Mons you can't go without in-game?

[DrumstickGaming]

I am running FRLG at the moment, and like in pretty much any incarnation of Kanto, it feels weird to go without a Psychic type because they are game breakers.

I thought back to how the desert mons function in BW1 and how almost every playthrough uses at least one of them, and I thought of a fun thread idea.

What mons do you have a hard time passing up in-game? Can be a type, can be from a certain area, maybe even a specific species - anything?

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

Ampharos in any Johto game. Granted it's because GSC and HGSS don't have great mon variety, but Ampharos is one of the few good Gen 2 mons available early and usable for a Johto playthrough. You get it early as Mareep, even moreso in HGSS where you can grind it a little and give you an edge against Falkner, then it evolves in Flaaffy, and then Ampharos, and all around it's a usable mon despite its level up movepool limitations. Electric coverage helps immensely if you're using Chikorita or Cyndaquil, and natural Thunder Wave is a valuable asset to have in any situation. It really hits its stride later in HGSS when it gets Discharge and Signal Beam and is a resourceful attacker and team supporter. Did I not mention that it's cute?

Gardevoir in the Hoenn games is another one. While it's super rare, and sucks utterly as Ralts and to an extent Kirlia, it's an obligatory addition to my team any time I play through RSE or ORAS. Going from weak little Ralts, and then raising it into an incredibly strong Gardevoir feels so rewarding once it gets there, having a complete powerhouse who stays good right to the end. Calm Mind, Psychic, and Thunderbolt in RSE is a force to be reckoned with, and in ORAS it has a second STAB in Dazzling Gleam or Moonblast to help it even more. I love Gardevoir as a Pokemon which helps a lot, but it's even better when it's just such a rock solid pick in-game and one of the best early game Pokemon you can get (especially when the rest are disposable early game crutches).

Yeah I know. Staraptor. God tier regional bird, amazing Pokemon in-game that's available from the start, evolves reasonably early with the level curve, and kicks utter butt. Strong STABs in Return and later Brave Bird in the late game, Close Combat as coverage, useful ability in Intimidate? Not to mention Starly is cute, Staravia is pretty cute too, and Staraptor is just so damn badass and imposing. What reason is there NOT to use this thing? In DPPt it's also amazingly convenient as a free Fly user for in-game. So much usefulness and you just can't go wrong.

Luxray is such a cool mon. I know it's kind of not that good because it lacks a strong physical STAB, but it's a useful mon all the same. Intimidate is good, Electric coverage helps no matter which starter you pick (but especially so if you use Turtwig or Chimchar), and in Platinum especially it gets a few neat coverage moves in Crunch and in Pt Superpower in the post game, and it can also set up Light Screen which has saved my ass on a few occasions. I enjoy using it in DPP. It's still not that great of a mon in competitive, but in-game it's a useful and dependable Pokemon. And it looks rad af!

You can't go wrong with these two. You just can't. Krookodile especially has a god tier design, and Scrafty is obviously the best (if my username doesn't already get that across well enough), but awesome coverage and a god tier ability in Moxie makes them able to rip through teams like a hot knife through butter and snowball as their power goes up. And boy does it feel satisfying when you do it. Scrafty in particular can just wipe through 3/4 of the Elite Four no prob and has its uses against N and Ghetsis.

Aegislash in XY is an utter boss. Honedge is a cool Ghost sword, and its typing is godly, it has good firepower, early Swords Dance, and great physical bulk. It evolves late but it's worth it as Doublade is very solid in its own right. Once you evolve it into Aegislash, it's a boss. King's Shield shenanigans to alternate between super high offensive firepower and amazing bulk and great offensive moves and coverage to hit hard back in return. One of the greats of the Gen 6 roster.

Despite its issues in-game, it's one of the better early birds, and one of the most fun ones to use for sure. You can get the TM for Swords Dance early and between SD, Roost, Return, and Aerial Ace as Fletchinder this thing can put in work, and Flame Body is a clutch ability that can come in handy. Talonflame hits its stride later on though, as it gets Acrobatics and Flare Blitz and with Swords Dance this thing puts in work because it's so damn fast. It's a bird I can't go wrong with using in XY.

