[WIP] Pokemon Reborn In-Game Viability Ranking (Updated for Episode 15)

[TKGriffiths]

Why isn't Nidoking on the list? When I saw Nidoran was available with a Moon Stone in bag it was a real 'aww yiss' moment. Good base stats, Sheer Force, Earth Power/Megahorn as level up moves, it learns a good few TMs. Lack of poison STAB without TMs is a problem, though Double Kick and Horn Attack are usable early game.

[Monochrome_Complex]

Nidoking is fantastic, A rank easily. It learns a lot of good TMs, remains strong the entire game and can utilize several fields well due to its versatility. One of my favorites in Reborn.

Emolga I'd bump to A- because late game it can barely take a hit and has trouble hitting hard enough. It's still really good though.

[ShatteredSkys]

Hey!

A lot has changed since I played reborn but here are my thoughts on the pokemon I used during my journey!

Yamna/Yamega

Rank: B

Availability: Shortly after Kiki and halfway before the fourth badge.

Ability: Tinted Lens, Speed Boost

Movepool: Relatively shallow: Air Slash, Bug Buzz, U-Turn, Detect

Comments: Yamega is an absolute beast of a bug type. it has pretty good stats but what really defines it is speed boost. This lets yamega outspeed any pokemon in combination with detect. Even though yamega might not have the best coverage in the world it has what it needs to work. Bug buzz and air slash works as powerful STABs, detect compliments speed boost, u-turn is nice for chip damage, it does get ancient power but i personally don't like using it. Yamega does incredibly well versus Luna and Samson able to outrun all their pokemon and wreak havos with its STABs. But despite this yamega has one huge glaring weakness. it doesn't get a single its STAB until level 45, air slash. Up until then you're stuck with uproar I believe, making yamega pretty useless. So while you get yamna after Kiki you it won't be any help until you get to Noel. If you really want to use yamega I would recommend you train it durng the period between episodes, don't keep it on your main team it's simply a burden that way.

Espeon

Rank: B-

Availability: After fourth gym.

Ability: Magic Bounce, Synchronize

Movepool: Poor: Psychic, Morning Sun

Comment: Espeon isn't a bad pokemon. it has fairly decent stats, pretty good special attack and speed and reasonable special defense. it also gets access to Magic bounce which deflects any status or debuffs thrown at it. Unfortunately, this ability isn't as good as it sounds...... Battle in reborn rarely ever throw debuffs or status conditions at you during the stage where you get espeon. In fact ever since I got my espeon a year back I can count the amount of times this ability was used with my hands. And unfortunately outside its stats and ability espeon has very little going for it. Its movepool is shallow, limited only to psychic and its other ability is just as bad as Magic Bounce. And another issue, espeon gets outclassed in every way by gardevoir: gardevoir has a better typing, gardevoir has a MUCH better movepool with access to calm mind and moonblast, gardevoir has arguably a better ability. I use my espeon mostly as a calm mind sweeper but since the tm for clam mind got removed a long time ago this isn't even viable anymore....... Espeon is a workable pokemon but just be warned it doesn't have much going for it and it get outclassed by other psychic types. Oh and it really does well versus Samson, its ok at most other battle but that the only one where it stands out.

Pinsir

Rank: C

Availability: after sixth gym.

Ability: Moxie, Hyper Cutter

Moves: Decent: Swords Dance, Superpower, X scissor, Storm Throw

Comment: Put down those pitchforks and let me explain. Pinsir honestly isn't that bad of a pokemon. It actually has pretty nice stats. Very high attack, decent speed, and quite nice defense. It's move pool is also fairly good: X scissor for STAB, it gets quite a few fighting moves for coverage, and it gets Swords Dance to break walls. It also has a fantastic ability in the form of Moxie which lets it off set the attack loos of superpower or run through entire teams with X scissor. It does amazingly versus Luna, able to tear holes into her team with moxie boosted X scissors and Superpowers. Unfortunately despite this no one will ever use pinsir until the mega comes out because it had the misfortune of being placed directly front of version 2, heracrosss. Also the event to get pinsir is INCREDIBLY long like i've done it twice and both times it took me a few days to finish. Overall yeah pinsir gets outclassed pretty but that doesn't mean it a bad pokemon.

[wytch_doctr]

Shadow ball was removed and replaced by shadow claw. So neither Espeon or Yanmega gets Shadow Ball as of E15

[Restal]

Lillipup - Herdier - Stoutland

Availability: 1-13 Badges

Movepool: Good

Comments: This Pokemon is virtually free and soft-resetting is an easy task because of this. From what I know this playful puppy comes with an elemental fang which really turns Florinia into a cakewalk when combined with work up which is learned at Level 20 (for Herdier). It learns Takedown early on and if you're willing to stick with it you can get PR much later on. Even though it's movepool is basically Crunch, Fangs, PR, and Takedown/Retaliate they are powered up by work up which is incredibly useful due to Stoutland's decent 85/90/90 defenses.

