In this episode we return to Teen Titans Season 2 focusing on episodes “How Long is Forever?” “Every Dog has its Day,” and “Terra.” We talk about wibbly-wobbly-time travel shenanigans, Easter Island man-babies, and Slade creeping on Terra. And does anyone else notice how Raven doesn’t mind being licked by an alien dog?
In this episode, we explore our lostalgia, nostalgia over media that hasn’t been popular since it debut. Mary talks about “Magination,” the Gameboy Color game while Andy talks about the Goosebumps spin-off series “Give Yourself Goosebumps.” We gush about why we love our respective nostalgia and the probable reasons why they haven’t been popular since they debuted.
In this episode we discuss Teen Titans, Season 1, “Mad Mod,” “Car Trouble,” and “Apprentice” parts 1 and 2. We talk about Mad Mod’s crazy house, the wonderful, rare pairing between Cyborg and Raven, and how Slade is just so freaking creepy. Also, we ask ourselves, is Slade Robin in disguise?
In this episode we discuss Teen Titans, Season 1, “Switched,” “Deep Six,” and “Mask.” We talk about how boring Aqualad is, why Raven and Starfire switching bodies makes a great episode, and how Slade is so, weirdly, creepily obsessed with Robin.
In this episode we focus on Teen Titans, Season 1, episodes “Forces of Nature,” “The Sum of His Parts,” and “Nevermore.” We talk about Robin’s fascination with Slade, the source of Mumbo’s power, and why Cyborg is just a great, all outstanding, guy. Oh and Raven’s dad issues or whatever.
In our first episode we focus on the Cartoon Network show, Teen Titans, and focus on the first three episodes of the series, “Divide and Conquer,” “Sisters,” and “Final Exam.” We talk about the fantastic Hive Academy villains, Starfire’s amazing quotes, and how sexy Slade’s voice is.
Note: We originally published on Soundcloud but moved over to WordPress as the platform suited our podcast better.
With the quasi-remake of Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow, “Pokémon Let’s Go!,” coming out this year I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to write another Monotype Run article. As mentioned before, a Monotype (or Single Type) Run in Pokémon is a playthrough where you only train a certain Pokémon type. And boy howdy the Kanto games are probably the most difficult and/or frustrating games in the main series for a Monotype Run. A low diversity and a low amount of available Pokémon make some types almost unplayable. But there’s still some good ones out there so let’s take a look!
Rules
Best Types
The Normal type had its heyday in Generation 1. Iconic Pokémon like Snorlax, Jigglypuff, and Tauros are all found in these games. Of course, you have Normal Pokémon available immediately at Route 1 like Rattata and Pidgey so right away you have yourself a team (good luck with Brock, though!). What’s more, you have a plethora of Flying/Normal Pokémon like Pidgeot, Dodrio, and Spearow that can protect you from fighters. Normal Pokémon can also learn a diverse array of special moves so you can teach them the likes of Surf, Ice Beam, and Thunderbolt to take down any foe that stands in your way.
From Normal, we quickly fall into a range of types that range from pretty decent to meh. There are tons of Water, Flying, and Poison Pokémon with great move diversity but watch out for their weaknesses. Zapdos makes an Electric type run interesting but be prepared for low movepool diversity. If you’re patient, you can catch a Geodude at Mount Moon and do a Rock type run. The Rock type actually has all its weaknesses covered thanks to the fossil Pokémon but you won’t be playing with a full unique team. And speaking of Geodude, a Ground type run would be another decent run thanks to the Nidorans being available fairly early on (just watch out for Water moves!).
Worst Types
Pic from Bulbapedia
It may not be a shock to you but Dragon, Ghost, and Ice types are just a generally bad idea all together. There’s only one Ghost and Dragon family and they’re available mid and late game respectively (plus you would only be dealing with a Haunter if you didn’t trade). Ice types are a little better as there are some decent Ice Pokémon but they’re available at best mid-game. And God forbid you decide to do a Steel or Dark type run for FireRed and LeafGreen. The only Steel type would be the Magnemite line (catchable after you can surf) and Gamefreak decided, for some reason, you couldn’t evolve an Eevee into an Umbreon so there’s no way you can catch and train a Dark type at all.
