[DISCUSSION] Reborn Monotype Viability Rankings

[Noir]

I'll add this for the moment since it's not listed. Put it in the Dark mono.

Bisharp

Ranking: S

Moves: Swords Dance, Sucker Punch, Iron Head, Psycho Cut, Brick Break, Night Slash, Substitute. (Check the tutors for anything else.)

Ability: Defiant

Item: Dread Plate/Scope Lens

Bisharp is easily one of the most dangerous physical attackers Dark types have to offer. As an extra plus for monoruns, its Steel typing is all important for Dark types to take on Fairies (well, in the future anyway, there's not a lot here.) Stat wise, Bisharp has the most amount of resistances in the entire game, tying with Magnezone (but instead of a resistance, Bisharp has an extra immunity.) Being one of the gifted successors of Swords Dance and its ability Defiant, you will more often than not find opportunities to get your already high Attack up. While its speed is not that appealing, Sucker Punch makes up for that. Of course, let's not forget Iron Head which is the other powerful STAB you'd love to have on your Dark mono run in addition to a nice flinch chance. If you've got paranoia against Psychic types Psycho Cut is also an option to deal with them. Sometimes you'd like an extra PP STAB move over Sucker Punch due to it's low PP, which is why you get Night Slash as an option. You'll find this guy shredding through many things easily.

[AuthorReborn]

I'll add this for the moment since it's not listed. Put it in the Dark mono.

Bisharp

Ranking: S

Moves: Swords Dance, Sucker Punch, Iron Head, Psycho Cut, Brick Break, Night Slash, Substitute. (Check the tutors for anything else.)

Ability: Defiant

Item: Dread Plate/Scope Lens

Bisharp is easily one of the most dangerous physical attackers Dark types have to offer. As an extra plus for monoruns, its Steel typing is all important for Dark types to take on Fairies (well, in the future anyway, there's not a lot here.) Stat wise, Bisharp has the most amount of resistances in the entire game, tying with Magnezone (but instead of a resistance, Bisharp has an extra immunity.) Being one of the gifted successors of Swords Dance and its ability Defiant, you will more often than not find opportunities to get your already high Attack up. While its speed is not that appealing, Sucker Punch makes up for that. Of course, let's not forget Iron Head which is the other powerful STAB you'd love to have on your Dark mono run in addition to a nice flinch chance. If you've got paranoia against Psychic Fighting types Psycho Cut is also an option to deal with them. Sometimes you'd like an extra PP STAB move over Sucker Punch due to it's low PP, which is why you get Night Slash as an option. You'll find this guy shredding through many things easily.

Slight correction made to that. I'll probably write a few analyses on a couple of mons I feel people left out soon enough.

[Chris P. Bacon]

I can offer some Ground-type rankings:

Mamoswine

Rank - A

Recommended moves: Icicle Crash, Ice Shard, Earthquake, X (fill the last slot with whatever you wish)

Mamoswine, with its huge 130 base attack and decent 110/80/60 bulk, along with Thick Fat, make it a respectable tank as well as a big threat. It has base 80 speed, which isn't the highest, but it has access to Ice Shard just by leveling up, which lets it bypass that. The only thing he really needs is to be given Icicle Crash via breeding with a Beartic, which you get in the same area you find Swinubs (the cave below Shade's gym, and you need Rock Smash). Mamoswine can also provide Stealth Rock support, though it also needs to be bred onto him, so it is generally recommended to have Stealth Rock on someone else, as the only Pokémon that can provide Mamoswine with Icicle Crash is Beartic, and Swinub cannot pass down Icicle Crash or Stealth Rock to itself. All in all, a pretty good asset to a Ground-type team, giving teams another way to deal with Grass-types (although be cautious, Mamoswine does not resist Grass-types).

Hippowdon

Rank - B

Recommended moves: Earthquake, Crunch, Ice/Fire/Thunder Fang (according to what you need most), Slack Off

Hippowdon mostly serves as a huge Physical wall, with it's great 108/118/72 bulk, and with the right EV layout, can also serve as a Mixed wall. It has access to instant recovery in the form of Slack Off (which needs to be bred via a Slakoth/Slaking), which helps it tank things a lot better. Even when it has no investment in EVs onto its Attack, it packs a respectable punch, and it can setup Sandstorm with its ability, Sand Stream. It can't make benefit out of its other ability, Sand Force, as it needs Sandstorm to be in effect (through either another Pokémon with Sand Stream or any other Ground-type that learns Sandstorm, such as Krookodile). It doesn't deal well with tankier Water/Grass types though, and its abysmal speed leaves it vulnerable, so be careful.

Excadrill

Rank - B (without Sandstorm) / S (with Sandstorm)

Recommended moves: Earthquake, Rock Slide, Swords Dance, Metal Claw

Excadrill, without Sandstorm, is not to be underestimated as it can still outspeed some things (with a base of 88 speed), and has a good amount of HP (base 110), but its low defenses leave it vulnerable if it's not quick enough to get an attack off.

With Sandstorm on the other hand, this thing is an absolute monster. It will hands down outspeed almost anything the game throws at you, and with its average bulk, it can manage to survive atleast one attack before doubling its monstrous base 135 speed into 270 with Swords Dance. Now, with both its speed (due to Sand Rush) and attack doubled, it can almost guaranteed instantly KO anything that doesn't resist its attacks (Rock, Ground and Steel). If not, it will chunk the opponent really hard. An absolute must if you bring an Hippowdon with you.

Donphan

Rank - B

Recommended moves: Earthquake, Thunder/Fire Fang, Knock Off, Scary Face

Being available as soon as you reach Beryl Ward, Donphan is surprisingly good early on, having access to Knock Off at level 19. This means you need to feed it Common Candies to level it down (as you only get access to the Move Relearner after you're able to use Strength) once you evolve Phanpy into Donphan. It's a pretty good physical wall (though outclassed in terms of bulk by Hippowdon, comparing 90/120/60 to 108/118/72), and the Fangs give it some versatility (though these actually need the Move Relearner). The reason you might want to consider Scary Face is because in general, Ground-types are really not that fast (with some exceptions), so it lets other Pokémon revenge-KO something if anything were to happen to Donphan (who has access to Sturdy, which helps against Grass/Water types).

Krookodile

Rank - A

Recommended moves: Earthquake, Crunch, Thunder/Fire Fang, Outrage

Being one of the faster Ground-types and also being part Dark, it helps out a lot when dealing with Ghost or Psychic types. It can rapidly go out of control because of Moxie, and it can also support your team as an Intimidate lead. The only problem with Krookodile is that it is not the bulkiest (95/80/70), so it might not be able to take hits that often. STAB moves along with Thunder/Fire Fang for versatility and Outrage to deal with troublesome Dragon-types (though they are not that common, and you might want to replace it with something else). Still, it is a valuable asset to your team, as it, along with Excadrill, are the few sweepers we have access to.

