Abra
Availability: Early-game (Route 24, levels 8, 10, and 12 (RB); Route 5, level 7 (Y)).
Typing: Psychic is only resisted by Sabrina and
is neutral at worst against the other major opponents.
Stats: The Abra line boasts some of the highest Special and Speed stats in all of Gen 1, with less than a handful of
Pokemon the Pokédex outspeeding it. The line
has a notably high critical hit
rate chances (over 20%) but is physically frail.
Movepool: Once Abra evolves into Kadabra at level 16, Confusion
carries it to is replaced by Psybeam and Psychic at levels 27 and 38, respectively. Recover at level 31 and Reflect at level 42 (or through TM) round out its moveset, with Seismic Toss and Thunder Wave providing situational use
via TMs.
Major Battles: Kadabra and Alakazam excel in almost every major battle with STAB moves alone. There are a few exceptions where they have to use unorthodox tactics, such as
against Misty and
Sabrina, where necessitating Seismic Toss and Thunder Wave
are needed. Lance is the line's only true bad matchup, as Hyper Beam hits too hard and his Pokémon are
too bulky to OHKO with not OHKOed by Psychic, though Reflect and Recover can prove useful there.
Additional Comments: Overall, Abra is the most self-sufficient Pokémon in
RBY Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow. Unlike most of the Pokédex, it needs very few TMs to sweep the game, very little babying to evolve into Kadabra, and can even overcome rare
resists specially defensive foes with
a the 30% chance to drop Special
with provided by Psychic. Even if you cannot evolve Kadabra into Alakazam, it will still perform excellently.
Clefairy
Availability: Early-game (Mt. Moon (B1F), level 10 or 12 (RB); or Mt. Moon (B1F), level 9, 11, or 13 (Y)).
Typing: Normal gives it a neutral matchup against every major Trainer bar Agatha's Ghost-types and Bruno's Fighting-types.
Stats: Clefairy has well rounded stats except for a rather low Speed, but it's enough for most of the game.
Movepool: Clefable's level-up movepool is poor, but Clefairy's Sing at level 13 is a decent support move. Clefable has access to
the STAB moves like Mega Punch and Mega Kick
via TMs. whose power are augmented thanks to STAB. It
also has access to many special
attacks TMs such as Thunderbolt, Psychic, Ice Beam, and Blizzard
to target weaknesses. Finally, it can learn Thunder Wave
or and Reflect.
Major Battles: Misty's Starmie can be defeated by Mega Punch or Seismic Toss. With STAB moves, Clefairy is capable of OHKOing and 2HKOing a lot of foes, with its special coverage handling everything else.
Additional Comments: Clefairy can evolve almost immediately with the Moon Stone available at Mt. Moon. It can also wait until level 13 to learn Sing. Because of this, it requires
minimal if any, effort to reach its maximum potential through the whole game.
Drowzee
Availability: Early-game (Route 11, level 9, 11, 13, and 15 (RB); Route 11, level 15, 17, and 19 (Y)).
Typing: Psychic is only resisted by Sabrina's Pokémon and
is neutral at worst against the other major opponents.
Stats: The Drowzee line boasts average stats all-around aside from high Special.
Movepool: Drowzee starts with Hypnosis and learns Confusion at level 17, which
carries it to is then replaced by Psychic at level 37. Pound upgrades to Headbutt (at level 24) and possibly to Body Slam / Tri Attack through TMs. Dream Eater via TM can be useful for healing after putting foes to sleep.
Major Battles: Drowzee can use Seismic Toss to get past Misty, and Lt. Surge's team is decimated if you have Hypno by that point. Otherwise, Hypno has a good showing in all major battles with its Psychic / Normal coverage. The only slight stumble it faces is the Pokémon League, where its relatively sluggish
Speed and average stats hinder it; however, this does not stop it from taking out at least a few Pokémon there.
Additional Comments: Other than a tiny slow period before Confusion, Drowzee is a great option for
RBY Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow, with little TM reliance and helpful
sleep access
to Hypnosis.
Jynx
Availability: Mid-game (trade for Poliwhirl (generally caught with Super Rod) in the house next to the Pokémon Center in Cerulean City) (RB).
Typing: Ice / Psychic is an outstanding offensive typing, with Ice hitting Dragon-, Flying-, Grass-, and Ground-types and Psychic hitting everything else neutrally aside from other Psychic-types; this means no Pokémon in RBY resists Jynx's STAB type combination.
Stats:
Base 95 Special and Speed are great for sweeping, but Jynx has poor physical stats and HP
in return.
Movepool: Aside from Lovely Kiss for status, Ice Punch at level 31 is Jynx's only notable level-up move, with Blizzard via TM being a more powerful
alternative for Ice-type STAB. Jynx must be taught
the Psychic
via TM for
a secondary STAB
move.
Bubble Beam and Seismic Toss are other options, albeit unnecessary ones.
Major Battles: Jynx decimates most of the available foes with
its STAB moves, with Lovely Kiss helping
Jynx it handle opponents like Blaine and Lorelei, whose teams are not weak to Jynx.
