Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald In-Game Tier List - Writeups

[Karxrida]

Linoone also has to use Odor Sleuth on each and every one of Phoebe's Pokémon because it doesn't have access to Shadow Ball. While obviously not getting KO'd by Ghost STAB, Linoone is probably gonna eat like 5 status conditions by the end of the fight or potentially knock itself out from being confused.

 

[pe5e]

Linoone also has to use Odor Sleuth on each and every one of Phoebe's Pokémon because it doesn't have access to Shadow Ball. While obviously not getting KO'd by Ghost STAB, Linoone is probably gonna eat like 5 status conditions by the end of the fight or potentially knock itself out from being confused.

Huh? Linoone can learn Shadow Ball via TM in gen 3. Like I said the strategy is still shaky but Linoone does have access to Shadow Ball.

 

[Karxrida]

Huh? Linoone can learn Shadow Ball via TM in gen 3. Like I said the strategy is still shaky but Linoone does have access to Shadow Ball.

I checked PokémonDB to double check and didn't see Shadow Ball. This is what I get for posting late at night while tired lol.

 

[pe5e]

I finished my next Emerald run. Here are some more write-ups for the missing entries.

Abra (Trade)

Name: Abra (Trade)
Availability: Abra can be found on Route 116 with a 10% chance at level 7 in Emerald and in Granite Cave with a 10% chance at level 8 and 10 in all versions.
Stats: Abra starts out with good speed and special attack. As it evolves into Kadabra and later Alakazam, those stats only get better. All three are very frail on the physical side though, due to their low HP and defense. Their special bulk is decent enough. This turns Alakazam into a very fast and powerful special sweeper.
Typing: The Psychic typing is of rather average usefulness defensively, with only having resistances against itself and Fighting. Ghost and Dark threaten it, and otherwise attacks do neutral damage. Offensively, Psychic is similar in that it hits most things neutrally aside from itself, Steel and Dark, which is immune to Psychic. The super-effective damage against Fighting and Poison types is useful.
Movepool: Their level-up movepool is good but lacks coverage. Abra, especially, has no level-up moves. Kadabra and Alakazam learn plenty of usable Psychic attacks across the game, with Psychic, its strongest option, even being a level-up move. Otherwise, it learns some decent support moves in Reflect, Recover, Calm Mind and Disable. Aside from Psychic moves, its coverage options are sadly very lacking, with only the weak Thief and Shock Wave TMs as options. Otherwise, Alakazam can also be a Flash user.
Major Battles: Abra can't yet contribute against Roxanne. Once it evolves into Kadabra and then Alakazam, it does well against almost all gym leaders with its neutral STAB alone. Only Wattson's Magneton and Norman's Slaking can give it trouble. Thief is a good option against Tate & Liza. Alakazam also does great in all battles against your rival and Team Aqua and Magma. Their Mightyenas are a roadblock for it though, even if you carry Shock Wave. The Elite Four and the Champion are difficult for Alakazam, as Sidney and Phoebe are bad matchups, and most neutral targets survive its attacks and threaten big damage in return.
Additional Comments: Abra can't level up on its own due to lacking attacks when you catch it. This means it needs to be switch-trained or carry the Exp. Share until it gets to level 16. Once it evolves into Kadabra, it is almost entirely self-sufficient and needs no further support. The earlier Kadabra can be traded to evolve, the better it is, but Kadara itself is already strong enough for almost everything. The Thief and Shock Wave TMs are expendable and can therefore be used to give Alakazam important coverage. Abra has a medium-low leveling rate, which allows it to level up fast. Its abilities Synchronize and Inner Focus are situationally useful against status or the many Fake Out users, but Alakazam doesn't want to take the status or Fake Out damage despite that.

Abra (No Trade)

Name: Abra (No Trade)
Availability: Abra can be found on Route 116 with a 10% chance at level 7 in Emerald and in Granite Cave with a 10% chance at level 8 and 10 in all versions.
Stats: Abra starts out with good speed and special attack. As it evolves into Kadabra, those stats only get better. Kadabra's physical bulk is noticeable lower than Alakazam's, which makes even neutral physical hits a big danger. Their special bulk is decent enough. This turns Kadabra into a very fast and powerful glass cannon special sweeper.
Typing: The Psychic typing is of rather average usefulness defensively, with only having resistances against itself and Fighting. Ghost and Dark threaten it, and otherwise attacks do neutral damage. Offensively, Psychic is similar in that it hits most things neutrally aside from itself, Steel and Dark, which is immune to Psychic. The super-effective damage against Fighting and Poison types is useful.
Movepool: Their level-up movepool is good but lacks coverage. Abra, especially, has no level-up moves. Kadabra learns plenty of usable Psychic attacks across the game, with Psychic, its strongest option, even being a level-up move. Otherwise, it learns some decent support moves in Reflect, Recover, and Disable. Aside from Psychic moves, its coverage options are sadly very lacking, with only the weak Thief and Shock Wave TMs as options. Calm Mind is a setup move it can get later via TM. Otherwise, Kadabra can also be a Flash user.
Major Battles: Abra can't yet contribute against Roxanne. Once it evolves into Kadabra, it does well against almost all gym leaders with its neutral STAB alone. Only Wattson's Magneton and Norman's Slaking can give it trouble. Thief is a good option against Tate & Liza. Kadabra also does great in all battles against your rival and Team Aqua and Magma. Their Mightyenas are a roadblock for it though, even if you carry Shock Wave. The Elite Four and the Champion are difficult for Kadabra, as Sidney and Phoebe are bad matchups, and most neutral targets survive its attacks and threaten big damage in return.
Additional Comments: Abra can't level up on its own due to lacking attacks when you catch it. This means it needs to be switch-trained or carry the Exp. Share until it gets to level 16. Once it evolves into Kadabra, it is almost entirely self-sufficient and needs no further support. The Thief and Shock Wave TMs are expendable and can therefore be used to give Kadabra important coverage. Abra has a medium-low leveling rate, which allows it to level up fast. Its abilities Synchronize and Inner Focus are situationally useful against status or the many Fake Out users, but Kadabra doesn't want to take the status or Fake Out damage despite that.

Machop (Trade)

Name: Machop (Trade)
Availability: Machop can be found in Fiery Path with a 15% chance at levels 15 and 16.
Stats: Machop starts out with decent attack and HP but has low defenses and bad speed. Machoke improves on this with better bulk and attack. Machamp gets even stronger and bulkier, but it is still slow. This turns it into a slow, powerful, and bulky physical attacker.
Typing: Defensively, its Fighting typing doesn't provide much aside from countering Dark types well. Its Psychic and Flying weaknesses are problems, as they also resist its STAB moves. Poison types also resist it. Hitting Normal, Rock, Ice and Dark types super effectively is very useful.
Movepool: Machop starts out with a good STAB move in Karate Chop and also learns a variety of other Fighting moves by leveling up. But none are very reliable until it can learn the Brick Break TM. Otherwise, it has to mostly go for several Normal type moves. Revenge can be a good go-second nuke, Seismic Toss can be useful early against Poison types and Vital Throw can be solid guaranteed hit going second. The Rock Tomb and Earthquake TMs can be useful for coverage but aren't needed. Bulk Up is a solid setup option due to Machamp's bulk, that it can get pretty early. Machamp can also carry the role of a Rock Smash and Strength user.
Major Battles: Machop isn't great against Flannery because of its lower special bulk and Torko's high defense. The Norman fight is very good for Machoke, but it has to be careful of Slaking's Counter. Winona, and Tate & Liza are bad matchups for it. The water gym is okay for Machamp. Machop does well against most Pokemon of your rival and Team Aqua and Magma. But it has to be cautious of a few Flying types. Sidney and Glacia of the Elite Four are very good matchups for Machamp. It lacks coverage for Phoebe's ghost types, though. Drake and the Champion are alright for it.
Additional Comments: Machomp is in the medium-slow leveling group, which makes it easier to level up. Which is good because Machop evolves rather late at level 28 to just Machoke. The earlier it can be traded to evolve into Machamp, the better it is, but Machoke itself is already decent against most things. Its Guts ability is often useful in giving it power boost for a short amount of time.

Wingull

Name: Wingull
Availability: Wingull can be found on Route 103 with a 20% chance, levels 2 to 4. In Ruby and Sapphire the encounter chance is 10%.
Stats: Wingull has good speed but bad bulk and weak offenses. Pelipper gets slower but also has better special attack and defense. Its HP and special defense are average, and its attack remains bad. Pelipper is a slow, bulky, special attacking tank that fails to make the most of its flying typing due to its low attack.
Typing: Pelipper's Water / Flying typing offers many useful resistances, such as Fighting, Water and Fire as well as an immunity to Ground. Defensively, it only has to really worry about Electric attacks. Pelipper's STAB combo is basically perfect, with only the Lanturn line resisting it. It can hit many important types such as Ground, Fire, Rock, Grass and Fighting super effectively.
Movepool: Wingull has a good early level-up movepool with solid STAB options in Water Gun and Wing Attack but lacks stronger options for the later parts of the game. It can use the Surf HM and the Ice Beam and Shock Wave TMs to rectify this. Shock Wave, especially, is a very important and useful TM for Pelipper, despite its weak base power, that lets it defeat opposing Water and Flying types. Pelipper can also use Fly as its main Flying STAB. Unfortunately, it is unable to learn any Water HMs besides Surf.
Major Battles: Wingull and Pelipper are great against Roxanne, Brawly, and Flannery. Winona, Tate & Liza as well as the water gym are good for it due to the coverage moves and type advantages. Norman is solid too, because of Pelipper's high defense. Only Wattson is not beatable due to its glaring Electric weakness. Pelipper also does very well in all rival and Team Aqua and Maqma fights. It is decent against the Elite Four, but its lower special bulk can make for some tough matchups. Drake and the Champion can be beaten with the right coverage moves.
Additional Comments: Wingull has a medium-low leveling rate, which allows it to level up fast. Pelipper is solid throughout most of the game despite its unimpressive stats. Its typing carries it a lot, but the fact that it can't use its Flying STAB very well means it's mostly a Water type with the advantages of a Flying type tacked on.

I will do another Emerald run with Pinsir, Psyduck and Voltorb next. If someone could do a quick Sapphire run with Lunatone, that would be great.
If someone has notes on my write-ups, then those are welcome as well.

 

[Ernesto]

Hey! I don't have much to comment but considering Alakazam and Kadabra are tiered differently you may want to stress the differences more: namely the significantly lower physical bulk (Zam can at least hope to live neutral hits), but also that Kadabra doesn't learn Calm Mind by level up so you can only get it after Tate & Liza.

On Machamp since you mentioned Revenge maybe add Vital Throw too? It's a great move overall but also does more guaranteed damage since it doesn't require you to be hit to be strong. It's possible that Champ outspeeds more stuff than Hariyama so you still want to be able to hit first of course. Oh, and Bulk Up is defitely worth it I'd say.

That's all I could think of while reading.

 

[pe5e]

Hey! I don't have much to comment but considering Alakazam and Kadabra are tiered differently you may want to stress the differences more: namely the significantly lower physical bulk (Zam can at least hope to live neutral hits), but also that Kadabra doesn't learn Calm Mind by level up so you can only get it after Tate & Liza.

On Machamp since you mentioned Revenge maybe add Vital Throw too? It's a great move overall but also does more guaranteed damage since it doesn't require you to be hit to be strong. It's possible that Champ outspeeds more stuff than Hariyama so you still want to be able to hit first of course. Oh, and Bulk Up is defitely worth it I'd say.

That's all I could think of while reading.

I personally think Kadabra should also be in S because the list of Pokemon that it doesn't outspeed and KO or is walled by, but Alakazam does beat, is very short and Kadabra for sure is better than Ralts and maybe even Mudkip but this isn't the thread for this. The rankings are final, even if I don't agree with some.
You are correct though that I should distinguish them a bit, so I rewrote the stats and movepool sections a bit. I also didn't knew that Alakazam learns Calm Mind on the same level Kadabra learns the useless Role Play. Huh...

Vital Throw probably deserves a short mention, even if I was really let down by the move in general.
Hariyama and Machamp are very similar in bulk and speed but Vital Throw is much more tolerable on Hariyama because it basically has no other good STAB option until you get Brick Break. In contrast, Machop starts with Karate Chop, which isn't blowing your mind but going second every time is such a bad downside.
I used both Karate Chop and Revenge on the same Machoke set because it really doesn't have a wide movepool, so it can spare the slots and having an okay STAB move for going first and a STAB nuke for going second against bulkier targets is nice. Vital Throw is okay but the fact that it can't miss isn't nearly as relevant as having a 120 STAB move if you get hit. And even if you don't get it, it deals almost as much damage as Vital Throw anyway. Plus you get Revenge nearly 10 levels earlier. I honestly think Revenge is even better than Cross Chop because at that part of the game, many things outspeed and hit you and Revenge's higher damage potential, better accuracy and higher PP are very valuable.
Bulk Up should also definitely have been in there. Added it.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[pe5e]

I am done with my current Emerald run and wrote the remaining write-ups.