Quagsire / Whiscash / Gastrodon / Seismitoad / Swampert

Rank - C / C (B?) / C / B / A

Recommended moves:

-Quagsire: Earthquake, Muddy Water/Waterfall, Yawn, Recover

-Whiscash: Earthquake, Aqua Tail, Zen Headbutt, Dragon Dance/Rest

-Gastrodon: Muddy Water/Surf, Mud Bomb, Recover, Stockpile

-Seismitoad: Drain Punch, Earth Power, Muddy Water/Hydro Pump/Waterfall, Sludge Wave (via TM)

-Swampert: Earthquake, Muddy Water/Waterfall, Rock Slide, Protect/Avalanche/Hammer Arm

Having a Water/Ground type in your team is almost a necessity to make sure your team does not get swept by a Water-Type Pokémon, atleast to wall it out.

-Quagsire is mostly outclassed by the other Pokémon, in both stats and movepool, only having the trait of being a Pokémon to learn Yawn and to have Unaware as an ability. Having Recover is nice as an instant recovery move, but its stats are mediocre, so it's nothing to write home about.

-Whiscash is also outclassed by the others, only having a high HP stat and average defenses. Its movepool is not terrible, as it gets STAB Physical attacks by itself (which is ideal), but neither its Attack or Speed are remarkably high as to deal significant damage. The most interesting thing about Whiscash is that it has access to Dragon Dance via breeding, which kind of opens up a sweeping route, though the only Pokémon that can give it Dragon Dance is Gyarados, which has been axe'd for quite a while now.

-Gastrodon, again, also outclassed by the other Water/Ground types. It has access to both Stockpile and Recover, as well as Storm Drain and Sand Force, and also being a Special Attacker (which isn't very common in Ground-types).

-I have mixed feelings for Seismitoad... Its not terrible, but his movepool isn't anything exceptional. Its stats are all-rounded, though they are higher in general than the previous Pokémon. He is, in a way, more of a Special Attacker than Attacker.

-Swampert is probably your best bet at a Water/Ground type, being both the bulkiest and the hardest hitting Pokémon amongst the 5 here listed. His movepool is great (only a little lacking in the Water department). The only thing is, Mudkip must be your starter in order to get Swampert, as he was removed as a limited event from Byxbysion Wasteland.

Lastly...

Golurk

Rank - B (C?)

Recommended moves:

No Guard: Dynamic Punch, Shadow Punch/Phantom Force, Earthquake, Curse

Iron Fist: Hammer Arm, Shadow Punch, Earthquake, Heavy Slam/Curse

Golurk has a pretty high 124 Attack and decent 89/80/80 defenses, and has a decent movepool: However, the moves it learns via leveling up are the only ones Golurk has access to, because he is Genderless, which means he cannot breed with anything other than Ditto. It might be, in general, better to run the No Guard set, as he will get a guaranteed confuse if Dynamic Punch goes through. The reason Golurk might be considered below average is that, not only is it slow, but it is weak to its own typing, and Ghost really only provides super-effectiveness against itself and Psychic (which Dark-type already does - Krookodile). It does however have an immunity to Normal and Fighting-type moves, giving it a total of 3 immunities, which is pretty solid. Golurk needs either Trick Room support (via something like Claydol) to really shine, and with it's average defenses, it might not even survive an attack before it gets one off itself.

[Revman]

I can offer some Ground-type rankings:

Mamoswine

Rank - A

Recommended moves: Icicle Crash, Ice Shard, Earthquake, X (fill the last slot with whatever you wish)

Mamoswine, with its huge 130 base attack and decent 110/80/60 bulk, along with Thick Fat, make it a respectable tank as well as a big threat. It has base 80 speed, which isn't the highest, but it has access to Ice Shard just by leveling up, which lets it bypass that. The only thing he really needs is to be given Icicle Crash via breeding with a Beartic, which you get in the same area you find Swinubs (the cave below Shade's gym, and you need Rock Smash). Mamoswine can also provide Stealth Rock support, though it also needs to be bred onto him, so it is generally recommended to have Stealth Rock on someone else, as the only Pokémon that can provide Mamoswine with Icicle Crash is Beartic, and Swinub cannot pass down Icicle Crash or Stealth Rock to itself. All in all, a pretty good asset to a Ground-type team, giving teams another way to deal with Grass-types (although be cautious, Mamoswine does not resist Grass-types).

Hippowdon

Rank - B

Recommended moves: Earthquake, Crunch, Ice/Fire/Thunder Fang (according to what you need most), Slack Off

Hippowdon mostly serves as a huge Physical wall, with it's great 108/118/72 bulk, and with the right EV layout, can also serve as a Mixed wall. It has access to instant recovery in the form of Slack Off (which needs to be bred via a Slakoth/Slaking), which helps it tank things a lot better. Even when it has no investment in EVs onto its Attack, it packs a respectable punch, and it can setup Sandstorm with its ability, Sand Stream. It can't make benefit out of its other ability, Sand Force, as it needs Sandstorm to be in effect (through either another Pokémon with Sand Stream or any other Ground-type that learns Sandstorm, such as Krookodile). It doesn't deal well with tankier Water/Grass types though, and its abysmal speed leaves it vulnerable, so be careful.

Excadrill

Rank - B (without Sandstorm) / S (with Sandstorm)

Recommended moves: Earthquake, Rock Slide, Swords Dance, Metal Claw

Excadrill, without Sandstorm, is not to be underestimated as it can still outspeed some things (with a base of 88 speed), and has a good amount of HP (base 110), but its low defenses leave it vulnerable if it's not quick enough to get an attack off.

With Sandstorm on the other hand, this thing is an absolute monster. It will hands down outspeed almost anything the game throws at you, and with its average bulk, it can manage to survive atleast one attack before doubling its monstrous base 135 speed into 270 with Swords Dance. Now, with both its speed (due to Sand Rush) and attack doubled, it can almost guaranteed instantly KO anything that doesn't resist its attacks (Rock, Ground and Steel). If not, it will chunk the opponent really hard. An absolute must if you bring an Hippowdon with you.

Donphan

Rank - B

Recommended moves: Earthquake, Thunder/Fire Fang, Knock Off, Scary Face

Being available as soon as you reach Beryl Ward, Donphan is surprisingly good early on, having access to Knock Off at level 19. This means you need to feed it Common Candies to level it down (as you only get access to the Move Relearner after you're able to use Strength) once you evolve Phanpy into Donphan. It's a pretty good physical wall (though outclassed in terms of bulk by Hippowdon, comparing 90/120/60 to 108/118/72), and the Fangs give it some versatility (though these actually need the Move Relearner). The reason you might want to consider Scary Face is because in general, Ground-types are really not that fast (with some exceptions), so it lets other Pokémon revenge-KO something if anything were to happen to Donphan (who has access to Sturdy, which helps against Grass/Water types).

Krookodile

Rank - A

Recommended moves: Earthquake, Crunch, Thunder/Fire Fang, Outrage

Being one of the faster Ground-types and also being part Dark, it helps out a lot when dealing with Ghost or Psychic types. It can rapidly go out of control because of Moxie, and it can also support your team as an Intimidate lead. The only problem with Krookodile is that it is not the bulkiest (95/80/70), so it might not be able to take hits that often. STAB moves along with Thunder/Fire Fang for versatility and Outrage to deal with troublesome Dragon-types (though they are not that common, and you might want to replace it with something else). Still, it is a valuable asset to your team, as it, along with Excadrill, are the few sweepers we have access to.

