BEST Pokemon in Reborn (Part 1: Early Game)

[Whales]

Hello all. I decided to compile a list of the best pokemon in reborn as a way to help newer players get through the game with more enjoyment and less computer parts scattered across the floor after you lose to shade for the 17th time and elbow drop your laptop in frustration. This list will be based on many factors such as power, strategy, movesets, defensive bulk, offensive typing and much more. There will be spoilers as evidenced by the spoilers so be aware! I hope you all enjoy. Let us begin.

 

Spoiler

 

Torchic

 

This lovable little demon is by far the best starter in the game and is the perfect culmination of a strong offensive typing with a good moveset. As soon as you get this thing it hits opponents like a Chick-Fil-A delivery truck carrying ten tons of its brethren. It can completely sweep at least half of the gyms and some key battles (Examples being the ability to use 6 bulk ups in the Pulse Muk fight against ZELs lead glaceon and smacking Serra once you eq the field away). Torchic also gets one of the best abilities in the game with Speed Boost. Now chickens aren't the scariest things due to their lack of speed, but when that menace of a bird is running at you likewise to a Bugatti Chiron clearing 250 MPH on the Autobahn, you are going to be a little spooked. This ability coupled with the fact that you can move tutor high jump kick, flare blitz, and brave bird after the 6th badge, set up potential with bulk up, and good stats will cause you to regret the last time you bought a 5 buck cluck at the grocery store.

Spoiler

 

Kricketot

 

Not a fan of bug type pokemon? Too bad. This combination of a cricket and a small, fried potato cylinder gives you one of the best pokemon in the early game of reborn. You can get this invaluable member as soon as you enter Peridot Ward as an event, which is very important. If you don't like the simplistic nature of Kricketot's design, don't worry, it will only look like this for the first minute you have it because it gets so much experience from each battle that it instantly evolves. One characteristic of it being so good is the fact that it is 10 levels above the opponent in every fight because it was an event pokemon. Besides that, a little combination called fury cutter + technician can 2-shot everything in the game until you beat Florinia. Seeing as you really only need one move slot, you can also stick HM Cut on this bad boy without beating an eye. This Kricketot will cut more trees on your playthrough than a lumberjack on cocaine, so if that is up your alley, this is the mon for you.

Spoiler

 

Poochyena

 

Are you halfway through making a forum post about Shade being too tough? Do you want to beat Julia in 7 seconds flat? Stop what you are doing and pick up a dog stylized by Hot Topic employees. All in all, this pokemon is not that special. It has a very basic dark type move pool with average stats. This pup is only good in the early game because it evolves early and has moxie. These traits allow it to sweep Julia and be pretty useful throughout the next few gyms. You will most likely want to box it for Shelly, but you can pick it up again in time for Shade to wish he was never born, if he was born in the first place, if he is human,...never mind.

Spoiler

 

Makuhita

 

This fighting type pokemon inspired by the second coming of Christ, Big Chungus, is first met living it large with addicts in ye ol slums. Once you pick this big boi up for your team it will do three things really well, use fake out in double battles, take hits so you can heal up your other pokemon, and sometimes paralyze opponents with force palm. It evolves to hariyama very early and gets decent moves in Knock Off and Belly Drum. It can use rock smash and strength very well if you chose to specialize it to that labor.

Spoiler

 

Espurr (with peen)

 

If you are doing a nuzlocke, go to the next one. If not, you might as well grab this cat, nickname it Kenny, and watch as it dies every fight. "How can something that never gets a kill, dies every fight, and has eyes peering into your very soul be useful?" Four words. Fake out and screens. Naturally, because it never gets experience, you would think that this combination of prankster and screens would eventually be bad as it gets more and more underleveled right? Wrong. Meowstic was one of the most useful members of my team when I beat the Glass Factory Gauntlet and it was 25 levels below everything. Once you adopt a cat from the lapis alleys, you will realize that you did not only do the right thing, you made a lifelong friend.

