(WIP)Project Reborn Monotype Viability Rankings

[Revman]

Hello, friends! Whilst playing Reborn with a bunch of my friends over at the Sora League on Pokemon Showdown, some of us decided it would be a good idea for us to do monotype run-throughs. And of course it has been both a challenge AND a heap of fun. Because of my new found love for Monotype running through Pokemon games, I thought it would be a fun idea to do a form of Viability ranking for the Pokemon on each Monotype in Pokemon Reborn! Since I did a run through of Poison, I'll do as much for Poison as I can and of course I will be accepting suggestions for any other Pokemon from any type. As this thread progresses I will more than likely rank Monotypes in Reborn as an entirety to help any aspiring Mono runners for Reborn. This will be mainly community driven and contributed since I won't be able to every single Pokemon for every single type myself, hell I'll be lucky to get all of Poison done myself haha, so I'll need as much help as I can get!

This is not the discussion thread if you wish to contribute you can do so here.

If you are at any point wondering where to catch any of these wonderful Pokemon, you can check out this thread Monotype Pokemon Availability Guide for information on how to obtain them!

Please note that this is NOT a Canon Pokemon Game Monotype analysis/ranking, if you wish to see a Canon Competitive Pokemon Game Monotype viability ranking, please visit Smogon University's forums.

Edit: Due to a few people commenting about it, these rankings will be incorporating mechanics from Episode 15 and 15 alone; this means no breeding from previous Episodes like 12 where breeding partners for certain Pokemon hadn't been taken out.
Also, before you all ask, no I don't expect everyone's Pokemon reviews to be as indepth as mine although it'd definitely be appreciated, I just enjoy getting very technical and indepth with my reviews of Pokemon. Anyone who does submit a review successfully will of course be fully credited! Also please remember that all of these placements and are contestable, with the right amount of evidence, I can be convinced to change a Pokemon's placement based on whether you think it's too good/bad for a certain rank. All Pokemon listed which are of the same type/rank are not listed in any order, for example: if both Blaziken and Ninetales are listed for S Tier Fire but Blaziken comes first on the list, that doesn't inherently make Blaziken a more viable Pokemon.

The meaning of each Rank is as follows:

S Rank:

These Pokemon are unparalleled on a team; bordering on broken-ness for their type, being able to preform whatever role it is the Pokemon is meant to preform with almost 0 downside whether it be Offensively or Defensively. These Pokemon need no support or very little in order for them to slot into your team and can fulfill a ton of roles for your team or one exceptionally well whilst even providing some utility themselves. Comparatively to other Pokemon on their type, there is no other Pokemon which should be used over it. When playing, these Pokemon should definitely be used.

A Rank:

These Pokemon may have qualities similar to S Tier Pokemon but require more support from their team mates due to short comings in stats, abilities, secondary typing or movepool but still have very good offensive or defensive utility. More often than not, these Pokemon should always be considered.

B Rank:

These Pokemon have a few shortcomings which make them not as good as Pokemon from the previous tiers, this means that it may take a turn or two and/or some support from other Pokemon in your party in order for them to truly shine, or may be highly useful in a certain fight or certain game period before other Pokemon are available. Whilst not bad these Pokemon have flaws which may be problematic for some circumstances.

C Rank:

These Pokemon have flaws which make them not as good as Pokemon from the other tiers above, this may be due to an unfortunate ability, secondary typing, speed/attack stat or movepool. These Pokemon may or may not have a useful niche which can work in a certain circumstance and can offer some useful utility to your team but sacrifices a slot on your team.

D Rank:

These Pokemon in most circumstances are a waste of a Team Slot and are completely outclassed by another Pokemon in its type or are inexplicably crippled by the lack of moves available to it in Reborn. These Pokemon should seldom be considered for a spot on your team.

E Rank:

Complete trash, never useful in any circumstance in which it is legally obtainable and constantly outclassed in every fashion. Do not use.

To suggest a Pokemon for a specific Rank, just comment on this thread or PM me a review of a specific Pokemon which looks something like this:

Ninetales (Fire) for S Rank

Ability: Drought
Moves: Flamethrower/Flame Burst, Extrasensory, Nasty Plot, Dark Pulse/Hex/Will O Wisp/Confuse Ray/Solarbeam/Energy Ball when implemented
Item (If applicable): Heat Rock
Why: Ninetales is a Pokemon which is an absolute must for any Fire team due to its immediate power and the unique ability to change the Weather to Sun upon the switch for 5 or 8 turns depending on whether or not it holds a Heat Rock which powers its Fire Type moves up 1.5x whilst weakening Water moves 0.5x for it and all of its team mates. This move set aims to give Ninetales as much coverage as possible so it can set up and leave massive holes in which ever Pokemon is unlucky enough to face it. Flamethrower is your main move of choice, receiving a nice 1.5x boost in the sun but Flame Burst is also a logical move to use in order to turn fields like Grassy Field and Forrest Fielding into Blazing Terrains for your other Pokemon. Extrasensory is used as basic coverage and helps you hit Pokemon such as Infernape, Blaziken and other threatening Fighting types for Double Damage. Nasty Plot helps set your Special attack up and your last move comes down entirely to what you want for your team. Dark Pulse can be used as further coverage and will help sort any problems Ninetales has against Flash Fire Chandelure, Will O Wisp will cripple physical attacks and Confuse Ray is good for praying for confusion hax. However, upon the implementation of Solarbeam it is HIGHLY recommended that you disregard all other suggested moves for the final slot for it, if Energy Ball is released first then that works as well so Ninetales can handle Water types.

If you wish to reserve a certain Pokemon for a certain type, please comment on this thread or message me personally and I'll add your choice to the list of reserved Pokemon.

Reserved Pokemon:

Psychic: Musharna, Swoobat, Delphox, Medicham (SkyRunner)

Current release: Episode 15

Types:

S Rank:

Gengar, analysis by Female Gallade No longer available as of Episode 15

Ability: Levitate (Duh)
Moves: Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse/Hidden Power Fighting/Ice/Fire/Ground, Destiny Bond, Curse/Confuse ray
Item: Black Sludge
Why: Gengar is an amazing Pokemon as it is with an amazing 110 base speed stat, there's not a whole lot which is gonna outspeed our old friend from Gen 1. Sadly Gengar suffers from a slight bit of TM Syndrome since most of his best moves are TM, but this set aims to rectify that blow. Shadow ball is Gengar's main tool of destruction, out right opening holes in things and securing lots of neat KO's against the dreaded Psychic Pokemon that Poison outright struggles with. The second moveslot is circumstantial, I personally use Dark Pulse to hit stuff like Girafarig for Super effective damage, but if your Gengar has a Viable Hidden Power such as Fire, Ice, Fighting or Ground then it's strongly recommended to use that over Dark Pulse. The last half of this move set aims to give Gengar a more utility based role on your team and helps you against those bulky P.U.L.S.E Pokemon and other bosses which shall remain unnamed 'cos spoilers. Destiny Bond is very self explanatory, if you see an opposing Pokemon get set up and begin to sweep your team, or you just come across something you outright can't handle, Destiny Bond is your kind of move. Just throw up a Destiny Bond at the right time, and your opponent is gone along with Gengar, potentially saving the match for you. Curse is amazing for stopping any Pokemon which your team may struggle with such as Giant Steelix, with a Curse up whatever you've cursed is guaranteed to be KO'd in 5 turns if they have Leftovers/Black Sludge. If cutting your HP in half isn't your kind of thing, then Confuse Ray is recommended since it can also cause damage to your opponent over time. If you don't like using Confuse Ray, Curse or Destiny bond, it is also possible to run Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse and Hidden Power for a mostly offensive set, although there isn't a 4th viable offensive move.

Nidoking, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Sheer Force
Moves: Sludge Wave, Earth Power, Flamethrower, Surf/Sucker Punch/Megahorn/Shadow Claw/Icy Wind (Tutor)
Why: Nidoking sits at S Rank due to Sheer Force alongside a very plentiful movepool that isn't even pre-episode 13 reliant to breed with. If factored into the equation, it would have a lot of viable moves to go with. With Life Orb now accessible, Nidoking can boast the benefit of dealing 30% more damage without the recoil. Although it has more of an attack inclined movepool, going Special Attacking is the general way of playing the Poison type, although mixed sets are always welcome. Sucker Punch is also great against faster opponents. It's offensive prowess really lacks drawbacks, and if you really want something that can wreck things, Nidoking and it's nearly unresisted dual STAB combination can help you out tons.

Drapion, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Sniper/Battle Armor
Item: If Sniper, Razor Claw/Scope Lens
Moves: Crunch/Night Slash/Knock off, Cross Poison, Fire Fang/Ice Fang/Brick Break/Bulldoze, Hone Claws
Why: Drapion is one Pokemon for Poison in the competitive scene in which it's absolutely necessary to use in order to handle a weakness to Psychic, in Reborn Drapion is slightly different but takes a much bigger role due to his natural level up move pool being much more expansive and not needing assistance from TMs or Tutor moves like other Pokemon such as Toxicroak do in order to reach their maximum potential. With a respectable defense stat of 110, Drapion shows himself to be no slouch when it comes to bulk although his 70 HP could be a bit better. Drapion's speed stat sits at a comfortable 95 allowing him to be used as a decently quick and (in conjunction with its 90 attack stat+Hone Claws and Sniper crits if you choose to run that set) powerful set up sweeper. For its ability, the user has a choice between using Sniper or Battle Armor. Sniper when used in conjunction with Night Slash/Cross Poison and a Razor Claw or Scope lens has the ability to land a critical hit with a 2x modifier around 50% of the time allowing it to dish out massive damage to anything doesn't resist/isn't outright immune. Whilst Battle Armor is also a viable ability for those who don't like getting critted when setting up Hone Claws. The 3rd move slot is entirely up to the user and what they prefer on their set. Fire Fang will allow Drapion to crack Steel types that it would normally have a bit more trouble against, especially in conjunction with Hone Claws. Ice Fang can be used as basic coverage that the rest of your team may appreciate such as being able to hit Ground types hard before Drapion kicks the bucket for the match and pursuit can be used in the off chance that you somehow manage to read a switch from the AI although it's not recommended since I'm unsure as to weather Reborn's AI can read what move you put in and react accordingly. Another viable move for this slot is Knock off, I recommend against using Knock off as a primary stab move since a majority of your opponents will not be holding items which is why it's a smarter idea to use it has a coverage move. Lastly, hone claws is on this set to help Drapion boost his power that little bit extra to snag a few extra Knock outs and give him some sweeping potential as well as adding 100% accuracy to Fire/Ice Fang at +1 Accuracy.

Nidoqueen, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Sheer Force
Moves: Sludge Wave, Earth Power, Toxic Spikes/Flamethrower/Surf/Icy Wind (Tutor), Helping Hand/Flamethrower/Shadow Ball/Surf/Icy Wind (Tutor)
Why: Nidoqueen is the bulky variant to Nidoking, losing 9 base speed and 10 base in both attacking stats with the upside of gaining 10 base points in HP, and both defenses. Due to its more defensive Stat layout, Nidoqueen gains some very useful bulk and as such she should be treated differently to Nidoking whilst using her. If you're using Nidoqueen, her purpose is to tank hits and either assist her team mate in a Doubles match using Helping Hand or set Toxic Spikes. Personally, I have used both Nidos in a Poison mono run through and the power drop that Nidoqueen gets is hardly noticeable, but her bulk is definitely noticable. Sludge Wave is used as her main STAB and will be the main go to attack if all of her other moves hit for neutral damage and also has the nifty effect of being able to corrode Grassy Field into corrupted field, Earth Power is a must as it allows Nidoqueen to hit any Steel types for Super Effective Damage AND get the STAB boost from it. The last two slots are up to personal preference, because of her Bulk; Nidoqueen can be used as a bulky attacker in which case you can run either Surf, Flamethrower or Shadow Ball to assist with problems your team may have such as Surf smacking Ground types (Although it isn't Sheer Force boosted) and Flamethrower being able to pick a nifty KO up on Scizor and Ferrothorn and lastly Shadow Ball can be used to hit Psychics and Ghost types which the rest of your team may have trouble with. But if a bulky attacker isn't your kind of thing, then I'd recommend using support moves for the last 2 slots, personally I used support Nidoqueen and she offered amazing utility for my team. Helping hand is awesome for doubles matches such as against Blake where Nidoqueen can use helping hand on one of her Teammates to pick up a KO where otherwise she or her partner would fail if only one of them attacked or if she was KO'd before she could land her own hit. Toxic Spikes for Poison is an amazing move as it Poisons or Badly Poisons opposing Pokemon on the switch judging by how many layers you have up, eventually the Poison damage racks up n your opponents and you'll find that you'll be able to one or two shot Pokemon you normally wouldn't be able to thanks to Poisoning.

Venusaur, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Chlorophyll/Overgrow
Moves: Giga Drain, Venoshock, Sleep Powder, Leaf Storm, Hidden Power Fire/Ice/Rock/Ground, Power Whip, Curse, Grassy Terrain, Nature Power, Seed Bomb, Growth, Bulldoze, Petal Blizzard, Petal Dance, Leech Seed, Synthesis.
Why: Venusaur is a great Pokemon in general and has a good balance of both offensive and defensive capabilities. With it's partial Grass typing, it acts as a pre-requisite for Poison-monos attempting to deal with Ground types effectively. Venusaur has the ability to run both Specially offensive and Physically offensive attacking sets with it's wide range of Grass moves, and Growth/Curse to bolster it's stats for more damage or defense. On the utility side, Venusaur has access to the rare Sleep on Poison-runs as well as Leech Seed that gives it great sustain and longevity, in addition to reliable recovery in Synthesis and Giga Drain. Venusaur can also assist the team in setting up Grassy Terrain alongside Sludge Wave from another teammate to create a Corrosive Field that provides Venusaur and the team with abusable benefits, such as additional Poison typing on its Grass STAB and doubled damage on Venoshock. Overgrow is generally the superior ability since Poison monos aren't sun-inclined, but Chlorophyll can be viable nonetheless if you find a teammate with Sunny Day. For all these capabilities Venusaur offers, it's a non-negligible choice for Poison runs.

Roserade, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Technician
Moves: Giga Drain, Venoshock,Hidden Power Fire/Ground/Rock/Fighting, Petal Blizzard, Leaf Storm, Sleep Powder, Spikes, Toxic Spikes, Aromatherapy, Weather Ball, Extrasensory, Synthesis. Petal Dance, Leech Seed, Magical Leaf, Grassy Terrain.
Why: Like Venusaur, Roserade has a lot of tools and abilities beneficial to Poison runs. Particularly, Roserade is slightly faster and significantly higher Special Attack and Technician to further bolster its attacks, particularly Magical Leaf and Hidden Power as for traits it has over Venusaur. Roserade also has acess to Aromatherapy and both variants of Spikes as a niche, and like Venusaur also has access to Grassy Terrain and the utility from Leech Seed and Sleep Powder to utilize. You won't need both Grass types on one run, but Roserade has the advantage of being significantly more powerful on the special side and with the ability to set up Spikes.

A Rank:

Amoonguss, anaylsis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Regenerator
Moves: Giga Drain, Spore, Toxic, Rage Powder, Hidden Power Fire/Ground/Fighting, Stun Spore
Why: Amoongus isn't something you'd think would fit into A Rank, but Amoongus is an outstanding team supporter and courtesy of Regenator and good bulk, is generally nearly impregnable, especially if you're rooting for a simultaneous Nuzlocke run. Due to the lack of Sleep Clause in the game you can put two opponents to Sleep and get away with it. While Sleep is the best status you still have Toxic and Stun Spore as options. To make it more annoying, Synthesis and Giga Drain can both heal it for a portion of its health which makes it more resillient. Finally, Rage Powder is pretty signature to Amoongus in that it forcing single target moves to attack it, which can be nice if you want to shield a teammate from a dangerous matchup provided it isn't multihit. That said, it's still A due to the fact that it doesn't have a lot to reliably dish back out to opponents and is thus reliant on teammates with heavy offensive presence although its utility complements that perfectly.

Dragalge, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Adaptability
Moves: Dragon Pulse, Sludge Wave/Sludge Bomb, Hydro Pump/Surf, Hidden Power Fighting/Fire/Ground
Why: There aren't a whole lot of good Poison types out there, so Dragalge is a pretty fortunate case. The Poison Dragon stands out in that it can both be a defensive pivot and an offensive force courtesy of it's pretty solid movepool that isn't heavily TM reliant and Adapability. The extra boost helps a lot with it's Dual STAB being Dragon Pulse and Sludge Bomb/Sludge Wave (the latter is recommended for spread damage and conversion of Grassy Field into Corrupted Terrain, but some perhaps use Sludge Bomb for the Poison chance), and it has options such as Hidden Power of choice and Hydro Pump that cement a decent attack role on teams as well as against the more toxic fields, though Surf can be used if you're iffy about accuracy. Dragalge is held back from S due to it's low Speed, though, unless Trick Room is opt to rectify it which isn't available on Poison teams, so it's vulnerable to being ganged on in double battles despite having one of the more powerful Sludge Waves in the game (especially against a particularly robotic idiot that tends to spam Earthquake on you late game) as well as bad allergies to Ground and Psychic moves, which means it's role is pretty daunting mid-late game.

Crobat, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Inner Focus/Infiltrator
Moves: Acrobatics/Brave Bird (Egg Move), Rain Dance, Cross Poison/Poison Fang/Zen Headbutt (Egg move), Haze OR Nasty Plot (Egg move), Air Slash, Dark Pulse/Giga Drain (Egg move), Venoshock, Dark Pulse/Hidden Power Ice/Fire/Ground/Fighting
Item: None
Why: Crobat is a Pokemon of which there is none other like available to Poison. Coupled with decent bulk 85/80/80 a kind of bellow average attacking stat of 90 and an incredible Speed of 130, Crobat presents itself as a Pokemon which can provide solid support to a team whilst still being able to pack a punch with the right move. This set in particular is a hard counter to Charlotte (Fire Leader), the aim of this set is to set Rain Dance as soon as possible to nerf all Fire type moves and to then either stay alive, dent opposing Pokemon or reset anything which tries to set up using Haze. Acrobatics without an item maintains a power of 110 which outright dents anything which doesn't resist and for a large majority of Pokemon who are weak to it, will straight up One hit KO. Cross Poison is only learnable using a Heart Scale with the move relearner, if this is too much effort and you still want Physical Poison STAB, Poison Fang is recommended due to it's nifty 50% chance to badly poison its target. Due to its high speed, Air Slash is also a good move for this slot, although it's not as strong as Acrobatics and Crobat has a lower Special Attack stat, Air Slash can be used to pick up flinches for extra damage. If Crobat wasn't needed to safely handle Charlotte, it would be more than likely that Crobat would be either C or B rank at best.

