#172, #25 - #26: Pichu, Pikachu & Raichu

Unbelievably adorable Pichu fan art.

While in previous entries I didn't even know what the hell I had to write and tried to fill some 'gaps', I don't even know where to begin  right now.

Let's start with the fact that the headline of this entry starts with the number 172. That is, of course, the Gen. II Pokémon Pichu, the pre-evolution of first-generation Pokémon Pikachu and Raichu. It is not even skilled at using its electricity, even though it can zap adult humans while surprising itself at the same time. In that regard, Pichu is a danger to humanity and its own species alike, and I think it should be kept in an electricity-proof cage until it evolves into Pikachu. Then again, that probably wouldn't work as it evolves with high friendship, and I don't think locking it up is contributory to a good friendship in the first place. Anyway, Pichu is a baby Pokémon, and along with breeding, baby Pokémon were introduced in Gen. II and it wouldn't be until after Gen. IV that Game Freak would stop adding new baby forms of previously introduced Pokémon. Baby Pokémon are the product of breeding and can be obtained by having their evolutions breed with one of their species or with another Pokémon from the same egg group. That excludes baby Pokémon, because they cannot breed themselves and all automatically belong to the 'Undiscovered' egg group.

Technically, this feature makes Riolu and Togepi baby Pokémon as well, even though I would personally like to see them as basic Pokémon, as they were introduced alongside their evolutions in the same generation (the second and fourth, respectively). I want to believe baby Pokémon were introduced to appeal to girls as well, by adding more cuteness to the franchise. That definitely worked, because baby Pokémon are generally cute, pink and/or cuddly, with the notable exception of Tyrogue, and are useless most of the time. Pichu, however, gets one feature that actually makes it - or its evolutions Pikachu and Raichu, rather - quite useful, but I'll get to that later in this entry.

The Pichu evolution line: Pichu (front), Pikachu (middle) and
Raichu (back). 

Well, then it is time to move on to what is unquestionably the most well-known Pokémon in existence: Pikachu. This is not without a reason, though, because it has appeared as Ash's sidekick in the anime series since the very first episode. Well, it didn't actually start to act like Ash's sidekick until the episode after that, but let's not be nitpicky about that. We all know the story anyway: Ash gets to become a rookie Pokémon Trainer, but on the day he gets to pick his first Pokémon - Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle, which he obtains a little later on in the series, anyway - he arrives late at Professor Oak's lab, and by that time there is only one Pokémon left: Pikachu. It doesn't listen to Ash at first, regularly zapping him with Thunder Shocks, but after Pikachu gets hurt by a horde of vicious Spearow, Ash snitches Misty's bicycle and rushes to a nearby Pokémon Center. From that moment on, Ash and Pikachu have been inseparable. During the course of the anime, Ash's Pikachu has shown a lot of personality: it has a love for ketchup, is sometimes seen in a bad mood, once refused to evolve into Raichu when Ash offered it a Thunder Stone, had temporarily lost its memories and sided with Team Rocket during the Hoenn saga, has been seen mediating and even breaking up fights among other Pokémon, and even acted as a guardian and big brother to Misty's weak Togepi. As a result of having been Ash's main Pokémon for, like, an eternity, it is probably the only Pokémon that has appeared in almost every episode and movie so far, if not actually every episode and movie.

There was a reason why Pikachu was on the logo of
the 10th anniversary of Pokémon.

Another reason why Pikachu is the most well-known Pokémon is that it has been the mascot of the Pokémon franchise since the franchise took off in 1996. On itself, Pikachu isn't such an overly strong Pokémon, but it really doesn't need to be. As the Pokémon mascot, it has to be recognized by every living being on this goddamn planet. I mean, not everyone can say that they know Sceptile, Luxray, Klinklang or Avalugg, but almost everyone has heard of Pikachu. Naturally, Ash's Pikachu has played a very big part in that, as it shows up in virtually every episode, getting Ash out of trouble time and time again. So it isn't without a reason that Pikachu shows up on banners and commercials announcing or representing official Pokémon events, such as the Pokémon National and World Championships - at which video game and TCG competitions are held annually, enabling candidates to win a scholarship of $10,000 or $25,000, respectively - and even the 10th anniversary of Pokémon. A series of events were held across the entire United States and even reached countries on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean (including the Netherlands, my native country), a special anime episode called "The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon" was made for this special occasion, and the chicken-producing company Perdue Farms distributed promotional mini-discs in their packages of chicken breast nuggets. The promotion they carried out featured three different mini-discs, each containing one of three games, a Pokédex of only one of three generations depending on which disc you had, and a "Learn to Play" demo of TCG (Trading Card Game). And all this time, Pikachu was the 'face' of this whole promotional stunt.

Pikachu has been on a strict diet since 1996, in official art (left) as well as in the
video game sprites (right).

Pikachu is also notorious for the changes it has undergone since it appeared as a fat, yellow mouse thing in Red and Blue (Green in Japan). During the past twenty years, Pikachu has gradually been losing weight, drastically changing its appearance in both official Ken Sugimori art and the video games. In the image above you can see the 'evolution' of Pikachu throughout the years; it is noticeable that Pikachu has gotten slimmer. That's not the only change Pikachu could have had, though: in 2013, there was a discussion going on about whether Game Freak would dare add the fairy type to Pichu, Pikachu and Raichu, especially after Dedenne (an electric/fairy-type Pikachu clone resembling Raichu) was revealed. Thank God Game Freak didn't do that to our beloved mascot, because changing its typing would have been way too much of a change for such a well-known Pokémon.

In every generation a new Pikachu clone was introduced: Pichu
in Gen. II, Plusle and Minun in Gen. III (top left), Pachirisu in
Gen. IV (top right), Emolga in Gen. V (bottom right) and Dedenne
in Gen. VI (bottom left).

Furthermore, Pikachu's popularity has risen to such an extent that Game Freak found it necessary to produce a new Pikachu clone every generation. That's right, every generation contained a new electric-type rodent Pokémon with features that so strongly resemble Pikachu that it's just obvious they're 'clones' - or remakes, if you will. Although one could argue whether or not Pichu should be considered a Pikachu clone, as it is technically Pikachu's pre-evolution, many people do consider Pichu as such and thus it is the Pikachu clone of the second generation. We shouldn't be picky about that, it was introduced in the generation after Pikachu, after all. All of the generations after that saw the introduction of electric rodents as well. Gen. III even added two more mice to the list: Plusle and Minun, which are supposed to be opposites (plus and minus), but are obviously related. Gen. IV introduced the electric-type squirrel Pachirisu and Gen. V has the flying squirrel Emolga, which is the first dual-type Pikachu clone. The last one is Dedenne, introduced in Gen. VI, and has the fairy typing on top of its primary electric typing. Why that is? Beats me.