Additional Comments: While it comes relatively late and wants a TM for
a secondary STAB
move, Jynx is ruthlessly effective with
trade-boosted experience bonus Exp. Points and tears apart the second half of the game almost single-handedly.
Mr. Mime
Availability: Early-game (trade an Abra (RB) or a Clefairy (Y) in a house on Route 2).
Typing: Psychic is only resisted by Sabrina's team and
is neutral at worst against the other major opponents.
Stats: Mr. Mime has a good Special and is relatively fast, having a 17.59% chance of landing a critical hit. However, it has low HP and Defense.
Movepool: Confusion upgrades to Psychic through
TM, and Mr. Mime can also be given the Thunderbolt TM to improve the Lorelei matchup. Thunder Wave + Seismic Toss
are is Mr. Mime's best way of dealing with other Psychic-types. Support moves include Barrier, Light Screen at level 23, and Substitute at level 47, while Confusion can be kept as a secondary STAB to
not waste avoid wasting Psychic's PP.
Major Battles: Psychic STAB is excellent for most matchups, with only Psychic-types requiring Thunderbolt or Seismic Toss to be defeated.
Additional Comments: Mr. Mime's early
arrival accessibility, typing, offensive stats, and
trade-boosted experience
boost make it an all-around solid choice for any efficient run of the games
Nidoran-F
Availability: Early-game (Route 22, level 3-4 (R); 2-4 (B); or 2 or 4 (Y)).
Typing: Outside of worsening the matchup against Misty, Sabrina, and Lorelei, Poison / Ground is excellent because it gives Nidoqueen a type advantage against Lt. Surge, RB Koga, Blaine, and Agatha, while also providing it with a handy immunity to poisoning.
Stats: Nidoqueen's stats are all-around good; it can reasonably outspeed most foes and can run mixed sets viably.
Movepool: Nidoqueen learns a variety of TMs, with Earthquake and Surf being the only ones that are really needed. Other TMs include Seismic Toss, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Water Gun, and
Bubble Beam.
Level-up wise, Nidoran-F
also learns Double Kick at level 12
in Yellow and Nidoqueen learns Body Slam at level 23.
Major Battles: Nidoqueen performs well in most matchups
with just Earthquake and Surf, with Misty and Lorelei being the only opponents that really trouble it. In Yellow, it is also good for Brock due to learning Double Kick earlier. Other TMs can ease some matchups for Nidoqueen but are generally not needed for a great performance.
Additional Comments: Early
accessibility arrival and excellent major battles with just Earthquake and Surf, while also not needing other TMs to perform well, make Nidoran-F one of the best options for an efficient run of
RBY Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow. Evolve
it with a Moon Stone as soon as
possible as Nidorina doesn't learn anything useful by level. In Red and Blue, you can also trade a Nidoran-M or Nidorino for a Nidoran-F or Nidorina in the Underground between Route 5 and 6 and Route 11, respectively. Note that Nidoqueen does not learn Dig in RBY.
Nidoran-M
Availability: Early-game (Route 22, level 2-4 (R); 3-4 (B); or 2 or 4 (Y)).
Typing: Outside of worsening the matchup against Misty, Sabrina, and Lorelei, Poison / Ground is excellent because it gives Nidoking a type advantage against Lt. Surge, RB Koga, Blaine, and Agatha, while also providing it with a handy immunity to poisoning.
Stats: Nidoking's stats are all-around good; it can reasonably outspeed most foes and can run mixed sets viably.
Movepool: Nidoking learns a variety of TMs, with Earthquake and Surf being the only ones that are really needed. Other TMs include Seismic Toss, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Water Gun, and
Bubble Beam.
Level-up wise, Nidoran-M learns Horn Attack at level 8 and, in Yellow, Double Kick at level 12, and Nidoking learns Thrash at level 23.
Major Battles: Nidoking performs well in most matchups
with just Earthquake and Surf, with Misty and Lorelei being the only opponents that really trouble it. In Yellow, it is also good for Brock due to learning Double Kick earlier. Other TMs can ease some matchups for Nidoking but are generally not needed for a great performance.
Additional Comments: Early
accessibility arrival and excellent major battles with just Earthquake and Surf, while also not needing other TMs to perform well, make Nidoran-M one of the best options for an efficient run of
RBY Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow. Evolve
it with a Moon Stone as soon as
possible as Nidorino doesn't learn anything useful by level. Note that Nidoking does not learn Dig in RBY.
A-Tier: The following Pokémon are also very efficient, but fail to reach the level of S-tier, typically because they come slightly later, do not claim enough OHKOs or 2HKOs, or need a relative amount of time in order to become good.
Articuno
Availability: Late-game (Seafoam Islands, level 50).
Typing:
Articuno's Ice / Flying provides good matchups against Giovanni, Bruno, and Lance, with everyone
else left save for Blaine being neutral.
Stats:
Base 125 Special, 100 Defense, and good other stats make Articuno a bulky yet somewhat fast sweeper.