Type Teams
Bug
Ideal Team: Parasect, Venomoth, Scyther (Red, FireRed, Yellow)/Pinsir (Blue, Leafgreen, Yellow), Butterfree, Beedrill (all versions except Yellow)
First Pokémon: Caterpie and/or Weedle (except Yellow) via Viridian Forest.
Cover weaknesses? No, Flying, Fire, and Rock not neutralized.
Dark
lol
Dragon
Ideal Team: Dragonite
First Pokémon: Dratini via Safari Zone
Covers weaknesses? No, Ice and Dragon not covered
Electric
Ideal Team: Raichu/Pikachu, Electrode, Electabuzz (Red, FireRed), Magneton, Jolteon, Zapdos
First Pokémon: Pikachu in Viridian Forest or Pikachu as a starter in Yellow
Covers weaknesses? Yes
Fighting
Ideal Team: Machoke, Hitmonlee/Hitmonchan, Primeape (all versions except Blue), Poliwrath
First Pokémon: In Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen it’s Mankey on Route 3 before the first gym. In Red, it’s Mankey via Route 5, after the second gym. In Blue, it’s Machop in the Rock Tunnel after the second gym.
Covers weaknesses? No, Flying or Psychic not neutralized.
Fire
Ideal Team: Charizard, Arcanine (Red, FireRed, Yellow)/Ninetales (Blue, LeafGreen, Yellow), Magmar (Blue, LeafGreen), Flareon, Rapidash, Moltres
First Pokémon: Charmander via starter or via Route 24 after Mt. Moon in Yellow.
Covers weaknesses? No, Rock or Water not neutralized.
Flying
Ideal Team: Charizard, Dragonite, Aerodactyl, Gyarados, Zapdos, Articuno
Optional: Pidgeot, Fearow, Dodrio, Scyther (Red, FireRed, Yellow), Moltres, Butterfree, Golbat, Farfetch’d
First Pokémon: Charmander via starter or Pidgey (Yellow) via Route 1.
Covers weaknesses? No, Rock is not covered.
Ghost
Ideal Team: Haunter
First Pokémon: Gastly at Lavender Tower
Covers weaknesses? No, Ghost and Dark (and for that matter Psychic and Ground) are not covered
Grass
Ideal Team: Venusaur, Exeggutor, Vileplume (Red, FireRed, Yellow), Victreebel (Blue, LeafGreen, Yellow), Parasect, Tangela
First Pokémon: Bulbasaur via starter or Paras via Mt. Moon in Yellow
Covers weaknesses? No, Flying, Ice, or Fire not neutralized.
Ground
Ideal Team: Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Rhydon, Onix, Dugtrio, Sandslash (Blue, LeafGreen, and Yellow)
Optional: Graveler (or Golem if you can evolve it)
First Pokémon: Nidorans in Route 22 for RBY (pre-First Gym) and Route 3 for FRLG (just after first Gym)
Covers weaknesses? No, Water and Ice are not neutralized.
Ice
Ideal Team: Lapras, Articuno, Dewgong, Jynx (all versions except Yellow), Cloyster (all versions except LeafGreen)
First Pokémon: In every game except LeafGreen, Shellder via the Super Rod (from Route 12 from a fisherman), attainable after you complete Lavender Tower and move the Snorlax. Shellder can be fished in various areas of Kanto. In LeafGreen, use the Super Rod to fish a Poliwhirl (found in various areas) and trade it to an NPC in Cerulean City for his Jynx.
Covers weaknesses? No, Rock is not neutralized.
Normal
Ideal Team: Snorlax, Tauros, Clefable, Pidgeot, Chansey, Kangaskhan
Optional: Porygon, Fearow, Dodrio, Raticate, Persian (Blue, FRLG), Farfetch’d, Lickitung, Wigglytuff, Ditto
First Pokémon: Pidgey and Rattata in Route 1
Covers weaknesses? Yes!