Pinsir

Name: Pinsir
Availability: Pinsir can be found in Area 3 of the Hoenn Safari Zone with a 5% chance at levels 27 and 29.
Stats: Pinsir has great attack, good defense and decent speed. Its HP and special defenese stats are below average. Because of this, Pinsir is a strong physical sweeper with decent staying power.
Typing: Pinsir's Bug typing is a mixed bag defensively. Most attacks hit it neutrally, but it also has good resistances in Fighting, Ground and Grass. However, Pinsir also has weaknesses to common types in Fire, Rock and Flying. Offensively, its Bug typing doesn't matter, as Pinsir learns no relevant STAB moves and has to settle for mostly Fighting and Normal moves. This type combination offers good coverage, even if Normal can't hit targets super effectively. Ghosts are a big road block for Pinsir though, as it is unable to hit them with most of its available moves.
Movepool: Pinsir's level-up movepool is okay, even if it lacks any Bug moves. In fact, Pinsir's only STAB move it can learn is the very weak Fury Cutter via move tutor. Brick Break is a good level-up move to have, though. Pinsir can also learn a plethora of Normal attacking moves, with Strength being its most consistent option. Pinsir can also use the Cut and Rock Smash HMs. The Earthquake TM can be given to Pinsir as a strong neutral option that also hits Poison types harder. Swords Dance via level-up and Bulk Up via TM are setup options it can use.
Major Battles: Pinsir isn't great against Tate & Liza because of the typing of their Pokemon and Pinsir's weaker special defense. But it is solid against the last gym, your rival, and Team Aqua and Magma. The Elite Four is okay for Pinsir, with Sidney and Glacia being favorable matchups, but Phoebe, Drake and the Champion give it trouble.
Additional Comments: Pinsir comes a bit underleveled, so it needs some time to catch up due to its slow leveling rate. It's Hyper Cutter ability is very useful against the many Intimidate users. Pinsir's inability to hit ghost tpyes and lack of a good STAB move make its strong-looking offense a decent bit weaker than it seems.

Psyduck

Name: Psyduck
Availability: Psyduck and Golduck can be found in Area 3 of the Hoenn Safari Zone with a 100% chance while surfing at levels 20 to 40.
Stats: Psyduck has bad stats all around, with only its special attack being just below average. Golduck's stats are much better, with decent attacking stats, bulk and speed. Its best stat is its good special attack. These balanced stats give Golduck the option to be a decently fast and powerful mixed or special sweeper.
Typing: Water is a great defensive typing with only two special weaknesses in Grass and Electric and good resistances in Water, Ice and Fire. Offensively, Water hits important types like Fire, Ground and Rock super effectively while only being resisted by itself, Grass and Dragon.
Movepool: Psyduck's level-up movepool is lacking, with nearly no relevant moves. Golduck is the master of HM usage though, with it being able to learn every HM outside of Cut and Fly. Its offensive movepool mainly consists of the typical Water type coverage in Surf and Ice Beam. It has access to a few other physical options, like Brick Breack, Aerial Ace and Dig but none are all that useful for it. It can make good use of the Calm Mind TM to set up sweeps.
Major Battles: Tate & Liza are good for Golduck due to the secondary typings of their Pokemon. It has no advantage in the Water gym aside from its resistance, but it can slowly chip its way to victory with Calm Mind and support. Golduck is helpful in the remaining battles against your rival and Team Aqua and Magma. It can be decent against the Elite Four, but Golduck has no good way past the Water types of Glacia and Wallace. It has a favorable matchup against Drake and Steven though.
Additional Comments: Psyduck has pretty bad stats and evolves late at only level 33, so it's advisable to try to catch a higher-level one with the help of Repels. Golduck is a pretty generic Water type that lacks any real standout attributes outside of Calm Mind and being able to learn a lot of HMs. It is functional, but nothing more than that.

Voltorb

Name: Voltorb
Availability: Voltorb can be found in New Mauville with a 50% chance at levels 22 to 26 or from static encounters at level 25.
Stats: Voltorb has good speed but otherwise has bad bulk and offenses. Electrode gets even faster and also has average bulk and special attack. Electrode is an incredibly fast special sweeper with average damage output.
Typing: Pure Electric only has Electric as a useful resistance, as otherwise almost everything hits Voltorb neutrally. Offensively, Electric is quite useful against all the Water and Flying Pokemon in Hoenn. Ground types stop it completely and Grass and Dragon types also wall it.
Movepool: Voltorb's level-up movepool is solid, with Spark as a good STAB move. It can use niche moves such as SonicBoom and Light Screen as well as Selfdestruct. Electrode really wants the Thunderbolt TM for a stronger STAB move. Outside of its Electric moves, Electrode has few coverage options because of its low attack. The weak Thief TM is its only special covage move that it can learn. Electrode can also use the Flash HM.
Major Battles: Electrode is solid and good against the remaining gym leaders. It makes quick work of Winona and the Water gym and is solid against Tate & Liza as well, though it has to be careful of Claydol's Earthquake. Electrode is good against most Pokemon of your rival and Team Aqua and Magma, with only a few Ground types stopping it. It is overall solid against the Elite Four as well, but its average special attack can sometimes not be good enough. Drake is also a bad matchup for it, but Glacia and Wallace are favorable.
Additional Comments: Electrode is a one-trick pony, but Electric types are very useful, even if they aren't very versatile. Electrode is also one of the few Pokemon that can make use of the Macho Brace without much trouble due to its skyhigh speed stat. This allows it to gather EVs much faster to buff up its somewhat unimpressive stats. Electrode's abilities Soundproof and Static can also sometimes be useful.

Lunatone

Name: Lunatone
Availability: Lunatone can be found in Meteor Falls in Sapphire with a 20% chance at levels 14, 16 and 18.
Stats: Lunatone has good special attack and HP, as well as average defenses and speed. Its attack is mediocre. This makes Lunatone a somewhat powerful mixed attacker who struggles to make the most of its physical moves.
Typing: Its Rock / Psychic tpying gives Lunatone a plethora of weaknesses, including Water, Grass, Dark and Ghost. It's Levitate ability turns its Ground weakness into an immunity instead, though. But Lunatone also has some decent resistances in Normal, Poison, Fire and Psychic. Offensively, Lunatone's STAB combo is quite good though, with only Steel types resisting it, while it hits important types in Fightig, Flying, Poison, Fire and Ice super effectively.
Movepool: Lunatone's level-up movepool is good, with solid early game options in Confusion and Rock Throw. It learns the important Psychic naturally too. Hypnosis and Explosion are solid options as well. The Ice Beam, Shadow Ball and Earthquake TMs allow Lunatone to hit even more targets. Calm Mind, Reflect and Light Screen are options for setup moves as well. Lunatone can also carry out the role of a Flash user.
Major Battles: Lunatone has favorable type matchups against Flannery, Norman and Winona. Tate & Liza are beatable as well with Shadow Ball or Ice Beam. It struggles against the Water gym though. Lunatone is soild against most Pokemon of your rival and Team Aqua and Magma. The Elite Four and the Champion are not good for Lunatone, with only Drake being an okay matchup with Ice Beam.
Additional Comments: Lunatone has a fast growth rate, allowing it to quickly level up, which is good because it comes a bit underleveled when you catch it.

I didn't do a Sapphire run for Lunatone, so that entry is purely theoretical. If something about it is off or I forgot something important, then let me know. As usual, the same goes with the write-ups that I did do a run for.

 

[Ernesto]

Hey pe5e thanks a lot for this!

On Pinsir I'd say that again Bulk Up is worth mentioning (I might sound like a broken record but I found setup is more amazing in these games than in others). Additionally it learns Swords Dance unlike Heracross but since it's a level 49 it might be too late to put it to good use. Also

Pinsir's only STAB move it can learn is the very weak Furry Cutter

heh.

On Golduck the most relevant thing you left out is its access to Calm Mind since it's one of the better users of the move due to its Special Attack and Speed. That niche definitely helps it differentiate from other Water-types, although it might not be a "standout attribute" as you put it. I think the only other Water-type that learns it is Corsola, lol (and Kyogre I guess).

 

[pe5e]

You are right with Bulk Up and Swords Dance. Both deserve a mention. I am usually not interested in setup moves on Pokemon with already high attack, but given that Pinsir only ever uses decently strong non-STAB moves, it is probably a solid option to make the last few major battles a bit smoother. Added.

You didn't see that typo

Calm Mind is indeed a good option for Golduck, so that it can get past other Water types easier. Wish I would have used the TM in my run. I guess with the ability to carry basically each HM and being a good Calm Mind sweeper, Golduck isn't THAT generic, but I was SO boring when I used it. Still I rewrote its entry a bit.
Also Calm Mind Corsola has nothing on Calm Mind Relicanth


On another topic, I looked through the thread to see who wrote which entries from S tier to C tier since we are done now.

write-ups

S tier

Abra (Trade) - written by pe5e
Mudkip - written by Karxrida
Ralts - written by Punchshroom

A tier

Abra (No Trade) - written by pe5e
Groudon (Ruby) - written by Karxrida
Kyogre (Sapphire) - written by iSoNkei
Rayquaza (Emerald) - written by iSoNkei
Shroomish - written by Punchshroom
Torchic - written by Celeb
Zangoose (Ruby) - written by Ernesto

B tier

Absol - written by Punchshroom (unpolished)
Barboach - written by Punchshroom
Carvanha - written by sumwun
Electrike - written by pe5e
Heracross - written by sumwun
Machop (Trade) - written by pe5e
Magikarp - written by sumwun
Magnemite - written by sumwun
Makuhita - written by sumwun
Meditite (Ruby/Sapphire) - written by Punchshroom (unpolished) and Ernesto
Marill (Emerald) - written by sumwun
Oddish (Vileplume) - written by Punchshroom
Pinsir - written by pe5e
Slakoth - written by Texas Cloverleaf
Staryu - written by pe5e
Taillow - written by Punchshroom
Tentacool - written by pe5e
Wingull - written by pe5e
Zigzagoon (RS) - written by Karxrida

C tier

Chinchou - written by Celeb
Doduo - written by Punchshroom
Geodude (Trade) - written by pe5e
Gulpin - written by Punchshroom
Lunatone (Sapphire) - written by pe5e
Numel - written by pe5e
Pikachu - written by Punchshroom
Psyduck - written by pe5e
Skarmory - written by pe5e
Solrock (Ruby/Emerald)- written by Celeb
Spoink - written by sumwun
Treecko - written by sumwun
Tropius - written by sumwun
Voltorb - written by pe5e
Zigzagoon (E) - written by Karxrida
Zubat - written by Punchshroom

A few things that stood out to me:

• Meditite (Ruby/Sapphire) was written twice, first by Punchshroom (unpolished?), then by Ernesto. Both write-ups seem fine to me. I guess we have to choose one.
• Absol was written by Punchshroom but they said they will leave a polish up to someone else. Texas Cloverleaf volunteered but I am not sure if they did.
• Marill (Ruby/Sapphire) is missing entirely in the tier list. Marill is only listed in B tier without any qualifier. Only an entry for Emerald is written. Given that Marill isn't available until Route 117 in Ruby and Sapphire, and thus misses the first gym, I should probably be a bit lower than its Emerald entry and deserve its own (slightly different) write-up like Zigzagoon.

Merritt : It is up to you how we go from here. All entries are done for S tier to C tier. I could do a few more for lower rank mons if there is interest for it.

 

[doipy hooves]

Marill (Ruby/Sapphire) is missing entirely in the tier list. Marill is only listed in B tier without any qualifier. Only an entry for Emerald is written. Given that Marill is available before the first gym in Ruby and Sapphire, and can be useful in a few more battles, I should probably be a bit higher than its Emerald entry and deserve its own (slightly different) write-up like Zigzagoon.

It's the other way around; Marill shows up before the first gym on Route 104 in Emerald, while in RS the earliest it appears is Route 117.

 

[pe5e]

It's the other way around; Marill shows up before the first gym on Route 104 in Emerald, while in RS the earliest it appears is Route 117.

You are right, I must have mixed them up. Corrected my post.

 

[pe5e]

While the write-ups for C-rank and above are all done now, I used lower ranked mons as well in my playthroughs. So I thought "why not?" and did write-ups for some too. I don't know if they will even be used but I don't mind. It's fun to do.

