I.........LOVE...........THIS..........TOPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL OLO LOL LOL LOL
so funny, i love this countdown
never, ever stop, ever
i am sad that ho-oh left so soon though , coz i love that rainbow with wings, even if it is weak against a tree(sudowoodo)
i can't wait to see where u put some of the best pokkemon in the game..............

i like bananas

The Amber Mine

Epic thread is epic.

I'm guessing the alternate form is Shaymin, seeing as it's typing changes
For the most popular pokemon ever... Something tells me it's ?

Anyway, Frost, you're awesome. Hilarious and I can't wait for the next update!

I actually used a shiny Crobat on one of my FR squads. ¦3

As I may of posted before a Shiny Rattata was my 1st shiny of my Soul Silver (Caught in the Burned Tower, thats about... 2 hours of playing!) so for your inconsistancy issue with Rattata's color try the shiny!

Ivysaur is like the most awesome starter middle evolution of the lot. kthxbai

Personally I prefer Quilava, then again the whole family is my favorite (untill they make a Wolf starter)

RIP Charizard, Ivysaur.....
lol but I see your point about charizard... there's not much point to him being popular, and yet he is. I picked squirtle over charmander when i played FR (never played RBY) mostly because i always thought it was cooler to have a turtle with guns than a dragon.
i lol'd at the pink crobat animation.

Kagemaru Himeno's Poliwag art is so cute!

darn...My guesses were close though, as I said Shaymin...
However, I didn't think that Charizard was very cool. I mean, the shiny is the best out of the Kanto starters, but other than that, it kinda meh for me. Maybe Im just being ignorant.

We've been in 7/10 for many updates now.

Update Title: "Wonder Twins, Activate!," referring to #266 and #267.

268. Starly
(Generation: IV; National Dex: 396)
Yes, out of all five early-game bird Pokemon (and six if you include Mamepato from BW), Starly is my very favorite, so people who think that I'm always biased in favor of Kanto Pokemon are formally invited to suck it. Like Taillow, Starly's design is more appealing than Pidgey or Spearow, thanks in part to the nice contrast between the blacks, whites and grays rather than the boring browns and tans on their older counterparts. It's also probably the least common bird on the overworld, with Staravia taking the brunt of the "GRR IT'S COMMON AND BROKE MY CHAINS" wrath for the family, and it definitely evolves into the most asskicking final evolution out of all of the early-game birds. So I really don't get why people bitch about Starly for being "weak" or "common" or "stupid" because it's none of the above. Starly's design isn't exactly setting the world on fire, but it brings the most flair to its archetype, it's the series' only starling Pokemon, and it was used on my very first in-game team in Diamond, so I have plenty of good thoughts for the little guy.

267. Minun and 266. Plusle
(Generation: III; National Dex: 312 and 311)
I'm sure everybody was wondering why these guys hadn't shown up sooner. To put it nicely, Plusle and Minun are probably two of the least popular Hoenn Pokemon, due to their similarities to both one another and with Pikachu, as they were introduced as a duo to show off double battles in Generation III. I never liked them much myself, as they seemed like nothing but pathetic Pikachu clones who really sucked in battle, so I GET the criticisms here. However, last year I started to do a 180 on these guys and it brought them this high up into the rankings. Getting into the TCG was one factor, as I really enjoy how the artists always do creative things to demonstrate the relationship between the two, such as having them in the same scene but showing them from different angles, or having artwork that comes together to form one complete picture. The greatest instance of this was the completely awesome "Pikapuff Girls" piece recreated below (featuring an unrelated Pachirisu):



Special thanks goes to R_R who gave me the Minun card when we met up last year. The meeting was also important for changing my opinion about Plusle and Minun because I met Datvu on that trip and he's just about the only fan of Plusle and Minun that comes to mind. As I've said before, the opinions of my friends have an influence on my own opinions, and Plusle and Minun's stock increased due to DatVu, himself an identical twin, liking them. And, really, if you can get past the fact that Pikaplus and Pikaminus, as I used to call them back in the day, look so similar to Pikachu, they're really pretty cute, although I'm not going to pretend for even a second that they're worth a damn in battles. It's only natural that they placed next to each other, but I like Plusle a little bit more because the "plus" aspects of its design, such as the plus-shaped tail, look better than the corresponding parts on Minun. It's a bit odd that I prefer Plusle, really, because I like blue more than red, but oh well.

265. Flaaffy
(Generation: II; National Dex: 180)
Flaaffy was probably the very first instance of "Middle Evolution Syndrome" that I ever noticed. I mean, Mareep is super adorable and Ampharos kicks ass (while still being adorable), and Flaaffy is... a frumpy, pink version of Mareep who looks more like somebody's grandma than something actually cute. And while I dislike its random pink coloring when the rest of the family is mainly yellow, Flaaffy does a pretty good job at bridging Mareep and Ampharos. Like Mareep, it's still visibly a sheep with wool, yet Ampharos' striped tail and ears have snuck in there too. And, unlike a lot of middle evolutions, Flaaffy can actually pull off cuteness, especially when the better TCG artists draw it. Despite being the Pokemon that brought MES to my attention, I do like Flaaffy on its own and because it has an awesome family that I've used a lot in the games.

