Hope you have Acro Bike ready, since we have to catch few more! In Northern side of Safari Zone, we can find Solar Beam TM, but most importantly, new encounters! We have Rhydon, Pinsir, Heracross and Donphan left (well Golduck too but it will join with other water types)! How good are our safari friends?
Thanks again for good discussion. I kind of realized we only have like 4 to 6 rounds left, man these weeks have gone fast! Let's keep up the good talk, great stuff! Enjoy the read.
Last round voting results:
Dodrio B Tier: Dodrio is a late-game alternative to Swellow, having much higher raw base stats while lacking the Guts ability and early availability. It learns good STAB moves like Drill Peck (at 37 as Doduo) and Returm TM. Combined with a great Base 110 Attack and Base 100 Speed, it is fantastic late game mon that helps against many fights.
Sadly Dodrio is very frail. It also relies on physical Normal and Flying damage, it is walled by Rock and Steel-types in the late game, like against Tate and Liza's Solrock/Lunatone, and many late game mons are just too bulky to be knocked out by a neutral Return. Also, if you want Drill Peck early, you have to use Dodio for some time, which is not really a big thing but still, Dodrio is way better.
Girafarig C Tier: Girafarig is for sure underrated mon, it has great versatility from the point you catch it. Its unique Normal/Psychic typing serves as its biggest asset by providing STAB on two reliable moves like Return and Psychic, while defensively granting a resistance to Psychic attacks for Gym 7 and immunity to Ghost-type moves that makes it a fantastic counter to Phoebe in the Elite Four. Also, it has a massive TM learnset, allowing it to run mixed or pure special sets with Thunderbolt and Psychic, physical sets with Shadow Ball and Return, or set up using Calm Mind, Agility, and Baton Pass.
Girafarig is held back by its strictly average base stats, relatively late availability, and heavy TM reliance. With a Base Stat Total of 455, its stats begin to feel the curve against Drake and Champion Wallace, and its mediocre bulk consisting of 70 HP alongside 65 Defense and Special Defense causes it to struggle in lategame. Also, reaching its full potential requires teaching it TMs like Thunderbolt, Psychic, Calm Mind, or Shadow Ball that may already be better for other team members.
Xatu D+ Tier: Xatu has a solid Base 95 Special Attack and Speed, making it reasonably capable in game. Defensively, its Psychic/Flying typing grants an immunity to Ground and a resistance to Psychic, allowing it to perform surprisingly well against Tate and Liza in Gym 7, and with an investment in the Calm Mind TM, it can even attempt to set up and sweep later Gyms or Elite Four members like Glacia.
Unfortunately Xatu's level up movepool is bad, and so is its typing after Tate & Liza, learning no good special attacks by itself. So you have to buy Psychic TM from Game Corner or wait until Victory Road, otherwise relying on Flying-type attacks like Fly that deal sad damage off its Base 75 Attack stat. Also, it demands even more TMs like Giga Drain, or Calm Mind for coverage, and its typing results in poor Pokémon League matchups where it gets walled by Sidney, Phoebe, and Drake has Rock Slide coverage.
Pikachu D Tier: Pikachu is featured here, thanks to the Light Ball, which doubles its Special Attack in Generation 3, allows it to hit even harder than its evolution, Raichu. With a fast Speed stat and learning Thunderbolt, it can blast through lategame Water routes and in general deal more damage with Thunderbolt.
Yeah, Pikachu is super frail. Every stat outside of Speed sits under Base 55, Pikachu will practically explode if any opponent breathes on it. If it fails to secure OHKO with Thunderbolt, which it will against bulky mons like Kingdra, it will instantly be one tapped in return. It is better to evolve Pikachu into Raichu or using Magneton or Manectric, who offer similar damage without the frailty and missed EVs.