Some entries from D-rank:

Aron

Name: Aron
Availability: Aron can be found in Granite Cave with a 40% chance at levels 10 to 12.
Stats: Aron starts out with good defense and solid attack but otherwise has very low stats. Lairon gets a lot more defense and also a bit more attack; its other stats remain low, though. Finally, Aggron ends with skyhigh defense and great attack, but its other stats are underwhelming, especially its low speed. This turns Aron into a slow but strong physical tank.
Typing: Arron's Steel / Rock typing is a very mixed bag as it gives it plenty of good resistances like Normal, Flying, Psychic, Dark and Rock but also two horrible weaknesses in Fighting and Ground as well as Water. Offensively, its STAB move combination is pretty solid, though, with only a couple Steel and Water Pokemon resisting it.
Movepool: The Arron family has a good level-up movepool. Aron starts out with good early game moves in Headbutt and Metal Claw. Shortly before its first evolution, it learns the powerful but inaccurate Iron Tail for a very strong STAB attack. Take Down and later Double-Edge can be strong middle ground attacks. Rock Tomb is an important TM for Aron to get a Rock STAB move. It can make use of the Aerial Ace, Dig, Earthquake and Brick Break TMs as well. Aggron can also be a Rock Smash, Strength, Cut and even Surf user.
Major Battles: Aron struggles against Brawly, Wattson and Flannery due to its typing and weak special defense. Its matchups against Norman, Winona and Tate & Liza are good to great, aside from a few specific Pokemon like Claydol. The Water gym is bad for it. Aron beats up most of Team Aqua and Magma, as well as your Rival. Aggron takes care of Sidney, Phoebe and Glacia, aside from Earthquake Dusclops and Glacia's Surf users. It can also help with about half of Drake's and Steven's Pokemon. Aggron is helpless against Wallace, though.
Additional Comments: Aron is in the slow experience group, which means it takes a longer time to level up. Which isn't good because Aron and also Lairon evolve really late at level 32 and 42. Aron's ability Rock Head removes the recoil of Take Down and Double-Edge, making them riskless. Aron's Steel typing can patch up its somewhat poor speed and special defense, and its resistances against many common attacking moves of the early to midgame let it wall a lot of Pokemon.

Baltoy

Name: Baltoy
Availability: Baltoy can be found at Route 111 with a 24% chance at levels 19 to 21.
Stats: Baltoy has decent special defense but otherwise low stats. Claydol improves with a great special defense and good defense. Its other stats are only average. Because of this, Claydol is a bulky mixed attack with decent strength.
Typing: Defensively, Claydol has weaknesses to common attacking types in Water, Grass, Ice, Dark and Ghost. However, it also has good resistances to Fighting, Psychic and Rock as well as immunities to Electric and Ground. Offensively, the Psychic / Ground combination is good with only the Natu and Nuzleaf families and Skarmory resisting it. Claydol also hits important types like Fighting, Poison, Rock, Fire and Electric super effectively.
Movepool: Baltoy comes with Psybeam and Rock Tomb as solid early moves. Self-destruct, Explosion and Hyper Beam can also have their uses. The Dig TM can be used for a good STAB move in the midgame. Psychic, Ice Beam and Shadow Ball can be taught via TM to give Claydol important coverage. Later, the Earthquake TM can be used for a powerful STAB move. Claydol is also able to use Flash, Strength and Rock Smash.
Major Battles: Baltoy is still too weak to take on Norman, but Claydol can beat Winona and Tate & Liza with Ice Beam and Shadow Ball. The Water gym is bad for it unless it carries Sunny Day and Solor Beam. Claydol has no problem taking on Team Aqua and Magma as well as your Rival. The Elite Four is bad for Claydol, with Sidney, Phoebe, Glacia and Wallace being bad matchups for it. The fights against Drake and Steven can be okay.
Additional Comments: Its Levitate ability is very useful to avoid Ground attacks. Baltoy's evolution is a bit high at level 36 but it being in the Medium Slow experience group mitigate it somewhat, even if it comes a bit underleveled.

Geodude (No Trade)

Name: Geodude (No Trade)
Availability: Geodude can be found in Granite Cave with a 10% chance, levels 6 to 9.
Stats: Geodude starts out with good attack and high defense. As it evolves up to Graveler, its attack and defense reach even higher levels. It is slow and vulnerable on the special side, though. This makes Graveler a great physical tank that dishes out good damage.
Typing: It's typing isn't great defensively. While Graveler's immunity to Electric is great, it doesn't have many useful resistances and a lot of weaknesses to common attacking types like Fighting, Ground, Ice and most importantly, Water and Grass, which threaten it. Offensively, Graveler's STAB combo is great, though, with only a few rare pokemon like Breloom, Claydol and Flygon resisting it.
Movepool: Geodude gets access to really good early STAB moves in Magnitude and Rock Throw. It can later learn Rock Blast and Earthquake via level-up. It's other moves can be HMs in Strength and Rock Smash or even Double-Edge to potentially make use of its Rock Head ability.
Major Battles: Geodude struggles with Brawly. It's amazing against Wattson, Flannery, Norman and Winona though. But it's pretty bad against the last two gyms. Geodude is okay against most Pokemon from your rival, as well as Team Aqua and Magma. Aside from Phoebe, it's also not very good against the Elite Four and Champion.
Additional Comments: Gedude is fantastic in the early and midgame but falls off in the later stages when it encounters a lot of bad matchups, like the last two gyms. Due to its medium-slow leveling rate, it levels up very fast. Graveler misses its trade evolution, as Graveler's attack is a good amount lower than Golem's attack which reduces its offensive potential.

Girafarig

Name: Girafarig
Availability: Girafarig can be found in Area 1 and 2 of the Hoenn Safari Zone with a 20% chance at levels 25 and 27.
Stats: It has good special attack as well as decent attack and speed. Its bulk is average. Because of this, Girafarig is a good and fast enough mixed or special attacker.
Typing: Girafarig's typing makes it neutral to most types in the game and also gives it a Ghost immunity. Its only relevant weakness is Dark. Offensively, Psychic and Normal are only resisted by Steel and have otherwise perfect neutral coverage while even hitting the relevant Fighting and Psychic types super effectively. Besides Steel Pokemon, Sableye, Lunatone and Solrock also resist Girafarig's STAB combo.
Movepool: It has an okay level-up movepool with Psybeam and Stomp as STAB options and a late Crunch as coverage against other Psychic and Ghost types. The Psychic TM is its strongest option for STAB. Other special options include the Thunderbolt or Thunder TMs. Girafarig can also make use of physical TMs with Shadow Ball or Iron Tail, as well as Earthquake to hit Steel types. Calm Mind is a good setup move. Flash, Strength and Rock Smash are HMs it can carry, with Strength likely being its best Normal STAB attack.
Major Battles: It can help against Tate & Liza with Shadow Ball and with Electric attacks against the Water gym. Against the remaining battles of your Rival and Team Aqua & Magma, Girafarig is solid. Girafarig is okay against the Elite Four, but Sidney is a bad matchup. It can dodge Phoebe's Ghost attacks thanks to its Normal typing, but it has to be wary of her Faint Attacks. Glacia and Wallace can be decent with Electric coverage.
Additional Comments: Girafarig comes a bit underleveled but can catch up soon with its medium-fast level growth. Its abilities Early Bird and Inner Focus can be situationally useful against sleep and flinch-inducing moves. As a Safari Zone Pokemon, Girafarig also becomes obtainable a bit late into the game and, as such, isn't able to make good use of Return, as it is unable to build enough Friendship for it to become stronger than Strength.

Lotad

Name: Lotad
Availability: Lotad can be found at Route 102 with a 20% chance at levels 3 and 4.
Stats: Lotad has very weak stats, with even its special attack being low at 50. Lombre gains somewhat better stats but still has below-average bulk and bad speed. Its special attack is average, and its attack remains bad. Ludicolo finally gets good stats, with its special attack and special defense being good and its speed becoming okay. Its bulk gets much better, but it is still average. Ludicolo is a somewhat fast and strong special attacker.
Typing: Its Water / Grass typing gives Lotad resistances to Ground, and especially Water, but also weaknesses to Flying and Poison. Most other types hit it neutrally. Offensively, Lotad's STAB attacks can hit important types like Fire, Water, Ground and Rock. The Grass and Dragon types that resist it can be hit by Ice attacks.
Movepool: Lotad's level-up movepool is really lacking, as its earliest Water move is Surf. Before that, the very weak Absorb or the Bullet Seed TM are its best STAB moves it can get. It can also learn Thief and Strength via TM and HM but the damage output is low due to the low base power of Thief and the low attack of Lombre. The Ice Beam and Giga Drain TMs are needed additions for coverage against Grass, other Water and Dragon Pokemon. The Brick Break TM can be used to help against Ice types. Rain Dance is also an option to boost its Water attacks and double its speed with its Swift Swim ability. Ludicolo can also carry all HMs besides Cut and Fly.
Major Battles: Lotad is good against Roxanne. It can't touch Brawly, Wattson and Norman due to its bad stats and attacks. Even Flannery is out of its reach as it doesn't have access to a Water attack yet. After it gets Surf and Ice Beam it is decent to good against Winona, Tate & Liza and the Water gym. Lombre is not good against most of the Pokemon of your Rival and Team Aqua & Magma. Ludicolo is okay against most of the Elite Four, even if its damage output isn't impressive. Glacia, Drake and Wallace or Steven are good matchups.
Additional Comments: Lotad's and Lombre's early game is horrible. They are constantly struggling due to their bad stats and moves. Even after Lombre gets access to good moves in Surf, Ice Beam and Giga Drain, it still has problems. The Water Stone is located in the Abandoned Ship part that requires Dive to access or is available from the Treasure Hunter in exchange for Blue Shards that are found in Dive spots. So Lombre has to make due with its bad stats until you beat the 7th gym. Giga Drain's low PP is also a bit of a concern as it's Ludicolo's only decent Grass STAB move.

Machop (No Trade)

Name: Machop (No Trade)
Availability: Machop can be found in Fiery Path with a 15% chance at levels 15 and 16.
Stats: Machop starts out with decent attack and HP but has low defenses and bad speed. Machoke improves on this with better bulk and attack, but it is still slow. This turns it into a slow, decently powerful physical attacker.
Typing: Defensively, its Fighting typing doesn't provide much aside from countering Dark types well. Its Psychic and Flying weaknesses are problems, as they also resist its STAB moves. Poison types also resist it. Hitting Normal, Rock, Ice and Dark types super effectively is very useful.
Movepool: Machop starts out with a good STAB move in Karate Chop and also learns a variety of other Fighting moves by leveling up. But none are very reliable until it can learn the Brick Break TM. Otherwise, it has to mostly go for several Normal type moves. Revenge can be a good go-second nuke, and Seismic Toss can be useful early against Poison types and Vital Throw can be solid guaranteed hit going second. The Rock Tomb and Earthquake TMs can be useful for coverage but aren't needed. Bulk Up is a solid setup option due to Machamp's bulk, and it can get pretty early. Machoke can also carry the role of a Rock Smash and Strength user.
Major Battles: Machop isn't great against Flannery because of its lower special bulk and Torko's high defense. The Norman fight is very good for Machoke, but it has to be careful of Slaking's Counter. Winona, and Tate & Liza are bad matchups for it. The water gym is not great for Machoke. Machop does well against most Pokemon of your rival and Team Aqua and Magma. But it has to be cautious of a few Flying types. Sidney and Glacia of the Elite Four are very good matchups for Machoke. It lacks coverage for Phoebe's ghost types, though. Drake and the Champion are not good for it, due to its low speed and only okay bulk.
Additional Comments: Machomp is in the medium-slow leveling group, which makes it easier to level up. Which is good because Machop evolves rather late at level 28 to Machoke. Its Guts ability is occasionally useful in giving it a power boost for a short amount of time.

Seviper

Name: Seviper
Availability: Seviper can be found on Route 114 with a 9% chance in Emerald at levels 15 and 17. In Sapphire it can be found with a 19% chance at level 17 to 19.
Stats: Seviper has good attack and special attack but otherwise below-average stats. It is a slower, mixed attacker with mediocre bulk.
Typing: Its Poison typing gives it useful resistances against Fighting, Grass and Poison but also important weaknesses against Ground and Psychic. Offensively, Seviper's STAB moves are only useful against Grass types, while other Poison, Ground, Rock and Ghost types resist them, and Steel types are completely immune to them.
Movepool: Seviper has a good level-up movepool as it starts out with a good STAB move in Poison Tail and an important coverage move in Bite against Psychic and Ghost types. It later gets a stronger Dark type move in Crunch. Poison Fang is an option to badly poison targets. Glare, Screech and Swagger can be support options. Seviper gets access to the Sludge Bomb TM for its best STAB move. The Flamethrower and Giga Drain TMs can be used for coverage against Steel, Rock and Ground types. The Dig, Iron Tail and Earthquake TMs can be considered to give Seviper more physical attacking options. It can also use the Strength and Rock Smash HMs.
Major Battles: Flannery isn't a good matchup because of Seviper's Ground weakness and low special bulk. It has similar problems against Norman with its low physical bulk. Winona is a neutral matchup, but Seviper has to be careful of Earthquake Altaria. It also suffers against Tate & Liza. The Water gym can be decent with Giga Drain. Seviper has no problem taking on the Pokemon of your Rival and Team Aqua & Magma, aside from Maxie's Camerupts. Sidney, Phoebe and Glacia of the Elite Four can be decent with its neutral Poison STAB move as well as the right coverage moves, but Seviper's low bulk and speed are factors. Drake is not good for Seviper, and Steven is also unfavorable. The Champion Wallace can be okay.
Additional Comments: Seviper comes a decent bit underleveled, but its fluctuating level growth means it catches up quick. Its Shed Skin ability is situationally useful to heal status. It is important for Seviper to outspeed the opponent, so a +Speed nature or the Quick Claw are useful to have.