ORAS introduced the feature of Cosplay Pikachu. The different
forms clockwise: Pop Star, Ph.D., Libre, Rock Star, and Belle.

Anyway, enough with the clones and the mascot thing. How does Pikachu do in the video games? Well... not half bad, to be honest. It is uncommon (rare, even) to see a Pikachu in the competitive scene, but it can deliver a damn good job if you know how to use it. You should at least have it hold a Light Ball, which doubles its attack and special attack stats, effectively making its attack stat of 458 at level 100 higher than most other Pokémon. Its moves are also worthwhile. Pichu is the only baby Pokémon that can learn a special move when one of its parents is holding a Light Ball: Volt Tackle. With a base power of 120, it is an insanely strong physical-based electric-type move that hits HARD when used by Light Ball Pikachu (just mind the recoil damage). It also learns Brick Break and Iron Tail, and even some decent special-based moves if you want to go that way. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire even introduced a nice new feature: a Cosplay Pikachu given to you by a non-player character. Depending on which form you dress it into, Cosplay Pikachu learns a special move, of which Rock Star and Belle learn the most useful ones (Meteor Mash and Icicle Crash, respectively; the others get Draining Kiss, Electric Terrain and Flying Press).

This piece of Pikachu fan art is too cute not to share with you guys. 

Pikachu has no durability, however, because its defenses suck and its base speed of 90 is, compared to that of other Pokémon, only mediocre. If only Pikachu could take a hit... Raichu, who can store more than 100,000 volts of electricity and discharges them into the ground via its tail before it can get agressive, is faster and far more capable of taking hits, especially when special-based. However, both of its attacking stats are only decent compared to Light Ball Pikachu. Also, Pikachu receives much more attention than Raichu, not in the least because it's the friggin' Pokémon mascot. It even got a couple of video games of its own, for heaven's sake. All three of them are lovable enough, however, and Pikachu is even one of my favorite Pokémon, for all of the reasons stated above.

Rating Pikachu: 5/5

Rating Raichu: 4/5

#23 - #24: Ekans & Arbok

Official art of Ekans.

OMG, IT'S A PURPLE POKÉMON!!! I FUCKING LOVE PURPLE, LET'S DO THIS!!!

Ahem...

Yeah, I need to get my shit together now.

So... where were we?

Right, the next Pokémon. Ekans. To be honest, it's not the first purple Pokémon we've come across; we discussed Butterfree as well. That Pokémon isn't predominantly purple, however, as its wings are white and black, its big eyes are red, and its limbs are blue. And Rattata... well, let's not discuss Rattata. I hate rats. Snakes, on the other hand, are more interesting creatures, and that is exactly the reason why I like snake Pokémon. Add the poison type and my favorite color (which is purple, if that wasn't already quite obvious) and you get a Pokémon I've wanted to use in a playthrough since a couple of years ago: Arbok. Unfortunately, Ekans seems quite hard to get somehow.

Let me explain. In Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, Ekans was only available on Route 212, and even then you had to have FireRed inserted into the GBA slot of your Nintendo DS. In HeartGold they were available in the Goldenrod Game Corner, but I spent my coins on a Dratini instead of an Ekans (duh!). In SoulSilver, even though they were not uncommon in this game, I didn't manage to encounter a single one of them on Route 32 after a search of fifteen minutes (not only am I pretty much the unluckiest guy in the world, I am also a bit impatient). They weren't available in Black and White, except in the Dream World, to which I've never been. And X and Y... well, I encountered lots of Ekans on Route 14, but I only used brand new Pokémon in those games. That is understandable, isn't it?

Ekans and Arbok collectible figures.

So up till today, I'd love to use Arbok in a playthrough once. I guess I should wait until the inevitable follow-up to X and Y (which is most likely going to be Pokémon Z) comes out and hope that Ekans will be available still. I can hear you ask, 'Why would you want to use Arbok, anyway?' You're right if you say that Arbok is a mediocre Pokémon and that it's never used in the competitive scene, but it's actually quite a decent Pokémon to use in a playthrough. Its base attack stat is a solid 85 and its speed isn't that much lower. With a little EV investment in attack and speed, you can have a hard-hitting Pokémon that might be able to outspeed 90% of the things you encounter throughout your playthrough. And Arbok has a quite diverse movepool to go with that, too! It learns Crunch and Gunk Shot (which are must-haves, even though Gunk Shot has relatively low accuracy) by level-up and learns the TM moves Rock Slide, Earthquake and Poison Jab. The latter should be replaced by Gunk Shot as soon as it gets to the point of learning it, while Rock Slide should be replaced by Earthquake as quickly as possible as well. If you transfer an Ekans to another game to start a brand new playthrough, you can teach it Aqua Tail, Iron Tail and Seed Bomb at the Move Tutor too, if you badly need those moves. You might want to leave one spot open for the amazing status move Coil, which raises Arbok's attack, defense and accuracy by one stage each. That's an awesome way to get around the low accuracy that Gunk Shot has, as well as to make Arbok stronger and bulkier!

Great fan art of Arbok. 

In the end there is little that I don't like about Ekans and Arbok. In fact, because Glare was the signature move of these Pokémon in Gen. I, they might be based on the basilisk, a mythical monstrous snake that would kill people with its stare (or paralyze them, if said people looked at its reflection, but maybe that's a Harry Potter thing). And I love a little mythology behind a Pokémon design! Also, if you ever find a real-life snake that can flatten steel oil drums and is able to regenerate any part of its body but its head, let me know. The only thing that confuses me is that Arbok gets to learn the elemental fangs (Thunder Fang, Fire Fang and Ice Fang) at level 1, while it's only able to get Poison Fang through breeding with Seviper. Oh well, it gets a chance to learn it at least, which can't be said about Fearow and Brave Bird... Arbok is one of those Pokémon that don't seem special in the least but that I've taken a huge liking to. Well, what can I say? I am a sucker for purple Pokémon.

Rating: 4.5/5

#21 - #22: Spearow & Fearow

Official art of Spearow.

Yeah, what is there to say about Spearow? Nothing much, to be honest, except that it's another of so many Pidgey clones. Well, it's not exactly a clone, but these normal- and flying-type bird Pokémon are nothing short of unimaginative, to say the least. That does not necessarily mean that they shouldn't be existing or that they're bad. On the contrary, there are some awesome 'common' normal/flying-type bird Pokémon. For example, Staraptor's shtick is the fighting-type move Close Combat and with its crazy attack stat it can pull it off quite well, while Talonflame's primary typing isn't even the normal type anymore, even though its most basic form - Fletchling - certainly is. Spearow and Fearow, on the other hand, aren't all that amazing. Their designs are pretty nice, nicely fitting in into their flavor (vicious prey birds), but that's pretty much it. There is absolutely nothing Fearow can do that other birds of later generations cannot. And most of the time, those other birds are better at it, too (with the notable exception of Unfezant, but I'll get to that one much, much later). Well, Fearow can fly for an entire day without landing due to its large wings and tremendous stamina, but I'm sure there are some real-life birds who can pull that off as well.

