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

[sumwun]

Treecko

Availability: Treecko can be received on Route 101 at level 5.
Stats: The Treecko family have strong Special Attack and can outspeed nearly everything. Their physical Attack is sometimes usable, and their defenses are mediocre.
Typing: Grass starts good, but it gradually gets worse as opponents use more Fire and Steel Pokemon. Past Lilycove, Grass is a good offensively and bad defensively, because Water Pokemon and Ice attacks simultaneously become common.
Movepool: This is Treecko's biggest downside. Until you get the third badge and the Strength HM, its strongest attack is Bullet Seed, and Sceptile never learns anything more powerful than Leaf Blade. The Treecko family can learn Rock Tomb, Dig, Strength, Brick Break, or Dragon Claw to cover various Grass-resistant opponents.
Major Battles: Treecko can usually solo Roxanne just by spamming Bullet Seed, but Brawly, Wattson, Flannery, and Winona are all difficult. Sceptile gets better against the last two gyms' Grass-weak Pokemon. Its matchups against Norman, Sidney, and Drake strongly depend on knowing Dig, Brick Break, and Dragon Claw, respectively.
Additional Comments:

(Marill and Magnemite are WIP)

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Might have found a niche for Seedot that could influence its ranking. Doing a nuzlocke I was trolling past fortree for an absol since I already had all of marill/poochy/mighty but ran into a Seedot instead. Coincidentally, this Seedot comes with Synthesis, is only a few levels away from Feint Attack as a Nuzleaf, and has a Leaf Stone available on the previous route, giving you vety quickly a pretty decent Shiftry. Coincidentally, the next gym leader is the usually quite difficult Tate and Liza, coincidentally Shiftry resists almost everything they can do and can STAB hit this with Feint Attack or Solar Beam.

Not sure yet if it can actually perform well enough to actually be decent with a Feint Attack / Solar Beam / Sunny Day / Synthesis set, acting like a Vileplume with a worse typing, but it might be one of those mons where holding off for a later acquisition materially changes its viability.

 

[Merritt]

Might have found a niche for Seedot that could influence its ranking. Doing a nuzlocke I was trolling past fortree for an absol since I already had all of marill/poochy/mighty but ran into a Seedot instead. Coincidentally, this Seedot comes with Synthesis, is only a few levels away from Feint Attack as a Nuzleaf, and has a Leaf Stone available on the previous route, giving you vety quickly a pretty decent Shiftry. Coincidentally, the next gym leader is the usually quite difficult Tate and Liza, coincidentally Shiftry resists almost everything they can do and can STAB hit this with Feint Attack or Solar Beam.

Not sure yet if it can actually perform well enough to actually be decent with a Feint Attack / Solar Beam / Sunny Day / Synthesis set, acting like a Vileplume with a worse typing, but it might be one of those mons where holding off for a later acquisition materially changes its viability.

Keep in mind that Route 120 Seedot, like all other Emerald Seedot, is a 1% encounter. This might be the one of the better ways to work with Seedot, but it's still coming fairly underleveled.

Synthesis itself isn't amazing either honestly, especially since Fortree City is when the outrageous Hyper Potions first become buyable.

Honestly it might still better to go for the Route 114 Nuzleaf in Emerald. Of course the more common Ruby Seedot/Nuzleaf don't appear on 120 because we can't have nice things.

 

[Punchshroom]

Merritt , can we get a summary of all the written analyses so far? You could compile them onto your reserved post on the front page, which is what I presume it's for.

write-ups

pikachu

Name: Pikachu
Availability: Pikachu can be found in the southern areas of the Safari Zone with a 15% encounter rate.
Stats: High Speed but lackluster stats everywhere else. Offenses improve upon evolution or equipping the Light Ball item, though it is very rare.
Typing: Electric typing has great use against Winona, the upcoming water routes, and Water-type bosses such as Juan, Wallace, and Glacia.
Movepool: Level 25 Pikachus come with Thunder Wave and learn Thunderbolt in 1 level, whereas Level 27 Pikachus already come with Thunderbolt, but needs to be reteached Thunder Wave, so take your pick on which is more valuable for you. As an Electric-type, Pikachu's movepool is pretty sparse, but it does get Brick Break and Light Screen to improve its coverage and utility, respectively. Because Pikachu doesn't need anything from its level-up movepool that can't be taught by TM, it is advised to evolve it immediately after learning Thunderbolt.
Major Battles: A quick backtrack lets Raichu grind for experience against Winona's Gym and take out everything except for Winona's Altaria. Raichu can fry most of the Water-types of Juan, Wallace, and Glacia and use Light Screen to help buffer hits better. Thunder Wave can help to neuter Drake's Salamence, while Brick Break has some mild use against Glacia's Light Screen Glalie as well as Sidney in general.
Additional Comments: While Pikachu does not need the Thunderbolt TM, it is still necessary to travel through New Mauville to acquire the Thunderstone, unless you're lucky enough to catch a Pikachu holding a Light Ball, though it is only a 5% chance. One could also manipulate Pikachu's nature with the Pokeblock feeder, with dry berries increasing the likelihood of +SpA natures and sweet berries making +Spe natured Pikachus more common.

shroomish

Name: Shroomish
Availability: Shroomish can be found in Petalburg Woods with a 15% encounter rate.
Stats: Good bulk with low offenses and Speed. Upon evolution, its Attack stat skyrockets to become obscenely high, especially at such an early point in the game.
Typing: Grass typing is useful for the earlier portions of the game due to its advantage against Rock and Electric. Upon gaining the Fighting type upon evolution, it gains additional favorable matchups against Wattson, Norman, Sidney, Glacia, and Steven, though it dislikes the new Psychic weakness against Tate & Liza. Note that Breloom does not rely on Grass-type moves for offense.
Movepool: Shroomish relies on disruptive moves such as Stun Spore, Leech Seed, and Mega Drain to take full advantage of its bulk and make up for its lack of power. Once it evolves, it changes gears to become an attacking powerhouse, crushing foes with moves like Bulk Up, Mach Punch, Rock Tomb, Silk Scarf-boosted Headbutt / Strength, Sludge Bomb, and Sky Uppercut, most of which are very powerful attacks for when they are learned compared to most Pokemon.
Major Battles: Shroomish can solo Roxanne while being able to hinder Brawly with Leech Seed. Breloom can smash Wattson, Archie, and Sidney pretty easily as well as wipe out most of Norman's trainers, while Norman and even Winona can be swept through with enough Bulk Ups and an X Speed for good measure (note: do not set up against Winona's lead Swellow; her Pelipper or lead Swablu in Emerald are better setup targets). It loses to Flannery, Tate&Liza, and Phoebe, but otherwise its immense power makes it a threat against nearly any opponent it fights, especially with the threat of Bulk Up + X-Speed sweeps.
Additional Comments: Breloom's usefulness against Glacia is heavily decided on whether Breloom is able to outspeed her Pokemon, so it should avoid having a speed-hindering nature and be fed any Carbos you can find.

