Research The Most Buffed Pokémon Between Games: A Personal Research Project/Hobby

[Bramblestein]

Wingull/Pelipper (R/S -> S/M)

Ruby/Sapphire:

Wingull makes its debut in Ruby/Sapphire and despite being fast for the early game and having a decent Water/Flying typing, it just kind of falls flat. It's available before the first gym leader, but as a Water type it struggles to solo the gym thanks to being weak to Rock. Lotad, Seedot, and Shroomish are also available at the first gym and can do a better job of clearing it. For the rest of the game it suffers stiff competition against the plethora of other Water types and losing Speed upon evolution really hurts it. Pelipper is decently bulky, but this is pre-Roost so it would rather just be fast. All in all it's not terrible, it just kind of falls flat.

DPPt:

Things only get worse in DPPt where Wingull is really more of a Surf Nuisance than actual help. Further competition from fast, strong water types like Buizel and Starly's dominance as the best Flying type out Wingull further behind. It's mostly a trash mon on the level Zubat, something you get sick of seeing.

X/Y:

Things only get worse for the Gull in XY as more Pokemon are added, there's more competition for a teamslot and higher BST Pokemon just tend to perform better. Wingull also lacks a good Flying STAB having been passed over for Hurricane in Gen 5. Tbh I didn't even remember it being in these games.

SM:

This is where arguably the biggest Glow-Up any Mon has ever had occurs. SM not only gives Wingull access to Hurricane, but Pelipper gets a Buff to its Special Attack and a shiny new toy in Drizzle. Combined with its early distribution -literally Route 1- and only needing to be Level 25 to evolve, Pelipper and Wingull can start dominating the game from the get-go. Wingull isn't weak to Ilima's Smeargle (technician fwg coverage can really hurt) and it outspeeds. It also can beat Hala down pretty easily thanks to having Wing Attack at level 8. Not even Peck lol. But the biggest buff comes around the 2nd trial when you get the TM for Scald. Scald in the early 20s is busted. And Pelipper's ability to boost its power with automatic Rain and shiny new 95 base Special Attack let it power through the majority of the game, even clearing the Grass trial decently thanks to Air Cutter (just watch out for Sunny Day). Seriously, if you haven't played a run through of Sun and Moon with Wingull, give it a try. It's ridiculous. USUM does nerf it a bit since Scald is moved, but Water Pulse is still a powerful enough option under Rain.

 

[dodiabla]

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Butterfree RBY -> FRLG


RBY:

Like all early bug Pokemon, Butterfree has, at best, okay stats, with its main advantage being that it is fully evolved by level 10, which you'll probably reach before the first Gym with some training. Butterfree learns Confusion at level 12 in RB and 10 in Y, a very good move (mostly due to Psychic typing being broken in this gen) in early game. Butterfree also gets access to the powder moves a few levels later, giving it some utility. From TMs, Butterfree learns Psychic and Mega Drain, with its best Normal-type move being Double-Edge. And that's where the good news ends. Butterfree learns no STAB via level-up or TMs. Its level-up learnset ends on Psybeam at 32/34, meaning that by Celadon you're carrying a mon that will be more or less static.

FRLG:

Caterpie is still available in Viridian Forest, and Butterfree didn't suffer from the SpA/SpD split, as it got a decent 80 in both. The biggest buff that Butterfree gets is Compound Eyes, giving its powder moves near perfect accuracy. Level-up wise, Butterfree finally learns STAB, learning Gust at 28 and Silver Wind at 47. It still learns Confusion at 10 and Psybeam at 34 giving it some decent power. TM/Tutor wise, Butterfree gets Giga Drain, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Aerial Ace, Thief, and curiously, Dream Eater. Utility wise, it gets Safeguard, the aforementioned powder moves, Rain Dance, and Sunny Day. It won't exactly be a powerhouse, but Butterfree can serve as decent utility mon that can spread status, optimally sleep, recover HP, and gain boosts with Silver Wind.

