#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