absol

Name: Absol
Availability: Absol can be found in Route 120 with a 8% encounter rate.
Stats: Glass cannon; very high Attack stat with decent Speed and Special Attack, but poor defenses.
Typing: Dark typing is useful for its Psychic immunity and Ghost resistance, but does not serve Absol very well in the attacking department at all.
Movepool: Absol is TM-reliant, but fortunately it has a very diverse movepool that can easily be tailored to your needs. It has Swords Dance to bolster moves such as Shadow Ball, Aerial Ace, and Return to extremely powerful levels, or it can take advantage of the coverage granted by Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Flamethrower, which it can further augment with Calm Mind if it wants.
Major Battles: Absol technically has the movepool to contribute in nearly any major matchup, be it breaking teams with Swords Dance-boosted Shadow Ball, picking off specific targets with special attacks, or even potentially sweeping with Calm Mind. Do note that Absol's fraility and average Speed can make clean sweeps rather difficult, but Absol does fairly well in 1v1 battles due to its power or coverage, and can wipe out Tate&Liza, Steven, and Phoebe particularly easily.

meditite

Name: Meditite
Availability: Meditite can be found in the exterior of Mt. Pyre with a 30% encounter rate.
Stats: Mediocre to average stats but Pure Power is an absolute boon, doubling its Attack stat to turn it into a powerhouse.
Typing: Meditite will primarily use its Fighting-type for its offense. Its Psychic-typing makes it more suitable to fighting Tate&Liza, but gives it shakier Sidney and Phoebe matchups.
Movepool: Meditite's only form of offense when caught is Hidden Power, which is highly unlikely to be useful. This means that Meditite will have to rely on TMs such as Shadow Ball and Strength to fight on its own. Hi Jump Kick arrives at level 32 which shouldn't be far if you've caught the highest leveled Meditite, though that should be replaced by the more reliable Brick Break TM once you obtain it in Sootopolis.
Major Battles: Medicham's Shadow Ball rips through Tate&Liza, while a couple of Bulk Ups can allow Medicham to sweep through Wallace, Sidney, Glacia, Drake, and even possibly Steven, though an X Speed and Hyper Potion/Full Restore may be necessary to facilitate a clean sweep. Medicham is not expected to set up very comfortably against Phoebe, but Spell Tag-boosted Shadow Ball can heavily dent her Banettes so it can still put in work.
Additional Comments: Meditite takes a painful while to evolve, so be ready to put up with Meditite's horrific stats for the lategame.

taillow

Name: Taillow
Availability: Taillow can be found in Route 104 with a 10% encounter rate.
Stats: Terrific Speed and decent Attack, but bad defenses.
Typing: Normal/Flying typing gives access to good STABs early on, though that typing's usefulness will wane as the game progresses.
Movepool: Taillow is never out of reach of high powered STAB moves, with a potent early-game level-up movepool and taught moves such as Secret Power, Fly, Return, and Hyper Beam. However, Taillow doesn't have any other worthwhile attacking options.
Major Battles: Taillow's speed and strength lets it easily prey on route trainers, but outside of Brawly, Taillow doesn't actually excel in any important battles. Taillow can usually pick off most weaker Pokemon and can generally contribute in the majority of major fights thanks to its Speed and decently strong Silk Scarf-boosted attacks, but is otherwise usually heavily outmatched by the boss's ace Pokemon, especially by lategame, so it must pick its matchups carefully lest it get taken out without KOing anything.
Additional Comments: Swellow should be given the Return TM from returning the Meteorite as soon as possible to prevent its offense from falling off.

heracross

Heracross
Availability: Heracross can be found in the Safari Zone northeast area with a 5% encounter rate.
Stats: Heracross's amazing physical Attack and good Speed are perfect for quickly defeating regular trainers, and its decent bulk means you don't have to heal it very often.
Typing: Fighting is a good offensive type, but its weaknesses to Flying and Psychic are rather common toward the lategame. The Bug type is a hindrance as it makes Heracross weaker to Fire and Flying.
Movepool: Heracross comes already knowing Brick Break and can immediately learn Strength and Bulk Up. It usually only needs to spam Brick Break, but you can teach Heracross Earthquake to be able to touch Ghost-types. One is likely to have beaten the game before Heracross reaches level 53, so aiming for Megahorn is ill-advised.
Major Battles: Heracross can sweep Juan, Sidney, Glacia, Drake, Steven, and Wallace after a few Bulk Ups and an X Speed if necessary; certain lead Pokemon such as Juan/Wallace's Sweet Kiss Luvdisc, Sidney's Sand-Attack Mightyena, and Steven's Aerial Ace Skarmory are not ideal to set up against on the first turn, but they have other Pokemon that are much easier for Heracross to start Bulking Up on. Heracross only does not fare well against Tate&Liza, as Heracross can still Bulk Up on Winona's Pelipper/Swablu and Phoebe's Sableye and sweep their team.
Additional Comments: You can manipulate Heracross's nature by inserting Pokeblocks into Pokeblock feeders. Pokeblocks made of Leppa Berries increase the chance of +Physical Attack natures, while those made from Pecha Berries increase the likelihood of +Speed natures. Also, Guts is the slightly better ability.

makuhita

Makuhita
Availability: Makuhita can be found in the ground floor of Granite Cave with a 50% encounter rate at levels 6-10, or the first floor basement of Granite Cave with a 10% encounter rate at levels 10-11.
Stats: Enormous HP lets Hariyama tank stuff and use lots of Bulk Ups, and strong Physical Attack after a rather early evolution lets it 1v1 most things with or without Bulk Up. However, low defenses and Speed means it takes annoying status moves and consumes lots of potions when you fight regular trainers.
Typing: Fighting is a good offensive type throughout the game. The Psychic weakness occasionally hinders Hariyama.
Movepool: Makuhita learns Vital Throw at level 13, which is a really powerful attack at this point in the game and serves Hariyama well for much of it. Hariyama can learn Bulk Up, which it makes good use of easily due to its high HP. Much later, Hariyama can learn the slightly higher PP and non-negative priority Brick Break. Hariyama's movepool outside of Fighting-type attacks is really shallow, so moves such as Dig, Strength, or Earthquake provide much needed additional coverage against opponents that resist Fighting.
Major Battles: The Brawly matchup is unfavorable since his Makuhita is likely stronger and has Bulk Up. From here on, Hariyama can just brute force its way through most major battles with Bulk Ups, albeit with hefty Potion support. Consequently, Tate and Liza and the champion are the only really difficult fights. Of course, some opponents (namely Winona, Phoebe, and Drake) require more Bulk Ups than others.
Additional Comments: Thick Fat is the better ability because it makes Flannery and Glacia much easier. Note that Hariyama will consume much of your Potion reserves due to its high HP, low initial bulk, bad Speed, and heavy use of setup.

zubat

Name: Zubat
Availability: Zubat can be found in the second floor basement of Granite Cave B2F with a 30% encounter rate.
Stats: Amazing Speed, good Attack and respectable bulk.
Typing: Typing grants many 4x resistances which help in the early game, but weaknesses to Psychic, Ice, and Rock become more pronounced towards the lategame.
Movepool: The Steel Wing TM is needed to let Zubat competently fight on its own until it learns Wing Attack, while the Sludge Bomb TM is mandatory to achieve maximum damage output. All other moves it learns are helpful but not necessary. Note that even with Steel Wing, Zubat struggles against Rock-types, and Crobat is incapable of touching Steel-types.
Major Battles: Zubat can take on Brawly (albeit not very quickly) and does decently at route sweeping, but otherwise has average to terrible matchups against all other bosses, usually faltering against their ace Pokemon, especially those that are resistant or immune to Sludge Bomb. Crobat's attacking potential will falter towards the lategame, so its role tends to be relegated to toss out fast and strong attacks that can beat weaker trainers or KO one/two of the boss's Pokemon, or potentially harassing tough opponents with its fast Confuse Ray.
Additional Comments: Zubat is also available at Meteor Falls up to a more manageable level 20 and at a much higher 80% encounter rate, but the drawback is being stuck with the mediocre Golbat stage for longer.