SM and USUM have a very high power level, and Mudsdale's tankiness becomes an incredible resource because of it. Stamina increases its already good physical bulk every time it gets hit, but this thing takes hits well and dishes them back hard in return, creating an incredibly resourceful Pokemon to have in an Alola runthrough. It's got good coverage with Rock Tomb and High Horsepower, and it can use Bide/Counter if you're feeling up for it. It's slow, but it takes hits, and in a region like Alola, you'll need that.

Motherfucker is one of the most rad early birds you'll ever meet. It's kind of alright as Rookidee and Corvisquire, but as Corviknight it's really great. Takes hits super well, can use Hone Claws or Bulk Up to boost and hit hard. A set I used in SwSh with Bulk Up/Brave Bird/Steel Wing/Body Press proved a valuable resource in the game and was always a solid reliable Pokemon.

Just a few to name, haha. I'm sure other people have more, even if mine were pretty basic.

 

[khlaylav]

I hammer the Stoutland button in every game I can. Strong, fast, good stats all around, Intimidate? No brainer.

Also agree with Ampharos and Krookodile but if Nidoking is there, it's another no brainer.

 

[Bull Of Heaven]

In every Sinnoh playthrough, I catch a Bidoof, a Starly, and a Bibarel. Bidoof gets Cut and Rock Smash. Starly gets Fly and Defog. Bibarel gets Rock Climb, any of Strength/Surf/Waterfall not covered by my team, and is maybe a second Rock Smash user so that I can have that and Strength on one mon.

Similarly, I often get Nincada in Hoenn for Cut and Flash, Voltorb in Kanto for Flash, Krabby in Johto for Surf (if my team isn't using it), Oddish in Kalos for Sweet Scent and Cut, and the free monkey in BW for Cut.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

Stoutland I found is great in BW1 (been a while since I used it in BW2) but I wasn't really all that fond of it in USUM (felt like a C tier there due to power creep and some really, really bad 4MSS with Last Resort / Baby Doll Eyes / Crunch / Return / Rock Tomb / Work Up).

Yeah, ScraftyIsTheBest kinda covered the obvious ones, but I'll add a mon I just finished using to the mix:

If there is one game Growlithe is legitimately good in, that game is FireRed and LeafGreen. In most games, Growlithe tends to suffer from level 34 Flamethrower and the wait needed to get it with less-than-impressive stats, and once you evolve it's solid but not really worth the effort (BW2 / Alola are the biggest offenders). Not so here! It comes midgame, you can TM Flamethrower on right away thanks to the Game Corner, and it's a remarkably solid Pokemon for...pretty much the rest of the game???? Yeah. A mainstay for pretty much every future playthrough most likely. Boring but practical to the Extreme (Speed)!

Drilbur I think you could feasibly go without in Unova (that start is kinda shaky) but we all know it destroys endgame so let's talk about another Fire type.

Darumaka is honestly up there with Abra as a pretty brainless addition to any team. Hustle may cause some detractors but you hit like a nuclear bomb and have Eviolite so it's perfectly manageable. 140 base Attack with Sheer Force when fully evolved is perhaps some of the quickest speed / offense ratio you can get in-game (faster than Excadrill and contemporaries in Attack, Haxorus is objectively faster and stronger but requires investment). This is the rare Unova mon that was virtually unchanged from BW1 to BW2 in performance (the other to my memory being Axew) and is an easy S tier in both games, unlike Sandile (fragility + late EQ keep it out of S, though it's close) and Scraggy (5% encounter rate before Desert Resort makes it less easy to find in BW2), though both are high A mons in BW2.

Check this old post of mine and Ryota's out if you want some borderline objective info on how it destroys BW1 in particular (hooray for shameless plugs!).

 

[The Mind Electric]

I have a hard time imagining myself playing Platinum fully again without Jolteon. Like many gen 4 Pokémon, it suffers from having a bafflingly shit movepool, but it's so good at spamming Thunderbolt that it barely matters. Water and Flying are both very common types, so having something as good at cleaving through them plus some neutral targets as Jolteon is super nice. Plus, it comes in time for Crasher Wake and doesn't fall off hard immediately afterwards.