264. Quilava
(Generation: II; National Dex: 156)
Blah blah blah middle evolutions blah. Quilava actually isn't a bad design at all and, like Flaaffy, does a good job of connecting Cyndaquil and Typhlosion, while thankfully retaining Cyndaquil's cuteness rather than looking awkward. One pointless factoid that I find interesting about Quilava is that it's one of the few Pokemon who has been portrayed as capable of both bipedalism and quadrupedalism, but that's pretty dorky so I won't continue talking about it. Quilava's GS sprites were, quite simply, horrible, so I didn't start to like Quilava until Generation III, in which the improved color palettes really made Quilava look much more colorful and cute. Looking cute and being a nice connection between its first and final forms is all I can ask from most middle stages, and Quilava fills both criteria. Also, apparently (highlight for spoiler) Ash's Cyndaquil evolved into Quilava in one of the most recent episodes of the anime. They're only about eight freaking years late with that development, so good job, anime writers.

263. Paras
(Generation: I; National Dex: 46)
Paras is most known for that infamous filler episode "The Problem with Paras," in which Paras was portrayed as a complete and total wuss who sucked in battle. Despite this, I liked the Pokemon because it had cute googly eyes and managed to beat Ash's asshole Charmeleon all by itself, which was awesome. Back in my days of loving neglected Pokemon, Parasect was the favorite Pokemon of both my Internet BFF and the girl who started the NPLU web site, so I had a lot of appreciation for Paras as a result. I also liked that Paras was available at Level 5 in both GSC AND FRLG, since I didn't have breed for a lower-level Paras because of my OCD to train Pokemon from the lowest level. I've trained Paras on many teams over the years, including regular files, mono-Grass teams, neglected Pokemon teams and more. It's not a great battler, but it's one of Kanto's more creative designs as a Grass/Bug-type parasite, plus it's an underappreciated and cute little guy, so I like it.

262. Glalie
(Generation: III; National Dex: 362)
When I first saw Glalie, I checked its stats and thought "Wow, it has base 80 in everything! That's pretty good!" In reality, base 80 IS pretty good, but only when used for a Pokemon's secondary stats; base 80 in everything, however, SUCKS, especially because Glalie debuted in the same games as the EV system and has a horrible pure Ice-typing. To be fair, Glalie's basis as a frozen rock would be more suited for an Ice/Rock-type, so the Pokemon could have been even WORSE in battle than it already IS if they went in that direction. Glalie actually has a pretty cool design in a "Satan's hockey mask" sort of way, and Ash's Glalie in the anime was a great fit for the oddball sixth Pokemon slot, but it's such a clunker in battle (and evolves way too freaking late) that it's hard to get excited about the thing. After awesome Froslass came along, they really should have bit the bullet and changed Glalie to a male-only Ice/Rock-type as well, since Glalie does not look feminine at ALL. It's a pretty good Pokemon but it could be so. much. better.

261. Walrein
(Generation: III; National Dex: 365)
As Hoenn's other fully evolved non-Legendary Ice-type, Walrein goes out right after Glalie. Walrein's pre-evolutions are basically the Hoenn versions of Seel and Dewgong, but Walrein is more original and breaks away from those comparisons since there's no Dewgong evolution; therefore, it is the main reason why I would never want to see Dewgong evolve, as Walrein is freakish and scary compared to its adorable pre-evolutions. Sure, it's a pretty decent walrus design and it's more comparable to Lapras than Dewgong in battle, although it does share Dewgong's 8x-resistance to Ice (lol). Yet at the same time it has two giant YELLOW tusks (ew) and a frizzy mane of hair that makes Walrein resemble a clown from hell. (Glalie was "Satan's Hockey Mask," so I dub Walrein "Satan's Death Clown.") Despite this, I do like Walrein's comparative usefulness in battle and became a fan due to its happier Generation IV sprite, whereas it previously only looked angry or stupid in the games, anime or TCG. A decent Pokemon, but I'm glad it evolves from Sealeo rather than Dewgong.

260. Fan Rotom
(Generation: IV; National Dex: 479)
I remember when the silhouettes for the new Rotom forms were revealed back in 2008, I was convinced that Fan Rotom's silhouette was a Sandstorm Castform. Of course, the actual Pokemon was nothing like that, but it's still the comfortable midpoint of the five new appliance Rotom forms. While it does have the worst exclusive attack of the five Rotom, since Air Slash is freaking LAME compared to all of the other destructive moves like Blizzard and Leaf Storm, Fan Rotom's typing being just Ghost/Electric is probably the least irritating of the appliances since Ghost/Flying, Ghost/Electric and Flying/Electric-types all already existed before Platinum. Therefore, there's no wasted type potential in making a fan-based Pokemon the same combination as all the other Rotom. It's a pretty cute design for a fan Pokemon and looks more visually interesting than the Frost or Wash Rotom, but it's not quite as awesome as Heat or Mow Rotom. It probably should have had a white aura to reinforce the air aspect, though.