Fearow and Ho-Oh share quite a few features: the long necks, the thin faces, the
'mohawks', the talons, the bushy tails and their feather pattern are what they have
in common.

One thing that roams around the Internet is the suggestion that Fearow should somehow evolve into the legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh. I can't even blame the people who argue that it should, because Ho-Oh is basically a more extravagant and 'fabulous' form of Fearow, as they share quite a few features. Above image sums it up pretty well, even though it might be a little bit offensive towards the LGBTQ community. (I am gay as well, but this definitely made me chuckle, so...) By the way, I'm pretty sure most people, including me, will continue to see Ho-Oh as a stand-alone legendary Pokémon. That's what we're all used to, anyway.

Official Ken Sugimori art of Fearow.

But the big question is whether or not Fearow is capable for Pokémon battles, right? Yeah, so is it a good Pokémon? Well, it is... and at the same time it isn't. Fearow is moderately strong, as its attack is an acceptable 90, and with a base speed stat of 100 it is even faster than it is strong, but nobody in their right mind would use it in competitive battling. It is decent for in-game purposes, as it learns just enough moves to fill in a decent moveset: Drill Run, Drill Peck or Fly, and Return are must-haves. The weird thing is that it cannot learn the flying-type move Brave Bird in any way, so you'll be stuck with Drill Peck or the two-turn move Fly. Drill Run is nice ground-type coverage for electric types that comes its way, while Return hits hard for STAB (same type attack bonus) damage. The remaining spot could be filled in by either U-Turn or Steel Wing. The latter covers fairy types and, more importantly, ice and rock types as well, while U-Turn (which is a bug-type move) only covers grass, psychic and dark. Grass should be covered by Drill Peck, and Fearow is better off using Return against dark and psychic types, anyway. The thing with Fearow is that its defenses are complete and utter crap; it can live one hit, maybe two, but that's pretty much it.

I once used a Fearow in a playthrough and I was all but satisfied with it. I can't say I had good experiences with this Pokémon, but maybe I just had a Fearow with bad attack IVs (a Pokémon's invidual values that indicate how well a Pokémon's stats grow; my Fearow's attack stat didn't even surpass 100 at level 50). I would like to give it a bad rating because of that, but that wouldn't be entirely fair, because I don't dislike Fearow in any way. On the contrary, I actually like its design well enough to give it a 4-star rating.

Rating: 4/5

#19 - #20: Rattata & Raticate

Rattata, the first generic normal-type rodent.

Rattata, probably one of the most annoying Pokémon in Pokémon Red and Blue aside from Zubat, would set the trend for introducing one normal-type rodent Pokémon that you could catch at the very beginning of the game in every subsequent generation. Sentret would be introduced in Gen. II, Zigzagoon in Gen. III, Bidoof in Gen. IV, Patrat in Gen. V, and finally Bunnelby in Gen. VI. Rattata was the original rodent though, and it was annoying as hell... well, at least in my opinion. Ain't nobody want no goddamn rat in their team, least of all me. Real-life rats aren't popular with most people to begin with, so did Rattata (or rather its evolution, Raticate) have a chance anyway? Surely there are some people who do like these disgusting animals, but they're absolutely not my cup of tea. Neither are they Ash's favorite animals, apparently: in the season 1 anime episode "Battle Aboard the St. Anne" he traded his Butterfree for a gentleman's Raticate. He regretted it immediately after, however, causing him to trade the Raticate back to its original owner while the ship Ash and his friends were on was sinking, although this was probably because Ash had become too attached to his Butterfree by then.

Add up the fact that both Rattata and Raticate can adapt to any environment to live in and almost always have the need to gnaw on something, often on rocks or logs but sometimes even on the wall of a house, and you have a nuisance rather than a useful Pokémon. By the way, Raticate is capable of chewing concrete walls, which might result in buildings to topple over if you're unlucky. Just imagine a plague of these things... Goddamn, you'll have the devil to pay.

Apparently, according to Game Freak, Rattata and Raticate
(depicted) are mice.

Oh, before I move on to discussing Raticate's fighting abilities, there is one little thing that really bugs me for some reason: Rattata and its evolution were classified as 'Rat Pokémon' in the first two generation, but from the third generation onwards, Rattata and its evolution have been erroneously called 'Mouse Pokémon'. Quite obviously, though, mice are not rats. They're from the same order (rodentia), superfamily (muroidea, which also comprises hamsters and gerbils and the like) and family (muridae, which basically includes all members of the muroidea superfamily), but not from the same genus. 'True' rats belong to the genus called rattus, while mice are most often classified as mus. Now, I know that these kinds of real-life things are often incorrect, inconsistent and sometimes even ignored in the Pokémon world, but Rattata and Raticate are obviously rats, not mice. I mean, it's in their names, for God's sake. I would really like to know which genius came up with the idea to give these rats the label of 'Mouse Pokémon', because I can't help but finding this the dumbest thing ever. Well, I guess I shouldn't worry too much about that now.

Fan art of Raticate.

Let's just see how Raticate fares in battle then, shall we? Well, as opposed to the other Pokémon you can find on the very first route in Red and Blue, which is Pidgey, Raticate is actually a lot more diverse. The only problem is that most coverage moves it learns are special-based, like Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Grass Knot, Shadow Ball and Psychic. It learns Crunch by level-up. Dig and U-Turn are the only TM moves worth mentioning, but they are nothing special for in-game purposes (you're most likely not going to use Raticate for competitive battling, although one of its ability is Guts and boosts Raticate's attack by 50% when it is suffering from a status condition, which works pretty well when it's holding a Toxic Orb or Flame Orb) and don't hit as hard as they should when used by Raticate, although they provide decent coverage. Wild Charge is to be avoided, because Raticate learns Double-Edge and that move hits just as hard as Wild Charge does when used on a Pokémon that is weak to electric-type moves. The only difference is that Double-Edge is slightly stronger when Raticate is holding a Silk Scarf, for example, which you should let it hold, because one of its staple moves is going to be Return, a move that has a maximum power of 102 when Raticate's friendship level is maxed out. It learns Iron Tail and Zen Headbutt through Move Tutors, but you will probably have defeated the Elite 4 and the Champion by then.

The official Raticate art has changed quite a bit in this image.