This is my Jolteon for B2/W2. You get it early, it covers common types, it can spam like Sanford Wallace, and it has a great defensive typing in Steel on top of all of the stuff Jolteon also has going for it. As far as Electric types go, it doesn't get much better than this.

 

[ceal]

I’m a major simp for Geodude. Due to its extreme min/max nature Geodude is gonna show up for at least some battles in whatever game it finds itself in. Even in the games theoretically most hostile to it (RSE and DPP, imo), it has a good mu in some of the toughest battles in those games (Wattson in RSE, Eterna Jupiter in DPP). Then there’s HGSS which it’s almost impossible not to use Geodude in because it blanks the first three gyms and still shows up for the majority of fights after that. Plus just having the resistences and in some cases the emergency boom is always appreciated.


I love Lillipup so much oh my god. The stats, the coverage, the abilities, it is the king of 5th gen early game. Its Tackle is legitimately powerful at start, and not long after capture do you unlock coverage in Bite and a setup option in Work Up. Get to Herdier and even once you’re done using it you have a free Intimidate bot lying around to abuse when you need it. The best part is unlike a lot of earlygame normal type hyper arries you can bring it to endgame easy cuz its high attack setup and coverage just scale well with the rest of the game, maybe only falling off at League but still useful nonetheless. Legit never a reason not to use Pup lol.


Eevee’s popularity lends it to showing up in most pokemon games and of its evolutions Vap is by far my favorite to cop. Being a strong water type just makes it super consistent everytime. My favorite iteration by far is BW2, it has a fair amount of problems (low availability, need to grind subway for water stone, not having water STAB til after Clay) but in return for these inconveniences you get a strong tank with solid coverage and two great setup moves in work up and acid armor, making for a mon that gives a top tier performance in just about every fight in the game. Very fun mon to use.

 

[Siggu]

Actually... none at all. I don't like reusing Pokémon in different playthroughs. Even if it's my favourite, I'd rather use something else.

That being said, if we add Mobile PC to the equation, the answer is... all the ones I like! So it's either "I don't repeat anything" (if no Mobile PC), or "I'll take them all again, no exceptions" (if Mobile PC).

 

[Wukong]

Yeah, ScraftyIsTheBest kinda covered the obvious ones, but I'll add a mon I just finished using to the mix:

View attachment 380080
If there is one game Growlithe is legitimately good in, that game is FireRed and LeafGreen. In most games, Growlithe tends to suffer from level 34 Flamethrower and the wait needed to get it with less-than-impressive stats, and once you evolve it's solid but not really worth the effort (BW2 / Alola are the biggest offenders). Not so here! It comes midgame, you can TM Flamethrower on right away thanks to the Game Corner, and it's a remarkably solid Pokemon for...pretty much the rest of the game???? Yeah. A mainstay for pretty much every future playthrough most likely. Boring but practical to the Extreme (Speed)!

Arcanine's my favorite Kanto mon. I love using it in FireRed despite the fact that it's just good, not great.

Anyway, I think HGSS has a lot of staples for me mainly because of the lack of truly viable Johto options in those games. The below four are virtual shoo-in's in my playthroughs of those games:



Between the two Unova games I do have a preference for the below two as well as far as in-game usability:



As far as types, I always run at least a Water, Flying and Electric type. Water for Surf + HM's and for being an all around great type. Flying for the immensely convenient Fly HM. And Electric because it seems to have the most offensive utility in my experience, from an in-game perspective. Pretty often I also have a Fire and/or Fighting type but the other three types are literal staples on all my teams.

 

[Hugin]

I tend to always try new things. The main exceptions:
Always get a ground-type. There's going to be SOMEONE with a couple fast electric types with serious SAtk that your bulky grass can't stand up to.
Water in general is stupid-good. You'll need something for Surf anyway, might as well make it a team member.
Pickup is passively useful. Catch something with it(Zigzagoon is bae) and use it as your slave. If it's a good enough mon to be worth using for a teamslot until 20/30, even better.