Toxicroak, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Dry Skin
Moves: Cross Chop (Egg move), Drain Punch (Egg Move), Poison Jab, Sucker Punch, Bullet Punch (Egg move), Nasty Plot, Sludge Bomb/Sludge Wave, Shadow Ball, Hidden Power Grass, Vacuum Wave.
Why: Toxicroak is a generic offensive Poison type that can go through both sides of the spectrum. It can run an all out offensive set or a Nasty Plot set, although the former is more reliable. Toxicroak's Fighting typing that is effective against Steel types in tandem with Dry Skin that gives it a Water immunity and passive healing in rain, giving it great sustain alongside Drain Punch. With stats very similar to Nidoking's, Toxicroak unfortunately doesn't reach it's league or coverage or power with the lack of Bulk Up/Swords Dance (unless pre-13 breed) and Nasty Plot sets are completely outclassed by the Drill Pokemon's Special Attacks. Generally, Dry Skin does give it a bonus over Nidoking, but Toxicroak just can't hit as hard although it makes up for it with the ability to abuse it's attack better, as well as the sustain Drain Punch/Dry Skin provide. There isn't a particular drawback in using Toxicroak -- it's just that Nidoking covers more and with more power as well, but having Toxicroak on your team means your attacker is more resillient, and of course, a Water immunity is greatly appreciated.

Venomoth, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Shield Dust, Tinted Lens, Wonder Skin (Personal Preference)
Moves: Quiver Dance, Bug Buzz, Psychic, Sleep Powder/Struggle Bug
Why: Venomoth is a Pokemon which can be a major asset to any Poison team that decides to play through Pokemon Reborn. With its neat Bug typing, Venomoth gains STAB from moves such as Bug Buzz, Signal Beam and Struggle Bug all of which can be very useful in different parts of Reborn such as against Radomus. Venomoth's ability is up to personal preference, all of its abilities are good and depend on what you'd rather have, Shield dust prevents secondary effects of moves happening to Venomoth; so that means no Special Def drop from Acid Spray, no Scald burns or Air Slash flinches. Tinted Lens doubles the power of all not very effective moves, allowing for it to essentially hit most of the game for neutral damage unless you're attacking a Pokemon with a 4x resistance. Wonder Skin is arguably the best ability of the 3, turning all 100% accurate status moves into 50% accurate moves; which means moves like Spore, Thunder Wave, Taunt, Sand Attack, Torment and Trick will only hit 50% of the time. Venomoth's move set is fairly straight forward, if you have it early game, it's recommended to run Struggle Bug in the Quiver Dance slot since that will allow you to drop opponent's special attack and do damage at the same time. Bug Buzz or Signal beam earlier on in game will act as Venomoth's main STAB and Psybeam/Psychic will act as Venomoth's secondary attacks which will be used to hit Fighting and other Poison types for super effective damage. Lastly sleep powder is a fairly self explanatory move, putting your opponent to sleep and allowing you to set quiver dance if you've learned it, to grind their special attack down with Struggle Bug if you haven't, heal up with potions or just to get a few free moves off while your opponent sleeps.

Muk, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Poison Touch
Moves: Gunk Shot, Curse (Egg move), Shadow Punch (Egg move), Shadow Ball, Flamethrower, Brick Break, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Acid Spray, Acid Armor
Ability: Poison Touch
Why: Muk's an odd Pokemon but surprisingly strong under the right hands. With high HP, Attack, and Special Defense, Muk is debatably one of if not the best Curse user on a Poison type run. With acquirable physical moves such as Gunk Shot, Shadow Ball and Brick Break, as well as an array of Special moves like Flamethrower and Acid Spray, it can act as an offensive force from both spectrums as a bulky tank. Acid Armor can make it borderline unbreakable as a tank, but is otherwise inferior to Curse which also boosts Attack.

Weezing, analysis by Chubb

Ability: Levitate
Moves: Sludge Bomb, Explosion/Destiny Bond, Pain Split, Poison Gas/Haze/Toxic Spikes
Item: Black Sludge
Why: Weezing is another defensive Poison type Pokemon, so it's probably going to be outclassed by something, whether it be Amoonguss or Muk or whatever, but it does have a very useful niche: Levitate. Weezing, Crobat, and Gengar (who is not available in E15 anymore) are the only Poison types with an immunity to Ground type moves (especially Earthquake), and Weezing is probably your best bet if you wanted a bulky Pokemon of those three. It also can learn Sludge Bomb, which has a 30% chance of Poison, which is pretty useful for wearing Pokemon down, but if you want something guaranteed, Poison Gas and Toxic Spikes are also possibilities. Haze can be useful if your opponent tries to set up, such as Florinia's Cradily. There's also Pain Split and your Black Sludge for some recovery, but if you know you're about to faint, use Explosion or Destiny Bond! Overall, Weezing is a very useful bulky Poison type with its Levitate, even if there are better Poison types. If only we had TM Will-o-Wisp...

B Rank:
Vileplume. analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Chlorophyll/Effect Spore
Moves: Giga Drain, Moonblast, Grassy Terrain, Toxic
Item: Doesn't matter (Black Sludge/Leftovers if possible)
Why: At a glance, this moveset seems like the most circumstantial thing ever, and trust me; it is. But the thing about this set is that it's circumstantial and it works an absolute WONDER for Poison and likely would for Grass as well. Giga Drain's purpose is a main STAB move and is the move you'll be using on anything that's not a Dragon, Dark or Fighting type. Moonblast handles the aforementioned types and offers some nice coverage. (Side note: This move is learned by Oddish and Oddish only at Level 43.) Grassy Terrain is the entire reason why you should even consider using Vileplume, Grassy Terrain may only last 5 turns, but whilst it's in effect the current terrain is nullified and on top of that you can switch to a Pokemon in back and corrupt it using Sludge Wave! Even better is when this move is used in tandem with a Pokemon such as Dragalge in doubles and you have the field corrupted on the same turn to maximize effectiveness. Lastly, Toxic is on the set so Vileplume isn't a sitting duck if something which isn't Steel or Poison tries to stall it out and assists in taking out bulky boss Pokemon such as a certain Ditto... For Vileplume, you can pick your ability based on whatever you think works best for you since both Abilities have their merits; Chlorophyll will allow you to outspeed Fire types in the sun and quickly get off a Grassy Terrain/Toxic or Effect Spore has the nifty 30% chance to Poison, Paralyze or put your opponent to sleep if they touch you.

Garbodor, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Aftermath
Moves: Acid Spray, Toxic Spikes, Spikes, Sludge Bomb/Sludge Wave, Gunk Shot, Hidden Power Fire/Ground, Toxic, Body Slam.
Why: Garbodor as an early game grab (Trubbish) offers pretty nice utility in the form of Toxic Spikes, which is really helpful in wearing down important people such as gym leaders. It's particularly useful in Doubles due to Acid Spray support that means your Special Attackers will do much more damage to a select Pokemon. If you do breed it, it also gets Spikes which again can rack up damage for easier kills. If Toxic Spikes support is undesirable, it can directly use Toxic or attempt a Paralyze with Body Slam. Garbodor's effectiveness diminishes as you proceed into the mid-game where it's utility is no longer as appreciated with the threats being more powerful and things growing to be more fast paced, and Spikes support isn't that good of a thing as it comes to the later stages.

Victreebel, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Chlorophyll
Moves: Leaf Blade, Giga Drain, Leaf Storm, Venoshock, Power Whip, Knock Off, Growth, Bullet Seed, Natural Gift, Acid Spray, Sleep Powder, Weather Ball, Nature Power, Hidden Power Fire/Ice/Ground/Rock.
Why: Victreebel is, in short words, outclassed by both Venusaur and Roserade on both spectrums, although Victreebel has a wider movepool consisting of Knock Off and Natural Gift that is more reliable than Nature Power. In that sense, teams looking for a more physically orientated Grass/Poison type Pokemon can opt for Victreebel. Victreebel's frailty means it is also heavily reliant on sun support which is something Poison monos cannot consistently offer, making it a fragile, but slow, glass cannon.

Scolipede, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Speed Boost
Moves: Baton Pass, Iron Defense, Protect, Toxic, Megahorn, Pin Missile, Bulldoze, Rock Tomb, Double-Edge, Spikes, Toxic Spikes, Endeavor
Why:Scolipede is actually a must have for every team since it can help you Rock Climb for important items. Jokes aside, with the inherent lack of usable attack moves and Swords Dance, Scolipede can only transist to become a defensive supporter with the ability to Baton Pass Speed boost and set up Toxic Spikes or Spikes. These traits make it a coveted Pokemon competitively but sadly this isn't as relevant enough to prove significant for a higher ranking especially with the limited options it has, particularly the very essential Swords Dance. As a natural possessor of both Protect and Toxic, Toxic stall is another option while it racks up passive Speed boosts to provide to allies. Scolipede does have a fairly devastating tool in the form of STAB Megahorn, though, which acts as a very powerful tool against opposing Psychic types. Using Scolipede generally weighs the team down with unwanted weaknesses on the special side and it is generally outclassed by other Pokemon in their roles apart from its ability to Baton Pass Speed boost and the offensive pressure it provides to Psychic types. Granted, Scolipede's niche is something no other Pokemon can effectively fulfill, but it won't prove as significant until Swords Dance shows up.

Tentacruel, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Clear Body/Liquid ooze/Rain Dish
Moves: Surf, Sludge Wave, Hydro Pump, Acid Spray, Waterfall, Poison Jab, Mirror Coat (Egg move), Knock Off (Egg move), Venoshock, Hidden Power Grass/Electric/Ice, Toxic Spikes, Brine.
Why: Tentacruel has a unique typing and stat distribution. Tentacruel's Water typing means it's one of the Poison-types that possess effective countermeasure against Ground types, which alone can give merit. Tentacruel can play as an offensive, fast sweeper or a defensive tank as it's stats allow it to do so depending on what is preferable. With STAB on both spectrums as well as niche moves in Knock Off and Mirror Coat, Tentacruel generally contributes signaturely in it's special defending prowess and high speed. At the end of the day, though, Tentacruel's offenses are fairly lackluster especially without Swords Dance, and Rapid Spin's significance is mediocre at best in-game. As such, Tentacruel has it's merits, but a jack-of-all-trades, master of none, and as such from every spectrum (with the exception of Mirror Coat and a Water STAB as niches) is outclassed by most things in their roles.

C Rank:

Arbok, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Intimidate/Shed Skin
Moves: Acid Spray, Crunch, Glare, Stockpile/Screech OR Coil, Gunk Shot, Glare/Iron Tail/Rock Tomb, Crunch/Bulldoze/Rock Tomb
thank u snek
Why: Anybody who knows me, knows I love Snek Arbok, but Arbok is a strange Pokemon in that he can do many different roles in the game, but at one point he becomes almost completely useless. From the second it learns Glare, Ekans/Arbok is a Pokemon which can cripple your opponents with the equivalent of a Thunder Wave that can hit Ground types and still paralyzes Ghosts. The first set revolves around crippling your opponent and bringing them down so either Arbok itself can secure the kill or his team mate, after getting a Glare off, Acid Spraying and Screeching your opponent becomes quite easy especially if you're running Intimidate against a Physical attacker. Something else to note is that the second set is better but Coil isn't learned until 54 and Gunk shot until 63 which brings us to why Arbok is C tier. For a large portion of the game, when Arbok should be doing the most work, it sits in a form of limbo where the first set is no longer viable (Levels 45+) but it doesn't yet have the tools to capitalize off of its marginally bigger attack stat. As well as this, if Sucker Punch was learnable through Reborn and Poison jab was a TM around Level 45 it would be likely that Arbok would be able to rise to B Rank.

Skuntank, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Aftermath
Moves: Flamethrower, Night Slash, Crunch (Egg move), Play Rough (Egg move), Iron Tail, Toxic.
Why: Skuntank is cursed as a Poison type without an effective Poison STAB, but some neat moves like Play Rough, Iron Tail and a Dark STAB to complement it. It's got Flamethrower for Steel back up and high HP and decent Attack/Speed makes it seem fair for a run. Skuntank doesn't particularly offer a lot apart from it's slightly more diverse physical movepool and typing, and is heavily outclassed by a lot of physical Pokemon in undertaking roles for your team, particularly Drapion. It would have far more merit if you bred it pre-13, but otherwise it's options are very limited. Edit: Flamethrower is helpful for reliably handling Fern's Ferroseed/Ferrothorn until Flamethrower/Hidden Power becomes available to the player later on in the game and is the sole reason this Pokemon is not D Rank.

Ariados, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Swarm/Sniper/Insomnia
Moves: Poison Jab, Cross Poison, Megahorn (Egg move), Sucker Punch, Night Slash, Shadow Sneak, Sticky Web, Agility, Baton Pass (Egg move), Toxic Spikes (Egg move), Pin Missile, Bug Bite, Fell Stinger.
Why:It's safe to say that Ariados has one of the more odd niches on a Poison run -- Sticky Web. One of five Bug/Poison types available on a Poison run, Ariados is the only user of the move, and Sticky Web can prove effective on the later parts of the game. Ariados shouldn't be something you should be training up until you've beaten Aya and are inclined to do the work for it, since Ariados is bad as an early game start and should only be trained separately once you can actually effectively train it. That aside, Ariados does have a couple of tools it can use, having a slightly better physical movepool than Scolipede than includes priority as well as the ability to abuse Sniper. Baton Passing and Toxic Spikes support are better done by other things, though. Ariados, unfortunately, is more flawed than gifted as its low speed and lackluster stats make it hard pressed to effectively do anything.

Seviper, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Infiltrator/Shed Skin
Moves: Sludge Wave, Flamethrower, Coil, Poison Jab, Hidden Power Ice/Ground/Water, Crunch, Iron Tail (Egg move), Bulldoze, Dark Pulse, Venoshock, Glare.
Why: Unlike its serpentine counterpart Arbok, Seviper can run both a special offensive and physically offensive set. Seviper is one of the few Poison types with access to Flamethrower, which is a decent tool in warding off Steel types. Its Coil set is generally inferior to Arbok's, however, and its low Speed and lackluster defenses despite good offense means it's hard pressed to do much of anything, whereas Arbok has a slightly more comfortable speed and Intimidate to make up for it slightly.

Dustox, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Shield Dust
Moves: Venoshock, Bug Buzz, Light Screen, Quiver Dance, Hidden Power Fire/Ice/Rock/Ground, Protect, Toxic, Moonlight, Venoshock, Electroweb.
Why: Dustox would have been banished to the ever lower depths if it weren't for the niche of it being capable of setting up Light Screen and having reliable recovery to complement Toxic Stall. In such a case, Dustox's Light Screen support and Toxic Stall capabilities can be effective under the right circumstances, and it has Quiver Dance to help slightly with its stat issues. Dustox's stats are a general letdown, however, and this prohibits it from doing its job effectively.

D Rank:

Beedrill, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Swarm/Sniper
Moves: Toxic Spikes, Poison Jab, Agility, Pin Missile, Endeavor, Fell Stinger, Assurance, Brick Break, Acrobatics
Why: Beedrill is generally a bad Pokemon until it gets it's Mega. It struggles heavily to carve any notable niche for itself; additional coverage moves in Brick Break and Acrobatics as well as a reliable Poison STAB in Poison Jab won't differentiate it too positively from Scolipede or anything else, even with Fell Stinger. Its Bug typing just means it gives an extra unneeded weakness, nor are its stats appealing enough. Until it gets X-Scissor, Swords Dance, and a Mega, the insect will probably be doomed in the lower rankings, unloved and unused.

Swalot, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Liquid Ooze
Moves: Sludge Wave, Sludge Bomb, Gunk Shot, Venoshock, Hidden Power Fire/Ground/Fighting, Curse, Pain Split, Destiny Bond, Encore, Amnesia, Yawn.
Why: Swalot is, in every way, an inferior Muk. Worse so you get Grimer earlier than you can get Gulpin anyway. It's movepool is inferior apart from the niche Pain Split, which is ineffective, Encore, or Acid Armor/Amnesia, all of which aren't really that viable in-game over competitive use. The only things it can do are provide Encore or Sleep support, and even then it doesn't do so that reliably. Whatever you do, use Muk over this thing.

E Rank:

S Rank:

Ditto, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Imposter
Move: Transform
Why: 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.

Stoutland, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Sand Rush/Intimidate/Scrappy (Any can work)
Moves: Retaliate, Crunch, Play Rough, Fire/Ice/Thunder Fang/Sandstorm
Why: A hard hitter in every sense, with access to three handy abilities. Sand Rush will help in sandstorms for that extra boost of speed, while Intimidate gives it more offensive power, whereas Scrappy gives you the ability to fire off some stronger moves like STAB Retaliate on unexpected switch ins. It has a fantastic movepool, including the nuke Retaliate, Crunch for those Steel-Ghost types or Ghosts in general if it stays in, Play Rough which comes in real handy for fairies, fighting types, and even Ice Fang/Thunder Fang/Fire Fang, though I'd recommend Ice as you really don't have much ice moves on a normal mono. It's quite defensive with 85/90/90, but it won't be able to tank too much hits. my stoutland in particular, despite not having intimidate, managed to hang on on a few 3-5% HP basis, just sufficiently strong enough to OHKO/severely dent the opponent's mon. However, if anything is a let down, it'll be lack of recovery (remedied by buying tons of ice cream), lack of speed (sandstorm...is really quite meh, since Stoutland himself can't learn it, so you'll have to waste a slot on Heliolisk/Tauros/Diggersby etc to get the Sand Rush speed)) or lack of the ability to stay in if you're using Retaliate (You really will miss not having a normal STAB like Take Down, Hyper Voice, etc 90 Base Power moves, especially when Retaliate has a meager 5PP). However, this mon is certainly one to consider on your team!

Diggersby, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Huge Power
Moves: Earthquake, Hammer Arm/Swords Dance/Quick Attack, Bounce/Swords Dance/Quick Attack, Strength
Why: Diggersby is unique with access to Earthquake, Hammer Arm and Bounce all together in one same mon. Combine this with Huge Power and you get a really really good steel/rock type killer if for some reason you do not have Pyroar on your team. Diggersby is able to launch strong attacks at the early game, especially once you get strength, given it's low level evolution and fantastic ability Huge Power. Bounce helps against some fighting types, Hammer Arm is really a filler, Earthquake is Earthquake and needs no further mention. Swords Dance although it is a Move Reminder move, can be used to super charge Diggersby's attack and allow it to break even the sturdiest of walls. Letdowns include another weakness to water if you're already taking Pyroar, and a extra weakness to grass. It's not-very-impressive speed is also somewhat of a let down, and it's movepool sadly has not much for ghost types, thus making it useless in some battles. However its speed can be rectified to a certain degree using Quick Attack adding the ability to either get chip damage or finish off a Pokemon you just miss the OHKO on or bring to sturdy.