Here's a list of my own, and I believe Texas Cloverleaf and sumwun have their own analyses hidden somewhere as well.

 

[Porii Sames]

Merritt , can we get a summary of all the written analyses so far? You could compile them onto your reserved post on the front page, which is what I presume it's for.

write-ups

pikachu

Name: Pikachu
Availability: Pikachu can be found in the southern areas of the Safari Zone with a 15% encounter rate.
Stats: High Speed but lackluster stats everywhere else. Offenses improve upon evolution or equipping the Light Ball item, though it is very rare.
Typing: Electric typing has great use against Winona, the upcoming water routes, and Water-type bosses such as Juan, Wallace, and Glacia.
Movepool: Level 25 Pikachus come with Thunder Wave and learn Thunderbolt in 1 level, whereas Level 27 Pikachus already come with Thunderbolt, but needs to be reteached Thunder Wave, so take your pick on which is more valuable for you. As an Electric-type, Pikachu's movepool is pretty sparse, but it does get Brick Break and Light Screen to improve its coverage and utility, respectively. Because Pikachu doesn't need anything from its level-up movepool that can't be taught by TM, it is advised to evolve it immediately after learning Thunderbolt.
Major Battles: A quick backtrack lets Raichu grind for experience against Winona's Gym and take out everything except for Winona's Altaria. Raichu can fry most of the Water-types of Juan, Wallace, and Glacia and use Light Screen to help buffer hits better. Thunder Wave can help to neuter Drake's Salamence, while Brick Break has some mild use against Glacia's Light Screen Glalie as well as Sidney in general.
Additional Comments: While Pikachu does not need the Thunderbolt TM, it is still necessary to travel through New Mauville to acquire the Thunderstone, unless you're lucky enough to catch a Pikachu holding a Light Ball, though it is only a 5% chance. One could also manipulate Pikachu's nature with the Pokeblock feeder, with dry berries increasing the likelihood of +SpA natures and sweet berries making +Spe natured Pikachus more common.

shroomish

Name: Shroomish
Availability: Shroomish can be found in Petalburg Woods with a 15% encounter rate.
Stats: Good bulk with low offenses and Speed. Upon evolution, its Attack stat skyrockets to become obscenely high, especially at such an early point in the game.
Typing: Grass typing is useful for the earlier portions of the game due to its advantage against Rock and Electric. Upon gaining the Fighting type upon evolution, it gains additional favorable matchups against Wattson, Norman, Sidney, Glacia, and Steven, though it dislikes the new Psychic weakness against Tate & Liza. Note that Breloom does not rely on Grass-type moves for offense.
Movepool: Shroomish relies on disruptive moves such as Stun Spore, Leech Seed, and Mega Drain to take full advantage of its bulk and make up for its lack of power. Once it evolves, it changes gears to become an attacking powerhouse, crushing foes with moves like Bulk Up, Mach Punch, Rock Tomb, Silk Scarf-boosted Headbutt / Strength, Sludge Bomb, and Sky Uppercut, most of which are very powerful attacks for when they are learned compared to most Pokemon.
Major Battles: Shroomish can solo Roxanne while being able to hinder Brawly with Leech Seed. Breloom can smash Wattson, Archie, and Sidney pretty easily as well as wipe out most of Norman's trainers, while Norman and even Winona can be swept through with enough Bulk Ups and an X Speed for good measure (note: do not set up against Winona's lead Swellow; her Pelipper or lead Swablu in Emerald are better setup targets). It loses to Flannery, Tate&Liza, and Phoebe, but otherwise its immense power makes it a threat against nearly any opponent it fights, especially with the threat of Bulk Up + X-Speed sweeps.
Additional Comments: Breloom's usefulness against Glacia is heavily decided on whether Breloom is able to outspeed her Pokemon, so it should avoid having a speed-hindering nature and be fed any Carbos you can find.

absol

Name: Absol
Availability: Absol can be found in Route 120 with a 8% encounter rate.
Stats: Glass cannon; very high Attack stat with decent Speed and Special Attack, but poor defenses.
Typing: Dark typing is useful for its Psychic immunity and Ghost resistance, but does not serve Absol very well in the attacking department at all.
Movepool: Absol is TM-reliant, but fortunately it has a very diverse movepool that can easily be tailored to your needs. It has Swords Dance to bolster moves such as Shadow Ball, Aerial Ace, and Return to extremely powerful levels, or it can take advantage of the coverage granted by Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Flamethrower, which it can further augment with Calm Mind if it wants.
Major Battles: Absol technically has the movepool to contribute in nearly any major matchup, be it breaking teams with Swords Dance-boosted Shadow Ball, picking off specific targets with special attacks, or even potentially sweeping with Calm Mind. Do note that Absol's fraility and average Speed can make clean sweeps rather difficult, but Absol does fairly well in 1v1 battles due to its power or coverage, and can wipe out Tate&Liza, Steven, and Phoebe particularly easily.

meditite

Name: Meditite
Availability: Meditite can be found in the exterior of Mt. Pyre with a 30% encounter rate.
Stats: Mediocre to average stats but Pure Power is an absolute boon, doubling its Attack stat to turn it into a powerhouse.
Typing: Meditite will primarily use its Fighting-type for its offense. Its Psychic-typing makes it more suitable to fighting Tate&Liza, but gives it shakier Sidney and Phoebe matchups.
Movepool: Meditite's only form of offense when caught is Hidden Power, which is highly unlikely to be useful. This means that Meditite will have to rely on TMs such as Shadow Ball and Strength to fight on its own. Hi Jump Kick arrives at level 32 which shouldn't be far if you've caught the highest leveled Meditite, though that should be replaced by the more reliable Brick Break TM once you obtain it in Sootopolis.
Major Battles: Medicham's Shadow Ball rips through Tate&Liza, while a couple of Bulk Ups can allow Medicham to sweep through Wallace, Sidney, Glacia, Drake, and even possibly Steven, though an X Speed and Hyper Potion/Full Restore may be necessary to facilitate a clean sweep. Medicham is not expected to set up very comfortably against Phoebe, but Spell Tag-boosted Shadow Ball can heavily dent her Banettes so it can still put in work.
Additional Comments: Meditite takes a painful while to evolve, so be ready to put up with Meditite's horrific stats for the lategame.

taillow

Name: Taillow
Availability: Taillow can be found in Route 104 with a 10% encounter rate.
Stats: Terrific Speed and decent Attack, but bad defenses.
Typing: Normal/Flying typing gives access to good STABs early on, though that typing's usefulness will wane as the game progresses.
Movepool: Taillow is never out of reach of high powered STAB moves, with a potent early-game level-up movepool and taught moves such as Secret Power, Fly, Return, and Hyper Beam. However, Taillow doesn't have any other worthwhile attacking options.
Major Battles: Taillow's speed and strength lets it easily prey on route trainers, but outside of Brawly, Taillow doesn't actually excel in any important battles. Taillow can usually pick off most weaker Pokemon and can generally contribute in the majority of major fights thanks to its Speed and decently strong Silk Scarf-boosted attacks, but is otherwise usually heavily outmatched by the boss's ace Pokemon, especially by lategame, so it must pick its matchups carefully lest it get taken out without KOing anything.
Additional Comments: Swellow should be given the Return TM from returning the Meteorite as soon as possible to prevent its offense from falling off.