These are big issues for me in games where the selection of those mons is limited, or limited before the point you want them.

But I've done a mono-grass run, mono-bug run, gift/trade mons only, WonderTrade only, eeveeloutions only, and a couple no fire/water/grass mon runs. The only rule for me, really, is that I can't be bored.

 

[Magcargo]

After replaying a few different generations / rom hacks, I've really enjoyed using the in-game trade mons. Boosted EXP makes it far less of a hassle to keep them up to par with the rest of your team, especially if you are trying to play w/ as little grinding as possible. Alolan Raichu is broken in LGPE, Hawlucha has been putting in a lot of work in my current run of USUM, and Spiritomb is doing quite well in my current run of Red DX (Rom hack of Red).

In a similar vein, I also enjoy using wonder-traded mons in Gen 6 / 7 just to spice up the playthrough a bit. For example, in my current playthrough of USUM, I got a Protean Froakie from Wonder Trade and its been a blast to use, since its type changing gimmick lets its fill whatever role I need it for at any particular moment.

 

[Scorpio]

I’m the same as Siggu in that I don’t like to use the same Pokémon twice in a run (the sole exception being starters, and so far only for Gens 5 and 7). However, there are certain Pokémon traits I wouldn’t pass up on:
-I pretty much always have a Water-type on my team, because Surf. Even from Gen 7 onwards I’ve still had a Water-type on my team because old habits die hard. Granted, I often try and have a full FWG core on my team but the Water-type is for certain. In fact, the one game as of this writing where I haven’t had a Water-type on my team is my Ultra Moon playthrough, and that team is kinda just throwing w/e I couldn’t fit onto previous Alola game teams on there.
-Similarly, I try to have a Flying-type on my team due to the utility of Fly in-game. This one I’ve been a bit more lax about since HMs have gone, as my Sun, Ultra Moon, and Sword teams don’t have one.
-I try to have at least one purely Physical attacker and one purely Special attacker on each team, since I like to have at least a fairly even balance between Physical and Special attackers on my teams.

 

[Red Raven]

That would depend in each game for me

For Hoenn



When I play the Hoenn games, I usually pick Blaziken as my starter because I'm not too big of a Swampert fan and I'm not so new to the game that I would want to play it that optimally. Since there is no Swampert, I almost always go with Flygon since it's like the only reliable ground type after Swampert itself

Gyarados is mostly to get me out of sticky situations. Dragon dancing is so powerful in game as the ai almost never switches and I can just go five dances and sweep as long as I put earthquake on this thing. If it's oras, then all the better

For Sinnoh



Staraptor should be obvious. Best birb ever, incredible attacking stats, stabs and close combat. After dealing with Roark, Staraptor is usually the one that carries me through the early game as long as I have some sacks against Fantina. This mon is the definition of raw power and it's so good

I don't play the dp games because pt is over a hundred times better so I always have region queen Garchomp on my team. This mon is just so good and it's actually worth the effort to level up. It gets even better if I'm not nuzlocking since I can just x speed and sd on this thing and autowin any battle as there is literally only one Bronzong in the game


For Unova



Dragon dancing in game is so powerful and it gets even better when you add mold breaker to the list. The ability to just one shot thru the ever irritating sturday is just incredible and this mon gets all the moves it needs at a reasonable time, which are dd, dclaw and brick break

For Kalos



This is mostly just because I like the mega feature. The megas of Kanto starters all suck in game so this one would have to do. Kalos isn't really a region where there is a mon where there an absolute necessity if you want an optimal playthru since this game has nearly all non legendary mons available

For Alola



I have two 3ds and both usum so I can afford to get a Gengar. A lot of the early game mons just suck or falls off so given that Ghastly can be caught early, I always have this on my team, unless I get lazy and just gen a Garchomp into my save file. It has good typing, colorful coverage, fast and strong spa stat. What more could you possibly want?