Shuppet

Name: Shuppet
Availability: Shuppet can be found on Route 121 with a 30% chance in Emerald and Sapphire at levels 26 and 28. In Ruby it can be found in the Interior of Mt. Pyre (4F-6F) with a 10% chance at levels 25, 27 and 29.
Stats: Shuppet has decent attack and okay special attack but its speed and bulk are rather low. Banette improves with a great attack stat and decent special attack. Its speed and bulk only reach average levels. Because of this, Banette is a slower and frail physical or mixed attacker.
Typing: Ghost has two great immunities in Normal and Fighting and also a good resistance to Poison. The important Dark and Ghost types threaten it, though. On the attacking side, Banette's STAB move hits other Ghost and Psychic types super effectively but is also resisted by Dark types and Normal types are immune to it.
Movepool: Shuppet's level-up movepool is bad. Its first attacking moves in Faint Attack and Shadow Ball are only learned after its late evolution. Will-O-Wisp and Curse can be okay support options. Because of this, it is best to immediately give Shuppet the nearby Shadow Ball TM for a consistent STAB move. A variety of Normal move TMs can be used for other physical attacking options, but otherwise Banette has to dip into special TMs like Thunderbolt or Psychic. Calm Mind is also a setup option for those. It can also learn Flash.
Major Battles: Banette is good against Tate & Liza and decent against the Water gym with Electric moves. Banette is decent against the last Rival fight but can struggle against the last few Team Aqua and Magma fights. Banette is fragile against the Elite Four and Champion, with only Phoebe being a good matchups if it manages to outspeed and KO her Ghost Pokemon.
Additional Comments: Shuppet's becomes available pretty late into the game and also has a rather high evolution level of 37. And while its fast level growth helps with catching up, it and Banette's fragility and lackluster movepool and special attack mean it doesn't have many highlights in the remaining parts of the game. Banette's Insomnia can sometimes come up against sleep-inducing moves. Shuppet is also really TM-reliant, so its opportunity cost is somewhat high.

Spheal

Name: Spheal
Availability: Spheal can be found in Shoal Cave with a 50% chance at levels 26, 28, 30 and 32 while walking and at a 10% chance at levels 25 to 35 while surfing.
Stats: Spheal has bad stats across the board aside from its okay HP, with its very low speed being its worst stat. Sealeo gets much better bulk and overall average stats, but still has low speed. Walrein becomes even bulkier and also has decent offenses. Its speed is still below average, though. Walrein is a slower, bulky special-attacking tank.
Typing: Its Ice / Water typing is not very good, as it only provides it with resistances against Ice, Water and also Fire thanks to its Thick Fat ability. But in return, it suffers from weaknesses to common attacking types in Fighting, Grass, Electric and Rock. Offensively, Walrein's typing is much better with only Water resisting it while hitting relevant types like Flying, Fire, Grass, Ground and Dragon super effectively.
Movepool: Spheal's level-up movepool is decent. Aurora Beam is a decent STAB attack right away, and Body Slam is an okay coverage move against other Water types. Rest and later Blizzard are solid options. Walrein doesn't have access to special coverage options outside its STAB moves. The Ice Beam TM and Surf HM are its most consistent options. The Earthquake and Iron Tail TMs can be used, but the damage output isn't impressive coming from Walrein's lower attack stat. It can also learn a variety of HMs including the three Water HMs as well as Strength and Rock Smash.
Major Battles: Spheal doesn't have many battles left where it can help. Sealeo can somewhat help against Tate & Liza but Sunny Day and Calm Mind as well as the weakened Surf make it not easy. It also can't really touch the Pokemon of the Water gym. Sealeo is solid against the last few remaining Team Aqua and Magma fights but misses the last Rival fight. Walrein can be solid against the Elite Four and Champion with Rest and Earthquake, thanks to its great bulk. Drake and Steven are good matchups.
Additional Comments: Spheal comes quite a bit underleveled. Its first and second evolutions are also really late, at level 32 and 44 but its medium-fast growth rate helps to mitigate this somewhat.

Swablu

Name: Swablu
Availability: Swablu can be found on Route 114 with a 40% chance at levels 15 to 17.
Stats: Swablu has really low stats, with even its highest stats, defense and special defense, being below average. Altaria has average stats all around and good defenses. It is a decently fast tank with underwhelming mixed offenses.
Typing: Swablu's Normal / Flying typing is not very useful as it has weaknesses in Rock, Electric and Ice. The resistance to Grass and immunities to Ground and Ghost are welcome, though. Offensively, Swablu's STAB combo is only resisted by Rock and Steel types, while hitting Fighting and Grass types super effectively. Altaria's Dragon / Flying typing is much better, with many useful resistances to Fighting, Fire, Grass and Water, as well as a Ground immunity. It is still weak to Rock but it also gained a Dragon weakness and is hit even harder by Ice attacks. Altaria's STAB combination is only resisted by Steel types and hits Fighting, Grass and other Dragon types super effectively.
Movepool: Swablu's level-up movepool is very barren. It mostly learns weak status moves and no good STAB moves until the late Take Down. Once it evolves into Altaria, it learns DragonBreath for an okay Dragon STAB move. Sing, Dragon Dance and Refresh can be solid setup moves. The Fly HM is Swablu's strongest Flying STAB move. Altaria learns Flamethrower and Ice Beam via TM for solid coverage. The Aerial Ace and Earthquake TMs, as well as several Normal move TMs can be used to make better use of Dragon Dance. After the 8th gym, the Dragon Claw TM can be acquired to give it a better Dragon STAB move. Altaria can also be used for Rock Smash.
Major Battles: Swablu is too weak and frail to take on the upcoming gym leaders. Altaria can become available around Winona, where it is solid with Ice Beam and Dragon Breath. It can't do much against Tate & Liza and it's only decent against the Water gym due to the Ice moves on some Pokemon. Altaria is good against all Pokemon of your Rival, as well as Team Aqua and Magma. It can slowly dig its way through Sidney and Phoebe of the Elite Four but Glacia, Drake the Champion demolish Altaria.
Additional Comments: Swablu comes really underleveled and also has a terrible early game due to no good moves and its erratic level growth. It takes quite a lot of EXP investment to bring it up to level 35 to evolve it into Altaria and finally make it usable. Before that, Swablu is mostly dead weight. Because of this, it is advisable to catch it later at Route 115 instead, where it is at a higher level, to skip most of its bad early game. Altaria also requires a few important TMs to have a better offense. Its Natural Cure ability can help against status.

Trapinch

Name: Trapinch
Availability: Trapinch can be found in the dessert part of Route 111 with a 35% chance at levels 19 to 21. In Emerald, it can also be found in Mirage Tower with a 50% chance at levels 20 to 24.
Stats: Trapinch has good attack but otherwise bad stats. Its speed is terribly low. Vibrava loses some attack but gains a lot of speed. Its other stats also very slightly improve. Finally, Flygon has good attack and speed but otherwise average stats. Their roles shift from a decently powerful but frail and slow physical attacker to a decently fast and powerful physical or mixed attacker.
Typing: Trapinch pure Ground typing has useful resistances against Rock and Poison as well as an Electric immunity. But it also gives weaknesses to the common Water, Grass and Ice attacks. Vibrava's and Flygon's added Dragon typing removes the Grass and Water weakness and also adds a Fire resistance. But Ice attacks hit them even harder, and Dragon attacks are now also a weakness. Due to their Levitate ability, they are also immune to Ground. Offensively, Flygon's STAB combo provides perfect neutral coverage aside from Skarmory while hitting important types in Electric, Fire, Rock and Dragon.
Movepool: Its level-up movepool is lacking. It doesn't learn a useful Ground STAB move. However, upon evolution it gets DragonBreath for a decent Dragon STAB move. Crunch is a decent move as well. The Dig TM gives Trapinch an okay Ground STAB move. Giga Drain is an option for other Ground and Rock types. Flygon can later make use of the Flamethrower, Earthquake and Dragon Claw TMs for a much better move set. It can also use the Fly, Strength and Rock Smash HMs.
Major Battles: Trapinch and Vibrava have too low stats to help against Norman. Winona is a neutral matchup, but her Altaria is too strong for Vibrava. Flygon can help against Tate & Liza. The Water gym is sketchy due to some Ice moves. Vibrava is lacking against your Rival and the remaining Team Aqua and Magma fights. Flygon is decent against the Elite Four, but it needs to be fast and strong enough for Drake, and Glacia is a hard stop. Champion Wallace is also not a good matchup, but Flygon is good against Champion Steven.
Additional Comments: Trapinch's evolution levels are really high at 35 and 45. Even Trapinch's good medium-slow level growth rate doesn't make up for it due to Trapinch's and Vibrava's lackluster stats. Flygon also has a rather high opportunity cost due to all the needed TMs to make the most of it.

Wailmer

Name: Wailmer
Availability: Wailmer can be found on Route 110 using the Good Rod with a 20% chance at levels 10 to 30.
Stats: Wailmer has great HP, below-average speed and mixed offenses but bad defenses. Wailord has gigantic HP, decent mixed offenses, but its speed stays the same and its defenses are still bad. Wailord is a slower tank with mixed offenses.
Typing: Water is a great defensive type with only two weaknesses in Grass and Electric. Meanwhile,it gives resistances to Fire, Ice and Water attacks. Offensively, Water is also great. Fire, Ground and Rock tyeps are hit super effectively and Grass and Dragon types, that resist Water can be hit with Ice type coverage. Other Water types also resist its Water STAB.
Movepool: Wailmer's level-up movepool is decent. Water Pulse is a good early Water STAB attack. Rollout can be okay against some trainers. Rest and Amnesia can be decent stall options. Later, Wailord gets Water Spout and Hydro Pump for powerful Water STAB attacks. Wailmer has access to important Ice type coverage TMs in Ice Beam or Blizzard. Physical attacks like Return, Double-Edge and Earthquake off of Wailmer's equally good attack stat are options against other Water types. It can also learn a large variety of HMs, including all three Water HMs as well as Strength and Rock Smash.
Major Battles: Wailmer is decent against Winona with either Ice Beam or Rollout. Wailmer can struggle against Tate & Liza due to its lesser bulk, as well as Sunny Day and Calm Mind weakening the damage of its Surf. The battle becomes much better if Wailmer has already evolved and has access to the much stronger Water Spout. Wailord is also good against the Water gym if it carries physical moves like Earthquake, Return or Double-Edge to combat the other Water types. Wailmer can have slight problems against the Grass types of the two remaining Rival battles. The Pokemon of Team Aqua and Magma give it no issues. Wailord can muscle its way through the Elite Four and Champion with some item support. Drake and Steven are good matchups.
Additional Comments: Its flucuating level growth is overall a plus, as it lets it level up faster than most Pokemon up to level 40. Which Wailmer really needs, as its bulk is a bit underwhelming and its evolution is really late. Wailmer's and Wailord's high HP also means that more powerful healing items are required to heal them to full HP. Water Spout is Wailord's most powerful attack, so it prefers not to be hit, but its below-average speed makes this difficult in the later stages of the game. The Good Rod is also on the east side of Route 118, which requires Surf to be reached. So, another Surf user needs to be caught before one can fish up a Wailmer.

Missing entries from D-rank

Oddish (Bellossom)
Corphish
Grimer
Koffing
Poochyena
Torkoal

I will be writing the entries of the missing D-rank Pokemon as well once I have done a playthrough with them. Same with the lower ranked Pokemon. Some E-rank and F-rank entries will probably be coming next. If you spot a mistake or have an addition, feel free to share.

 

[pe5e]

Some more E-rank entries of mons I used so far.

Cacnea

Name: Cacnea
Availability: Cacnea can be found in the desert section on Route 111 with a 6% chance in Emerald at levels 20 and 22. In Ruby and Sapphire it can be found with a 20% chance at level 19 to 21.
Stats: Cacnea has decent mixed offenses but otherwise bad stats. It has low bulk and speed. Cacturne mixed offeses get even better. Its bulk and speed also improve, but they are still below average or low. Cacturne is a slow, mixed attacker with underwhelming bulk.
Typing: It's Grass / Dark typing gives Cacturne a lot of weaknesses. Although rare, Bug attacks hit it for a lot of damage, and its weaknesses to Fighting, Flying, Poison, Fire and Ice are all problems. Resistances to Grass, Water, Electric, Ground, Dark and Ghost, and also an immunity to Psychic are good to have, though. Offensively, its STAB combo is much better, as it has nearly perfect coverage, aside from the Combusken and Nuzleaf lines. Dealing super-effective damage against Water, Ground, Rock, Psychic and Ghost Pokemon is great.
Movepool: Cacnea's level-up movepool is decent. Although, as with all Grass and Dark types, its best STAB moves have rather low base damage. Faint Attack and its signature move, Needle Arm, are good enough, though, and also have some decent upside. Growth, Leech Seed and Sandstorm can be good support moves. Cacturne can also make good use of Substitute and Focus Punch. Cacturne is able to carry the Strength, Cut and Flash HMs.
Major Battles: Cacturne's low bulk is a problem against Norman. Winona is a bad type matchup. Tate & Liza are good for Cacturne but it has to be careful of Solrock's Flamethrower. The Water gym is yet again favorable. Cacturne has some troubles against some Pokemon of your Rival as well as Team Aqua & Magma. The Elite Four is decent for Cacturne. Phoebe is a favorable type matchup and Cacturne can be okay against some Pokemon from Sidney and Glacia. Drake is not good for it, though, and its low speed and bulk are a problem against both Champions and make their fights not easy.
Additional Comments: Cacnea evolves rather soon to Cacturne, once you caught it. But its low speed and many weaknesses require it to be used carefully.