heracross

Heracross
Availability: Heracross can be found in the Safari Zone northeast area with a 5% encounter rate.
Stats: Heracross's amazing physical Attack and good Speed are perfect for quickly defeating regular trainers, and its decent bulk means you don't have to heal it very often.
Typing: Fighting is a good offensive type, but its weaknesses to Flying and Psychic are rather common toward the lategame. The Bug type is a hindrance as it makes Heracross weaker to Fire and Flying.
Movepool: Heracross comes already knowing Brick Break and can immediately learn Strength and Bulk Up. It usually only needs to spam Brick Break, but you can teach Heracross Earthquake to be able to touch Ghost-types. One is likely to have beaten the game before Heracross reaches level 53, so aiming for Megahorn is ill-advised.
Major Battles: Heracross can sweep Juan, Sidney, Glacia, Drake, Steven, and Wallace after a few Bulk Ups and an X Speed if necessary; certain lead Pokemon such as Juan/Wallace's Sweet Kiss Luvdisc, Sidney's Sand-Attack Mightyena, and Steven's Aerial Ace Skarmory are not ideal to set up against on the first turn, but they have other Pokemon that are much easier for Heracross to start Bulking Up on. Heracross only does not fare well against Tate&Liza, as Heracross can still Bulk Up on Winona's Pelipper/Swablu and Phoebe's Sableye and sweep their team.
Additional Comments: You can manipulate Heracross's nature by inserting Pokeblocks into Pokeblock feeders. Pokeblocks made of Leppa Berries increase the chance of +Physical Attack natures, while those made from Pecha Berries increase the likelihood of +Speed natures. Also, Guts is the slightly better ability.

makuhita

Makuhita
Availability: Makuhita can be found in the ground floor of Granite Cave with a 50% encounter rate at levels 6-10, or the first floor basement of Granite Cave with a 10% encounter rate at levels 10-11.
Stats: Enormous HP lets Hariyama tank stuff and use lots of Bulk Ups, and strong Physical Attack after a rather early evolution lets it 1v1 most things with or without Bulk Up. However, low defenses and Speed means it takes annoying status moves and consumes lots of potions when you fight regular trainers.
Typing: Fighting is a good offensive type throughout the game. The Psychic weakness occasionally hinders Hariyama.
Movepool: Makuhita learns Vital Throw at level 13, which is a really powerful attack at this point in the game and serves Hariyama well for much of it. Hariyama can learn Bulk Up, which it makes good use of easily due to its high HP. Much later, Hariyama can learn the slightly higher PP and non-negative priority Brick Break. Hariyama's movepool outside of Fighting-type attacks is really shallow, so moves such as Dig, Strength, or Earthquake provide much needed additional coverage against opponents that resist Fighting.
Major Battles: The Brawly matchup is unfavorable since his Makuhita is likely stronger and has Bulk Up. From here on, Hariyama can just brute force its way through most major battles with Bulk Ups, albeit with hefty Potion support. Consequently, Tate and Liza and the champion are the only really difficult fights. Of course, some opponents (namely Winona, Phoebe, and Drake) require more Bulk Ups than others.
Additional Comments: Thick Fat is the better ability because it makes Flannery and Glacia much easier. Note that Hariyama will consume much of your Potion reserves due to its high HP, low initial bulk, bad Speed, and heavy use of setup.

zubat

Name: Zubat
Availability: Zubat can be found in the second floor basement of Granite Cave B2F with a 30% encounter rate.
Stats: Amazing Speed, good Attack and respectable bulk.
Typing: Typing grants many 4x resistances which help in the early game, but weaknesses to Psychic, Ice, and Rock become more pronounced towards the lategame.
Movepool: The Steel Wing TM is needed to let Zubat competently fight on its own until it learns Wing Attack, while the Sludge Bomb TM is mandatory to achieve maximum damage output. All other moves it learns are helpful but not necessary. Note that even with Steel Wing, Zubat struggles against Rock-types, and Crobat is incapable of touching Steel-types.
Major Battles: Zubat can take on Brawly (albeit not very quickly) and does decently at route sweeping, but otherwise has average to terrible matchups against all other bosses, usually faltering against their ace Pokemon, especially those that are resistant or immune to Sludge Bomb. Crobat's attacking potential will falter towards the lategame, so its role tends to be relegated to toss out fast and strong attacks that can beat weaker trainers or KO one/two of the boss's Pokemon, or potentially harassing tough opponents with its fast Confuse Ray.
Additional Comments: Zubat is also available at Meteor Falls up to a more manageable level 20 and at a much higher 80% encounter rate, but the drawback is being stuck with the mediocre Golbat stage for longer.

Here's a list of my own, and I believe Texas Cloverleaf and sumwun have their own analyses hidden somewhere as well.

you might want to mention tailow can get steel wing as well to help with rock types

 

[sumwun]

and I believe Texas Cloverleaf and sumwun have their own analyses hidden somewhere as well.

somewhere where they're hidden

Treecko

Availability: Treecko can be received on Route 101 at level 5.
Stats: The Treecko family have strong Special Attack and can outspeed nearly everything. Their physical Attack is sometimes usable, and their defenses are mediocre.
Typing: Grass starts good, but it gradually gets worse as opponents use more Fire and Steel Pokemon. Past Lilycove, Grass is a good offensively and bad defensively, because Water Pokemon and Ice attacks simultaneously become common.
Movepool: This is Treecko's biggest downside. Until you get the third badge and the Strength HM, its strongest attack is Bullet Seed, and Sceptile never learns anything more powerful than Leaf Blade. The Treecko family can learn Rock Tomb, Dig, Strength, Brick Break, or Dragon Claw to cover various Grass-resistant opponents.
Major Battles: Treecko can usually solo Roxanne just by spamming Bullet Seed, but Brawly, Wattson, Flannery, and Winona are all difficult. Sceptile gets better against the last two gyms' Grass-weak Pokemon. Its matchups against Norman, Sidney, and Drake strongly depend on knowing Dig, Brick Break, and Dragon Claw, respectively.
Additional Comments:

Marill (E)

Availability: Marill can be found on Route 104 with a 20% chance at levels 4 to 5.
Stats: Marill's stats are rather weak even with Huge Power, so it can be a slight hindrance before evolving. Azumarill has usable defense stats and Special Attack, and its physical Attack is strong if boosted by Huge Power.
Typing: Water is a strong defensive type because Electric and Grass attacks become rare after Wattson. Water is a special type, so Azumarill unfortunately can't boost any attack with both STAB and Huge Power.
Movepool: Marill can learn any of the 5 required HMs without evolving. It also doesn't require any HMs to catch, so Marill is one of the best HM slaves. In battle, Marill always has access to Huge Power-boosted Normal attacks, such as Tackle, Strength, or Return. Its coverage attacks include Water Gun, Bubblebeam, Dig, Surf, and Brick Break.
Major Battles: The worst matchups are Brawly (Marill is likely still unevolved at that point), Wattson, and Phoebe. Other that those, Azumarill consistently deals damage simply by spamming its strongest attack, and it does particularly well against Roxanne and Flannery. Azumarill's performance against Norman and Glacia depend on access to Dig and Brick Break, respectively.
Additional Comments: Try to catch a female Marill (with Huge Power, of course) so it does better against Flannery, Juan, and Glacia. Marill benefits slightly from fast leveling rate.