Quagsire / Whiscash / Gastrodon / Seismitoad / Swampert

Rank - C / C (B?) / C / B / A

Recommended moves:

-Quagsire: Earthquake, Muddy Water/Waterfall, Yawn, Recover

-Whiscash: Earthquake, Aqua Tail, Zen Headbutt, Dragon Dance/Rest

-Gastrodon: Muddy Water/Surf, Mud Bomb, Recover, Stockpile

-Seismitoad: Drain Punch, Earth Power, Muddy Water/Hydro Pump/Waterfall, Sludge Wave (via TM)

-Swampert: Earthquake, Muddy Water/Waterfall, Rock Slide, Protect/Avalanche/Hammer Arm

Having a Water/Ground type in your team is almost a necessity to make sure your team does not get swept by a Water-Type Pokémon, atleast to wall it out.

-Quagsire is mostly outclassed by the other Pokémon, in both stats and movepool, only having the trait of being a Pokémon to learn Yawn and to have Unaware as an ability. Having Recover is nice as an instant recovery move, but its stats are mediocre, so it's nothing to write home about.

-Whiscash is also outclassed by the others, only having a high HP stat and average defenses. Its movepool is not terrible, as it gets STAB Physical attacks by itself (which is ideal), but neither its Attack or Speed are remarkably high as to deal significant damage. The most interesting thing about Whiscash is that it has access to Dragon Dance via breeding, which kind of opens up a sweeping route, though the only Pokémon that can give it Dragon Dance is Gyarados, which has been axe'd for quite a while now.

-Gastrodon, again, also outclassed by the other Water/Ground types. It has access to both Stockpile and Recover, as well as Storm Drain and Sand Force, and also being a Special Attacker (which isn't very common in Ground-types).

-I have mixed feelings for Seismitoad... Its not terrible, but his movepool isn't anything exceptional. Its stats are all-rounded, though they are higher in general than the previous Pokémon. He is, in a way, more of a Special Attacker than Attacker.

-Swampert is probably your best bet at a Water/Ground type, being both the bulkiest and the hardest hitting Pokémon amongst the 5 here listed. His movepool is great (only a little lacking in the Water department). The only thing is, Mudkip must be your starter in order to get Swampert, as he was removed as a limited event from Byxbysion Wasteland.

Lastly...

Golurk

Rank - B (C?)

Recommended moves:

No Guard: Dynamic Punch, Shadow Punch/Phantom Force, Earthquake, Curse

Iron Fist: Hammer Arm, Shadow Punch, Earthquake, Heavy Slam/Curse

Golurk has a pretty high 124 Attack and decent 89/80/80 defenses, and has a decent movepool: However, the moves it learns via leveling up are the only ones Golurk has access to, because he is Genderless, which means he cannot breed with anything other than Ditto. It might be, in general, better to run the No Guard set, as he will get a guaranteed confuse if Dynamic Punch goes through. The reason Golurk might be considered below average is that, not only is it slow, but it is weak to its own typing, and Ghost really only provides super-effectiveness against itself and Psychic (which Dark-type already does - Krookodile). It does however have an immunity to Normal and Fighting-type moves, giving it a total of 3 immunities, which is pretty solid. Golurk needs either Trick Room support (via something like Claydol) to really shine, and with it's average defenses, it might not even survive an attack before it gets one off itself.

Awesome analysis'! However I have a few objections and something else that I feel should be noted, firstly I believe that Mamoswine's ability to shred through Grass types with Icicle Crash and Ice Shard warrants S, so I'll be doing that. Also I think that Hippowdon's Sandstorm utility that it can offer to its team should bump it to A especially since you think that Excadrill in Sandstorm should be S (Which I think is a fair call), Lastly, the fact that you limit Quagsire to being a Pokemon that stops Water types when really Quagsire is one of the best Unaware users in the game aside from Clefable. Due to Quagsire not getting Scald and Toxic to stall out opposing physical set up Pokemon like Excadrill, Bisharp, Azumarill, Gyarados and Scizor I can understand why it wouldn't be S, A or even B. Just wanted to note that I think as soon as we're granted access to the Toxic and Scald TMs that Quagsire should be moved from C to A at the very least. All that aside, I'm very thankful for your contributions and will be adding the other few Water/Ground Pokemon over the next few hours!

Also, thanks to YagamiNoir for his Bisharp analysis as well; great work as always~

[Noir]

Also I think that Hippowdon's Sandstorm utility that it can offer to its team should bump it to A

I kinda mildly object it being in A and instead should put in in S, due to the fact that Hippowdon is the only Ground type that gets Sand Stream which heavily buffs mono runs and is also the best physical wall with the exception of perhaps Gliscor.

I'll add this, though.

Eelektross

Ranking: S

Ability: Levitate

Item: Leftovers/Zap Plate

Moves: Discharge, Thunderbolt, Grass Knot, Crunch, Acid Spray, Flamethrower, Hidden Power Ice, Acrobatics, Brick Break, Coil, Spark, Zap Cannon.

Eelektross is one of the signature Electric types with access to a Ground immunity courtesy of Levitate. This alone merits very good use on a team, especially in tandem with its other numerous pros. Eelektross has fantastic mixed offensive stats, allowing it to go mixed, full physical or Special if desired. This is a complemented by a very plentiful movepool that provides it with many attack options for overall coverage. In addition to this, Eelektross also has 85/80/80 bulk which is only slightly less bulky than Ampharos, but Eelektross' access to Levitate and a far wider movepool give it a notable niche over it.

Heliolisk

Ranking: S

Ability: Dry Skin

Item: Damp Rock/Leftovers/Zap Plate

Moves: Thunderbolt, Surf, Grass Knot, Hidden Power Ice, Rain Dance, Thunder, Volt Switch, Parabolic Charge, Dark Pulse.

Heliolisk heavily benefits from Rain due to Dry Skin, and thus is ideal as both a fast offensive sweeper and rain supporter. It also has a very wide movepool to complement its great 109 Special Attack and Speed stats for sweeping capability, including Thunder itself, Volt Switch, and Parabolic Charge for slight recovery, although its not that reliable offensive-wise. Dry Skin also means that Heliolisk is immune to Water type attacks, making it one of the best Water type counters in the game, and its signature access to Surf and Grass Knot also means that opposing Ground types need to watch out. You won't find a superior Electric-type Special sweeper to Heliolisk.

Edited June 20, 2015 by YagamiNoir4896

[There was only one]

Tbh didn't really need to read this post but just want to point something out...

NEVER catch a SPINARAK

[SoraFalcon]

Alright I got some good analysis for the Rock Mono ( 2 Pokemons ).

Pokemon: Armaldo
Ability: Battle Armor/Swift Swim ( Preferably Battle Armor )
Moveset: Rock Blast, X-Scissor, Crush Claw, Filler
Rank: B

Analysis: OK, let me get one thing straight about Armaldo. This thing helps out a bunch in early gyms ( in case you hacked in an anorith much like myself ) with its high speed, but later on it becomes a bigger threat, but its downside is that it loses its speed. Later on, this thing can potentially tank through Kiki's Gym/Samson's Gym because of its Dual Typing. Not only that it's moves have high base power except for maybe Rock Blast/Smack Down as your only physical Rock STAB Moves. Other than that he's a simple and easy to use pokemon for Rock Mono, but don't expect too much from this guy.