Nominating for B+ or A-.

Lillipup - Herdier - Stoutland

Availability: 1-13 Badges

Movepool: Good

Comments: This Pokemon is virtually free and soft-resetting is an easy task because of this. From what I know this playful puppy comes with an elemental fang which really turns Florinia into a cakewalk when combined with work up which is learned at Level 20 (for Herdier). It learns Takedown early on and if you're willing to stick with it you can get PR much later on. Even though it's movepool is basically Crunch, Fangs, PR, and Takedown/Retaliate they are powered up by work up which is incredibly useful due to Stoutland's decent 85/90/90 defenses.

Nominating for B+ or A-.

Edit: well damn didn't see that other post nominating this little guy.. glad to know someone else loves this guy too

Edited December 5, 2015 by Restal

[ShatteredSkys]

Shadow ball was removed and replaced by shadow claw. So neither Espeon or Yanmega gets Shadow Ball as of E15

Oh...... thanks I'll keep that in mind for my other reviews.

[Hymdall]

I noticed Grimer, and by extension, Muk, have the unfortunate task of being on the D Tier. Whilst I don't exactly agree with that, I'm probably biased because of my mono poison run where my Muk is putting in quite a lot of work. However, it most assuredly does not belong on B, so where does that leave us? Solid C, and here's why.

Grimer - Muk for C Rank(As opposed to D where it lies now)

Availability: No badges! Just get yourself the Old Rod and it's time to go.

Movepool: Quite good, actually. Notable moves include Gunk Shot, Curse, Shadow Sneak and Punch, Sludge Bomb AND Wave, Flamethrower, Brick Break, ect ect.

Muk and Grimer are an interesting pair of sludge blobs. The polar opposite of Weezing, they have good attack, HP, and special defense. It has 2 okay enough abilities in Stench(a nifty flinch chance if you manage to go first) and Poison Touch, which turns any of your contact moves into a 30% chance to Poison the target. It's movepool is also VERY good, and with catching a wild Duskull, if you give it one level(from 32ish)you have yourself 3 egg moves right off the bat: Shadow Punch and Sneak, as well as Curse. Curse is the main bread and butter of what Muk and Grimer are going to be doing. I've noticed that right around Shade, a lot of major boss battles(Shade himself, Cal, Kiki, Victoria)are all dealt with incredibly well with a Cursed up Muk. After 2 or 3 Curses, it's nearly untouchable and given that speed isn't an issue because you have Shadow Sneak, Muk turns into a devastating sweeper with minimal effort. That's not to say Grimer and Muk don't have their issues.

The biggest issue is how long it takes for Grimer to evolve. Level 38 is not a low level, and trust me from experience, you NEED the added bulk evolution gives you to be viable here. Other than that, Grimer/Muk's natural level up pool is...quite mediocre, to be frank. Sludge Wave/Bomb and Gunk Shot are your best moves, and whilst they're great, the first two go off of your worse Sp.Atk stat, and Gunk Shot not only has iffy accuracy, but only 5 PP. Aside from that, there are just some battles where you won't get a chance to set up, or the enemy is just packing a lot of coverage in Psychic moves(a certain Roserade and Lucario jump to mind). Overall though, the sludge blobs are a very solid pair of Pokemon, but not without some pretty glaring flaws that can hold them back. If you want a surprisingly strong Poison type, give them a try, you won't regret it.

Tl;dr: Specially bulky and physically strong, but slow and needs a bit of work to make use of said talents. Makes Shade's gym an absolute joke with Curse/Shadow Sneak, incredibly helpful against Noel's fat pink blob of a Clefable, overall solid sweeper in the right scenario. Has some glaring downsides in typing, natural level up movepool, abysmal speed, okay defense.

EDIT: Realized I said it didn't belong in C, yet put it as "solid C" this has been corrected and I am in my shame corner.

Edited December 17, 2015 by Ssbmfreak36

[Cool Girl]

Ursaring for A rank

Availability: 1st badge

Movepool: Okay

Comments: Ursaring's pre-evolution doesn't start out strong. As it evolves, it doesn't learn good moves. But if you teach Ursaring Facade with Guts holding a Toxic Orb, it's a beast!