 

[ZettaiRyouiki]

Count me in the "no repeats" team. That said, I always use a Ground type for the reason Hugin said. I also add a Fighting type in newer games, as they're useful.

I also made sure to NOT use a Water type in Alola, to celebrate no HMs (as otherwise you will need one).

 

[MasterLemon]

Gen 1: A Pokemon that can BoltBeam, or a pair that can cover those bases.
Gen 2: Anything that can use the elemental punches.
Gen 3:

Gen 4: Anything with Close Combat.
Gen 5: Something from the desert. Excadrill in the sequel.
Gen 6: Anything that can Mega Evolve.
Gen 7: Anything with Scald (mainly for the original).

 

[LordDirtyO]

For Unova:

In both games, it has advantages against most of the gyms and it gets everything it needs extremely quickly. Never done a run of either game without it.

For Kalos:

Doesn't need an explanation. XY speedruns should tell you how important Lucario is to the game.

For pretty much any nuzlocke:

In a lot of the games, these two are incredibly easy to obtain and their stat spreads can offset the difficulty of the challenge.

 

[Codraroll]

I tend to battle my way through the games using two teams, and with 12 slots available there are some 'mons I tend to fall back on time and time again. They are strong, reliable, and usually quite conveniently available too. It's not like I use them in every playthrough, but surprisingly often some of these find their way to my team:


Gastly is great at disrupting the early-game. It laughs at all the wild and trainer Pokémon that only have Normal-type moves to do damage with, it can cripple opponents with Hypnosis and slowly wear them down with Curse. Of course, its utility is limited by the lack of Special attacking moves, but at least it can use Hex to great effect. Haunter/Gengar can use a variety of TMs to patch up its poor level-up movepool, but many of those TMs are very late-game. And of course, it needs a trade to fully evolve. Still, Gastly is a solid addition to most teams in Pokémon.


Kadabra turns Pokémon into a P2W game: Psybeam/Psychic to Win. True, it has one of the least diverse level-up movesets ever, but in 99% of cases you click the generic STAB move and win the battle. 105 Speed and 120 Sp.Atk is enough to put a dent in anything before it can react. You need to baby Abra for a while, but then it evolves and starts wrecking stuff with Confusion. Then it learns Psybeam at 21 and Psychic at 38, becoming successively stronger as you progress through the game. Once again a trade is required to evolve Kadabra, but it does remarkably well on its own.


If Magikarp is in a regional Pokédex, it tends to be available very easily very early. It has an awful babying period until level 20, but from that point on you've got a real monster in your hands. Switch in, Intimidate, boost a couple of Dragon Dances as the opponent struggles to damage you (Gyarados has only two weaknesses and really good bulk), then go to town with Gyarados' versatile array of damaging moves. It's so fun I can't help doing it over and over again.


It's the king of in-game, no questions asked. It resists almost everything, except a few (relatively uncommon) types that rarely pop up unexpectedly in in-game battles. Early-game, it blows holes in things with Sonicboom, and as the game goes on it gets better and better Electric options (and some Steel moves you will never use). Evolve into Magnezone or put an Eviolite on it and use it as a tank. It works well either way.


It may not be the most powerful Pokémon, until the very end of the game at least, but it tends to be available fairly early and Metronome is too fun not to use. You can get into some really fun situations with this one.


It has some issues with availability, but when it is available, I tend to give it a go. It's an Ice-type that's good in-game, and it evolves twice. What's not to love?


Diverse moveset, decent power, Moxie. You have the tools to hit almost every opponent, and then things begin to snowball. It's a shame that most in-game opponents carry few Pokémon, because Krokorok/Krookodile can pick up a lot of steam and then plow their way through almost everything if given the chance.


It may be rare, it may be weak for a long while, and it may be a tricky one to evolve since Dusk Stones are so rare. But the power Chandelure can put behind its attacks makes it all worth it. And of course, it is one of the best Pokémon designs ever.