259. Growlithe
(Generation: I; National Dex: 58)
Back in the day, Growlithe was one of my favorite Pokemon due to the episode "Holy Matrimony," in which it was revealed that James' first Pokemon was a Growlithe and it ended up saving him from his fiancee, likely due to Growlithe's basis: the shishi or guardian lion. James was my favorite character back then and "Holy Matrimony" was my favorite episode, so naturally my opinion of Growlithe was high, and it later got more screentime as Officer Jenny's signature Pokemon too. While it can be extremely cute in the anime, Pokemon Snap and the TCG, Growlithe does look a little scruffy and mean at times, like in its horrible DP sprite seen above. Over the years my Growlithe love has diminished a bit, since it only had that one great episode and was a version exclusive in none of my preferred versions (i.e. Red, Gold AND FireRed), plus I prefer its cuter counterpart, Vulpix. Growlithe's original beta name was "Flame" and, once again, I'm glad that changed it to what we have now. It's a good Pokemon with a lot of nostalgia for me, but I just like others more these days.

Bonus Entries:

258. Manectric
(Generation: III; National Dex: 310)
Manectric was Generation III's most powerful new Electric-type but, when the competition is its own pre-evolution and the Pikatwins, that's not as impressive as it might sound. Unlike its green pre-evolution, Manectric does actually resemble a canine and displays itself as a competent fighter; thus, I did use it a lot in RS, though it retained the inappropriate Stevo nickname from its Electrike days. Considering Electrike was so close to Mauville City and it evolved into the only new Electric-type worth anything in battle, the game directors really botched up in RS by giving Wattson a bunch of Kanto Pokemon instead. Thankfully, the anime fixed this and Manectric has been portrayed as Wattson's main Pokemon ever since, showing that good things do indeed come from the show. Manectric is a bit outclassed in battle but, hey, how funny is it for an Electric dog to have Flamethrower? It's a cool Pokemon, getting some nice TCG artwork to support this, and there's not much bad to say about it, although its head does look too much like an arrowhead. I just like other Pokemon more.

257. Ursaring
(Generation: II; National Dex: 217)
I have a slightly unusual history with Ursaring, as I played Japanese Silver and English Gold primarily; in the Japanese version of GS, Ursaring was Silver-exclusive while Donphan was Gold-exlusive, but Nintendo switched the two in the American versions. As a result, I always got Ursaring and never got Donphan, which was kind of annoying because Ursaring wasn't the one that was introduced first. I liked Ursaring's design because, in addition to having a cute pre-evolution and a ring on its belly to link to its name, it always looked sleepy and doofy in GS. Of course, it didn't really stay that way and Ursaring became GRR ANGRY in just about all of its appearances after GS, including in the anime where an angry Ursaring was the cause of "Forest Grumps," one of the best Johto fillers. Ursaring is a decent (though outclassed) battler and it's the series first bear-based Pokemon, so I like what he brings to the table, even if I'd prefer him to be less rabid. It's a good Pokemon, but not as great as its pre-evolution or counterpart. Still, you gotta love Ursaring chillin' in a hot spring.

I've been anxiously awaiting 's elimination, as I hate it. Compared to the absolutely adorable , just looks ugly, and lacks all of the charm that its pre-evolution has. I've also never been a fan of (it's pre-evo and evolution are awesome however), because it's face is really ugly to me, especially in the sprites where it has those "fangs".

I really can't wait for Lickylicky's ultimate demise.

i must disagree with frost on his rating of shedinja. yes, it fails in battle. yes, it's "super" ability fails. also, it lacks the moves to utilize it's 1 HP (fail nintendo) it is however A) the only ghost/bug pokemon (i love ghosts, bugs and waters) B) a pokemon whose design i like... inexplicably, but quite certainly and C) it is one of the few pokemon who i can truly call dead.

ps. i am not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but the fact that trapinch evolves into dragonfly like thingies is because an adult antlion has wings and shape very similar to a damselfly, the helicoptering relative of the dragon fly

pps. i have a strange affection for dunsparce, it is just so complete seeming...(also it seems a bit like an oxymoron...it can hover but doesn't levitate, it has wings but burrows...very strange...should be a psuedo legend to break the "oh it's so cool super dragon" format for a change:P) (maybe a normal ghost type...)

ppps. the tentacles on dunsparce remind me of a particular and rather obscure amphibian, the caecilian (look it up)

That pigeon THING is a complete disgrace to starly. I MEAN COMEON.

I actually like Smugleaf's grin. He's like the most badass of all starters, not even Treecko or Gang Leader Squirtle can top him. The only problem with it is that it sorta gives the Pokemon a pre-determined, unchangeable personality. Fortunately other official media and fan art exist to soften Smugleaf's situation.

Rankurusu just looks weird to me because of its eyes and funny-shaped mouth. But, I've seen so many cute fanart of it already that it doesn't really matter; it's sort of a cute hugging blob.