Raticate has access to just enough physical moves to complete a decent enough moveset, but in the end it is just a bland Pokémon. It's speedy and its attack stat is decent, but it has nothing to make it stand out to other Pokémon. I don't dislike Raticate as much as I used to, but I can't give it any rating higher than three stars.

Rating: 3/5

#16 - #18: Pidgey, Pidgeotto & Pidgeot

Fan art of Pidgey.

Ah, yes. Pidgey. This docile little bird was the first of many normal/flying-type bird Pokémon to come, of which two evolution lines will be discussed very soon, as they are part of the first generation of Pokémon. But when you step into the tall grass upon entering Route 1 in Red and Blue, Pidgey was one of the first two Pokémon you were able to catch, the other one being Rattata. And while Rattata evolves into Raticate quite early and Raticate is slightly stronger than Pidgeot is (although not by a landslide; Raticate's physical attack is just one base point higher than Pidgeot's), it was worth waiting until level 36, when Pidgeotto evolved into Pidgeot. Not only does Pidgeot looks cooler than Raticate, it is also more reliable due to its slightly higher defenses and its ability to learn Fly, which is always handy in a Pokémon game. Strangely enough, Ash didn't catch a Pidgey early on in the anime series, but a Pidgeotto, which would turn out to be one of his most reliable partners (although it has to be said that Ash attempted to catch a Pidgey before that, but failed miserably). However, like with Butterfree, Ash released his freshly-evolved Pidgeot, this time to protect a Pidgey flock nearby Ash's hometown Pallet Town from a flock of vicious Spearow led by the Fearow Ash encountered as a Spearow in the very first episode.

Pidgeot depicted as (Bird) Jesus from 'Twitch
Plays Pokémon'.

But don't we all remember Pidgeot from the disaster that is called 'Twitch Plays Pokémon'? Streaming service Twitch set up a digital version of Pokémon Red for everyone to play... simultaneously. Due to everybody inserting multiple commands at the same time (A, B, up, down, left, right, you name it), it soon became a mess and progress was made very slowly, and sometimes not at all. When Jay Leno the Rattata and starter Pokémon Abby the Charmeleon were released, the Pidgey caught at the beginning of the game became the team's leader and savior, sent by Lord Helix (Omanyte) to guide Red through the game. Especially after the second massacre, when eleven Pokémon were released by the Twitch Plays Pokémon crowd, Bird Jesus (as Pidgeot is so commonly referred to) bacame the mainstay of the entire team. Ingenious, making up a storyline for a Pokémon game played by tens of thousands of people at the same time. Of course, it was a 'historic' event in the eyes of many Pokémon fans, an event that many will always remember. Especially when you consider the fact that, of all Pokémon, a Pidgeot was the most important Pokémon that eventually led the team to sweet victory!

Official art of Mega Pidgeot.

However, Bird Jesus had been at an insanely high level throughout half of Twitch's playthrough. Can a regular Pidgeot lead a team to victory when a team is more balanced out? Well, when your team is more balanced out, you're likely to let your other Pokémon fight as well. That is not to say that Pidgeot wouldn't be a good addition to any team, especially as a Mega Pidgeot. That's right, it got a Mega evolution in Omega Ruby and Sapphire, and with a little patience you can just catch a Pidgeotto in the Safari Zone after beating or catching Kyogre or Groudon and evolve it into a Pidgeot after a little training. The Mega Stone necessary for Mega-evolving is obtainable long before that, anyway. But is Mega Bird Jesus good? Hell yeah! Whether it has a diverse movepool is a completely other matter, but it is fast and super strong, gaining a gigantic boost in its special attack and even some speed as well (which matches its flavor much better, as Pidgeot are capable of flying at Mach 2 speed). It also acquires the No Guard ability, meaning that both its own moves and its oponent's moves will never miss, not even when they have low accuracy. That effectively makes Hurricane, which normally has 70% accuracy, one of its staple moves.

In fact, Hurricane is its only staple move, as the rest is just for a bit of coverage. Heat Wave is almost always used in the competitive scene, while Hyper Beam can be handy for strong normal-type damage when nothing else is available to you (although it requires a turn to recharge). Defog, for getting rid of annoying entry hazards like Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rock, and U-Turn, for switching out while causing chip damage, are a thing as well. I even rocked out with a Mega Pidgeot who had Twister when doing an Omega Ruby playthrough, but I don't recommend using it competitively (unless you're really desperate).

The entire Pidgey line: Pidgey (up), Pidgeotto (left), Pidgeot (right) and
Mega Pidgeot (middle).

Personally, Mega Pidgeot is my second favorite Mega evolution, just because of its awesome streamlined design. It is one of the most subtle Megas design-wise, but man, does it hit the mark! Well, that depends on how you look at it, but there is absolutely nothing that keeps it from getting a perfect rating!

Rating: 5/5

#13 - #15 - Weedle, Kakuna & Beedrill

The Weedle evolution line: Weedle (bottom left),
Kakuna (bottom right) and Beedrill (middle).

Little Weedle is one of the two original Gen. I catterpillar Pokémon, the other one being Caterpie. Fortunately for Weedle, it is not quite as uneventful as Caterpie is, although it is a close call. The only thing that distinguishes Weedle from its counterpart is that it's also part poison type, meaning that it is able to poison its foes. That led to some seriously irritating battles early on in the Red and Blue games, especially if you didn't have any Antidotes at the ready. Weedle and its first-stage evolution Kakuna definitely look more interesting than Caterpie and its first-stage evolution Metapod; the former because of the intimidating horn on its head, the latter because it looks intimidating overall. You might have noticed the little claws that Kakuna has tucked in (they extend from its body a little in its Red/Blue sprite), a feature Metapod certainly does not have. Then again, it wouldn't have fit Caterpie and Metapod if they had such things, as they are supposed to be the pre-evolutions of a butterfly, whereas Kakuna evolves into... a bee. Which looks more like a paper wasp, if I have to be honest. Not only that: Kakuna also becomes scorching hot to touch as it is busy preparing for its coming evolution, and it is still capable of poisoning predators with its stingers. Yes, the Beedrill line has always appealed more to me than the Butterfree line has, I won't deny that, but it is not to be ignored that both Pokémon sucked ass back in the days of Red and Blue. Butterfree because it didn't have beneficial typings (Butterfree is special-based, and bug and flying were both physical-based types before the physical/special split in Diamond and Pearl) and Beedrill because it didn't have any good moves, not even of its own types, and because its defenses were absolutely booty.

Official art for Mega Beedrill.

