CategoryVideo Games

My 10 Favorite Shiny Pokemon of Each Type

Last month, I wrote a post detailing my 10 favorite Poekmon of each type. I wrote it because I was tired and because it required relatively little thought — and if I’m honest, because my Pokemon and Fire Emblem posts are good for getting traffic here. So I’m doing a follow up to that post, wherein I’m borrowing another idea from Lola over at That Little Lola. This month, I’m writing a post compiling my 10 favorite shiny Pokemon by each type.

That all said, here are the rules.

  • Pokemon may appear in multiple typing lists (so if Pidgey were one of my favorite Normal and Flying types, it could appear in both lists).
  • All Pokemon may appear in the list, including legendaries, regional variants, and various Pokemon forms.
  • Pokemon whose type can be modified with items (Genesect, Silvally, Rotom, etc) will appear in whatever their base type is. For Pokemon that have different variations present in the wild (Oricorio), I’ll consider them in all types they’re available in.
  • A Pokemon’s evolution line may only appear once per type. For example, if both Pidgey and Pidgeot were in my top 10 normal types, whichever one is ranked lower would be removed from the list. Exceptions: The Nidoran lines remain split because of how they appeared in Gen I. Same with the evolutions of Tyrogue for the same reason.
  • This list may not be 100% consistent with previous top Pokemon lists I’ve made. This is partly because a new generation has come out since then, but also because opinions change, man.
  • As I’ve done before, I’m going to be using Dragonfly Cave’s favorite picker tool to help me make these lists.

Here we go.

Normal

10. Meloetta (Aria Forme)
9. Furfrou (Dandy Forme)
8. Wooloo
7. Bunnelby
6. Linoone (Hoenn)
5. Deerling (Summer Forme)
4. Pikipek
3. Unfezant (Male)
2. Taillow
1. Furret

Because many Pokemon have such wildly different shinies form to form1Pokemon spells it as forme, but I’m going to call it form in this section, as autocorrect REALLY hates the word forme., you’ll notice that I broke out the forms in much greater detail here than my other list. I’d forgotten just how good male Unfezant’s shiny was until I started making this list. It wasn’t enough to knock off my two favorite Normal shinies, but it is really good. You may also notice a complete lack of Kanto shinies, as well as only one from Johto. This may well become a theme, because many of the early gen shines were rough to look at.

Fire

10. Blacephalon
9. Salandit
8. Raboot
7. Victini
6. Incineroar
5. Magcargo
4. Ponyta (Kanto)
3. Chandelure
2. Braixen
1. Oricorio (Baile Form)

I enjoy how much this specific list mirrored my favorite Fire types list with four of the Pokemon (Oricorio, Chandelure, Magcargo, Incineroar) being exactly the same and two others (Braixen, Raboot) being other Pokemon I liked within the same evolutionary line as ones that made my other list. This specific list features a pair of Pokemon I’ve been looking for a shiny of for a long time, so if you know anyone who has a shiny Oricorio Baile or Ponyta from Kanto, let me know.

Fighting

10. Makuhita
9. Scrafty
8. Grapploct
7. Breloom
6. Combusken
5. Passimian
4. Crabrawler
3. Meloetta (Pirouette Forme)
2. Pheramosa
1. Poliwrath

Hello. It’s still me. The only Crabominable fan in existence…though I prefer Crabrawler’s shiny to that of its evolved counterpart. The red boxing gloves are a nice touch. Shout out to Passimian for managing to have a not terrible shiny that I’d completely forgotten about.

Water

10. Accelgor
9. Tirtouga
8. Pelipper
7. Tapu Fini
6. Clawitzer
5. Cramorant
4. Simipour
3. Kabutops
2. Poliwrath
1. Shellder

Congratulations to Dracovish for potentially having the worst new shiny in Gen VIII2All of the fossil shinies in Gen VIII are very bad.! You earned it! That said, you might notice that my top five here are all repeats from my favorite Water type list. This is for a good reason — if there’s a Pokemon I really like, it never hurts my opinion on its shiny, especially if that shiny is above average.

Flying

10. Mothim
9. Drifloon
8. Cramorant
7. Rookidee
6. Pikipek
5. Zubat
4. Oricorio (Baile Form)
3. Unfezant (Male)
2. Taillow
1. Murkrow

Flying type has so many good shinies, but they nearly all follow a specific pattern. That pattern is that the pre-evolution shinies nearly universally look better than the fully evolved form shinies. There are certainly some exceptions to this, but considering that Rowlet, Trumbeak, Hoothoot, and Golbat all just missed this list, there’s a definite trend here. In some cases, this is because the end stage evolution has a poor shiny (see Rookidee vs. Corviknight), but in most cases, it’s just that I like the pre-evolution’s shiny better.

Grass

10. Tsareena
9. Roserade
8. Cacturne
7. Morelull
6. Decidueye
5. Deerling (Summer Forme)
4. Oddish
3. Seedot
2. Tangela
1. Dhelmise

I had never seen Morelull’s shiny before making this list. And you know what? It’s really good. I’ve placed it 7th because I don’t want to overvalue a Pokemon just because I just saw its shiny and am reacting upon initial sight. But damn. That’s a good shiny.

Poison

10. Ariados
9. Nidoking
8. Toxapex
7. Poipole
6. Roserade
5. Salandit
4. Oddish
3. Venomoth
2. Zubat
1. Mega Beedrill

Remember how I said that Flying type had so many good shinies? Venomoth — a Pokemon that would have struggled to make the top 15 Flying types — comes in third on my Poison shinies. It’s not for a lack of good Poison types, as you’ll notice by many of the other Pokemon featured here also appearing in their respective dual types lists. Flying was just that deep. It’s a shame Mega Evolutions aren’t in the game anymore, as Mega Beedrill has an amazing shiny.