Abra

Abra
Availability: Abra can be found in Granite Cave B2F with a 10% chance at level 10.
Stats: High Special Attack and Speed let Kadabra easily roll through regular trainers. Special Defense is passable, especially with Calm Mind, but low HP and physical Defense make Kadabra a glass cannon that sometimes can't 1v1 physical attackers.
Typing: Psychic stops being a good type when you defeat Brawly. Opponents that resist Psychic or know Shadow Ball are more common than those that are weak to Psychic.
Movepool: Abra is stuck with Teleport and wants exp. share training until level 16. Kadabra wins most battles by spamming Confusion, Psybeam, or Psychic. Sometimes useful moves include Shock Wave (for water Pokemon, conserving Psychic's PP, and double team users), Calm Mind, and maybe Teleport, Recover, or Reflect. Kadabra learns no better coverage moves, so it struggles against Psychic-resistant opponents.
Major Battles: Kadabra easily sweeps Brawly and does major damage to Wattson by spamming its STAB attack. It has trouble against many of Norman's, Phoebe's, Drake's, and Steven (RS)'s strong physical attacks and Tate and Liza's and Sidney's Psychic-resistant Pokemon. Kadabra can use Calm Mind to sweep Wallace and Juan. (set up on Wallace's Ludicolo if you play Emerald)

Spoink

Spoink
Availability: Spoink can be found in Jagged Pass with a 20% chance.
Stats: Spoink is only strong enough to defeat a few regular trainers. Grumpig's high special stats make it a good tank in many major battles, as long as you watch out for physical attacks.
Typing: Psychic is not a great type. Opponents resist Psychic more often than they are weak to it.
Movepool: Spoink comes knowing Psybeam and can immediately learn Shock Wave. Grumpig learns no stronger coverage moves and consequently has trouble with Psychic-resistant opponents. Spoink learns Psychic at level 34, so you might want to delay evolution for this. Grumpig can learn Calm Mind, which lets it set up on a weak opponent and sweep.
Major battles: The unevolved Spoink can 1v1 some of Flannery's team and is mostly deadweight against Norman. Once evolved, Grumpig can use Psychic and Shock Wave to deal major damage to Winona. It is not helpful against Tate and Liza unless you teach it the otherwise useless Shadow Ball. Calm Mind lets it sweep the last gym and Glacia (except Explosion Glalie), but Grumpig's type makes it worse against Sidney, Phoebe, and Steven. Grumpig can 1v1 several of Drake's and Wallace's Pokemon.
Additional comments: Grumpig benefits from its fast leveling rate. Try to catch a female Spoink with Thick Fat, so it has an easier time against the last gym and Glacia.

Carvanha

Carvanha
Availability: Carvanha can be found using a Good Rod on Route 118 with a 20% chance at levels 10 to 30.
Stats: Carvanha quickly evolves into Sharpedo, whose good attack stats and Speed but near-useless defense stats make it a glass cannon that wants frequent healing.
Typing: Several Psychic and Ghost opponents make Sharpedo's Dark STAB useful in the late game. Its defensive typing is also good, but its stats prevent it from having much defensive utility.
Movepool: Carvanha encountered at level 22 or higher should already know Crunch. It can immediately learn Surf for STAB and Ice Beam for covering Flying and Dragon. Additionally, Sharpedo can learn Earthquake to use its high physical Attack, as well as any of the 5 required HMs.
Major Battles: Sharpedo gets worn down too easily to solo entire battles, but its movepool lets it contribute against every gym and Elite Four member. Sharpedo's typing is perfect for destroying Winona and Tate and Liza. It does well against Phoebe, and its performance against Drake depends on your using Carbos and a nature that doesn't lower Speed.
Additional Comments: Carvanha can be encountered anywhere from level 10 to level 30, so try to catch one that's at least level 25. Slow leveling rate slightly hinders Sharpedo.

Magnemite

Availability: Magnemite can be found in New Mauville with a 50% chance at levels 22 to 26.
Stats: Magneton has excellent Special Attack. Its speed is slightly above average, so it should eat Carbos in order to outspeed as much as possible. Mediocre HP and Special Defense make Magneton take a lot of damage from Fire and Water attacks.
Typing: The Electric Steel combination resists all but 4 types of attacks, but Ground attacks often OHKO Magneton. Its Electric attacks are useful against the many Water opponents in the second half of the game.
Movepool: Spark, Thunder Wave, and Thunderbolt are Magneton's 3 good moves. No matter what move is in the last slot, it's usually useless. Magneton's tiny movepool makes it lose to most Ground Pokemon.
Major Battles: Magneton can deal significant damage just by spamming Thunderbolt against the last 3 gyms and Phoebe, as long as its teammates take out their Earthquake user. The other Elite 4 members and the Champion are more threatening because they use Electric resists or strong special attacks.
Additional Comments:

Tropius

Tropius
Availability: Tropius can be found on Route 119 with a 9% chance at levels 27 to 29.
Stats: Low attack stats and Speed mean Tropius has difficulty sweeping, slows down the game, and uses a lot of potions.
Typing: Tropius's weaknesses, mainly Ice but also Fire and Flying, become increasingly crippling near the end of the game. However, it's often useful against Water opponents without Ice attacks.
Movepool: Tropius is one of two unevolved Pokemon that learn Rock Smash, Fly, and Strength. Combined with its (relatively to Rayquaza) good availability, this makes Tropius by far the best Fly slave in the game. It can also learn Cut, Flash, or Sweet Scent if you want. If for some weird reason you're using Tropius in battle, then its main STAB is still Fly, and other useful moves might include Sunny Day, SolarBeam, Synthesis, or Earthquake.
Major Battles: Tropius can 1v1 several of Tate and Liza's and Sidney's Pokemon, but it can't contribute much else in battles. Tropius is especially useless against the last 3 Elite Four members because of its multiple weaknesses.

I'll add Marill and Magnemite to this post when I'm done writing them.
Edit: Marill (E) and Magnemite now written.

 

[Punchshroom]

you might want to mention tailow can get steel wing as well to help with rock types

It honestly really doesn't help; the most common Rock-types are the Aron line and the Geodude line, but the former isn't weak to Steel and the latter is likely to kill Taillow/Swellow before vice-versa (that or blow up). Only Skarmory is able to make use of Steel Wing to actually beat these Rock-types that it otherwise couldn't, while other Steel Wing users are still at a disadvantage either way.

 

[Kurona]

It honestly really doesn't help; the most common Rock-types are the Aron line and the Geodude line, but the former isn't weak to Steel and the latter is likely to kill Taillow/Swellow before vice-versa (that or blow up). Only Skarmory is able to make use of Steel Wing to actually beat these Rock-types that it otherwise couldn't, while other Steel Wing users are still at a disadvantage either way.

I would nitpick in that there's one notable exception in Zubat. Not so much that it helps it beat anything that its other moves can't, but more that Zubat for almost the entirety of its pre-Golbat life doesn't have any good moves, so Steel Wing helps it do something.

 

[sumwun]

It honestly really doesn't help; the most common Rock-types are the Aron line and the Geodude line, but the former isn't weak to Steel and the latter is likely to kill Taillow/Swellow before vice-versa (that or blow up). Only Skarmory is able to make use of Steel Wing to actually beat these Rock-types that it otherwise couldn't, while other Steel Wing users are still at a disadvantage either way.