Of course, this has all changed in the course of time, but Beedrill has one advantage over Butterfree: it got a Mega evolution last year. Yes indeed, Mega Beedrill became a thing with the release of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, even though it isn't available before defeating Groudon or Kyogre; at that point you probably already have a full roster of six Pokémon (although it's possible, as you are able to obtain the Beedrillite before entering the Cave of Origin). This Mega has definitely made Beedrill a whole lot better, having gained a boost of 60 in its attack stat and 70 in its speed stat, bringing the total up to 150 and 145, respectively. It has had to give up 30 of its special attack though, but he never needed that stat anyway. Not only is Beedrill now a physical sweeper because of its stat boosts, it also has a shiny new ability to boast about: Adaptability, which increases moves of its own types even further. Due to these changes, Beedrill is now often used in the competitive scene, with movesets containing moves such as Poison Jab, Drill Run, Knock Off, Brick Break, Swords Dance (if you're feeling lucky; Mega Beedrill is still quite frail, as its defenses haven't gotten a boost at all) and your regular bug-type moves like X-Scissor, U-Turn, and even Pin Missile for breaking Substitutes at the first hit and continuing on attacking for some moderate damage.

It is quite clear that Mega Beedrill is made for the competitive scene. And quite honestly, it needed the boost. Beedrill already appealed more to me than Butterfree, but it has started to appeal to me even more now that it has a Mega (a very poisonous one at that, as the poison from its limbs works instantly, while the poison from its 'tail' is slow-acting), which I admit is not really fair towards the likes of Butterfree. I'm sorry, my sweet little butterfly, but this vicious bee wins this round...

Rating: 4.5/5

#10 - #12: Caterpie, Metapod & Butterfree

Caterpie and Metapod.

I would like to start this review with saying that Caterpie was the first of the mandatory caterpillar-cocoon-butterfly evolution lines every generation, but I'd be lying if I did that: the second and fourth generation don't have such evolution lines. Neither does the fifth generation, strictly speaking, because Leavanny and Scolipede certainly aren't butterflies...

That is not to say, however, that Caterpie wasn't the first of many such evolution lines to come, the other ones being Weedle in Gen. I (in fact, Weedle and its evolutions will be reviewed right after Butterfree), Wurmple and its split evolutions in Gen. III, Sewaddle and Venipede in Gen. V and Scatterbug in Gen. VI. As for Caterpie, I can safely say that this Pokémon is nothing short of unexciting, to say the least. The only characteristic worth mentioning is that its antenna emits a horrible stench, which is something the larvae of papilio xuthus (Asian swallowtail) and papilio troilus (spicebush swallowtail) can do as well. It doesn't help that Caterpie looks exactly like those larvae. It evolves into Metapod early though, at level 7, just like all of the above-mentioned caterpillar Pokémon, with the exception of Sewaddle and Venipede from the fifth generation. No, Caterpie is extremely uneventful, utterly boring and ultimately forgettable indeed, but Metapod is where it gets interesting. Don't get too excited though, because Metapod isn't that fascinating.

The epic Metapod vs. Metapod battle in "Challenge of the
Samurai"; season 1, episode 4. 

However, there is one thing about Metapod that I will always remember: the epic battle of the two Metapod in "Challenge of the Samurai", the fourth episode of the Pokémon anime series. You all remember that samurai guy challenging Ash to a battle, right? Well, they both sent out their Metapod and all those Metapod could do was use Harden. I was eight years old when I saw that for the first time. Knowing that Pokémon was all about 'harsh' battles like the ones I saw in the previous episodes, this Metapod battle was so ridiculous to me that at first I looked at the screen with my dumbest stare for a few seconds and then started laughing. I couldn't stop with that for about five minutes, with some intervals here and there; my mom probably thought I had gone crazy or something. Well, the excitement of what has become the most boring as well as the most epic Pokémon battle in all existence didn't last long anyway, because Ash's Metapod evolved into Butterfree in that very same episode.

Ash's Butterfree (left) trying to impress the pink Butterfree
(right) with its colorful scarf during mating season.

Now, Butterfree is where things get moderestly interesting. An sich, Butterfree is not such a strong Pokémon and it isn't often used in the competitive scene. For in-game purposes, Butterfree is a decent Pokémon to use: its special attack got a boost in the sixth generation and it is capable of learning some very good special moves, such as Bug Buzz, Psychic, Shadow Ball and Energy Ball, along with Quiver Dance to give its special attack, special defense and speed a boost. You can even teach it Dream Eater if you want to play the Compound Eyes/Sleep Powder/Dream Eater combo (you might not want to bother with that though, as the TM for Dream Eater is only available post-game). So what is it that we'll all remember Butterfree for? Well... the anime, of course. And yet again it's Ash's Butterfree I'm talking about. In the 21st episode of the anime, "Bye-Bye Butterfree", Ash and his company come across the Butterfree mating season and Ash lets his own Butterfree try to find a mate. It's the pink Butterfree (which is not the official shiny form of Butterfree, mind you) Ash's Butterfree falls for. After some failed attempts to impress her, Team Rocket attacks and they are ultimately stopped by... right, Butterfree. Needless to say that Pinkie is impressed by Ash's Butterfree now, and Ash releases his Pokémon after an emotional good-bye.

It is that emotional good-bye that we'll always remember, but in the end, Butterfree isn't all that unforgettable. It's a decent Pokémon all around: its design is decent, its stats are decent and it's usable in a playthrough, but there is nothing about it that makes me want to love it. I don't hate it either, though; I like it well enough for a passing grade!

Rating: 3.5/5

#7 - #9: Squirtle, Wartortle & Blastoise

Swag.

And last, but definitely not least, we have Squirtle.

Even though Charizard is my favorite of the Kanto starters' final evolutions, Charmander is not my favorite basic-stage Kanto starter. Squirtle is. The anime Charmander is cute and all, but it soon evolved into a Charizard that turned out to be a total asshole, never listening to Ash and totally ignoring his commands. Ash's Squirtle never evolved, but once Squirtle joined Ash on his journey, it remained loyal to him until the latter sent the former back to the Squirtle Squad as a firefighter. Yeah, the squad. That's when we first saw Squirtle, and, frankly, this sassy little delinquent was a total badass! He had swag even before the word came into fashion. See, here's the thing: before Squirtle joined Ash's party, he had been the leader of a criminal gang of Squirtle abandoned by their Trainers, pulling pranks on inattentive passersby and stealing their food. The squad and Team Rocket's Meowth kidnap Ash, his friends and Pikachu and bring them to a cave. Earlier on, Meowth convinced the Squirtle that Jessie and James were his pets after they got ambushed by the squad and sent Jessie and James away to run some errands, planning to seize all the Squirtle in the gang. Team Rocket, including Meowth, turn against the Squirtle and Ash protects the gang leader (distinguishable by its triangle-shaped sunglasses; the other Squirtle in the gang wear round sunglasses) from some bomb explosions, and the Squirtle saves Ash in return and takes him out of the cave after Team Rocket drops some more bombs. Team Rocket is defeated, the Squirtle extinguish the fire caused by the bombs and the gang leader joins Ash on his journey.