Electric

10. Mega Ampharos
9. Heliolisk
8. Electrode
7. Graveler (Alolan Forme)
6. Eelektross
5. Magnezone
4. Raichu (Alolan Forme)
3. Manectric
2. Vikavolt
1. Xurkitree

Meanwhile, Electric type has some BAD shinies. When Electrode — one of the most forgettable shinies in existence — makes the top 10 comfortably, your typing has a shiny type problem. The top four Pokemon here all have great shinies, but the drop off from fifth onward is harsh.

Ground

10. Gabite
9. Barboach
8. Golurk
7. Vibrava
6. Donphan
5. Palpitoad
4. Nidoking
3. Pupitar
2. Sandslash (Kanto Forme)
1. Palossand

Ground type is the land of mid-stage evolutions with really good shinies. Krokorok, Zygarde, and Piloswine all just missed this list, which would have added to the four mid-stage evolutions already on the list. With the exception of Vibrava, nearly all of them are more vibrant than their end stage evolutions. That’s usually what draws me to shiny Pokemon. If two Pokemon are side-by-side and one of them is just a dulled version of their main pallet, I’m going to like it far less than a shiny Pokemon that dials up the contrast of its colors. Palpitoad and Pupitar are two of the best examples of this period, not just in the Ground type.

Psychic

10. Dottler
9. Deoxys (Speed Forme)
8. Lunala
7. Sigilyph
6. Victini
5. Meowstic (Female)
4. Slowking
3. Mega Gardevoir
2. Solrock
1. Espeon

This might well be the most colorful collection of shinies on this list, featuring Pokemon who are primarily lime green, red-orange, black, magenta, white, purple, crimson, and silver. And that’s not even counting whatever you’d call the technicolor dream coat that Sigilyph’s shiny is.

Rock

10. Tirtouga
9. Corsola (Johto Forme)
8. Omastar
7. Roggenrola
6. Magcargo
5. Graveler (Alolan Forme)
4. Pupitar
3. Solrock
2. Shuckle
1. Kabutops

Rock has some interesting shiny Pokemon, including a few that people otherwise forget about. Johto’s form of Corsola is one of the better baby blue shiny Pokemon, while Magcargo and Slugma both have real underrated shinies. The Mountain Dew Reaper owns the top spot here, but not for a lack of competition.

Ice

10. Sealeo
9. Eiscue
8. Piloswine
7. Mega Glalie
6. Sandslash (Alolan Forme)
5. Avalugg
4. Lapras
3. Crabominable
2. Delibird
1. Cryoganal

Ice type might be my favorite typing for Pokemon as a whole, but the shiny sprites for the type are woefully underwhelming. Hell, even one of my least favorite Pokemon period, Mega Glalie, made this list — though that has more to do with the Snorunt line having good shinies than anything else. If I were allowing more than one representative per evolution line, this list would be dominated by the Bergmite, Snorun, and Alolan Sandshrew lines.

Bug

10. Araquanid
9. Ariados
8. Venomoth
7. Accelgor
6. Vikavolt
5. Wurmple
4. Pheramosa
3. Mega Beedrill
2. Shuckle
1. Scizor

Much like Bug is a brutal typing on my favorites list, it’s a rough typing to get near the top in shinies as well. The top 8 here are very tightly packed — to the point where you could throw the top 5 in particular into a hat and let me draw a name for first place.

Dragon

10. Druddigon
9. Kingdra
8. Naganadel
7. Flapple
6. Latios
5. Gabite
4. Mega Ampharos
3. Mega Altaria
2. Vibrava
1. Dragonaire

Much like Ice, the Dragon shiny pool is pretty shallow. In addition to suffering from Middle Pokemon Are Better syndrome, there are just some ill-advised shiny colorations (looking at you, Dragonite). I feel like shiny Flapple would be higher on this list if I had one for myself, as the granny smith apple coloration is pretty good.

Ghost

10. Mismagius
9. Jellicent (Male)
8. Decidueye
7. Aegislash
6. Golurk
5. Lunala
4. Dhelmise
3. Palossand
2. Mega Banette
1. Chandelure

This is how you do a thin pool. Despite Ghost being one of the least represented types in all of Pokemon, nearly all of the shinies are above average, with most of them being amazing3I mean, the less said about shiny Dusknoir, the better. But that’s it.. One of the shinies I most actively sought out in Pokemon Go — Mismagius — barely even cracks the top ten here. Ghost might well have the best top to bottom shiny quality of any typing…but that’s another post.

Dark

10. Purrloin
9. Morgrem
8. Krokorok
7. Shiftry
6. Incineroar
5. Bisharp
4. Scrafty
3. Cacturne
2. Umbreon
1. Murkrow

Alright. I swear it wasn’t intentional that the top three of this list is identical to my top three favorite Dark types as a whole. It just kind of worked out that way. There are a small handful of Pokemon whose typing I forget changes as they evolve, only to remember them when I make lists like this. The most notable example is how Staryu is mono-Water type and not Water/Psychic like its evolution. That said, the second biggest example I can think of is the fact that I never remember that Seedot is mono-Grass.

Steel

10. Magearna
9. Lucario
8. Bisharp
7. Genesect
6. Escavalier
5. Magnezone
4. Aegislash
3. Zacian (Crowned Forme)
2. Mega Mawile
1. Scizor

Most Steel types have shinies that are varying shades of gold, silver, and gray. If you’ve made it this far in the list, it should not shock you that most of my choices for this list do not follow that pattern. Sure, Magnezone and Magearna make the list, but they’re the exceptions, not the rule. In Steel type, it’s important to stand out. That’s what the best shinies in this type do well.

