Originally, I was going to do a top X of every generation so far for two reasons: 1) I've been having trouble narrowing down ten Pokemon into a list I was comfortable with and 2) with Generation VII less than two months away, I should have just waited it out until I've had experience with a good number of Alolan Pokemon so I could judge everyone more fairly. But since I really want to make some kind of list, I've decided to just bite the bullet and list my top 10 overall as of Generation VI. Let's start by setting some ground rules.
1. I have to like the Pokemon for reasons other than their designs.
2. Unless I say otherwise, I refer to the entire family in a specific entry (so if I say B but not A, assume that I like both A and B, just that I prefer B).Before the "official" list, here are a couple honorable mentions (in no particular order):
See how big that group is? That just shows you what I had to pick from! With that out of the way, let's begin.
10. Ferrothorn
Grass/Steel
Ferrothorn makes my list for being a very dependable Pokemon. For a while, it was my go-to Pokemon when building competitive teams. Need Grass-type coverage? Power Whip. Need Steel-type coverage? Gyro Ball. Want to set up hazards? Stealth Rock. And you even have room for a fourth move! Ferrothorn will tank anything you throw at it that it isn't weak too and will either retaliate at a leisurely pace or munch on its Leftovers while you struggle to kill it after you realize that you forgot your Blaziken at home.
9. Weavile
Dark/Ice
Ever since I got into the series, Weavile was one of those Pokemon that I always seemed to love among the rest. That said, for the longest time since I started, I could not tell you why. Sure, the design is badass, but there was something more about Weavile that just got to me. I first used one named Gali in my White version to help me catch Kyurem. Gali did well, but I still couldn't figure out why I was so attracted to weavile.
THEN I FOUND DENAHI.
In my first (failed) run of Pokemon Platinum, one of the last members of my team was this Sneasel found around Snowpoint City. I named him Denahi after the antagonist in Brother Bear, and...sweet Jesus, he was a monster. To put it bluntly, he quickly rose to power in my team, rivaling my Gengar for the top spot; and this was when he was just a Sneasel! When I found the Razor Claw in the HQ, that would be when the fun began. Despite never finishing that run, I still cherish Denahi and what he did for me (I even made a competitive Weavile named after him). I later found out after transferring the original up that the reason he was so amazing was that, despite his Modest nature, he had a perfect IV in Attack. Amazing.
8. Kingdra
Water/Dragon
I blame Kingdra for being the Pokemon for getting me interested in the first place. Not long after I had beaten Y version for the first time, I put something on the GTS for a Kingdra. I don't remember why; I think it was just for filler. Anyway, I got it back not to long later and saw that it was not only level 100, but also had perfect stats across the board. Now, I was no competitive battler at the time, but I was aware of things like IVs, so I knew this Kingdra was a special one. I later got a hold of a Choice Specs, slapped it on Kingdra and it also became quite a dependable Pokemon to me. Upon transferring it to my Omega Ruby version, I also discovered that it had maxed out Contest stats as well. I don't particularly care much for Pokemon contests, but seeing that XY did not have contests, this came as a beautiful surprise.
7. Aegislash
Steel/Ghost
HOLY FUCK I LOVE AEGISLASH.From the moment I saw my first Honedge in my Y version, I new that it'd be one of my favorites forever. Everything about this Pokemon came as a wonderful surprise to me, especially its typing. Its primary type was self-explanatory, but I had absolutely no idea that this thing was part-Ghost as well. I'm pretty sure I discovered that in the battle when I tried to have my Combusken do something. Once I caught it, it easily became the star of my team. It became my most reliable Pokemon on that team. Eventually it evolved into a Doublade (who I will admit, is pretty good in its own right), but as soon as I found that Dusk Stone, all Hell would break loose. Diantha's team could easily fall to Aegislash's might.
Hawlucha? No problem.
Tyrantrum? Iron Head.
Aurorus? Sacred Sword.
Gourgeist? Shadow Claw.
Goodra? Easy.
Gardevoir? Bitch, please!That Aegislash became the very first Pokemon I ever raised to Level 100 without the use of Rare Candies. It was a big achievement of mine at the time, and to this day I have only done it with one (soon to be two) other(s). As far as Aegislash's dependability goes, well... long story short, Aegislash is so good competitively, it was banned to the Uber tier within a matter of months. Even Greninja lasted longer than this thing.
6. Lilligant
Grass
Much like Weavile, I was attracted to Lilligant very early on. Also like Weavile, I never got around to using it until much after my first experience with it. My first "real" time using Lilligant came in the form of my second playthrough of White version. I caught it as a Petilil and quickly came to the conclusion that it was a much better member for my team than my Servine could ever hope to be. So after boxing my starter, I began training this thing. With a moveset like Sleep Powder, Giga Drain, Leech Seed and Petal Dance, the only thing that kept Elizabeth from being perfect was her ability Chlorophyll instead of Own Tempo. Still, she was the second strongest member of my team, and the occasional confusion was very easy to work around. Oh yeah, one more thing: imo, Lilligant is the single cutest Pokemon in existence.