 

[bdt2002]

Wingull: Ah, yes. The Pokémon equivalent of the seagulls from "Finding Nemo". This thing and Pelipper didn't have the best history, and then as we all know, Gen 7 gave it a whole host of buffs. I'm looking forward to seeing this one. In every Hoenn game despite have decent enough stats, it just falls flat compared to the insane Water-Type competition. I wonder which it's better in, the normal games or the Ultra games? Probably the normal ones, but who knows. For all I know it's even.

Caterpie: Of all the possible Pokémon that could have been nominated from Kanto, never in my life would I have expected this. The best part is, it's actually very much valid. This is like Smash Bros. Ultimate Pichu levels of unexpected buffs, if you know what I mean. Butterfree's movepool is a lot better than I expected, for an early game bug Pokémon that I could have sworn was version exclusive. (I say that because Beedrill got buffed too I guess, but not as much as Butterfree. At least ORAS fixed that.) You said it best, after all. It's not supposed to be a powerhouse like, say, a Dragonite or something. It's meant to be an early game pickup that can be raised into a useful utility Pokémon. Compound Eyes is an amazing Ability to complement its best options such as Sleep Powder (goes from 75% accuracy to about 97.5% accuracy) and the addition of Natures helps it out as well. In my eyes, the removal of stat experience in favor of EVs looks bad on paper for most frail Pokémon with low attack power, but like with Cubone, many of the Pokémon that outclassed it previously got nerfed with the change, helping Butterfree as a result. So...yeah. That's nomination number 5 for my team. And great nominations, you two.

Current FireRed "Most Buffed" Theme Team: Charizard, Primeape, Butterfree, Marowak, Lapras, +1 (Lapras can be replaced if there's a better Water-Type in terms of buffs, but I'm pretty sure there isn't. 10 levels higher can go a long way along with all the other data I have on it.)

 

[DrPumpkinz]

*ievan polkka plays in the distance*

Explanation coming soon.

 

[Ironmage]

Low-tier bugs got me thinking:

ledyba/Ledian GSC->USUM

A specialized support mon. It got three separate buffs in generation 4:
1: The physical/special move split. It's SpA is higher, and this allows it to finally use that with its bug STAB, as well as coverage like Focus Blast.
2: Ledyba now learns light screen, reflect, and safeguard earlier, no longer needing to delay evolution for it.
3: U-turn. Not massive damage, but it's better than baton pass on screens sets
Gen 5 didn't do much, though eviolite and an HA of Rattled could help the unevolved form (ledian, unfortunately, gets Iron Fist instead)
Gen 6 introduces Infestation, providing an extra source of passive damage or a way of trapping that could be Baton Passed.
It's however only in gen 7 that it finally gets a special flying STAB in air slash. Totems (and UNecrozma) are more vulnerable to passive damage from toxic/infestation than a trainer with multiple mons would be. Additionally, while it has had Tailwind as a tutor move since HGSS, the tutor for it is most accessible in USUM, at Ulaula beach. It also has a neutral matchup against early challenges (and a positive one against Raticate and Lurantis, though not Lurantis' allies), compared to having a disadvantage against Falkner and Grant.

 

[R_N]

Ledian is one of those cases where, objectively, it is better off...I would still just call it about the same levels of bad

 

[bdt2002]

Farfetch'd: This thing is a bit of an anomaly to me. I have no idea what kind of buffs it's gotten, but I do know the ingame trade one in XY isn't half bad, shockingly. I'm looking forward to what's in store. Also, nice music choice.

Ledyba: The buffs that Ledyba and it's evolution have got have definitely helped it, but the Bug-Type sadly still doesn't have stats high enough to make use of most of these new options. Residual damage stall can only do so much against the strong and tanky boss fights of Alola, and power creep can and will hurt it through the game, even with the ability to customize EVs. Ultra Necrozma just isn't happening thanks to Power Gem, either. If one is looking for a challenge with an underrated support Pokémon, however, I highly recommend it. I've never tried one, but who knows? Maybe I will someday.