One of the most solid Pokémon ever, period. Immense physical bulk, compounded by resistances to everything and three immunities (in fact, Honedge is only damaged neutrally by two types). Great Attack. Learns damaging moves of a wide array of types by leveling up. Nearly all of them are useful, despite a certain lack of STAB, and all hit from the right side of the spectrum. It is slow, but has a STAB priority move to make up for it. If you commit to Aegislash you have to change your play style a bit (King's Shield is practically mandatory in that case), but Doublade works well on its own too - even better with Eviolite.


You may also have noticed a common theme: Evolving twice. I really like three-stage evolution families, and am kinda bummed that Game Freak has become so stingy with them in recent generations. I like to have some "power level leaps" to look forward to throughout the game, which is part of the reason why I patch up my team with three-stage Pokémon. If Game Freak won't make more of them, I'll have to substitute with some we already have.

 

[mertyville]

Bronzel + Bronzong killer with good mixed attacks. HM God. Birb to fly. This is manatory in my Diamond team because Gen 4 is badly balanced and you want a fire type to get rid of the most annoying pokemon. Sadly no fire types for you. Sometimes I trade over other Pokemon because laziness or diversity such as Elekid who disappointed me the moment it became E-Vire. I am glad I softresetted myself a very good Dialga in these games now. No need to replay it.

I can't play Pokemon Yellow without getting myself a Mew with the Mew Glitch. It's just part of what makes the gen 1 games replayable for me. Also its the most customizable Pokemon.

Can't play Pokemon Colosseum with Espeon in my team. I may swap out a starter for legendary or Vibrava. Espeon will always be part of the team.

Charizard is my favorite Pokemon. So if there is a game he is part in, I usually use Charmander. Sometimes I do pick the others.

 

[bdt2002]

Favorite in-game starter choice in Pokémon history. The general consensus is that Cyndaquil has the most winning matchups of the Johto starters, but personally I love Feraligatr's perfectly balanced matchup spread, something we almost never see from a starter Pokémon. It's one of the best Pokémon for GSC speedruns and has numerous advantages like the Water-Type HMs, the most optimal eveolution levels of the three choices for Johto's jank level curves, and access to plenty of physical moves to make use of that 105 Attack stat. HGSS was so kind to the Totodile family that I genuinely think HGSS Totodile is actually better than HGSS Cyndaquil even with the remakes's changes. Typhlosion losing its best coverage move in the shift to the remakes (special ThunderPunch) was a pretty big nerf by comparison. TLDR; Cyndaquil is overrated, use the crocodile more.



Someone else (I'll have to check and see who) already mentioned Magnemite in this thread, and I absolutely 100% agree with them. Electric/Steel is far and away the best defensive typing in the game especially before Gen 6's Steel-Type nerf. In RBY this line doesn't have too much going for it relative to Electric-Type options, most of which also had good Special stats, but GSC onward gave it a host of solid buffs in literally all of its in-game appearances since. Can you name any other Pokémon that's been better in every appearance after its debut games, because I certainly can't think of any off the top of my head. I've used Magnezone so much in the past and it's never once failed me.

GSC: Steel-Type added to Magnemite's typing at the cost of lowered Sp. Defense
RSE: Absolutely incredible matchup spread (from what I can tell, Magneton technically has no losing matchups in Sapphire)
FRLG: Literally your only option for a Steel-Type in the main story
Platinum: A new evolution in Magnezone arrives as well as special attacking Steel-Type moves
BW2: Sturdy is now a much better Ability for single player, and it gains some winning matchups against two of the three new Gyms
XY: No Dark or Ghost specialists to take advantage of the Steel-Type nerf, and Fairy-Types still make the type better offensively
ORAS: Just like its RSE appearance but with all of the previous buffs since then on top of that
SM: By far the earliest Magnemite has ever been available in a playthrough
USUM: Better matchup spread than in vanilla Sun & Moon, and Magnezone's evolution location was made earlier
Let's Go: Easily the worst it's been since RBY but still better than said games, also Steel-Types are still rare here
SS: It's locked behind the Isle of Armor DLC, but for the sake of finishing the list of games I'm adding it anyway