Movepool:
Articuno starts with Ice Beam and
Peck and learns Blizzard at level 51. Fly via HM and Toxic and
Bubble Beam via TMs provide other options.
Major Battles:
Articuno stomps every major battle left save for Blaine and Lorelei due to its high level and almost nothing
resisting its Ice STAB
moves.
Articuno You can take out most of Blaine's team (though it's slightly harder in Yellow due to Flamethrower and higher levels) and Fly + Toxic can handle Lorelei if needed. Mimic also has a situational use against Lorelei
for its chance to choose Slowbro's Amnesia
in order to boost up and muscle through with
Aritcuno's Ice STAB
moves.
Additional Comments: Articuno is a fantastic option for stomping the last third of
RBY Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow. However, Its biggest flaws are the reliance on the Master Ball to be obtained
easily quickly and Seafoam Islands being out of the way. Blizzard's 90% accuracy in
RBY Red, Blue, and Yellow makes it far more reliable than in later generations, though it does
only have 5 PP.
Diglett
Availability: Early-game (Diglett's Cave, level 15-22).
Typing: Ground typing gives Dugtrio an advantage against Lt. Surge, Giovanni, Blaine, and Agatha, while being weak to Misty, Erika, and Lorelei.
Stats: A fantastic
base 120
base Speed and decent base 80 Attack combined with a 23.44% critical hit rate as Dugtrio are good for sweeping, though it is very frail.
Movepool:
Access to Dig upon capture serves as Dugtrio's main STAB move, with Slash at level 35 providing guaranteed critical hits when used. Earthquake is learned naturally at level 47, though it is the same
Base Power as Dig in
RBY Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow. Rock Slide can be taught via TM.
Major Battles:
Dugtrio obliterates Lt. Surge and loses to Erika and Lorelei, but is good for almost everyone else, particularly Koga, Blaine, Giovanni, and Agatha.
Additional Comments: A level 29 or 31 Dugtrio can be found in Diglett's Cave at a 5% rate (easier with Repel and a level 23+ Pokémon), but aside from the higher level, it performs basically the same as just catching a Diglett (not to mention Dugtrio is hard to catch). Diglett is a low investment Pokémon with its fragility being its biggest flaw.
Doduo
Availability: Mid-game (Route 16, level 18, 20, or 22 (RB); or 22, 24, or 26 (Y). Requires Cut).
Typing: Normal / Flying typing gives Dodrio advantages against
Bruno's Fighting-types and Erika and Bruno's Fighting-types, though it is neutral elsewhere save for bad matchups against Lorelei and Rock- / Ground-types.
Stats: Dodrio has high Attack and Speed and a 19.53% chance to land critical hits, though its defenses are low.
Movepool: Doduo can be taught Fly via HM and Tri Attack via TM
is serviceable to get it by until
learning Drill Peck at level 31. Hyper Beam via TM can prove useful, but Dodrio will need to OHKO with it to not be left vulnerable, and it takes some time to buy the 5,500 coins needed from the Game Corner.
Major Battles:
Dodrio is great for Erika and Bruno but generally average elsewhere aside from having the Speed to potentially outpace and Drill Peck Agatha's team. Bad for Lorelei and Lance as their
Pokemon mons can take a hit and retaliate for heavy damage
on Dodrio.
Additional Comments: Dodrio is a great Pokémon, but it will frequently need Hyper Beam as a finishing move end-game.
Eevee (Vaporeon)
Availability: Mid-game (Celadon Mansion top floor as a level 25 Eevee).
Typing: Pure Water typing makes Vaporeon good against Blaine and
Giovanni, but bad for Erika and Lorelei,
and being neutral everywhere else.
Stats: High HP and Special make Vaporeon a great special tank, though its physical stats and Speed are somewhat lacking.
Movepool:
Bubble Beam via TM
helps Vaporeon get by gets Vaporeon by until Surf, with Acid Armor at level 42 (RB) or level 47 (Y) helping against Lance. Otherwise, only Ice Beam (or Blizzard later) via TM are needed to be effective against Erika and Lance.
Major Battles: Vaporeon can perform decently against Erika with Ice Beam, but it won't sweep her team. Otherwise, Surf
spam performs well against the remaining Gym Leaders aside from Sabrina, Lorelei, and Agatha (due to their Pokémon with high Special and resistances in Lorelei's case).
Additional Comments: A Water Stone to evolve Eevee can immediately be obtained from the Celadon Dept. Store. Due to its ease of use, Vaporeon is one of the best Water-types in
RBY Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow.
Gastly
Availability: Mid-game (Pokémon Tower (3F), level 18-24 (RB) or 18-25 (Y)).
Typing: Ghost / Poison typing gives the Gastly line immunities to Normal and Fighting moves as well as Bug, Poison, and Grass resistances, which help against Erika, Koga, and Bruno. Sabrina and Giovanni (in Viridian Gym in Yellow) hit the line
super effectively, however.
Stats: Fantastic Special and Speed make Haunter and Gengar good special sweepers with a roughly 20% critical hit rate,
although their physical stats and HP are very low.