 

[StarKirb94]

I think Farfetch'd is a bit of a weird case. I'm not sure how it is in the other games, but Farfetch'd is surprisingly benefited by Red and Blue's mechanics.

100%-Crit STAB Slash at only lvl 39 (much earlier than Persian), Swords Dance at only lvl 23 (2 levels earlier than in all other games) that's really useful while you don't get Slash, STAB Fury Attack that hits for double damage if a single hit crits, Body Slam compatibility (convenient, considering it comes at the same time as Farfetch'd itself), Fly compatibility for a Flying-Type STAB and HM move usability. You can obtain it by simply trading away a Spearow, and it'll even come with double exp growth rate.

Future games keep some of these characteristics, but if anything it was nerfed due to the critical rate nerf and lack of Body Slam TM. RB Farfetch'd's sheer combination of Swords Dance + Body Slam this early into the game is really interesting, and 100% crit Slash is simply amazing.

Its only real drawbacks here are the low stats and lack of Hyper Beam, but even then it's still one of the, if not THE best Farfetch'd in the series.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

It's time. (Midterms and computer problems made this take longer than expected.)

Farfetch'd has been a joke of a Pokemon in almost every game, but it's had a few shining moments in speedruns. Its first moment is in FireRed, in the Elite 4 Rematch category. Refighting the Elite 4 in FireRed apparently requires you to catch a certain number of Pokemon, so adding Pokemon to the Pokedex becomes important to the route. Farfetch'd can be acquired early in the run through a trade, making it good to grab, since it's two mons for the price of one. It also learns both Fly and Cut, making it a good HM slave.

However, its biggest moment under the sun is in the super early game of X, where it's the main Pokemon, before being replaced by Hawlucha and Lucario. This is due to its early access to decently powerful moves like Aerial Ace and Knock Off, early access to Swords Dance through TM, and type advantage over the first gym.

 

[VagueKatti]

->

->

Lucario (DPP->BW2->XY)

DPP: Lucario is at its absolute worst in-game in its home region. Good luck if you want to use one - it comes from an egg after clearing Iron Island, an optional side-area, right before the 6th gym. This one factor alone immediately kills any shot of Lucario having even the slightest viability - you will have go out of your way to use him, going on an optional detour only to devote hours simply to hatch the egg and grind it up to an acceptable level. Once you do get him up to par, however, he performs pretty well! He has a good match-up against Byron and especially Candice, does adequately against Volkner, resists anything Aaron throws at him, and has decent match-ups against Cynthia. The payoff is fine, but it’s difficult to justify devoting the time to him.

BW2: Lucario immediately gets a lot better here! Riolu is obtainble before the very first gym, which just so happens to be a normal gym! If you’re feeling just as masochistic as you were back in DPP, you can also walk around enough to have a Lucario before the very first gym, which is just absurd; the Return TM also is given to you after you beat Cheren, giving you a potential 102 BP attack from the get-go. Lucario has excellent match-ups in this game - takes out Cheren, resists anything Roxie, Burgh, and Drayden throws out against him, handles all members of Plasma with ease, takes down Shauntal and Grimsley, and resists most of what Iris has to offer. This isn’t to say he doesn’t have some issues, however; his primary issue is his somewhat barren moveset early-game, with his first Fighting STAB, Force Palm, coming at Level 15 and not having a good replacement until you grind at the Battle Subway for Brick Break or you bear with it until level 51 for Aura Sphere. Regardless, Lucario’s sheer statistical advantage early-game makes up for this deficit, and he’s a fantastic ‘mon to use.

XY: What if we took BW2 Lucario’s positive traits, took away all of his downsides, and added even more to the package? This is XY Lucario. You have two options; catch a Riolu outside of Santalune before the first gym, or use the free Hasty Lucario given to you to demonstrate Mega Evolution. I’m personally inclined to the latter for its convenience, but the first option gives you 3 guaranteed 31 IVs and 3 extra gyms of availability. Either way, Riolu is fantastic from the very start; Viola may resist his Fighting STAB, but he resists Bug right back, and it’s all uphill from there. He stomps on Grant, handles Team Flare’s grunts with ease, and soon after gets the Lucarionite to tear everything up. From gaining access to his Mega onwards, there is not a single match-up that Lucario doesn’t crush with his excellent coverage and incredibly potent STABs thanks to Adaptability. There’s just not much more to say; Lucario is one of the best, if not the best in-game Pokemon in X and Y; his only real flaw is his lackluster bulk, but with his strong defensive typing that’s rarely an issue.

