I'm just going to comment on everything as best I can.
S Tier:
- Abra (Trade)
- Abra (No Trade)
- Totodile
I think we should keep S-tier and that these should be the only things in it. Sure that would leave us with a small tier but I don't really have an issue with a tier being too big or too small and I don't think we should be trying to meet some size quota. If it ends up containing 2 Pokemon then so be it.
Abra: should be fairly self-explanatory. Super-strong with great coverage, along with strong match-ups against the majority of the Pokemon used by important trainers. Umbreon and Houndoom from Karen are the worst it'll face, but aside from those, Whitney's Miltank, and maybe Clair's Kingdra, it should be fine. It's only flaw is availability: it comes early-mid game but you also have to deal with Teleport.
Totodile: isn't as strong as Abra, or perhaps even some of the A-tiers, but I think that it should get special consideration as a starter and overall it's a well-rounded Pokemon with solid stats, good movepool, and plenty of opportunities to contribute in match-ups.
A Tier:
- Cyndaquil
- Gastly (Trade)
- Geodude (Trade)
- Geodude (No Trade)
- Ho-oh (G)
- Lugia (S)
- Magikarp
- Magmar (GS)
- Miltank
- Nidoran F
- Nidoran M
- Psyduck
- Spearow
- Suicune (C)
- Tauros
- Teddiursa (C)
- Wooper
Cyndaquil: has been discussed to death and I think it should be
A-tier. Its movepool is limited and some of its match-ups could be better, but again I think it gets special treatment simply for being a starter, which is important because the starter never has to play catch-up and will NEVER be under-leveled with respect to the rest of the team. It has plenty to contribute early-game despite its poor movepool as Fire is a decent enough typing in certain situations. There really isn't much to say that hasn't been said already.
Gastly (trade): should drop to
B-tier I think. Obviously Gengar is great once it reaches that stage, but Gastly is severely let down by its terrible movepool. It's worth noting that Gastly isn't actually "useless" early-game simply because its defensive typing is terrific at that point in the game and lets it win battles by virtue of being resistant/immune to a large amount of the moves being thrown out by foes, but sadly it doesn't help it win battles quickly. Lick is just too weak and the rest of its movepool contains gimmicks, although Night Shade is something of an improvement. At least Curse is helpful against Whitney's Miltank. Evolution at level 25 is a bit late for such a weak attacker too, but sticking with it does pay off.
Geodude: can stay
A-tier. This is another one that has been discussed to death and it's among the most useful Pokemon early game, although it's less useful later on in Johto. Geodude has always been a Pokemon of extremes, but it happens to have things set up favourably for it early on in this particular game.
Ho-Oh (Gold): I think this should drop to
B-tier simply for its late appearance. I have no doubt that it can make an impact during the few Johto battles it has access to but I don't think its few possible contributions should be ranked on par with Pokemon that are available for the entire game. Catching it is also annoying unless you have the Master Ball, which causes Ho-Oh to miss another gym should you wish to use it.
Lugia (Silver): down to
B-tier. See Ho-Oh.
Magikarp: I'm going to assume this is supposed to represent the Red Gyarados. This is something I've always felt a bit borderline on. It does appear somewhat late compared to other stuff and it doesn't have the widest movepool, but I was always impressed by it whenever I used. I think the one thing it has going for it is the fact that it's a mandatory encounter that arrives at a high level to the point that you don't have to grind it at all, and it has way more opportunities to contribute than Lugia/Ho-Oh/Suicune. It also gets STAB Surf right away alongside Thrash. I think its the lack of truly favourable match-ups that hurt it a bit, but it certainly makes for a good route cleaner and can at least contribute in numerous match-ups through its stats and resistances. I'm leaning more towards
A-tier mainly because of the lack of time lost by using it, which is its main niche over a lot of the other Water-types available.
Magmar (Gold/Silver): A-tier easily. Its a strong attacker with great coverage, and it is a better battler than Cyndaquil for much of Johto due to its superior movepool. However, it loses to Cyndaquil on availability and misses out on some stuff that Cyndaquil can do (Bugsy and Sprout Tower being the key ones). I still think Magmar is slightly better overall but not enough to justify a tier difference. I also don't think it's quite on par with Abra who has even better match-ups and coverage, although Magmar's match-ups are hardly poor.
Miltank: I holding off on making a decision on this for now and wouldn't mind more discussion about this. I have posted what I think about Miltank and its placement in A-tier before and its something I'm still not sure about - I previously said B-tier. It's not that I have an issue with it being in A-tier so much as I'm not sure whether it should be ranked above some of the other Normal-types. Sure, Miltank has better stats that may come into play in certain match-ups but I don't know if that's really enough to put it above Rattata and Sentret who are available for longer and easier to find (and they have Dig but Miltank is hardly lacking in moves). For me it's a bit like comparing Cyndaquil and Magmar, except that the difference in battling performance is probably even smaller. And yes, I know that Friend Ball is helpful and all but I don't think it's some band-aid solution that makes up for everything. Even if you use time manipulation to get it sooner, you're only getting 1 Friend Ball, and then you have to catch a rare-ish Pokemon with a relatively low catch rate using the equivalent of 1 regular Poke Ball - if you get unlucky you have to reset and try again.
Nidoran-F: Posted about this before. I lean towards
B-tier because its obtained a little bit later than ideal, it's a bit of a hassle to evolve it, and lacks a good STAB move for too long. It's still a solid Pokemon that evolves relatively early and has excellent coverage, contributing in many match-ups and on route, but it falls a bit short occasionally and I don't think it's quite good enough for A-tier.
Nidoran-M: See Nidoran-F.
B-tier.
Psyduck: Can stay in
A-tier, as long as the eventual write-up for Psyduck makes sure to emphasize that it's wild caught Route 35 Golduck that is A-tier. Catching a Psyduck and leveling it up generally isn't worth it since it evolves late and is a bit weak, but skipping that and going straight for Golduck fixes that up somewhat.
Spearow: A-tier. I would argue it's the best Normal-type in the game when taking every criterion into consideration: early availability, good stat distribution and good STAB options. Main thing that lets it down is a lack of coverage outside of its STAB so it gets walled by the occasion Rock- and Steel-type and needs a team mate to cover those. It doesn't have a huge number of favourable match-ups either but it can contribute in a number of them.
Suicune (Crystal): I think this should drop to
B-tier too. I don't think this should get special treatment compared to Lugia and Ho-Oh. I guess it does well against Lance with Water/Ice coverage, but I don't think that's quite enough to maks up for its lateness. B-tier is sufficient as far as I'm concerned.
Tauros: Pretty much everything I've said for Miltank can apply for Tauros as well. Except it has a worse movepool.
Teddiursa (Crystal): The only significant issue with Teddiursa is actually obtaining it. It's encounter-able very early but it's rare and has that frustrating 50% flee chance. Otherwise it is amazing, with well-balanced stats and a huge movepool that gives it great match-ups across the board. It's just...so hard to catch. Whether it ends up in A-tier or B-tier basically comes down you want to penalize it for that. I personally lean towards
A-tier since I think what it brings to a team is simply that good - for what it's worth, I think Teddiursa would be an easy S-tier if it were as easily obtained as Rattata.
Wooper: A-tier. It's the best Water-type outside of Totodile. Obtained early with a quick evolution, great typing and STABs, as well as powerful moves learned relatively early, including a nice STAB Earthquake in the 30s (although admittedly that occurs when much of Johto is done). It is perhaps a bit underwhelming earlier on since its moves are rather weak but it still has Union Cave for a freebie.