Movepool: Haunter and Gengar greatly benefit from the Psychic TM (with Dream Eater as an alternative), though they can also be taught the Thunderbolt and Mega Drain TMs for coverage. Night Shade can also prove useful against foes with high Special occasionally, and Hypnosis at level 29 can put foes to sleep, which works well with Dream Eater at level 38 if needed.
Major Battles: Psychic lets Haunter and Gengar decimate
Erika, Koga, and Bruno Erika's, Koga's, and Bruno's teams, with Night Shade helping
with battling against Sabrina. Giovanni is dealt with through Mega Drain and Psychic, with Mega Drain
or Thunderbolt helping against Lorelei. Psychic is useful for Agatha, but Haunter and Gengar are average elsewhere.
Additional Comments: Haunter and Gengar are good special sweepers, though they will need a TM or two to be effective. Haunter and Gengar perform roughly the same, though Haunter is slightly more reliant on Hypnosis due to its lower power and bulk. You can Repel trick a Haunter at level 30 (RB) or 29 (Y) on the seventh floor of Pokémon Tower.
Sandshrew
Availability: Early-game (Route 4, level 6, 8, 10, or 12 (B); Route 3, level 8 or 10 (Y)).
Typing: Ground typing gives Sandslash advantages against several major battles while only being weak to a few others.
Stats: Good physical stats with roughly average HP and Speed make Sandslash a good physical tank, though it must be wary of
special moves. Also, Sandslash is fast enough to always land a critical hit with Slash at 65 base Speed.
Movepool: Slash at level 17, Dig through TM, and Rock Slide via TM in the Celadon Dept. Store are all Sandslash needs to be effective, though Swords Dance via TM can also help boost
the power of its Ground STAB.
Major Battles: Loses to Misty, Erika, and Lorelei, but is good for almost everyone else, particularly Lt. Surge, Koga, Blaine, Giovanni, and Agatha.
Additional Comments: A combination of an early evolution, minimal investment, and few outright bad matchups make Sandshrew a good choice.
Squirtle (RB)
Availability: Early-game (Pallet Town, starter).
Typing: Water typing gives it an edge against Brock, Blaine, and Giovanni, while giving Squirtle a weakness to Lt. Surge and Erika.
Stats: Squirtle has good well-rounded stats with an emphasis on Defense.
Movepool: Bubble upgrades to Water Gun and then
Bubble Beam via TM, with Surf later on via HM. Coverage options in the form of Mega Punch, Dig, and Ice Beam / Blizzard exist, but only an Ice move is really necessary. Seismic Toss helps against Misty while Strength serves as a more accurate Mega Punch replacement.
Major Battles: Squirtle does well in most major battles with only Erika, Sabrina,
Lorelei, and Agatha giving it trouble. Squirtle has advantages against Brock, Misty, Blaine, Giovanni, Bruno, and Lance in return, performing neutrally elsewhere.
Additional Comments: Squirtle is by far the best of the the starters with a self-sufficient movepool, which is only held back by a couple of bad matchups.
Zapdos
Availability: Late-game (Power Plant, level 50).
Typing: Electric / Flying makes Zapdos good for Lorelei, Bruno, and some of Lance, with everywhere else being neutral matchups. It struggles against Rock- / Ground-types though.
Stats: Fantastic Special and Speed and great other stats make Zapdos an extremely competent sweeper with a 19.53% critical hit rate.
Movepool: Starts with Drill Peck and
Thunder Shock, learning Thunder at level 51. Thunderbolt via TM will be Zapdos's most reliable attack though.
Major Battles: Stomps pretty much every major battle left if given Thunderbolt due to its high level of 50 when obtained. Drill Peck handles Sabrina, Agatha, and Bruno's Fighting- types.
Additional Comments: Zapdos is a fantastic option for stomping the last third of
RBY Red, Blue, and Yellow. However, its biggest flaws are the reliance on the Thunderbolt TM and needing a Master Ball to be obtained quickly.
Bellsprout
Availability: Early-game (Route 24, level 12-14) (BY).
Typing: Bellsprout's Grass / Poison typing is useful against Misty, Lorelei, and Giovanni, while resisting Lt. Surge's team, although it's not helpful against Koga and Agatha.
Stats: Bellsprout has good attacking stats and average defenses. Victreebel's
base 70 base Speed allows it to always land critical hits with Razor Leaf.
Movepool: Vine Whip upgrades to Mega Drain through TMs and then to Razor Leaf at level 38, with Acid at level 29 acting as Poison STAB.
Natural Growth helps it sweep with Vine Whip and Mega Drain, while Swords Dance via TMs can be combined with Acid or Body Slam / Double-Edge through TMs. Sleep Powder at level 18 allows Victreebel to set up or attack safely.
Major Battles: Bellsprout is excellent against Misty, Lt. Surge, Giovanni, Lorelei, and Bruno. It can also sweep other battles with Sleep Powder and Swords Dance. Agatha is a notoriously bad matchup, however.