Lucario has always had a strong pay-off regardless of the game he’s in; the difference has always been the ease by which you can use him. In DPP the cost was too steep, in BW2 that cost was negated almost entirely, and then in X and Y took the cost, broke it over his knee, and is now one of the single most powerful choices in in-game history. While never truly unusable, Lucario’s sheer strength has amplifed over the generations.

 

[Machoke]

--->

I'd like to mention Masquerain and the long way it has come from RSE where it was introduced all the way to SM/USUM.

AVAILABILITY
- RSE
Surskit could be found in various routes:
Routes 102, 111, 114, 117, and 120
However, you could probably go through the whole game without ever encountering Surskit once. Why?
It's encounter rate was 1%.
This fact made Surskit extremely frustrating to try and capture.
Masquerain was not available in the wild.

- SM/USUM
Surskit could be found in:
Brooklet Hill
This relatively early location paired with the fact that Surskit's encounter rate (Highest - 40%) made Surskit pretty easy to add to your team.
Masquerain could also be found at Malie Garden with a 20% encounter rate.
Note: This is during Night only

EVOLVING
As Surskit is relatively weak, it is tough to train a Surskit into a Masquerain. However, this is considerably easier in SM/USUM than in RSE because of a few factors:
- Exp. Share buff:
This buff allows passive experience gains to Masquerain without having to think much about it.
- Bubblebeam:
In RSE, Surskit learns Bubblebeam, its strongest attacking move, at level 25. Before then it has to rely on weak moves and its poor attack stat. Additionally, this is AFTER 22 when it evolves in the first place, meaning if you want Bubblebeam on Masquerain you have to wait 3 more levels as a Surskit before evolving!
In SM/USUM, Surskit learns Bubblebeam at level 17, which is a level you can catch it in the wild, making training considerably easier and ensuring that Masquerain can have Bubblebeam as early as possible.
Edit: Around the same area, you also get Scald as a TM, further allowing for a strong water move and a burn chance too! (Thanks to DrPumpkinz for pointing this out)

PHYSICAL/SPECIAL SPLIT
In RSE, Masquerain could not use attacking bug or flying moves using its superior special attack stat. Instead, it had to rely on a low 60 attack. The physical/special split allowed Masquerain to attack using special stab moves, which greatly improved its ability to deal damage.

STAT BUFFS
Masquerain is the pokemon to receive the single LARGEST stat buff from one generation to another thus far!
- RSE:
Special Attack: 80
Speed: 60
- SM/USUM:
Special Attack: 100 (+20)
Speed: 80 (+20)
This is a whopping 40 point improvement into its base stat total, and in the stats that really matter, too! This increase is very noticeable in Masquerain being able to outspeed pokemon it couldn't outspeed before AND deal higher damage in the process.

MOVESET BUFFS
-RSE:
Masquerain's highest power levelup moves are Gust learned at level 26 and Silver Wind learned at level 47. Masquerain has no form of reliable recovery.
-SM/USUM:
Masquerain's levelup movepool has greatly expanded to include Air Cutter (level 26), Air Slash (level 38), and Bug Buzz (level 42). It learns Silver Wind earlier too, at level 32 (In RSE, level 47). Its support movepool is also better with Stun Spore now being learned at level 26 (In RSE, level 40), Quiver Dance at level 52, and Roost via TM.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Masquerain has definitely come a lot way since RSE. It went from being the unnecessarily rare bug with a bad levelup movepool and stats to being a capable special attacker with good support moves and usable stats. Although Masquerain still isn't one of the most popular choices for a playthrough in SM/USUM, it can certainly fulfill its role on a team much more effectively now than when it was first introduced.