What do these three Pokémon have in common? If you answered that they were the players' introduction to the Mega Evolution mechanic, you are absolutely right. Lucario has been seen as the unrivaled best Pokémon in XY playthroughs and speedruns alike since the game's release, and the Eon Duo's appearance in ORAS has left similar impacts despite a poor matchup spread type-wise. Depending on which Gen 6 game I'm playing, I've always used the Pokémon in question as my go-to Mega Evolution for the playthrough, and even though I unpopular opinion warning dislike Mega Evolution from a competitive battles perspective for its overcentralizing nature on the 3DS's and Let's Go's metagames, I'm perfectly fine with it from a casual point of view. Finally, I'd like to give a shoutout to Gen 7 Alola's version of Alakazam, who would fit this category as well but A. only has Mega Evolution in the postgame, and B. does not give a gift Alakazam alongside the Alakazite the player is given.

 

[Peridorito]

I've used Primeape multiple times in FireRed/LeafGreen. It's a really good Pokémon for multiple reasons:

• Stats. It has 105 attack and 95 speed, which makes it a sweeper, the best kind of mon to use in-game. It's other stats are mediocre but you won't need them as you'll never want to use special moves with it and it will never take hits anyways as it just 1-hit-koes everything.
• Fighting type is pretty nice. Lots of trainers in this game use weak Normal mons like Rattata, Clefairy and Meowth. It can also deal with Flying mons since they are almost all part Normal and are pretty frail so you can blow through them too. It can also deal with Brock and all of the Hikers which is pretty nice if you started with Charmander. It's also good against Lorelei and crushes Magnemite and Magneton.
• It has good coverage and consistently learns good moves through the whole game. Let's have a look at it:
  • For fighting moves, it gets Low Kick at level 6 which quickly upgrades to Karate Chop at 11. 50 power and increased critical rate is very good for early game. It is powerful enough to serve you until you get to the SS Anne and upgrade it to Brick Break with the TM. Then as Primeape it learns Cross Chop at 35. 80 accuracy is a bit iffy but it has 100 power, STAB and increased critical rate.
  • It can learn Rock moves to one-shot all the Zubat and Golbat you'll fight, as well as Fire-types. It gets Rock Tomb as a TM after beating Brock and then Rock Slide in Rock Tunnel via tutor.
  • You can also teach it Normal moves to deal with the Poison-types that would normally wall it. There's Mega Punch and Mega Kick right after Mt. Moon, and if you want a more accurate move you can teach it Secret Power and then Strength later on.
  • Looking at it's TM learnset there's also Aerial Ace to deal with Grass/Poison mons, Bulk Up to boost it's Attack and Defense, and Earthquake as a late-game nuke, though I haven't used these so idk how good they are in practice.

All of these make Primeape, IMO, one of the best mons to use in FRLG.

 

[Modulo]

RB: Squirtle. Early Water-type, gets waht it needs, easy to build a competent team around.

Y: Nidoking. Much needed powerhouse.

GS: Mareep & Wooper. Good early-game mons that get almost all of their best moves by midgame? Yes, please.

C: Lanturn. Someone has to fill my Electric niche.

R/S/E: Taillow, Shroomish, Ralts. At least one of these is on basically any Hoenn team for me, and more often than not multple of them find their way.

FR/LG: Primeape. A competent Fighting type is worth so much in this game, it's not even funny.

D/P: Chimchar / Bronzor. First one's a no brainer, second one might be more of a surprise pick here, but this thing just won't die. Needs a bit of help to get to Bronzong, but when it does... wow.

Platinum: Starly, for all the reasons mentioned above.

HG/SS: Heracross / Togepi. The former is both easier to get and a lot stronger than in GS, the latter hardcounters Morty and becomes useful very quickly.

B/W: Petilil / Joltik. Quiver Dance turns the former into a monster, the latter I just think is insanely cool.
I generally pick up a Desert mon as well, but the one getting picked varies.

B2/W2: Magnemite. Makes an incredibly solid addition to most, if not all teams at that point.

X/Y: Aegislash, if only for the insanely good typing.