5. Gallade
Psychic/Fighting
I was very close to including Gardevoir in this spot as well for hopefully obvious reasons, but I decided against it, as I've always liked Gallade just a little bit more. Gallade just seems like this really cool Pokemon to me, and I've liked it ever since I got that one Ralts from Wonder Trade and randomly decided to turn that into a Gallade. I still have that particular one running around in Pokemon Bank somewhere. Since then, I've had a few fun adventures with Gallade competitively, especially in ORAS when it finally got a Mega to compliment its maiden. And that's all I have to say, really. Gallade's cool enough to become the basis for an avatar of mine, but it's not one I've had in a while. Overall, I'm not really sure how to justify my love for Gallade other than just saying "it's awesome."
4. Dustox
Bug/Poison
Yeah, that's right. I like this pathetic little moth more than everything else so far. Well, you see, that's the thing. I've used a Dustox in my first run of Platinum. His name was Toxin, and up until I found Denahi, he was the star of my team. For a silly early-game Bug-type, Dustox has quite a few tricks up its sleeve. It's relatively bulky, so Moonlight can recover health. Venoshock can easily add insult to injury. Aerial Ace? Okay, makes enough sense. Psychic? This thing gets Psychic?! Sure, why not! For a good 3/4 of the game, Toxin and my Gengar, Spookshear were the King and Queen of my team; I guess I could say that Denahi was the Prince, but enough about those guys, damnit! Dustox may not be all that great competitively, but it's a sure of a lot better than it's cousin, Beautifly.
And, while this isn't a reason as to why Dustox is a fave of mine, but recently while DexNav chaining, I found a Lv 16 Wurmple with four perfect IVs. Guess what it'll evolve into?
3. Gigalith
Rock
Roggenrola had always been a pretty adorable little Pokemon to me. I have had some experience with Gigalith before, but nothing to write home about. One day not that long ago, I decided to browse through the Pokedex and listen to some Pokemon cries. Roggenrola and its evolution, Boldore sounded about the same as I remembered them sounding. THEN THERE'S GIGALITH'S. Gigalith's XY cry sounds like a battle cry, for lack of a better term. Hearing this music to my ears, I knew that Gigalith would be a pretty good Pokemon to try out. So that's what I did. In my second playthrough of White, I caught a Roggenrola named Tak, and I took her to the end of the game. Sure, she was the weakest member of my permanent team, but that doesn't mean she wasn't useful. Her most prominent roles were Stealth Rocks and Flying-type checks. Gigalith is just freaking awesome; at least I have means to justify this one, Gallade.
2. Crobat
Poison/Flying
What do you get when you take the dependability of Ferrothorn, the badassness of Gallade, the ferocity of Weavile, mix them together and add a touch of friendship to the melting pot? You get Crobat of course! I have used Crobat on many in-game teams of mine. Each time, it proved to be a very valuable member of my team who was worth the effort put in to evolving it. More than once I have been surprised by finally obtaining a Crobat, but my most memorable experience with it came from my first run of HeartGold version. I caught a Zubat very early on and named her Whisper. Eventually she evolved into Golbat, but things got rather rocky from there. Gym Leaders Chuck and Jasmine were jagged thorns in my side for a while, and I was certain the constant faintings would have lowered Whisper's friendship value down to nothing. Needless to say, I was saddened. After beating Jasmine, I took to the route to the north to train up a bit before moving on. Whisper hit Level 24 and to my surprise, she instantly began to evolve.
I'm pretty sure tears were coming out of my eyes at that point. This Golbat, who had to endure the wraths of Primape and Steelix, loved me enough to evolve regardless. I took this Crobat to the end of the Johto League. Most of my team had been underleveled by then, so I made the decision to switch most of my team for a failed Platinum run team. Whisper was the only Johto-born Pokemon remaining on my team on arriving in Kanto. Even so, I took her with me. She was there when I defeated the Kanto League, she was there for Lugia, she was there for Mewtwo, she was there when I defeated Red; and now she rests happily in my OmegaRuby version.
Crobat is very dependable for me competitively. Since obtaining a competitive one, that has become my go-to Pokemon. Sky Attack (with Power Herb), Acrobatics, Cross Poison and U-turn make a terrifying moveset. I love using that thing, but I'm not going to go on any longer. Bottom line, I love Crobat, and nothing can ever change that.
1. Chandelure
Ghost/Fire
This should come as a surprise to absolutely no one (though if you're expecting a sentimental essay like for Crobat, prepare to be disappointed). Aside from Pikachu and Piplup (whom I was familiar with from the anime), Litwick was among the first Pokemon I've discovered. For a while, I thought it was the cutest and scariest thing ever, so naturally I made it my DA's mascot for a short while. Eventually, I came to accept the evolutions, Lampent and Chandelure. To put it simply enough, Chandelure is a glass cannon. It hits like a truck but goes down like a flower. But you know what, that's okay. Shadow Ball, Flamethrower, Energy Ball, and room for a fourth move are pretty excellent! I like to run Memento on it not necessarily because of its effects, but because of Lampent's Dex entres. They read:
This ominous Pokémon is feared. Through cities it wanders, searching for the spirits of the fallen (Black).
It arrives near the moment of death and steals spirit from the body (White).
And if you need just a tad more convincing how awesome Chandelure is, remember that devious smile when you see it on the other side of the field. It'll be reminiscing at the fact that it's Special Attack stat rivals that of goddamn Mewtwo.
~Memento mori, motherfuckers.