This list is entirely based on my own favourite Pokémon designs with some random game stories and trivia thrown in. Most of the list is from Gen 1 and 2, however there are a few from later generations as well.
10
You get Shuckle for the first time in Pokémon Gold/Silver, and if I recall correctly, I never actually played with Shuckle on my team because the NPC who gave it to me suggested he wanted it back. I figured he’d appear later randomly and take the Shuckle from me, so it would be pointless to train it. I now know of course, you could just keep the Shuckle without any issue. I really love the derpy design of Shuckle, it reminds me of the red koopas from the Mario games as well.
9
The mascot’s lesser famous evolution. Raichu is absolutely 100% better than Pikachu in every way. One of my fondest memories as a kid was buying a Raichu PVC figure. If I recall, I ended up chewing it half to death, even biting its tail off like a lunatic. My excuse was that I was 9-10 years old, but even that’s a bit old to be chewing on plastic… right? In the anime, this guy felt like an absolute powerhouse, and all of the Pokémon cards for Raichu in the old days were so sought after which always made him very appealing to me as a kid.
8
For some reason, this Pokémon always seemed really badass to me. I seem to have a thing for derpy looking faces and basic designs, more on that later, and Slowking is no exception. The slowpoke line in general always really interested me as a kid, and the fact that he could evolve multiple and unique ways involving items and “merging” with other Pokémon made him really stand out to me. I dunno, something about a dumbass Slowpoke growing up to become an Einstein-like Pokémon seemed really cool.
7
Delibird has been one of my favourites for a while now, and he doesn’t really get a lot of love. It’s basically the Pokémon equivalent of Santa but super cheeky. His tail acts like a “sack” (Uh) which contains gifts that he gives out to people. Sounds extremely dodgy, right? It’s a really unique looking Pokémon and always stood out to me due to its goofball aura.
6
I think Arcanine is on most people’s lists, and you can see why off the bat. Originally introduced as a “Legendary”, Arcanine is actually just a your average Pokémon that evolved from the puppy Growlithe. It’s actually a bit of a pain, if I recall, because if you evolve it early, it doesn’t learn any new moves, making it potentially very weak unless you think ahead (Which younger me certainly did not, forcing me to use ember before giving up on him). His design couldn’t be cooler, and if he debuted as one of the legendary dogs e.g. replacing Entei, in Johto instead, nobody would had batted an eyelid.
5
If you look through most of my stuff on this website, you’ll know I have a thing for certain colour combinations. Red, white and blue is one of them and if done right, it can really attract your eyes to the design. Togepi’s shell design, in my opinion, is so visually stunning and I think I’m alone in that analysis because there aren’t many Togepi fans out there I believe. I actually own a Pokémon GO hoodie for Togepi in real life, which I got from Etsy. If I’m ever playing a game that has a Togepi in it and it can evolve into Togekiss, I’m using it until the Elite Four every time, it becomes SO OP.
4
Scyther was actually my #1 favourite for most of my life, but I just gravitated towards other designs over time. I mean, can you blame me? He has fucking knives for hands. I started liking the design of Scyther when I was really young, and I discovered a website which had rendered 3D Pokémon on it, and the Scyther they made looked SO badass. It made me realise that if the original 150 Pokémon were real, Scyther would likely be one of the deadliest, if not the deadliest. He’s one of the few Pokémon (Delibird, Porygon and Charmeleon being the others) where I attempted to collect all the Pokémon cards for, but in the end, I gave up due to the insane amount of cards. I also only have 1 graded card in my entire collection and it’s a PSA 9 Carddass 1997 Scyther.
3
Much like Raichu, I had a PVC figure of Poliwhirl and those little figures were really magical to me as a kid. It truly made me appreciate some Pokémon that I didn’t really notice before, and Poliwhirl was one of them. Did you know that he is also Red’s main Pokémon in the manga? And that he’s Satoshi Tajiri’s favourite? He even had a steady run at being Pokémon’s official mascot, even appearing front and centre for TIME magazine, with Pikachu and Charizard being pushed aside. The design is simple and really eye catching. Long live Poliwhirl.
2
Not having Porygon as #1 is a very recent change. He replaced Scyther as my #1 for many many years. I love the polygon look, as well as the pink/blue colour scheme. It’s such a simple design but it’s SO eye catching. The fact that he rarely ever comes up in media makes him really stand out to me. I’ve always associated him closely with “glitch” Pokémon like MissingNo. mostly because of the way he behaves and his lore. I’m still holding out that “Glitch” will become a type, with Porygon being one of the first to represent it, along with making MissingNo. canon.
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- I’ve always collected pinecones, saving the largest I find along my journeys.
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- Crazy man with spoons. I remember him being so strong during my playthroughs.
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- My wife’s favourite and also one of mine. I usually have an Ampharos on my team if he’s available. Love the striking design and colours.
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- An absolute unit of a Pokémon, and a bitch to train in the OG games. Incredible design.
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- I actually stare at Larvesta a lot, because its been my Pokémon GO buddy for over 3 years (400 candy, 5km per candy….) Love the design.
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- The strongest, baddest Pokémon. I have so many memories attached to Mewtwo.
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- Similar to Dragonair, I love the design and aura of these snake/dragon looking Pokémon.
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- A recent new favourite after playing through Emerald. Big fan of the design and became my main during my playthrough.
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- Absolutely love the design of Pidgeot. It’s easily the best looking bird Pokémon.
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- I’ve never been a fan of Dragonite, but Dragonair always had a really cool aura.
1
Anyone that knows me, knows that I love sky blue designs of anything. Marill and Azumarill always stood out to me, but I only really started appreciating the design way later down the line. I love the goofy looking ears, the happy face, the bubbles on its belly, the springy tail and the way it awkwardly wobbles around in the games, especially Pokémon Unite (He’s an absolute badass in that game). Azumarill is always on my team, and if done right, can usually body any Pokémon you put in front of it, especially in Pokémon GO. Much like Porygon, I love the blue (And pink) design and I get the feeling he’s going to be my #1 for quite some time.