OR/AS: Masquerain. Upon returning to route 102 with the radar, I somehow always find a Surskit lv. 13 with an egg move and two perfect IVs that generally makes my team and works as my special attacker for quite some time.

S/M/US/UM: Ribombee. Fast Fairy is cool fairy.

 

[Plague von Karma]

You'll be hard-pressed to find a Pokemon as brutally effective in RBY playthroughs as Tentacruel. One of the fastest Wrap users in the game, 120 Special with Surf and Blizzard as coverage, and access to Swords Dance + Hyper Beam if you want to be snazzy about it. You don't really have much reason not to use it; Rare Candy up an L40 Tentacool or catch a Tentacruel itself the second you get Surf, or use the Super Rod, there's a very malleable join time here. It really isn't hard to get hold of one of those L30-40 Tentacool on Route 21 and the second it evolves it's going to town on Blaine and everything else in its path. Even in the event of some bad luck on encounters, it's worth spending an extra few minutes looking for, because finding one is a win button.

I want to emphasise the Swords Dance + Hyper Beam combo as it basically ensures any shortcoming it looked like it had evaporates before your eyes. The one thing remotely in Tentacruel's path once you get it is Lorelei or Sabrina. Both are flawed in that their leads are setup fodder. One Swords Dance and it's all over. There is no Psychic-type: get in the death ray. Of course, Hyper Beam can be frustrating to get and is a contested TM, but what better Pokemon to give it to than this engine of destruction? If push comes to shove, Double-Edge isn't terrible either, but c'mon, doesn't Hyper Beam sound way better, both figuratively and literally? Boosting up Wrap is a nice side bonus, and if you're keeping that, then Blizzard can be given to something else, like Amnesia Snorlax. Now if you're doing that, then you're truly cleaving the game in two. Seriously, this thing is wondrous.

So you should be looking like this:
Tentacruel
- Surf
- Blizzard / Wrap
- Swords Dance
- Hyper Beam / Double-Edge

I suppose Agatha can be seen as a remote issue, though even there, Surf deals such mighty damage that it's not too much to worry about. You've got a near-20% critical hit rate too, so even if you misplay, Tentacruel has your back and will magically sweep it under the rug like a corrupt politician. Ain't that nice? You've got your Surf bot and a win button!

Given the In-Game Tier List seems to see Tentacool as a bit middling, perhaps others would like to try this stuff out, eh?

 

[khlaylav]

Wait, I didn't talk about Crobat. Never go without the Brobat.

Beyond being ridiculously fast, its other stats are solid if unspectacular. But you can evolve it very quickly once you get to the Golbat stage, and as a Gen 1 Pokemon it keeps getting new toys-like, you know, Acrobatics. Plus it's going to have a powerful Return due to its Friendship evo.

 

[DreamPrince]

Mareep. If there’s a Mareep in any Regional Dex, I always use Mareep on my team. Mareep is sooo cute, and Ampharos has surprisingly good coverage for an Electric type, including Signal Beam, Fire Punch, Focus Blast, and Power Gem at least for a single player playthrough.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Little bit tangential to the topic, but I'm noticing lately that I really like using Pokemon in an ingame team that are from one generation previous to the current one.

So for instance, my current White 2 team is Weavile, Staraptor, Infernape, Tangrowth, and Gastrodon (with Thundurus thrown into the mix for good measure). The last time I played Y I used Braviary as part of my team. Hawlucha, Noibat, and Phantump are all NPC trades in Ultra Moon so I used them when I first played that game. One of my first playthroughs of Sapphire had me using Bellossom, Heracross, and Wobbuffet.

It's practical as much as anything else. When I play a new game, I like to use all new Pokemon. But there's always ones I miss, and they still feel "new" when they're just one generation old. Even if, say, you play Platinum twice with different teams, you still probably won't get to use all the Sinnoh species. I've played Sun and Ultra Moon twice each but I've still never used Rockruff on any team, and was actually planning to use it as part of my Sw/Sh team before I decided against getting those games.

So yeah. When I'm deciding what to use in a playthrough, one of the first places I look is the preceding generation for ideas.