And some notable things confirming this:
RSE In-Game Tier List Thread Surskit Rank: F
SM In-Game Tier List Thread Surskit Rank: C
& All the posts I remember of "Omg Guzma's Masquerain was unexpectedly strong!" haha

I'm glad to see Masquerain doing a lot better now than it did when it first came out. I'll always have a soft spot for my favorite Bug/Flying mon. :)

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Bubblebeam:
In RSE, Surskit learns Bubblebeam, its strongest attacking move, at level 25. Before then it has to rely on weak moves and its poor attack stat. Additionally, this is AFTER 22 when it evolves in the first place, meaning if you want Bubblebeam on Masquerain you have to wait 3 more levels as a Surskit before evolving!
In SM/USUM, Surskit learns Bubblebeam at level 17, which is a level you can catch it in the wild, making training considerably easier and ensuring that Masquerain can have Bubblebeam as early as possible.

In SM, it's even better, because you get the Scald TM at pretty much the same time.

 

[dodiabla]

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Mr. Mime RBY -> FRLG

RBY:

Ah, everyone's favorite uncanny valley Pokemon, Mr. Mime aka Marcel. Available before Lt. Surge if you go thru Diglett's Cave right away, he is one of the earliest trades, along with Dux. The only downside is that, unlike Spearow, Abra can be difficult to catch before Teleporting away. Once obtained, Mr. Mime is...underwhelming honestly. His only damaging moves via level up are Confusion (known from the onset) and Doubleslap (which he learns at lvl 31). He does learn Light Screen (lvl 23) Barrier (onset) and Substitute (lvl 47) which are barely helpful. TMs expand Mr. Mime's attacking movepool with Psywave, Psychic, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Solarbeam, Submission, Mega Punch/Kick, Body Slam, and Hyper Beam. For utility, Mr. Mime gets Mimic, Metronome, Thunder Wave, Flash, Counter, and Reflect. In this gen, Mr. Mime feels less like a mime, and more like a gamble.

FRLG:

Mr. Mime is back, and unlike Ash's father, he might stick around this time. He's still available after Diglett's Cave, and Abra can be slightly easier to catch with the availability of two Great Balls (hidden right after exiting Mt. Moon and Route 11). The SpA/SpD split didn't hurt Mr. Mime, as he kept his 100 SpA and got a buffed 120 SpD. His ability, Soundproof, isn't terrible, if only for the fact that it helps you avoid confusion hell from all the Zubats you'll encounter in Rock Tunnel. The biggest buffs that Mr. Mime gets, however, is to his revamped movepool. Via level-up, Mr. Mime learns Substitute (lvl 8), Doubleslap (lvl 15), Light Screen/Reflect (lvl 19), Magical Leaf (lvl 22), Encore (lvl 26), Psybeam (lvl 29), Psychic (lvl 43), and Baton Pass (lvl 47). Light Screen and Reflect might arguably be the biggest buff, as the mechanic is changed from buffing the individual Pokemon's Def/SpD to the mechanic we are familiar with today. Continuing with his re-invention, Mr. Mime also gets Calm Mind, Taunt, Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Solarbeam, Shadow Ball, Shockwave, Counter, Dream Eater, Mimic, Metronome, Seismic Toss, and Thunder Wave via TM/Move Tutor.

 

[bdt2002]

It appears as though I have quite a few nominations to get through.

Farfetch'd: Everything I could have said about it has been said by you guys. That doesn't mean it's a bad Pokémon though. Shoutouts to the new evolution in Galar by the way.

Surskit: This thing got improved much more than I thought it did. It is indeed better with Scald in SM too. If the above info is anything to go off of, I'd vouch for Surskit being a B Tier instead of a C Tier on that list of theirs. SM Surskit and especially Quiver Dance Masquerain are much better than they were in any other Pokémon game. It's biggest problem lies in the fact that it faces massive competition from Dewpider for a team slot. The spider has a much better Ability and keeps its Water typing upon evolution, while making up for its lower Speed with higher bulk. It doesn't help that Dewpider's Water-Type Z-Moves are among the hardest hitting attacks in all of Alola after the boost from Water Bubble. USUM gave Masquerain another buff you might have forgotten about, being earlier access to Flyinium Z than in the original games. All in all, pretty cool Pokémon. I might just use it sometime in these games.