[Synchronoise]

A bit of a weird choice, but I'm recommending Pachirisu to move up to C-rank

Availability: 0 Badges

Movepool: Absolute garbage

Comments: Where do I begin. You can get Pachi the moment you get two pokemon, she's readily available as long as you don't get rekt by that 50% chance for Zigzagoon. Her movepool's absolute garbage, but what's important is what moves she gets. The moves of note are Nuzzle/Super Fang/Charge Beam, and Sweet Kiss to a smaller extent. Nuzzle comes incredibly early on, and is the go-to move you'll be using for Pachi. The parahax lets you draw out the battle a bit longer, and let either Pachi build Charge Beam boosts, or someone else from your team boost up. Add Sweet Kiss if you want to be mean, and you have someone who can help you sweep early gym leaders relatively consistently. Super Fang is useful for chipping damage from the bulky af Pulse-mons, so you don't have to sit down for a good half hour trying to take down Pulse Tangrowth. Later in the game, Pachi still stays relevant by virtue of its pickup ability helping you get Rare candies to sell/healing items after battles, so even when she's not in battle, she provides utility for the team. She has a niche that no other mon shares, and I feel that it's enough to place her in C-Rank

tl;dr Pachi is good. Move her up pls

Edited February 7, 2016 by Synchronoise

[Monochrome_Complex]

Pachi is low? Why? Emolga is somewhat preferred but Pachi fills a similar role and can take hits better.

[FairFamily]

I want to add some reviews from my own experiences.

Trubbish-Gabrador:
Rank: D (doesn't mean it doesn't deserve a review)

Availability: 0 badges
Movepool: okay/niche

Comments: As the name suggests Trubbish is trash especially when it has to compete with Gulpin, another zero badge poison type.
However it does learn poison gas, toxic spikes and acid spray very early. So it makes for a good suicide set-up pkmn whcih is reinforced by aftermath. It's typing helps a lot against your rivals and the early gym leaders which makes it a bit easier. Also Pulse-Tangrowth can be easily set up on with acid spray. If you manage to keep it till lvl 3, learns stockpile and swallow gving it some more deffensive capabilities. It is hower hold back by it's stat distribution , lack of good physical moves and it's very late evolution time.

Gulpin also outclasses it since it evolves earlier and has a better stat distribution. The only thing that makes it competitive with it is a slighty earlier attainment of moves and toxic spikes.

Gulpin-Swallot:
Rank: C-

Availability: 0 badges
Movepool: okay

Comments: Gulpin won't serve you too long but in the early stages of the game it can help you well. It's typing well help you well against your rivals, early gym leaders and can easily set-up for allies on Pulse-Tangrowth. It evolves at decent level and swalot has some decent decent stats at that time. It also learns stockpile and swallow giving it some good chances at stalling. However asthe game progresses ,its typing loses value and it's lack of recovery + rather low defensive stats will lower it's usefullness.

Buneary-Lopunny:

Rank: C
Availability: 1 badge

Movepool: fantastic
Comments: Buneary and Loppuny are not great in the stat departement and certainly not in the ability departement but what makes up for it is it's movepool. It's lvl up movepool has some nice moves for an attacker : high stab damage with return, prority with quick attack and good coverage with the powerfull (high) jump kick. It does however gets walled by ghost. When you start adding the breeding moves it sets expand. First you can add fake out to the attacker. Or you can run an endure, flail set. On top of that it has some good moves with healing wish, magic coat and mirror coat.

Shellos-Gastrodon:

Rank: B (-)

Availability: 6 badges

Movepool: okay
Comments: Shellos/Gastrodon are natural tanks: high health, decent special defense ,acceptable defense, little weaknesses and a reliable recovery skill. It can slo learn stockpile/curse to make it even more defensive. Also the tm infestation is available a bit later giving it some reliable damage. It's offensive move-set is a bit pitifull: best stab are surf/muddy watter and mud bomb for it's special attack or bulldoze and waterfall for a physical attacker. A big problem though is it's grass weakness which hits 4 times. It faces competetion with unaware Quagsire. Quagsire has less natural bulk but has unaware. However gastrodon can learn clear smog, watch out for steel set-up though.

Edited February 10, 2016 by FairFamily

[elfen]

I want y'all to reevaluate Venomoth. Venomoth is a sweeping beast, like no other...

Venomoth:

Rank: B to A-

Availability: Before Florina, after beating fern

Movepool: Quiver Dance, Sleep powder, Psychic, Bugbuzz is all you need.

Comments: Once you evolve Venonat into Venomoth, (and episode manipulation...and two heart scales) You get access to two strong moves, QD and BB. I have used her to sweep kiki, aya, and other major battles by sleep powder+3 or more QD, then finish them off. And the AI is predictable, when a boss battle pokemon is low health, they will heal them or switch out, which enables a free QD then SP then QD till death. Do not forget about Baton pass as well.

[Cobalt996]

Since it does not have its own location, but its pre-evo does:

Volcarona-

Rank C+, B-, or B (no clue how badly the availability should kill it)

Availability: Mystery Egg, Evolve Badges 8-13. (slightly better than Beldum, 6% of the time)

Type: Fairly good coverage, but a common 4x weakness.