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2019 by Whales

[Whales]

lmk if you would like to see installments 2 and 3 of the best trilogy in all of recorded history (guttural language included)

Edited October 9, 2019 by Whales

[Dreamy]

I think other watchers of a certain playthrough would agree that Gulpin (and/or trubbish) deserve a spot on this list too. Very durable and great at spreading status and stat changes to wear things down

[Thebossgummy221 games]

1 minute ago, DreamblitzX said:

I think other watchers of a certain playthrough would agree that Gulpin (and/or trubbish) deserve a spot on this list too. Very durable and great at spreading status and stat changes to wear things down

Especially that sexy Swalot, I convinced myself that Garbodor is better. 

[Whales]

6 minutes ago, DreamblitzX said:

I think other watchers of a certain playthrough would agree that Gulpin (and/or trubbish) deserve a spot on this list too. Very durable and great at spreading status and stat changes to wear things down

Watchers of a certain playthrough also cannot wait for that pile of slime to be slain. Real talk though we all know that swalot's bulk only lasts so far into the game, where Hariyama can be useful much later. For example, I used it in the Aggron horde battle for firinium. I see what you are saying though

[Dreamy]

46 minutes ago, Whales said:

Watchers of a certain playthrough also cannot wait for that pile of slime to be slain. Real talk though we all know that swalot's bulk only lasts so far into the game, where Hariyama can be useful much later. For example, I used it in the Aggron horde battle for firinium. I see what you are saying though

Well, the title does say "Early Game" =P.
but yes with all that yawning, even I'm getting a bit tired of it.

[doombotmecha]

Two other mons I think should be highlighted are Mareep and Klink.

 

Mareep is the GOAT--er, sheep. With Discharge, Power Gem, and Thunder Punch, it smashes through Shelly's gym, rain or shine. Moreover, it continues to be useful throughout the game, even up to the Agate Circus arc where many of these mons fall off.

 

Klink isn't a Mon I see many picking up, and I don't blame them; it's tough to find with a low encounter rate in an off-the-road area. However, it's incredibly strong if caught just after Julia. It tanks straight through Florina's and Corey's aces, and does well enough in Shelly's if pre-evolved. However, it's real strength is on a factory field, or a short-circuit field if you can change it (which it can do as well). Gear Grind becomes a 200 bp move with perfect accuracy, Automize (and later Gear Grind) have greatly boosted effects, and it generally becomes a bulky offensive monster in those scenarios. It's biggest weakness is a general lack of coverage; it kinda learns Gear Grind and that's it.

[Whales]

30 minutes ago, doombotmecha said:

Two other mons I think should be highlighted are Mareep and Klink.

 

Mareep is the GOAT--er, sheep. With Discharge, Power Gem, and Thunder Punch, it smashes through Shelly's gym, rain or shine. Moreover, it continues to be useful throughout the game, even up to the Agate Circus arc where many of these mons fall off.

 

Klink isn't a Mon I see many picking up, and I don't blame them; it's tough to find with a low encounter rate in an off-the-road area. However, it's incredibly strong if caught just after Julia. It tanks straight through Florina's and Corey's aces, and does well enough in Shelly's if pre-evolved. However, it's real strength is on a factory field, or a short-circuit field if you can change it (which it can do as well). Gear Grind becomes a 200 bp move with perfect accuracy, Automize (and later Gear Grind) have greatly boosted effects, and it generally becomes a bulky offensive monster in those scenarios. It's biggest weakness is a general lack of coverage; it kinda learns Gear Grind and that's it.

klink may be a spoiler for part 2 O_O

[doombotmecha]

Oh, I didn't realize you meant THAT earlygame, I was just thinking, like, starters to Shade hahaha. I'll hold off, then. I'm honestly excited for this series; planning different teams and strats is a large part of how I engage with this game, so I'm excited to see what others think is good.