Snorlax, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Thick Fat

Moves: Body Slam/Double Edge (Egg move), Crunch, Curse (Egg move), Zen Headbutt (Egg move)/Brick Break/Heavy Slam

Why: Due to Blissey's lack of access to support and status moves in Reborn such as Toxic/Thunder Wave and Wish (Gen 3 event) and Chansey's lack of Eviolite and said support moves/status; Snorlax presents itself as the best special sponge available to the Normal Monotype in Reborn. Boasting a MASSIVE 160 HP and 110 Special Defense, Snorlax will eat pretty much any special move that is thrown its way (and any food). What lets Snorlax down, however is its lackluster 65 Defense stat which will see it fall to even the weakest of STAB Fighting moves. This set aims to rectify that let down and give Snorlax a very good chance of sweeping, by breeding Curse onto Snorlax, it turns into the kind of Pokemon that if given a turn or two will sweep entire teams. Body Slam acts as basic STAB with a great chance to Paralyze added on top of the already respectable 85 base power. Crunch is used to fix up Snorlax (and normal's) issues with Ghost types and the last slot is entirely up to personal preference. Zen Headbutt can be used to smack any fighting type Pokemon that are slower or whom you tank a hit from/catch on the switch. Brick Break can be used to hurt Pokemon like Tyranitar and Bisharp who would normally either OHKO or 2HKO it without boosts. Bulldoze can be used as a weaker Earthquake and can hit Steel and Rock types for Super Effective damage. Lastly Heavy Slam can be used to absolutely flatten any Rock type which is lighter than Snorlax (which isn't a whole lot). Although its Physical defense can be disappointing in many different circumstances, this can be rectified by using one of Normal's many Intimidators such as Staraptor, Tauros or Stoutland. Despite this, Snorlax can act as an amazing form of win condition against AI whom lack a decent physical Fighting STAB user.

A Rank:

Ambipom, analysis by ChubbThePig

Ability: Technician or Pick up (If you want a pickup slave)
Moves: Fake Out, Last Resort OR Fake Out, Double Hit, Pursuit/Shadow Claw, Brick Break/Acrobatics OR Fake Out, Double Hit, Nasty Plot/Agility, Baton Pass
Why: Ambipom sadly doesn't get too many of its great moves yet, but it is still very resourceful, especially with its wonderful Attack and Speed. First there's the classic Fake Out (STAB and Technician boosted) with Last Resort (Base 140 STAB), which is the "nuke option". If you don't like only having two moveslots filled, you can go for a set with more coverage, utilizing STAB and Technician boosted Fake Out and Double Hit, along with Technician boosted Pursuit and Acrobatics or just the decent Shadow Claw and Brick Break. If you feel that Ambipom's movepool is just too lacking, you can go for a Baton Pass set with Nasty Plot or Agility, to pass along to better Special attackers! Be careful, as Ambipom is fairly frail, but Ambipom has potential to be a very hard hitter or a speedy stat passer!

Helioptile, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Dry Skin
Moves: Thunderbolt, Surf, Grass Knot/Dark Pulse, Electric Terrain/HP Ice/Thunder Wave
Why: One of the more prominent normal Pokemon, with the ability to use a variety of attacks including Thunderbolt, Surf, Grass Knot, Dark Pulse and most notably, Electric Terrain. Should you be in a pickle and need to use an electric/water move, just hit Electric Terrain and then click Surf and sweep! (RIP Trainers in Charlotte's team) Do beware that it sadly doesn't hit ground types very well though. Should you choose to soft reset for HP Ice, that is also beneficial as you'll eventually need to hit Flygon/Dragonite/Gliscor/Gligar etc along the way, especially if you don't have an Ice/Dragon/Fairy move for some reason. Moreover, you'll be able to Paralyze opponents with Thunder Wave if it's to your liking. Despite such benefits, it has sadly horrible defenses, which is what stops it from being too broken. As a side note, Helioptile is hard to train, which might be a mild put-off when you realize it's the weakest in your team.

Pyroar, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Unnerve
Moves: Flamethrower, Hyper Voice, Work Up, Dark Pulse/Noble Roar
Why: People would think Pyroar is shit. I say that pyroar is one of your sole answers to bug/steel types and a quick special attacker. Pyroar gets early Flamethrower, Hyper Voice, Work Up to boost your SpAtk, and even Overheat as a nuke. It'll greatly help you when in various arenas - Hyper Voice is boosted in the Caves and Samson/Ciel's Arena, Flamethrower benefits from the Grassy Terrain, Fire moves are perfect in Charlotte's gym etc. It also serves as a great Ice Type murderer at Serra/Blake (once you get Hail + Field out of the way) as the other options you have are Hammer Arm Diggersby or Reversal Bouffalant or Brick Break mons, which are a little shaky to use sometimes due to lack of STAB and power. Generally, it provides coverage and a strong special attacking option. Let downs include useless abilities, not the best movepools (It does learn Dark Pulse though) and not very stellar defenses.

Staraptor, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Reckless
Moves: Brave Bird, Close Combat, Quick Attack/Double Edge (egg move), Final Gambit
Why: Staraptor gets lots of love from Normal Mono, as it is really one of the stronger attackers in game. It has ridiculously strong attack, paired with possible Reckless Brave Bird Spams, which will murder most fighting types. It also gets Close Combat, another very hard hitting move, despite it not having STAB. When Staraptor comes in, generally expect something to go out, as it really does have a terrifying destructive power, especially when dealing with weakness such as Fighting Types and Steel Types in general. It also outclasses Braviary by a bit base on it's speed stat - generally you'll want to try to outspeed Toxicroak, Lucario, Hitmonlee before unburden, Medicham, Sawk, Gallade etc, which Braviary (one of the stiff competitors) can't do due to lackluster speed and most of these mons being able to Rock Slide/Stone Edge/(insert attacking move) here to death. Bonuses include being able to destroy Fern even harder! Sadly, it is THE definition of a glass cannon - Close Combat lowers already-not-so-good defenses, Brave Bird causes horrible recoil, and you generally don't find it alive after a short amount of time. Nevertheless, it is one very vital mon for normal monos!

Bouffalant, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Reckless
Moves: Head Charge, Megahorn, Swords Dance, Pursuit/Bulldoze/Revenge
Why:This guy has a monstrous attack stat in the form of Reckless Head Charge. It is able to spam Head Charges and taking a few large chunks of HP off the opponent, simultaneously searching for instances to use Swords Dance to boost it's fantastic attack to greater levels. It even gets Megahorn, one of the coveted types in reborn, as bug helps greatly against mons like Mewtwo, Malamar (if you live) etc perky mons that could otherwise spell trouble. Bulldoze, Pursuit and Revenge are also considerable options, but generally it'll really just be Head Charge, Megahorn and Swords Dance. This mon is also quite bulky, even bulkier than Stoutland. However, do take note of certain drawbacks. It usually won't be much help against the Malamar that Radomus and Luna has due to you not being able to set up, retain max HP and KO with Megahorn. It suffers from low speed and quite a small movepool. Nevertheless, bug moves are quite vital in this game, thus it should not be neglected.

B Rank:

Tauros, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Sheer Force/Intimidate
Moves: Take Down/Thrash, Zen headbutt, Bulldoze/Payback, Work up
Why: Contrary to it's counterpart Bouffalant, Tauros has a few other things going for it. It gets a good speed and ability, combined with Sheer Force for power output or Intimidate for longevity. It is really really fast, has same output power as Ambipom, same speed as Ambipom, better defenses than Ambipom, making it look really really good. That is, until you realize that Tauros literally gets Zen Headbutt, Thrash/Take Down/Giga Impact, Bulldoze/Payback and.....Work Up? It doesn't get Fake out, has nothing special in it's movepool, and has not very good defenses, leading to you hesitating to want someone just merely for the speed/strength combo, especially when Ambipom gets so much better moves (please refer Ambipom analysis) and Tauros not being THAT bulky anyway. It's outclassed, but certainly usable. just bear in mind there's another really really good option out there.

Fearow, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Sniper
Moves: Aerial Ace/Drill Peck, Pursuit/Assurance, Drill Run, Roost
Why: It has the highest attacking stat among all birds. Meet Fearow, one of the early game MVPs, the bird who will be the reason why you are able to kill one or two of Kiki's mons. Fearow is a really good mon, considering it gets Aerial Ace really really early, and has a really low evolution level, and a not-bad attacking stat couples with a quite-okay speed tier. All other available bird Pokemon early game have lower attack stats than Fearow, with the exception being Unfezant, which for some reason doesn't get a single physical flying type attacking move. Fearow's literally your best choice. However, it can't really pull much weight late game, especially when you're at the point where you don't need a flying type that much (i.e. After Samson) and when Staraptor is a few more routes away. It's frail defenses also cause it to dissapear quickly from the battlefield.

Exploud, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Scrappy
Moves: Boomburst/Hyper Voice, Surf, Flamethrower, Dark Pulse
Why: Boombox! This guys has access to the holy combination of Scrappy Boomburst, which translates to the ability to hit very very very hard with STAB Boomburst, stopped only by steel or rock types, who never had much SpDef to begin with (with some exceptions of course). Sadly it isn't very very good as it has only 92 SpAtk (Please give it a mega with more SpAtk gamefreak), not very good speed (68 base) and not a lot of coverage moves until post Samson (surf, flamethrower, dark pulse, shadow ball). Combine that with average defenses and you get a very niche pokemon - albeit a nice niche, considering the strength of Boomburst.

Bibarel, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Moody
Moves: Waterfall, Superpower, Rollout, Hyper/Super Fang
Why: Do not ask why I give Bibarel high rankings. The almight god of Moody has been graced.
Okay on to serious notes, he has Moody. Enough said. You give it some potions, some hoping for hax, and you have an unbeatable monster in singles (doubles....you don't survive long). Rollout helps with some flying/bug mons, Waterfall/Surf STAB gives you some rock/ground/fire coverage, and it even gets superpower! While it's not THAT strong, do keep in mind that if you're really lucky, those stat drops CAN be offset by Moody. Not a brilliant mon as an overall, but one who pulled me through certain hard battles, and deserves more love.

But you WILL need about 5 Berry Ice Creams.

Chatot, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Big Pecks/Tangled Feet
Moves: Chatter, Boomburst (Egg move), Nasty Plot (Egg move), Roost/HP Fire/HP Ground
Why: It gets Chatter, Sing, Hyper Voice, Boomburst, Nasty Plot and Roost, and that's about it. However, do take note that Chatter has 100% accuracy and 100% chance of confusing the opponent. A not-bad speed tier with a not-bad SpAtk stat leads to not-bad damage output. Some hax left and right, and you'll be seeing chatot sweep teams. Some bad hax, however, leave you with a dead parrot, since it's really really really frail. Nevertheless, it is an option to consider, as Chatot is really really fun to use.

C Rank:

Wigglytuff, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Competitive
Moves: Hyper Voice/Body Slam, Flamethrower/Wish, Play Rough, Charge Beam/Perish Song (Egg move)
Why: Play Rough and Body Slam from a Wigglytuff isn't a lot, but it can do some damage. It serves as a support by ridding/denting fighting/dark types, paralyzing opponents with Body Slam, lowering attack stats with Charm and using Perish Song to end lives. However, it is really really really frail. It's HP is a big lie - it is actually really bad especially when you choose to either have Wish or Perish Song, and typically the latter is more useful as you don't really get protect and you'll need/want to win some boss battles (Take that Solaris) and kill some mons when your last teammate can't beat but can stall out with potions (looking at rivals like fern, or leaders). But it's attack stat is really really really horrible, gets no special fairy moves.....yea, better options exist.

D Rank:

Blissey, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Natural Cure

Moves: Softboiled, Seismic Toss (Egg move), Heal Bell (Tutor move)/Aromatherapy (Egg move), Light Screen/Minimize

Why: In the competitive Pokemon Metagame, Blissey is one of the best special walls/clerics available due to it having access to amazing utility based moves such as Wish (coupled with an incredible base 255 HP), Heal bell and Toxic/Seismic Toss for damage output. Due to her virtually non existent Physical Attack stat and poor Special Attack stat, Blissey makes for a very poor Attacker (Unless used in Glitch field in which case it has amazing special attack). Sadly in Reborn (and most other Pokemon games) Wish is unavailable to Blissey since it is available strictly from a Gen 3 event which no longer exists. For Blissey it only gets worse for her in Reborn, needing breeding to learn Seismic Toss; its only viable damage output and Aromatherapy which heals all status across your team. However if you do decide to use Blissey you can utilize the moves it DOES have to stall out your opponent whilst keeping yourself healthy, Softboiled will constantly restore 50% of your health upon use and with Seismic Toss/Minimize you could probably stall out a few boss battle Pokemon if you're lucky enough to sponge the first hit. Lastly, the second that the Eviolite item becomes available in Reborn; Blissey will find herself (in every fashion) outclassed by Chansey's superior physical and special bulk. If your team requires special bulk, Snorlax should always be used over Blissey unless you're completely and utterly desperate for a Light Screener/Aromatherapy user.

E Rank:

S Rank:

Scrafty, analysis by foovy10

Ability: Shed Skin (Balanced Set up Sweeper)/Intimidate (Defensive/Support)/Moxie (Offensive Sweeper)
Moves: (Pick 4 which suit you and your ability best) High Jump Kick, Brick Break, Crunch, Dragon Dance (Egg move), Head Smash, Ice Punch (Egg move), Fire Punch (Egg move), Thunder Punch (Egg move), Dragon Dance (Egg move), Drain Punch (Egg move),
Why: Ok lets talk about this guy. First he has the dark typing which helps against psychic mons. This guy doesn't always need a turn to setup, when using moxie. When using this thing he has potential to one shot most things that aren't well defended against a High Jump Kick. I have destroyed people with this thing and I haven't bred 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. However it is kinda slow and if you want an incredible moveset on him you are gonna have to breed.

Blaziken, analysis by SkyRunner

Ability: Speed Boost
Moves: Sky Uppercut / High Jump Kick, Flare Blitz/Fire Punch/Blaze Kick, Rock Tomb, Bulk Up
Why: (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.

Toxicroak, analysis by SkyRunner

Ability: Dry Skin
Moves: Drain Punch (egg move), Poison Jab, Sucker Punch, Cross Chop (egg move), Bullet Punch (egg move)
Why: The Croagunk you find near Shade's Gym is worth training up. Poison Jab Toxicroak is a must have due to its useful typing against Fairies. Dry Skin with Drain Punch make for a Water-type immunity and good staying power. Its 4x weakness to Psychic is appalling, but Psychics can be covered by a Dark/Fighting dual-type, so it isn't much of an issue. It does suffer a bit from the lack of Bulk Up or Swords Dance, but I'd say that the ability to thrash Fairies and its Water immunity warrants an S Rank.

A Rank:

Hariyama, analysis by ChubbThePig

Ability: Guts or Thick Fat
Item: If running guts, Toxic Orb
Moves: Fake Out/Belly Drum, Close Combat, Knock Off, Heavy Slam/Bullet Punch/Bulldoze
Why: 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.

Heracross, analysis by SkyRunner

Ability: Moxie
Moves: Close Combat, Megahorn, Rock Blast (egg move), Night Slash
Why: STAB Close Combat and Megahorn are a devastating force, easily destroying the opponent even before the Moxie boost. Megahorn beats Psychics, Rock Blast birds. Heracross has only one downside, which is its less than optimal 85 Speed stat, meaning that it's likely that the Psychic and Flying-types in question will crush it instead until the Choice Scarf becomes available. Despite this flaw, Heracross is an excellent Fighting-type to use, and should never be passed up on a Fighting mono.

Gallade, analysis by SkyRunner

Ability: Inner Focus/Justified
Moves: Night Slash, Leaf Blade, Swords Dance, Psycho Cut, Close Combat, Destiny Bond (Egg Move)
Why: With good Attack and Special Defense, Gallade both hits hard and has decent bulk. Steadfast is good when fighting Pokémon that rely on flinching hax like Togekiss while Justified is useful for an extra Attack boost. Since the Ralts you get has an egg move, I'd opt for Destiny Bond as it helps with annoying boss Pokémon. Just sure to evolve Kirlia before Level 31 so that you have access to Psycho Cut, and you're set.

Medicham, analysis by SkyRunner

Ability: Pure Power
Moves: Psycho Cut (egg move), Drain Punch (egg move), High Jump Kick, Recover, Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Zen Headbutt (Move relearner)
Why: 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.

B Rank:

Pangoro, analysis by SkyRunner

Ability: Scrappy/Mold Breaker
Moves: Slash, Circle Throw, Karate Chop, Body Slam, Vital Throw, Crunch, Parting Shot
Why: 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.

Poliwrath, analysis by SkyRunner

Ability: Water Absorb
Moves: Waterfall, Body Slam, Wake-up Slap, Rock Tomb, Hypnosis, Belly Drum
Why: Waterfall and Wake-up Slap provide decent STABs, and Rock Tomb covers a Flying weakness. The reason why I'd give Poliwrath a B is that its shallow movepool hurts it dearly in Reborn. Waterfall is not obtained until Ametrine, so its Water-type attacks are limited to Dive, Surf, Hydro Pump and Bubblebeam until then, which is awful for a physical attacker. Also, if you want to run Body Slam, Belly Drum or Wake-up Slap, you need to keep it unevolved for a while, and let's not forget that Poliwrath will probably be your Dive/Surf/Waterfall HM Slave as well.

C Rank:

D Rank:

E Rank:

S Rank:
Archeops, analysis by SoraFalcon

Ability: Defeatist
Moves: Acrobatics, Rock Slide, U-Turn, Crunch/Dragon Claw
Why: 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.