Mr. Mime: This Pokémon didn't really receive many buffs in terms of viability per se, but its wider movepool helps it out a ton. Dual screens are a godsend for it in these games in particular. If anything, it feels like a more defensive, much easier to raise Gardevoir from RSE, who is already a decent enough Pokémon with some issues of its own. (Not sure if Gardevoir is better in XY or ORAS.) Calm Mind is a grat add on since unlike Alakazam (if you can trade evolve it) it is bulky enough to set it up most of the time. Not much else I can say aside from having a Nature and IVs helps it a lot.

Edit: I'm saving Riolu for its own comment because this thing has buffs galore. It would be too much to add them onto here. That thing is basically the Meta Knight of XY playthroughs, after all.

 

[Magcargo]

Pokemon gaining the Fairy-type from gen 5 to gen 6 drastically improved several Pokemon. One such Pokemon is...

Mawile RSE -> ORAS

I have little experience using Mawile in the original RSE, but its clear it had a lot of issues there. No good STAB attacks, very poor physical level-up movepool, and lackluster stats are pretty big issues it had, offsetting perks like intimidate and its good typing.

In ORAS, Mawile was massively improved. Obviously, its Megastone being obtainable during the main story is a pretty massive buff given how busted Mega Mawile is, but regular Mawile became significantly better as well. The physical / special split and new moves like Iron Head drastically increased its power level compared to before, and the addition of Fairy STAB gave it a stronger matchup against Team Magma / Aqua's dark-types. Even though Mawile's stronger stab moves are seemingly locked to higher levels, you can gain access to them as soon as you reach Fallarbor town, which is a huge perk. Mawile's bigger movepool and better typing make it a much better user of the Swords Dance TM in Lavaridge Town.

Outside of Mawile, there are a few other Pokemon that were significantly buffed by gaining the Fairy-Type. Azumarill and Gardevoir are notable examples.

EDIT: Also a cool tidbit about Farfetch'd critical hit ratio (since it was just being discussed): In X and Y, if its holding a Stick and has max affection, it will land a critical hit on every attack.

 

[bdt2002]

Pokemon gaining the Fairy-type from gen 5 to gen 6 drastically improved several Pokemon. One such Pokemon is...

Mawile RSE -> ORAS

I have little experience using Mawile in the original RSE, but its clear it had a lot of issues there. No good STAB attacks, very poor physical level-up movepool, and lackluster stats are pretty big issues it had, offsetting perks like intimidate and its good typing.

In ORAS, Mawile was massively improved. Obviously, its Megastone being obtainable during the main story is a pretty massive buff given how busted Mega Mawile is, but regular Mawile became significantly better as well. The physical / special split and new moves like Iron Head drastically increased its power level compared to before, and the addition of Fairy STAB gave it a stronger matchup against Team Magma / Aqua's dark-types. Even though Mawile's stronger stab moves are seemingly locked to higher levels, you can gain access to them as soon as you reach Fallarbor town, which is a huge perk. Mawile's bigger movepool and better typing make it a much better user of the Swords Dance TM in Lavaridge Town.

Outside of Mawile, there are a few other Pokemon that were significantly buffed by gaining the Fairy-Type. Azumarill and Gardevoir are notable examples.

EDIT: Also a cool tidbit about Farfetch'd critical hit ratio (since it was just being discussed): In X and Y, if its holding a Stick and has max affection, it will land a critical hit on every attack.

Mawile was going to be one of my nominations for ORAS, but it has two problems. Granted these are problems it had in RSE also. It's a version exclusive, which is anyyoing, but it also doesn't have many opportunities to shine type-wise and it gets walled by many physical walls lategame. The buffs Mawile got in Gen 6 were no doubt amazing, yes. It just isn't as buffed as my top ORAS nominations. See my post on Feebas for more details.