Fairy

10. Tapu Lele
9. Mega Gardevoir
8. Morgrem
7. Mr. Mime (Kanto forme)
6. Azumarill
5. Mimikyu
4. Morelull
3. Sylveon
2. Tapu Fini
1. Mega Mawile

Mega Mawile goes back-to-back, which shouldn’t come as a shock. That said, shout out to Mimikyu for making the drained color shiny work. It wasn’t enough to crack the top 10 in Ghost, but that type is stacked. It’s a good shiny, despite the fact that it goes against the logic of most shiny coloration.

My 10 Favorite Pokemon of Each Type

So um…yeah. That whole My Pokemon Gym series that’s given me content for the past 17 months1The original post was a one-off I did nearly a half year before the rest of the posts.? It’s over now. And because this blog is a video game and writing blog, I feel like I should write more video game things. Thing is, I’m writing this in the early summer of 2020. And let me be clear — I’m mentally exhausted right now.

As such, I’m stealing an idea from Lola over at That Little Lola…kind of. She does posts going through her favorite Pokemon of each type. Which is awesome and is the concept that inspired this post. That said, I don’t feel like writing another 18 month long series. That sounds exhausting. So I’m going to write two really LONG Pokemon posts. This will be the first one, while the second will be about shiny Pokemon. I also won’t be sharing thoughts on every single Pokemon on the list, because I don’t feel like writing a 10,000-word post that isn’t fiction or about Fire Emblem. I will give a quick wrap up of each type at the end of the type, however.

That all said, here are the rules.

  • Pokemon may appear in multiple typing lists (so if Pidgey were one of my favorite Normal and Flying types, it could appear in both lists).
  • All Pokemon may appear in the list, including legendaries, regional variants, and various Pokemon forms.
  • Pokemon whose type can be modified with items (Genesect, Silvally, Rotom, etc) will appear in whatever their base type is. For Pokemon that have different variations present in the wild (Oricorio), I’ll consider them in all types they’re available in.
  • A Pokemon’s evolution line may only appear once per type. For example, if both Pidgey and Pidgeot were in my top 10 normal types, whichever one is ranked lower would be removed from the list. Exceptions: The Nidoran lines remain split because of how they appeared in Gen I. Same with the evolutions of Tyrogue for the same reason.
  • This list may not be 100% consistent with previous top Pokemon lists I’ve made. This is partly because a new generation has come out since then, but also because opinions change, man.
  • As I’ve done before, I’m going to be using Dragonfly Cave’s favorite picker tool to help me make these lists.

Here we go.

Normal

10. Lickitung
9. Porygon-Z
8. Swellow
7. Eevee
6. Fearow
5. Furret
4. Jigglypuff
3. Delcatty
2. Dodrio
1. Rattata

With apologies to Bidoof, my favorite first route Normal type and my original childhood favorite Pokemon tops the Normal type list. Normal’s frequent crossover with Flying means there are a lot of birds on this list. The most surprising Pokemon on this list were Furret — who I’ve grown to love over the past few years — and Lickitung (who was an afterthought until I played Let’s Go Eevee).

Fire

10. Magmar
9. Cinderace
8. Centiscorch
7. Incineroar
6. Flareon
5. Magcargo
4. Chandelure
3. Oricorio (Baile Form)
2. Delphox
1. Vulpix

If I didn’t limit each Pokemon evolution chain to one appearance per type, this list would primarily be just the Vulpix, Fennekin, and Litwick evolution lines. That’s the thing about Fire types. I either adore them or I hate them. Really once you get past Flareon on this list, it’s a lot of ‘yeah…I guess that’s fine’ options. Shoutout to Oricorio Baile Form for being the lynchpin of my Gen VII doubles teams.

Fighting

10. Heracross
9. Kommo-o
8. Hawlucha
7. Breloom
6. Hitmonlee
5. Crabominable
4. Poliwrath
3. Marshadow
2. Pheramosa
1. Hitmonchan

Hello. It’s me. The only Crabominable fan in existence. Alola had some awesome Fighting types. So much so that three Pokemon I love using in games — Bewear, Falinks, and Gallade — all miss the cut for this list. Hitmonchan and Pheramosa were and easy one and two on this list. That said, everything from third through I’d estimate fifteenth or so is a tough debate. There are a ton of Fighting types I feel freely similarly about.

Water

10. Cramorant
9. Simipour
8. Lapras
7. Kabutops
6. Toxapex
5. Poliwrath
4. Vaporeon
3. Tapu Fini
2. Quagsire
1. Shellder

Hey! We have our first crossover Pokemon between lists. I’d say I’m surprised it didn’t come sooner, but then I look at the types above and realize it makes sense this hasn’t happened before now. Inteleon and Omastar were the most difficult cuts from this list, while the debate between Quagsire and Shellder was tough at the top of the list. Excluding every Water starter was rough, as I’m always Mr. Use A Water Starter in my games. That said, Pokemon has never been lacking for likeable Water types.

Flying

10. Xatu
9. Swellow
8. Drifblim
7. Crobat
6. Fearow
5. Sigilyph
4. Oricorio Baile Form
3. Murkrow
2. Dodrio
1. Articuno

Arguably the easiest top three to pick thus far, I could have told you that this list would be Articuno, Dodrio, and Murkow in that order even without the picker tool. That said, I find that I do have a fondness for the Psychic/Flying typing, with both Sigilyph and Xatu making the list. If only I liked Lugia more.

Grass

10. Tangrowth
9. Cacturne
8. Decidueye
7. Pansage
6. Kartana
5. Bellsprout
4. Tsareena
3. Leavanny
2. Parasect
1. Oddish

It took a tiny bulb Pokemon to keep the Bug/Grass representatives from sweeping the top spots on this list. As you might be able to tell, my Grass type Pokemon likes are either cute, tiny things, or horrifying monstrosities. There isn’t really an in-between here.