[fellowry]

Budew is also a great asset in the early game, Roselia is a beast with Budew learning mega drain early and itself learning giga drain (which is a 10pp move in reborn thx a lot ame) in lv 25, hell Roserade carries me throughout my entire playthrough in my first run as my main grass damage dealer and toxic+ leech seed spammer

 

the only downside is that Budew evolves with high friendship at the day which you can speed this up by taking it to the salon and get a soothe bell but it still takes time and you won't get a shiny stone until after shade

[Taska]

24 minutes ago, fellowry said:

Budew is also a great asset in the early game, Roselia is a beast with Budew learning mega drain early and itself learning giga drain (which is a 10pp move in reborn thx a lot ame) in lv 25, hell Roserade carries me throughout my entire playthrough in my first run as my main grass damage dealer and toxic+ leech seed spammer

 

the only downside is that Budew evolves with high friendship at the day which you can speed this up by taking it to the salon and get a soothe bell but it still takes time and you won't get a shiny stone until after shade

Although Roselia is good, it doesn't do anything at all until you get Roserade. Roselia is good for the first gym if you are that dedicated, but the Tangrowths and Florinia, Shelly, Corey, Shade, Kiki, Aya, etc all body it. Roselia is nothing compared to any of the mons that are on the list here for early game.

[Seel The Deal]

Rattata.

 

...hear me out here.

 

With extremely early access to strong STAB Normal moves (including Facade!), a pre-Julia evolution, the ability Guts, very strong Dark moves in both Crunch and Sucker Punch, and no "required" egg moves or TMs, the OG Route 1 Rodent is one of the best, most splashable early 'mons in Reborn. It tears holes in Julia, Florinia, Corey (especially Corey) and Shade with even the most minimal setup, and if it come into battle pre-poisoned with STAB Facade it's practically unstoppable. Anything it can't beat normally can often by bypassed or crippled using Super Fang. Super Fang also makes it excellent for catches, guaranteeing you never knock anything out with a crit or the like. Its only major weakness is dying over time to poison chip and priority/fast 'mons like Breloom, Crobat and Gengar.

 

Alolan Raticate is obviously stronger, but it's post-Corey and by that point you have better options for both Normal (Dodrio, Lopunny, Ursaring) and Dark (Murkrow, Pangoro, and soon to be Sharpedo and Houndoom) types, so its only real purpose becomes type compression. Kantonian Raticate's only competition is Teddiursa, who only evolves just before Corey and has a garbage movepool outside of Facade and egg moves, and Lopunny, who is a pain in the ass to evolve and will likely only start to shine post-Florinia.

 

One could also make a case for Litten being an excellent starter choice, but it's a much more lowkey pick than Torchic and not as dominant on its own, despite being an incredible glue 'mon with a lot of good things going for it.

[Taska]

Thinking about it now, Numel is a great early game mon. Has a possibility of Simple Growth/Amnesia when you obtain it, and gets Lava Plume at level 22. It completely destroys Florinia and every Tangrowth battle, and with Earth Power at 26 bodies most of Corey as well. By the time you get to Shelly you have a massive Camerupt who can sweep her team with Simple +4 Amnesia or a +2 +2 Growth-Rock Slide(if there is rain) or Lava Plume (if not) (but make sure to kill that Masquerain). After Shade however it starts to fall off with Growlithe and Houndour becoming better options.

[Waynolt]

5 hours ago, fellowry said:

Budew

 

9 hours ago, DreamblitzX said:

trubbish

Agreed, and they "last" a very long time too... in my last playthrough those two beat the Fairy gym almost on their own (with grassy terrain+sludge wave), and Garbodor's sludge wave even pretty much soloed the Water gym!

[Lil' Sunny]

Throwing my hat in the ring for Vanillish

 

getting the thing isnt hard, just run a pickup squad to find some ice cream and tell the kid in the shop to gtfo your way, 

 

It starts off average, but even that's good enough firing off icy winds for speed control and temporarily eliminating fields with the ever so useful (early at least) Mist.  Mirror Shot can help with Serra once you get that far. and even before then it learns Acid Armor early enough to make Corey a joke, it also learns ice beam as soon as its ready to evolve, one of the best ice moves in the game. Once it finally evolves into vanilluxe (which for me was just before Kiki, i overlevelled and candied it back) it can get the ever so useful snow warning allowing nice chip damage and some nasty combos with alolan sandshrew and beartic as well as enabling something else to use aurora veil later (or immediately in doubles) but the coup de gracé is Mirror Coat. this thing  has unexpected special bulk, good enough HP and that mirror coat can damn near one shot some incredibly scary mons. 