Castform

Name: Castform
Availability: Castform is given to the player at level 25 by a professor at the Weather Institute after defeating the Team Aqua trainers there.
Stats: Castform has an average base 70 in all its stats. Because of this, it's a fast and strong enough special attacker with okay speed. It also has the option to be a mixed attacker.
Typing: Its Normal typing leaves it with only one weakness to Fighting. Castform has no resistances but does have an immunity to Ghost. Everything else hits it neutrally. Similarly, its Normal moves hit most things neutrally, aside from Rock and Steel, which resist them, and Ghost which is immune to them. But Castform has the option to change its typing to Water, Fire, and Ice to change its STAB move and type matchups accordingly.
Movepool: Castform has a short but good enough level-up movepool. It learns all three weather moves that allow it to transform into its other forms. At level 30, it learns its signature move, Weather Ball, which starts out as a 50 base power Normal move but changes its type with the set weather and doubles its power to base 100. It will be the main STAB move Castform uses. It can specialize in the three different weathers with TMs. Thunder and Solar Beam get buffed by Rain Dance and Sunny Day. Blizard, unfortunately, doesn't get its accuracy boosted in gen 3. Ice Beam, Flamethrower and Thunderbolt are solid coverage options. Castform can also become a mixed attacker with Return and Shadow Ball. It can be a Flash user as well.
Major Battles: Castform is solid against the last three gym battles with the right coverage moves and weather type. It is decent against the remaining Rival and Team Aqua & Magma fights. Castform can help against the Elite Four and Champion but its average stats don't allow it to sweep.
Additional Comments: Castform is a gimmick Pokemon, but as far as gimmick Pokemon go, it is decent as weather effects are very powerful. However, it needs to set up to do any meaningful damage. And Castform's lower stats, especially its speed and the low PP of weather moves, can be cumbersome.

Natu

Name: Natu
Availability: Natu can be found in Area 1 and 2 of the Hoenn Safari Zone with a 10% chance at level 25. Natu and Xatu are also available at higher levels in Area 4, which requires the Acro Bike to be accessed. Natu can be caught with a 15% chance at levels 27 and 29, and Xatu can be caught with a 5% chance at levels 29 and 31.
Stats: Natu's bulk and attack are rather low, but its special attack and speed are average. Xatu has average bulk and attack, and its special attack and speed become good. Xatu is a decently fast and strong special attacker with the option of being a mixed attacker with its lower attack stat.
Typing: It's typing gives Xatu useful resistances to Fighting, Grass and Psychic, as well as a Ground immunity. However, it also gives it important weaknesses to Rock, Ghost, Dark, Ice and Electric attacks. Offensively, its Psychic / Flying STAB attacks give it nearly perfect coverage, with only Steel types, and Lunatone and Solrock resisting it.
Movepool: Natu's level-up movepool is terrible. It is really barren and has no good attacking moves until it learns Psychic at level 65. To make good use out of Xatu, it needs to be taught several TMs and HMs. It can carry the Flash and Fly HMs, with the later being its best option for a Flying STAB move. Shadow Ball and Steel Wing are physical options for coverage against other Psychic and Ghost types, as well as Rock and Ice types. The Psychic TM is essential for Xatu for a reliable special STAB move. The Giga Drain TM is an option for coverage against Rock, Ground and Water types. Calm Mind and the Screen TMs are potential utility moves.
Major Battles: Xatu is good against the remaining two gym battles with the right coverage moves. It is also solid against the remaining Rival and Team Aqua & Magma battles, but the Mightyenas can give it some trouble. Xatu is not good against the Elite Four. Sidney, Phoebe and Glacia have a type advantage, and Xatu's stats are just not good enough for Drake and the Champions.
Additional Comments: Natu nearly instantly evolves to Xatu once it is caught, and it also levels up fast. It isn't a bad choice for a late Fly HM Pokemon.

Nincada (Ninjask)

Name: Nincada (Ninjask)
Availability: Nincada can be found on Route 116 with a 20% chance at levels 6 and 7.
Stats: Nincada has really low stats aside from its good defense. It is slow, weak and somewhat frail. Ninjask gets lightning fast and has a decent attack stat. Its bulk keeps being low, though. It is a very fast, physical sweeper.
Typing: Nincada's Bug / Ground typing gives it useful resistances against Fighting, Ground and Poison as well as an Electric immunity. However, it also has weaknesses in Flying and Water. Offensively, Nincada's STAB types don't really matter, as it has no good STAB moves to use. Ninjask's Bug / Flying typing gives it additional glaring Rock weakness and turns Nincada's Electric immunity into a weakness. The Fire and Ice weaknesses also start to matter now. Ninjask gains a new Bug and Grass resistance as well as a Ground immunity. Offensively, Ninjask's Bug typing is useless as it learns no good Bug moves. It's Flying STAB move is useful against Fighting, Grass and other Bug types, though. Rock, Steel and Electric types are often a hard stop for it.
Movepool: Nincada's level-up movepool is terrible. It doesn't learn any STAB moves aside from the horribly weak Leech Life. The only decent moves in its level-up movepool for early game are way beyond level 30. Nincada's earliest Ground STAB move is the Dig TM. By that point, Nincada will already have evolved, so it doesn't gain STAB from it anymore, but Dig is still an okay coverage move against Electric and Rock types. Furry Cutter is too weak to be useful, so Ninjask will have to get by with the Cut HM and Dig TM until it gets access to the Aerial Ace and Shadow Ball TMs. The Return TM is an option as well. Ninjask learns a good setup move in Swords Dance early to give it a better chance of sweeping. It can also use the Flash HM.
Major Battles: Despite having a type advantage, Nincada is nearly useless against Roxanne, Brawly and Wattson due to its bad stats and lack of good moves. Flannery is bad for Ninjask as well. It can set up a sweep against Norman with some support. Winona is yet again bad for it. Ninjask can be good against Tate & Liza with Shadow Ball, but it has to be careful of Flamethrower Solrock and Ancient Power Claydol. The Water gym is a neutral matchup, but Aerial Ace and Swords Dance can be good against Double Team Kingdra. Nincada isn't great against the first few Rival and Team Aqua & Magma fights, but Ninjask has mostly no problem taking them on. Ninjask can attempt to set up a sweep against Sidney and Phoebe, but is otherwise too frail and weak for the remaining Elite Four and Champion.
Additional Comments: Nincada's very slow level growth due to being in the erractic level group means it takes a longer time until it finally evolves. Its bad stats and lack of moves also mean it has a very rough early game. It needs some TMs to function okay, but even then, it doesn't have a high peak. Nincada has a very strong ability in Compound Eyes but no real way to make use of it. Ninjask's ability Speed Boost helps it sweep and also allows it to carry the Macho Brace to double its gained EVs without much of a downside.

Nincada (Shedinja)

Name: Nincada (Shedinja)
Availability: Nincada can be found on Route 116 with a 20% chance at levels 6 and 7. Shedinja will appear in a free space of the party once Nincada evolves into Ninjask at level 20.
Stats: Nincada has really low stats aside from its good defense. It is slow, weak, and somewhat frail. Shedinja gets a good attack stat, but its speed stays the same. Its HP reaches the lowest possible value of 1. Because of this, Shedinja is a slow, physical glass cannon.
Typing: Nincada's Bug / Ground typing gives it useful resistances against Fighting, Ground and Poison as well as an Electric immunity. However it also has weaknesses to Flying and Water. Offensively, Nincada's STAB types don't really matter, as it has no good STAB moves to use. Shedinja's Bug / Ghost typing along with its Wonder Guard ability, gives it immunities to 12 types that don't hit it super effectively. But it is also weak to very relevant types in Fire, Flying, Rock, Dark and Ghost. Offensively, only its Ghost typing is relevant, as it still doesn't learn any good Bug moves. Ghost is a good offensive type, though, that hits most types neutrally aside from Dark and Normal and is also super effective against Ghost and Psychic.
Movepool: Nincada's level-up movepool is terrible. It doesn't learn any STAB moves aside from the horribly weak Leech Life. The only decent moves in its level-up movepool for early game are way beyond level 30. Nincada's earliest Ground STAB move is the Dig TM. By that point, Nincada will already have evolved, so it doesn't gain STAB from it anymore, but Dig is still an okay coverage move. Furry Cutter is too weak to be useful, so Shedinja will have to get by with the Cut HM and Dig TM until it gets access to the Aerial Ace and Shadow Ball TMs. The Return TM is an option as well. Shedinja gets access to a good setup move in Swords Dance early to give it a better chance of sweeping. This can only be done by delaying Nincada's evolution to Ninjask until level 25, where it learns the move, as Shedinja itself doesn't learn Swords Dance. It can also use the Flash HM.
Major Battles: Despite having a type advantage, Nincada is nearly useless against Roxanne, Brawly and Wattson due to its bad stats and lack of good moves. Shedinja can sweep Brawly and Wattson due to Wonder Guard. It has to worry about Voltorb's Rollout and Magneton's Supersonic, though. Flannery and Winona are bad for Shedinja. Norman is sketchy, as most of his Pokemon have Faint Attack and status moves. Shedinja can be good against Tate & Liza with Shadow Ball, but it has to be careful of Flamethrower Solrock and Ancient Power Claydol. The Water gym is a great matchup for Shedinja as it can sweep by itself because none of the Water Pokemon can damage it outside of Luvdisc's Sweet Kiss. Nincada and Shedinja aren't good against most Rival and Team Aqua & Magma fights due to poor type matchups. Shedinja is deadweight against the entire Elite Four and Champion Steven but is able to sweep Champion Wallace almost by itself as only Toxic Tentacruel and Leech Seed Ludicolo can hurt it.
Additional Comments: Nincada's very slow level growth due to being in the erractic level group means it takes a longer time until it finally evolves. Its bad stats and lack of moves also mean it has a very rough early game. It needs some TMs to function okay. Nincada has a very strong ability in Compound Eyes but no real way to make use of it. Shedinja is a very polarizing and unreliable Pokemon, as it is completely deadweight for some fights while being almost invincible in others due to its Wonder Guard ability and only 1 HP.

Sableye

Name: Sableye
Availability: Sableye can be found in Granite Cave with a 20% chance at levels 9 to 12.
Stats: Sableye has mediocre stats. Its HP and speed are bad, and its other stats are average to underwhelming. Sableye is a slow, frail, mixed attacker.
Typing: Dark / Ghost is the only typing in gen 3 that has no weaknesses. Sableye even has three immunities to Normal, Psychic and Fighting. It has a single resistance to Poison and otherwise everything else hits it neutrally. On the offensive side, Sableye's typing hits most things neutrally while dealing super-effective damage to Psychic and Ghost types. Steel and other Dark types resist its STAB combo, though.
Movepool: Sableye's level-up movepool is okay. Night Shade is a decent early game move. It learns Faint Attack and Shadow Ball for reliable STAB attacks. TMs such as Dig, Aerial Ace and Brick Break can give good coverage. Return and Focus Punch are also options. Sableye can also go into a more special attacking role with Psychic and Calm Mind. It can carry the roles of a Cut, Rock Smash or Flash user as well.
Major Battles: Brawly is a very good matchup for Sableye, as none of his Pokemon can touch it while it wears them down with Night Shade. Wattson and Flannery aren't good because it lacks good STAB moves yet and its bulk is too low. Norman is yet again a very good matchup, as his Pokemon can only hit Sableye with very weak Faint Attacks while it chips them down slowly. Winona is a neutral matchup. Against Tate & Liza, Sableye has access to Shadow Ball by then, so it is good against them. The Water gym is again a neutral matchups which can be decent with Calm Mind. Sableye is overall solid against your Rival as well as Team Aqua and Magma. Mightyena is a bit of a roadblock, though. Sableye is good against Phoebe, and decent against Sidney and Glacia with Brick Break. Against Drake and the Champion, its low stats prevent it from contributing much, though.
Additional Comments: Sableye is a pretty underwhelming Pokemon due to its poor stats, but its typing is incredible against several important trainers.