Stats: 135/100 Satk/Spd, being a Special Salamance, but... 65 Defense.

Viable Movepool:

Fiery Dance, Bug Buzz, Hidden Power, Hurricane, Giga Drain

Heat Wave, Struggle Bug

Quiver Dance, Roost?

The issues:

Let's be honest. 1/18 chance of being available, and a long egg hatch is you really want to try for good IVs/ability, or even just gender. This Pokemon is the definition of the worst possible availability, rivaling only a select few E13-15 Pokemon. It suffers from a crippling 4x weakness to Rock, which it has to fight in the form of Team Meteor, during the tag-team session. It has good special coverage, but most of those moves are TM/Tutor only. Additionally, it can't help out in any of the solo 'Mon fights, due to type failing, or field effect. So why does it get a B/B- rank, when it sounds like literal garbage

The benefits:

Quiver Dance, on a Pokemon with already good Special Attack and Speed, which is also buffed by 1/3 of its available gyms. Heat Wave, a STAB attack that hits both opponents in the typical tag-team situations. Bug Buzz, which falls under similar circumstances as QD. Fiery Dance, an another good Fire attack that raises its already good Special Attack 50% of the time. Hidden Power, which provides the much-needed coverage most of the time (...somehow even HP Psychic was good enough). All of that is enough to completely solo... literally every available gym, and cripple most other major fights. Even Ciel, since Togekiss is a special attacker, and Talonflame AI is inconsistent at best.

Conclusion:

Its greatest failing is the 1/18 chance of obtaining it, followed by not being viable until your level cap hits 60, and the fact that EV training it for a Larvesta is counterproductive. Even so, it is one of the few 'Mons obtainable in E15 that can destroy the last 40% of the game with almost no help (bar Meteor Grunts, and predicted to change for Ciel with AI update in E16) Remember that you can't count on getting it, but praise your fortune if you do.

[IntSys]

Porygon - Porygon2 - PorygonZ

Rank: B+

Availability: 2 Badges (Porygon), 7 Badges (Porygon2), 11 Badges (Porygon-Z)

Typing: Normal type.

Stats: Varies. Porygon2 fits the Bulky Special Attacker role and Porygon-Z fits the Fast Special Attacker role.

Movepool: Pretty good. Notable moves include - Recover (Level 18), Signal Beam (Level 29), Discharge (Level 40), Tri Attack (Level 50), Trick Room (8th Badge).


Pros:
- Porygon2 is a great Trick Room user, capable of tanking hits and turning the tide against upcoming boss battles, including the battle with Aster and Eclipse in the LCCC, the battle with Charlotte, the battle with Aster in Ametrine, and the battle with Terra.
- Porygon2 gets to hold Chople Berry in return of missing Eviolite, patching up its Fighting weakness.
- Porygon2 gets Discharge, which, coupled with its bulks, destroys Pulse!Swalot completely.
- Porygon2's ability, Download, gives it the boost it needs to secure kills.
- Porygon2 gets Recover, making it less dependent on potions, saving you lots of money.
- The Porygon family's leveling rate is Medium Fast, making it easy to grind.
- Arguably better than Reuniclus, having better movepool and isn't as reliant on TMs.
* The upcoming Amplifield Rock strengthens Porygon2's Trick Room.

Cons:
- Porygon is a dead weight, nigh unusable until you clear Tanzan Mountain and get the Up-Grade.
- Eviolite isn't available yet, hindering Porygon2's defensive prowess.
- Porygon-Z isn't worth it at the moment, because the BoltBeam TMs are still out of reach at the moment.
- Porygon2 misses out on the status TMs like Thunder Wave and Toxic due to their unavailability at the moment.

Conclusion:
Porygon2 is an excellent Pokemon. Although late availability and the lack of Eviolite hurt it a lot, it still has plenty of redeeming values that make it good.

Edited February 13, 2016 by IntSys

[Hycrox]

Regarding Spiritomb, I disagree with its tier placement due to the fact that I've found it useful on literally EVERY boss battle but Luna since I caught it. That being said, here's my review:

Suggested rank: A

Availability: 5 badges (Lvl 40)

Type: Ghost/Dark

Stats: Above average and good everything (except HP and Speed)

Movepool: Excellent (includes Pain Split, Sucker Punch, Nasty Plot, Trick Room...)

Comments: Spiritomb is an exceptional pokemon that performs exceptionally in most battles, as it is hard to 1HKO and can counterattack with Pain Split, completely healing itself in the process (this is EXTREMELY useful against Arceus, Noel's Porygon-Z, Steelix...) and can finish off opponents easily with Sucker Punch. It is only held back by its subpar HP and horrendous speed (the latter of which might even help it). Also, it is not that hard to obtain, as you only need acess to the Byxbysion Grotto and an Odd Keystone to find it, and it is relatively easy to catch.