Again i bring up. this thing one shot Dittoceus when i played my ice mono run.

[Paperblade]

I'm glad that meowstic is getting the recognition it deserves. I would put some exp in it though, since it's actually just good vs kiki and aya, as well as earlier fights like corey if you get the lower peridot mix.

[Whales]

On 10/10/2019 at 2:50 PM, Paperblade said:

I'm glad that meowstic is getting the recognition it deserves. I would put some exp in it though, since it's actually just good vs kiki and aya, as well as earlier fights like corey if you get the lower peridot mix.

I agree with this, my point about the exp dropoff was more relevant late game when opponents get stronger.

[doombotmecha]

Yeah, Meowstic's good as an attacker until about Serra, after that it's lack of stats starts to really show. Afterwards it's exclusively useful for prankster screens/other support.

[Xander]

23 hours ago, Whales said:

Watchers of a certain playthrough also cannot wait for that pile of slime to be slain.

MyEX will never die. Also if you're lucky enough to get it then Bronzor is really good considering you get it before Florina and Corey.

[Paperblade]

2 hours ago, doombotmecha said:

Yeah, Meowstic's good as an attacker until about Serra, after that it's lack of stats starts to really show. Afterwards it's exclusively useful for prankster screens/other support.

Yeah this is about where it starts to fall off. Fortunately around there it gets Misty Terrain so it has everything it really needs.

[Xander]

Getting a Simple Woobat is also pretty good since it learns Calm Mind before Corey.

[ShogokiX]

If we're talking about the best Pokémon in the game we should definetly not forget about Chimchar. While it lacks the Speed Boost ability that people tend to pick Torchic for, it features the Iron Fist ability and a really nice move pool even in the early parts of the game. It also compensates its lack of Speed Boost with a higher base stat in speed than the Torchic evolution line.

 

With Mach Punch at level 14, in combination with the Iron Fist ability, and Flame Wheel at level 19, Monferno features 2 really good STAB moves even before the first badge, one of them even being a +1 priority move.

 

Also, depending on how far into the game you would call "early game", it even learns Close Combat as soon as it hits level 36 and evolves to Infernape.

[Xander]

1 hour ago, ShogokiX said:

If we're talking about the best Pokémon in the game we should definetly not forget about Chimchar. While it lacks the Speed Boost ability that people tend to pick Torchic for, it features the Iron Fist ability and a really nice move pool even in the early parts of the game. It also compensates its lack of Speed Boost with a higher base stat in speed than the Torchic evolution line.

 

With Mach Punch at level 14, in combination with the Iron Fist ability, and Flame Wheel at level 19, Monferno features 2 really good STAB moves even before the first badge, one of them even being a +1 priority move.

 

Also, depending on how far into the game you would call "early game", it even learns Close Combat as soon as it hits level 36 and evolves to Infernape.

It also learns taunt which is great if you know that you're faster than your opponent so that they can't use status or set moves.

[ShogokiX]

8 hours ago, Xander said:

It also learns taunt which is great if you know that you're faster than your opponent so that they can't use status or set moves.

Right, that is a bonus too.

 

In my opinion Chimchar is superior as a starter compared to Torchic, because it doesn't need to rely on Speed Boost for its speed, and because it has a slightly better move pool in the early game. Once you reach the point where you can use move tutors on 7th street there won't be much difference in move pools between Infernape and Blaziken any more. And if you include Mega Blaziken we sure know who's the stronger Mon in the end game/post game.

 

But since we are talking early game on this topic it was worth to mention in my opinion.

[nhehvnukl]

2 hours ago, ShogokiX said:

Right, that is a bonus too.

 

In my opinion Chimchar is superior as a starter compared to Torchic, because it doesn't need to rely on Speed Boost for its speed, and because it has a slightly better move pool in the early game. Once you reach the point where you can use move tutors on 7th street there won't be much difference in move pools between Infernape and Blaziken any more. And if you include Mega Blaziken we sure know who's the stronger Mon in the end game/post game.

 

But since we are talking early game on this topic it was worth to mention in my opinion.

I mean, Torchic sweeps half the gyms so yknow.