A Rank:

Golem, analysis by SoraFalcon

Ability: Sturdy
Moves: Stone Edge, Earthquake, Stealth Rock, Explosion/Rock Polish
Why: Despite the fact this thing gets destroyed by Water/Grass pokemons this thing can still pack a punch when not against an unfavorable match-up. This thing can obliterate Aya and Serra and Charlotte and Ciel and Bennett which are 5 of Reborn's Leaders that are quite powerful. Even though Aya's field outright lowers the power of Earthquake, but it took down 3 of Aya's pokemons and I think that is pretty amazing. As for Stealth Rock it helped me a bunch against Serra and will soon help me against Charlotte and Ciel ( Fire and Flying Type ). Not only that, if in case you think you are gonna die, you can use Explosion to what I say is a Kamikaze Attack ( Suicidal Attack ). This move helps a lot especially against a Gym Leader whose type is not favorable against yours ( Aya's Dragalge and Tentacruel ). His Stone Edge comes in pretty handy as one of the rather strongest Rock Physical moves which completely outright destroys these Gym Leaders. Even with Field Advantage Golem can just outright take out 2 or more and if not at least 1 pokemon thanks to sturdy. With the power of his high base attack stat he shatters anyone and if you want to go for the sweep you can choose to go Rock Polish. Golem can take lots of physical hits but when it comes to special attack he ain't so great that's why I conclude that he is an A rank.

Omastar, analysis by SoraFalcon

Ability: Weak Armor/Swift Swim
Moves: Surf, Icy Wind, Ancient Power, Shell Smash
Why: 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 ).

B Rank:

Armaldo, analysis by SoraFalcon

Ability: Swift Swim/Battle Armor (Battle Armor preferably)
Moves: Rock Blast, X-Scissor, Crush Claw, Curse (Egg move)/Aqua Jet (Egg move)
Why: 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.

C Rank:

D Rank:

E Rank:

Continued in Second post due to OP exceeding character limit

[Revman]

S Rank:

Mamoswine, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

Ability: Thick Fat
Moves: Icicle Crash (Egg move), Ice Shard, Earthquake, Blizzard/Stealth Rock (Egg move)
Why: 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).

Excadrill, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

Ability: Sand Rush
Moves: Earthquake, Swords Dance, Rock Slide, Metal Claw
Why: 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 Attack 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.

Hippowdon, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

Ability: Sand Stream
Moves: Earthquake, Crunch/Curse (Egg move), Yawn/Ice/Fire/Thunder Fang/Rock Tomb, Slack Off (Egg move)
Item: Smooth Rock
Why: 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. Hippowdon's ability in Sand Stream allows it to support teammates such as Sand Stream Excadrill by providing them with Sand so they can sweep and preventing Weather such as rain that may hurt your team. 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.

A Rank:

Krookodile, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

Ability: Moxie
Moves: Earthquake, Crunch, Thunder/Fire Fang, Outrage
Why: 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.

Swampert, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

Ability: Torrent
Moves: Waterfall, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Hammer Arm/Curse (Egg move)/Avalanche (Egg move)
Why: Swampert is probably your best bet at a Water/Ground type, being both the bulkiest and the hardest hitting Pokémon amongst the 5 others which share its typing. 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 in Episode 15.

Nidoking, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

Ability: Sheer Force
Moves: Sludge Wave, Earth Power, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower, Megahorn, Shadow Claw, Poison Jab
Why: 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.

Flygon, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

Ability: Levitate
Moves: Dragon Claw, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Superpower, Crunch, Flamethrower
Why: 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.

Steelix, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

Ability: Sturdy/Sheer Force
Moves: Stealth Rock, Rock Polish, Rock Slide, Stone Edge, Iron Tail, Dig, Curse, Bulldoze, Heavy Slam (breeding from a Golem)
Why: 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.

Gliscor, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

Ability: Poison Heal
Item: Toxic Orb
Moves: Acrobatics, Thunder/Fire/Ice Fang, Poison Jab, X-Scissor, Night Slash, U-Turn, Sky Uppercut, Substitute
Why: 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.

Claydol, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

Ability: Levitate
Moves: Earth Power, Extrasensory, Ancient Power, Stealth Rock, Trick Room, Cosmic Power
Why: 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).

B Rank:

Camerupt, analysis by LeafAlcor

Ability: Solid Rock
Moves: Lava Plume/Eruption, Yawn, Earth Power/Earthquake, Amnesia
Why: Camerupt has an above average physical and special attack of 100 and 105 respectively, although either attacking type is reasonably viable for camerupt due to all its viable fire STAB moves being special i prefer this set, Camerupt is an amazing support for any and all ground monotypes as it is the only ground type that is also a fire type (with the exception of primal-groudon which will obviously never be available) making it the unrivaled best grass counter for ground types, additionally its available level up moves are excellent, being able to manipulate sleep status on any opponent with yawn while also building special bulk with amnesia, after one amnesia even a special water type attack would be hard pressed to KO Camerupt, it also gains further bulk through the ability Solid Rock which removes one quarter of all super effective damages to it, dulling the edge on all the most dangerous moves to it, Camerupt also gains the use of Lava Plume or Eruption both powerful moves and field breakers to boot (namely grassy and forest fields) Eruption favors a higher power but lava plumes power doesnt decrease with hp and has a high chance to burn the opponent/s (30%) giving it further bulk against the enemy, it also gains valuable STAB in the form of Earthquake and Earth Power, EQ is among the most common ground moves having 100 bp and being able to target everyone at once, while Earth Power favors special attackers and has the added benefit of ignoring the debuff of Aya's wasteland field. Overall Camerupt is the only available fire type to a ground mono, has extremely useful STAB moves and can circumvent or destroy many field effects that are dangerous to ground types making it a must-have for any ground monotype and therefore well worthy of S rank despite a low speed and 4x weakness to water.

Donphan, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

Ability: Sturdy
Moves: Earthquake, Knock off, Fire/Thunder Fang, Scary Face/Ice Shard (Egg Move)
Why: 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).

Golurk, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

Ability: No guard
Moves: Earthquake, Dynamic Punch, Shadow Punch/Phantom Force, Heavy Slam
Why: 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.

Seismitoad, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

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

Diggersby tho, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

Ability: Huge Power
Moves: Double Kick, Hammer Arm, Earthquake, Take Down, Agility/Swords Dance, Bounce
Why: 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!

Marowak, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

Ability: Battle Armor/Rock Head
Moves: Double Edge, Bonemerang, Iron Head, Belly Drum, Brick Break
Why: 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.

Rhydon, analysis by Chris P. Bacon

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

Torterra, analysis by LeafAlcor

Ability: Shell Armor
Item: bright powder, sash, anything that raises power of any of its attacking moves
Moves: Wood Hammer, Earthquake, Crunch, Curse/Leech Seed
Why: Torterra has a good typing to assist in a ground mono-type run having 95/105/85 is fairly decent defensive stats especially on defence, its ability Shell Armor is excellent giving it complete immunity to critical hits making it much easier to avoid RNG hax especially with breaking through stat bonuses which you can gain in defence with curse while simultaneously increasing your attack further, Torterra has an above average attack of 109 once again can be further increased by curse making its powerful STAB Wood Hammer and Earthquake even more formidable. Leech Seed is also a viable option if setting up will not work allowing it to recover hp or help allies even after fainting, Crunch is a bit of a filler move but it has decent power can lower opponents defence and is learned naturally by leveling like the rest of its set. Despite Torterra being a bulky strong STAB monster for ground it has a couple of minor short comings which makes it potentially only A rank, one of which is its typing which while good for countering water leaves it easily open to most ice type attacks if outsped which is sadly common due to its second shortcoming a low speed stat, Torterras last and largest problem is a lack of rock type attacks which it would usually get through Stone Edge or Rock Slide but are not available TM's at this time which would otherwise allow it to counter its personal weakness of flying types, and the mono-types general weakness to ice. Overall Torterra is a strong bulky Pokemon if a little slow and disadvantaged to ice, deserving a high A rank or low S rank in my opinion.

C Rank:

Wormadam-Sandy, Analysis by LeafAlcor

Ability: Overcoat
Moves: Struggle Bug, Bug Bite, Rock Blast, Attract/Captivate/Hidden Power
Why: Wormadam-Sandy has a good defence stat of 105 making it a reasonably bulky physically as well as having a good typing for a ground monotype (Bug/Ground), which combined with its ability overcoat makes it a menace to the usually dangerous grass types by taking only neutral damage from their STAB attacks and being immune to the common powder based moves on opposing bug and grass types (bye bye spore spammers); it has bug bite STAB to strike back against grass types and rock blast to slow down the physically frail ice threats (like Serra) and a semi decent doubles assistance move in the form of Struggle Bug (thanks Shelly) as well as attract and captivate to cripple opponents offence. However despite these helpful little niches Wormadam has quite a few noticeable shortcomings that set it back to only low C rank or even high D rank those being, low stats: having a sub par health stat of 65, Wormadam needs very high defences to make up for this which it got in physical defence but its special defence is only an average 85 coupled with its pitiful speed of 35 one or two hits from a decent special attacker in later game will make short work of it (as well as having rather poor offensive capabilities of 79 attack and 59 sp attack), additionally despite having one or two decent moves majority of Wormadam's viable movepool come from TM's (which are sadly limited in Reborn) or are exclusive to its trash cloak form. Overall Wormadam is a decent bug type option for ground monotypes in early game that can help support in double battles and counter difficult grass type pokemon trainers such as Florinia's gym and Ferns earlier battles, but's usage becomes more of a rare rotation as an occasional counter to pesky grass types due to its lack of speed, offence, special bulk and limited movepool.

D Rank:

E Rank:

S Rank:

Galvantula, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Compound Eyes/Swarm
Moves: Discharge/Thunder (When TM is available), Bug Buzz, Sticky Web, Rain Dance/Sucker Punch/Thunder Wave
Why: Galvantula's typing and its above average speed stat are two things which Bug really appreciates, and this is without factoring in something which I would say that puts it in S Rank -- Sticky Web. With a 108 speed stat, it's more than likely that Galvantula will outspeed whatever it is your facing off against and will be able to drop a sticky web so your ally Pokemon can clean house. One downside to Galvantula however is the lack of Thunder as a TM, if Thunder were available Galvantula would be able to fire off Thunders with 91 accuracy with due to Compound Eyes boosting its accuracy. As well as this, lack of access to Grass Knot and Energy Ball restrict its coverage against Ground types. The last move set can be dedicated to either hitting anything which outspeeds it (Sucker Punch) setting rain against problematic fire users like Charlotte or crippling opponents that would normally sweep the rest of your team (Thunder Wave). However due to it getting STAB from Discharge and the speed to be able to lay out Sticky Web before its cut in two by a decently strong move, Galvantula is a Pokemon that should always be considered for your Bug team.

Heracross, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Moxie
Moves: Megahorn, Close Combat, Rock Blast, Bulldoze
Why: With Moxie and several high powered moves like Megahorn and Close Combat, Heracross becomes easily one of the best Physical sweepers bug has to offer. As well as this, it gains STAB from Close Combat which allows it to straight up murder anything that's weak to it like Rock types which may give the rest of your team trouble. However it is not without its downside which is only one and that is its speed stat of a mere 85, even with a positive speed nature and 31 IVs you will find Heracross outsped unless you use Sticky Web support or until the Choice Scarf item becomes available. However this shouldn't demean the value of Heracross in any way, once Heracross gets one KO against your opponent it becomes a very difficult Pokemon to stop and more often than not you'll find Heracross winning you matches that you thought you may have lost.

A Rank:

Vivillon, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Compound Eyes
Moves: Hurricane, Bug Buzz, Quiver Dance, Powder/Sleep Powder
Why: Vivillon is a highly useful Pokemon for Bug Monos since without Volcarona, Scizor, and Scolipede with TM moves; bug lacks quite a bit of immediate power and usually requires a move such as quiver dance to be used or for Sticky Web to be up. It goes without saying that Vivillon definitely appreciates both of the aforementioned hazards but with Compound Eyes+Hurricane, Vivillon can fire off a massive 110 Base Power move with an Accuracy rate of 91 which is just slightly higher than moves like High Jump Kick and Dragon Tail. A quick look at Vivillons stats will quickly reveal to you as to why this Pokemon is not S Rank, with 89 speed and 90 special attack, this Pokemon has average sweeping potential on its own but this is where it finds its saving grace in Quiver Dance. If Vivillon finds an opportunity to get a quiver dance off, you'll be finding that not a whole lot of Pokemon are surviving Hurricane's stupid power. Bug Buzz acts as standard stab whilst in the last available slot Vivillon can opt to run one of two moves either Powder or Sleep Powder. The choice of either of these moves over the other is entirely down to preference, with Compound Eyes, Sleep Powder is achieving 91 Accuracy which means plenty of chances for free Quiver Dances should you survive before hand or outspeed. Whilst Powder is a very special move, being exclusive to Vivillon which has +1 Priority making the speed stat non-relevant for it, when using Powder if your target uses a Fire move, they will explode and lose 25% of their maximum health AND their move fails; since the Reborn AI doesn't learn, you can rinse and repeat the strategy against Charlotte.

Escavalier, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Overcoat/Swarm
Moves: X-Scissor/Megahorn (Egg move), Iron Head, Swords Dance/Knock Off (Egg Move)/Drill Run (Egg move), Swords Dance/Drill Run (Egg move)/Knock off (Egg move)
Why: Escavalier brings a combination of three very useful things to the table that no other available/non mega Pokemon can and that is a good Attacking stat (135), a neutrality to Flying and Rock and a solid defense stat (105). Although Escavalier's 4x weakness to fire may be immediately off putting to some, Escavalier's weakness is a form of blessing meaning it will only be hit for Super Effective damage by Fire types which compliments its Physical Bulk nicely. Coupled with Swords Dance, Iron Head and its defense stat more often than not Escavalier will be powering up against Physical Rock types and smacking them for a minimum of 80% on even the bulkiest of Rock types the next turn using Iron head which can pave the way for other Pokemon on your team to clean up. As well as being able to be used as a bulky attacker, Escavalier's typing and defensive stats allow it to be used as a defensive pivot so your team isn't completely swept when something stops your Quiver Dancers. X-Scissor and Iron Head are used as basic coverage and the last two slots are completely up to the user. Although I highly recommend Swords Dance, using 4 attacks with no set up is also a viable strategy and when we finally get access to a Choice band, makes one of the best Choice Band sets (In my opinion) in the game.

Crustle, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Sturdy
Moves: Shell Smash, Rock Slide, X-Scissor, Stealth Rock/Bulldoze
Why: Whilst sharing the same typing as Armaldo, Crustle sets itself aside from Armaldo with a movepool and ability which greatly compliment sweeping. After a Shell Smash Crustle isn't the speediest of Pokemon but for the most part it will outspeed what you need it to outspeed and will be able to smack them hard with a +2 base 95 Rock Slide or X-Scissor. The great thing about Crustle is that it doesn't need to Shell Smash for it to be useful for your team, by learning Stealth Rock from Level up it can greatly support your team against Fire and Flying types which will suffer 25% damage on the switch. Crustle's major downside however is its lackluster Special Defense stat and its mediocre HP stat meaning that if it's special and it hits you for Super Effective Damage that you'll be brought down to Sturdy. But against opponents such as Charlotte's Fire and Ciel's Flying, this is a Pokemon which can support the other Pokemon on your team to victory, assuming it doesn't do it itself after a Shell Smash.

B Rank:

Kricketune, analysis by Courtesy

Ability: Technician
Moves: Cut/Focus Energy, Struggle Bug, Fury Cutter, Sing
Why: Kriketune is incredibly important to a bug monotype run, because it's incredibly powerful and flexible as an early game sweeper.
It can learn Cut, which no other bug prior to that point can, and it has Fury Cutter, Focus Energy, Sing, and Struggle Bug as available skills all before you fight Florina, many before even Julia.
This means Kricketune can single-handedly wipe most of the pre-cory content, and it can even wipe out everything Cory plays: right until he sends out Crobat, which will use Venoshock and one-shot it
Kricketune continues to perform very well at least up till just past Shelly, consistantly taking out 3 or 4 pokemon before it gets burst down itself. Just sing>Focus Energy>Fury Cutter and you're good to go with just a bit of luck. Cut will be your fourth move if it's an HM slave, if you find something else to fill the HM's purpose though: keeping Struggle Bug makes it a pretty good support in double battles
I'd call it a B rank sweeper for the early game: while it handles everything slower than it by not even letting it start up it's moves, it suffers from very low defenses and the fact that Fury Cutter can miss. Fury Cutter is also very poor for general combat purposes due to it's low PP, in comparison to how frequently the move must be used. However it's a very solid sweeper in the early game, can learn HM's required to progress, and can be received without fighting more than 3 trainers. (Cain, Victoria, 1 random trainer blocking the way). It's also a kricketune, so what's not to love??? If you continue trying to use it into the late game, it can add some quality performance with Destiny Bond too, but honestly it's performance falls off once better bugs are available. It's undeniably a beast in the early game however.

Beautifly, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Swarm
Moves: Air Cutter, Bug Buzz/Struggle Bug, Quiver Dance, Giga Drain
Why: Beautifly is quite a strange Pokemon and many will question her positioning this high on the rankings, this is due to Beautifly being a sort of "Early Bloomer" hitting its fullest potential very early in game and getting access to a plethora of powerful moves which will be useful to any Mono Bug runner. By Level 25, Beautifly already has Mega Drain, Silver Wind, Air Cutter and Morning Sun or Stun Spore which allows it to act as a powerful early game special attacker and is one of the few bugs that gets access to a Special Flying that's not Gust. By Level 40, Beautifly reaches her fullest potential and is finally granted access to arguably the most useful Bug Move of all time, Quiver Dance allowing it to shift gears into an amazingly useful Special Sweeper when coupled with Air Cutter, Bug Buzz and Giga drain. However she is not without her drawbacks, her typing although useful for Air Cutter STAB makes her 4x to Rock moves, on top of this Beautifly lacks a reliable sweeping ability such as Compound Eyes or Tinted Lens that other Quiver Dancers such as Venomoth and Vivillon have access to. Around the Level 50 mark you will find Beautifly's usefulness and utility deteriorate as better Quiver Dancers such as Vivillon finally gain access to their own Quiver Dance and learn moves Beautifly can't such as Hurricane Vivillon. Although you'll find Beautifly outclassed later on in the game, its Niche early game is definitely something that shouldn't be overlooked.

