This is it, boys and girls. We are now down to the top ten Pokemon of all time. These Pokemon were chosen due to either their incredible popularity, their in-game strength, or their iconic status. These are the monsters that people think about when you say “Pokemon”. Each of them has fought hard to make it to the top ten, and we at The Escapist all believe that they deserve their places.
Before we dive into the top 10, here’s a refresher of #100-#11:
As for the top 10, Let’s start with a relative newcomer.
10. Lucario
Lucario is one of the newest Pokemon on this list, having made its debut in Diamond and Pearl. It instantly proved to be a fan-favorite, and went on to replace Mewtwo in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a playable character. It also featured quite extensively in the anime, and has become one of the most recognizable faces of the franchise.
9. Meowth
Meowth, that’s right! Meowth, specifically, Team Rocket’s Meowth, is probably the most charismatic Pokemon of all time. One of only a handful of Pokemon capable of human speech (which he learned to impress a chick), Meowth is the ever present smart-mouthed comedic relief of the series.
8. Garchomp
Garchomp is another newcomer added in Diamond and Pearl, and having the extremely useful dragon/ground typing made it an auto-inclusion in many hardcore player’s Pokemon teams. It’s also basically a jet crossed with a shark crossed with some kind of Evangelion-style monster.
7. Gengar
When Game Freak created Ghastly, Haunter and Gengar, they nailed the ghost-type so well that no other Pokemon has ever come close to matching it. Gengar’s design is so simple, yet so incredibly awesome. Original Pokemon artist Ken Sugimori has stated that Gengar is his all-time favorite Pokemon.
6. Scyther
Thanks to a weak typing, Scyther isn’t too useful in battle, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t cool as fuck. Based on a praying mantis, when Scyther bursts out of the tall grass, you turn yourself around and “nope” your way out of there. Scyther is also one of the only pre-evolutions that is actually cooler than its evolved form.
5. Gyarados
Gyarados is the evolution of the useless Magikarp. Based on the legend of a koi fish that swam up a waterfall to become a dragon, Gyarados has one of the coolest designs in the Pokemon universe, and is also one of the strongest monsters out there.
4. Mewtwo
Ahh Mewtwo. Pokemon number 150, and undoubtedly the most powerful Pokemon of the original games. The antagonist of the very first Pokemon movie, Mewtwo made its debut as an angsty genetic experiment gone wrong. Fans revolted when it was cut from Super Smash Bros., to the point that Nintendo ended up adding it back in as DLC in the Wii U and 3DS edition of the game.
3. Pikachu
Oh don’t act so surprised, you knew it was going to be on this list. Pikachu is undoubtedly the face of Pokemon, despite only really becoming popular due to its primary role in the anime. The little yellow rodent is one of the cutest little monsters of all, and you can bet your bottom dollar it will be representing the franchise for the rest of its days.
2. Charizard
There are two types of people in this world: people who think that Charizard is one of the best Pokemon ever and people who can go ahead and show themselves the door. Charziard is awesome across all of the franchise’s properties. In the video games, it is a flying/fire powerhouse with not one, but two mega evolutions. In the card game, it was the rarest, most powerful card of the original series. In Super Smash Bros. it was deemed too amazing to be lumped together with weaklings like Squirtle and Ivysaur and was given its own character slot in the latest installment. In the anime, it is a badass anti-hero who does what it likes, when it likes.
1. Joey’s Rattata
Did you know it was in the top percentage of all Rattata?
Previous Days:
Numbers 100-86
Numbers 85-71
Numbers 70-56
Numbers 55-41
Numbers 40-26
Numbers 25-11
Hope you enjoyed the countdown. Be sure to check out the rest of our Pokemon 20th Anniversary coverage!