Seedot

Name: Seedot
Availability: Seedot can be found on Route 102 with a 20% chance in Ruby at levels 3 and 4. In Emerald, it can be found with a rare 1% chance at level 3.
Stats: Seedot has bad stats across the board, with its highest stat being its defense at 50. Nuzleaf stats increase to below average, but its defenses remain bad. Shiftry finally gets good stats. Its offenses are good, and its speed is decent. Its bulk is average. Shiftry is a decently fast and powerful, mixed attacker.
Typing: Seedot's pure Grass typing gives it weaknesses to early Bug, Flying and Poison moves. Nuzleaf and Shiftry typing is a very mixed bag. On the one hand, it gives them important resistances to Ground, Electric, Water, Grass, Ghost and Dark, and even an immunity to Psychic. But on the other hand, they gain an additional Fighting weakness and are also weak to later types in Fire and Ice. Offensively, its STAB combo is much better, as it has nearly perfect coverage, aside from the Combusken and Nuzleaf lines. Dealing super-effective damage against Water, Ground, Rock, Psychic and Ghost Pokemon is great.
Movepool: Seedot's and Nuzleaf's level-up movepool is awful and very barren. Their only early Grass STAB move is the really weak Bullet Seed TM. Nuzleaf learns Nature Power upon evolution, which can become several powerful other moves but will mostly be a non-STAB Swift, as most good terrains don't come up very often. Before Nuzleaf learns its only other and also best Dark move, Faint Attack, at level 31, its only other early option for a Dark STAB move is the weak Thief TM. The Rock Tomb, Dig, Aerial Ace and Brick Break TMs can be used to give Shiftry more coverage. The Giga Drain TM is its most consistent Grass STAB move it gets but it can also go with Sunny Day and Solar Beam to make use of its potential Chlorophyll abiltiy in an attempt to sweep teams. Shiftry can also fulfill the roles of being a Cut, Strength, Flash and Rock Smash user.
Major Battles: Seedot is good against Roxanne. But unfortunately, Brawly, Wattson and Flannery are all bad for it due to its bad stats, lack of access to good moves, or type disadvantage. Norman is also bad because Nuzleaf can't evolve yet, and its bulk and weak attacks are not good enough. Winona is again a bad type matchup. The last two gyms are great matchups for Shiftry, however. After Nuzleaf and Shiftry get decent moves, they are doing well against most Pokemon of your Rival and Team Aqua and Magma. But some Fire types, Mightyenas and the Zubat line give it trouble. Shiftry is good against Phoebe of the Elite Four and can also be good against Sidney, Glacia and the Champion with Brick Break, Solar Beam and Sunny Day. Drake is not good, though.
Additional Comments: It is possible to receive a Seedot in Rustboro City in Emerald by trading a Ralts for it. While this Seedot will receive 1.5x EXP due to being a traded Pokemon, it has very bad IVs and a speed-reducing nature. A Leaf Stone to evolve Nuzleaf into Shiftry can be found on Route 119, just before the 6th gym. However, since stone evolutions lose out on further level-up moves, Shiftry won't be able to learn Extrasensory later.

Vulpix

Name: Vulpix
Availability: Vulpix can be found on the Exterior of Mt. Pyre with a 20% chance at levels 25, 27 and 29. In Emerald, the encounter chance is 30%.
Stats: Vulpix has low stats, with even its best stats—special defense and speed—being just below average. Vuplix's stats don't really matter, however, since it is possible to immediately evolve it with a Fire Stone once it has been caught. Ninetales has good speed and special defense, but otherwise, its stats are just average. Ninetales is a fast, decently powerful, special attacker.
Typing: Fire gives Ninetales a lot of resistances like Grass and Ice. Its Flash Fire ability even gives it a Fire immunity. However, a pure Fire typing also gives Ninetales ugly weaknesses against Ground, Rock and Water. Fire hits Bug, Grass, Ice and Steel types super effectively, while other Fire, Water, Rock and Dragon types resist it.
Movepool: Ninetales entire movepool is rather barren. For the most part, it only learns Fire moves. An immediate Flamethrower via level-up is very nice to have, though. And the Fire Blast and Overheat TMs provide more fire power. Will-O-Wisp can be decent support. Return, Dig and Iron Tail can be used as physical coverage, but their damage output is underwhelming. Ninetales can not learn any HMs.
Major Battles: Ninetales does not do well against the last two gyms, as it has a type disadvantage in both. The few remaining Rival and Team Aqua & Magma fights are also not good for it. In the Elite Four, Ninetales is simply too weak to contribute much.
Additional Comments: A Fire Stone to evolve Vulpix into Ninetales can be found in Fiery Path after gaining the Strength HM. However, since stone evolutions lose out on further level-up moves, it is advisable to wait until level 29 to evolve Vulpix. Otherwise, Ninetales looses out on Flamethrower via level-up.

Wurmple (Beautifly)

Name: Wurmple (Beautifly)
Availability: Wurmple can be found on Route 101 with a 45% chance at levels 2 and 3. It is also possible to catch a Silcoon in Petalburg Woods with a 10% chance at level 5.
Stats: Wurmple's and Silcoon's stats are not relvant for long as they evolve very soon to Beautifly. It has decent special attack and okay attack, but also below-average speed and bad bulk. Beautifly is a frail, slow, mixed attacker with mediocre damage output.
Typing: Wurmple's and Silcoon's pure Bug typing is not relvant for long as they evolve very soon to Beautifly. Its Bug / Flying typing leaves it with good resistances in Fighting and Grass, as well as a Ground immunity. But it also has bad weaknesses to Flying, Electric, Fire, Ice and especially Rock. Offensively, its typing is much better, as only Steel resists its STAB moves. Beautifly also hits Fighting, Grass, Psychic and Dark super effectively.
Movepool: Beautifly's level-up movepool is good. Gust is an okay early game Flying STAB move. Absorb and later Mega Drain are important against early Rock, Ground and Water types. Stun Spore and Morning Sun are decent utility moves. Later, it learns Silver Wind as its best Bug STAB move, and Giga Drain as a better Grass type move. The Aerial Ace TM can give it a better Flying STAB move, and the Psychic TM is Beautifly's strongest special move that it can learn. It can learn Shadow Ball via TM but has no real use for it. Beautifly can also carry Flash.
Major Battles: Beautifly is too vulnerable against Roxanne to help with its Grass coverage. Brawly is a very good matchups thanks to its quadruple Fighting resist and STAB Gust. Wattson and Flannery have a type advantage against Beautifly, which means it is dead weight against them. Beautifly stats are too low to be useful against Norman. Winona also has a type advantage over Beautifly. It can be somewhat helpful in the last two gyms, but Beautifly's bad stats are giving it trouble at this point in the game. Beautifly is okay against some of the Pokemon of your Rival and Team Aqua and Magma, but it also has several bad matchups. In the Elite Four, Beautifly can somewhat be okay against some of Sidney's Pokemon but otherwise is useless against the rest of the Elite Four and Champion.
Additional Comments: Due to Wurmple's evolution to either Silcoon or Cascoon being based on an unknown personality value, it is advisable to catch a Silcoon in Petalburg Woods instead to guarantee a later Beautifly.

Missing entries from E-rank

Clamperl (Gorebyss)
Duskull
Kecleon
Lileep
Mawile (R)
Minun
Nosepass
Phanpy
Plusle
Regice
Roselia (R/S)
Sandshrew
Skitty
Snorunt
Whismur
Wurmple (Dustox)

 

[Scorpio]

Quick something, Stall doesn’t exist until Gen 4, so it irrelevant to Sableye’s performance in RSE.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Something else I just noticed: given that Substitute is a tutor move not accessible until Lilycove, how would Cacturne make use of Substitute against Norman? Is trading/breeding factored in here?

 

[Ernesto]

I was today years old when I learned that Substitute was obtainable in Lilycove, lol (but like QuentinQuonce said it's still post Surf so you can't use it against Norman).

Another small correction is that Seedot isn't available in Sapphire, only in Ruby and Emerald. I still think the Ruby version could've been higher but whatevs.

 

[pe5e]

I was today years old when I learned that Substitute was obtainable in Lilycove, lol (but like QuentinQuonce said it's still post Surf so you can't use it against Norman).

Another small correction is that Seedot isn't available in Sapphire, only in Ruby and Emerald. I still think the Ruby version could've been higher but whatevs.

Focus Punch is also locked behind Surf. I used Cacnea and wrote its entry a while ago. I don't know what I was on about there.

Fixed all this. Thanks guys!

 

[pe5e]

Some more entries of Pokemon I used:

D rank:

Grimer

Name: Grimer
Availability: Grimer can be found in Fiery Path with a 2% chance at level 14 in Emerald and Ruby. In Sapphire, it can be found with a 25% chance at levels 15 and 16.
Stats: Grimer has decent attack and HP but otherwise bad stats. Its speed, especially, is very low. Muk gets much better stats. Its HP, attack and special defense increase to good levels, and its defense and special attack become average. Muk's speed remains rather low, though. Muk is a physically strong, special tank with some special attacking options.
Typing: Its pure Poison typing gives Grimer and Muk resistances to Fighting, Grass and other Poison attacks. But they also have weaknesses to common Ground and Psychic attacks. Offensively, Poison is not a good typing. It only hits Grass types super effectively and is otherwise resisted by Ground, Rock, Ghost and other Poison types, while Steel types are completely immune to Poison attacks.
Movepool: Grimer's level-up movepool is pretty barren, but Sludge is a decent STAB move it has right away. It learns Sludge Bomb via level up, but it is after level 40. So it is advisable to give it the TM for it, so it can use it much earlier for a stronger STAB move. The Dig and Rock Tomb TMs can be given to Grimer for some coverage, but their damage output is low. Once Grimer evolves into Muk, it can make better use of some special TMs like Thunderbolt, Flamethrower and Giga Drain. Brick Break and several Normal move TMs like Return are options on the physical side. Explosion is a good option from a move tutor in Pacifidlog Town that allows Muk to trade with otherwise hard-to-take-out Pokemon for its team members. While Grimer can't learn any HMs, Muk can learn Strength and Rock Smash.
Major Battles: Grimer has problems against Flannery, Norman and Winona due to its low defensive stats and speed. Tate & Liza are also very bad for it due to a bad type matchup, both offensively and defensively. Muk can be decent against the Water gym, though, because of its good special bulk. Grimer is decent against the Pokemon of your Rival but several Pokemon of Team Aqua & Magma, like Golbat, Mightyena and Camerupt, give it trouble. Muk is decent against Sidney and Glacia and can even help against Champion Wallace. Explosion can be a helpful tool. But Phoebe, Drake and Champion Steven are bad matchups for Muk.
Additional Comments: Grimer's abilities Stench and Sticky Hold can be situationally useful in regards to encountering Pokemon. Grimer has a very high evolution level, which means one has to deal with Grimer's low stats for quite some time. Muk also demands many important or expensive TMs to have coverage, which means its opportunity cost is rather high.

Poochyena

Name: Poochyena
Availability: Poochyena can be found on Route 101 with a 45% chance at levels 2 and 3 in Emerald. In Ruby and Sapphire, it can be found with a 10% chance.
Stats: Poochyena has incredibly low stats across the board. Even its highest stat, its attack, is still low. It is frail and slow. Mightyena has overall average to slightly below average stats aside from its decent attack stat. Mightyena is an underwhelming mixed attacker.
Typing: Their pure Dark typing gives Mightyena great resistances to Ghost and Dark, as well as an immunity to Psychic. It also has a nasty Fighting weakness, though. On the offensive side, Dark hits the same Ghost and Psychic types super effectively while being reisted by Fighting and other Dark types.
Movepool: Poochyena's and Mightyena's level-up movepool is very lacking. Bite is an okay STAB move, but it has to wait all the way to level 47 to gain the much better Crunch. Howl can be an okay setup move early on to boost its weak physical moves. Strength and Return are Mightyena's best Normal moves. Otherwise, the Shadow Ball, Dig and Iron Tail TMs can be used to give it more options, but none of those moves help Mightyena all that much. Both Poochyena and Mightyena can also be used as Rock Smash users.
Major Battles: Poochyena is too weak and frail to be of any help against Roxanne and Brawly. Even Mightyena still struggles against Wattson and Flannery. It can be okay against Norman and Winona if it manages to setup with Howl. It is decent against Tate & Liza, but its Bite can be too weak against their Calm Mind-boosted Pokemon. Mightyena also struggles to do much against the Water gym. It doesn't help too much against your Rival or Team Aqua & Magma, and struggles against other Mightyenas, especially. Of the Elite Four, only Phoebe is an okay matchup. Sidney, Glacia, Drake and the Champion are too powerful for it.
Additional Comments: Poochyena is mostly deadweight, but thankfully its evolution to Mightyena is early. However, even Mighyena is very underwhelming. Both its non-STAB physical moves, off its better attack stat, and its Dark moves, off its worse special attack, do about the same amount of low damage. Mightyena's ability Intimidate is very useful for it and its other team members, though.