Pokemon: Archeops
Ability: Defeatist
Moveset: Acrobatics, Rock Slide, U-Turn, Dragon Claw/Crunch
Rank: A

Analysis: Pretty self-explanatory if I do say so myself why this thing should be in the S-Class Range. This thing DESTROYS two of the most dominant weaknesses of the Rock Type excluding Steel/Water/Ground. Grass Types and Fighting Types gets ripped into shreds by Acrobatics with Archeops' High Attack and High Speed this thing cannot be underestimated. The only downside of this guy would be his ability. This guy also shreds most of the later gyms ( aka Serra Samson Ciel ) and can even solo sweep ( This is implying to people who did Rock Monotype Runs and hacked in an Archen for their starter ). Rock Slide also helps a lot during doubles considering how fast this thing is and if you are lucky, you get to flinch both of the opponents' pokemons. As for U-Turn, it's a good move in case you think you can outspeed the opponent's pokemon and switch out while dealing damage. Anything else is that this guy's only downside is that he would get destroyed in one hit, in other words, a glass cannon.

[BIGJRA]

Gonna post two of these for now, I'll get to the rest of my Steel run later.

Pokemon: Empoleon

Ability: Defiant

Moveset: Drill Peck, Waterfall/Aqua Jet, Surf/Brine, Strength/Return, Swords Dance, Bide

Rank: B

Analysis: Although Defiant sounds like an excellent ability for the first few chapters of the game (it is), Empoleon soon loses anything it could have going once opponents stop using moves like Growl and Tail Whip. With a measly 60 base speed, it's not really set up to sweep, but with 88 and 101 for physical/special defenses respectively it's not really meant to take a hit either, especially in a steel run. As alluded to earlier, Defiant becomes a stick in the mud after it has fully evolved since you must rely on a lucky boost/swords dance and then use Aqua Jet as Empoleon's main STAB, but with an 86 Attack stat it won't really do much. Using Drill Peck as a main physical attack to harness Defiant until Empoleon finally got access to HM Waterfall later in game, using this Emperor Penguin reliably was challenging. Although I certainly don't recommend this for say, a water run, Empoleon will eventually get use of its decent 111 Special Attack and access to Brine and later Surf are positives, especially in this run. With 4/5 of my other team members weak to fire and all 5 weak to ground, Empoleon is able to take care of Steel's weaknesses with its Physical/Special water moves. Although this thing has it's ups and downs, once you can tutor it swords dance and get HM waterfall, it will cover its team's weaknesses.

Pokemon: Steelix

Ability: Sheer Force/Sturdy(if you need Sturdy for a battle or two)

Moveset: Dig/Bulldoze, Screech, Iron Tail, Crunch, Rock Slide
Rank: A

Analysis: Although I was stupid and didn't know that this thing got Sheer Force until AFTER I finished my Steel run to E15, Steelix actually has a lot of powerful moves to take advantage of it. Although it admittedly sucks as an Onix, once you can Compoundeyes farm a Metal Coat from a Magnemite and Trade Stone it, Steelix will soon become a defensive tank as well as an offensive presence due to its ability. With a massive 200 defense and a mediocre but usable 65 special defense (and 75 HP), Steelix will be able to take hits physically, and if it's really having trouble specially you can ability capsule it to Sturdy. There really isn't much else to say about Steelix's defensive presence other than that it can survive earthquakes and punches. With use of Sheer Force, you can power up most of its strong level up moves at the cost of their secondary effects (which aren't that great anyways). Although Stone Edge has 100 BP, Rock Slide is boosted to a nice 97.5 power but you get 10% more hits based on accuracy. Crunch loses its occasional defense drop and is boosted to 104 BP, which is certainly a strong non-STAB dark move. Iron Tail will become the main crux of the set, and if you give Steelix one of the accuracy raising items, it will become a fairly accurate 130 BP steel move that will leave holes in.... Everything. Overall Steelix, although being crap at first, is a defensive tank that can use Sheer Force to destroy its opponents.

[Fumble]

Haven't made one of these in a while, but here I am again! Let's do something different from Dark types, shall we? Opposite to Darkness, Fairies!

Pokemon: Granbull

Ability: Intimidate

Moveset: Charm, Play Rough, Crunch/Ice Fang/Fire Fang/Thunder Fang, Close Combat (breed)

Rank: B

Analysis: Granbull is actually pretty decent, and can be received just after Florinia, so it's also a pretty early Fairy, too! A personal favorite strategy to use is the Intimidate and Charm combo, helpful against Physical Attackers, like Corey's Crobat and Kiki, Victoria, and Samson's teams! Granbull also gets many useful moves to compliment its amazing Attack, such as STAB Play Rough (which also has a chance of lowering Attack), Crunch, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, and if you're willing to catch other Pokemon of a type besides your Monotype for breeding/HMs, Close Combat! Fire Fang and/or Close Combat are especially good for dealing with Steel types, one of Fairy's weaknesses. However, with pretty bad Defenses and a terrible Speed, this Pokemon may be outclassed in the future.

Oh, and reserving Hariyama. (Also, a suggestion, but you may want to put the name of who is reserving what in the reservation spoiler. And update it, since some of the reserved ones have been finished~)

On the note of suggestions, you could also alphabetize rankings, if you'd like. In addition, linking the Monotype Availability Guide might be helpful: Monotype Pokemon Availability Guide.

EDIT: I got bored, so I'm doing Hariyama for Fighting type (obviously) right now.

Pokemon: Hariyama

Ability: Thick Fat OR Guts

Item: If running Guts, Toxic Orb

Moveset: Fake Out/Belly Drum, Close Combat, Knock Off, Heavy Slam/Bullet Punch/Bulldoze

Rank: A

Analysis: Hariyama, available all the way before Florinia, is definitely one of the best Fighting types in Reborn. It has access to so many great moves: Fake Out for just doing a bit of damage (not recommended for Toxic Orb Guts), Belly Drum to boost this thing's Attack to a monstrous level, STAB Close Combat, Knock Off (so many Leftovers, all gone~), Heavy Slam (Hariyama is pretty heavy), Bullet Punch (breed it off of Hitmonchan and you get a nice Priority attack), and Bulldoze (although the Speed drop isn't really helpful with only base 50 Speed...). Heavy Slam and Bullet Punch are especially good for those menacing Fairy types! Hariyama's amazing HP makes up for its terrible Defenses and Speed, and its beautiful Attack is something that will really make this Pokemon helpful in a Fighting Monotype run.

[Revman]

I kinda mildly object it being in A and instead should put in in S, due to the fact that Hippowdon is the only Ground type that gets Sand Stream which heavily buffs mono runs and is also the best physical wall with the exception of perhaps Gliscor.

Yeah true, there aren't any other Sand setters for ground so his role is one of a kind; S it is.

Tbh didn't really need to read this post but just want to point something out...

NEVER catch a SPINARAK

If you read my Bug Analysis for it, you'll see that I completely trash the Pokemon for how terrible it is.

Haven't made one of these in a while, but here I am again! Let's do something different from Dark types, shall we? Opposite to Darkness, Fairies!

Oh, and reserving Hariyama. (Also, a suggestion, but you may want to put the name of who is reserving what in the reservation spoiler. And update it, since some of the reserved ones have been finished~)

On the note of suggestions, you could also alphabetize rankings, if you'd like. In addition, linking the Monotype Availability Guide might be helpful: Monotype Pokemon Availability Guide.