The entire Squirtle line: Squirtle (bottom left), Wartortle
(bottom right) and Blastoise (middle). 

What I liked about this Squirtle is that it had a personality to it, something that, at least in my opinion, many other Pokémon lack. This Squirtle was cool and he knew it, as opposed to many other Pokémon Ash had, who were just trying their hardest to prove themselves or just be cute. It's a shame it never evolved, because I would have liked to see how it turned out to be as a Blastoise. Luckily, we still have the games, where we're able to own a Blastoise, mind you. You don't even have to catch a Squirtle, you're just given one. That's awesome. Being one of the three very first starters, Blastoise is still in many people's hearts, and of course there is a reason for that: it's a huge-ass turtle with giant-ass cannons on its back. They only fire water, but these water blasts pierce through steel and concrete. Damn... And if Wartortle can become 10,000 years old (its tail is a symbol of longevity), I don't want to know how old Blastoise can get. The only thing that bothers me about it is that it's classified as the 'Shellfish Pokémon'. Oysters, crabs, shrimps, lobsters, mussels; those are shellfish, but Blastoise is a goddamn turtle. Okay? But admit it, a turtle with cannons and a fire-breathing dragon sound a whole lot better than a dinosaur with a weird-ass flower on its ass, right? I'm sorry if I can't stop talking about how Venusaur lacks the awesomeness of Blastoise and Charizard, but surely I am not the only one who thinks that way? At any rate, my experience is that Blastoise and particularly Charizard are much more popular than Venusaur is, especially when you consider that the former have much more diversity in their movepools.

Official art of Mega Blastoise.

Yes, Blastoise is often used in the competitive scene. Not without a reason though, because it got a Mega evolution in Pokémon X and Y, just like Venusaur and Charizard did. Upon Mega-evolving, Blastoise gains the Mega Launcher ability, which increases the power of pulse and aura moves by 50% (these moves are Aura Sphere, Dark Pulse, Dragon Pulse and Water Pulse; Heal Pulse heals 75% of the target's maximum HP rather than the usual 50%). This effectively makes Water Pulse as strong as Surf, only with a chance to confuse the target. All of the above moves, with the exception of Heal Pulse, are available for Blastoise and that makes him a force to be reckoned with. But while you can rock out with a physical Mega Venusaur (or a mixed tank) and Charizard has two Megas just for you to choose between a physical and a special one, Mega Blastoise's special attack is much higher than its physical attack. A physical Mega Blastoise is possible, because its attack is even higher than Mega Venusaur's, but why would you want that? Its special attack, combined with its excellent ability and movepool (although many people like to have Blastoise carry Ice Beam instead of Dragon Pulse), makes a physical movepool completely unnecessary - with the exception of maybe Rapid Spin, which removes entry hazards from the battlefield. Well, it's the way you roll, I guess...

Modificated official art of Squirtle (left), Blastoise (middle) and Wartortle (right).

In the end, Mega Blastoise is a whole deal better than Mega Venusaur and tied with either Mega Charizard, design-wise (do you see that enormous-ass cannon on its back???) as well as competitively. My childhood experiences make me lean toward Charizard more, so that's why I'm giving Blastoise half a star fewer than Charizard.

Rating: 4.5/5

#4 - #6: Charmander, Charmeleon & Charizard

Charmander and Charmeleon.

Oh yeah, cute little Charmander. From the moment Red and Blue came out, this fiery lizard has been many people's favorite Kanto starter. Some took a liking to Squirtle as well, while Bulbasaur was crying in a corner most of the time; at least that's what I think. This is not without a reason, though: we all unanimously and unhesitantly agree that Charmander's final evolution, Charizard, is awesome (except Ash's Charizard, who was a total jerk, like, ALL THE FUCKING TIME!). Charmander is already cute and interesting by itself (the flame at the tip of its tail is an indicator for its health and emotions; it burns intensely when Charmander is at good health, but when it goes out, Charmander dies), but Charizard is totally badass. And while Charizard's badassery has slightly decreased over the past ten or fifteen years or so, due to an increasing amount of new amazing Pokémon that were introduced every three or four years, Pokémon X and Y gave a boost to Charizard by giving it not one but two Mega evolutions. In fact, it is one of two Pokémon who actually got two Megas, the other one being Mewtwo. And with that, Game Freak have given in to many people who had been nagging about why Charizard should actually have been a dragon-type Pokémon by changing its typing from fire/flying to fire/dragon upon Mega-evolving (of course, this only applies to Mega Charizard X). This indicates that Game Freak know that Charizard has been a fan favorite from the very beginning.

And the Charizard hype was REAL, dude.

While playing Red and Blue, I always chose Charmander as my starter, even though I kept having trouble beating the first Gym Leader with it. But back in the day I was still a little kid and building a team around a starter proved to be a dificult task to me (today I can't even imagine not having a team of six equally leveled Pokémon), so that's why I always played through the game with one Pokémon only: my starter, which happened to be Charmander every single time.

The holographic TCG card of Charizard
everyone was so hyped about back in the days.

And that wasn't all of it. When there were only a few expansions to the official Trading Card Game, the holographic Charizard card from the base set was by far the card everyone desired to have in their possession. I got extremely lucky and pulled this Charizard from a booster pack, and when I showed it to the other kids in my class, they all wanted me to trade that card with them. Needless to say that I refused to do that. In the end, my 'popularity' was short-lived: eventually, other kids managed to get their hands on said card, too. I happened to be the first one with that holographic Charizard, that's all. And do you remember the Topps Pokémon cards? My brother and I collected them as well (even though I liked the TCG cards a lot more than these Topps cards) and once, while we were on a holiday, my brother traded all of his Topps cards for a Topps Charizard card. I personally thought my brother was crazy for doing so, but he loved Charizard so much that he did it anyway. All of this is proof how popular Charizard was back then. That has all changed, though. Kids nowadays aren't that engaged with Pokémon anymore, and the kids who actually grew up with it and still play it as adults probably have other favorites by now. I am no different: Charizard used to be my favorite Pokémon (which is no wonder, as there were only 151 Pokémon twenty years ago; now there are 720), but today it doesn't even show up in my top 50. So how well does it do compared to other, newer Pokémon?

My brother traded ALL of his Topps Pokémon cards for just this one Charizard card.