(also makes Silph Co. a bit of a slog)
Additional Comments: It is recommended
to refrain from to hold on evolving with a Leaf Stone from Celadon City until level 38 to learn Razor Leaf. Victreebel performs great against some of the more difficult opponents like Lorelei and Misty and is useful elsewhere due to Sleep Powder.
Bulbasaur
Availability: Early-game (Pallet Town, starter (RB); Cerulean City, from Melanie if Pikachu has a friendship of 147 or higher, level 10 (Y)).
Typing: Valuable for Brock (RB), Misty, and Lorelei, while also being good for Giovanni and resisting Lt. Surge's Electric-types. However, outside of those, the typing tends to be bad offensively.
Stats: Bulbasaur has well-rounded stats with a focus on Special. Venusaur's base 80 Speed also allows it to always land critical hits when using Razor Leaf.
Movepool: Vine Whip eventually upgrades into Razor Leaf at level 30, with Body Slam or Double-Edge via TM being strongly recommended for Bulbasaur to have a way to deal with Grass-resistant foes. Swords Dance via TM at Silph Co. has some marginal use in helping Bulbasaur sweep with Body Slam.
Major Battles: Bulbasaur is good during early-game Gyms, but its usefulness fades afterward, with only Giovanni, Lorelei, and Bruno being favorable matchups later on, though it can also muscle through Erika.
Additional Comments: Bulbasaur is very useful for key opponents but, due to its shallow movepool, tends to struggle against many other opponents. Players of Yellow, due to a glitch, can use
Potions repeatedly on the starter Pikachu at full health to boost its friendship and thus obtain a Bulbasaur faster.
Charmander
Availability: Early-game (Pallet Town, starter (RB); Route 24, from Damian, level 10 (Y)).
Typing: Fire typing doesn't really provide it with any inherent advantages other than Erika and
Yellow Koga
(Y). Furthermore, it makes Misty and Lorelei harder and Fire typing is also resisted by Brock and Lance.
Stats: Well-rounded stats with good speed and decent offenses.
Movepool: Ember is the only option until Mega Punch and Dig, which help get the line by until Slash at level 33. Flamethrower at level 46 and Swords Dance via TM are good options, with the latter combining well with Dig or Earthquake.
Major Battles: Charmander has a shaky performance before evolving into Charizard; it has to play around Onix's Bide against Brock, needs Dig to beat Lt. Surge, and has an average performance against Erika. Once it evolves into Charizard, it maintains neutral matchups against everyone but Lorelei.
Additional Comments: Charmander's problems stem from an underwhelming natural movepool until Slash
is learned and largely negligible major battle matchups. However, it performs significantly better from Slash onward.
Eevee (Jolteon)
Availability: Mid-game (Celadon Mansion top floor as a level 25 Eevee).
Typing: Pure Electric-type makes it good for Lorelei, while being weak to Giovanni's Ground-types and resisted by Erika's Grass-types.
Stats: Jolteon has excellent Special and Speed with a 25.39% chance to score a critical hit, but it is frail physically.
Movepool: Jolteon must be taught Thunderbolt via TM to do anything of note; its movepool is very barren outside of Reflect via TM. Double Kick and Pin Missile can provide situational uses, with the former being helpful against Rock- / Ground-types and the latter being helpful against Grass- and Psychic-types, respectively.
Major Battles: Erika, Giovanni, and Agatha give Jolteon problems, but it has no issues using Thunderbolt against most other foes, particularly against Lorelei. Pin Missile can provide situational use against Sabrina if you are at level 48 in Red and Blue (Jolteon learns it at level 36 in Yellow).
Additional Comments: A
Thunder Stone to evolve Eevee can immediately be obtained from the Celadon Dept. Store. Jolteon must be taught Thunderbolt via TM to be useful.
Geodude
Availability: Early-game (Mt. Moon (1F), level 8 (RB only) or 10).
Typing: Rock / Ground gives the Geodude line a bad matchup against Misty, Erika, and Lorelei, but a type advantage against Lt. Surge, Koga, Blaine, and Agatha.
Stats: Graveler and Golem are excellent physical tanks, but their Special and Speed are lacking.
Movepool: Geodude gets STAB via Rock Throw at level
16 and picks up
Self-Destruct at level 21 (and Explosion later on at level 43). It requires the Dig TM for Ground STAB to get it by until Earthquake at level 36 and to mitigate Rock Throw's terrible accuracy. The Rock Slide TM mid-game provides a great upgrade to Rock Throw.
Major Battles: Graveler and Golem lose to Misty, Erika, and Lorelei, but are great for Lt. Surge and Koga with Dig (except in Yellow, where Koga has the Venonat line) as well as Blaine and Giovanni (save for Viridian Gym in Yellow, where he has Earthquake). Golem has an advantage against Agatha and some of Lance, but it is weak to Bruno's Fighting moves.
Additional Comments: While Graveler and Golem have some reliability issues until the mid-game, they are still solid choices for a playthrough in spite of their weaknesses and slight TM reliance for STAB moves.
Hitmonlee
Availability: Mid-game (Fighting Dojo in Saffron City,
level 30).