Awesome suggestions, thanks for the Analysis and I'll definitely be linking that other thread in the OP; I've made reference to it for another user but it's probably a good idea to have it in the OP for everyone to look at.

Edit: Whoops, forgot about the suggestions, I'll fix that now.

Thanks to everyone else for contributing as well, don't wanna quote everyone 'cos spam.

[Fumble]

Brace yourselves for these next two, which are some of the worse ones that still must be said. Feel free to give them a higher or lower rank. For this first one, I'm sorry, but I had to, for the Psychic types:

Pokemon: Grumpig

Ability: Thick Fat

Moveset: Psychic/Psyshock, Teeter Dance/Swagger, Grass Knot/Power Gem, Charge Beam/Rest/Trick Room

Rank: C or D

Analysis: Aside from being one of the earliest Psychic types out there, Grumpig really has nothing else to say about it. Its Special Defense is great, and its Special Attack is decent, at the very least. Using the Ability Thick Fat brings this Pokemon resistances to Fighting, Psychic, Fire, and Ice, and if you combine that with the aforementioned great Special Defense, you could make an early game wall out of this. Teeter Dance or Swagger and Rest would be helpful on this set. Of course, you could also try to have an offensive set, since Grumpig has useful moves such as STAB Psychic or Psyshock, Power Gem, Grass Knot, and Charge Beam (for raising Special Attack). If you have a particularly slow Psychic team, you may want to consider Trick Room, as well. Still, once you get to better Psychic types, you might as well permabox Grumpig, sadly...

Alright, now that that's over... Time for more Fairies~

Pokemon: Wigglytuff

Ability: Cute Charm or Competitive

Moveset: (Choose 4 of your liking) Hyper Voice, Flamethrower, Charge Beam, Grass Knot, Body Slam, Play Rough, Perish Song, Wish, Misty Terrain, Disable, Hidden Power, Swagger, Attract, Charm

Rank: C or D

Analysis: As of E15, Wigglytuff is going to be your first choice in a Fairy Monotype, seeing as there are no others left before Julia. Now, being partially Normal type gives Wigglytuff an advantage over most Fairies: its extensive movepool. Wigglytuff actually has some decent Attack and Special Attack and great HP, so it actually can make use of any of the following: STAB Hyper Voice or Body Slam, STAB Play Rough, Flamethrower, Grass Knot, Charge Beam (more Special Attack boosts), Perish Song (wonderful for dealing with the last Pokemon of a Gym Leader or a Rival or something), Wish, Misty Terrain (to change the Field), Disable, Hidden Power, Swagger, Attract, and Charm. Competitive could help if you wanted to run a set like Hyper Voice, Charge Beam, Flamethrower, and Grass Knot/Hidden Power, and Cute Charm could just be used for the occasional event where there's a particularly annoying Pokemon opposite of Wigglytuff's Gender. Something to note about this Pokemon is that slapping a Focus Sash on Wigglytuff and having Perish Song means that "impossible" fights like Solaris' Garchomp are pretty easy. Still, Wigglytuff will probably be replaced very soon in a Fairy Monotype, having terrible Defense and Special Defense and Speed. But you'll enjoy those moments of "YOOM-TAH" while they last...

[foovy10]

Ok here is one for scrafty:

Movepool(so many good options):Brick Break,Elemental Punches,HJK,Crunch,Head Smash,DD,Drain Punch,Zen Headbutt

Ability: Moxie(preferred)/Intimidate(Your choice if you want this instead)

Rank S- or A+

Reason: Ok lets talk about this guy. He is powerful as shit. First he has the dark typing which helps against psychic mons. This guy doesnt even need a turn to setup, just moxie. When using this thing he has potential to one shot most things that aren't well defended against a hjk. I have destroyed people with this thing and i haven't breaded any moves onto this thing yet. He has so much potential and it is so worth training the scraggy you get when your pokemon are 20 lvls above the one you got. The only reason i put this in S- or A+ instead of even higher is because it is kinda slow and if you want an incredible moveset on him you are gonna have to breed.

That is all i have to say of the god, the beast, ZURUZUKIN(japenese for scrafty which is the name of my scrafty)

[Blazing360]

I'm going through my ghost run atm so when I'm done I'll post my thoughts on the ghost types, However my run did start on Ep14 and I still have Gengar so I might do a report on it but it would have no effect in Ep15. What are your thoughts on this everyone, Should I rate Gengar or nah?

[Fumble]

I'd say nah to Gengar, seeing that this thread doesn't really like going to previous episodes. For instance, in movesets, no E12 or older breeding TM moves. Still, it's Female Gallade's choice.

More rankings for Grass Monotypes~

Pokemon: Meganium

Ability: Leaf Guard if you're using a Sun Mono-Grass team or Overgrow if you just want more power

Item: Light Clay or Heat Rock (if running Sunny Day and Leaf Guard)

Moveset: Grass Knot/Solar Beam/Petal Dance/Petal Blizzard, Reflect, Light Screen, Poison Powder/Aromatherapy/Ingrain/Leech Seed/Synthesis/Swagger/Grassy Terrain/Sunny Day/Wring Out/Bulldoze/Nature Power/Ancient Power/Hidden Power

Rank: B or C

Analysis: Meganium is kinda the worst Grass starter, but it is the first Grass starter you can get by a future event! It's available just after Kiki if you don't choose it as a starter, which is pretty early! With some great Defenses and the rest of its stats being decent, this Pokemon actually gains some utility! For one, it learns both Reflect and Light Screen, something that no other Grass type can do without using TMs. It also gets some decent STABs, such as Grass Knot (pretty dependent on the opponent), Solar Beam (especially on a Sun team), Petal Dance (It's powerful, but that Confusion...), and Petal Blizzard (Physical STAB). The last move is up to you, with choices between Poison Powder for whittling down some damage, Aromatherapy to help out the rest of your team, Ingrain to get some health back, Leech Seed to deal damage as well as heal, Synthesis for healing (even more so on a Sun team), Swagger for confusion, Grassy Terrain for changing the field, and Sunny Day if you want a Sun team. You also can go more offensive, with Wring Out, Bulldoze, Nature Power, Ancient Power (for those stat boosts), and Hidden Power. Meganium's a very supportive and defensive Pokemon, and being able to deal some damage also works out in its favor! Those Dual Screens will be very helpful in your Grass Monotype!

Pokemon: Leavanny

Ability: Swarm or Chlorophyll on a Sun team

Item: Heat Rock if using Sunny Day and/or Chlorophyll on a Sun team

Moveset: Leaf Blade, X-Scissor, Sticky Web/Swords Dance/Agility, Shadow Claw/Sunny Day/Swords Dance/Agility/Baton Pass/False Swipe

Rank: A or B

Analysis: Leavanny's most notable niche is being the only Grass type to learn Sticky Web, which is great for your slower but still offensive Pokemon. Of course, that might be a little hard if you aren't dedicated, seeing that you must train up SEWADDLE to level 31 to get it. Anyway, Leavanny is available just after Florinia and also has a great Attack and Speed, which is why Physical moves are preferred on it. Its best STABs are Leaf Blade and X-Scissor. You also may want to increase that Speed and Attack with Swords Dance and/or Agility, and Baton Pass could be even more helpful on a set like this so your boosts are passed along to another physical sweeper! There's also Shadow Claw for coverage and False Swipe for simply catching more Pokemon! If you're running Chlorophyll, you may want to consider Sunny Day with a Heat Rock, as well, just to increase that Speed even more, but Swarm is also useful to increase X-Scissor or any other Bug move's power. Leavanny is very frail, however, with plenty of weaknesses including a 4x weakness to Fire and Flying and lackluster Defenses and HP. Still, Leavanny is a very useful and powerful Pokemon in a Grass Monotype!