Poison
Ideal Team: Venomoth, Golbat, Venusaur, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Tentacruel
Optional: Vileplume (Red, FireRed, Yellow), Victreebel (Blue, LeafGreen, Yellow), Haunter, Weezing (all versions except Yellow), Arbok (Red, FireRed), Muk
First Pokémon: Bulbasaur via starter or Nidorans via Route 22 in Yellow
Covers weaknesses? No, Psychic not neutralized.
Psychic
Ideal Team: Hypno, Mr. Mime, Exeggutor, Jynx (all versions except Yellow), Starmie (all versions except FireRed), Slowbro (all versions except FireRed)
Optional: Kadabra
First Pokémon: Abra via Route 24 after Mount Moon for all versions except Pokemon Yellow, just before the second gym; in Pokemon Yellow you catch Abra in Route 5 after the second gym.
Covers weaknesses? No, Bug and Ghost are not neutralized.
Rock
Ideal Team: Graveler, Rhydon, Onix, Aerodactyl, Omastar/Kabutops
First Pokémon: Geodude at Mount Moon
Covers weaknesses? Surprisingly, yes.
Steel
Ideal Team: Magneton
First Pokémon: Magnemite via Power Plant through surfing (need the Soul Badge)
Covers weaknesses? No, Ground, Fighting, and Fire not neutralized.
Water
Ideal Team: Blastoise, Slowbro (all versions except FireRed), Poliwrath, Lapras, Tentacruel, Vaporeon
Optional: Starmie (all versions except FireRed), Gyrados, Omastar/Kabutops, Cloyster (all versions except LeafGreen), Dewgong, Golduck (all versions except LeafGreen), Kingler, Seadra, Seaking
First Pokémon: Squirtle via starter or Magikarp via the Pokecenter just before Mt. Moon in Yellow
Covers weaknesses? No, Electric is not neutralized.
Hey everyone. It’s with great enthusiasm that Mary and I are launching our own podcast called “Mary and Andy Geek Out!” This is just a fun, amateur podcast where we talk things that we’re interested in. This first season, we’re rewatching the hit Cartoon Network Show, Teen Titans, and discussing each episode as we watch. The first podcast episode is up already and focuses on the first three episodes of Teen Titans.
The Soundcloud link is here
The iTunes link is here
We’re planning on making this a weekly podcast so the next episode will be up in a few days. Have a good week!
Andy
With the myriad of ports hitting the Switch I wanted to write a short list of pre-released 3rd party video games that I think would do well on Nintendo’s newest platform. I tried not going for big-name, highly profitable games as those I felt would be too obvious (with one exception). I also picked games that would port well to the Switch without facing a noticeable downgrade in quality. Now true, there have been a few recent games, like Doom, that ported reasonable well to the Switch but from what I understand the developers had to make a lot of cuts to make it work. I’m definitely no video game programmer so I’m avoiding games like Resident Evil 7 or God of War as those seem like a big challenge. Nonetheless, there are tons of other games that the Switch would love to have. Without further ado, let’s take a look!
Fez
It’s been six years since Fez was released but the charm of that game still stands strong for me. Surprisingly, Fez hasn’t been ported yet to any Nintendo console so the Switch may be a great way to get some attention again. Customers’ strong indies support will easily boost Fez’s sales. The only issue is that Fez’s programmer, Phil Fish, left the video game world for several years now so seeing him (or in general Polytron, the developer behind Fez) come back just to make the game compatible with the Switch seems unlikely.
Danganronpa Trilogy
Spike Chunsoft has a history developing games for Nintendo. Not even counting Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, we also have the underground hit series “Zero Escape” who’s dark, and honestly mindfuck, story isn’t a far cry from Danganronpa. So the connection is clearly there we just need the idea to take hold! The original Danganronpa games were on the Playstation Vita games so I imagine it wouldn’t be difficult to move them over to the Switch as well. Packaging the whole trilogy would make the games more enticing for newcomers as well. And frankly giving a discount on the first two games would make me want to spend money on it again just so I can have some fun on the big screen.