Masquerain, analysis by Zane0144

Ability: Intimidate

Moves: hydro pump (egg move)/ bug buzz/ air slash/ water sport/ quiver dance/ rain dance

Why: Masquerain is a beast until at least half way through the game, and even regains some usefulness later on. Early game there are some very hard battles for bug. There are very few ways to hit steel types hard with the lack of fighting and ground moves, and fire types can be a nightmare without abusing sleep powder. But that's where this glorious little guy comes in, hitting things hard with Hydro pump and intimidating heavy hitters like garchomps and medichams. It even has a chance to flinch with its quiver boosted air slashes. It has a lot of value vs Cal and charolette. There are few ways for a bug team to get around those field boosted fire moves, but water sport really helps lessen the burn. This thing can sweep both any fir trainers easy with rain up. All you do is set a water sport and boost away as they do minimal damage to you. Cons. It is fragile and requires a bit of help to set up. It has low special attack that helps balance out the powerful quiver dances it gets too.

Foretress, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Sturdy

Moves: Bug Bite/Toxic Spikes/Stealth Rock (Egg move), Spikes, Gyro Ball/Payback, Explosion/Self Destruct/Payback/Stealth Rock (Egg move)/Toxic Spikes(Move Relearner)

Why: Found by headbutting a tree in Peridot or Onyx Ward, Pineco/Foretress is one of your first Pokemon and for at least the first half of your play through it will be your most useful Pokemon. The great part about Foretress is that you can mix and match your moveset to how you play, the not so great thing is that you're gonna be wishing it had 5/6 move slots instead of just 4. Sturdy is easily the best ability Foretress could wish for, as it essentially guarantees that it'll be able to fire off any sort of move or drop hazards if it would normally be OHKO'd at max health. As a Pineco it has a respectable 65 atk and solid 90 def which will allow it to tank hits and dish out relatively strong bug bites. Payback will eventually come through for you as verse Shade and quickly notice that your Bug mono is at the point where it lacks coverage such as Hurricane Vivillon, Knock off Anorith/Armaldo and set up from moves like Quiver Dance. Aside from its amazing 140 Physically Defensive bulk, Spikes and Stealth Rock is what sets it aside from other Bug/Steels like Escavalier and Durant. With your first layer of spikes doing 12% of damage and 3 layers doing 25% to any grounded Pokemon on switch, Foretress can use that to offer up a relatively unique niche to your team. As well as this you can breed Stealth rock onto Foretress which combined with Sturdy guarantees 25% against most Fire types with some taking 50% depending on their secondary typing and others 12% or even OHKOing Pokemon 4x weak to rock on Rocky Field. Lastly it can use Gyro ball as a nice STAB move to punish faster Pokemon and Explosion incase it's being set up upon and can't do anything else.

Butterfree, analysis ShatteredSkys

Ability: Compound Eyes or Tinted Lens

Moves: Sleep Powder, Tailwind/Psybeam, Bug Buzz, Quiver Dance

Why:I was honestly surprised how well butterfree fared during my playthrough. It managed to keep pace with my strongest member and rivaled my vivilion in use. While it's base stats are very low it has its stats in the place it needs; Speed, Sp attack, and Speed. During the early game butterfree can support your team with nearly every status and a fast evolution letting it handle many threats. As the game progresses it continues to support your team via compundeyes sleep powder letting you bypass many difficult threats. And around 46 it learns Quiver Dance, arguably one of the best setting up moves in the game which lets it sweep easily. However butterfree is far from perfect, though it has well distributed base stats its overall base stats are less than 400. In addition butterfree's movepool is very barren; it only learns bug buzz, and psybeam for coverage.(Though this is mitigated a little bit by tinted lens.)

C Rank:

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Wormadam-Sandy, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Overcoat

Moves: Bug bite, Tackle, Protect, Hidden Power

Why: This Pokemon when I used it had one purpose and one purpose alone: an immunity to electric versus Julia. It served that purpose and even then it was far from what I'd call an "MVP" despite that being the one role I had for it. The good thing about it though is that it has very good stats for such an early point in the game if you're willing to grind Burmy to Level 20, 105 defense when most of your opponent's attack stats are lucky to pass 80 of course is nothing to sneeze at. On top of this Wormadam's attack stat is 79 making it a fairly decent attacker with Bug Bite. Even in the fight that Wormadam shines in, it still finds itself 2hko'd by Blitzle's Flame Charge with nothing to OHKO it back with. As soon as the fight with Julia ends you'll find that Wormadam-Sandy just becomes that Pokemon on your team, losing speed ties due to its lack luster 36 Base speed leaving it outsped by even Gastrodon, missing OHKOs and getting OHKO'd itself. The next viable move it learns after evolution is Rock Blast at level 26 and by that point it's well and truly outclassed by literally everything and anything else bug has to offer you.

E Rank:

Ariados/Spinarak, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Insomnia
Moves: Poison Jab, Sticky Web, Sucker punch, X-Scissor/Night Shade
Why: Simply, this Pokemon is horrid. Early game I used a Spinarak against Julia because I was using every Bug I could get, but I was extremely underwhelmed when I discovered it only got Leech Life as bug STAB and even when Adamant with 31 Atk IVs and a 3 level advantage over Julia's Blitzle, I was lucky to be doing 1/4 of her max health. In other analysis' I've made an exception for a Pokemon being useful early game, such as Kricketune being able to do some hefty damage with Technician Fury Cutter. Spinarak and Ariados are one such evolutionary line which you will always regret using. With Ariados' bulk (if you can even call it that) being limited to 70/70/60, this Pokemon will seldom tank hits especially with it's medicore Bug/Poison typing. With a base speed of just 40 and a horridly underwhelming attack stat of 90 you will definitely notice Ariados getting outsped and missing many different KOs. The only reason why this Pokemon is even worth mentioning is because of Sticky Web, but due to Bug being a type which gets 100% of Sticky Web users aside from Smeargle; it finds itself outclassed even in that respect. This move set incorporates basic stab, with Sticky Web to lower opponents' speed by one stage and having Sucker Punch for Priority or Night Shade for a reliable damage output. If you have another option for your team, I highly recommend you take that over Ariados.

S Rank:

Empoleon, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Torrent/Defiant

Moves: Surf, Hydro Pump, Water Pledge, Hidden Power Electric/Ice, Icy Wind, Grass Knot, Signal Beam, Waterfall, Aqua Jet, Drill Peck, Agility, Swords Dance, Shadow Claw

Why:Empoleon is another versatile Steel for teams to consider; ranging from strong offense to defense, it can fulfill both roles very potently with it's typing and offensive capability. Most importantly, a Water-type in a Steel run is incredibly important, especially when you intend to spar against Charlotte. What leads from first glance is it's Special Attacking capability but a considerably lacking Speed that inclines to be more of a tanky attacker, but it can patch this up with Agility as well that allows it to sweep teams fairly well. Empoleon's effectiveness against opposing Ground types also makes it a fantastic cannon in the offense v defense war, and Aqua Jet is another tool that complements physical and special archetypes very well to pick off weakened opponents. Speaking of physical archetypes, Empoleon's access to Swords Dance also merits use as a physical attacker, although the special attacker's niche is very much needed in a mono-Steel. To top this all off, Empoleon has a wide array of resistances to utilize and is also the main contender in rain-based Steel runs with support from Pokemon like Bronzong, and Torrent and Defiant are both decent abilities that bolster it's offensive potential. Always consider this guy when making a team, as it gives things no other Steel can actually replace.

Metagross, analysis by BIGJRA

Ability: Clear Body

Moves: Bullet Punch/Agility/Magnet Rise, Zen Headbutt, Meteor Mash, Hammer Arm

Why: Being the one distinguished pseudo legendary that is obtainable in Reborn up to this point, Metagross certainly lives up to the hype that it receives. After obtaining eight badges, one can finally ride a Tauros through the wasteland and obtain a nearly impossible to catch Beldum. After painstakingly raising it up to your team's levels, Metagross will instantly become a powerhouse that outclasses that Bronzor that you could get 10 minutes of gameplay before Beldum. Although Bronzong should be considered if one didn't use Magnezone and is in desperate need of a specially defensive special sweeper, Metagross can do basically everything else better. But what about Levitate, you say? Metagross can learn Magnet Rise! Even if you opt out of Magnet Rise, 'gross has such high defense that he can basically live most Earthquakes anyways. Paired with Agility, Metagross can outspeed the majority of everything that threatens it and destroy them. Zen Headbutt and Meteor Mash are together an amazing STAB offensive core, and with the option of a priority revenge killer like Bullet Punch or the powerful Fighting move Hammer Arm to take out opposing Dark types, Metagross can easily take out any opponents that aren't named Steelix or Shuckle. With the bonus of occasional attack raises from Meteor Mash and the benefit of not being able to be lowered by any opponent stat moves, Metagross can dish out attacks with its 135 attack and take hits with its 80/130/90. An excellent addition to any steel team (and probably Psychic too)

Magnezone, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Sturdy/Analytic

Moves: Discharge, Flash Cannon, Hidden Power Fire/Ice/Ground/Water, Thunder Wave, Magnet Rise, Metal Sound, Charge Beam, Signal Beam, Mirror Coat, Explosion.

Why: Magnezone brings a mixed bag of utility to the table of Steel mono-runs. What first appeals is its nuke 135 Special Attack further bolstered by Analytic, making it unrivaled in Special Attacking on such a run with the exception of Empoleon. Magnezone also provides a coveted Electric type offense against the Water types that resist Steel-type damage, in addition to having a stupid amount of 11 resistances, as well as something not everyone has -- Magnet Rise. Although it's very situational and takes off a moveslot most of the time, it does provide it with a nifty immunity to Ground for five turns, which removes its main weakness. It can also provide Thunder Wave and Metal Sound support for itself or other teammates, depending on how the team is built; its low Speed also makes it functional in Trick Room, although it no longer benefits from Analytic if it does so. Sturdy also allows it a free Focus Sash, which is great especially when paired with options such as Explosion and Mirror Coat.

Bronzong, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Heatproof/Levitate

Moves: Trick Room, Gyro Ball, Extrasensory, Explosion, Payback, Rain Dance, Sandstorm, Bulldoze, Hidden Power Fire/Ground, Grass Knot, Signal Beam.

Why: Bronzong is the backbone of every serious Steel mono run that should always be considered, if not always used. What makes it so efficient is its mixed versatility that gives it decent offensive presence, including a nifty Psychic STAB against Fighting types, and fantastic support and defensive capabilities. It's one of the rare Steels with Levitate, which is an essential free and yummy immunity to Ground-type moves, occasional field damage, and the like, and can also opt for Heatproof if you have concerns against the ever-dominant Fire leader Charlotte. Apart from that, Bronzong is the only Steel with access to the very useful Trick Room that allows it to support the very common slower variety of Steel types in the run. Apart from that, it can provide weather support in Rain Dance for teams consisting of Empoleon and covering Fire weaknesses, or Sandstorm for teams with Rock/Steels and Excadrill. It can act as an offensive suicide lead with Trick Room and or weather support and it can also stick around as a defensive pivot and tank with its decent coverage all around. The closest things to flaws are additional weaknesses to Ghost and Dark types, which can be patched up by other teammates and doesn't hinder it from being a giant piece of support to the team.

A Rank:

Steelix, analysis by BIGJRA

Ability: Sturdy
Moves: Dig/Bulldoze, Screech, Iron Tail, Crunch, Rock Slide
Why: 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.

B Rank:

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Archeops, analysis by Mimmu

Ability: Defeatist
Moves: Acrobatics, Rock Slide, U-Turn, Dragon Claw/Crunch
Item: None
Why: Archeops is a fast and hard hitter. A must-have in every flying mono! Archeops is able to take down quite everything with mid-to-high-range defenses thanks to STAB Acrobatics and the power to take down both opponents with a powerful Rock Slide in a double battle. Even though its Ability is quite bad, it won't be a problem as long as it won't get hit. Having U-Turn in its viable movepool and a base speed of 110 making it outspeed quite everything this game throws at you is quite useful in its case.
Things Archeops will rip through: Every Grass, Bug, Fighting, Flying, Fire, Ice Pokemon. Especially Charlotte and Blake will thank you for choosing to train up an Archeops.

Honchkrow, analysis by Mimmu

Ability: Moxie
Moves: Brave Bird (Egg move)/Drill Peck (Egg move)/Wing Attack, Sucker Punch, Swagger, Night Slash/Tailwind
Why: ombining Moxie with STAB Sucker Punch and an overall outstanding Atk Stat is what makes Honchcrow such a good Pokemon. While it's movepool doesn't have that much of a variety it doesn't actually need any. Brave Bird and Sucker Punch are moves made for (revenge) KOing the opponent and getting that one boost to sweep the rest of the opponents team. While it might be a little slow it is quite bulky and can take a hit or two, making it able to use Swagger to cripple your opponents Pokemon and making a guaranteed kill. As for the 4th slot I went with Night Slash since Sucker Punch doesn't have a lot of PP but Tail Wind is also a viable option to support your team and you moxie-streak.

Charizard, analysis by Mimmu

Ability: Blaze/Solar Power
Moves: Heat Wave/Flamethrower, Air Slash/Air Cutter, Dragon Pulse (Egg move), Ancient Power (Egg move)/Hidden Power Grass/Ice
Why: While Charizard might be your first Pokemon in this monotype-run it is also one of the best you'll get. Good Typing for handling Steel types combined with solid speed, sp.Attk and a great movepool makes this thing a hard hitting special attacker, especially in double battles. Heatwave is definitely your best choice as a Fire STAB. Air Slash and Air Cutter are both viable Flying STABs. While Air Cutter will hit both opponents in doubles I prefer the stronger Air Slash since you already have Heat Wave. As for 3rd and 4th slot you can choose between Dragon Pulse, HP Grass and Ancient Power. While I recommend having HP Grass to cover your weaknesses, having Dragon Pulse and Ancient Power is great in its own way. Dragon Pulse is a strong move hitting quite everything normal and Ancient Power provides great coverage and the chance to boost your stats by 1stage, making Charizard even more powerful.

Staraptor, analysis by Real_Amnz

Ability: Reckless
Item: Sky Plate
Moves: Brave Bird, Close Combat, Final Gambit, Double Edge(egg move)/Quick Attack
Why: Great moveset with STAB Reckless Brave Bird + Close Combat, which gives your team a fighting chance against rock types. Only downside IMO is it usually suicides after a few moves and that you get it later in the game, but definitely a great option for a team!

A Rank:

Yanmega, analysis by Mimmu

Ability: Speed Boost
Moves: Air Slash, Bug Buzz, Ancient Power, Detect/Hidden Power Ice/Grass
Why: Yanmega is an extraordinary sweeper for flying types. It has the 2nd highest Sp.Attk of all in Reborn viable Flying Types and is thanks to to speed boost faster than any other (except for Ninjask). Additionally to its great Stats, its movepool gives access to a solid special Rock-Type Move, covering 3 of its 5 weaknesses, and two strong STAB moves. As for its 4th slot you can use Hypnosis to cripple your opponent or rather HP Ground(/Grass) to cover the rest of yanmega's weaknesses.
Tbh this thing saved me when going against Luna. Her Tyranitar is a real nightmare but Yanmega might just be its weakness. ~

B Rank:

Emolga, analysis by Mimmu

Ability: Motor Drive
Moves: Nuzzle, Volt Switch, Electro Ball, Volt Switch
Why:Emolga is a great Pokemon to have since it has an immunity to electric types thanks to its ability and a rare typing. Its movepool is amazing and allows making a hardhitting special or even physical flying rat or a supportive one. Nuzzle, Electroball, Discharge, Air Slash, Roost, Acrobatics, Iron Tail, Voltswitch, Encore, HP Ice/Grass and Light Screen. I went with Nuzzle, Acrobatics, Voltswitch and Electroball since I didn't want to breed, but the possibilities are great with this one.

Noivern, analysis by Mimmu

Ability: Infiltrator
Moves: Dragon Pulse, Air Slash/Hurricane, Flamethrower, Super Fang
Why: Noivern is quite fast and has a somewhat good Sp Atk. but it is quite a pain to train. It isn't a sure to kill Pokemon, but rather a sure to die Pokemon... I dunno where I was going with this.. But still Noivern actually can do some work if it's used the right way. It's movepool is quite good so using it to deal the finishing blow isn't that hard. Also with Super Fang it can deal more dmg than other Flying types on all these Boss-Opponents (yes I'm looking at you swalot! <~<)

Crobat, analysis by Mimmu

Ability: Infiltrator
Moves: Acrobatics/Brave Bird (Egg move), Cross Poison, Bite, Confuse Ray OR Air Slash, Nasty Plot (Egg move), Giga Drain (Egg move), Venoshock
Why: Crobat is a great Pokemon for a Flying Mono. Since it has a good bulk and solid sweeping abilities combined with an ok-movepool it can be your allrounder and get you out of any complicated situation. Its hard hitting STABs Acrobatics and Cross Poison guarantee solid physical damage output but a special Crobat is also possible (might even be the better option) with Nasty Plot, Air Slash, Venoshock, Giga Drain. As for the physical one I'd recommend having Confuse Ray to cripple your opponent and Bite to fend off Psychics. While many might have Rain Dance to support other members on your team(?) or to at least weaken Charlotte's Team, there is absolutely no need for Rain when you have Archeops at least in Charlotte's case.

C Rank:

D Rank:

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Chandelure, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Flash Fire/Infiltrator
Moves: Flamethrower, Shadow Ball, Overheat, Hidden Power Grass/Fighting, Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Trick Room, Heat Wave
Why: Obviously when you think about "powerful Ghost-type Special nuke", Chandelure comes to mind. With a massive 145 base Special Attack and an unparalleled STAB combination, chances are what you see apart from a Blissey or a very powerful Special wall will be blown up. Chandelure also has utility in Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split and Trick Room. Due to Flash Fire, Chandelure's also pretty decent against Charlotte, and can utilize Heat Wave to scorch through things in double battles. An offensive force any Ghost run would appreciate, it does have it's cons such as it's bad defensive typing as well as being a relatively late-game grab. Nonetheless, there is no other more powerful glass cannon that rivals it in power.

Cofagrigus, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Mummy
Moves: Shadow Ball, Hidden Power Bug/Fighting/Fire, Will-O-Wisp, Curse, Toxic Spikes, Nasty Plot, Trick Room, Curse.
Why: Cofragrigus takes a pretty important role on a Ghost monorun as the best physical tank amongst all Ghosts. Complementing its pretty nice 58/145/105 bulk is Will-O-Wisp that allows it to cripple a lot of attackers, as well as it's ability Mummy, that renders Pokemon that are ability reliant, such as Medicham, useless. It also has access to Toxic Spikes, ironically, for status support; beyond this Cofagrigus also can go on the offensive with a Calm Mind, Nasty Plot, or Trick Room set to support the commonly slow distribution of Ghosts. As one of the early-game Ghosts, if not the earliest Ghost you can find apart from Banette/Gourgeist, this is a must-have for every serious mono-Ghost team.