[Revman]

Ok here is one for scrafty:

Movepool(so many good options):Brick Break,Elemental Punches,HJK,Crunch,Head Smash,DD,Drain Punch,Zen Headbutt

Ability: Moxie(preferred)/Intimidate(Your choice if you want this instead)

Rank S- or A+

Reason: Ok lets talk about this guy. He is powerful as shit. First he has the dark typing which helps against psychic mons. This guy doesnt even need a turn to setup, just moxie. When using this thing he has potential to one shot most things that aren't well defended against a hjk. I have destroyed people with this thing and i haven't breaded any moves onto this thing yet. He has so much potential and it is so worth training the scraggy you get when your pokemon are 20 lvls above the one you got. The only reason i put this in S- or A+ instead of even higher is because it is kinda slow and if you want an incredible moveset on him you are gonna have to breed.

That is all i have to say of the god, the beast, ZURUZUKIN(japenese for scrafty which is the name of my scrafty)

Gonna assume this is for Fighting since you've noted its Dark typing as a plus side, in future please specify which type this is for; thanks!

I'm going through my ghost run atm so when I'm done I'll post my thoughts on the ghost types, However my run did start on Ep14 and I still have Gengar so I might do a report on it but it would have no effect in Ep15. What are your thoughts on this everyone, Should I rate Gengar or nah?

Nah, let's leave Gengar out for now; only leaving Poison's analysis since it's already done and I've put a note next to it informing readers that it was axed from the game in 15.

I know I'm double posting, but I have more rankings for Grass Monotypes~

Awesome, thank you for both your Fairy, Grass and Grumpig rankings, very helpful!

[Noir]

Not sure how appropriately I want to justify this, but after using Seismitoad over other options as a bulky Water, I kinda want to make a ranking for it here.

Seismitoad

Ranking: (in both Ground and Water) A-

Ability: Swift Swim/Water Absorb

Moves: Muddy Water, Surf, Hydro Pump, Earth Power, Sludge Wave, Grass Knot, Rain Dance

Seismitoad is unique as a Ground/Water type in that is the only one apart from Quagsire and Gastrodon that has an ability that nullifies Water attacks. However, Seismitoad is still superior to place in a teamslot for a couple of reasons. Although it cannot Recover unlike the former two, Seismitoad possesses a sufficient movepool that isn't TM reliant allowing it have pretty strong coverage. Another saving grace (counting tutors now) is Seismitoad's access to Stealth Rock. While not the best in a Ground mono, it's pretty nice to have on a Water mono. This is complemented by the fact that Seismitoad can be run as either an offensive or defensive force, given the versatility its abilities provide and good all-rounded stats to abuse them, unlike Quagsire, Gastrodon and even Swampert that is limited to basically one main role (until we get Swampertite, of course).

As such, I'd argue Seismitoad is still the most useful amongst all Water/Grounds in relation to Bacon's post, recognizing of course that Seismitoad still has inferior bulk to Swampert, but that's compensated with the option of a Water immunity.

Also, the fact that a lot of available tutors aren't listed in the rankings I would like to bring up. I made a thread asking about them and apparently all available tutors canonically are also available in 7th street, I guess, so that's a lot of options that are missing from the rankings. I could be wrong.

Edited June 28, 2015 by YagamiNoir4896

[ArthurZH]

Not sure how appropriately I want to justify this, but after using Seismitoad over other options as a bulky Water, I kinda want to make a ranking for it here.

Seismitoad

Ranking: (in both Ground and Water) A-

Ability: Swift Swim/Water Absorb

Moves: Muddy Water, Surf, Hydro Pump, Earth Power, Sludge Wave, Grass Knot, Rain Dance

Seismitoad is unique as a Ground/Water type in that is the only one apart from Quagsire and Gastrodon that has an ability that nullifies Water attacks. However, Seismitoad is still superior to place in a teamslot for a couple of reasons. Although it cannot Recover unlike the former two, Seismitoad possesses a sufficient movepool that isn't TM reliant allowing it have pretty strong coverage. Another saving grace (counting tutors now) is Seismitoad's access to Stealth Rock. While not the best in a Ground mono, it's pretty nice to have on a Water mono. This is complemented by the fact that Seismitoad can be run as either an offensive or defensive force, given the versatility its abilities provide and good all-rounded stats to abuse them, unlike Quagsire, Gastrodon and even Swampert that is limited to basically one main role (until we get Swampertite, of course).

As such, I'd argue Seismitoad is still the most useful amongst all Water/Grounds in relation to Bacon's post, recognizing of course that Seismitoad still has inferior bulk to Swampert, but that's compensated with the option of a Water immunity.

Also, the fact that a lot of available tutors aren't listed in the rankings I would like to bring up. I made a thread asking about them and apparently all available tutors canonically are also available in 7th street, I guess, so that's a lot of options that are missing from the rankings. I could be wrong.

Seismitoad's Earth Power is bred onto it right? Or did I miss the Earth Power tutor?

Also, doing a normal monorun, will do analysis of some normal mons soon. After I beat Ciel. Which means possibly 2 weeks later since im doing it slow.

[Noir]

Seismitoad's Earth Power is bred onto it right? Or did I miss the Earth Power tutor?

Also, doing a normal monorun, will do analysis of some normal mons soon. After I beat Ciel. Which means possibly 2 weeks later since im doing it slow.

It can both be bred and tutored, although the only Pokemon to my knowledge you can pass it by is Corsola.

[Chris P. Bacon]

I'm back with even more Ground-type reviews! Pretty much covers up every Pokémon I've used so far. Feedback is welcome!


Diggersby

Rank: B
Ability: Huge Power
Moves: Double Kick, Hammer Arm, Earthquake, Take Down, Agility/Swords Dance, Bounce
Diggersby is one of those early powerhouses that you can obtain when you first reach the Beryl Ward (either in the Cemetery or in Rhodocrine Caves). It has decent bulkiness (85/77/77), it's probably the fastest Ground-type that you can obtain early on, and its huge 112 Attack (with Huge Power) let you plow through fights easily. Diggersby does not have any egg moves worth breeding for (other than Spikes, but you need a Delibird). However, once you get to later parts of the game, Diggersby starts to become less and less effective at what it does, being outclassed by other heavy hitters like Krookodile, Excadrill and Hippowdon. Do not be discouraged to catch one early on though, they're quite good!

Nidoking

Rank: A

Ability: Sheer Force

Moves: Earth Power, Flamethrower, Sludge Bomb/Wave, Megahorn, Shadow Claw, Poison Jab

Nidoking can be obtained quite early, specifically at Onyx Ward's Game Corner (or Byxbysion Wasteland if you'd rather not farm the coins for him). He has the trait of being relatively fast and also works as a mixed attacker. Sheer Force lets most of his moves receive a nice damage bonus, which makes it pack a big punch. Being part Poison-type lets it deal with pesky Grass types without being weak to it, and you can use Black Sludge on him to let him sustain hits in battle. His only problem is that he can be quite frail, and will almost always get KO'd by anything that uses a super-effective move on it.