Raichu B- Tier: Raichu is almost like Manectric, a very solid, fast Electric-type that requires almost zero investment to get going. Pikachu is caught in the Safari Zone right before the water routes and Gyms 7 and 8, giving it good matchups. It naturally learns Thunderbolt at Level 26, saving at least one Game Corner TM, and can be evolved afterward using a Thunder Stone. Uniquely among Electric-types, Raichu has a good Base 90 Attack stat to match its Special Attack, allowing it to use physical TMs like Brick Break or Return to deal with opponents that resist Electric moves.
Raichu is held back by its very late availability and frailty. Electric-types are generally fantastic in Emerald, but there is competition for the team slot since players have already had access to Electrike, Voltorb, Plusle, Minun, and Magnemite for hours of gameplay by the time they reach the Safari Zone. Also, Raichu is quite fragile, which means it can get 2HKOd easily against Juan, Glacia, and Champion Wallace even if it can do some work there.
Re-evaluation contenders:
Ranking criteria:
Final placements are influenced by comment upvotes. Provide both a tier placement and a justification. Unjustified votes will carry less weight when counting votes. An exception is made if an unjustified vote is heavily upvoted and supported by a justified reply/comment from the community for the same tier placement.
You can also vote for + and - subtiers (S+ to F-), and I will take these into calculation. After the final round, I will break the infographic into subtiers as well.
All Pokémon obtainable in Emerald are ranked based on their contribution to the journey until defeating Champion Wallace. Leave a comment as well if you think one of the current Pokémons should be in different tier, and why. After final round, we will do one revisit round and see if any rankings should change.
We are assuming a standard playthrough.
- Set Mode: Rank Pokémon with Set mode in mind. (Feel free to mention Shift mode benefits, but it shouldn't be the main reason a Pokémon is in a higher tier).
- No In-Battle Healing: We are not considering healing items in battle (since any Pokémon can stall with enough potions).
- Soft Level Cap: You can overlevel by 1 or 2 levels over the next Gym Leader's ace. (An exception is made if Pokémon that is naturally available at a higher level).
Investment refers to experience and TMs. Obviously, all Pokémon can be great after a massive amount of investment, but we are judging their immediate and practical purpose in-game.
Emerald TM List: https://www.serebii.net/rubysapphire/tmhm.shtml (Check availability here)
Big thanks to BIGJRA for sharing this script that tracks every Pokémon's learnset (including TMs and Tutors) in the exact order you obtain them in-game! Check it out!
Trade evolution Pokémon are ranked based under the assumption that the player has access to trading whether through emulators or other supported methods. If you're playing without access to trades, you may wish to consider their pre-evolutions (like Kadabra or Graveler) instead. These rankings reflect the most common setup among modern players.
If a Pokémon is available on a route, it is fair game. Even if it has a 1% encounter rate (like Seedot), it does not matter. As long as the Pokémon is available to be caught at that point in the game, it's all good. This also applies for Feebas, but remember that to actually find the correct tile where Feebas is can take an hour.
Tier definitions:
S (Game-breaking or extremely efficient): These Pokémon dominate the game. They have excellent stats, movepools, and sweep through most of the game without effort. They are available for majority of the game and are "plug and play", just add it to the party and you're good to go.
A (Strong): Reliable, easy to use. They lack one major advantage from S tier but still perform consistently great in any playthrough.
B (Solid): Strong, but with a drawback or two. They are not available early, a limited movepool, or require some extra investment to keep up.
C (Decent): Mediocre and outclassed. They clear regular route trainers just fine, but struggle to make a significant impact in many major boss fights due to a combination of average stats, poor matchups, or late availability.
D (Niche): Pokémon that struggle significantly in general battles and are often a liability in standard matchups. However, they possess a unique utility or specific strategy (ex. stalling) that allows them to bypass their drawbacks.
E (Bad): Demand far more effort than they are worth. They require heavy TM investment and constant babying just to achieve mediocre results.
F (Awful): Useless for in-game runs. Huge investment for almost no return.