Typing: Fighting-type allows Hitmonlee to be useful against Lorelei but is
horrid questionable against Sabrina and is not particularly useful for Koga and Agatha.
Stats: Good Attack and Speed allow Hitmonlee to be a good physical sweeper, but any special attack will deal massive damage to it.
Movepool: Hitmonlee starts off with Meditate and Double Kick, learning Jump Kick at level 38. Hi Jump Kick at level 48 has a higher 85
Base Power, but with 90% accuracy to compensate. Strength via HM can provide Normal-type coverage, with Body Slam and Double-Edge through TMs being alternatives.
Major Battles: Hitmonlee is useful against Giovanni, Lorelei, and Bruno and has an even matchup against Blaine. It can be useful for Sabrina if the AI doesn't use offensive moves.
(I would just remove this unless the odds of this happening are actually good) It typically struggles against
Agatha and Lance the rest due to them
largely resisting Fighting-type.
Additional Comments: Crash damage from Jump Kick and Hi Jump Kick only does 1 damage in
RBY Red, Blue, and Yellow, so it's not an issue.
Jigglypuff
Availability: Early-game (Route 3 (RB) or Route 5 (Y), level 3, 5, or 7)
Typing: Outside of
Agatha's Ghost-types and Bruno's Fighting-types, Normal-type gives Wigglytuff a neutral matchup against every major opponent.
Stats: Wigglytuff has incredibly high HP. Its Attack is good for the earlier portions of the game, but falls off later on. Its low Special means that it can only hit hard when it hits super effectively.
Movepool: Outside of Sing, its
useful movepool is entirely TM-based. It should be taught Mega Punch (which later upgrades to Body Slam or Strength) and Seismic Toss to handle bulkier foes. Other TMs include Ice Beam, Blizzard, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Water Gun, and
Bubble Beam.
(it's level up pool NEEDS to be mentioned here; you're stuck with no attacking move until Pound at level 9, and you have to struggle with that through Mt. Moon until you get to Mega Punch. This is a major roadblock to using Jiggly)
Major Battles: Wigglytuff handles Misty, Lt. Surge, and most of the Elite Four with Seismic Toss and potentially Sing, with Normal-type STAB dealing with Sabrina and TMs handling the other opponents. As the game goes on, it will need to put more opponents to sleep to compensate for its low stats.
Additional Comments: While most of its stats are not very high, Wigglytuff can still perform well against most fights thanks to high HP, Sing, and wide TM learnset. It is also in the Fast experience group, so it is easy to train and can outlevel foes to compensate for its low stats. Jigglypuff should be evolved as soon as possible with a Moon Stone due to not learning anything useful by level.
Machamp (Y)
Availability: Mid-game (trade a Cubone for Machoke in the Underground Path between Route 5 and Route 6).
Typing: Fighting-type allows the line to be useful against Lorelei, but is terrible against Sabrina and is not particularly useful for Koga.
Stats: Machamp has a very high Attack, although its other stats are not particularly notable. Its Speed stat gives its Karate Chop around 78% chance to land a critical hit.
Movepool: Machamp's only STAB moves are Low Kick (which it starts with) and Submission through TMs, with the former being preferred
due to lack of recoil. Machamp greatly appreciates Rock Slide and Dig or Earthquake through TM. Karate Chop is useful for beating route Trainers without wasting
its other moves' PP, but isn't useful for most major fights.
Major Battles: With Rock Slide and a Ground TM, the line performs well against Koga, Blaine, and Agatha, while Fighting-type STAB lets it handle Lorelei's and most of Giovanni's Pokémon.
Additional Comments: Machamp's biggest flaw is the reliance on TMs to perform greatly, but it is otherwise a strong Pokémon which can be trained easily due to
trade-boosted experience. You can also catch a Machop in Rock Tunnel for a slightly earlier
availability arrival, but it doesn't provide any notable advantages over the traded one. Note that you receive it as a Machoke from the trade, which then proceeds to evolve.
Magikarp
Availability: Early-game (Route 3 Pokémon Center, level 5, from Magikarp salesman for 500 Poké Dollars).
Typing: Gyarados's Water / Flying typing leaves it weak to Lt. Surge but neutral to virtually everything else aside from Blaine and Giovanni, whom it has an advantage against.
Stats: Great stats all-around as Gyarados, with 125 base Attack and 100 Special standing out. Gyarados's other stats are slightly above average.
Movepool: Gyarados gets Bite at level 20 and Dragon Rage at 25. Combined with
Bubble Beam via
TM, Gyarados beasts through the early-game and mid-game. Surf through HM and Ice Beam and Thunderbolt via TMs really help bolster Gyarados's performance, but the latter two aren't necessarily required, with Hydro Pump (level 41) and Hyper Beam (level 52) being alternatives.
Major Battles: Gyarados easily handles Misty with Bite, and high Special and can take out Lt. Surge's non-Raichu Pokémon with
Bubble Beam.
Gyarados is good for Erika with Dragon Rage or Ice Beam and great for Blaine and Giovanni with Surf. It is generally neutral against the Pokémon League
, (RC) but can overpower Bruno with Surf and take on Lance with Ice Beam.