Gligar

Rank: C

Ability: Immunity

Gligar by himself is suboptimal compared to all the other ground-type Pokémon available, though it has an immunity to its own type and is surprisingly bulky for what it's worth. Realistically, you won't be using Gligar in battle during this episode, though you will once you get back to Reborn City, for that is where you can obtain...

Gliscor

Rank: A

Ability: Poison Heal

Moves: Acrobatics, Thunder/Fire/Ice Fang, Poison Jab, X-Scissor, Night Slash, U-Turn, Sky Uppercut, Substitute

Gliscor! You need every Obsidia Department Sticker that can be obtained up to this episode to reach the floor with Gligar's evolution item, Razor Fang. Gliscor is a really bulky dude, and Poison Heal (while holding a Toxic Orb - it can be obtained by using a Silver Card on Corey's Gym, which is being guarded by his Skuntank in Ametrine Mountain, if I'm not mistaken) let's him take a lot of hits before going down. It's also pretty fast, and has a variety of moves for coverage. The only thing it lacks is a Ground-type move via leveling up, though one can fix that by giving him Bulldoze via TM (from Terra). Overall a solid Pokémon.

Flygon

Rank: A

Ability: Levitate

Moves: Rock Slide, Earthquake, Dragon Claw, Superpower, Crunch

Flygon has access to great moves by himself, and is one of the few Pokémon to resist 2 of Ground-types weaknesses - Water and Grass, one other being Torterra. Flygon has balanced defences and a great amount of Attack and Speed, letting it hit hard and fast. Its immunity to Ground makes it a great partner for Double Battles, letting his tag partner Earthquake all the way to the bank. Watch out for Ice-type moves though, Flygon will go down like a sack of bricks.

Onix / Steelix

Rank: A
Ability: Sturdy / Weak Armor (Sheer Force)

Moves: Stealth Rock, Rock Polish, Rock Slide, Stone Edge, Iron Tail, Dig, Curse, Bulldoze , Heavy Slam (breeding from a Golem)

You can get an Onix as soon as you beat Julia (there will be a man looking for shelter in Peridot Ward - find an empty house, go back to him, go to the house and he will give you an Onix as a thank-you reward), and should really be considered as an option when you start off, as you don't get a lot of Ground-type Pokémon early on (the only others being Numel, Nidoran M and Burmy), though his usefulness will quickly deteriorate as you progress through the game (until you evolve him).

Onix has poor offensive capabilities, and mostly works as a defensive wall early on, but will go down easily to special attacks. It can provide Stealth Rock support as well as lucky flinches with Rock Slide, as he is pretty fast. When Onix isn't fast enough to go first, Sturdy will guarantee him, in the least, a turn to set up Stealth Rocks. Weak Armor is not really beneficial for him early on as Onix is already faster than most of the Pokémon that you find, and lowering his ability to tank physical hits does not help.

Steelix is another story, though you can only obtain him much later on in the game (after your 7th Badge). Steelix is a monstrous physically defensive tank, and will shrug off anything that isn't super-effective on him. His attack stat is higher than Onix's, though he is mockingly slow, and works best when used together with Trick Room (from a Claydol). Sheer Force does not do a whole lot for Steelix, but it gives Iron Tail and Bulldoze an extra OOMPH to their power.

Marowak

Rank: B

Ability: Battle Armor / Rock Head

Moves: Double Edge, Bonemerang, Iron Head, Belly Drum, Brick Break

Marowak is one of the hardest-hitting Pokémon you can catch without having to use a move to boost its stats - Thick Club will double his already respectable 80 attack to a whopping 160 attack, making him a huge threat to anything that doesn't resist his attacks. Marowak's movepool is nothing to write home about, but it can still be worked with. He is a pretty bulky physically defensive fighter, but his speed is abysmal, and is recommended to use along side a Trick Room strategy. This is his biggest flaw: Marowak does not have a lot of health compared to other Ground-types, so he can't make use of his Attack when he can't attack more than once.

Claydol

Rank: A

Ability: Levitate

Moves: Earth Power, Extrasensory, Ancient Power, Stealth Rock, Trick Room, Cosmic Power

Claydol is responsible for making any and all of your slow Ground-types into the unstoppable rockets due to one move: Trick Room. Claydol does not learn this by himself though, and you can only give it to him via TM, from Radomus. Earth Power and Extrasensory give it some good STAB moves, Cosmic Power boosts its already high defenses, and Ancient Power gives it some versatility. Claydol is also your best bet at a specially defensive tank, having a great 120 base Sp. Defense as well as 105 Defense and 75 Speed let it take hits and set up Trick Room easily.

For Stealth Rock, it might be a bit more complicated: the way I obtained a Baltoy with Stealth Rock was from the Totem Poll event in Beryl Ward - it already came with it. I cannot confirm if this is intentional or not, because the Baltoy line is genderless, so it does not have egg moves, meaning Stealth Rock is a Tutor move. You may need some resets to get it, as this never happened to me with Golett (getting a Tutor move, that is).

Rhydon

Rank: B

Ability: Rock Head (Solid Rock)

Moves: Earthquake, Stone Edge, Hammer Arm, Megahorn, Ice/Fire/Thunder Fang, Iron Tail, Poison Jab (Rhyperior)

Rhydon is a pretty big physically defensive Pokémon with a high attack stat and versatile movepool to boot, though outclassed in bulk by Hippowdon. It can hit really hard, but it requires proper support in order to become a behemoth - specifically Sandstorm and Trick Room support. In the next episode, when you can return to Reborn City, you can evolve Rhydon into Rhyperior via the use of a Protector and a Link Stone, though you need every Obsidia Department Store sticker. Evolving into Rhyperior will boost all of Rhydon's stats by a little bit (except for Speed), and will turn him into an even bigger threat when used with Trick Room and Sandstorm, while having Solid Rock shrug off super-effective physical moves. His other abilities, Lightning Rod and Reckless, are entirely useless to Rhydon and Rhyperior: You are already immune to Electric-type moves (you don't even get the stat boost from it!) and they can only use 2 moves for Reckless: Double Edge and Take Down. If you're looking for something that is a little bulkier, physically, then consider getting a Rhyperior.

I've left out, in particular, Dugtrio, Sandslash and Golem because I haven't used them in this run. They just seemed subpar compared to other options.

EDIT: I also wanna point out that in Hippowdon's "review" (I don't even know if I should call it that...), I accidentally said that Excadrill has Sand Stream, though I ment to say Sand Rush.

EDIT2: Fixed some typos

Edited June 29, 2015 by Chris P. Bacon

[SkyRunner]

Thought that I'd chip in some Fighting-type reviews.

Pangoro

Rank: B

Ability: Scrappy

Moves: Slash, Circle Throw, Karate Chop, Body Slam, Vital Throw

Pancham is one of the first Fighting-types you'll have access to. It is a good Pokemon to use early game, and is helpful when battling Florinia. Later on, around when battling Shade, Pangoro becomes outclassed by Scrafty, which actually learns a Dark-type move before Level 42 to make use of its dual-typing and has useful Abilities. Speaking of Abilities, Pangoro's only viable Ability is Scrappy, with Mold Breaker being especially useless due to the fact that it doesn't learn any moves that compliment it.