Fallout
Okay, so I know I was trying to avoid big-name games but I couldn’t help but mention Fallout. Recently, Bethesda commented how pleased they were on the sales for their Switch games. This mainly includes their game-of-the-year quality games, Skyrim and Doom. If they could do a decent port of Doom, why not Fallout 3, New Vegas or even 4? I don’t know if I’ll buy Fallout NV again but I’d definitely put some money down for Fallout 4. The Switch flawlessly handled Breath of the Wild and Skyrim’s open world-system so I imagine it could manage Fallout’s world. Plus, the thought of seeing Pipboy on the Switch and Switch skins seems so hilarious to me.
Persona 5
P5’s infatuation towards subways would transition well for playing it on an actual subway. I can imagine this to be a great on-the-move game as P5 is broken up by story events, battles, and side quests. True, you would (more than) likely get lost in the palaces if you stopped midway and picked it back up eight hours later but if that’s the port’s only fault, I’ll take it! What’s more, P5 was initially developed for the PS3 before transitioning over to the PS4. I bought the PS3 version and it runs pretty great! The load times are supposedly longer compared to the PS4 but I never felt they dragged on or were infuriating. Plus, Atlus already has a healthy relationship with Nintendo and even developed a Persona game, Persona Q, and its soon to be released sequel Q2, on the 3DS. Out of all the games on this list, P5 is the one most likely to happen.
Katamari Damacy
Why the hell does Nintendo not have any Katamari games? I’m still surprised by this just thinking about it. Katamari’s weird, offbeat humor would mesh well with Nintendo’s imagry. Namco could also go above and beyond their port by implementing motion controls. Perhaps you can give yourself a workout by moving your hands back and forth like our prince character. Or you could move just one Joycon forward, backward, and side-to-side to control the general direction of your katamari. Either way, I would be down to trying and playing it with motion controls. Katamari could also have a bonus level in the Mario Kingdom or Hyrule which would be hilarious! The thought of rolling up Gorons, Goombas, Koopas, and Octorocks would be a blast.
Journey
This is a curveball but I believe a Journey-port would be a fantastic hit on the Switch. Not only has it been years since its first and second release on the PS3 and PS4 respectively but it’s a game that has held up extraordinarily well. The distant mountain you strive towards evokes a similar feeling when Link steps out of the Shrine of Resurrection and looks out to the huge, expansive world of Hyrule. And meeting a fresh new group of journeyers like you along the way would be so spine-tingling heartwarming and bittersweet. Journey is all about…well the journey. And to experience that once again on the Switch would be touching.
Update 1/14/2020: This article now includes Sword and Shield
If you’re looking for a fun, and rather different, Single Type (or Monotype) run in Pokémon I would suggest the Poison Type. This is one of the few types that make a feasible run in Generation 1 due to their extraordinarily high abundance and diversity. Ever since then, these toxic monsters litter the games and make a wonderful monotype run in every generation with the exception of Black/White and its sequels. For this article, we will look at the best games for a Poison Run and the most common and/or useful poison type Pokémon you’ll run into during your playthroughs (along with some helpful moves to look out for).
As usual, the rules are as stated. You must catch the first Pokémon of that type ASAP and disregard all other types. A Pokémon that evolves into your type may be trained as long as you evolve it ASAP. Only Pokémon you can catch in your game are counted (i.e., no traded Pokémon). And only pre-Elite Four Pokémon are counted for the run.
The Worst Games
Just avoid Black and White. You can train only three unique Pokemon (Scolipede, Garbodor, and Amoongus), which all have subpar typing. And the first Poison type you catch is after the second gym. No thanks! At least its sequels are much better for Poison.
The Best Games
Honestly, pick virtually any other game in the series and you’ll have a fun time. If you want more information, consult my type chart as seen here. Now, you’re going to watch out for Psychics, especially in early games, as Poison/Dark Pokemon are uncommon and unfortunately there’s no Poison/Steel or Poison/Psychic yet.
Nostalgia paints a rosy picture for all of us so take this for what you will but one of the best Poison-Type games would be Red, Blue, and Yellow. You can get a Bulbasaur as a starter (or get it later in Yellow), catch a Weedle in the forest and from there, pick up the Nidorans, catch a Zubat in Cerulean Cave, pick up a Bellsprout or Oddish if you’re feeling it, and then find a Gastly/Haunter in the Lavender Tower. Later on, you can find your Tentacool in the seas, Venonat in the Safari, and finally catch a Muk or Koffing in the Cinnabar Mansion. Lots of good choices!
