#1: Luxray

So this is it. The final one. My very favorite Pokémon and, in my opinion, also the most awesome one: Luxray! When I first saw Luxray, I immediately fell in love with it... Usually, I don't really like the cat-like Pokémon, while in real-life I'm fonder of cats than of dogs. Ironically, more dog-like Pokémon (Lillipup line, Mightyena, Suicune, Eevee and its evolutions) have appeared in this list than cat-like Pokémon. In fact, Luxray is the only one, strongly resembling a sphinx with its Egyptian-like appearance. Luxray looks so... electrically fierce, shockingly hazardous and buzzingly strong! No surprises there, it's an electric-type Pokémon. It's quite obvious when you look at it, too, with its spiky black mane and bright gold colors. I especially love Luxray's gold eyes; they're quite unique eyes, even in the Pokémon world. Some might think Luxray looks like an out-of-control lunatic with that glaring look, but then you haven't seen Patrat and Watchog yet. Yikes! Anyway, those eyes are its trump. That's right, its eyesight is extraordinary because it can look through most object and walls, like x-ray vision, so practically nothing can go unseen by Luxray. A small wonder it isn't able to learn the move Glare to paralyze its foes with those eyes, though. Take a look at some other characteristics. Its electric power is very reactive and flares uncontrollably when it's angry. Most Luxray are predatory and stubborn, but when tamed and trained correctly they can become very loyal and faithful, protecting their trainer from danger. On the other hand, when abused they can become very antagonistic and vengeful towards their trainer. Lucky my Luxray doesn't attack me. Just start with a Shinx to let it get used to you, that's my advice, hahaha.

Anyway, how does Luxray do in video game battles? Well, first off it has a higher attack than special attack. Some people may think that's actually a letdown, since most electric-type moves are special-based, but I see opportunities in Luxray. Catch a Shinx with a Lonely or Naughty nature, which enables Shinx/Luxio/Luxray to grow its attack by a 10% extra boost and lower either its defense (Lonely nature) or special defense (Naughty nature) by the same percentage. Don't catch one with an Adamant or Brave nature, because they will lower either its special attack or speed, and you might need those stats. Luxray is pretty slow already, so that decreased speed stat is unnecessary. Make sure it has the ability Intimidate, which lowers the opponent's attack stat by one stage when sending it out to battle, because Rivalry raises the base power of Luxray's moves when facing a Pokémon with the same gender but lowers them when facing a Pokémon of the opposite gender. Might be useful, but Intimidate is safer to use, just in case. Eventually, it should have a movepool of Thunder Fang (Wild Charge in generation V) and Return, Crunch and Iron Tail for some nice type coverage. Its special attack is good enough, too, so you might want to consider dropping Iron Tail for Thunderbolt!

In the end Luxray is, in my opinion, just a beautiful Pokémon. Yeah, I really said that! I have loved Luxray ever since Diamond and Pearl came out, and when starting a new game I always catch myself a Shinx as my first Pokémon. Its fierceness, elegance (somehow), beauty, appearance and characteristics make me love Luxray the most of all Pokémon and that's not gonna change soon, not even with that long-expected sixth generation coming up. And being the only cat-like Pokémon on my team, because the other cats are kind of disappointing, Luxray shows why I like cats so much. That elegant appearance, wary, fast and determined, are some nice cat-like features. What's more: Luxray is a combination of lux (a measure of brightness) and x-ray. And because Luxray bears a star shape on the end of its tail and because European mythology says the lynx was said to have the supernatural power to see through solid objects (much like its x-ray vision), it may be based on a lion or lynx. I think it strongly resembles an Egyptian sphinx, however, although it doesn't really matter. Luxray is just an awesome Pokémon, my very favorite. And with awesome comes some cool fan art, as you can see. Definitely Google it!