Blaziken

Rank: S

Ability: Speed Boost

Moves: Sky Uppercut / High Jump Kick, Flare Blitz/Fire Punch/Blaze Kick, Rock Tomb, Bulk Up

(This is probably going to sound a lot like the review for Fire.) One of your options for your Fighting-type starter, Blaziken destroys. Bulk Up and Speed Boost make for a Pokemon that can outspeed and one-shot most of the opposition. Sky Uppercut and High Jump Kick can be decided depending on survivability, as can Flare Blitz/Fire Punch/Blaze Kick. Rock Tomb is a must, providing rare coverage against pesky birds that would otherwise massacre your entire team.

Also, I reserve Toxicroak, Medicham, Heracross and Gallade for Fighting.

Edited June 29, 2015 by SkyRunner

[Revman]

All reviews from all users have been added, thank you all!

Speaking of Abilities, Pangoro's only viable Ability is Scrappy, with Mold Breaker being especially useless due to the fact that it doesn't learn any moves that compliment it.

Not entirely true. Most people associate Mold Breaker with only using EQ to hit Levitators or Water moves on a Storm Drain/Water Absorb Pokemon. What a lot of people forget/don't know is that Mold Breaker allows you to ignore Sturdy so you can one shot Pokemon that normally would hang on, as well as this although it's hardly very common, it allows you to ignore Wonder Guard. Other uses include using status/non attacking moves on Magic Bounce Pokemon which can be useful for getting a Parting Shot off without it getting bounced.

[SkyRunner]

All reviews from all users have been added, thank you all!

Not entirely true. Most people associate Mold Breaker with only using EQ to hit Levitators or Water moves on a Storm Drain/Water Absorb Pokemon. What a lot of people forget/don't know is that Mold Breaker allows you to ignore Sturdy so you can one shot Pokemon that normally would hang on, as well as this although it's hardly very common, it allows you to ignore Wonder Guard. Other uses include using status/non attacking moves on Magic Bounce Pokemon which can be useful for getting a Parting Shot off without it getting bounced.

Huh. Well, thanks for correcting my mistake, and I'll make sure to double-check anything else before submitting.

Medicham

Rank: A+ or S-

Ability: Pure Power

Moves: Psycho Cut (egg move), Drain Punch (egg move), High Jump Kick, Recover, Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, Ice Punch

Pure Power Medicham, available before Kiki, is a beast, destroying most things with a High Jump Kick. Although it can't take many hits, Drain Punch or Recover can cover that to some extent. Its only downside is that its Psychic-type attacks are limited to Zen Headbutt, Confusion and Psycho Cut (an egg move), so you might have to visit the Move Reminder or breed.

Edited June 30, 2015 by SkyRunner

[ArthurZH]

Normal type singular ranking because I'm not done with EP15 yet!

Ditto: S Rank

At first one wonders what gave ditto it's marvelous ranking here. I implore you to realize that Ditto is able to copy the following mons on the leader's teams:

- Lucario on kiki, who has Psychic, and Aura Sphere is boosted by her field

- Garchomp on Solaris

- Arceus on El

- Malamar on Radomus

- Malamar with Superpower on Luna

- Acrobatics Mienshao, Bounce Blaziken and Conkeldurr on Samson

Random other mons able to be used against themselves include:

- Scizor on Fern

- Nidoking on Cain

- Gallade on Victoria

- Random mons which might also be useful.

Ditto is really more of a boss battle Pokemon, not the sort which will help you against the average Joe on the street. This thing won me El, Solaris, Kiki and Samson, which is a big feat considering normal lacks the strength, speed and bulk in normal/flying types, resulting in a small issue when it comes to Samson/Kiki/other fighting type users.

Will do more when EP15 is finished.

[SoraFalcon]

Rock Type Ranking ( One Pokemon )

Omastar: A Rank

Moveset: Shell Smash, Surf, Icy Wind, Ancient Power

Alright Lord Helix has arrived and has come to punish anyone who let him set up Shell Smash ONCE. This guy totally outsped most pokemons and destroyed them with a few Surfs here and there. Not only that, it has the potential to sweep a team depending on type advantage and what not. Having problems with Ground Types that bully your team as a Rock Mono? No problems, Omastar outright destroys them with Surf ( cough Terra cough ). Omastar is great as a lead against physical attackers ( if in case you got Weak Armor ). With this his speed gets a multiplier of 2.5 as he takes a hit and then uses Shell Smash. There's really nothing much else about this guy other than being your coverage for ground types and Garchomps ( cough Solaris cough ).

[Noir]

I've been feeling a little chill lately, so enjoy some Ice type rankings. There are a few things I'd like to vary opinion/disagree with on the current rankings, though.

Avalugg

Ability: Sturdy/Icy Rock

Item: Icicle Plate/Leftovers (again, confusion on item existence)

Moves: Avalanche, Ice Fang, Recover, Crunch, Bulldoze, Gyro Ball, Sharpen.

Ranking: B

Avalugg stands as that typical protoype where your physical stats and HP are through the roof where it's other stats suck elsewhere. That said, 184 Defense and 95 HP is still pretty damn stupid, and you'd find yourself not being phazed by even super effective physical hits depending on investment. This physical bulk is better than titans like Tangrowth's and Skarmory's and is the strongest among all Ice types, although Ice is a bad defensive typing in general. I'd argue that it's cons outweigh it's pros despite the fact that it also has offensive presence since it's ridiculously squishy to Fire type attacks, and thus can only act as an effective pivot against physical Pokemon. That said, moves such as Sharpen and Recover help it considerably in maintaining longevity or overall damage output. Ice monoruns needing an effective physical tank should no further after the big glacier, but one desiring more balanced defensive Ice types should probably go for something else.

Aurorus

Ability: Snow Warning

Item: Icicle Plate/Leftovers

Moves: AncientPower, Ice Beam, Frost Breath, Freeze-Dry, Hidden Power Fire/Ground, Discharge, Thunder Wave, Light Screen, Blizzard, Rock Polish.

Ranking: A

Aurorus, like Abomasnow, possesses the all-important Snow Warning, which allows it to support itself and teammates in addition to forming a strong hail core alongside the snowman itself. Aurorus is different from it in the sense that it possessing a neutrality to Fire and a Flying type resistance, but otherwise has a far more vulnerable defensive typing due to it's weaknesses to Grass, Ground and Water attacks that Abomasnow comfortably resists. Aurorus' capabilities are not limited to offense and can also support with Thunder Wave or Light Screen. Aurorus can also fix it's speed issues with Rock Polish and attempt a sweep, with it's movepool consisting of the rare AncientPower and Discharge it can abuse, as well as possessing the second strongest Freeze-Dry over Vanilluxe, a move that Ice types rarely have to combat Water-type despite it's access to Discharge. Despite all these pros, it is generally inferior to Abomasnow defensively although it superior offensively which detracts from it's ability to sustain Hail. Until it gets Refrigerate Echoed Voice or Hyper Voice I'll probably leave it at A.