Favorite Pokemon by Type

[DrampardonMe]

Been a while(?) since we had this topic, but it's a go-to topic for a reason, eh? Curious to see what others' tastes are, and if possible, talk about why you like each one! I mean, if you want to.

I'll start by saying, some of my favorites fluctuate for varying reasons, while others will stay the same no matter what. That said:

Normal: Stoutland
I went into Pokemon White relatively blind, and I don't regret it. I had all but boxed my Herdier after a bit, because I didn't realize it evolved into BEST DOG until I saw an Ace Trainer use one in... was it that bell tower? Then I apologized profusely to him and told him he was the Goodest Boy.

Fire: Oricorio
I was waiting a long time for a Fire/Flying that wasn't Moltres or Ho-Oh, and honestly, its gimmick was pretty fun in Gen 7. Surprised I haven't trained one proper in Scarlet yet.

Water: Phione
There are a lot of contenders for "Favorite Pokemon of my Favorite Type", but my go-to is this one because it's cute, and it's easier than going "uh, um, I like too many of them".

Grass: Weepinbell
Not gonna lie, I think it was the old episode "The School of Hard Knocks" where Joe's Weepinbell used Razor Leaf, spinning around and everything, that convinced me it was cool. I don't dislike Victreebel, but I'm pretty indifferent to Bellsprout at this point. Weepinbell's the happy medium, I think. In terms of equal parts cute and cool, Cacnea's a close second.

Electric: Iron Hands
I probably shouldn't like it, but I do. I got the event one as soon as I could. I also lucked out with a holographic Iron Hands card, which I think warmed me up to it even more. I mean, it's robot Hariyama! Plus, its typing is cool.

Ice: Snorunt
Another "cute pick". Between its lore and the sad fate of either evolution, I'd rather keep my adorable visitor ALIVE, thank you very much!

Fighting: Hariyama
Before Gen 3, my fave was Hitmonchan, but since then, well, the rest is history. I can't put into words why I like Hariyama. I'm not exactly a sumo enthusiast (per se, maybe some day that'll change?) so it really just boils down to its design for me.

Poison: Trubbish
I remember cracking up the first time I saw one in-game because a Janitor tossed one out. I KNEW I had to get one after that... Kinda sad it evolved into Garbodor...

Ground: Sandslash
It and Sandshrew were my faves since Gen 1. Currently have a sort of Sandstorm team on Scarlet, and Sand Rush is too cool to NOT make use of (also another reason why Stoutland is cool, haha), so I had a newfound rekindling of it being my favorite. Sandslash in particular has that nice balance between cute and cool. Mostly cool, though.

Flying: Gligar
Such a cool design, though I do miss when it was more purple. I'm... not a big fan of Gliscor's design, nor do I appreciate the Toxic Orb shenanigans. Good thing I can slap Eviolite on Gligar and call it... okay? Been meaning to try it out at some point, but haven't properly since Gen V...

Psychic: Hypno
This is one of those "I dunno, I just like it" picks. Some cool Psychic-types since, don't get me wrong, but I think the shiny Drowzee I raised into a Hypno wayyy back in Pokemon Silver helped push me into liking it more. I usually don't care about optimal stats or whatever, but power creep has not been kind to this 'mon, to the point where I feel it even in-game... I hope it gets a bone tossed its way at some point!

Bug: Durant
For YEARS people were saying "Trapinch is kind of an ant?" and I was like, "No, that's an antLION. WHERE ARE THE ANT POKEMON???" Pokemon White did NOT disappoint. I had fun using the one I had in Triple Battles. I don't think most people anticipated Aerial Ace with a Flying Gem boost. It came in more handy than you'd think!

Rock: Kleavor
I should probably state that, in real life, I fear bugs more than I ought to-- some more than others. If I met this thing in person, I'd probably scream. However, it's an AXE BUG with AXE ARMS and (in my humble opinion) SO MUCH COOLER THAN SCIZOR. I hope future generations are kinder to it.

Ghost: Lampent
Cute and cool. Mostly cute. Its Pokedex entries make me a little sad, though. Nothing against Chandelure, I just don't like it as much. Ghost/Fire is a cool typing, besides.

Dragon: Drampa
Most Dragon-types have a history of being taken too seriously, beasts in competitive, etc., but I don't care about any of that. If it tells you anything, my favorite Dragon was Shelgon for the longest time, because I just don't care for Dragons as a type. Drampa doesn't make it any less my least-favorite type, but it's at least one I like in terms of design, and 135 Sp.ATK is still pretty impressive, even if its other stats aren't. But then, it's so old, it earned a Normal typing by being so frail. That's the only way I can explain it, lol

Dark: Krookodile
This one was fun to use in Gen 7. Makes me wonder why I never used one sooner. Or since. I guess not many of my favorites are Dark-types...

Steel: Skarmory
Dear GAME FREAK, please let me own a Steven Stone Skarmory before I die. Thanks.

Fairy: Florges
Specifically the blue-color one. I like all three of its line, but if we don't count Pokemon which were retconned to be Fairy (in which case I'd say either Jigglypuff or Togekiss), then this one is kind of neat, if a bit less cute than Floette. I liked using Wish in Rotation Battles when I could pull it off.