#2: Lugia

And the second-to-last Pokémon in this series is Lugia. I have always liked this Pokémon for some reason, ever since the second feature film. It was just so amazing in it, being the mysterious 'guardian of the seas' and helping the main protagonists to calm down the legendary bird trio of Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres. I can even recall having seen a baby Lugia in three regular Johto-era episodes of the Pokémon anime. I absolutely loved those few episodes, because Lugia was my very favorite Pokémon at that time. I mean, a baby Lugia??? That was just adorable beyond belief! Its design is basic and simple, but also fierce, dangerous and (but that's just my opinion) also beautiful. Yeah, I definitely think it's a beautiful Pokémon, and somehow I also believe it's more beautiful and elegant than its counterpart Ho-oh, the 'guardian of the skies', even though the latter is quite colorful. Have you seen fan art of Lugia on Google? There are quite some pretty pictures involved, definitely check it out if you have the time! What's more, Lugia is the record holder of most number of times used as a game mascot. It has appeared on the box art of Pokémon Silver (GameBoy Color), Pokémon SoulSilver (Nintendo DS) and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness (GameCube), being all of those versions' mascot. In fact, the Lugia on the cover of Pokémon XD was actually a Shadow Lugia. It was the protagonist's task to free all Shadow Pokémon, of which Lugia was the main antagonist Cipher's ultimate one. I've never had a GameCube, though, so unfortunately I have never been able to play it.

That's OK, though. I always have Silver and SoulSilver to fall back on if I want to! When playing all over again, I always decide to add Lugia to my team, even though I barely use legendary Pokémon. I'll definitely make an exception for Lugia! It's not too strong, its attacking stat are actually no more than decent. However, its defenses go through the roof! It has a base special defense stat of 154 and a base defense stat of 130. Not too shabby! Lugia is quite capable of taking quite some hits before it faints; it's even capable of hitting first very often, as its speed stat is quite good, too. So Lugia is a defensive Pokémon, while it can even do some moderate damage to your opponents with quite a diverse movepool. Seriously, you can't go wrong with this Pokémon. And even if you don't want to use it, definitely catch it in order to add it to your collection. It's just a cool Pokémon to have! I mean, take a look at Lugia's characteristics: it has the ability to calm and give rise to storms with such a light flutter of its wing and hides deep in the seas because its powers are too strong. Definitely not a Pokémon to mess with!

#3: Togepi & Togetic

Yeah, coming in at number 9 are Togepi and Togetic. Where Togekiss is at, you ask? Well, I don't like Togekiss as much as its pre-evolutions. Generation IV came with many final evolutions of Pokémon from previous generations, but many are a little lackluster, if not to say horrific. Lickilicky, Probopass and Tangrowth are terrible, whereas Gallade, Gliscor, Rhyperior, Yanmega and Electivire are very nice Pokémon, indeed. There is a group that's in-between; Mamoswine, Magnezone, Dusknoir, Magmortar, Honchcrow, Roserade and also Togekiss are just fine and strong Pokémon to use, but not in the least special design-wise. In fact, that's the reason why I do like Togepi and Togetic and why I don't like Togekiss: its design is quite... lame. Togepi and Togetic are just too cute, Gamefreak ruined it by giving Togetic an evolution. Togekiss is a strong Pokémon, though, and it will definitely be a great addition to your team. By bringing it back to the Move Relearner it can learn Aura Sphere and Air Slash, as well as SolarBeam, Hyper Beam, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower, Fire Blast and Grass Knot through TMs and Heat Wave, Signal Beam and Hyper Voice through Move Tutors. Magical Leaf as a Togetic is also an option, as well as Metronome just for the hell of it. Don't expect too much of it in battles, but it can be quite fun to see your Togekiss pull off some random move. Any move, actually, with a few exceptions. Please note that the above moves are all special-based, because those kind of moves is what you want your Togekiss to learn in the first place; its special attack is its best stat, followed by special defense. It also has quite a good amount of defense and speed, so it's definitely not a bad Pokémon at all. Remember you have to evolve Togepi by leveling it up one level at a high friendship level and Togetic by using a Shiny Stone on it.

Nah, Togepi and Togetic are definitely way more adorable and that's exactly the reason why I like them. In fact, I've had a thing for Togepi ever since it first appeared in the anime. Though weak, Togepi was charming, cute and unworried and its constant factor in the anime ever since episode 50 made me like it more and more. The same counts for Pikachu, too, as it is number 37 in my list of favorite Pokémon. Anyway, found as an egg in episode 46, Togepi hatched in episode 50 while Ash, Misty and Brock had been constantly fighting about who should take care of the egg. Eventually, Misty was the first human it saw. Thus seeing her as its mother, Misty decides to take care of Togepi. And, without anyone knowing it, Togepi saved the day in some very dangerous situations. Togepi was a hero without it being aware of that, can you imagine?