Swellow's steel wing can 2HKO most Geodudes and Gravelers used by regular trainers, and it helps against Tate and Liza. When using Swellow or Dodrio, it's not like they have 4 moves better than steel wing, or you have a better steel wing user, so you might as well teach steel wing and never use it. Also I think endeavor deserves a mention for often dealing a lot of damage to Flannery, Norman, and Tate and Liza. Mention that players should intentionally let Phoebe's Banette burn Swellow to activate guts.

 

[Karxrida]

If your Swellow is up against Geodudes or Arons then you're probably doing something wrong. Each starter line deals with them already and it's not like they're hard to fight in general.

Tate and Liza at least don't have any Rock moves on their aces.

 

[sumwun]

Tate and Liza at least don't have any Rock moves on their aces.

Are you saying this fact makes steel wing less useful? The 2 rocks are still weak to steel wing no matter what moves they know.

 

[Karxrida]

Are you saying this fact makes steel wing less useful?

No.

 

[sumwun]

I finished writing Treecko, Marill (E), and Magnemite, and they're now in this post. I'm reserving Magikarp and Electrike and will get them done sometime in the next 2 or 3 months.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

I finished writing Treecko, Marill (E), and Magnemite, and they're now in this post. I'm reserving Magikarp and Electrike and will get them done sometime in the next 2 or 3 months.

I'd prefer you put new write-ups in new posts for easier quality checking

 

[sumwun]

Magikarp

Magikarp
Availability: Magikarp can be found using an Old Rod at Dewford Town with a 70% chance at levels 5 to 10.
Stats: Gyarados has good defense stats, but its low Special Attack prevents Gyarados from effectively using its large special movepool.
Typing: Water Flying is a good defensive combination because Electric attacks become rare after Wattson. Water is unfortunately a special type, so Gyarados's Water STAB moves use its low Special Attack.
Movepool: Magikarp wants exp. share training until it evolves and learns Strength. Lack of physical STAB prevents Gyarados from effectively using its high physical Attack. It usually relies on different-type physical moves, namely Strength, Thrash, Return, or Earthquake. Surf and Ice Beam are good options for coverage moves.
Major Battles: Magikarp is useless against Brawly. Wattson and Phoebe are particularly difficult because they can target Gyarados's weaknesses. Gyarados's good matchups depend on its coverage moves. Dragon Rage (and being female) are good against Flannery, Ice Beam is good against Winona and Drake, and Thunderbolt is good against Wallace.
Additional Comments: Slow leveling rate slightly hinders Magikarp. Intimidate is useful for weakening any physical attacker and, in Emerald, reducing wild Pokemon encounter chances.

My other writeups

Abra

Abra
Availability: Abra can be found in Granite Cave B2F with a 10% chance at level 10.
Stats: High Special Attack and Speed let Kadabra easily roll through regular trainers. Special Defense is passable, especially with Calm Mind, but low HP and physical Defense make Kadabra a glass cannon that sometimes can't 1v1 physical attackers.
Typing: Psychic stops being a good type when you defeat Brawly. Opponents that resist Psychic or know Shadow Ball are more common than those that are weak to Psychic.
Movepool: Abra is stuck with Teleport and wants exp. share training until level 16. Kadabra wins most battles by spamming Confusion, Psybeam, or Psychic. Sometimes useful moves include Shock Wave (for water Pokemon, conserving Psychic's PP, and double team users), Calm Mind, and maybe Teleport, Recover, or Reflect. Kadabra learns no better coverage moves, so it struggles against Psychic-resistant opponents.
Major Battles: Kadabra easily sweeps Brawly and does major damage to Wattson by spamming its STAB move. It has trouble against many of Norman's, Phoebe's, Drake's, and Steven (RS)'s strong physical attacks and Tate and Liza's and Sidney's Psychic-resistant Pokemon. Kadabra can use Calm Mind to sweep Wallace and Juan. (set up on Wallace's Ludicolo if you play Emerald)

Carvanha

Carvanha
Availability: Carvanha can be found using a Good Rod at Route 118 with a 20% chance at levels 10 to 30.
Stats: Carvanha quickly evolves into Sharpedo, whose good attack stats and Speed but near-useless defense stats make it a glass cannon that wants frequent healing.
Typing: Several Psychic and Ghost opponents make Sharpedo's Dark STAB useful in the late game. Its defensive typing is also good, but its stats prevent it from having much defensive utility.
Movepool: Carvanha encountered at level 22 or higher should already know Crunch. It can immediately learn Surf for STAB and Ice Beam for covering Flying and Dragon. Additionally, Sharpedo can learn Earthquake to use its high physical Attack, as well as any of the 5 required HMs.
Major Battles: Sharpedo gets worn down too easily to solo entire battles, but its movepool lets it contribute against every gym and Elite Four member. Sharpedo's typing is perfect for destroying Winona and Tate and Liza. It does well against Phoebe, and its performance against Drake depends on your using Carbos and a nature that doesn't lower Speed.
Additional Comments: Carvanha can be encountered anywhere from level 10 to level 30, so try to catch one that's at least level 25. Slow leveling rate slightly hinders Sharpedo.

Magnemite

Magnemite
Availability: Magnemite can be found in New Mauville with a 50% chance at levels 22 to 26.
Stats: Magneton has excellent Special Attack. Its speed is slightly above average, so it should eat Carbos in order to outspeed as much as possible. Mediocre HP and Special Defense make Magneton take a lot of damage from Fire and Water attacks.
Typing: The Electric Steel combination resists all but 4 types of attacks, but Ground attacks often OHKO Magneton. Its Electric attacks are useful against the many Water opponents in the second half of the game.
Movepool: Spark, Thunder Wave, and Thunderbolt are Magneton's 3 good moves. No matter what move is in the last slot, it's usually useless. Magneton's tiny movepool makes it lose to most Ground Pokemon.
Major Battles: Magneton can deal significant damage just by spamming Thunderbolt against the last 3 gyms and Phoebe, as long as its teammates take out their Earthquake user. The other Elite 4 members and the Champion are more threatening because they use Electric resists or strong special attacks.
Additional Comments:

Marill (E)

Marill
Availability: Marill can be found at Route 104 with a 20% chance at levels 4 to 5.
Stats: Marill's stats are rather weak even with Huge Power, so it can be a slight hindrance before evolving. Azumarill has usable defense stats and Special Attack, and its physical Attack is strong if boosted by Huge Power.
Typing: Water is a strong defensive type because Electric and Grass attacks become rare after Wattson. Water is a special type, so Azumarill unfortunately can't boost any attack with both STAB and Huge Power.
Movepool: Marill can learn any of the 5 required HMs without evolving. It also doesn't require any HMs to catch, so Marill is one of the best HM slaves. In battle, Marill always has access to Huge Power-boosted Normal attacks, such as Tackle, Strength, or Return. Its coverage moves include Water Gun, Bubblebeam, Dig, Surf, and Brick Break.
Major Battles: The worst matchups are Brawly (Marill is likely still unevolved at that point), Wattson, and Phoebe. Other that those, Azumarill consistently deals damage simply by spamming its strongest move, and it does particularly well against Roxanne and Flannery. Azumarill's performance against Norman and Glacia depend on access to Dig and Brick Break, respectively.
Additional Comments: Try to catch a female Marill (with Huge Power, of course) so it does better against Flannery, Juan, and Glacia. Marill benefits slightly from fast leveling rate.