Poison

10. Salazzle
9. Tentacruel
8. Ekans
7. Beedrill
6. Ariados
5. Toxapex
4. Crobat
3. Bellspout
2. Venomoth
1. Oddish

More than any other generation on this entire list, Poison type has a very strong Gen I bias. Thing is, I really don’t like a ton of Poison types in general and especially not Gen I Poisons. Of all post-Gen I poison types, the only ones I’ve ever used on my end of game teams are Toxapex (which I’ve used very heavily) and Eternatus (which…meh?). There’ll be some variation soon though.

Electric

10. Vikavolt
9. Emolga
8. Magnezone
7. Pachirisu
6. Jolteon
5. Tapu Koko
4. Xurkitree
3. Stunfisk
2. Zebstrika
1. Galvantula

Gen I’s reign of terror at the top of the type list ends in an abrupt way, as there are zero Gen I Pokemon in my top five Electric types. Thing is, both Galar (Pinchurchin, Toxtricity) and Kanto (Electrode, Raichu) had Pokemon just missing out on the top ten.

Ground

10. Dugtrio
9. Mudsdale
8. Vibrava
7. Sandaconda
6. Sandslash
5. Stunfisk
4. Palossand
3. Whiscash
2. Krookodile
1. Quagsire

Alright, let’s get this out of the way. LOOK AT THAT FACE! LOOK AT IT! That said, shout out to Vibrava for being one of the few middle stage evolutions that I like better than either the form bigger or smaller than it.

Psychic

10. Lunala
9. Alakazam
8. Xatu
7. Meloetta (Aria Forme)
6. Sigilyph
5. Espeon
4. Delphox
3. Gardevoir
2. Jynx
1. Hypno

Hypno carried me through my very first run of Pokemon Blue ever (at age 11 or so), meaning I have a soft spot for this incredibly creepy Pokemon. This is in spite of other Psychics in the top ten being my one of my favorite shinies (Espeon), the lone mythical I REALLY want (Meloetta), two of my favorite VGC Pokemon (Gardevoir, Alakazam), and one of my favorite Pokemon to annoy others with (Jynx). Also, let this list serve as your daily reminder that Noctowl is not a Psychic type.

Rock

10. Carracosta
9. Aurorus
8. Nihilego
7. Onix
6. Solrock
5. Magcargo
4. Omastar
3. Shuckle
2. Kabutops
1. Sudowoodo

Rock type is filled with Pokemon I’m indifferent about. Even the bottom parts of this top ten show this. I mean, Solrock and Nihilego are fine Pokemon — they’re just better than a bunch of other Pokemon I also don’t care much about. The top four of Rock are amazing and fifth isn’t too bad either. But after that, there’s a steep dropoff.

Ice

10. Glaceon
9. Crabominable
8. Jynx
7. Dewgong
6. Cloyster
5. Frosmoth
4. Lapras
3. Froslass
2. Ninetales (Alolan Forme)
1. Articuno

Yes, my favorite Ice type is a legendary. No, I do not care.

Bug

10. Wurmple
9. Shuckle
8. Galvantula
7. Ariados
6. Scizor
5. Venomoth
4. Pheramosa
3. Leavanny
2. Frosmoth
1. Parasect

Remember how I said Rock sucked because nothing after 5th was anything I cared about? Bug was the opposite of that. Two Pokemon I’ve used regularly in battle — Heracross and Butterfree — didn’t even sniff the top ten. Galvantula was my top Electric type Pokemon and it’s EIGHTH on this list. There’s another type further down this list that made that type’s top five and it didn’t make the top ten here. Bug type’s brutal, yo.

Dragon

10. Goodra
9. Eternatus
8. Drampa
7. Zygarde
6. Vibrava
5. Altaria
4. Exeggutor (Alolan Forme)
3. Kommo-o
2. Dragonaire
1. Kingdra

The entire Dratini line could have made this list, but my self-imposed one Pokemon per evolution line limit prevents that. Alolan Exeggutor might be the funniest thing I’ve seen in a Pokemon game, even now that we’re a few years after it came out. Do I use it? Nah. Do I laugh every time I see it? Yes.

Ghost

10. Banette
9. Lunala
8. Mimikyu
7. Palossand
6. Marshadow
5. Decidueye
4. Drifblim
3. Mismagius
2. Chandelure
1. Froslass

The top two spots here might have been the hardest choice on any of these lists, especially since both of them feature on my current Shield singles team. Froslass gets the edge if only because of my love for Ice types. You may notice the is the second list Palossand has shown up on. I’d argue it’s one of the most underrated Pokemon to come out of Alola.

Dark

10. Houndoom
9. Muk (Alolan Forme)
8. Absol
7. Incineroar
6. Shiftry
5. Krookodile
4. Liepard
3. Cacturne
2. Umbreon
1. Murkrow

Dark, like Rock, is kind of top-heavy. It’s not to the same extent, as there are quite a few Dark types I love. But I almost put Guzzlord in the top 10. And Guzzlord is just fever dream Muk. Speaking of Muk, I completely forgot about its existence until shortly before publishing this list, meaning Weavile got bumped at the last second. I feel like I should do a gym theme post wherein my theme is Pokemon I love that everyone else seems to hate. It can be Cacturne, Crabominable, and four other Pokemon that I’ll figure out when I’m not sleepy.

Steel

10. Copperajah
9. Ferrothorn
8. Skarmory
7. Kartana
6. Corviknight
5. Meltan
4. Empoleon
3. Scizor
2. Magnezone
1. Mawile

Oh look. Another type filled with cute things or horrifying monstrosities. Or, in Mawile’s case, both.

Fairy

10. Tapu Koko
9. Mimikyu
8. Clefairy
7. Primarina
6. Sylveon
5. Ribombee
4. Gardevoir
3. Mawile
2. Tapu Fini
1. Jigglypuff

The fact that Ribombee couldn’t crack the top 10 Bug types should tell you something about how deep Bug is in my mind. That said, once this list got past Clefairy, I was really struggling not to pick things in the evolutionary line of stuff I’d already picked. Apologies to the Milcery line, whose entire evolution gimmick is a big reason why I don’t like it as much as I should.