And also, could someone make a review for rotom? Please?

Edited March 28, 2016 by HYCROX

[FairFamily]

Regarding Spiritomb, I disagree with its tier placement due to the fact that I've found it useful on literally EVERY boss battle but Luna since I caught it. That being said, here's my review:

Suggested rank: A

Availability: 5 badges (Lvl 40)

Type: Ghost/Dark

Stats: Above average and good everything (except HP and Speed)

Movepool: Excellent (includes Pain Split, Sucker Punch, Nasty Plot, Trick Room...)

Comments: Spiritomb is an exceptional pokemon that performs exceptionally in most battles, as it is hard to 1HKO and can counterattack with Pain Split, completely healing itself in the process (this is EXTREMELY useful against Arceus, Noel's Porygon-Z, Steelix...) and can finish off opponents easily with Sucker Punch. It is only held back by its subpar HP and horrendous speed (the latter of which might even help it). Also, it is not that hard to obtain, as you only need acess to the Byxbysion Grotto and an Odd Keystone to find it, and it is relatively easy to catch.

And also, could someone make a review for rotom? Please?

About the spirittomb, I wouldn't call it available.Getting an Odd Keystone is quite a hassle without some serious luck or serious grinding.

For the rotom, I haven't played the game with it (I did test rotom wash a little bit though) but I would consider it getting quite a low score, rotom in base form is outclassed as a offensive ghost pkmn by mismagius for instance or an offensive lightning pkmn by jolteon, the only advantage it has being both stab ghjost and lightning. And forget defense it for the base rotom. The other forms however are quite formidable but they are delivered very late (right after charlotte) and the volt switch or whill o' wisp tm's are still not available making them not that great.

Now on to my review of mismagius

Misdreavus-Mismagius

Rank: -A

Availability: 6 badges (Aya)

Stats: good special attack,special and speed, and poor attack,defense and health

movepool: very limited but good for it's role

Comments: Misdreavus is a little trickster that is available directly after you beat Aya. Evolving can be done with rng directly afterwards, without rng it can be done before the next gym. Its stats makes it a special sweeper,no doubt about that, it can take the role in other formats but reborn move limits prevent this role from happening. It strongest move is stab shadow ball which is quite nice as coverage it has only power gem. This may sound a little bit strange since it has a fire move in mystical and a grass move in magical leave. However their base power is 60-65 so even they are super effective they are around the lvl of shadow ball. So to use magical leaf or mystical fire you need to fight a dark and be super effective against it which are only a few pkmn. The moves have some utility but that's the only reason you take them. On top of that there are better things to slot mismagius with, nasty plot for once, setting it up is not too difficult with it's high special defense and you can cause some serious havoc. The second one is destiny bond/perish song: a lot of reborn boss fight involve a single strong pokemon and perish song destiny bond simply end them. However mismagius is not without flaws its low health and defense make it extremely weak to physical attacks. It also has no priority moves so sucker punch is basically a death sentence to mismagius.

Edited March 29, 2016 by FairFamily

[Ironbound]

Mmh. I find mentions of Pawniard and Starly under B-, but no reviews. I also didn't find a review for Snorlax on the main page in my cursory glance. Shall I contribute my opinion?

Reserving for later, then. I'll write a review for all three when I get back home later in the day.

Of course, if they're somehow already there then stop me.

[Hank_Nghiem]

So I would like to add my personal Pulse/Boss wrecker

Wobbufett

With impressive stats it can survive most hits from Pulse/Boss or field boosted attacks. It has reflect and mirror coat, and with its massive health pool either of the mentioned moves would send any Pokémon to faint land if properly guessed. I took down pulse Swalot without any casualties with Wobbufett. Additionally with a custap berry a near death Wobbufett can give a parting gift by destiny bonding one of your opponents Pokémon. I find this happening a lot as the first move nearly kills Wobbufett everytime due to either pulse or boosted.

The biggest issue is that it is found just before Luna pretty far into the game as a Wynaut. I never really bothered using one till I stumble over a shiny Wynaut. Yet every other fight after that has been Wobbufett knocking out two pokemon before the battle even begins, and Pulse/Boss Pokémon either get OHKO by Reflect or Mirror Coat or I'm sacrificing Wobbufett with Destiny Bond. Lastly with shadow tag it can force the enemy trainer into horrible situations where they would much rather swap out. Its a destined kill with anything going into the ring with Wobbufett other than toxic stall or another Wobbufett.

I would give it a B just because of its failure to beat stallers and when it is obtained.