Jellicent, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Water Absorb/Cursed Body
Moves: ecover, Water Spout, Surf, Ominous Wind, Shadow Ball (debatable), Sludge Wave, Acid Armor, Rain Dance, Hidden Power Grass/Electric.
Why: Jellicent stands as perhaps the most efficient special wall amongst all Ghost types due to it's access to optimum Special bulk and Recover. Basically, this thing rarely, if not never, dies, and combats both sides of weather very well, meaning it's good against Charlotte and against Rain or Water-based teams due to Water Absorb. While Jellicent brings a Grass/Electric weakness to the run, this isn't that big of a hassle as it's pros outweigh the cons. Jellicient can provide even an offensive role with Water Spout, although with E15, it is one of the sad Ghost types that cannot learn Shadow Ball. It can fix its physical bulk with Acid Armor as well, as well as function in Trick Room which makes up for its lackluster speed in utilizing Water Spout.

A Rank:

Dusknoir, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Pressure
Moves: Shadow Punch, Shadow Sneak, Brick Break, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, ThunderPunch, Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Trick Room, Curse.
Why: Dusclops would be a superior choice if Eviolite was available for the contender of bulky Ghost type. Dusknoir's niche is it's more tanky nature in which it can act both as an offensive force and a defensive pivot. One of it's main niches is it's best ability to utilize Trick Room, and it's Attack and movepool is not that appealing as one might think but it's enough to merit some good damage and it's mixed bulk also merits a spot on teams. It can also provide good Trick Room support as well as semi-reliable recovery in Pain Split, as well as the quintessential Will-O-Wisp. However, Dusknoir is limited by it's low HP stat and unappealing stat distribution that leaves it outclassed both offensively and defensively, leaving it stuck with a single niche; regardless, Dusknoir sets up Trick Room the most efficiently, but has it's other jobs done better by a lot else.

Golurk, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: No Guard/Iron Fist
Moves: Shadow Punch, Earthquake, DynamicPunch, Gyro Ball, Mega Punch, Phantom Force. (Help me add tutor moves in there, if there's any you're aware of)
Why: Golurk is unique in that it also possesses a very nice STAB combination in addition to No Guard that allows it to abuse Dynamicpunch for confuse hax. As such, Golurk's medicore movepool doesn't matter that much due to it's Dual STAB covering most of anything anyways. Having two abilities in Iron Fist and No Guard it provides a very solid physical attacking option for your team better so than Dusknoir can, although not all is peaches for Golurk due to the weaknesses it has and lackluster Speed, although it can devastate with Trick Room support.

B Rank:

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Banette, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Insomnia(Good)/Cursed Body(Best)/Frisk(Circumstantial)

Moves: Shadow Claw, Knock Off, Shadow Sneak/Sucker Punch, Destiny Bond (Egg move)/Will O Wisp/Gunk Shot (Egg move)

Why: Banette is a strange choice as a Pokemon, but in Reborn it's one of the first Ghosts that is made available to the player without inserting a starter. Banette suffers from what I'd like to call Glass Cannon Syndrome, but he lacks the attack stat to be worthy of being called a cannon. However this doesn't mean that Banette is entirely bad, it packs one of the highest attack stats available to Non Mega Ghost types at 115, only falling short of Golurk's 124 Base Attack. With a mediocre speed of 65, Banette is restricted to being used as a Pokemon that can wall break and status its opponents that can't outspeed it. Banette also has 3 useful abilities that can be used depending on what you'd like it to do, Insomnia stops anything like Sleep Powder or Spore putting it to sleep, Cursed Body is arguably the best of the three, having a 30% chance to Disable any move which is used on it, which may help it avoid a KO if it disables a Ghost/Dark attack. And lastly, Frisk can be used to find out what item (if any) an opposing Pokemon has, which can work well in tandem with Knock off. Everyone runs Banette differently since different people prefer different sets, but this set is tailored at both using priority to capitalize off of its High attack stat and compensating for its poor speed stat. Shadow Claw and Knock off are used to punish Pokemon which are slower than Banette for a decent amount of damage with Knock off removing items from problem Leader/Main character Pokemon. Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak are used to add priority to the set, both of these can be used at the expense of either Shadow Sneak or Knock off, but this leaves Banette with either less power or utility versus slower Pokemon. The last slot can either be used to add utility, support or coverage. Destiny Bond allows Banette to take a slower Pokemon it can KO with it when it faints, Will O Wisp can burn any Pokemon it might either live a hit from or outspeed and Gunk Shot can be used to nail any problem Fairy types that might give the rest of your team trouble.

D Rank:

E Rank:

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Ninetales, analysis Female Gallade

Ability: Drought
Moves: Flamethrower/Flame Burst, Extrasensory, Nasty Plot, Dark Pulse/Hex/Will O Wisp/Confuse Ray/Solarbeam/Energy Ball when implemented
Item (If applicable): Heat Rock
Why: Ninetales is a Pokemon which is an absolute must for any Fire team due to its immediate power and the unique ability to change the Weather to Sun upon the switch for 5 or 8 turns depending on whether or not it holds a Heat Rock which powers its Fire Type moves up 1.5x whilst weakening Water moves 0.5x for it and all of its team mates. This move set aims to give Ninetales as much coverage as possible so it can set up and leave massive holes in which ever Pokemon is unlucky enough to face it. Flamethrower is your main move of choice, receiving a nice 1.5x boost in the sun but Flame Burst is also a logical move to use in order to turn fields like Grassy Field and Forrest Fielding into Blazing Terrains for your other Pokemon. Extrasensory is used as basic coverage and helps you hit Pokemon such as Infernape, Blaziken and other threatening Fighting types for Double Damage. Nasty Plot helps set your Special attack up and your last move comes down entirely to what you want for your team. Dark Pulse can be used as further coverage and will help sort any problems Ninetales has against Flash Fire Chandelure, Will O Wisp will cripple physical attacks and Confuse Ray is good for praying for confusion hax. However, upon the implementation of Solarbeam it is HIGHLY recommended that you disregard all other suggested moves for the final slot for it, if Energy Ball is released first then that works as well so Ninetales can handle Water types.

Typhlosion, analysis by Neith

Ability: Blaze/Flash Fire
Moves: Eruption/Lava Plume, Nature Power, Hidden Power Rock/Electric/Ground, Solarbeam (When released) or energy ball amrite Ame
Why: All those who battled Charlotte know the pure power that is Eruption Typhlosion on a favorable field, Typhlosion's Eruption reaches an absolutely rediculous 337.5 Base Power with sun when used on Burning Field at max HP. But one of the things that helps this Pokemon most is its ability to be bought on the 7th Street Market for 9 Red Shards so you can soft reset it. As fields will not always favor the use of its other moves using Nature Power can help you gain an extra edge over the opposing Pokemon.

Arcanine, analysis by Neith

Ability: Intimidate
Moves: Flare Blitz, Extreme Speed, Close Combat, Crunch/Bulldoze/Agility
Why: A pure Fire type Pokemon that has a lot of bite. Unless you pick a physical attacker like Torchic and Chimchar you will lack a physical fire type. Being able to be picked up as early as after the 2nd Gym by finding the missing Police Force members as a Growlithe the Legendary Pokemon can be the wall breaker you really need. With an exceptional move pool without having to breed Close Combat onto it. Add the ability that it can also be defensive and crippling pivot with the ability Intimidate lowering foe's attack by one stage on switch in. It is a must have for running a Fire Mono.

Blaziken, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Speed Boost
Moves: Flare Blitz/Fire Punch, High Jump Kick, Bulk Up, Brave Bird/Rock Tomb
Why: Do I really need to explain this? IT'S YA BOI the Blazing Ubers Chicken is here in Reborn and he's taking names. After a turn of Speed Boost and Bulk up this man/woman/PokemonofNonDiscriminateGender is sitting nice and comfortable; is outspeeding and outright one shotting a large majority of the game using High Jump Kick and Flare Blitz. Brave Bird and Rock Tomb are pretty interchangeable, Rock Tomb's gonna help against Pokemon like Charizard which will just laugh off Flare Blitz unless you're +2, brave bird can also do that job just fine as well but offers up recoil and doesn't drop your opponent's speed. (not that it matters with Blaziken)

A Rank:

Infernape, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Iron Fist/Blaze

Moves: Flare Blitz/Fire Punch (Egg move), Close Combat, Mach Punch, Grass Knot/Bulldoze/Rock Tomb/Thunder Punch (Egg move)/Fake out (Egg move) OR Nasty Plot (Level 23 Chimchar), Flamethrower/Heat Wave (Egg move), Grass Knot, Hidden Power Ice/Close Combat/Mach Punch

Why: Infernape is a great Pokemon which can be used in many different ways to fit a variety of different roles on your team. The first set is a common physical Infernape set which aims to break down any Rock types that would annoy your allies with a strong Close Combat, or out right murder everything else with a (potentially) sun boosted Flare Blitz. Although before considering choosing Chimchar, if you want to use a Physical Infernape, I highly recommend you reconsider and use Speed Boost Blaziken due to it having better sweeping potential. Mach punch is used as priority to pick off any Pokemon which are brought to sturdy/focus sash and outspeed you/have priority and the last move slot is up to personal choice. Grass knot dents any Water types, specifically Water type Physical walls like Quagsire. Bulldoze is an option to slow down any Pokemon which may be too fast for your more bulky Pokemon to handle before you faint, Rock Tomb can dent any Flying types which would normally swat aside Infernape, although Thunder Punch does that as well. Lastly Thunder Punch is used for both Flying and Water type Pokemon (that aren't Quagsire or Lanturn) that would normally give Infernape trouble. However if Physical isn't your bag and you'd rather a more specially based Pokemon, then Infernape's got your back there with a pretty good natural special learn set; even learning Nasty Plot as a Chimchar (and only as a Chimchar) at level 23. If Infernape manages to get a Nasty Plot off and has sun set up from Ninetales it is very safe to say that not a whole lot will be surviving Infernape's raw power. Heat Wave can be bred onto Infernape over Flamethrower for a more doubles friendly and stronger alternative to Flamethrower (Note that spread moves do 0.5x damage in double/triple battles). Grass knot is used to take out any annoying Water types that would normally stop this set flat and the last slot is entirely up to personal preference. HP Ice can be used to nail Pokemon like Gliscor and Garchomp for 4x damage, Close Combat can be used as an alternative over Focus Blast (since it's not in game) and can be used to break Pokemon like Sandstorm Tyranitar which would normally give this set a lot of trouble. Mach punch can also be used to pick off any Sash Pokemon or get chip damage on a Pokemon before it finishes you off.

B Rank:

Pyroar, analysis by Neith

Ability: Moxie/Rivalry/Unnerve
Moves: Flamethrower/Hyper Voice, Noble Roar, Work Up, filler (can be strength)
Why: Braveheart comes out to play in Pokemon Reborn. Being able to be picked up as early as Julia when received in a trade from an NPC it is a massive early game player. But as the game goes on it's use drops off. It can cripple Pokemon with the use of Noble Roar which will lower Atk and SpAtk down by one stage when used. The Boost its own Atk and SpAtk with the use of Work Up. This is amazing early game when Pokemon are weaker and slower. As the game goes on Pyroat becomes frail with poor defenses and the ability to really set up becomes limited, having to rely on recovering and crippling to have a chance. The 3 abilities don't help it much either, Moxie boosting a base 68 Attack stat when its special attack is a lousy 106, Rivalry being situational as all hell and Unnerve only effecting a small number of battles leave it hanging. A shame how a great Pokemon at the start of the game falls by the wayside so quickly.

Houndoom, analysis by Neith

Ability: Early Bird
Moves: Nasty Plot, Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Filler (HP/Thunder Wave/Foul Play)
Why: Amazing for the Psychic gym when running a Fire mono with immunity to Psychic. What hurts Houndoom is the timing in which you get it. Needing to have access to 7th Street and to join the Magma Gang and finish their story the Dark/Fire dog isn't able to be used to destroy Shelly, FloBot and Serra as it could easily do. What saves it from being C is the learning of Nasty Plot at level 52 as a Houndour and as a relearn move when it evolves. Pair a x2 SpAtk with a 110 Base Special attack and a lot of things will be 2HKO'ed. 95 Speed doesn't go too far astray either. But the rather pathetic 50 base Defense and 80 Special Defense leave it frail and ripe for an easy knock out if unable to KO.

C Rank:

D Rank:

E Rank:

S Rank:

Roserade, analysis by Mimmu

Ability: Technician

Moves: Giga Drain, Extrasensory (Egg move), Hidden Power Fire/Fighting/Ground/Electric/Ice/anyviableattackingtype, Shadow Ball/Weather Ball

Why: While there are quite good Grass Mons to counter other types (Gourgeist, Bug and Ludicolo, Fire) Roserade is a Sweeper like no other Grass Mon. With high Sp. Atk and Speed this thing can even hit hard with not effective moves. While it may have a quite Grass-Type heavy movepool there are possibilities to change this. Shadow Ball, Extrasensory or even Weather Ball in combination with Ludicolo's Rain. Also HP Rock or Fire in combination with it's technician ability are 90BP attacks making it able to anihilate Bugs, Flying, Fire Types or even other Grass Types. Roserade is a Pokemon to get you through any tricky situation.

Venusaur, analysis by superpika1

Ability: Chlorophyll

Item: Black Sludge

Moves: Leech Seed, Sleep Powder, Petal Dance/Double-Edge/Hidden Power Fire/Giga Drain (egg move), Growth/Nature Power

Why: Venusaur learns two great moves for stalling purposes in a Grass monorun, Leech Seed and Sleep Powder. With this strategy, Venusaur can slowly chip away at the foe's health while maintaining a relatively high health. In addition, Venusaur also has access to Chlorophyll allowing for a speedy Sleep Powder. With Chlorophyll, Venusaur can also run an offensive set with Growth. The primary weakness with Venusaur is that it has a hard time dealing with Grass types if it does not have Hidden Power Fire. If Venusaur had access to Sludge Bomb, it would definitely be in S rank.

Ludicolo, analysis by Mimmu

Ability: Swift Swim

Moves: Surf, Giga Drain, Rain Dance, Mist/Nature Power

Why: Ludicolo is quite useful in beating Cal (and actually any Fire Type) with Rain Dance, Giga Drain, Surf and Swift Swim it can hit hard while outspeeding anything. Stab Water Type Attacks in a rainy weather are more than useful in a Grass Mono run) While it is hitting hard it also has good defenses making it possible to use Rain Dance even when being outsped by the opponent. Additionally the Rain will make it quite hard for fire Pokemon to take out your entire team. Nature Power and Mist are interchangable, while mist can get rid of any annoying fields, nature power can use a field to your advantage.

A Rank:

Gourgeist, analysis by Mimmu

Ability: Pick up/Frisk

Moves: Leech Seed, Phantom Force, Pain Split, Shadow Ball/ Shadow Sneak

Why: Gourgeist is a Defensive Must-Have in a Grass Run. Going with Leech Seed, Pain Split ,Shadow Ball, Phantom Force this thing can stall out any physical opponent without losing much HP at all. Although its special side is rather weak compared to the physical one it still will be able to take down anything that can't hit it super effectively.

Tangrowth, analysis by Srewop

Ability: Regenerator

Moves: Giga Drain/Power Whip, Ancient Power, Growth, Knock off/Infestation/Grassy Terrain/Tickle/Stun Spore

Why: I think Tangrowth is either A rank or B rank I'm doing a grass run atm and Tangrowth has been the MVP of the run

with Giga Drain, Ancient Power, Growth and I would have loved to have Knock Off but I have a minus attack nature

does damage to almost all the leaders that I have faced and not to mention that Tangrowth rarely gets 2ohko by any Physcial moves.

The only down side is the SpD anything that runs something special does a lot of damage to it. Tangrowth should be A or B rank merely for the Bulk and that you can run mixed even with a minus Attack or Special Attack Nature Moves Knock Off, Giga Drain/Powerwhip, Growth, Ancient Power as main moves but you could run the Powders moves also.

Leavanny, analysis by ChubbThePig

Ability: Swarm or Chlorophyll (If used on a Sun team)

Item: Heat Rock (If used as a sun setter)

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

Why: 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!

B Rank:

Exeggutor, analysis by superpika1

Ability: Chlorophyll

Items: Twisted Spoon/Rose Incense

Moves: Extrasensory, Sleep Powder, Leaf Storm/Seed Bomb, Nature Power/Trick Room/Explosion

Why: Exeggutor has an above average Attack stat of 95 relatively high Special Attack stat of 125. This Special Attack stat tends to be used more often due to a wider Special moveset. However, physical attacks such as Explosion can be quite helpful as well. In addition, Exeggutor has a pretty solid HP and Def stat. However, what sets Exeggutor back are its low Sp Def and Speed stats, and 4x weakness to Bug, often causing it to be outspeed and OHKOed with a Bug Buzz. Chlorophyll is used over Harvest because there are not much berries Exeggutor can take advantage of, and Chlorophyll can sometimes be helpful in outspeed Poison types and hitting them with Extrasensory.

Meganium, analysis by ChubbThePig

Ability: Leaf Guard if used on Sun Grass, Overgrow if not for more power

Item: Light Clay/Heat Rock (Dependent on whether sun set or screens set)

Moves: 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

Why: 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!

C Rank:

D Rank:

E Rank:

S Rank:

Gardevoir, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Trace(Best)/Synchronize(Better)/Telepathy(Okay)

Moves: Moonblast/Draining Kiss, Psychic, Calm Mind/Charge Beam, Grass Knot/Hidden Power Fire/Ice/Fighting/Charge Beam/Icy Wind (Tutor)

Why: Gardevoir presents herself as one of the best if not THE best offensive solution towards Dark types that would normally end you and your team before you could get a move off with her nifty Fairy type blessing from Gen 6. Gardevoir's ability is almost entirely up to the player although of course I have a few recommendations, in my opinion Trace will do you the most justice of the 3 by allowing you to potentially trace an immunity based ability like Water Absorb, Flash Fire or Volt Absorb; on top of this it will allow you to scout Gym Leader/boss NPC Pokemon's abilities as well as Wild Pokemon's abilities before you catch them. Synchronize can be used in some circumstances to status the Pokemon which statused you back (Excluding Sleep/Freeze). Since not many different Psychic type Pokemon get spread moves like Earthquake or Discharge I don't recommend using Telepathy although it may be useful in certain battles with NPC allies that use spread moves. With STAB from Moonblast, there does not exist many a Dark type which would like to or be able to stomach a hit from her, although at the cost of quite a considerable amount of power, you can use Calm Mind and Draining Kiss to make a highly threatening sweeper with good recovery. Charge beam can be used in place of Calm mind before Gardevoir/Kirlia learns it or alternatively (although not recommended) can be used over Calm mind to allow Gardevoir to power up her special attack whilst still remaining on the offense and can provide Electric coverage as well. The last move slot is something which the player can decide for themselves dependent on their play style or effort to Soft Reset Hidden Power type or amount of shards. HP Fire will help Gardevoir crack Steel types after a calm mind or two until Focus Blast is made available as TM, Ice provides good neutral coverage and allows OHKOs on Pokemon like Gliscor, HP Fighting can be used to OHKO Bisharp before it Iron Heads you, Charge Beam can be used for Electric coverage and Icy wind can be used if you have the shards to tutor it and didn't get HP Ice.