Now what I will say is great is the pre-Elite 4 Mega Stone and the ability to completely wall out certain Pokémon just be sheer typing alone.

 

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Gyarados GSC->HGSS

GSC:
Out of all the generations that you can catch it, GSC might be Gyarados' worst showing. The SpA/SpD split really hurt, as Gyarados is left with only a measly base 60 SpA from which to fire off all its special moves, a fall from grace from the 100 Special that Gyarados had in his debut. Level-up wise, Gyarados attack movepool is pretty barren, only learning Bite (20), Dragon Rage (25), Twister (35), Hydro Pump (40), and Hyper Beam (50). Gyarados gets extensive coverage with Headbutt, Electric Moves (T-Bolt, Thunder, Zap Cannon), Rock Smash, Ice Moves (Icy Wind, Ice Beam, Blizzard), Dragonbreath, Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Surf, Waterfall, Whirlpool, and Strength. The glaring downside is that most of these moves are special, and you'd rather save them for pokemon who'd pack a bigger punch. Utility-wise, Gyarados doesn't get much outside of Swagger and Curse. Magikarp is readily available throughout the game, the earliest at lvl 10 on Route 32 after obtaining the Old Rod, which is early, provided you want to grind up 10 levels. Gyarados can be caught at Lake of Rage at various levels, with the famous Red Gyarados being level 30, an okay level for the area.

HGSS:
Gyarados gets three big buffs since his GSC days. The first one, Intimidate, and the second, Natures, it received in RSE. They give Gyarados some more utility and let it ameliorate its horrible SpA respectively. The third, and maybe most important buff, is the move split into physical and special. Gyarados can finally utilize its coverage to deal some damage using its Attack stat! And boy, does its coverage get expanded. Level-up wise, Gyarados expands its moveset with Ice Fang (32), Aqua Tail (35), and Dragon Dance (44). TM/HM wise Gyarados still gets its Electric(T-bolt, Thunder), Ice (Ice Beam, Blizzard), and Fire (Fire Blast, Flamethrower) coverage and even expands its Ice coverage with Avalanche. It also gets Water Pulse, Earthquake, Brine, Dragon Pulse, Payback, Stone Edge, Dark Pulse, Surf, Waterfall (now Physical), Whirlpool, and Rock Smash (now 40 instead of 20 Power). Utility wise, Gyarados' most notable change is that it once again learns Thunder Wave. You can still catch Magikarp at level 10 on Route 32, as well as Gyarados at Lake of Rage. This time, however, the latter might be preferable, as you can catch the Red Gyarados and train (or Rare Candy) it up only a few levels for it to have a moveset of Bite/Ice Fang/Aqua Tail/Whatever, which is fantastic coverage. Overall, Gyarados shines in this generation, and goes from meh mon to a staple team member.

 

[bdt2002]

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Gyarados GSC->HGSS

GSC:
Out of all the generations that you can catch it, GSC might be Gyarados' worst showing. The SpA/SpD split really hurt, as Gyarados is left with only a measly base 60 SpA from which to fire off all its special moves, a fall from grace from the 100 Special that Gyarados had in his debut. Level-up wise, Gyarados attack movepool is pretty barren, only learning Bite (20), Dragon Rage (25), Twister (35), Hydro Pump (40), and Hyper Beam (50). Gyarados gets extensive coverage with Headbutt, Electric Moves (T-Bolt, Thunder, Zap Cannon), Rock Smash, Ice Moves (Icy Wind, Ice Beam, Blizzard), Dragonbreath, Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Surf, Waterfall, Whirlpool, and Strength. The glaring downside is that most of these moves are special, and you'd rather save them for pokemon who'd pack a bigger punch. Utility-wise, Gyarados doesn't get much outside of Swagger and Curse. Magikarp is readily available throughout the game, the earliest at lvl 10 on Route 32 after obtaining the Old Rod, which is early, provided you want to grind up 10 levels. Gyarados can be caught at Lake of Rage at various levels, with the famous Red Gyarados being level 30, an okay level for the area.