E rank:

Skitty

Name: Skitty
Availability: Skitty can be found on Route 116 with a 2% chance at levels 7 to 8.
Stats: Skitty has incredibly low stats across the board. Even its highest stats, HP and speed, are still low. It is frail and weak. Delcatty still has mostly below-average stats, with its special attack and defense being its worst. Delcatty is an underwhelming, weak and frail physical attacker.
Typing: Normal only has one weakness in Fighting but also no resistances. They have a Ghost immunity, though. On the offensive side, Normal doesn't hit anything super effectively and is resisted by Rock and Steel. Ghost types are completely immune to Normal attacks.
Movepool: Skitty has an okay level-up movepool but has to rely on the weak and inconsistent DoubleSlap for quite some time. Attract, Sing and Charm can be used to weaken opponents. Even though Faint Attack works off Delcatty's weaker special attacker, it allows it to hit Ghost types until it can access the Shadow Ball TM. Double-Edge is likely not available via level-up as Delcatty loses Skitty's level-up moves. The Return TM or Strength HM are its strongest Normal STAB moves. The Dig or Iron Tail TMs are options to hit Steel and Rock types. Delcatty can also use some special TMs like Thunder or Blizzard. Besides Strength, Delcatty learns the Rock Smash and Flash HMs.
Major Battles: Skitty is too weak and frail to help in any way against Roxanne, Brawly or Wattson. Once it evolves into Delcatty with the Moonstone, it can at least help with the remaining gym leaders, but its damage output and frailty prevent it from defeating any of them alone. Skitty is once again not of much help against your Rival, but Delcatty is decent against them as well as Team Aqua & Magma. Delcatty can be okay against Sidney or Phoebe but is otherwise too weak and frail against the other Elite Four members and the Champion.
Additional Comments: Until Skitty evolves with the Moon Stone from Meteor Falls, it is mostly dead weight. The Return TM is also very important for it, so the Sooth Bell is worth getting. Skitty has a fast level growth. Attract and its Cute Charm ability are suprisingly useful, as infatuated Pokémon have a 50% chance of being "immobilized by love" each turn and unable to attack.

F rank:

Anorith

Name: Anorith
Availability: Anorith is received from a scientist located on the second floor of Devon Corporation in Rustboro City at level 20.
Stats: Anorith has good attack and decent speed. Its other stats are all low. Armaldo has great attack and good defense. Its speed gets nearly halved, and its other stats are average. Armaldo is a slow, bulky, strong, physical attacker.
Typing: Rock / Bug is not a good typing defensively. It only provides resistances to Normal and Poison while giving weaknesses to Rock, Steel and Water. On the offensive side, its Bug typing is not relevant as it doesn't learn any good Bug moves. Armaldo's Rock typing lets it hit a lot of relevant types like Flying, Fire and Ice, though.
Movepool: Anorith's level-up movepool is okay. Metal Claw is a decent early game move. Later, it learns Ancient Power for a Rock STAB move. Rock Blast is its latest move and will be its strongest Rock type option. It does not learn any good Bug moves worth using, as Fury Cutter is too weak. Anorith can use several TMs, like Dig, Aerial Ace and Rock Tomb for the mid game. Armaldo can later make use of more powerful TMs like Brick Break, Earthquake and Iron Tail. Armaldo can carry several HMs in Strength, Cut and Rock Smash.
Major Battles: Norman is a good type matchup for Anorith, but its bulk is so low and it will still be underleveled that it will still have problems against his Normal Pokemon. Winona is a decent matchup. Armaldo can help against Tate & Liza, but its best move to hit the levitating Psychic types is the weak Metal Claw, and it has low speed and special bulk, so it still struggles a bit. In the Water gym, Armado is seriously threatened and thus can't contribute. Anorith and Armaldo have no problem against the Pokemon of your Rival and Team Aqua & Magma. Against the Elite Four, Armaldo can only help against a few specific Pokemon but is otherwise mostly deadweight.
Additional Comments: Anorith's biggest problems are that it comes underleveled and is in the Eratic level growth group. Which means, it takes a ton of EXP to bring it up to level 40 to evolve it into Armaldo. It also never learns any good STAB moves and has to rely on strong non-STAB physical TMs. Its speed drop upon evolution is a nuisance, and its typing doesn't provide much over other Rock Pokemon.

Bagon

Name: Bagon
Availability: Bagon can be found in the second room of the basement of the second floor of Meteor Falls with a 25% chance at levels 25, 30 and 35.
Stats: Bagon's stats mostly don't matter, as it will evolve soon or at the next level. But it has a decent attack but otherwise low stats. Shelgon gets more attack and a good defense stat. Its HP and special attack are below average, and its special defense and speed are still poor. Salamence has fantastic attack, great special attack and speed, and good bulk. It is a fast and very powerful, physical or mixed sweeper.
Typing: Bagon's and Shelgon's pure Dragon typing gives them useful resistances to Water, Electric, Fire and Grass, but also a weakness to Ice and other Dragon attacks. Salamence gains a Ground immunity as well as a Fighting resistance, but also a new Rock weakness. Ice attacks hit it even harder. Salamence's Dragon / Flying STAB combo is only resisted by Steel types and also hits Fighting, Grass and other Dragon types super effectively.
Movepool: Shelgon's level-up movepool is okay. Headbutt and DragonBreath are decent offensive moves. The Double-Edge move tutor in Sootopolis City can be used to make use of its Rock Head ability and give it a strong neutral move. If Shelgon's evolution is delayed until level 56, then it learns Crunch earlier than Salamence. Salamence can learn several powerful TMs like Dragon Claw and Aerial Ace for decent STAB moves, and also Eartquake, Flamethrower, Iron Tail and Brick Break for coverage. It can also carry several HMs like Strength, Rock Smash and Fly, which it learns upon evolution.
Major Battles: Bagon is only accessible after the 8th gym, so it can't contribute in any gym, Rival or Team Aqua & Magma battles anymore. Against the Elite Four, Shelgon is too weak and can't help. Salamence, however, is able to help against Sidney, Phoebe and Drake. Glacia and the Champion have a type advantage against it, though.
Additional Comments: Bagon is only available after the last gym and also has the highest final evolution level in the game. Bagon and Shelgon are not really any help this late. Only Salamence can still contribute against the trainers of Victory Road and the Pokemon League. However, Bagon is also in the slow experience group, so the roughly 20 levels until Salamence are a tall order since not many trainers are left in the game. Collecting and saving some Rare Candies to skip levels 40 to 50 is recommended. Unfortunately, this also leaves Salamence with few EVs, so some Vitamins may be needed to outspeed and kill important Pokemon in the Pokemon League. Some TMs are also required for Salamence. All in all, Salamence is a huge investment of several resources, and the reward is not really worth it. While Salamence is powerful, it can barely contribute anymore, as the game is almost over by the time it becomes available.

Feebas

Name: Feebas
Availability: Feebas can only be found in six random water tiles on Route 119 with a 50% chance at levels 20 to 25.
Stats: Feebas stats are all very low aside from its special defense and speed. Milotic has fantastic bulk, a high HP and great special defense. It has a high special attack as well, and it is decently fast. Milotic is a decently strong, special tank.
Typing: Pure Water is a great defensive typing with only two weaknesses in Grass and Electric, which are both special. Milotic resists Fire, Ice and other Water attacks. Offensively, Water is also good, hitting Ground, Rock and Fire types super effectively. Only Grass, Dragon and other Water types resist it.
Movepool: Feebas has only three useless moves in its level-up movepool but is able to learn TMs and HMs before evolving, unlike Magikarp. Milotic has a decent level-up movepool, but it likely needs to relearn some moves like Water Pulse or Recover if Feebas evolved later. Hydro Pump is its strongest STAB move. It can learn all three Water HMs, with Surf being its most consistent STAB move. Ice Beam or Blizzard are good coverage options, but otherwise, Milotic has no good options for additional coverage. Water and Ice attacks are the only special moves it can learn, so it has problems against other Water types. Toxic is also an option in combination with Recover to stall out certain Pokemon.
Major Battles: Feebas is useless in battle. Milotic is good against Tate & Liza with its great special bulk. Some for the water gym, but it has trouble taking the other Water types down without Toxic. Milotic is great against the remaining Rival and Team Aqua & Magma fights. It is also good against all trainers of the Elite Four as well as the Champion. Its bulk and strong Water and Ice attacks give it a good matchup against all. Only Champion Wallace can be harder. Toxic is needed for some Water types.
Additional Comments: Finding Feebas on Route 119 takes a lot of time. It is best to fish only once in each water tile with the Old Rod until you find a Feebas tile. Evolving Feebas requires it to level up while it has at least 170 Beauty. This is achieved by feeding it strong enough blue or indigo Pokeblocks. Collecting the six Kelpsy and Bluk Berries from Route 115 is enough to blend Pokeblocks with either one, two or three NPCs in any Contest Hall that are strong enough to raise Feebas' Beauty above the threshold regardless of its flavor preference before it won't eat any more Pokeblocks. A Pokéblock Case is required before Pokéblocks can be made. In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, the Pokéblock Case can be obtained by speaking to a small girl in the Contest Hall in Slateport City. In Pokémon Emerald, she is in the Contest Hall in Lilycove City. Once one evolves Feebas into Miltoic, it is a great Water Pokemon. But the time investment to find and evolve it is huge. Milotic also has trouble knocking out other Water types due to its bad coverage. Feebas has an erratic level growth, which means it takes longer to level it up. If one doesn't use the EXP share to level Feebas up in the back until it can evolve into Milotic, then it will be underleveled. Marvel Scale is a good ability, though, that allows Milotic to be even bulkier on the physical side in case it gets statused.

Volbeat

Name: Volbeat
Availability: Volbeat can be found in Sapphire on Route 117 with a 18% chance at levels 13 and 14. In Emerald and Ruby, the encounter rate is a rare 1% at level 13.
Stats: Volbeat has good enough speed, average attack, bad special attack, and below average bulk. It is a mediocre physical or mixed attacker.
Typing: A pure Bug typing gives Volbeat resistances to Fighting, Grass and Ground. However, it is also weak to Fire, Rock and Flying. On the offensive side, Bug attacks are resisted by a lot of types like Fighting, Flying, Fire, Ghost and Poison. Hitting Grass, Psychic and Dark types for super-effective damage is useful, though.
Movepool: Volbeat has a decent level-up movepool. Moonlight is an early recovery move, and Tail Glow allows it to fix its bad special attack. Signal Beam is a great Bug STAB move and one of the best Bug moves in the game. Double-Edge is a later option on pure physical sets. Brick Break, Aerial Ace and Shadow Ball can also be learned with TMs to give it more coverage. Volbeat also has some special TM options to make use of Tail Glow. Shock Wave, Thunderbolt and Thunder, as well as Giga Drain or Water Pulse give Volbeat good special coverage. The Light Screen TM is an option to make setting up safer for Volbeat. It can also use Flash.
Major Battles: None of the gym battles, but the last two gyms are favorable for Volbeat. Against Tate & Liza as well as the Water gym, Volbeat is not bad, though. It has some troubles against some Pokemon of your Rival and Team Aqua & Magma, but overall it does fine. Against the Elite Four, Volbeat can be decent against Sidney, Phoebe and Glacia if it can successfully set up with Tail Glow. Drake and the Champion are not good for it because of Volbeat's low stats.
Additional Comments: Volbeat needs to be babysitted for about 12 levels until it can finally fight on its own with Signal Beam. This takes a while due to Volbeat's erratic level growth. Volbeat can have the Illuminate ability, which is mostly a downside as it makes wild encounters more likely.

 

[pe5e]

More entries of low rank mons. Also, whoever put Plusle and Nosepass in the same tier was out of their mind.