Malamar, analysis by SkyRunner

Ability: Contrary

Moves: Superpower, Psycho Cut, Night Slash, Pluck/Hypnosis/Destiny Bond (Egg move)

Why: The first three moves are a must. Psycho Cut and Night Slash are its two best STABs. Alongside the Ability Contrary, Superpower Malamar provides coverage against Dark-types and gets a nifty stat boost too. Pluck can be used during early game, when Sitrus Berries are still being used. Despite Hypnosis' low accuracy, it could be used for particularly annoying Pokemon, although Destiny Bond might work better for this. Malamar is a great Pokemon to use, and should never be passed up on a Psychic-type monorun.

A Rank:

Meowstic-Male, analysis by Supermario79411

Ability: Prankster

Moves: Light Screen, Reflect, Charge Beam, Psychic/Misty Terrain/Charm/Yawn (Egg Move)

Why: Male Meowstic gets light screen, reflect, charm, yawn (from breeding) and the ability prankster, making it a godsend for most major battles (especially against a certain Garchomp and Ditto with a god complex) as it can set up dual screens, then switch out or deal some damage with Psychic or Psyshock. Admittedly, they aren't without their flaws; their bulk could stand to be a little better, and their meh 83 base special attack is kind of lackluster (although that can be remedied with a few charge beams). Despite this, however, they're still incredibly effective. If you want a reliable team member who can either bolster your defenses or come in like a wrecking ball, Meowstic is the 'mon for you.

B Rank:

C Rank:

Meowstic-Female, analysis by Supermario78411

Ability: Infiltrator/Competitive

Moves: Charge Beam, Psychic/Psyshock, Signal Beam, Shadow Ball

Why: Meowstic Female is a pretty good sweeper. It has two great moves in psychic and psyshock, allowing it to hit both physically defensive and specially defensive Pokémon alike pretty darn hard. It also has a godly level-up movepool and TM compatibility list, with great coverage moves in magical leaf, shadow ball, signal beam, and dark pulse. It even gets charge beam to help it set up! Its ability, competitive, is pretty awesome too, as it raises its special attack two stages every time one of its stats is lowered, meaning that in double battles one of its partners can purposely lower its stats to just raise its power further. It also gets infiltrator, which is useful to get through light screen (kind of ironic that the female's great at getting through walls, while the male's good at building them). It functions best as a sweeper, and it can take out Corey, Shade (despite the type disadvantage), Kiki, Aya, Randomus (with shadow ball and signal beam), Luna (with signal beam), and Sampson. Its biggest flaw is probably that it only has a meh 83 special attack and poor 74/76/81 defenses, but the special attack can be remedied pretty easily with a few charge beams. All in all, a great, albeit slightly weaker than ideal, sweeper with great coverage that doesn't disappoint.

Grumpig, analysis by ChubbThePig

Ability: Thick Fat

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

Why: 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...

D Rank:

Mr Mime, analysis by SkyRunner

Ability: Filter/Soundproof/Technician

Moves: Psychic, Reflect/Light Screen, Substitute/Encore, Charge Beam/Nasty Plot (Egg move)

Why: Although Mr. Mime's the first Psychic/Fairy type you get, don't expect it to help you against Dark-types, learning no Fairy-type moves via level-up. Don't let its 120 base Special Defense fool you either. With a 40 base HP stat, it tanks hits really badly. By the time that you get it, Mr. Mime is simply outclassed by other Psychic-types available.

E Rank:

Unown, analysis by SkyRunner

Ability: Levitate

Moves: Hidden Power Psychic/Ice/Fire

Why: Hidden Power isn't even strong, with its type depending entirely on the Unown. Its appalling stats don't help it either. Never use this Pokemon.

Continued in next post due to OP and this post exceeding character limit

[Revman]

S Rank:

Ampharos, analysis by Ninjarisu

Ability: Static

Moves: Charge beam, Rock Gem/Discharge/Cotton Guard, Signal Beam, Confuse Ray/Discharge/Cotton Guard

Why: The only Electric pokemon I have at the time (between Radomus and Luna) that can not only live a hit with enough HP to not be 2HKO'd but also with enough power to but a dent in the opp. team with moves like signal beam for grass types which only 2 pokemon can handle and access to cotton guard, confuse ray thunder wave/discharge, charge beam and power gem. He almost solely swept Radomus and has been a great asset to the team since I saved him in Jasper.

Eelektross, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Levitate

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

Item: Leftovers/Zap Plate

Why: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, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Dry Skin

Item: Leftovers/Damp Rock/Zap Plate

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

Why: 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.

A Rank:

Luxray, analysis by Ninjarisu

Ability: Intimidate

Moves: Swagger, Bite/Fire Fang (Egg move)/Ice Fang (Egg move), Spark/Wild Charge, Crunch/Fire Fang (Egg move)/Ice Fang (Egg move)

Why: Intimidate. Need I say more when it comes to a frail type like Electric. The team support Luxray brings to help mons like Ampharos and Stunfisk (yes stunfisk) is a must to defeat some rivals and bosses in the game. Combined that with spark, swagger and bite and the opp. rarely moves and you change from getting your ass handed to you to putting up a good fight. And you need a strong physical attacker and electric isnt full of them with only the Pikachu line and Luxray being able to be strong physical attackers.

Emolga, analysis by Ninjarisu

Ability: Motor Drive

Moves: Acrobatics/Air Slash (Egg move), Double team/Roost (Egg move), Charge Beam/Roost (Egg move), Electro Ball/Discharge/Roost (Egg move)

Why: Ok, listen to me here. The Flying typing that Emolga brings is a must on any Electric mono team. Combined its acrobatics move with trolling with double team (trust me you need to use it in Electric mono) Emolga has been a great weapon to use. It took me 3 days of trying to get past Ferns team in Route 1 (Its a straight electric mono counter) I rank Emolga above Pokemon like Intimdate Luxray and Sturdy Magnezone because early and current game for me, there is no better option to beating grass types than Emolga.

B Rank:

Magnezone, analysis by Ninjarisu

Ability: Sturdy

Moves: Electric Terrain, Charge Beam, Discharge, Flash Cannon

Why: Electric terrain coupled with sturdy and a steel type gives a reasonable tank. Hes no where near Ampharos levels but you gotta take what you can get with such a limited number of pokemon. I solely rank Magnezone a B because I had high hopes for him but in terms of bulk and with added field damage, Stunfisk has just been a better choice. Its a must to have on your team, but sadly without breeding for hidden power and with it as one of the only mons to get electric terrain, I had to use it in that manner. But I can see as a full on attack the potential for being an A rank with flash cannon/discharge/chargebeam/hiddenpower. But again, in a team where almost every pokemon is special, you need to use their hidden talents more.

Stunfisk, analysis by Ninjarisu

Ability: Sand Veil

Moves: Muddy Water/Surf, Sludge Wave, Mud Bomb, Thunderbolt

Why: This little gem. You have no idea how much you need a water move (muddy water and soon surf) and ground move (mud bomb) until you have played so long without either. His insane bulk without any EV training has jumped him up from a "I'll try him out" to a must have. If he got access to moves like earth power (tutor only) and wasnt as slow as he is, he would be a great chance for A Rank. But with mud bomb as his strongest ground attack its hard to give him even a B Rank.

C Rank:

D Rank:

E Rank:

S Rank:

Azumarill, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Huge Power
Moves: Waterfall, Belly Drum (Egg move), Play Rough, Superpower/Aqua Jet (Egg move)
Why: Azumarill is a good Pokemon. The pros of it include being a traded mon ingame, allowing fast growth hence easily levelling up, a good defensive typing which allows you to swap in to Dragon Types, and an ridiculously good movepool of Waterfall/Play Rough/Superpower. If it fancies you, you can breed Belly Jet onto Azumarill via Poliwhirl with Belly Drum > Marill, Random Water mon available with Aqua Jet including Golduck/Kabutops > Marill, then breed the Marill. Azumarill helps against leaders including: Kiki (Play Rough), Noel (Superpower), Luna (Play Rough AND Superpower), Samson (Play Rough AND Superpower) and also helps against the bad matchup vs dragons. Literal only downfall is speed.

Greninja, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Protean
Moves: Surf, Extrasensory, Dark Pulse, Grass Knot/Shadow Sneak
Here in Reborn, Greninja suffers a solid fall from grace, losing his ORAS tutor moves, and Ice Beam from TM; Reborn Greninja is not nearly as good as the Pokemon that was banned to Ubers from Smogon's OU. If you're special, which is currently the most viable set, then you're limited to 4 moves: Surf, Extrasensory, Dark Pulse and Grass knot. Extrasensory is your only move which will be learned via level up, which can change your type to Psychic to avoid those nasty Super Effective fighting moves and smack fighting types for their trouble. Water Pulse will be your Water move until you receive the Surf Machine which is received around the Level 60 mark. Dark Pulse is also obtained around this level and offers some more basic coverage. The last move is entire up to personal preference, Shadow Sneak will help you nab a quick immunity to fighting moves and may even spoof your opponents into High Jump Kicking you and hurting themselves majorly, however Grass Knot was recently reintroduced in the caves near Calcenon and can act as a useful counter to other Water mons.

A Rank:
Swanna, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Hydration
Item: Damp Rock
Moves: Surf, Hurricane, Feather Dance/Rain Dance, Roost/Rain Dance
Swanna's claim to fame lies in two things: It's typing and it's movepool. Looking at it, one will quickly realize that the egg you get in obsidia is capable of running Hurricane/Surf under rain. Featherdance is another life saver as Cradily only has Smack Down as it's beginning move (I believe it's Sandstorm, Stockpile, Smack Down, Recover) and you also have the option to run Roost. This mon can clean 3/6 of Florinia's team as well as assist you greatly against Fern. Brave Bird is another option to consider on this Pokemon, as it is slightly stronger and has no need for reliance on rain, albeit having the recoil which hurts a little. Items that should go on it is of course, Damp Rock. (via mining)

Ludicolo, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Swift Swim
Moves: Mist, Surf, Giga Drain, Nature Power
Why :Ludicolo's main niche is represented through Mist/Nature Power and swift swim. Nature Power takes advantage of the current field to give the gym leaders a taste of their own medicine, while Mist turns the table to the users advantage. Mist barely hinders a standard Water user's Pokemon, but it also helps stop the opponent from using their field. Lotad learns Giga Drain at level 30, and is good to go since you don't really need that Energy Ball unless your focus is on power without recovery. Anyway, back to Ludicolo, it has about 3 set moves, but due to Mist, Nature Power and it's ability to take out most water mons 1v1, I highly recommend Ludicolo for water teams. Do beware physical attackers though.

Swampert, analysis by ArthurZH Wild Mudkip axed in Episode 15

Ability: Torrent
Moves: Waterfall, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Hammer Arm/Double Edge
Why: The fact that you sacrifice Greninja (Episode 15 onward) and gain a weakness to Florinia and a late Physical Ground Move makes this guy A Rank, otherwise it'll have most of the rankings the previous mons might've had. Same old Swampert gets EdgeQuake Combo in the form of Rock Slide, and also gets Hammer Arm. As well as this, Swampert offers the useful utility of being immune to Electric whilst sadly becoming 4x weak to Grass.

Lapras, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Hydration/Water Absorb
Moves: Surf/Hydro Pump, Ice Beam/Freeze Dry (Egg move), Perish Song, Ice Shard/Confuse Ray OR Dragon Dance (Egg move), Waterfall, Bulldoze, Ice Shard
Why: Another A Rank Pokemon, nicely deserved because of a few reasons, including majestic bulk, HydraRest, Perish Song, naturally learning Ice Beam via level up, and Freeze Dry / Dragon Dance as potential Egg Move. It can do the roles of several mons, including acting as a fantastic water counter with Water Absorb/Freeze Dry, run a physical Ice Shard/Waterfall/DragonDance/Bulldoze set, be a Perish Song mon to force AI switches at the 3rd turn after Perish Song is used, and most importantly, as a counter to Ciel as a whole. (I 2HKO her Noivern despite being 15 levels under it, and it managed to tank a boomburst....boosted from field, yes). Downsides include not actually having Rest to abuse Hydration Rest Combo, lack of any other moves not ice/water type and having a weakness to fighting, rock, grass, electric etc, making it's bulk not so majestic after all.

B Rank:
Bibarel, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Moody
Moves: Rollout, Defense Curl, Headbutt/Hyper Fang, Yawn
Why: "Bibarel's a joke" Okay I would like to state that Moody Bibarel won me the battle against both Julia and Florinia. It didn't survive the poisoning from Corey's Field, and sadly wasn't good enough for Shelly as it was doubles and it was weak to Giga Drain (like everyone else sadly) and from then onwards sat in the box. Early game, however, it was a terror. Moody Rollout Spam was one of my favourite ways to win the gym leaders, sadly requiring a little hax to win.

Clawitzer, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Mega Launcher
Moves: Water Pulse, Aura Sphere, Dark Pulse/Sludge Wave, Dragon Pulse
Why: Clawtizer might not be fast and have a bad typing, but it can do one thing very well - it can hit very very hard. Water Pulse/Aura Sphere/Dark Pulse/Dragon Pulse hits quite a large number of things quite hard, including several Pokemon which are detrimental to water, most notably Ferrothorn. As well as this, since Dark Pulse is a TM, Dark Pulse can be switched at will to Sludge Wave in case of Grass types or Pokemon like Togekiss. It's downside includes poor speed, somewhat mediocre bulky/typing and the fact that you need to take forever to catch one with decent IVs and Nature.

Lanturn, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Volt Absorb
Moves: Surf, Discharge, Heal bell (Move Tutor), Signal Beam
Why: Lanturn in water monotypes serve the role of stopping bulky waters such as Gyarados or to try and hit water Pokemon hard, simultaneously stopping some electric types who can do some damage to your whole team. However, you will be unable to hit electric types hard or stall them since Toxic TM isn't in game yet. In other words, you have to think of more ways to stop Electric type Pokemon from using other moves to kill you. That's where Lanturn fails to do, and is outclassed by Water/Ground types. Furthermore, as Ludicolo is available more earlier and resists water x4 compared to Lanturn (which is x2 unless you count water absorb) and Ludicolo also has passive recovery, I would say that to a certain extent Ludicolo outclasses Lanturn. Pros of Lanturn, however, include discharge spamming opponents in double battles assuming your partner is using a ground type and of course, the additional electric STAB as a whole. This makes it a better choice than Swampert or Ludicolo in checking Gyarados....and Mantine.....?

Whiscash, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Hydration
Moves: Earthquake, Zen Headbutt, Aqua Tail/Waterfall, Rest
Why: Whiscash is completely outclassed by Swampert in terms of stats. However, it gets 4 important things: an early Earthquake, Zen Headbutt, an early availability, the ability to be potentially bred Dragon Dance (from the Axed Gyarados so please forget), and Rest Hydration combo. It really depends down to individual preference, but imo, it merits a B rank, due to stats, considering you have to Beat Aqua Gang immediately after Shelly and Fish to get it, which makes it harder to Soft Reset, thus the B Rank instead of A . However, it was helpful against Dr. Sigmunnd Connal and also early game electric types including Shade's Rotom. I'm extrapolating here to assume that Zen Headbutt is also efficient against Aya, but do beware of the Power Whip Venusaur. Overall, I'd say it's a B Rank Pokemon due to it's demand rather than it's potential.

C Rank:
Simipour, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Torrent
Item: None
Moves: Scald, Acrobatics, Crunch, Taunt
Why: Simipour doesn't have too much going on for him, but he has one thing that most Water types don't: level up learning of Scald and Acrobatics. By abusing this, one can get the Scald burn off in many circumstances which another Pokemon have failed to land a KO. Scald is also exceptionally useful against Cal and Charlotte if you manage to set up Rain Dance, as Scald is boosted by the field, the rain and straight up murders the Pokemon while laughing in their faces. Acrobatics too is useful in straight up OHKOing Grass types or denting them. Crunch is used as basic coverage since he has no other moves, it's also useful for denting threats like Jellicent and Trevenant/Gourgeist.

D Rank:

Empoleon, analysis by ArthurZH

Ability: Defiant/Torrent
Moves: Waterfall/Surf/Hydro Pump, Metal Claw/Grass Knot, Drill Peck, Aqua Jet/Bulldoze/Stealth Rock (Move Tutor)
Why: Sorry to Empoleon fans out there, but I'd like to say Empoleon has a horrible in game movepool. Unless you are running Physical Empoleon with Metal Claw/Waterfall/Drill Peck/Filler, I really don't see how you can survive with it. It gets two types of special moves in game - Water ones such as Hydro Pump, Bubblebeam, Surf, Brine and Grass Knot late game. It also has no special steel moves in game or better steel STAB physical moves, Lack of Toxic/Roar also hinders it's ability to cripple/phaze the opponent. It's one good thing is.....idk, Defiant boosts? Some form of bulk? Perhaps as a death fodder while u heal your whole roster to full health? Maybe so. Without Scald or Defog to offer utility, Empoleon is more than likely going to be a liability to your team.

Seismitoad, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Swift Swim
Moves: Muddy Water, Surf, Hydro Pump, Earth Power, Sludge Wave, Grass Knot, Rain Dance
Why: 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.