Spoink

Spoink
Availability: Spoink can be found at Jagged Pass with a 20% chance.
Stats: Spoink is only strong enough to defeat a few regular trainers. Grumpig's high special stats make it a good tank in many major battles, as long as you watch out for physical moves.
Typing: Psychic is not a great type. Opponents resist Psychic more often than they are weak to it.
Movepool: Spoink comes knowing Psybeam and can immediately learn Shock Wave. Grumpig learns no stronger coverage moves and consequently has trouble with Psychic-resistant opponents. Spoink learns Psychic at level 34, so you might want to delay evolution for this. Grumpig can learn Calm Mind, which lets it set up on a weak opponent and sweep.
Major battles: The unevolved Spoink can 1v1 some of Flannery's team and is mostly deadweight against Norman. Once evolved, Grumpig can use Psychic and Shock Wave to deal major damage to Winona. It is not helpful against Tate and Liza unless you teach it the otherwise useless Shadow Ball. Calm Mind lets it sweep the last gym and Glacia (except Explosion Glalie), but Grumpig's type makes it worse against Sidney, Phoebe, and Steven. Grumpig can 1v1 several of Drake's and Wallace's Pokemon.
Additional comments: Grumpig benefits from its fast leveling rate. Try to catch a female Spoink with Thick Fat, so it has an easier time against the last gym and Glacia.

Treecko

Treecko
Availability: Treecko can be received at Route 101 at level 5.
Stats: The Treecko family have strong Special Attack and can outspeed nearly everything. Their physical Attack is sometimes usable, and their defenses are mediocre.
Typing: Grass starts good, but it gradually gets worse as opponents use more Fire and Steel Pokemon. Past Lilycove, Grass is a good offensively and bad defensively, because Water Pokemon and Ice attacks simultaneously become common.
Movepool: This is Treecko's biggest downside. Until you get the third badge and the Strength HM, its strongest move is Bullet Seed, and Sceptile never learns anything more powerful than Leaf Blade. The Treecko family can learn Rock Tomb, Dig, Strength, Brick Break, or Dragon Claw to cover various Grass-resistant opponents.
Major Battles: Treecko can usually solo Roxanne just by spamming Bullet Seed, but Brawly, Wattson, Flannery, and Winona are all difficult. Sceptile gets better against the last two gyms' Grass-weak Pokemon. Its matchups against Norman, Sidney, and Drake strongly depend on knowing Dig, Brick Break, and Dragon Claw, respectively.
Additional Comments:

Tropius

Tropius
Availability: Tropius can be found at Route 119 with a 9% chance at levels 27 to 29.
Stats: Low attack stats and Speed mean Tropius has difficulty sweeping, slows down the game, and uses a lot of potions.
Typing: Tropius's weaknesses, mainly Ice but also Fire and Flying, become increasingly crippling near the end of the game. However, it's often useful against Water opponents without Ice attacks.
Movepool: Tropius is one of two unevolved Pokemon that learn Rock Smash, Fly, and Strength. Combined with its (relatively to Rayquaza) good availability, this makes Tropius by far the best Fly slave in the game. It can also learn Cut, Flash, or Sweet Scent if you want. If for some weird reason you're using Tropius in battle, then its main STAB is still Fly, and other useful moves might include Sunny Day, SolarBeam, Synthesis, or Earthquake.
Major Battles: Tropius can 1v1 several of Tate and Liza's and Sidney's Pokemon, but it can't contribute much else in battles. Tropius is especially useless against the last 3 Elite Four members because of its multiple weaknesses.

Additionally, I made this list of the first (not always the best) place to obtain each evolution family in Emerald. I thought it might be helpful to people who want to make sure their answer to each gym is really obtainable before that gym.

locations

Route 101: Mudkip, Torchic, Treecko
Route 103: Poochyena, Wingull, Zigzagoon
Route 102: Lotad, Ralts, Seedot, Wurmple
Route 104: Marill, Taillow
Petalburg Woods: Shroomish, Slakoth
Route 116: Abra, Nincada, Skitty, Whismur
Roxanne
Dewford Town: Magikarp, Tentacool
Petalburg City: Goldeen
Granite Cave: Aron, Geodude, Makuhita, Sableye, Zubat
Route 110: Electrike, Gulpin, Minun, Oddish, Plusle
Route 117: Illumise, Volbeat
Wattson
Granite Cave: Nosepass
Route 112: Numel
Fiery Path: Grimer, Koffing, Machop, Slugma, Torkoal
Route 113: Skarmory, Spinda
Route 114: Seviper, Swablu
Meteor Falls: Solrock
Jagged Pass: Spoink
Lavaridge Town: Wynaut
Flannery
Route 111: Baltoy, Cacnea, Sandshrew, Trapinch
Rustboro City: Anorith, Lileep
Norman
Route 115: Jigglypuff
New Mauville: Magnemite, Voltorb
Route 118: Carvanha, Kecleon
Route 117: Corphish
Route 111: Barboach
Route 110: Wailmer
Route 119: Castform, Feebas, Tropius
Route 120: Absol
Route 121: Shuppet
Safari Zone: Doduo, Heracross, Natu, Phanpy, Pikachu, Pinsir, Psyduck, Rhyhorn
Mt. Pyre: Chimecho, Duskull, Vulpix
Route 134: Horsea
Lilycove City: Staryu
Shoal Cave: Snorunt, Spheal
Route 128: Corsola, Luvdisc
Tate and Liza
Underwater: Chinchou, Clamperl, Relicanth
Desert Ruins: Regirock
Island Cave: Regice
Ancient Tomb: Registeel
Sky Pillar: Rayquaza
Juan
Meteor Falls: Bagon
Victory Road: Mawile

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Merritt do you intend to continue overseeing this?

 

[Kurona]

I can't remember if this has been discussed at length already, so apologies if I'm digging up old bones; but what's the reasoning behind Ralts being at S instead of A? Gardevoir is a phenomenal Pokémon without question, easily on par with Alakazam; but the babying Ralts and Kirlia require and how they're far from self-sufficient would be enough to put the family down to A for me. They're certainly not on the same level as Mudkip or Abra for me, and frankly both Torchic and Zangoose feel a lot more consistently efficient.

 

[Turdterra]

I can't remember if this has been discussed at length already, so apologies if I'm digging up old bones; but what's the reasoning behind Ralts being at S instead of A? Gardevoir is a phenomenal Pokémon without question, easily on par with Alakazam; but the babying Ralts and Kirlia require and how they're far from self-sufficient would be enough to put the family down to A for me. They're certainly not on the same level as Mudkip or Abra for me, and frankly both Torchic and Zangoose feel a lot more consistently efficient.

Literally because of Double Team. There is a whole thing on it that I rather not go into. But Ralts IMO is not S. Being dependent on DT to not get hit when you still can is kinda eh. Not to mention you'd want to set up multiples to ensure misses which is better off spent using Reflect, CM, or Psychic. Very few mons can even dent you specially so Reflect, while the math was done numerous time, just seems inherently better as you pop it once, and move on to killing things.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

I can't remember if this has been discussed at length already, so apologies if I'm digging up old bones; but what's the reasoning behind Ralts being at S instead of A? Gardevoir is a phenomenal Pokémon without question, easily on par with Alakazam; but the babying Ralts and Kirlia require and how they're far from self-sufficient would be enough to put the family down to A for me. They're certainly not on the same level as Mudkip or Abra for me, and frankly both Torchic and Zangoose feel a lot more consistently efficient.