D rank:

Corphish

Name: Corphish
Availability: Corphish can be found on Route 117 using the Good Rod with a 20% chance at levels 10 to 30.
Stats: Corphish has decent attack but otherwise bad stats. It is slow and frail. Crawdaunt gains a lot more attack and special attack. Its bulk improves a bit too, but it remains on the slower side. Crawdaunt is a slow, decently strong, special attacker that can throw out strong physical attacks too.
Typing: Corphish's Water typing is a great defensive type with only two weaknesses in Grass and Electric. Meanwhile,it gives resistances to Fire, Ice and Water attacks. Offensively, Water is also great. Fire, Ground and Rock tyeps are hit super effectively, and Grass and Dragon types that resist Water can be hit with Ice type coverage. Other Water types also resist its Water STAB. Crawdaunt's additional Dark typing gives it new resistances to Dark and Ghost, as well as a complete immunity to Psychic. However, Fighting moves now hit it super effectively. Crawdaunt has no good offensive Dark STAB move to make use of its Dark typing offensively.
Movepool: Crawdaunt's level-up movepool is decent, but since it only becomes available after obtaining the Surf HM, most of its moves are outperformed by HMs and TMs. There is no reason to run the decent Crabhammer long-term when Surf is just better. Swords Dance and Taunt can be good utility moves, though, and even Guillotine is an option. Knock Off is Crawdaunt's only Dark STAB move option, as it doesn't learn Crunch, but it isn't worth it due to its weak base power. On the TM side of things, Crawdaunt can learn the powerful Ice Beam, Sludge Bomb and Brick Break TMs for strong coverage and to make use of its higher attack stat. Crawdaunt can also learn every HM, with the exception of Fly.
Major Battles: Crawdaunt is decent against Winona with Ice Beam. Tate & Liza is also good for it due to its Psychic immunity and the fact that Crabhammer only has a single target and thus doesn't get weakened by the spread penalty like Surf does. The Water gym is also decent because Crawdaunt can blow past the other Water types with physical coverage. Crawdaunt does well against the remaining Rival and Team Aqua & Magma fights. Crawdaunt's lack of Dark STAB moves, slow speed and somewhat low bulk is a cconcern,but it is still a good help against every member of the Elite Four and the Champion with the right coverage moves.
Additional Comments: The Good Rod is required to be able to fish up Corphish. It is gotten from a Fisherman on the right side of Route 118, so another Pokemon that can surf needs to be caught first to get the rod. Corphish can be fished up as low as level 10, so it's important to catch one that isn't too underleveled. But its fluctuating level growth does help it catch up rather quickly. Corphish's abilities, Hyper Cutter and Shell Armor, are situationally useful. Crawdaunt's lack of Dark STAB moves means it is mostly outclassed by Sharpedo, with similar offenses but better moves. But its better bulk is also appreciated.

Koffing

Name: Koffing
Availability: Koffing can be found in Fiery Path with a 25% chance at levels 15 and 16 in Emerald and Ruby. In Sapphire, it can be found with a 2% chance at level 14.
Stats: Koffing has good defense but otherwise middling or bad stats. Its offenses are mediocre, and its special bulk and speed are bad. Weezing stats get better all around. It is still on the slower side, but much better than before. Its bulk is good on the special side and great on the physical side. Its offenses are decent. Weezing is a slow, decently durable, and strong physical tank.
Typing: Koffing's and Weezing's pure Poison typing, coupled with its ability Levitate, means it only has a single weakness to Psychic, while resisting Fighting, Grass and Poison moves and being completely immune to Ground moves. Offensively, Poison is not a good attacking type. Rock, Ground, Ghost and other Poison types resist it, and Steel is completely immune to it. Otherwise, only pure Grass types are hit super-effectively.
Movepool: Koffing needs to get by with the weak Smog or the nearby Secret Power TM until it learns the move Sludge at level 21 for a good STAB move. Koffing also learns Selfdestruct really early as an option to take out difficult Pokemon from strong trainers. Explosion is a later, stronger version for the same purpose. Otherwise, its level-up movepool is pretty shallow. Koffing needs to make use of TMs for its strongest attacking options. The Sludge Bomb TM gives it a very strong STAB move, and the Thunderbolt and Flamethrower TMs give it useful coverage. Later, Thunder and Fire Blast will be stronger available options. The Shadowball TM can also be used to hit Psychic types harder. Weezing only learns Flash among the HMs.
Major Battles: Koffing is too weak and frail against Flannery and Norman to be of much use, but Selfdestruct can be an option against their ace Pokemon. Winona is a neutral matchup for Koffing, but its immunity to Earthquake means it generally does fine. The last two special-oriented gyms are not good for Weezing, though. Koffing struggles a bit against your Rival and Team Aqua & Magma due to its low speed and special bulk. Poison resists and Intimidate Mightyena are also problems. Weezing can barely help against anything from the Elite Four and Champion.
Additional Comments: Koffing levels up fast but also comes a bit underleveled and has an unreasonably high evolution level at 35. Weezing is also rather TM-reliant.

E rank:

Nosepass

Name: Nosepass
Availability: Nosepass can be found in Granite Cave by using Rock Smash on the breakable rocks in B2F, with a 30% chance at levels 10 to 20.
Stats: Nosepass has great defense and decent special defense, but otherwise awful stats. Its offenses and speed are alarmingly low. Nosepass is a slow wall with non-existent offenses.
Typing: Pure Rock is a bad defensive typing. Only Normal, Fire, Poison and Flying get resisted by it, while the common Ground, Grass, Water and Fighting moves hit it for super effective damage. On the offensive side, the type is slightly better. Flying, Fire, Ice and Bug Pokemon are hit for additional damage, but Ground and Fighting Pokemon resist it.
Movepool: Nosepass's movepool is bad. While Rock Throw and later Rock Slide via level-up are great, it doesn't learn any other attacking moves. Thunder Wave and Rest can be helpful. Nosepass can learn Thunderbolt, Earthquake, and a row of Normal moves via TMs but with its horrible offensive stats, it is not worth it to waste those important TMs on Nosepass. Its best attacking option will be Rollout from the Move tutor in Mauvile City, giving it the ability to dish out real damage after a couple of turns. Double Team can be used in combination with Thunder Wave to set up a Rollout sweep, as it's one of the only ways for Nosepass to contribute in harder fights. But it is still highly inconsistent.
Major Battles: Nosepass can attempt a Rollout sweep against Flannery, Norman and Winona when it sets up Thunder Wave and Double Team against the right Pokemon, but it can still fail to succeed. The last two gyms are terrible for Nosepass, as its weak Rollout gimmick doesn't work against them anymore. Nosepass is not of much help against your Rival and Team Aqua & Magma. Either it has a bad matchup or it is just unable to move due to flinches and confusion. Nosepass has no hope of helping in any way against the Elite Four and Champion.
Additional Comments: As Rock Smash is only able to be used in the overworld once the third gym has been beaten, one needs to backtrack to Granite Cave from Mauvile City to catch Nosepass. Nosepass is incredibly passive and can't do much of anything outside of Rollout. After Winona, its gimmick is simply not good enough anymore, and Nosepass' stats and typing don't allow it to contribute anymore. Nosepass is a one-trick pony, and its one gimmick is not even very good.

Plusle

Name: Plusle
Availability: Plusle can be found on Route 110 in Sapphire with a 15% chance at level 13. In Emerald and Ruby, its encoutner rate is 2% at levels 12 and 13.
Stats: Plusle has good speed and a decent special attack. Its bulk is below average, though. Plusle is a fast and decently powerful special sweeper.
Typing: Pure Electric only has Electric as a useful resistance, as otherwise almost everything hits Plusle neutrally. It has to look out for Ground type attacks, though. Offensively, Electric is quite useful against all the Water and Flying Pokemon in Hoenn. Ground types stop it completely, and Grass and Dragon types also resist its Electric attacks.
Movepool: Plusle has one of the best level-up movepools among the Electric types in Hoenn. Spark and Thunderbolt are its go-to great attacking options, but Thunder is also available via level-up. Thunder Wave, Encore and Fake Tears are useful utility moves. Light Screen via TM is also an option to go with Fake Tears. Plusle can be a Flash user.
Major Battles: Plusle is able to sweep Wattson with Encore and Fake Tears. Plusle is not able to beat Flannery due to her Ground type Pokemon. Norman is a neutral matchup but he can be tough due to Plusle's low physical bulk. Winona is a good matchup, but Altaria can be somewhat dangerous with Earthquake. Tate & Liza are also not a very good matchup. But Plusle is able to sweep through the Water gym aside from Whiscash. Plusle is great against your Rival and Team Aqua & Magma. It can't take on their Numels and Camerupts, though. Plusle is decent against a lot of Pokemon from the Elite Four as well as the Champion.
Additional Comments: Electric types are very useful in Hoeen, and while the available ones are pretty interchangeable, Pluse is one of the better ones due to its early availability and good support moves.

Sandshrew

Name: Sandshrew
Availability: Sandshrew can be found on Route 113 in Ruby and Sapphire with a 25% chance at levels 14 to 16. In Emerald, it can be found in the dessert part of Route 111 with a 35% chance at levels 19 to 21, as well as in Mirage Tower with a 50% chance at levels 20 to 24.
Stats: Sandshrew has decent attack and defense but otherwise very low stats. It is slow and weak to special attacks. Sandslash has good attack and defense, and also improves its other stats. However, its speed and special bulk are still on the lower side. Sandslash is a physically bulky and strong tank.
Typing: Pure Ground has only Poison and Rock as resistances but also Electric as an immunity. The common Water, Grass and Ice attacks hit it super effectively, though. Offensively, Ground is much better, hitting Electric, Fire and Rock types for double damage. Pure Grass types resist it, and Flying types are immune to Ground.
Movepool: Sandshrew's level-up movepool is incredibly barren. It learns no good Ground STAB moves. Only the early Slash is a good all-around physical move. The Dig TM should be given to Sandslash for a decently powerful STAB move. Later, the Earthquake TM gives it the strongest possible attack it can get. Rock Tomb, Aerial Ace, Brick Break and Iron Tail are solid coverage options. Rollout can also be used early. Sandslash can be a Cut, Rock Smash or Strength user.
Major Battles: In Ruby and Sapphire, Sandslash can be solid against Flannery with Rollout and Dig, but Sunny Day boosted Overheats threaten it with an OHKO. It is solid against Norman and Winona with its good defense, as well as Dig or Rollout. The last two gyms are not good for Sandslash, however. Sandslash is not of much use in the Elite Four or against the Champion, aside from a few specific Pokemon.
Additional Comments: Sandshrew levels up almost instantly once it has been captured. Sandslash is pretty reliant on important TMs, which other Pokemon may need more to get a solid moveset.

F rank:

Rhyhorn

Name: Rhyhorn
Availability: Rhyhorn can be found in Area 3 of the Hoenn Safari Zone with a 30% chance at levels 27 and 29.
Stats: Rhyhorn has good defense, solid attack and HP. Its special defense and speed are incredibly low, though. Rhydon has fantastic attack and defense, as well as good HP. It is still slow and weak to special moves, however. Rhydon is a slow but very powerful physical tank.
Typing: It's typing isn't great defensively. While Rhyhorn's immunity to Electric is great, it doesn't have many useful resistances and a lot of weaknesses to common attacking types like Fighting, Ground, Ice and most importantly, Water and Grass, which threaten it. Offensively, Rhydon's STAB combo is great, though, with only a few rare pokemon like Breloom, Claydol and Flygon resisting it.
Movepool: Rhyhorn's level-up movepool is decent, but most of its powerful options, like Earthquake and Megahorn, are past level 50 for it and around level 60 for Rhydon. Hence, first the Dig TM and later the Earthquake TM are required for good Ground STAB moves. Rock Blast via level-up is a solid Rock STAB move. If Rhyhorn has the ability Rock Head, then Double-Edge from the move tutor in Sootopolis City is a great all-around attack. Rhyhorn can use the Rock Smash and Strength HMs, while Rhydon can also make use of the Cut and Surf HMs.
Major Battles: Rhyhorn is not good against the last two remaining gyms. It is okay against the last Rival and Team Aqua or Magma fights, though. In the Elite Four, Rhydon can only be of help against a few specific Pokemon.
Additional Comments: Rhyhorn is in the slow experience group and, as such, has a hard time reaching its high evolution level of 42. The routes after obtaining Rhyhorn are also filled with many Water types that heavily threaten it due to its low speed. Having to rely on TMs for Ground STAB is also a real cost. Rhydon has no more highlights in the remaining game and is barely of use anymore.

Spinda

Name: Spinda
Availability: Spinda can be found on Route 113 with a 70% chance at levels 14 to 16.
Stats: Spinda has an underwhelming base 60 in all of its stats. It is a mediocre, physical or mixed attacker with underwhelming speed and damage output.
Typing: Normal only has one weakness in Fighting but also no resistances. It has a Ghost immunity, though. On the offensive side, Normal doesn't hit anything super-effectively and is resisted by Rock and Steel. Ghost types are completely immune to Normal attacks.
Movepool: Spinda's level-up movepool is good. Faint Attack and Psybeam offer good coverage, and Hypnosis and Teeter Dance are solid utility options. Dizzy Punch and Double-Edge via level-up are good options, but Strength via HM or Return via TM are more consistent. The late Trash can also be used, as Spinda is immune to being confused. The Shadow Ball and Brick Bream TMs offer Spinda even more coverage. It can also dip into special TMs with Psychic or Water Pulse for specific targets. Spinda can use Flash and Rock Smash in addition to the Strength HM.
Major Battles: Spinda can attempt to cheese its way past Flannery, Norman and Winona with Hypnosis and confusion-inflicting moves, but it is not consistent. Overall, Spinda doesn't do very well against any of the remaining gym leaders due to its poor stats. It is strong enough with Return to take on your Rival and Team Aqua & Magma, though. In the Elite Four, Spinda can use its Ghost immunity to take on Phoebe with Shadow Ball, but its low damage output makes it difficult. The other members of the Elite Four and the Champion are too strong for Spinda.
Additional Comments: Spinda comes underleveled but has a fast level growth to quickly catch up. Spinda is very underwhelming, and despite its decent traits, it fails to contribute much besides clearing routes due to its low stats.