E Rank:

S Rank:

Abomasnow, analysis by Metatyph (Injected as starter due to no Ice Pokemon being available until post 2nd gym)

Ability: Snow Warning
Moves: Icy Wind/Blizzard, Wood Hammer/Razor Leaf, Ice Shard, Swagger/Mist
Items: Icy Rock/Icicle Plate
Reasoning: Hail support is one of the things Ice monoruns appreciate a lot. Hail deals chip damage, neuters Leftovers recovery on some important battles, and ensures Blizzard hits 100% of the time, whilst also crippling some opposing weather-based teams, most notably Charlotte's gym team. Snover learns Icy Wind, which is a strong STAB early-game. The Speed-reducing effect also carries Snover all the way to mid-game, where it will eventually evolve into Abomasnow. I personally recommend that Snover is kept unevolved until lv41 (it starts evolving at lv40), as it learns Blizzard early that way. 100% accurate Blizzard will carry you all the way through mid-game and end-game, with its huge base power, with the only drawback pretty much being the low PP. Wood Hammer and Razor Leaf are pretty much just up to preference. Razor Leaf has decent power, while Wood Hammer trades survivability for raw power. Ice Shard is a reliable priority STAB move, which helps picking up KOs on weakened 'mons and chipping damage before you get KOd yourself. Swagger and Mist are the filler moves here, Mist being a way to cancel out fields temporarily, and Swagger is an easy and cheap gamble button. Icy Rock extends Hail time, while Icicle Plate powers up Abomasnow's main Ice-type STABs, though I personally find Icicle Plate is better utilized on another Pokemon. Abomasnow's typing is also great for the first few gyms, with it resisting Julia's Electric-type STABs and doing work against Rini's Grass-types, in which Icy Wind can reliably 3HKO Ferrothorn and Cradily (outside of Recover, of course). It struggles against Shelly's Bug-types, though Icy Wind is still capable of 2HKO-ing her Yanmega, and crippling her relatively fast team. One other drawback it suffers from is its relatively high evolution level (lv40), which means it's stuck with its LC stats for quite a while.

Walrein, analysis by Metatyph (S-Rank) (Injected as a second Pokemon due to lack of early game Pokemon

Ability:Thick Fat
Moves: Brine/Surf, Blizzard/Frost Breath, Rest, Snore/Swagger
Items: Icicle Plate/Leftovers?
Reasoning: Early on, and even later on, Fire-types completely rip through Ice-types. The only thing that stops them from leaving Ice-types with absolutely no chance is, well, Thick Fat Walrein. Walrein effectively resists Fire type attacks, with the combination of a secondary Water typing and Thick Fat's halving effect, which makes Ice-type damage (e.g. from Serra) laughably ignorable. Walrein also sports considerable amounts of bulk, making it your main switchin option regardless. Spheal comes with a decent starting movepool, even including a basic Water-type STAB in Water Gun, and gets a higher-powered alternative in Brine early on at level 17. Powder Snow is a basic Ice-type STAB, which can be traded with Aurora Beam at lv21, and Blizzard or Frost Breath at lv49 or post-Serra, respectively. Frost Breath will help against boosting enemies, which I believe Noel's Clefable is. Spheal gets Rest and Snore at lv31, which serves as a form of recovery and way to deal damage while asleep, respectively. Swagger can be used in place of Snore if you prefer to have the rolls in place of (actually somewhat underwhelming, but still constant) damage. Walrein provides Ice-type runs with one of the only sources of Water-type attacks, and further beefs them up with STAB. I have yet to find Leftovers, so I settled with Icicle Plate on Walrein, but I've been liking the extra damage output. Walrein's downfalls come mainly early-game, as its partial Water typing means it struggles against the first two gyms, Julia's Electric and Rini's Grass. Other than that, however, Walrein is a valuable asset to Ice runs, due to its ability to take hits and punish hard, and being one of Ice's only good Fire-type (and Steel, to an extent) switchins.

Mamoswine, analysis by Metatyph

Ability: Snow Cloak/Thick Fat
Moves: Ice Shard/Ice Fang, Earthquake, Mist/Ice Fang/Icicle Crash (Egg move), Thrash/Blizzard/Rock Tomb
Items: Icicle Plate
Reasoning: Swinub can be obtained at the cave below Shade's gym; not as early as I hoped it would be, but better slightly late than almost never. Mamoswine is a very helpful Pokemon for Ice monoruns. For one, it sits at a nifty speed tier (base 80) and sports a great 130 Attack stat, paired with a 100% accurate 100 base power STAB attack in Earthquake, and a reliable 40 base power STAB priority move in Ice Shard. Of course, one can opt to run the 65 base power Ice Fang if they wish to have more power in place of priority and perfect accuracy. Mist is another move that temporarily cancels out field effects, and Thrash is just a big source of damage output. Though not exactly a Special Attacker, Mamoswine can run Blizzard to take advantage of Abomasnow or Aurorus' Hail. Mamoswine also can abuse two viable abilities: Snow Cloak, for the luck factor, and Thick Fat, as a Fire-type sponge and killer. Both abilities can be put into good use, and the choice depends on the player's style, really. Though Mamoswine doesn't get any Rock-type moves via level-up, Rock Tomb is available as an item in the water treatment plant, making a pseudo-EdgeQuake combination possible. However, as it is, Mamoswine doesn't exactly support the team in most ways, and rather exerts support from its teammates. All in all, however, Mamoswine is perfectly capable of hitting quite hard, and is surely a must to consider when playing Ice monoruns.

A Rank:

Avalugg, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Sturdy
Moves: Avalanche, Sharpen, Bulldoze, Recover, Crunch, Gyro Ball, Ice Fang
Why: 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, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Snow Warning
Item: Icicle Plate/Leftovers/Icy Rock
Moves: AncientPower, Ice Beam, Frost Breath, Freeze-Dry, Hidden Power Fire/Ground, Discharge, Thunder Wave, Light Screen, Blizzard, Rock Polish.
Why: 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.

B Rank:

Beartic, analysis by Metatyph

Ability: Snow Cloak
Moves: Icicle Crash, Blizzard, Superpower, Aqua Jet
Items: Icicle Plate
Reasoning: Beartic gets something that Mamoswine can't get through level-up: Icicle Crash. It also gets Superpower and Aqua Jet via Heart Scale tutor, which are pretty useful moves to have, really. Superpower especially comes in play in Noel's battle, not really OHKOng anything barring Cincinno (which, well, gets flinched anyways), but still perfectly capable of revenge killing. There really isn't much to say about Beartic, really, it's just a linear Pokemon that hits hard with hard-hitting moves (//shuffles Mega Kangaskhan beneath a rug). Aqua Jet can be slightly underwhelming, though it is one of the few sources of Water-type attacks an Ice monorun is able to get. That said, however, Beartic is very slow, sitting at a 50 base speed tier, and its bulk isn't exactly amazing. It also lacks a secondary STAB, which is a shame, as STAB Aqua Jet or Superpower sounds great.

Vanilluxe, analysis by Metatyph

Ability: Ice Body
Moves: Ice Beam, Avalanche, Acid Armor/Freeze-Dry, Mirror Shot
Items: Icicle Plate
Reasoning: Vanilluxe's first form, Vanillite, is obtained fairly early on, available right after Julia's gym with a little internal clock tinkering. I forgot the exact price, but Vanillite isn't exactly costly, which makes it a great addition to your one-man army team. Vanilluxe has okay stats all around; okay bulk, pretty strong offenses, a slightly awkward but not exactly slow speed tier too. It also gets an okay movepool, even with a STAB move that hits Water-types, something that does not come by easily in an Ice mono. Avalanche hits extremely hard if Vanilluxe can manage to take a hit, which isn't very hard. Ice Beam is, of course, a mandatory, consistent STAB move that also bypasses, Avalanche's negative priority. Freeze-Dry is a STAB move that hits Water-types super effectively, something that Ice monoruns sometimes has trouble with. Mirror Shot is a Steel-type attack, which is handy when battling Serra. Vanilluxe, however, has some things that hold it back. One thing I noticed was that Vanilluxe's Ice Beam is noticeably weaker than the other STABs that other 'mons carry, such as Abomasnow's Blizzard, Mamoswine's Earthquake, and Walrein's constantly critting Frost Breath, which means it needs to be able to take a hit before dealing out great damage with Avalanche. This also ties in directly to its other weakness, the lack of a secondary STAB. This makes Vanilluxe's relatively high Special Attack seem not as significant when compared to the other 'mons.

C Rank:

D Rank:

E Rank:

S Rank:

A Rank:

Noivern, analysis by Foovy10

Ability: Frisk/Telepathy
Moves: Dragon Pulse, Flamethrower, Air Slash/Hurricane, Boomburst/Tailwind/Super Fang
Why: Noivern is a weird pokemon. At first its a noibat that does absolutely nothing which is why u catch it later in the game(DONT MAKE THE MISTAKE I DID) but when it evolves into a Noivern, expect some sweeps(not immediately anyway if your before the ice gym before it evolves cuz you know 4x weakness to ice and the fact it we dont get flamethrower at that point i would just suggest to sub him out for that one gym battle.)

B Rank:

C Rank:

D Rank:

E Rank:

S Rank:

Malamar, analysis by ChubbThePig

Ability: Contrary but Infiltrator could be used
Moves: Psycho Cut, Night Slash, Superpower (goes well with Contrary), Hypnosis/Pluck (for those berries)/Light Screen/Destiny Bond
Why: Malamar has the coveted Ability Contrary, which makes it an absolute beast if it can set up while still doing some very nice damage with Superpower. It also has Psycho Cut and Night Slash as its two best STABs as of right now. Those three moves just simply must be on your Malamar. Your fourth move slot if your choice, however. Hypnosis, while having low accuracy, could be useful for Pokemon that are particularly annoying. Pluck gives some decent coverage while also stealing any opponent's berry, which could be useful for the early game, when Sitrus Berries are still being used. Light Screen is just there to boost your team's Special Defense, and Destiny Bond is very nice, since Malamar doesn't have the best Defenses. Overall, this Pokemon has quite a bit of utility if it manages to set up.

Greninja, analysis by CompetitiveEdge

Ability: Protean
Moves: Hydro Pump/Surf, Extrasensory, Smack Down/Acrobatics, Shadow Sneak/Lick/Grass knot
Why: By far the best Dark Pokemon available in Reborn, Greninja Boasts a stellar 122 Base speed stat, which just about out speeds anything and everything, so all you need to focus on is raw power. Coupled with a great learn set for a dark type, Greninja is a staple for any Dark Monotype.
Hydro Pump/Surf is a move that should be on every Greninja and is self-explanatory.
Extrasensory is another important move for Greninja, as it essential for taking down Dark Monotypes greatest threat, Fighting Pokemon. With Protean making all of Greninja’s receive a STAB bonus, an extrasensory will lay waste to any fighting Pokemon that doesn’t have a secondary type to help deal with the attack.
Smack Down is required to make short work of Bug Type Pokemon, which is another major problem for Dark Monotypes, It will also come in handy for Charlotte and the newly introduced Ciel, who are arguably the hardest leaders in the game as of Episode 15.
A ghost type move is generally preferred for the final slot, this is simply for gaining an immunity to fighting type moves/pokemon and finishing them off with an extrasensory or a hydropump, although this move can be swapped out for grass knot just for coverage.

Honchkrow, analysis by CompetitiveEdge

Ability: Moxie
Moves: Sucker Punch, Night Slash, Brave Bird (Egg move)/Drill Peck (Egg move)/Fly/Wing Attack, Swagger
Why: Despite being an exceptional Pokémon over all, being able to deal with Fighting Monotypes and Bug Monotypes while being able to sweep entire teams by itself, Honchkrow is a hard Pokemon for any Dark Monotype user to look past.
Sucker Punch, is Honchkrow’s primary move, with a strong 80bp and priority if the opponent uses a damaging attacking, it is a move that noone should turn down. With very predictable AI, you will know there will be times when the opponent will not attack you and will use a potion or tries to use a non-damaging move. This is the time when you use Night slash, a sure fire a way to get off a STAB dark type attack. Wing Attack remains Honkrows main flying stab, it is the only physical move I learns via level up and despite only having a 60bp, it is better than nothing .Brave Bird, Drill peck are both egg moves, so unless you want to train a Honchkrow from lvl 1, these moves aren’t for you. Fly has been released in reborn as of episode 15, and you will not be able to use it until you are up to Ciel in game, which is nearly the end of episode 15. Swagger is purely filler and you can be replaced with anything of the players choice.
And finaly, The cherry on the cake, Moxie. This ability will rip any team through shreds. Getting a +1 attack boost for every kill paired with sucker punch, very few Pokemon will stand in its way once Honchkrow gets going.

Crawdaunt, analysis by CompetitiveEdge

Ability: Adaptability
Moves: Crabhammer, Crunch, Dragon Dance (Egg move), Superpower (Egg move)
Why: Crawdaunt is pretty much the definition of a glass cannon. With below average defenses, it cannot take a lot of hits. But paired with 120 base attack and adaptability, it will be very hard for any pokemonto take more than 2 hits from this beast. Crab Hammer and Crunch paired with Adaptability will punch gaping holes in any pokemon and team, and need no explanation as to why they are used on Crawdaunt. One of the mainthing that stops Crawdaunt from becoming an unstoppable powerhouse is it’s poor speed. But this can be fixedby breeding dragon dance on to it. With the speed boost as well as an attack boost from dragon dance, nothing is safe from Crawdaunt. Super Power is simply used when there are pokemon that you think can take a hit or2 from Crawdaunt, despite that being a very few pokemon, there are some out there such as Ferrothorn. These pokemon generally don’t tend to appreciate a Superpower to the face.

Bisharp, analysis by YagamiNoir4896

Ability: Defiant
Item: Dread Plate/Scope Lens
Moves: Iron Head, Sucker Punch, Psycho Cut, Night Slash, Substitute, Brick Break
Why: 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 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.

A Rank:

Houndoom, analyis by CompetitiveEdge

Ability: Flash Fire
Moves: Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Nasty Plot, Thunder Fang
Why: Houndoom’s role in a Dark Monotype is very simple, to make the threat of Bug Monotypes non-existent. It’s powerfull flamethrower will OHKO nearly every bug in the game.
It’s base speed stat of 95 makes it out speed, again, nearly every bug in the game, and it is a good speed stat to have in general. Dark Pulse is purely for anything that resists a fire attack as flamethrower is Houndoom’s primary move.
Nasty Plot, is good for situations in which you know your opponent will use a potion, in which case you could set up and proceed to swiftly kill everything in one shot, that doesn’t kill you first.
Thunder Fang, is preference move, and it’s just to pinch a bit of damage on water types.

B Rank:

Liepard, analysis by ChubbThePig

Ability: Prankster
Moves: Fake Out, Night Slash/Sucker Punch, Play Rough, Sand Attack/Taunt/Attract/Charm/Yawn/Encore
Why: Liepard is a very fast Pokemon with decent offenses. Plus, most of its moves gain some form of Priority. Fake Out is a first-turn attack, Night Slash or Sucker Punch is Liepard's best STAB, Play Rough is for coverage and that slight chance of lowering Attack, and those last few moves all are moves that have Priority from Prankster, each being useful in some way. Attract and Yawn are for stopping the opponent, Taunt and Encore are for Pokemon setting up, Charm is simply for lowering Attack, and Sand Attack, my personal favorite, can be used to try to make the opponent miss every attack. Liepard was especially useful for those battles meant to be lost or just hard battles in general, seeing that Sand Attack has priority and can be used so that every boss could potentially miss. In addition, Liepard is one of the earliest Pokemon you can get, so it's great for the beginning-middle of the game!

C Rank:

D Rank:

E Rank:

S Rank:

Gardevoir, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Trace (Recommended)/Synchronize
Moves: Calm Mind, Psychic, Moonblast, Shadow Ball/Grass Knot
Why: Gardevoir presents itself as the better Psychic type available to Fairy monos through its superior Special attack and Special Bulk. (Higher base HP) Gardevoir's better abilities are Trace and Synchronize although Trace is recommended for the chance of picking up immunity based abilities such Flash Fire, Water Absorb, Levitate, etc. The reason why you should run Gardevoir over Mr Mime is simple, Gardevoir naturally Learns both Calm mind AND Moonblast via level up which allow it to fire off a Base 95 Stab move with a 30% chance to drop special attack and to use Calm Mind to boost up and past special attackers such as a certain Legendary in a certain glitch program which will remain unnamed 'cos spoilers. Just because Gardevoir is available after you defeat Aya, that does not mean that Gardevoir won't be able to help you against Poison types in future, there are future PULSE Pokemon which are Poison types, and having a Pokemon like Gardevoir which can smack them hard with a STAB Psychic or even set up calm minds in their faces is definitely not something one should ever look past when using Fairy in Reborn.

A Rank:

Mr Mime, analysis by Female Gallade

Ability: Filter/Technician
Moves: Psychic, Misty Terrain/Encore/Substitute, Light Screen, Reflect. OR Psychic, Magical Leaf/Shadow Ball, Hidden Power Fire/Fighting/Ground/Icy Wind (Egg move), Charge Beam
Why: Mr Mime functions as a Psychic/Fairy which can be used before the player gains access to Ralts which is only obtainable after you've beaten all major instances of Poison mono users. Mr Mime has a fairly large movepool without TMs which only leaves out Fairy STAB which is Dazzling Gleam and is only obtainable through TM. The first set uses Filter and aims to use Mr Mime to provide support to his teammates using moves such as Misty Terrain to power their stab and protect from status and Dual Screens to cushion damage taken from opponents. Though if you opt to use Filter and make Mr Mime bulky, be wary that his HP stat is only 40 and Physical Defense is 65 whilst he has a very respectable 120 Special Defense. Psychic is used as his main STAB and is pretty much the only reason you should use Mr Mime over any other Fairy Screens user. The second set uses Technician to its fullest advantage and aims to capitalize off of Mr Mime's base 100 Special stat. Technician powers up Magical Leaf and Hidden Power up to 90 base power, Icy wind to 82.5 and Charge beam to 75 base power. With charge beam at 75 base power and a 70% chance to boost your Special stat by one, Mr Mime becomes a quite threatening presence.

B Rank:

Granbull, analysis by ChubbThePig

Ability: Intimidate
Moves: Charm, Play Rough, Crunch/Ice Fang/Fire Fang/Thunder Fang, Close Combat (breed)
Why: 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.

C Rank:

Wigglytuff, analysis by ChubbThePig

Ability: Competitive
Moves: (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
Why: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...

D Rank:

E Rank:

[Revman]

Can never have too many reservations

[Revman]

Reservation #4

[Revman]

Reservation #5

[Revman]

Reservation #6/8

[Revman]

Reservation #7

[Revman]

Reservation #8

[Vinny]

I'm here just to reinforce this: THIS IS NOT A DISCUSSION TOPIC.

Because of the amount of wordswork involved in this, I went ahead and told the OP to create the topic again.

Any posts here will be deleted accordingly. Thank you.

The old topic will be turned into a discussion topic. You can find the old topic HERE.