Another Pokémon along the same lines is Metal Burst Aagron with sturdy. Mega Altaria died this way. Give him a custap berry, and he'll dent something after his one hit wonder.

[Ironbound]

Oh, I forgot to write my reviews!

BISHARP (and Pawniard):

Availability: 9 badges OR potential 1/18 chance to hatch from the Mystery Egg

Movepool: Fantastic (with breeding), Good (without breeding)

Comments: Bisharp is an excellent Pokémon. Very powerful, good defense, unfortunately subpar special bulk and speed, but this can be mitigated easily due to its access to one of the strongest Sucker Punches in the game. It needs to be bred with a Croagunk or Hitmon-something for it to obtain it, though. Unfortunately, it also can't yet have access to Knock Off. However, it more than makes up for these inconveniences by learning Swords Dance and Iron Head naturally, and can also be taught Brick Break once you obtain the TM from Samson for a perfectly fine moveset.

I'd say it ought to be in the B tier, because even though it is naturally available late, and needs breeding for a good Dark move, it is simply that strong.

POWREFLU SATRAOTIR (and Starly):

Availability: 9 badges

Movepool: Fantastic

Comments: There's a reason it's POWERFUL STARAPTOR. Starly is hands down the best burd you can get in this game as of now, and that's probably why it is available only that late. It boasts of a good speed and great attack, especially with Reckless as an ability which can boost the power of Brave Bird (which it learns naturally) even further. It even gets Close Combat naturally! A bird! With fists! CAW CAW!

It unfortunately doesn't get a good Normal STAB stronger than Take Down (which is also boosted by Reckless) butvit can be bred with Togepi to give it Double Edge, which is as strong as Brave Bird. Three moves are all you need on it to savage the foe, but the fourth slot can well have Quick Attack to finish off a weak opponent. Be warned that Staraptor has rather terrible bulk, but it's going to be too busy murderizing everything to notice.

It deserves B+, simply because it is so easy to use, even if it is late.

Edited April 12, 2016 by Viridescent

[nsbwinner2]

I'll follow Viridescent's lead here, this one is on Pangoro.

Name: PANGORO

Base statistics:

HP: 95
Attack: 124
Defense: 78
Special Attack: 69
Special Defense: 71
Speed: 58

Abilities: Iron Fist / Mold Breaker / Scrappy (HA)

Suggested Natures: Adamant (preferred) or Jolly

Suggested Available Items in order of preference: Life Orb, Fist Plate

Moves:
- Vital Throw/Hammer Arm
- Crunch
- Shadow Claw*
- Parting Shot

*requires TM, but is obtainable easily. Shade gives Shadow Claw as the TM from his gym.

Other options: A few other Fighting-type moves are available. Sky Uppercut is a worse version of Hammer Arm in terms of power, unless you don’t want to lower your already slow speed stat. Low Sweep, which Pangoro only learns at level 70, is an interesting option to lower the opponent’s speed and help Pangoro possibly outspeed them, but Pangoro will usually land a 1HKO or 2HKO with Hammer Arm or Crunch anyway. Taunt is a good move on its own and prevents foes from setting up on Pangoro, but it does not fit in well with the rest of Pangoro’s moveset and is not as effective as it would be on a faster Pokemon.

ANALYSIS:

Obtainability/Training: Pancham is obtainable in a variety of locations in the Obsidia Slums, both in the main passageway through the Slums and the Pancham Playground on the way to obtaining Scraggy. While it is not a horrible Pokemon in itself, Pancham takes a lot of effort to train up due to its low speed and lack of type coverage, but its evolution is definitely worth it. One should definitely try to get Scrappy on Pancham, as it will greatly help with Shade’s gym (Pangoro doesn’t get Crunch by that time.)

Relevance after Acquisition: Pangoro is one of the best Fighting-types due to its secondary Dark typing, which helps it prosper at times where it would otherwise have a lot of difficulty. Like its fellow Fighting/Dark Pokemon Scrafty, Pangoro is bulky enough to take a few hits, although it sacrifices a bit of bulk for immediate attacking power.

Boss fight help: With its bulk and raw attacking power, Pangoro finds use in just about every gym barring Samson’s and, to some extent, Aya’s (as it has not yet learned STAB Crunch by that time). It takes a particular liking to Radomus’s team, destroying everything except Gallade and Gardevoir.

Conclusion: Pangoro is a great Pokemon in Reborn; its very high Attack stat allows it to take out at least one, and usually more, enemy Pokemon, while its decent HP stat allows it to take a few hits, making up for its poor speed. Pangoro works in just about all gyms, and its Fighting/Dark typing helps its type coverage greatly. Overall, Pangoro is a solid Pokemon that can find a place on just about any team.