Okay, text wall over. Thanks for reading me gushing about (some of) my favorite Pokermints. I'm going to rest now. Please discuss your favorites too.

[Del]

i'll do you one better and make one of them grids

brief disclaimer; i didn't want to double up on any rows (Magnezone could easily go in both favourite electric and steel, for example), so for some of them, the option shown will actually be my second/third/fourth favourite for that type (Luxray is great but it's no Magnezone or Rotom), and the way I decided what slot it would take basically boiled down to "okay, Magnezone is Electric/Steel, do I like any other electrics? do I like any other steels? do they also have dual types? do I like their dual type options?" etc as a flow chart, so something like Rotom got the ghost slot because there aren't many ghosts I like in Gen 4, etc etc. I also didn't pick any regional forms except in the gimmick column because they are gimmicks (which I like!) but they don't deserve to take a hardworking spot from a new Pokémon.

this methodology mostly worked for me except when it came to the final row, where perhaps some more deserving Pokémon lose their spot to stuff that got shifted later on (shout out most of the steel types losing out to Magnezone which could/would have also just swept the Electric column (probably)), and also in Gen 8 Toxtricity is listed for both Electric and Poison, which is mostly because there's only one other poison type in the gen (Eternatus) and we ain't picking legendaries where we can help it, and the other electrics are also mad boring.



I'll briefly talk about each row and column too:

regions (spoilered for length):
[spoiler]Kanto: classic region, lots of my favourites here. Venusaur hard done by because Bulbasaur is just my favourite of all time, I did originally have it slotted in at poison but eh, kinda cheap. Electric was also originally also Magneton, but I did use an Electrode recently so I put that in there. otherwise nothing egregious here I think.

Johto: lots of cool mons in this gen honestly, no outrageous exclusions I think, Skarmory a victim of the fact I ran a Xatu recently

Hoenn: Camerupt and Milotic hard done by here I think, first (only?) gen to feature all 3 starters, almost had a double up on Gardevoir

Sinnoh: Empoleon, Mismagius, Skuntank and Staraptor all robbed here (Staraptor especially), but it's a crowded gen, lots of good mons. could've easily been 3 or 4 Rotom in this row tbh

Unova: banger gen, Serperior will feel hard done by having been the only started I've ever used in this gen, only other notable exclusions are maybe Conkledurr and Leavanny but Scrafty and Ferrothorn (and Serperior) clear I fear

Kalos: tiny annoying gen with very few options in most categories which made picking a nightmare (Diggursby double up nooooo) but it has a lot of mon I really like (Talonflame, Klefki, Aegislash,,, my beloved,,,)

Alola: only played this for the first time a year or two ago, some good mon, but the first time where a lot of my options were gimmick picks so I had to start picking legends, alas. lots of strong contenders even if none make my best of list

Galar: banger after banger after banger after Dubwool region tbh. Drednaw, Rillaboom, Toxtricity, Corviknight, Coalossal, Orbeetle, Grimmsnarl, one of my favourite teams I've used in game (I rotated Orbeetle/Grimmsnarl), nuffink but da hitz in this one

Paldea: again a lot of bangers here, Meowscarada, Pawmot, Ceruledge, Lokix, Revavroom, Veluza, another wonderful team, lottsa good stuff[/spoiler]

and now types (unspoilered because it's the point):

Normal: Snorlax - it's just the classic ain't it, big ol' boy, he does it all, he tank, he attank, he big hp, you small hp, he just goes crazy with it. don't think a normal type has done it like him since

Fire: Darmanitan - actually a really tough type, Ceruledge or Talonflame could've taken this, but something about Darmanitan's simple playstyle really appeals to me: click big button, run and swing and hopefully hit for big damage but maybe we miss for laffs. ask me again in 2 years and maybe Ceruledge has taken this spot though, swords are cool

Water: Gastrodon - another really tough type, I actually think nearly anything in this column could've taken the top spot, especially Starmie, Jellicent or Drednaw, but Gastrodon is a Pokémon I just really like, ESPECIALLY West Sea Pinkstrodon. water/ground is a beast type combo and I think I've used it on every Sinnoh playthrough ever

Grass: Bulbasaur - he's just the goat, nothing else to say really. Grass is my favourite type, even if I only really interact with it through the medium of starters, but there's tons of bangers outside the starters too. nothing beats #001 though

Electric: Toxtricity - some stiff competition from Pawmot and Magnezone (pictured hanging out with his steel mates), but Toxtricity is a Pokémon I just really like. fun type combo, cool design, great usability in game, just a beast.

Ice: Lapras - kind of a winner by default, i don't care much for ice types I think, Weavile is cool but I've never really used one, but I have used Lapras, so my first (I think only?) winner where it wins by just being something I've actually used. it's also an OG so fair play I guess

Fighting: Scrafty - honestly he just be doing it all, big damage, swaggy fitz, fun typing, and he's just cool. always use one in my Gen 5 runs, one of my favourites for sure.

