though I'm sure I'm missing a write up or two. I'll be going around my write ups making small tweaks here and there to either add or remove slightly or just make grammatical changes.
I will not make write ups on Miltank, Absol, Houndoom, Tropius, and Metagross because all it would amount to is "they're found in the very last legs of the main game, and require capturing them and then purposely losing the following battle(s) to be able to use them" so it's just pointless to do it. Tyranitar, Smeargle, Ursaring, Shuckle and Togetic are all postgame so writeups on them are pointless too.

Overall this was a pretty fun thing to do, and gave me another excuse to go through one of my favorite Pokemon games and also let me try out some combinations I've never did before. I want to thank all the people who bothered to read my regurgitation of an analysis and picking up on things I missed out on or didn't put in my analysis.
Only slight things I have with these analyses are:
Gligar - I don't see a reason to mention the bad 35 special attack. It doesn't get special attacks anyways so it's not relevant (it's actually smart that Game Freak designed it with that stat distribution). Also, in additional notes, it should say "Colosseums" not "Colosseum's"

Croconaw - In the last line of the overview, you're missing the word "it." The phrase should be "so good that it is one of the three pokemon used during speedruns of this game..." Though I would still rewrite it a little since the whole "ends up being so good" is a little awkward. I'd say something along the lines of "Feraligatr is so good it is usually one of the three pokemon used in speedruns of this game." - still not great but you get the point (side note: Idk if we should be mentioning speedruns at all, but at least the grammar can be cleaned up a little)
 

Karxrida

Death to the Undying Savage
is a Community Contributor Alumnus
I don't think mentions of speedruns are important or necessary, especially since speedrunning often relies on resets (super annoying for this game) and/or manipulating the game in a way not easy to replicate for casual players.
 
The thing to remember about Challenge runs is that often times they place restrictions on themselves specifically to get a different gameplay experience than what a normal run offers, ergo they probably value traits differently than the type of player who this particular thread probably benefits.
 
I felt in my opinion that mentioning Feraligatr's viability in speedruns was important because isn't the whole point of speedruns (at least with glitchless/no major glitches Pokemon speedruns) to finish the game as fast as possible with the most efficient Pokemon? I'll remove the mention on Croconaw/Feraligatr's analysis anyway since in the end its not really that important to mention.
 
I felt in my opinion that mentioning Feraligatr's viability in speedruns was important because isn't the whole point of speedruns (at least with glitchless/no major glitches Pokemon speedruns) to finish the game as fast as possible with the most efficient Pokemon? I'll remove the mention on Croconaw/Feraligatr's analysis anyway since in the end its not really that important to mention.
That is the point of speedruns, but we're not tiering for speedruns here. We're tiering for roughly a general, 6-poke team (you can read more about it here). Yes, generally we factor in stuff like efficiency for a pokemon's tier placement, but we are not assuming a 2 or 3 pokemon team to race through the game, as Pika Pal, Kurona, and Karxrida all said
 

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