I also don't agree with use of Double Team at all. Yes, it is only for three fights, but if an S rank has to use evasion at all, I feel it is less of the Pokemon's capabilities and more luck-based.

Yes, a lot of Pokemon depends on luck. Critical hits, added effects, and so on. But if we were to say DT Ralts is legal, what's to stop me from saying Minimize Litwick in BW1 is S? Or maybe Grimer in older games? It creates a slippery slope that I just don't like, regardless if Evasion Clause doesn't exist in-game.

Setting up with Calm Mind and sweeping is smart play. Relying on Double Team is just "I hope the RNG really likes me."

I don’t see Ralts as S either, for the record.

 

[Punchshroom]

Well for one thing, it's not quite fair to harp on Ralts's babying period when Abra also has its own babying period where it needs to evolve before it can even fight Brawly, while Ralts can use Brawly's gym trainers for experience to fuel itself in the meantime.

Here's my reasoning for S Rank Ralts, the tl;dr version being that Kirlia's access to earlier Calm Mind & Psychic, superior bulk spread for setup sweeping, and access to Thunderbolt for powerful coverage against Waters/Psychic-resists gives Kirlia/Gardevoir arguably even better mid/lategame prospects than Alakazam. Yes, Kirlia can already carry itself once it reaches Calm Mind, so Kirlia is no longer the 'babying period' anymore.

I didn't even consider Double Team when I initially nominated Ralts for S, but this additional bit of utility that can allow Gardevoir to solo boss fights even more cleanly or potentially win otherwise unfavorable matchups that even Alakazam would struggle with is not to be underestimated. Which is to say the evasion is merely a bonus and is hardly integral to Gardevoir's main strategy, but instead is primarily used to try and circumvent its few bad matchups.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

I can't remember if this has been discussed at length already, so apologies if I'm digging up old bones; but what's the reasoning behind Ralts being at S instead of A? Gardevoir is a phenomenal Pokémon without question, easily on par with Alakazam; but the babying Ralts and Kirlia require and how they're far from self-sufficient would be enough to put the family down to A for me. They're certainly not on the same level as Mudkip or Abra for me, and frankly both Torchic and Zangoose feel a lot more consistently efficient.

Ralts is S because it trashes the game. It loses to Roxanne and Norman and beats everything else on its own. Double Team contributes to beating Roxanne, Drake*, Sidney, and Phoebe specifically, but every single other fight Ralts/Kirlia/Gardevoir solo without effort or assistance.

*As a note, Gardevoir puts in work vs Drake by default purely with Psychic and CM, Double Team allows a clean sweep

Literally because of Double Team. There is a whole thing on it that I rather not go into. But Ralts IMO is not S. Being dependent on DT to not get hit when you still can is kinda eh. Not to mention you'd want to set up multiples to ensure misses which is better off spent using Reflect, CM, or Psychic. Very few mons can even dent you specially so Reflect, while the math was done numerous time, just seems inherently better as you pop it once, and move on to killing things.

This is not true. Double Team is a contributing factor towards its self-sufficiency but is not the single factor justifying S, rather an additional benefit that puts in over the top.

In terms of Reflect vs Double Team, either will work in terms of personal preference but Double Team is mathematically superior.

I also don't agree with use of Double Team at all. Yes, it is only for three fights, but if an S rank has to use evasion at all, I feel it is less of the Pokemon's capabilities and more luck-based.

Yes, a lot of Pokemon depends on luck. Critical hits, added effects, and so on. But if we were to say DT Ralts is legal, what's to stop me from saying Minimize Litwick in BW1 is S? Or maybe Grimer in older games? It creates a slippery slope that I just don't like, regardless if Evasion Clause doesn't exist in-game.

Setting up with Calm Mind and sweeping is smart play. Relying on Double Team is just "I hope the RNG really likes me."

I don’t see Ralts as S either, for the record.

An S rank uses Double Team to win three fights it otherwise wouldn't. Fellow S rank Alakazam straight up loses those fights with or without Double Team because it is incapable of taking a hit from, for example, Flygon's Earthquake which Gardevoir can. Double Team lets you comfortably solo Drake and lets you beat the Dark and Ghost E4s which is hardly what I would call luck reliant when it doesn't use it at all for any other fight sans Wattson (to mitigate Selfdestruct risk).

Well for one thing, it's not quite fair to harp on Ralts's babying period when Abra also has its own babying period where it needs to evolve before it can even fight Brawly, while Ralts can use Brawly's gym trainers for experience to fuel itself in the meantime.

Here's my reasoning for S Rank Ralts, the tl;dr version being that Kirlia's access to earlier Calm Mind & Psychic, superior bulk spread for setup sweeping, and access to Thunderbolt for powerful coverage against Waters/Psychic-resists gives Kirlia/Gardevoir arguably even better mid/lategame prospects than Alakazam. Yes, Kirlia can already carry itself once it reaches Calm Mind, so Kirlia is no longer the 'babying period' anymore.

I didn't even consider Double Team when I initially nominated Ralts for S, but this additional bit of utility that can allow Gardevoir to solo boss fights even more cleanly or potentially win otherwise unfavorable matchups that even Alakazam would struggle with is not to be underestimated. Which is to say the evasion is merely a bonus and is hardly integral to Gardevoir's main strategy, but instead is primarily used to try and circumvent its few bad matchups.

And this is exactly true. Ralts' babying period is exactly two levels at the easiest point in the game to baby raise, from that point on it is entirely self-sufficient and is in fact superior to Alakazam in its boss fighting capabilities.

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

seeing as there's still some debate for Ralts, do you want me to test it in a run? I don't know how settled is its rank, but figured you could have more pair of eyes to settle this dilemma once and for all.

I can also test anything else that may need another pair of eyes or that is a bit more controversial.

I just did a run with some 5 mons, one of which was Alakazam (I can provide with some insight on all mons if you want me to. Team was Zam / Pelipper / Manectric / Camerupt / Heracross). The only insight I can provide on the Abra/Ralts casus is that Abra's babying period isn't really bad, since I was able to evolve it before Brawly, but I cannot provide any other insight to this.

let me know if you want me to test Ralts, along with anything else.

 

[Kurona]

seeing as there's still some debate for Ralts, do you want me to test it in a run? I don't know how settled is its rank, but figured you could have more pair of eyes to settle this dilemma once and for all.

I can also test anything else that may need another pair of eyes or that is a bit more controversial.

I just did a run with some 5 mons, one of which was Alakazam (I can provide with some insight on all mons if you want me to. Team was Zam / Pelipper / Manectric / Camerupt / Heracross). The only insight I can provide on the Abra/Ralts casus is that Abra's babying period isn't really bad, since I was able to evolve it before Brawly, but I cannot provide any other insight to this.

let me know if you want me to test Ralts, along with anything else.

I don't really want to like, get you to do anything; but if you think it'd be good for the thread then yeah go for it! I might just go for a run myself.

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

I don't really want to like, get you to do anything; but if you think it'd be good for the thread then yeah go for it! I might just go for a run myself.

I wouldn't mind doing it, I just need to know if everyone else is ok with it (and potentially giving me some other mons to test that may need a bit more attention)

 

[Turdterra]

Same here actually. I did a run with Sceptile, Pelipper, Aggron, Grumpig, and Zangoose for Ruby. So I can test anything that needs to be retested or we don't agree on its placement due to lack of attention.