My Pokemon Gym: Water

Welcome to the eighteenth iteration of the My Pokemon Gym series.

Wait. Pause. Eighteenth. There’s only eighteen Pokemon types. This means I’m finally done. Holy shit.

If you’re new to this series, I take a Pokemon type then build out my team of six Pokemon of that type as if I were the gym leader. Here are the rules:

  1. I can’t use legendary/mythical Pokemon
  2. I can’t reuse Pokemon I’ve used in previous gyms in this series.
  3. Forms of the same Pokémon can be reused, provided they have different typing. For example, if I used Rattata in a Normal gym team, I could use Alolan Rattata in a Dark gym team.

Want to read my other My Pokemon Gym posts? Go read the Fighting, Ice, Psychic, Grass, Dragon, Fairy, Electric, Bug, Fire, Flying, Normal, Ghost, Dark, Rock, Steel, Ground, and Poison type posts when you’re done here. All images courtesy pokemondb.net unless otherwise stated.

Vaporeon

Since the Water team is my last team, this team is going to be one that is filled with Pokemon running sets nostalgic to me or that I find to be hilarious when battling. Vaporeon was almost always my Eeveelution of choice in Gen I, usually running it with Surf, Ice Beam/Aurora Beam, Blizzard, and Quick Attack. While that set isn’t particularly viable now, I’ve decided to play off of that a little bit with this Hydration set. Scald replaces Surf as this is a singles gym, and Shadow Ball replaces Blizzard’s horrid post-Gen I accuracy. That said, I quite like this set for my team’s primary rain setter.

Ability: Hydration
Item: Damp Rock
Moves: Aurora Beam, Shadow Ball, Scald, Rain Dance

Lumineon

Lumineon has a weird move pool. You’d think it’d be a special attacker, but it’s actually a bit more useful as a physical attacker. I debated throwing Silver Wind on it anyway for the lulz, but parafusion is a much more lethal combination, especially with Lumineon stealing Attack boosts via Psych Up.

Ability: Swift Swim
Item: Power Herb
Moves: Waterfall, Bounce, Swagger, Psych Up

Simipour

I love Water types, meaning they’re scattered all over my other teams I’ve done in this series. Simipour wouldn’t have made this list if I was just picking my six favorite Water types, but because Water came last on the list, it gets the nod over Pokemon like Primarina, Toxapex, Lapras, Kindra, Empoleon, and Poliwrath that I used on other teams. This entire set is built around Simipour being able to use Fling, Acrobatics, or Covet repeatedly. Because of course I built a trolling elemental monkey set.

Ability: Gluttony
Item: Light Ball
Moves: Acrobatics, Dig, Fling, Covet

Dewgong

Hello, Lapras Lite. How are you?

Ability: Thick Fat
Item: Assault Vest
Moves: Horn Drill, Sheer Cold, Skull Bash, Fake Out

Inteleon

Now that hidden abilities are out, it seems like Inteleon may well be the weakest of the Galar starters. Which sounds awfully familiar for reasons we’ll get to in just a moment. That said, if we’re going to build around Inteleon’s hidden ability, Sniper, let’s go all in, shall we? Scope Lens to boost crit rate. Focus Energy to boost it. Snipe Shot’s already increased critical hit chance. It’s great. Oh, and Hyper Beam. Because why not?

Ability: Sniper
Item: Scope Lens
Moves: Focus Energy, Snipe Shot, Dark Pulse, Hyper Beam

Blastoise

Speaking of starters that got overlooked compared to others in their generation, Squirtle was once the king of the Kanto starters. That said, since Mega Venusaur became god-tier and since Game Freak keeps feeding Charizard buffs like it’s a main character, Blastoise is a distant third place. But it’s still one of my favorite end-stage starters ever. As a kid, I tended to run Surf, Strength, Earthquake, and Bite on my Blastoise. Screw that though. We’re going full Revenge of the Blastoise and giving it a bulky, trapping Yawn set.

Ability: Rain Dish
Item: Leftovers
Moves: Yawn, Iron Defense, Body Press, Whirlpool

Theorycrafting Unique Type Pokemon (Part 2)

One of the more fun, yet challenging, post types I’ve written for this blog are my Pokemon theorycrafting posts. I’ve done a pair of them now, wherein I (along with some help) took some unused type combinations and used them to create new concept Pokemon. It’s an exercise that requires more thought than I’m willing to admit, if only because I do try to make an effort to think about the kinds of Pokemon I’d want to see in a game, how they’d balance, and what fits the world of a game I’ve been playing off and on since I was 12.

One of my fellow Pokemon bloggers, Lola from That Little Lola, presented me with an idea that we decided to turn into a collaboration. In the Pokemon games, there are currently — as of May 11th, 2020 — 54 Pokemon evolution lines or individual Pokemon that have unique typing combinations. An example of this would be Empoleon. Empoleon has a typing of Water/Steel, making it the only Pokemon with that typing. Similarly, there are two Water/Ghost Pokemon, however they are both within the Frillish evolution line. Both of these situations are considered to be unique type Pokemon for our lists.

Lola and I have divided these 54 Pokemon between us. From there, we’ll both be doing our list in two parts. You can check out the posts at the links below.

Lola’s posts – Part 1 | Part 2
My posts – Part 1 | Part 2

For my list, I’m limiting myself to no more than two regional variations per list. I think there were some missed opportunities in the regional variations, but I don’t want to do a whole list based off of them. Similarly, I’m also limiting myself to no more than two evolutionary line additions/splits per post.

1. Ice/Ghost

What’s the current Pokemon with this type? Froslass

Our new Pokemon is? It’s interesting that Froslass is the current Ice/Ghost Pokemon, because I’d love to see a regional variation of it — one that we’ll get to a bit later in this post. That said, I’m thinking this Pokemon is one based on the Aurora Borealis, if only because of the mystic nature it has.