But what if you hate Psychics and realllly want to defend yourself?
Generation 6, 7, and 8 are fantastic but the best games are Pokemon XY. All these games have diversity and coverage necessary to block attacking types and give you great type coverage. Sword and Shield have the wonderful Wild Area to give you a plethora of Poison Pokemon, while Sun and Moon can give you Alolan Muk (’nuff said). XY though are the best as they have the highest diversity of Poison Pokemon in any game and the Pokemon they have are amazing!
I think if I had to choose I would go for Pokémon Y as you can catch a Skrelp and evolve it into a Dragalge! I love this Pokémon but it’s unfortunately rare. You can also get a Bulbasaur (with a mega bonus too!), Venipede, Croagunk, and Zubat fairly early on so that already gives you a good wide base of moves and abilities. Later on you can catch a Nidoran, Stunky, and Tentacool which further expands your movesets. Drapion fans are in luck as Skorupi is catchable with the setback that you won’t find one until late in the game. I’m not even counting other Poison Pokémon as well! So you got a lot of great choices going into it.
Poison Teams in Pokemon Games
Pokemon RBY and FRLG
Ideal Team: Venomoth, Golbat, Venusaur, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Tentacruel
Optional: Vileplume (Red, FireRed, Yellow), Victreebel (Blue, LeafGreen, Yellow), Haunter, Weezing (all versions except Yellow), Arbok (Red, FireRed)
First available Pokémon: Bulbasaur via starter or Nidorans via Route 22 in Yellow
Covers weaknesses? No, Psychic not neutralized.
Pokemon GSC and HGSS
Ideal Team: Haunter, Venomoth, Tentacruel, Victreebel/Vileplume, Crobat, Nidoking/Nidoqueen
Optional: Muk, Weezing, Arbok, Ariados (G, C, HG), Beedril (S, C, SS)
First Pokémon: Weedle (S, C, SS) or Spinarak (G, C, HG) in Route 30.
Via Pokewalker Grimer and Koffing (Town Outskirts at 1500+ steps), Tentacool (Blue Lake at 0+ steps), Gastly (Dim Cave at 1000+ steps), Zubat (Dim Cave at 0+ steps), Venonat (Noisy Forest at 700+ steps), Oddish (Noisy Forest at 0+ steps), Bellsprout (Noisy Forest at 3000+ steps) and the Nidorans (Refreshing Field in 500+ steps) are available.
Covers Weaknesses? No, Psychic is not neutralized.
Pokemon RSE and ORAS
Ideal Team: Dustox/Beedril (ORAS)/Venomoth (ORAS), Crobat, Tentacruel, Vileplume, Dragalge (OR), Drapion (ORAS)
Optional: Seviper (S, E, AS), Swalot, Roselia (R, S, ORAS), Muk, Weezing, Garbodor (ORAS)
First Pokémon: Wurmple via Route 101
Covers Weaknesses? Yes except for Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald where Psychic is not neutralized.
Pokemon DPP
Ideal Team: Roserade, Crobat, Drapion, Toxicroak, Tentacruel, Dustox
Optional: Haunter, Stuntank (Diamond)
First Pokémon: Zubat via Route 203 and 204 and Budew via Route 204 both of which can be caught before the first gym
Covers Weaknesses? Yes
Pokemon BW and B2W2
BW Ideal Team: Scolipede, Garbodor, Amoongus
First Pokémon: Venipede via Pinwheel Forest after second gym
Cover weaknesses? No, Psychic is not neutralized.