Additional Comments: Magikarp being virtually useless until Gyarados holds it back from being one of the best options in-game, as does its Slow growth rate.
Magnemite (Y)
Availability: Mid-game (Route 10, level 16, 18, 20, or 22).
Typing: Electric makes Magneton useful for Lorelei and some of Lance's Pokémon, but makes it useless against Giovanni and not very helpful against Erika.
Stats: Magneton has one of the highest Special stats in the whole game. While its other stats are not as high, 95 Defense allows Magneton to be somewhat bulky.
Movepool: Magneton is viable only when taught Thunderbolt through
TM. Outside of that, it doesn't possess any great offensive moves
aside from serviceable options in Double-Edge and Thunder, so it can
either be taught support moves like Thunder Wave, Toxic, and Reflect through TMs
or moves with situational use, such as Double-Edge and Thunder through TMs.
Major Battles: Magneton performs very well against Lorelei and reasonably well against any other foe that does not resist Electric
-ty[e, though Pokémon with high Special such as Gengar and Alakazam tend to avoid 2HKOs from it.
Additional Comments: Magneton is a strong Pokémon that can beat most neutral targets easily. Its biggest flaw is its shallow movepool, making it useless against any Pokémon that resists Electric
-type.
Mankey (Y)
Availability: Early-game (Route 22, level 3 or 5).
Typing: Fighting typing lets Mankey be useful against Brock and Lorelei, but is terrible against Sabrina and is not particularly useful for Koga.
Stats: Primeape is fast and has a high Attack, though it's not very bulky. Both Mankey and Primeape are fast enough to always land critical hits with Karate Chop.
Movepool: Scratch upgrades to Karate Chop at level 15. Primeape's best Fighting-type STAB is Low Kick at level 9. It performs best with Dig
through TMs and also appreciates the Rock Slide and Seismic Toss TMs.
Major Battles: Mankey is one of the only Pokémon that can quickly beat Brock in Yellow. In addition, it beats Lt. Surge just with Karate Chop and is good against Lorelei thanks to Low Kick, while Dig lets it handle Blaine and Agatha. Rock Slide helps against Koga.
Additional Comments: Mankey is a useful Pokémon in some very key matchups. However, it needs the Dig TM to achieve its best performance, although it's a solid team member if it gets access to it.
Pikachu (RB)
Availability: Early-game (Viridian Forest, level 3 or 5).
Typing: Electric typing is useful for Misty and Lorelei, though rather useless against Brock, Erika, and Giovanni.
Stats: Raichu is very fast, having a 19.58% chance of landing a critical hit. Its Attack and Special are also good, though Raichu is frail physically.
Movepool: Thunder Shock upgrades to Thunderbolt through
TM. Pikachu also learns Thunder Wave at level 9. Its coverage is rather poor, with the only viable alternatives being Seismic Toss and Body Slam or Double-Edge through TMs.
Major Battles: Pikachu is useful against Misty's Starmie (despite not beating it) by paralyzing it and then weakening it with
Thunder Shock. It can also beat Lt. Surge's Raichu with a combination of Thunder Wave and Seismic Toss. After it learns Thunderbolt via TM, it performs well against most opponents that don't resist Electric-type moves, with Thunder Wave helping against special walls like Alakazam and Gengar.
Additional Comments: Raichu is a handy Pokémon
that which can contribute in many fights by defeating opponents with Thunderbolt or spreading paralysis. However, Electric typing tends to be resisted quite often, and Raichu doesn't possess the means to get past resistant opponents efficiently.
Evolve Pikachu with a Thunder Stone immediately as it does not learn any useful moves by level at that point.
Seel
Availability: Late-game (trade a Ponyta (RB) or Growlithe (Y) in Cinnabar Island's Pokémon Lab).
Typing: Water typing makes the line useful against Blaine and Giovanni, while Ice typing gives it a valuable advantage against Lance. However, Water / Ice typing is not particularly useful against Lorelei.
Stats: Dewgong's stats are
good for the most part, though none of them are particularly high, with the highest being its 95 Special. However, it can easily outlevel opponents with
trade-boosted experience to compensate for that.
Movepool: Dewgong mainly uses Surf and Ice Beam or Blizzard through TMs. Strength is its best option against special attackers. Its fourth move can be a secondary STAB move, such as Aurora Beam at level 35 or
Bubble Beam through TMs, in order to not waste the stronger moves' PP.
Major Battles: Dewgong easily beats Blaine, Giovanni, and Bruno, while STAB Ice Beam or Blizzard handle Lance with little issue. It can also perform reasonably well against Sabrina with Strength.
Additional Comments: While Seel comes rather late, it makes up for that with its
trade-boosted experience and Water / Ice typing, which gives it an easy matchup against Lance. Players of Yellow will receive it directly as a Dewgong (instead of a Seel) upon performing the in-game trade.
Snorlax
Availability: Mid-game (Routes 12 and 16, level 30, must use Poké Flute to wake up).