Abilities? Not every ability is good. Illuminate is a terrible ability. But it does make sense for this Pokemon. As for a hidden ability, I’d like to think a Pokemon based off of pastel lights would have Pastel Veil as a hidden ability. It just makes sense.

Learn Set? Astonish (Learned at level 1), Gust (1), Flash (6), Poison Gas (13), Icy Wind (19), Confuse Ray (25), Aurora Beam (29), Ominous Wind (33), Whirlwind (39), Hail (43), Safeguard (50), Freeze-Dry (57), Tailwind (62), Blizzard (69), Destiny Bond (77)

2. Grass/Ground

What’s the current Pokemon with this type? Torterra

Our new Pokemon is? Literally any plant Pokemon could be Grass/Ground. How is Torterra the only one? What the hell? I’ve got this. Let’s cross over the Piranha Plant from Mario. Sure, you could argue it should be Grass/Poison. But it’s a potted plant. We’ll give it some Poison moves.

Abilities? Since there’s an argument that can be made for the Piranha Plant to be Poison type, we’ll give it Poison Touch for one of its abilities. I feel like Chlorophyll makes a ton of sense for a secondary ability, considering how prevelant is it on Grass types as a whole. As for a hidden ability, why not Grass Surge? A crossover appearance would likely generate something being overpowered about the Piranha Plant, so why not that?

Learn Set? Wrap (Learned at level 1), Withdraw (1), Acid (4), Growl (8), Vine Whip (12), Growth (16), Flame Burst (20), Ice Ball (24), Dig (28), Slam (32), Razor Leaf (36), Slam (40), Earth Power (44), Power Whip (48), Sludge Bomb (52), Solar Blade (56), Earthquake (60), Wood Hammer (64)

3. Fighting/Ice

What’s the current Pokemon with this type? Crabominable

Our new Pokemon is? If you haven’t watched this Pokemon theory talking about how Snorunt is actually just a failed Falinks, you should. It’s really good. That said, we now have a missed opportunity here — Galarian Froslass as a dual Fighting and Ice type.

Abilities? Since this is still Froslass, it’ll retain the Snow Cloak ability. And because we’re playing off of the above mentioned theory, the hidden ability for our Galarian Froslass will be Defiant, the hidden ability of Falinks.

Learn Set? Tackle (Learned at level 1), Rock Smash (1), Protect (1), Endure (1), Ice Fang (1), Headbutt (1), Crunch (1), Powder Snow (1), Leer (1), Double Team (1), Focus Energy (15), Ice Shard (20), Icy Wind (25), Frost Breath (30), Seismic Toss (35), Hail (40), Focus Blast (47), Aurora Veil (54), Final Gambit (61), Blizzard (68), No Retreat (on evolution)

4. Poison/Fire

What’s the current Pokemon with this type? The Salandit line.

Our new Pokemon is? I originally had a really boring idea, but then something hit me — Greek Fire. Which leads me to an interesting idea. What if Karrablast had a separate evolution — say when it’s traded while holding a Flame Orb or a Toxic Orb? We’ll call it Karratine, which is a play on Karrablast’s name, as well as the Byzantine Empire, which used Greek Fire to great effect.

Abilities? We’ll let Karratine retain one of Escavilier’s two main abilities, as Shell Armor seems like a good choice here. We’ll also give it Flash Fire, considering the effectiveness of the Greek Fire concept. I had to think for a bit for a hidden ability, but Bulletproof seems like the right call here, if only as a nod to the armor of its Steel type roots.

Learn Set? Peck (Learned at level 1), Leer (1), Acid (1), Fury Cutter (5), Endure (9), Acid Spray (12), Powder (17), Flame Charge (22), Fire Punch (27), Poison Jab (27), Cross Poison (32), Swords Dance (37), Fiery Dance (41), Flamethrower (46), Trick (51), Gunk Shot (56), Flare Blitz (63)

5. Electric/Fire

What’s the current Pokemon with this type? Uh…Rotom Heat? If it’s not Rotom Wash, I don’t use it. So I tend to forget about the Rotoms.

Our new Pokemon is? The Brave Little Toaster, only it’s on fire. We’ll call it Cronchy.

Abilities? Cronchy gets one ability, and it’s an exclusive one — Toast. The Toast ability causes the first Fire attack it hits an opponent with to do 1.5x damage, at the expense of all future Fire attacks that Cronchy uses on that Pokemon doing .5x damage. This penalty persists even if Cronchy or the opposing Pokemon switch out. Its signature move — Toast Shuriken — is a Fire-type version of Water Shuriken.

Learn Set? Thundershock (Learned at level 1), Tail Whip (1), Ember (5), Charge (10), Tail Slap (15), Discharge (20), Double Hit (25), Incinerate (30), Spark (35), Iron Defense (40), Toast Shuriken (45), Volt Switch (50), Fire Lash (55), Heat Crash (60), Memento (65)

6. Rock/Electric

What’s the current Pokemon with this type? The Alolan Golem line.

Our new Pokemon is? This Pokemon is based off of the Baghdad Battery. It’s an early galvanic cell (in theory), so I think it’s kind of a cool thing to base a Pokemon off of. When Mythbusters tested this, it only produced a weak electrical current…but what if it didn’t? We’ll even give it a cool name like Ohmphrates or something.

Abilities? It’s a galvanic cell. Clearly our primary ability is Battery, right? And our hidden ability is Galvanize. This was easy.