Final grade: A-

Edited May 16, 2016 by nsbwinner2

[CURIE]

I posted this one a while ago on a similar thread that was focused on Monotype viability, but then I edited it to fit Reborn in general. It covers one of my favorite Pokemon, and no it's not Milotic.

Name: Waifu

Name: Best Eeveelution

Name: Sylveon

Stats: 95 HP/65 Attack/65 Defense/110 S.Atk/130 S.Def/60 Speed

Ability: Pixilate. Don't even bother with the other one.

Items: Pixie Plate, Metronome, Amplifield Rock when episode 16 drops. IF it ever drops.

Moves:

- Moonblast

- Echoed Voice

- Misty Terrain

- Nuclear Trump Card

Other options: Swift is weaker than Moonblast, especially on the Misty Field, but it never misses. If you already have a Pokemon who can put up Misty Field and don't want to waste a moveslot on your waifu, then you can replace it with a number of possible status inducing things like Swagger or Light Screen.

Eevee's always been a popular Pokemon due to its design and the fact that it can evolve into several other forms, all of which have fan favorite designs as well. But what no one wants to admit is that up until recently, none of them were really all that good. Then Sylveon happened. Honestly, if it weren't for its hidden ability it would have been around the same level as the others, but since Pixilate is easily available in Reborn, she's a special attacking powerhouse, top tier waifu material, undoubtably the most powerful of eevee's forms, and my second favorite Pokemon of all time. For moves she's got Moonblast like every other fairy ever, but her REAL power is the Nuclear Trump Card. Trump Card's a move she can only learn as an eevee at level 45, but since she's gotten at a time when your team is probably past that, it's not a problem. If you go into a boss battle with only 1 PP on that move, and have the Misty Field up, and are holding a Pixie Plate, then

What's more is that once you get Echoed Voice, setting it up to 5 consecutive uses gives it the exact same power as Trump Card has with 1 PP left! Sylveon then becomes a nuke spewing destroyer of worlds! And if you're holding a Metronome, then...

Obtainability: 5 badges. While it's a liiiiitle bit on the late side (not really considering how many badges there are, and how many there's gonna be) it actually works in Sylveon's favor, giving her near perfect Relevance after Aquisition.

Relevance after Aquisition: If Eevee were available before where it is currently, it would have ended up being dead weight up until around 5 badges in anyway. You don't want to evolve it into Sylveon until after she's learned Trump Card at level 45, but since your team's probably past 45 by the time you get there anyway it's not too bad. All you have to do is a bit of grinding and you can have a fully functioning adorable nuke shooter immediatley after you get Eevee! And once you get the TM for Echoed Voice she becomes even more insane! the best part is, she never loses even an ounce of viability no matter how far into the game you get. If anything, she only gets better due to the Echoed Voice TM being later in the game!

Bosses: Since the Nuclear Trump Card will one-shot almost anything that doesn't resist Fairy or isn't a monsterous special tank, Sylveon will find at least some use in any boss fight. All you gotta do is go waste your other four Trump Cards on some random wild Pokemon before going to fight the boss, and you're set. Fun fact: my own Sylveon defeated El's Ditto Arceus single handedly!

Drawbacks: No Hyper Voice as of now, although it's worth noting that due to how the Misty Field works, it actually makes Moonblast stronger. It's also worth mentioning that the TM for Echoed Voice isn't gettable until pretty late game. Not that it's a big deal, the Nuclear Trump Card is more than enough to get that far. She seems to have a limited movepool, Hidden Power being her only chance at a not Fairy move, but if you look at the power she's packing you realize the moves she already has are all she'll ever need. She's a bit on the slow side, but her defenses mean she's probably gonna be able to survive long enough to kill her opponent first. Especially if it's a special attacker.

Bonus Round: Numbers. Just so that you grasp the sheer POWER of Sylveon, check out the BP of her moves. And keep in mind this is all coming from a respectable base 110 Special Attack stat.

Moonblast: 95 BP + STAB + Pixie Plate + Misty Field = 256.5 BP in Misty Field, 171 otherwise

Swift: 60 BP + Pixilate boost(affected by Misty Field) + STAB + Pixie Plate = 162 in Misty Field, 140.4 otherwise. And it never misses.

Nuclear Trump Card: 200 BP ---> 540 BP in Misty Field, 468 otherwise

Hyper beam if for some reason you do that instead of Trump Card: 150BP ---> 405 in Misty Field, 351 otherwise

Echoed Voice 1: 40 BP ---> 108 in Misty Field, 93.6 otherwise

Echoed Voice 2: 80 BP ---> 216 in Misty Field, 187.2 otherwise

Echoed Voice 3: 120 BP ---> 324 in Misty Field, 280.8 otherwise

Echoed Voice 4: 160 BP --->432 in Misty Field, 374.4 otherwise

Echoed Voice 5 and up: Same as the Nuclear Trump Card. And it hits through substitute.