Poison: Crobat - we can't give it Toxtricity twice and I didn't pick Venusaur so it goes to my third favourite poison type Crobat. fast, friendly, weaker than a sheet of paper, but at least they fixed Golbat's mouth! big fan

Ground: Palpitoad - a lot of my other favourite ground types got scattered around, but honestly Palpitoad is just cool I think. water/ground, kinda bulky, the first form is cute, I used it a lot until I started running Jellicent instead so I didn't double run ground (shout out Excadrill). could've been Flygon on a different day.

Flying: Corviknight - this category is honestly just "lots of Pokémon with flying secondary because their first type was taken (Gyarados) and nothing else in the gen is as cool, and the actually cool flying types are in a different category (Aerodactyl, Togekiss, Talonflame)!", but Corviknight actually got used in my Sword run and I really like it so it gets the spot. it probably beats out Aero too, but Togekiss and Talonflame would make this a much tougher column. Drifblim honourable mention even though it kinda sucks to use.

Psychic: Espeon - tough category, lots of cool stuff, but Espeon is my favourite eeveelution and I quit the only nuzlocke I've ever done when it died because I just really like that little glass cannon. could've picked any from the first 5 though and I've be fairly happy with it still.

Bug: Lokix - kamen rider bug i love tokusatsu (although admittedly super sentai more than rider) easy pick heracross/scyther/scizor/orbeetle only contest onto the next

Rock: Coalossal - coulda been in the fire pick conversation, but instead it's in the crazy stacked rock category. i used it in my Sword playthrough and I'm just really attached to that team, but I could pick anything in this column and be happy I think. really good type, and Coalossal gets a bonus point for being part fire which is also just cool and fun and that one ability that absorbs water is beast

Ghost: Rotom - yeah this is just the Rotom zone, lots of cool ghosts but the ghost who gets to be 5 other types just wins out because that's beast design. Heat Rotom is my Rotom of choice personally because Sinnoh has no fire types lol !!!!!!!!! so it fills a gap in the team there

Dragon: Garchomp - lots of cool designs but Chomp and Kommo-o are the only ones I've used in-game in the last 15 years I think and I had to google how to spell Jangmo-o's name and then that wasn't even the right evo stage so Chomp wins on memorability alone (also it is iconic ain't it)

Dark: Grimmsnarl - lot of the cool darks are in other types (Scrafty my beloved) and I used Grimmsnarl in Sword, and like I said in Rock I just really like my Sword team so it wins for free congrats, also Dark/Fairy just a fun combo and long hair attack fun.

Steel: Magnezone - lots and lots of good Pokémon here but Magnezone my favourite steel, dunno why tbh just tanky electric is cool I guess. could've been Excadrill or Klefki or Revavroom on another day maybe but i think it's hard to pick anything except Zone

Fairy: Togekiss - banger pokémon, could've been Azumarill or Mimikyu too, all just beasts, but Togekiss got used in both Sinnoh and Hisui so it wins by virtue of being used the most (although my Azumarill usage in Violet Raids might win out eventually)

wow that took a long time I think I've been making this post for like an hour all included (grid, typing, clicking post), but it's always fun to do this kinda thing so why not.

shout out your Stoutland, Krookodile and Skarmory picks all beast for sure

[DrampardonMe]

I can't remember the last time, if ever, I did one of those grids, let alone one so involved! I was gonna post a pic, too, but I basically typed it all out, haha.

Darmanitan is a really close second for my favorite Fire-type, honestly. I tend to flip between it and Oricorio, but for raw power, Darmanitan can't be beat! Crobat is another one I had fun with, and on the same team as Darmanitan in White 2, I think.

Magnezone is definitely cool, but I can't remember if I used one in Gen V or Legends: Arceus... Probably both! I have yet to use one in Scarlet, but I like how wild ones roam outside the Great Crater of Paldea.

Overall, pretty cool taste you've got! But uh, did you mean Seismitoad? That's what you have on the grid, at any rate. Always wanted to try raising one at least once, myself...

Oh, and to briefly address some categories on your grid (because why not) [spoiler'd for space]:

[spoiler]Regional Bird: Probably Hoothoot, because I like owls, and Noctowl is cool, too. Unless Spearow counts?

Regional Mammal: Zigzagoon. From its cute/wacky design to its cry and even its silly name, I can't help but love it! Though if we're talking evolved forms, then I'd say Diggersby is my fave.

Regional Bug: I have a soft spot for Weedle (it's fun to draw), but Wurmple is the more interesting of the two. Fully evolved, uh, maybe Kricketune?

Eeveelution: This one's kind of tough, honestly. I'm usually indifferent to Eeveelutions, but if it was from a spectrum of Design to Function, Flareon's my favorite design, Espeon's the best for what I need it to do, and Jolteon's the happy medium. Vaporeon WAS my favorite up until Gen 3, I think, but I haven't used one seriously for some time now...[/spoiler]

I'd say more, but whoops, this is already turning into another text wall!

[Del]

Overall, pretty cool taste you've got! But uh, did you mean Seismitoad? That's what you have on the grid, at any rate. Always wanted to try raising one at least once, myself...

I sure did, you would not be shocked at how many times doing that write up I wrote the wrong evo and had to correct myself, but I guess I missed that one!