Learn Set? Tackle (Learned at level 1), Sand-Attack (1), Thundershock (5), Thunder Wave (9), Rollout (12), Bide (17), Rock Tomb (22), Thunderbolt (26), Helping Hand (30), Acid Armor (34), Chip Away (38), Power Gem (43), Thunder (47), Shell Smash (55), Explosion (62)

7. Dragon/Ice

What’s the current Pokemon with this type? Kyruem

Our new Pokemon is? Licensing rights fees won’t let us get a Game of Thrones crossover here, so we’re just going to go with a generic ice-breathing dragon. It can breed with Mudbray. I don’t have a name for it.

Abilities? I feel like the obvious answer here is Refrigerate, so let’s not go that route. Instead, we’ll give our dragon the primary ability Cute Charm, because dragons need love too. There won’t be a secondary ability for this Pokemon, but we will have a hidden ability. The logical answer to me here is Slush Rush, as we’ll be taking advantage of the speed in the hail to dish out some powerful moves.

Learn Set? Quick Attack (Learned at level 1), Sand-Attack (1), Ice Ball (5), Ember (9), Dragon Rage (12), Ice Fang (17), Wing Attack (22), Howl (26), Dragon Claw (30), Avalanche (34), Ice Punch (38), Dragon Dance (43), Dragon Tail (47), Hurricane (55), Outrage (62)

8. Normal/Grass

What’s the current Pokemon with this type? Deerling and Sawsbuck.

Our new Pokemon is? You know how everyone and their mother considers having a lawn normal? I hate lawns. They’re the biggest waste of time, energy, and water possible in suburbia. So our Normal/Grass type will be called Lawna. It will get only four moves. It can pass none of them via Baton Pass. It is literally just there to drink water and be a waste of space.

Abilities? It’s a sentient lawn. It just wastes water. Its primary ability will be Water Absorb while its hidden ability will be Storm Drain.

Learn Set? Splash (1), Growth (15), Grass Whistle (30), Curse (50)

9. Fire/Normal

What’s the current Pokemon with this type? Litleo and Pyroar.

Our new Pokemon is? What exactly is a normal fire? Is it a wildfire? Is it a fireplace? Is it a sentient piece of flame that helps you cook eggs? I’m going to go with a fire ant, if only because having a tiny ant breathe fire in Pokemon amuses me.

Abilities? Our tiny ant will have the Guts ability as its primary ability, along with the Quick Feet ability as a secondary ability. As for a hidden ability, we’re going to go with Immunity. Basically the entire goal of our fire ant friend is to beg to be hit by a status condition.

Learn Set? Ember (Learned at level 1), String Shot (1), Quick Attack (7), Leer (12), After You (16), Fire Fang (21), Facade (25), Follow Me (31), False Swipe (37), Work Up (42), Super Fang (47), Teeter Dance (53), Guillotine (58), Skull Bash (64), Metronome (72)

10. Ground/Electric

What’s the current Pokemon with this type? Stunfisk

Our new Pokemon is? Alright. Hear me out on this one. It’s a tree Pokemon. The idea is loosely based on power line poles. And it’s green. We’ll call it Limewire. Or something. That name doesn’t sound like it’d be used for anything else.

Abilities? Considering how often tall things get hit by electricity, our Pokemon’s primary ability here will be Lightning Rod. As for a hidden ability, I’m leaning something simple, yet powerful considering this type synergy. Maybe Adaptability. I struggled with the hidden ability here.

Learn Set? Bind (Learned at level 1), Growl (1), Thunder Wave(4), Screech (8), Mud-Slap (12), Spikes (16), Charge (20), Discharge (24), Slam (28), Sandstorm (32), Spark (36), Parabolic Charge (40), High Horsepower (44), Power Whip (48), Wild Charge (52), Earthquake (56)

11. Poison/Fighting

What’s the current Pokemon with this type? The Croagunk line.

Our new Pokemon is? I really wanted to make this an extension of an existing evolution line. My first thought was to build upon an existing Poison type, but that just led to a bunch of dead ends. Then it hit me — the power of puns will save us. Allow me to introduce you to the missing third form of Mankey…Grimeape. It evolves when you trade Primeape while it’s holding Black Sludge.

Abilities? We’re keeping Vital Spirit as a main ability and Defiant as a hidden ability from Primeape. That said, for our alternate main ability, we’ll be replacing Anger Point with Poison Touch. I went back and forth debating which ability to replace with Poison Touch, but in the end, I feel like giving Grimeape the option to have functional immunity to two different status conditions was too good to pass up.

Learn Set? Scratch (Learned at level 1), Encore (1), Counter (1), Leer (1), Focus Energy (5), Taunt (8), Karate Chop (13), Fury Swipes (16), Low Kick (21), Seismic Toss (24), Poison Tail (28), U-Turn (33), Cross Poison (36), Screech (40), Dual Chop (45), Thrash (49), Purify (53), Outrage (56), Close Combat (62), Gunk Shot (70), Rage (on evolution to Primeape), Poison Jab (on evolution to Grimeape)

12. Ghost/Poison

What’s the current Pokemon with this type? The Gastly line.

Our new Pokemon is? Something with ectoplasm. Seriously, how haven’t we gone that route yet? Let’s call it Ugg.

Abilities? Obviously Ugg’s primary ability would be Sticky Hold, what with the goo and all. Similarly, the Gooey ability makes for a good secondary ability for the same reason. As for a hidden ability, let’s give a nod to ghosts ability to disappear into their surroundings and give it the Color Change hidden ability.

Learn Set? Astonish (Learned at level 1), Screech (1), Smog (4), Icy Wind (8), Spore (12), Night Shade (16), Smokescreen (20), Sludge (24), Taunt (28), Ominous Wind (32), Toxic (36), Hex (40), Will O Wisp (44), Moonlight (48), Sludge Wave (52), Shadow Ball (56)

13. Electric/Normal

What’s the current Pokemon with this type? Heliolisk and Helioptile

Our new Pokemon is? It’s an electric sheep. We…wait. We have one of those. It’s the Ampharos line. Um…and I guess there’s Dubwool. Okay. But this one LOOKS robotic. Think like Porygon.