B2W2 Ideal Team: Scolipede, Weezing, Muk, Crobat, Drapion, Roserade
Optional: Amoongus, Seviper, Garbodor
First Pokémon: Venipede via Route 20 in dark grass after the first gym
Cover weaknesses? Yes
Pokemon XY
Ideal Team: Venusaur, Nidoking/Nidoqueen, Drapion/Skuntank, Scolipede, Toxicroak, Dragalge (Y)/Tentacruel
Optional: Beedrill, Roserade, Vileplume, Swalot, Crobat, Seviper, Haunter, Arbok, Amoonguss, Garbodor, Ariados, Qwilfish
First Pokémon: Weedle via Route 2 in X or Santalune Forest in Y. Both before the first gym
Weaknesses Covered? Yes
Pokemon SM and USUM
SM Ideal Team: Muk, Crobat, Tentacruel/Toxapex, Gengar (S.O.S. by Haunter in Thrifty Megamark after the Ula’ula Trials), Roserade (scan), Scolipede (scan)
Optional: Victreebel (scan), Ariados, Garbodor, Salazzle
First Pokémon: Spinarak via Route 1
Cover weaknesses? Yes
USUM Ideal Team: Muk, Dragalge (UM)/Salazzle, Crobat, Tentacruel/Toxapex, Gengar (S.O.S. by Haunter in Thrifty Megamark after the Ula’ula Trials), Venusaur (scan)
Optional: Garbodor, Arbok, Salazzle, Ariados, Beedril (scan)
First Pokémon: Spinarak via Route 1
Cover weaknesses? Yes
Pokemon SWSH
Ideal Team: Drapion, Roserade, Toxapex, Weezing, Toxicroak (Shield)/Toxtricity, Gengar
Optional: Vileplume, Skuntank, Garbodor, Salazzle (Shield), Qwilfish, Toxtricity, Eternatus
First Pokémon: You can always find Stunky in random encounters at North Lake Miloch. Keep an eye out for Oddish, Gastly, Budew, and Roselia as they can be found throughout the Wild Area. Finally, Den 29/86 at East Lake Axewell will always spawn Poison Pokemon for Max Raid Battles.
Weaknesses Covered? Yes, and it’s taken care of before the first gym!
MVP (Most Valuable Pokémon)
Crobat Line
Considered one of the most pestilent, annoying Pokémon, Zubat, and its evolutions, can be found in almost every single game naturally except BW and SWSH. There’s a reason many players dread going into the caves! But to the Poison Type fan, Zubat is a blessing. Not only are they usually found early on but they offer a valuable immunity to Poison’s hated Ground weakness. Zubat’s final evolution, Crobat, is also a solid Pokémon to train. Incredible speed and a wide range of support moves makes Crobat a great partner when tackling your respective region. Oh, and Crobat has the highest stats of any non-Mega, non-Legendary Poison Pokémon. That’s pretty awesome! Plus, Crobat gets a subjective boost as you need to love and support your bat to be its very best! Love it.
Available in: RBY and FRLG (Golbat), GSC and HGSS, RSE and ORAS, DPP, B2W2, XY, SM and USUM
Tentacruel
Similar to the ubiquitous Zubat, you can find Tentacool in almost every game. Unlike Zubat though, Tentacool does not neutralize any weaknesses but the trade-off is pretty great. Tentracruel is a great wall that has decent special attack. Teaching Tentacruel Surf and Ice Beam is a smart way to handle Ground types (and Giga Drain as well in some games!). Tentacruel also learns Toxic Spikes which really hones in that Poison mentality.
Available in: RBY and FRLG, GSC and HGSS, RSE and ORAS, DPP, XY, SM and USUM
Poison/Grass Pokemon
Unfortunately from here, Poison Pokémon are more scattered throughout the games so any I list from now on must be taken with exceptions. That being said, these four itchy and allergenic Pokémon you will more than likely find on your journey. Grass/Poison Pokémon serves as a decent wall for different types and offers a nice neutralization towards Ground moves. Poison status and Leech Seed/Drain moves can make short work of walls while gaining you a nifty HP boost in return. Venusaur is obviously the top choice here as it’s the strongest of the four and, if you’re playing in later generations, can go Mega. That being said, if you want to venom-up your creepy Poison team, I would get a Victreebel ASAP!