Pretty well, actually. Daenerys' dragons would be jealous as hell: Charizard can do more than just spit fire. Due to its newly obtained Mega evolutions, Charizard is often used in the competitive scene. And while I prefer Mega Charizard X over Mega Charizard Y design-wise, the latter is actually the better one to use competitively. Why? Well, the Tough Claws ability Mega Charizard X gains upon Mega-evolving is pretty neat, boosting direct attacks (most of those attacks are physical moves) on top of its heavily increased attack stat, but Mega Charizard Y gets the better ability: Drought. This conjures up the sun for five turns and increases Charizard's fire-type moves by 50%, not to mention the fact that Solar Beam doesn't need a turn to charge first. Mega Charizard Y can use this move right off the bat and that makes for some very decent type coverage.

Mega Charizard Y also has a higher attacking stat (159 special attack) than Mega Charizard X (130 attack). And yes, Tough Claws increases most physical moves, but the only physical fire-type moves worth mentioning are Flare Blitz, which does recoil damage, and Fire Punch, which has a base power of 'only' 75. Drought increases all fire-type moves, however, including the much stronger special-based moves Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Heat Wave, Overheat, and even Fire Pledge if you want to go combo (with Water Pledge and/or Grass Pledge, obviously). The only downside to Mega Charizard Y is that it retains its flying typing, which means it still has a quadruple weakness to rock-type moves.

Art of Mega Charizard X (left) and Mega Charizard Y (right)

In the end, either Mega makes for a very good battler. It really doesn't matter which one you choose, because they both have their uses, although Mega Charizard X is a little more versatile; Charizard learns a great deal of good physical moves and fewer special moves than you would think. Is it better than Venusaur and Blastoise? Well... let's say it's definitely better than Venusaur, but I guess that's just my own opinion. And Blastoise? He's the next one on my list to review, so you'll just have to be patient! Meanwhile, I'll give Charizard a full rating of 5 stars. It's a shame I started off so badly with Venusaur, but this excellent rating of Charizard should make up for that, right?

Rating: 5/5

#1 - #3: Bulbasaur, Ivysaur & Venusaur

Old official art of Bulbasaur, drawn by Ken Sugimori.

Awww, Venusaur. Poor thing. You did nothing to deserve my dislike towards you, except... well, exist.

Alright, I'll grant you, Bulbasaur is likeable enough and Ivysaur isn't all that bad either, at least design-wise. But I don't like Venusaur. Like, at all. Never have, in fact, and up to this day I have never chosen Bulbasaur as my starter once, let alone that I have ever used Venusaur in a playthrough or in the competitive scene, period. Like many other players, Charizard and Blastoise were more to my liking and so I always ended up choosing either Charmander or Squirtle instead of Bulbasaur. Compared to a fire-breathing lizard/dragon and a giant-ass turtle with friggin' cannons on its back, a weird flower dinosaur/reptile thing appears to be a lot less awesome. Now, don't get me wrong; Charizard and Blastoise have never belonged to my list of favorite Pokémon, but I like them well enough. And as they both got amazing Mega evolutions in the Nintendo 3DS games X and Y (Charizard even got two, one of which gains the dragon typing upon Mega-evolving instead of its regular flying type), Gen. VI was not kind to Venusaur in the slightest. If anything, its Mega has become even weirder than its normal form, getting an entire jungle on its back, as well as two unluckily placed flowers on its head and... yeah, its ass.

Butt flowers. Are you fucking kidding me, Game Freak?

Well, at least its farts should smell good, ha ha ha.

Anyway.

Fan art of Ivysaur.

So, as I grew up I came to realize that Venusaur wasn't all that great of a Pokémon to use. When I was little, I didn't know that attack, defense, special attack and special defense were based on typings and not on moves. With its decent special attack stat, grass moves hit hard, but all of the other moves it could learn (Hyper Beam, and later on Earthquake and Sludge Bomb in Game Boy Advance games Ruby and Sapphire) were all physical moves that could better be taught to Pokémon that are able to make better use of them because of their superior attack stats. Solar Beam was literally its best move and the only move worth mentioning, but Sunny Day wasn't around in Gen. I yet, so Venusaur was stuck with charging its move every other turn. Even after the physical/special split in Gen. IV (with which I was incredibly happy, I'll tell you that much), Venusaur hasn't been incredible either. If you want a physical Venusaur so badly (Mega Venusaur has a base attack stat of 100, so it wouldn't be that terrible), you might want to go with Earthquake, Outrage and Petal Blizzard, even though Venusaur doesn't learn any physical-based poison-type moves. It's better to make use of its superior special attack and its grass/poison typing and go with a special-based Venusaur instead. You can teach it either Petal Dance or Giga Drain (or both if you want the strength of Petal Dance and the reliability of Giga Drain), Sludge Bomb, and a move or two to annoy the opponent, such as Synthesis and Leech Seed. Venusaur is defensive enough to pull off the tank tactic, and it's the most common way it's used in competitive, anyway. Hyper Beam, which was broken as fuck in Game Boy games Red and Blue, is best to be avoided these days, as Venusaur doesn't benefit from that move at all.

Official Ken Sugimori art of regular Venusaur (left) and Mega Venusaur (right). 

While this Pokémon lacks diversity in its movepool, it definitely has its uses if you know what you're doing, and there are certainly people who do like Venusaur - people who can find ways to make excellent use of it. But at the end of the day, my dislike for Venusaur has only grown over the years, and X and Y made that even worse by giving it a close-to-horrid Mega evolution design-wise. To make things worse, its Pokédex entries throughout the games (or its flavor or characteristics, as I like to call them) aren't anything special; they're what most real-life plants do as well. This Pokémon is, and will always be, one of those Pokémon I won't ever use in any way possible, just because it doesn't appeal to me personally. I don't hate Venusaur, let that be clear, but I don't like it. Especially now that there are so many other starter Pokémon to choose from (and we're still counting, mind you), the chances that I'll grow affective towards Venusaur are practically zero. Plus, I don't see myself starting to develop 'feelings' for it in general; I've disliked Venusaur way too much for way too long for that.

Rating: 2.5/5

I welcome you all to my brand new Pokémon review blog!

July 5th, 2015

Hey guys! My name is Robbin, I'm from the Netherlands, and this is my second blog about Pokémon. While the previous one contained a countdown of my favorite Pokémon of all time (the fact that I made that countdown before X and Y were released explains the lack of Kalos-based Pokémon), this blog should take a hell of a lot more time: I am going to review every single Pokémon in existence! I will do that in chronological order. This means I am going to start off with the Bulbasaur evolution line, continue with the Charmander line, then the Squirtle line, etc., all the way up to the 721th Pokémon, Volcanion.

(Disclaimer: Of course, the 721st Pokémon should now be the 809th Pokémon, Melmetal, but don't forget I wrote this in July of 2015. Volcanion wasn't officially a thing yet, and Sun and Moon wouldn't be announced for at least eight months from then. At the pace I'm reviewing Pokémon right now, I suspect it will be a while before I get around to reviewing the seventh generation, so please bear with me.)