Abilities? With some level of inspiration coming from Porygon, we’ll be giving the Download ability as one of our sheep’s primary abilities. We’ll also be giving it Motor Drive based on its mechanical leanings. As for a hidden ability, we’ll go with Friend Guard, because I secretly hope robots/AI will save us from ourselves.

Learn Set? Tackle (Learned at level 1), Growl (1), Tail Whip (4), Bulk Up (8), Cotton Spore (12), Feint (16), Tail Slap (20), Thunder Fang (24), Cotton Guard (28), Rollout (32), Stomp (36), Gyro Ball (40), Zing Zap (44), Strength (48), Wild Charge (52), Last Resort (56)

14. Ice/Steel

What’s the current Pokemon with this type? The Alolan Sandshrew line.

Our new Pokemon is? I’ve been saving my second regional form for the end here because I had a really good idea for this typing. And frankly, we could have seen it in either Galar or Alola. So we’ll go with Galarian Aegislash.

Abilities? Even with the Ice/Steel typing, Galarian Aegislash would retain the Stance Change ability.

Learn Set?  Note: Aegislash only learns moves prior to evolving, so all moves are level 1 here. King’s Shield (Learned at level 1), Head Smash (1), Aerial Ace (1), Metal Sound (1), Slash (1), Night Slash (1), Avalanche (1), Submission (1), Iron Head (1), Swords Dance (1), Sheer Cold (1), Iron Defense (1), Power Trick (1), Liquidation (1), Sacred Sword (1), Fury Cutter (1), Psycho Cut (1), Autotomize (1)

My Pokemon Gym: Poison

Welcome to the seventeenth iteration of the My Pokemon Gym series. If you’re new to this series, I take a Pokemon type then build out my team of six Pokemon of that type as if I were the gym leader. Here are the rules:

  1. I can’t use legendary/mythical Pokemon
  2. I can’t reuse Pokemon I’ve used in previous gyms in this series.
  3. Forms of the same Pokémon can be reused, provided they have different typing. For example, if I used Rattata in a Normal gym team, I could use Alolan Rattata in a Dark gym team.

Want to read my other My Pokemon Gym posts? Go read the Fighting, Ice, Psychic, Grass, Dragon, Fairy, Electric, Bug, Fire, Flying, Normal, Ghost, Dark, Rock, Steel, and Ground type posts when you’re done here. All images courtesy pokemondb.net unless otherwise stated.

Victreebel

We begin by introducing you to arguably my favorite mixed attacking set in existence — mixed attacking, critical hitting Victreebel. The entire point to this ‘mon is to run it bulky, deliver critical hits via Leaf Blade until something gets you in Gluttony range to eat your Lansat Berry, then start popping off critical hit Belch and Sludge Bomb. Lest you think Belch is a one-shot deal, I’m running Bug Bite as the fourth move for a chance at another Belch. It’s one of the most fun sets I’ve run on a Pokemon.

Ability: Gluttony
Item: Lansat Berry
Moves: Belch, Leaf Blade, Bug Bite, Sludge Bomb

Galarian Weezing

It’s Weezing, but British. As much as I could run a Neutralising Gas set here, I felt like the right call was to combine the form of Weezing I like better with bits of the form I’ve more frequently used in the past. Normal Gem Explosion is nothing to laugh at — you know, unless you’re a Steel or Rock type — plus the STAB bonus on Play Rough is a nice addition to this team. Sure, Galarian Weezing doesn’t like Steel types, but what Poison type does (save for maybe Salazzle)?

Ability: Levitate
Item: Normal Gem
Moves: Explosion, Play Rough, Defog, Will-O-Wisp

Toxapex

I almost put Toxapex on my Water team next month and put the aforementioned Salazzle in its place. That said, I looked back at the two Toxapex I used heavily in online battles in Alola and realized that I primarily used them for their Poison attacks rather than their Water moves, hence the inclusion on this team. Venoshock might be my favorite Poison type move, especially when it’s combined with Toxapex’s Merciless ability. Hell, this entire moveset is intended to be frustrating to face between Muddy Water’s accuracy drops, Baneful Bunker’s protection/poisoning, and Stockpile’s bulk adds.

Ability: Merciless
Item: Black Sludge
Moves: Stockpile, Baneful Bunker, Venoshock, Muddy Water

Nidoqueen

One of the few Pokemon I’ve consistently used since Gen I, Nidoqueen has nearly always managed to find a way onto my teams. I tend to run a Special Attacking Nidoqueen in more recent games, if only because I love how well Nidoqueen’s moves on the special side synergize with the Sheer Force ability. I was tempted to run Ice Beam over Blizzard, but why not go for broke with a move here and there?

Ability: Sheer Force
Item: Assault Vest
Moves: Earth Power, Thunderbolt, Blizzard, Sludge Wave

Mega Beedrill

Mega Beedrill is one of two Mega Evolutions that make me miss that mechanic — the other being Mega Scizor. The biggest problem with Beedrill is that its Attack is somewhat lacking until its mega form. Going from Beedrill to Mega Beedrill gives the waspy Pokemon a SIXTY point boost in Attack. Combine that with a shockingly good set of coverage moves and you have a scary Pokemon if you have a speed advantage. If only it retained Sniper upon mega evolving.

Ability: Adaptability (Sniper prior to mega evolving)
Item: Beedrillite
Moves: U-Turn, Outrage, Poison Jab, Drill Run

Venomoth

This is not the All-Terrain Venomoth. This is the face of death. Have you ever run into a setup sweeping Venomoth? Of course you haven’t. You wouldn’t be alive if you did. Look on its works, ye mighty, and despair.

Ability: Tinted Lens
Item: Focus Band
Moves: Quiver Dance, Baton Pass, Silver Wind, Substitute