HGSS:
Gyarados gets three big buffs since his GSC days. The first one, Intimidate, and the second, Natures, it received in RSE. They give Gyarados some more utility and let it ameliorate its horrible SpA respectively. The third, and maybe most important buff, is the move split into physical and special. Gyarados can finally utilize its coverage to deal some damage using its Attack stat! And boy, does its coverage get expanded. Level-up wise, Gyarados expands its moveset with Ice Fang (32), Aqua Tail (35), and Dragon Dance (44). TM/HM wise Gyarados still gets its Electric(T-bolt, Thunder), Ice (Ice Beam, Blizzard), and Fire (Fire Blast, Flamethrower) coverage and even expands its Ice coverage with Avalanche. It also gets Water Pulse, Earthquake, Brine, Dragon Pulse, Payback, Stone Edge, Dark Pulse, Surf, Waterfall (now Physical), Whirlpool, and Rock Smash (now 40 instead of 20 Power). Utility wise, Gyarados' most notable change is that it once again learns Thunder Wave. You can still catch Magikarp at level 10 on Route 32, as well as Gyarados at Lake of Rage. This time, however, the latter might be preferable, as you can catch the Red Gyarados and train (or Rare Candy) it up only a few levels for it to have a moveset of Bite/Ice Fang/Aqua Tail/Whatever, which is fantastic coverage. Overall, Gyarados shines in this generation, and goes from meh mon to a staple team member.

I haven't had the opportunity to chat on here in a while, but I did wish to acknowledge the serious buffs Gyarados got in HGSS compared to GSC. You actually made my job very easy because you covered, well, basically everything in one post. So thanks for that. What I will say is that Waterfall is in an of itself a massive buff for it, being one the best users of the HM in the entire game.

Say, while on the subject of HGSS...would anyone mind if I...ahem, cracked open another one of my nominations? I won't double post, but just know that it's coming shortly.

 

[Matleo]

gen 3 legendaries in their remakes and Charizard.

 

[bdt2002]

Not gonna lie, I kinda forgot this thread existed for a while. Oh well. So anyways, I wanted to talk about a very unique nomination: Togepi in HGSS.

Togepi (GSC > HGSS)

So hear me out: this thing was AWFUL in GSC. No reliable attacking moves and no specific niche on top of already having terrible stats and being hard to raise. Togetic doesn't help too much in any department bar Special Defense, and for ingame, you're honestly better off using any other Normal/Flying Pokémon unless you're a fan of Metronome shenanigans.

Fast forward to HGSS and it's still not top tier by any means, but the amount of extra new stuff it got was ridiculous. Abilities are a mixed bag as Hustle kinda sucks, but Serene Grace is a godsend, combined with the fact it now gets access to STAB Headbutt. On top of that, Togepi receives one of the best moves it could possibly have as a special Egg move to use alongside it: Extrasensory. The two moves both benefit from Serene Grace, as do many of the moves it gets in general, and they are great to switch back and forth between because they tend to hit things really hard that the other does barely anything or nothing at all against, such as the Gastly line. Metronome now has even more jankiness to work with, and the other options it has are much more viable, especially if you trade over a Shiny Stone from a Sinnoh game like I did in SoulSilver to get a Togekiss before the postgame. The biggest buff though has to be that it's just easier to raise from when you first hatch it. Extrasensory is amazing not only because it's higher BP for that point in the game makes up for its low attacking stats, but also because you can easily gringo against wild Poison-Types for extremely easy levels and friendship. Speaking of friendship, it gets Return now, and it's excellent on a Hustle set once evolved alongside the newer ExtremeSpeed and a buffed Fly attack. (Provided I don't know where to get the TM for Return.)

All in all, HGSS Togepi requires some effort and maybe some trading for items to reach its full potential, but it's viability ceiling is FAR greater than it ever was in GSC, and I can say that at its full potential, it's definitely one of the best Pokémon to use in Johto, on top of already being super fun to try out.