Pokémon Full Ranking List - Thoughts and Analysis

Around 2 months before the posting of this blog post I undertook a large task of ranking every single Pokémon. All 898 as of the end of the Crown Tundra each Pokémon ranked in my personal order of preference. A long stretch of work but very much worth it. While I don't want to go through this all one by one I want to cover a few key points and will attached the full list for your viewing pleasure should you wish to check it through yourself. 

Top Six
If we were to make a team of the top six Pokémon the team would be as follows:

1. Blaziken
2. Lucario
3. Zoroark
4. Greninja
5. Toxtricity
6. Scizor 

What I noticed with this was when I find a favourite per generation I stick to that and it becomes a big favourite of mine (Alakazam and Lycanroc of generations one and seven respectively follow on the list) and most favourites are bipedal it takes until number 18 and Hydreigon as the first non bipedal Pokémon on the list (mainly because this Pokémon is always seen flying). Typings are also repeated here in Fighting (Blaziken & Lucario), Steel (Lucario & Scizor) & Dark (Zoroark & Greninja), looking further down the dark typing comes up a fair few times with Incineroar and Tyranitar and numbers 11 and 12 respectively and even Hydreigon at number 18 representing that type. Another strong type is fire with Charizard at number 9 the previously mentioned Incineroar at 11 and Cinderace at 14 both types do normally feature a lot of my teams fighting as well with Pokémon occupying slots in my team (Pokémon in spots 1, 2, 10 and 15 are all at least part fighting). It's helped me to see I like to rely on certain types of Pokémon for my teams but it is also good to see what types of Pokémon break they tradition. For example the next ranked electric type post Toxtricity is Electivire at 17, it would be nice to see an Electric type break into the top 25 with the next batch of new Pokémon to break that. 

Starters 
If we look directly at starters only we come across the following team 

1. Blaziken
2. Greninja
3. Charizard
4. Incineroar
5. Cinderace
6. Decidueye

Right away you can see my fire type bias with four of the six in this team being the fire type starters. I found it interesting that generation seven takes two slots, I put this down to my love of wrestling for Incineroar's overall look and the great concept and design for Decidueye. It is also worth nothing that all of the fully evolved starters in Smash Bros Ultimate feature in the top six which is good and expected, they were already well liked designed and primed for fighting games so it makes sense that these Pokémon are used in a different game. Again these are all bipedal Pokémon with the first non bipedal starter being Venusaur at number 78. As far as the group where the fully evolved started rank the highest it is Generation 1 that does this with Charizard in 9th, Blastoise in 29th & Venusaur in 78th. Most gens are effected by one starter holding the ranking down. For example, generation 7 rank last as even though Incineroar is 11th and Decidueye is 16th it is Primarina holding the generation down being in 383rd. 

The Bottom Six
As we looked at the top six here are the reverse, the bottom six and they are as follows:

1. Burmy
2. Sunkern
3. Dhelmise
4. Celesteela
5. Stojourner
6. Stakataka

As you can see two of the bottom six are Ultra Beasts with my least favourite being one in Stakataka. I think the thing with the Pokémon at the bottom the bottom four fall into it being their designs I just do not think work, I really look to give the benefit of the doubt to the Ultra Beasts as their designs are supposed to be from another world and I do like some with Naganadel at 38 with Buzzwole (117) and Guzzlord (143) also breaking into the top 200 but these bottom one's just do not have an ounce of charm to them for me and feel really weak. For instance Xurkitree is one I know some people hate but the design of being electrical cable and having a name that plays on the circuitry I really like. It should also be noted that the third lowest ranked Ultra Beast is Pheromosa at number 690 meaning it is 201 places higher then Celesteela should show how I don't like those bottom two Ultra Beats. Dhelmise and Stojourner as the anchor and Stonehenge Pokémon respectively do nothing for me I do not find anything redeemable about their designs and find it all pretty weak. When it comes to Burmy and Sunkern I find both really weak and never had an interest in using them, their evolutions are ok but on their own I find them too weak and uninteresting to use, the only reason Burmy ranks higher out of the two is due to its multiple forms. 

Pokémon With Different Forms 

Many Pokémon have different forms excluding those in Gigantamax and Mega Evolutions these are either special transformations, different forms in the wild or those that change due to items equipped. Looking at the top six we would have this team.

1. Greninja
2. Toxtricity
3. Lycanroc
4. Pyroar
5. Aegislash
6. Genesect

Greninja got the special Ash-Greninja transformation initially seen in the anime but got a game form for the demo of Sun & Moon, while I prefer the original form it is a nice transformation just with a little too much going on. 

Toxtricity gets an amped & low key form which depends on the nature of the Toxel you have. I prefer the amped version I think the colours work well and more so with the yellow over the blue for low key and the one spike of current as opposed to two. 

Lycanroc has 3 forms which depend on the time of day you evolve your Rockruff or if it has the ability 'Own Tempo'. I have always preferred the Midnight form and it is why the Pokémon ranks as high as it does, it goes in a different way to the other designs for the Pokémon which while strong do not compare in my eyes to the evil werewolf. I do like how the Dusk Form resembles a combination of the two other forms as a real in between and I think it is a good concept with three solid designs. 

Pyroar depends on the gender of the Pokémon you catch for it's evolved form, I am a big fan of the male design with how the mane resembles the kanji for fire (火) its main typing (and should be only typing not sure why it had the normal type added). Aegislash is different as the form changed in battle through the moves it is using. I always found the Shield Form the more interesting of a design of the two, for a haunted sword, the sword part of it's design feels very plain so with the shield in the way it helps mask that issue. 

Genesect I don't really have a preferred choice for form as very little changes between forms expect the colour of the disk in it's back and subsequent changing type of the move Techno Blast which isn't a massive difference to comment on, I wasn't even going to include Genesect as a Pokémon with different forms but it was included on Bulbapedia while I was filling in the spreadsheet attached to this so elected for follow their lead and put Genesect as a Pokémon with different forms. 

In conclusion, to rank nearly 900 Pokémon was a struggle and I imagine if I look at this all again I would probably end up changing a large amount of ranking. To having feelings to rank 898 different and unique characters is a near impossibility to be happy with but this has helped me understand more what it is a like in Pokémon designs. If it is you wish to have a look though the full list you can click here. 

I do wonder what we will experience with new Pokémon and type combination when it comes to the rest of this current generation and beyond if we will see new forms and new Pokémon before generation 9 whether it is a Diamond & Pearl Remake or a Let's Go Johto I am interested to revisit this list down the line to see where any new Pokémon rank.