And with a Metronome, Echoed Voice becomes

1: 90 in Misty Field, 78 otherwise

2: 216 in Misty Field, 187.2 otherwise

3: 378 in Misty Field, 327.6 otherwise

4: 576 in Misty Field, 499.2 otherwise

5: 810 in Misty Field, 702 otherwise

6 and up: NINE FREAKING HUNDRED in Misty Field, 780 otherwise

Hyper Voice whenever we get it: 90 BP ---> 243 in Misty Field, 210.6 otherwise. And it hits through substitute, and both opponents in double battles.

Suggested Rank: A+ for sure. Maybe even S? Nah probably not S. You can't just pick her up and roll with it like Blaziken or DiggersbyTho, you gotta go a bit out of your way to make her work the way she needs to.

Still, Sylveon is bae

Thanks to AedialEclipsed for the Metronome idea, I didn't think of that when I first posted to the other thread.

[Sieg12]

Snivy is a C? I mean yes it is a grass type and has a horrible movepool but contrary with leaf storm pretty much allows it to steam roll most gyms that don't resist it. It destroys Solaris's sand team. You might say that since gets leaf storm so late it's not worth it but you can postpone its evolution. Spicy learns it at lvl 42 or 43 which is around kiki's battle. From there it can start wrecking stuff. It should be a B or an A-.

Also noibat, despite being a pain in the neck to train is actually a very good Pokemon. After evolution it gains a plethora of powerful moves through the move relearner and is very fast. It's also one of the few dragon Pokemon we have access to and is very versatile. Tailwind helps it's teammates to sweep and super fang allows it to bypass defensive Pokemon.

[Ironbound]

Minor nitpick, Solaris's Scizor murderizes Serperior, unless you bothered to put HP Fire on it. But yes, I do second that Serperior ought to be a little higher on the list, because although it is horribly weak until a late stage when it gets Leaf Storm to abuse, and although it doesn't get Dragon Pulse or anything yet, and although it needs to have HP Fire or Ground to be able to do anything at all, and although it has a poor typing both offensively and defensively, and although there are other, more immediately powerful grass types like Roserade available....actually wait, that's a very long list of flaws.

Still, its one niche is solid, so maybe a teensy upgrade from C to B- would be fine?

I'll do something about Krookodile and Dragalge in a bit. Reserved.

Also, are you editing in our reviews to update the main list? I don't see any of our later reviews incorporated.

[daigotsurezan]

I didn't see a review of Galvantula, so let me recommend this spidery guy for a B ranking:

Joltik - Galvantula for B Rank
Availability: 7 Badges (and a sidequest)
Movepool: Pretty good.
Comments: Galvantula is well worth the sidetrack to pick it up in Adventurine Forest. Bearing a unique Bug/Electric typing, Galvantula is a speedy little devil. He learns a few solid attack moves naturally (and his pool will only get better when you get access to Compoundeyes Thunder in a future version), although with a Special Attack of 97 he's more of an offensive middleweight than a powerhouse Galvantula's biggest strength, however, is in his status moves. In addition to useful moves such as Thunder Wave, Gastro Acid, and the anti-switch move Spider Web, Galvantula also learns the rare entry hazard Sticky Web, being only one of seven Pokemon with the move. Defensively Galvantula is a bit more of a mixed bag, only being weak to Fire and Rock but only resisting Fighting, Steel, Grass and Electric attacks.

Bosses: Galvantula will easily pull his weight in Gyms 10-12, having an offensive advantage against all Psychic and Dark types and resisting the Fighting STAB moves of Gym 12. Unfortunately, Gym 13 is all Fire-types who will chew him up in a hurry and Gym 14's Ground typing will negate half of his offensive potential (although at this point Galvantula can know Sticky Web, and if you can set it up at the opening of the match the remainder of your team will get a speed advantage). Gym 15, being a Flying-type Gym, ignores your Sticky Web tricks, but Galvantula can still get off a quick Thunder Wave or Discharge off against roughly half of the team (Gliscor and Talonflame are poor matchups, to say the least). In every other major fight, Galvantula will be able to bring a STAB attack against at least one foe, in addition to whatever status moves he knows. Knowing Sticky Web alone is enough to recommend Galvantula, but with a strong Speed, decent offensive ability and good status moves, Galvantula is a solid choice for any team.

[Oxygen9]

Why do you have Ditto under fail? You can use an untrained imposter for any gym leader and it could potentially knock out some mons. In a 6 vs 1 battle it can likely deal more damage with one attack than any of your other pokemon can. It's gotta be at least a C.