Top 10 Strongest Pokémon in Red, Blue & Yellow!

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Credits: Craig Livingstone (Production), Weebra (Editing)

[francescganau]

Running two snorlax at the same time has always been so fun. One classic physical with Body Slam and the like. The other a slow killing machine with Amnesia plus Surf, Blizzard… it never gets old

[ShiraTheMogul]

Happy to see the Dodrio propaganda! Don't forget it comes with TM Tri Attack and Fly too!

[JohnJohnson-wyct]

For catching an abra, Catch a bellsprout with wrap. You can wrap abra, and it can't teleport away.

[pnealiv]

After you get Lapras, it can handle literally everything. With Body Slam, Blizzard, Psychic, and Thunderbolt, it can take the ENTIRE Elite Four by itself 😶

[mytcglife]

As a Pokemon tournament player from the very beginning, I can say from experience that in the late 90s you didn't have easy access to the Internet like you do today and a lot of information about moves or strategies could only be found through magazines like Nintendo Power or Pokemon Strategy Guides. I was lucky that my brother-in-law already had internet back then and I was able to find out about a lot of Pokemon and moves.

My Pokemon Red battle ready team at the time consisted of Alakazam, Tauros, Chansey, Exeggutor, Snorlax and Zapdos. I still have the save file because I was able to save it to this day with an Action Replay in the early 2000s.

[cmbaz]

Nidoking has saved my ass so many times in so many games...truly deserves to be called KiNG

[tabbender]

Gengar pre physical special split was insane because it was immune to or double resisted 4 physical types (5 in gen 3 because levitate) which is like half of them. Coupled with its absurd special defense in gen 1 and great speed too... yeah

[KlldbyCuriosity]

As a competitive player, Starmie being number 1 is no surprise you kind of need one on a team

[IGAAA]

I’m a grown ass man. I can finally afford to buy two gameboys and get my trade evolutions.

[Reazzurro]

100% agree on Starmie. I always make sure I get to Fuscia City as quickly as possible so I can capture Staryu and begin training it. It is a formidable Pokémon even when it is at a type disadvantage, especially with the versatility of moves it can learn.

[xjennyintime]

I feel like Articuno deserves a honorable mention, as it comes at level 50 (which is massive for a wild pokemon and makes up for the slow growth rate), requires pretty much no TM investment as it naturally learns its best moves almost immediately and does massive damage to pretty much everything that doesn't resist ice, which by the time you get it boils down to just Lorelei, making Jolteon or Zapdos good partners. Its amazing bulk also lets it sponge hits from things it can't one-shot which is a big advantage over Jynx or Alakazam, and at least in Red and Blue, its type weaknesses aren't really put to the test (fire and electric are rare outside of their gyms and the only sources of rock type damage are Rock Throw from Bruno's Onix or random Geodude...). Overall, while it is only available after Koga and does require support to deal with Lorelei, Articuno is just really, really good for a playthrough and it's probably worth using your Master Ball on the most.

Also, Gengar is so good that you can literally get away with just using the moves it learns naturally and not teach it any TMs, even Lick is useful alongside Confuse Ray and Night Shade thanks to the paralysis chance.

[garg]

Definitely agree that Starmie is underrated, but not without its challenges unfortnately

As you said you can evolve it straight away for high stats and give it access to Surf, Psychic, Thunderbolt, and Ice Beam for an insane powerhouse, but it also comes late game and a low level, and at that point most casual playthroughs might already have a full team of high level mons

[Hubilicious]

„In the context of a normal playthrough, where you are using three to six Pokémon.“ - I’m pretty sure a normal playthrough would be soloing your starter 😂

[joeschof_]

Hell yeah jynx is my favourite mon to use on a playthrough and no one appreciates how good its stabs are for the major fights

[jaketno]

I've found doing Saur runs that its most effective strategy is a Swords Dance/Body Slam combo. It seems somewhat counter intuitive but the Dances not only increases attack significantly, but can also trigger the bug known as the Badge Boost Glitch potentially increasing stats like defense and speed as well (temporarily) Normal type moves tend to do pretty well in this game so Dance and Slam really makes its time a breeze. Also fairly obvious, but keeping Razor Leaf for those that it's super effective against is also highly recommended lol most Mons fall with 1-2 of those sweet guaranteed crits.

Toxic/Leech Seed (While a neat little glitch) is a huge waste of turns. You have to spend one turn setting up one move, another turn to set up another, and then it takes a couple more turns to bear fruit. Not to mention both moves aren't all that accurate, so you could spend even more turns missing. Swords Dance does require turns of set up as well but once you're set up you'll be good to go for the rest of the battle, whereas Toxic/Leech Seed requires you to repeat the process for every Pokémon.

IMO its best set at the end would be Swords Dance, Body Slam, Razor Leaf, and Sleep Powder (Hey you never know lol)

[addambarcelos]

I mean, the 1st place doesn't really seem controversial, it's really good

[BryGens]

Im so glad you metnioned Jynx.

Jynx is an underrated Pokemon that never got an evolution, because Nintendo was too scared of it.

[shsz]

I SO agree with the 1# spot. (And I'm a Mewtwo fan, but damn!)
Discovering as a little kid that Starmie could learn Psychic, Recover (as Staryu ofc), Thunderbolt, Blizzard, etc, made my jaw drop. (I hoarded the TMs and didn't use them until later. That's how I found out) And seeing it going first every single turn... Felt like hitting the jackpot with this fella.

Plus, it was really fun to use in Pokemon Stadium. So much coverage it was insane!

[morganc]

Taurus never gets any love. His attack scales up so quick. By level 50 he way outclasses snorlax. Body slam can solo everything but rock and ghost type in end game. Taurus is the sleeper pick

[azurebalmung]

Jolteon learning Pin Missile actually makes it the only Pokemon in Gen 1 that has a super-effective move against Psychic types that isn't weak to Psychic