By the way, if I come across a Pokémon with an evolution or pre-evolution that was introduced in a later generation (such as Onix, a Gen. I Pokémon that got an evolution in Gen. II, Steelix), of course I will discuss that Pokémon as well. If I get to the point of 'encountering' that certain Pokémon later on, as a result of reviewing all Pokémon in chronological order, I'll simply skip it. I mean, it's bullshit to not review Onix and Steelix in one post, right? Also, at the end of my review you'll see a rating of the reviewed Pokémon, which can be anything from half a star to five stars. Below is a list of Pokémon that have gotten a perfect rating of 5 stars so far, as well as a list of Pokémon that have gotten a rating of 4.5 stars and are still eligible for a 5-star rating! By contrast, below those is a small list of Pokémon that got 2.5 stars (which is when Pokémon start to get bad) or less, just to show you the Pokémon that I dislike or hate.

Please keep in mind that these reviews are mostly based on my own experiences with those Pokémon, as well as their designs and whether or not I would like to use them in a playthrough once. It is a matter of taste and opinion. And yes, of course I will occasionally provide you with some in-depth information such as competitive use and stuff, but I am a casual player and therefore I am not at home in the competitive scene, although I do have a faint idea which Pokémon are popular and which ones are often ignored. Nobody uses Ariados or Beautifly in competitive battles, but they make for very decent Pokémon to use in a regular playthrough. At least in my opinion.

While I posted one of my favorite Pokémon daily on my previous blog, I won't post a review on this blog every day. Writing takes a bunch of time; time I simply do not have sometimes. There is no schedule that clarifies on which days of the week I will post a review, but I will try to update the blog at least six or seven times a month. That should be achievable, right? By the way, if you see any grammatical mistakes or spelling errors, please feel free to notify me by leaving a comment under the appropriate article/entry and I'll change them immediately. I hate being incorrect and inconsistent. Well then, without any further ado, my first ever review - Bulbasaur, Ivysaur and Venusaur - should be up tomorrow. Have fun!

Robbin,
a.k.a. The Shiny Luxray



Pokémon that got 4.5 stars (63 so far):

#009: [Mega] Blastoise
#015: [Mega] Beedrill
#024: Arbok
#036: Clefable
#045, #182: Vileplume & Bellossom
#062: Poliwrath
#073: Tentacruel
#094: [Mega] Gengar
#099: Kingler
#115: [Mega] Kangaskhan
#126: Magmar
#127: [Mega] Pinsir
#130: [Mega] Gyarados
#141: Kabutops
#145: Zapdos
#146: Moltres
#150: [Mega] Mewtwo [X/Y]
#160: Feraligatr
#171: Lanturn
#185: Sudowoodo
#205: Forretress
#214: [Mega] Heracross
#217: Ursaring
#225: Delibird
#243: Raikou
#248: [Mega] Tyranitar
#250: Ho-Oh
#262: Mightyena
#267: Beautifly
#272: Ludicolo
#286: Breloom
#303: [Mega] Mawile
#310: [Mega] Manectric
#319: [Mega] Sharpedo
#326: Grumpig
#332: Cacturne
#337: Lunatone
#340: Whiscash
#348: Armaldo
#354: [Mega] Banette
#369: Relicanth
#378: Regice
#383: [Primal] Groudon
#385: Jirachi
#398: Staraptor
#417: Pachirisu
#428: [Mega] Lopunny
#430: Honchkrow
#442: Spiritomb
#445: [Mega] Garchomp
#460: [Mega] Abomasnow
#466: Electivire
#468: Togekiss
#475: [Mega] Gallade
#482: Azelf
#491: Darkrai
#494: Victini
#521: Unfezant
#531: [Mega] Audino
#534: Conkeldurr
#542: Leavanny
#549: Lilligant
#558: Crustle


Pokémon that got 5 stars (79 so far):

#006: [Mega] Charizard [X/Y]
#018: [Mega] Pidgeot
#025: Pikachu
#034: Nidoking
#038: Ninetales
#053: Persian
#055: Golduck
#059: Arcanine
#078: Rapidash
#082: Magneton
#091: Cloyster
#133-#136, #196-#197, #470-#471, #700: Eevee, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, Glaceon & Sylveon
#142: [Mega] Aerodactyl
#144: Articuno
#148: Dragonair
#151: Mew
#154: Meganium
#162: Furret
#176: Togetic
#181: [Mega] Ampharos
#201: Unown
#208: [Mega] Steelix
#210: Granbull
#212: [Mega] Scizor
#213: Shuckle
#227: Skarmory
#229: [Mega] Houndoom
#244: Entei
#245: Suicune
#249: Lugia
#254: [Mega] Sceptile
#257: [Mega] Blaziken
#260: [Mega] Swampert
#282: Gardevoir
#295: Exploud
#306: [Mega] Aggron
#308: [Mega] Medicham
#321: Wailord
#334: [Mega] Altaria
#336: Seviper
#338: Solrock
#342: Crawdaunt
#350: Milotic
#359: [Mega] Absol
#363: Spheal
#376: [Mega] Metagross
#377: Regirock
#382: [Primal] Kyogre
#384: [Mega] Rayquaza
#389: Torterra
#395: Empoleon
#405: Luxray
#409: Rampardos
#414: Mothim
#424: Ambipom
#429: Mismagius
#436-#437: Bronzor & Bronzong
#448: [Mega] Lucario
#452: Drapion
#464: Rhyperior
#472: Gliscor
#479: Rotom
#483: Dialga
#485: Heatran
#487: Giratina
#488: Cresselia
#492: Shaymin
#497: Serperior
#503: Samurott
#508: Stoutland
#510: Liepard
#512: Simisage
#523: Zebstrika
#526: Gigalith
#530: Excadrill
#545: Scolipede
#553: Krookodile
#555: Darmanitan
#561: Sigilyph


Pokémon that got 2.5 stars or fewer (19 so far):

#003: [Mega] Venusaur - 2.5 stars
#051: Dugtrio - 1.5 stars
#122: Mr. Mime - 0.5 star
#132: Ditto - 1.5 stars
#192: Sunflora - 2 stars
#202: Wobbuffet - 2 stars
#206: Dunsparce - 1.5 stars
#211: Qwilfish - 2.5 stars
#279: Pelipper - 0.5 star
#297: Hariyama - 2.5 stars
#327: Spinda - 1 star
#351: Castform - 1.5 stars
#368: Gorebyss - 2 stars
#370: Luvdisc - 1 star
#462: Magnezone - 2.5 stars
#463: Lickilicky - 0.5 star
#467: Magmortar - 2.5 stars
#476: Probopass - 2 stars
#493: Arceus - 2.5 stars