Available in: Every game
Poison/Dark Pokemon
One of the best type combos in the games, Poison/Dark is a fantastic combination for Poison Pokemon as that Dark type makes them immune (!) to Psychic attacks! But the other reason why they’re here on our list is their prevalence. Drapion, Skuntank, and Alolan Muk are catchable in every game starting from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl onwards with the exception being Pokemon Black and White. These three can also fight your enemies well. For instance, Alolan Muk can learn Rock Slide and Flamethrower, Drapion can learn Fire Fang, Aerial Ace, Iron Tail, and Rock Slide, and Skuntank can learn Iron Tail and Flamethrower.
Disadvantages? Hm, well, they sometimes show up late in the games. Um, Muk and Drapion’s move diversity is good…but Skuntank’s is okay. They also have a…Ground weakness…? But it’s just the one so just…not fight against a Steelix? These Pokemon are also strong (Muk and Drapion have 500 Total Base Stats while Skuntank has 479) but nothing to write home about. Really, the only major qualm I have is they don’t show up in earlier games. At least you can train an Alolan Muk in Let’s Go Pikachu!
Available in: DPP (Skuntank in Diamond and Drapion for all), B2W2 (Drapion), XY (Drapion and Skuntank), ORAS (Drapion), SM and USUM (Muk), SWSH (Drapion and Skuntank)
Nidoking/Nidoqueen
As much as I love the Nidorans, they are unfortunately not that common in the main games; Kanto, Johto, and Kalos are pretty much the main regions you can catch them. That being said, they are great for their nice stats, lovely designs, and a STAB Earthquake bonus. The Nidorans also learn a bunch of moves through TMs like Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, and Surf. Finally, they both learn moves naturally that can combat weaknesses like Nidoking’s Megahorn and Nidoqueen’s Crunch (but only for Generation 3 and on).
Available in: RBY and FRLG, GSC and HGSS, XY
Scolipede (and other Bug/Poison Pokémon)
Bug/Poison Pokémon are honestly a mixed bag. On the one hand, they’re (usually) available early on, they neutralize Ground weakness and have a STAB, super effective move against Psychics. On the other hand, their stats range from average to poor and what Bug moves they do learn are usually weak (or in early Generations practically nonexistent). Scolipede is the exception to this rule, although mainly available in Black/White and X/Y, Scolipede is a fast, hard-hitting Bug Pokémon that can learn Megahorn naturally and learn some decent TMs, like Earthquake. If you can’t catch a Venipede but still want a Bug, go for the likes of Venomoth or even Dustox. In later generations, they can learn Giga Drain along with Bug Buzz and the incredible Quiver Dance.
Available in: Every game
Gengar/Haunter
So I honestly hesitate to put Gengar on here as although it is a strong Pokémon, there’s some unfortunate setbacks. First, trading. If you’re going solo you’re basically stuck with a Haunter. Now if you love Haunter that’s not a big deal! I honestly have taken Haunter to the Elite Four several times and I love that creepy ghost. So if that doesn’t bother you then good! Fortunately, in Sun/Moon and USUM you can catch a Gengar in the Thrifty Megamart!! After the Ula’ula Trials, go back to the mart, find a Haunter, and have it call for a Gengar via S.O.S. It may take a few tries but it’s definitely going to be worth it. Gengar is amazing. You can also catch a Gengar in the Wild Areas which is amaaaaaazing.
Second, the game appearances. Gengar has a spotty record of locations as it’s entirely absent from Hoenn and basically nonexistent in Unova. Other than that you’re looking at a Pokémon that surprisingly has some early-in-game locations as seen in Johto, Sinnoh, Alola, and Galar.
There’s also a weird sticking point for its ability. Gastly and Haunter have Levitate which is amazing for those Ground moves. Gengar though lost its Levitate ability in Generation VII so be prepared to suffer a OHKO from an Earthquake attack as Gengar’s defenses are low. However, Gengar is a beast! He can learn an amazing array of moves like Shadow Ball, Psychic, Thunderbolt, Dazzling Beam, Energy Ball, and the list goes on. He’s fast as well and that special defense is pretty good. If you can get your hands on a Gengar you’re going to have a stellar time on your Poison Run!
Available in: RBY and FRLG (Haunter), GSC and HGSS (Haunter), DPP (Haunter), XY (Haunter), SM and USUM (Gengar), SWSH (Gengar)
The Unapologetic Nerd 