Typing: Outside of
Agatha's Ghost-types and Bruno's Fighting-types, Normal typing gives Snorlax a neutral matchup against every major opponent.
Stats: Massive HP and great Attack let Snorlax serve as a good tank, though its
twin defenses are average and its Speed is among Kanto's slowest.
Movepool: Starts with Amnesia, Rest, and Headbutt, picking up Body Slam at level 35 for a reliable STAB move with paralysis potential (useful with how slow Snorlax is). Notably, Snorlax gets Double-Edge at level 48 (and Hyper Beam later) naturally or through TMs. Snorlax can make some use
out of several special moves and Earthquake though TMs, especially when the former is combined with the use of Amnesia.
Major Battles: Snorlax generally performs well in major battles, 2HKOing most threats with Body Slam. Even Bruno only has Hitmonlee and Machamp with a few Fighting-type moves that they might not even use. Earthquake makes Snorlax good for Agatha
if taught, and Amnesia + Ice-type moves work well against Lance (notably, Snorlax is only 3HKOed by Hyper Beam unless it is used by Dragonite, which 2HKOs with it).
Additional Comments: Snorlax is a great Normal-type, but its sluggish speed and vulnerability to secondary effects inhibits it to generally picking off a few threats in major battles rather than outright sweeping teams. Rest + Poké Flute (or items) can remedy this, but they make battles take even longer, exacerbating the speed issue.
Spearow
Availability: Early-game (Route 22, level 3 or 5 (RB) or level 2, 4, or 6 (Y)).
Typing: Flying typing is useful against Erika,
Yellow Koga (Y), and Bruno's Fighting-types, with Normal typing giving it a neutral matchup almost everywhere else. However, the typing is bad against Brock, Lt. Surge, and Lorelei.
Stats: Fearow is rather fast, having a 19.53% chance of landing a critical hit. Its Attack is also rather good, though Fearow is not very bulky.
Movepool: Spearow starts off with Peck, which upgrades to Drill Peck at level 34 as Fearow. Its Normal-type STAB is Fury Attack at level 15 and later Double-Edge through
TM. As Fearow lacks coverage, its other moves could be support ones, like
Leer, Growl, or Fly through HMs for fast travel.
Major Battles: Fearow performs well against Erika, Koga, Bruno's Fighting-types, and Agatha with
its Flying-type STAB. Normal-type STAB lets it handle Sabrina easily. Against the rest, it can either easily KO frail threats or support teammates with Growl and Leer.
Additional Comments: Spearow comes early and is useful in many matchups. However, it is virtually useless against Rock-type Pokémon and struggles against bulkier physical
threats unless it's hitting them super effectively.
Squirtle (Y)
Availability: Mid-game (from Officer Jenny in Vermillion City after beating Lt. Surge, level 10).
Typing: Water typing gives Squirtle an edge against Blaine and Giovanni, while giving it a weakness to Erika.
Stats: Squirtle has good well-rounded stats with an emphasis on Defense.
Movepool: Squirtle starts with Water Gun or BubbleBeam through TMs, both of which upgrade to Surf later on via HM. Coverage options in the form of Mega Punch, Dig, and Ice Beam / Blizzard exist, but only an Ice-type move is really necessary. Strength serves as a more accurate Mega Punch replacement.
Major Battles: Squirtle performs well against Blaine, Giovanni, and Bruno. It is also useful against Lance with Ice Beam or Blizzard (though it may require healing) and for Koga as long as it avoids Sleep Powder. It generally struggles in other matchups, though it can take out some Pokémon if it has the appropriate move.
Additional Comments: Squirtle's biggest issues are that it doesn't come very early and that it comes very underleveled, so it has to be heavily invested in to become useful. Outside of that, it is useful in a number of matchups and also provides useful HM utility.
(Instead of just repeating the entry you should just highlight the differences as to why receiving Squirtle later lowers its viability)
Staryu
Availability: Mid-game (Route 19, level 15 (RB) or level 20 (Y)) (Super Rod).
Typing: Water typing gives it a type advantage against Blaine and Giovanni, while Psychic typing makes it useful against Koga, Bruno, and Agatha.
Stats: Starmie's high
base 115 Speed (which gives it a 22.46% of landing a critical hit) combines well with its good
base 100 Special. Its only particularly low stat is base 60 HP.
Movepool: Starmie's movepool is entirely TM-based, with options like Surf, Psychic, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, and Blizzard. The more TMs it has access to, the more good matchups it will have.
Major Battles: Starmie can handle virtually every single opponent that it can face if it has the correct TMs; Thunderbolt handles Lorelei, Ice TMs handle Lance, and Surf and Psychic handle the rest. Sabrina is the only major opponent that is not weak to any of Starmie's moves.
Additional Comments: Staryu is a notable Water-type due to its large TM learnset. However, the earlier Staryu comes underleveled and is a hassle to grind. You can also catch Staryu at Seafoam Islands at a higher level (level varies per game, floor, and method of encounter), though it misses
out on the Koga matchup and will still be at a lower level than your team in most cases. Evolve
it with a Water Stone immediately.