For me it’s Lucario. I always loved his composed and calm nature, and then he got a Mega Evolution and that solidified it. Ironically when playing Smash I used Pikachu instead of Lucario.

Enter. Red is my favorite color and 10yr old me thought he was the most badass Pokémon ever.

Spheal. Him orb! HIM ORB!

Gotta be Shroomish for me. The angry lil face gets me EVERY TIME.

Gengar because he’s a devious little trickster up to no good.

Lickitung, stop thinking about anything sexual and just look at how goofy he looks

Snivy. It was my first starter

My first Pokémon game was Leaf Green, I knew nothing about Pokémon at that point other than Pikachu. I remember running into my first Abra and thinking he was so cute… then he teleported away! I decided then and there I had to have one. I finally caught one, and eventually he became a Kadabra. Then I learned you had to trade to get an Alakazam. So I ended up buying a second GBA and a copy of Fire Red, and since that fateful trade Alakazam has been my favorite.

Others hold a dear spot in my heart, Eevee, Sylveon, Rayquaza, Pancham, Alakazam will always be my #1.

My favorite Pokémon has always been Alakazam. I have a couple with ribbons; Spoonman, Spoonqueen, Razzmataz, and the shiny Alaka-blam. They move fast, hit hard, and have a legacy of great move sets. Dig. Thunder Punch. Focus Blast. Dazzling Gleam. Shadow Ball. Truly unhinged strategies.

I’d like to take time to remember my Luchador Cosplay Pikachu, Thunderbutt, who couldn’t be transferred into Pokémon Bank, nor Pokémon Home, and is the only 'mon of consequence I’ve ever been forced to leave behind.

Shout outs to my workhorse ‘mons Quacklin’ and Dux, my False Swipe / HM slaves. Also Eggers, my Flame Body Talonflame, who really makes hatching eggs easier.

Steven’s Shiny Metagross from that distribution event lives in my battle party.

I’ll always be extra fond of Blastoise. The first game I played was Blue on my GameBoy Color back in the early zeroes. I was around 8 years old at the time so my only frame of reference was the anime and friends who played Red, Yellow or Gold.

I chose Squirtle for my starter and did the first playtrough until my Blastoise was level 100.

Back then I only skimmed the surface of the first game. I have done it again numerous times and I gotta say I thought the birds were super cool. Moltres was hard to miss in Victory Road, Zapdos was easy to find if you knew where to look (Power Plant) but Articuno took some effort (Seafoam Islands). Even Mewtwo was an easier find even though you’d have to plough through level 81 Kadabra’s to get to it. So that’s why Articuno is high on my list as well.

But the one that I always employ, the one I always want in my party, is Kadabra. Considering its versatility and the sheer power of Psychic type moves, it’s essentially one of the most powerful Pokémon you can get part early in most games. Gyarados has similar traits, but it takes far too long to get it to do powerful moves without TMs/HMs.

Thank you for reading my essay.

When I used to be a “genwunner” it was Gengar all the way cuz I was the weird kid into ghosts and shit.

Nowadays my absolute fav is Whimsicott, cuz it’s cute n fluffy and I love it’s battle cry, plus it’s annoying af competitvely.