Although Togepi is officially from the second generation, it had been constantly seen as Misty's pet from the second half of the first season until the end of the fifth season (Master Quest; Johto period). After that, May took over the role of traveling companion from Misty, though Misty appeared in two more episodes. In these episodes, Ash, Misty, Brock, May and Max enter the Mirage Kingdom to save the Togepi Paradise from the evil Colonel Hansen, a crooked Mirage Kingdom official. In order to save the Togepi, Misty's Togepi evolved into Togetic and, after the battle, decided to stay behind to protect the Kingdom and Paradise and the Togepi who lived there. After having been so attached to Togepi, I was quite touched by these episodes and that's way Togepi and Togetic are two of my personal favorites.

#4: Virizion

You've had to wait until after the weekend to see the last Pokémon before my top 3, but here it is: Virizion! Although its name sounds like some wireless connection, Virizion is just a plain awesome Pokémon! As opposed to Cobalion and Terrakion, the other two of the musketeer trio (Keldeo is actually the fourth, but not obtainable in the games), Virizion actually doesn't look weird. Where Cobalion has a weird furry mane beneath its chin and Terrakion looks like some plump rhinoceros, Virizion looks like a skinny, speedy and elegant antelope-like Pokémon. Together with Terrakion, Cobalion and Keldeo, Virizion battled against humans in order to protect Pokémon. Another funny fact: Virizion is the only one of the four that is not weak to the types of any of the other members of the Sword of Justice, plus it is the only one having a type advantage over all of the other members (fighting-type over the steel-type Cobalion and grass-type over the rock-type Terrakion and the water-type Keldeo). And although it's not the strongest Pokémon of the four (heck, it isn't one of the strongest Pokémon even if you count non-legendary Pokémon), it was definitely a faithful team member. It saved the day during my battle with Ghetsis, surviving Hydreigon's Fire Blast due to its ridiculously high special attack! Yeah, I love Virizion. I don't usually use legendary Pokémon while getting through any game, but I definitely made an exception for Virizion.

Do you want to use Virizion? Go ahead, I'd recommend it! It's not overly strong; in fact, its base attack and special attack are both the same and no more than just good or decent, while having an abominable defense stat. Its special defense and speed are the best, though. And it has quite some diversity up its sleeve, with access to moves like Giga Drain (handy!), Sacred Sword (also handy, this moves ignores any stat bonuses on the foe in battles), Leaf Blade, Close Combat, X-Scissor, Focus Blast, Energy Ball, Stone Edge, Zen Headbutt, Bounce (for some weird flying-type coverage), Seed Bomb and Superpower. Largely grass- and fighting-type moves, but enough diversity to keep Virizion going. And if you want an extra attack boost, send it out against dark-type Pokémon. Virizion has a type advantage over them, but also gets an attack boost when it is hit by a dark-type move. That's because of its ability Justified, which triggers when it is hit by such an attack. I pity the ones using Sucker Punch on it! Anyway, you all know why I love Virizion so much and why it is my fourth favorite Pokémon. Three more to go!

#5: Braviary

Okay, so look at Braviary's features. It's clearly an eagle. His face and underside are a navy blue; his back and the dorsal side of his wings are red. He has a bright blue cere, normally a waxy structure atop a bird's beak, from which extends a red, three-pointed crest. White plumes and a feathery mane sprout from that crest. All of these features resemble a North American warrior and/or war bonnet. Besides, Braviary has some interesting characteristics: they fight fearlessly and relentlessly, they are very courageous, they fight without pause in order to protect their friends and family and the more wounds they have, the more respect they get. Braviary's colors, Braviary's feathery features, Braviary's characteristics and Braviary being an eagle make it all so obvious that this Pokémon is based on the national symbol of the United States of America (that would be the eagle). As if all of the above wasn't obvious already, Braviary's name is either a corruption of 'bravery or a combination of 'brave' and 'aviary'. "Home of the brave" is a lyric found in "The Star-Spangled Banner", the title of the national anthem of the United States and also the name of the national flag, on which Braviary is also based. Even though I'm Dutch and I don't live in the USA, this is exactly the reason why I love Braviary so much. And I think all North American Pokémon freaks also love him a little. I mean, who isn't a little patriotic? This little birdie just screams AMERICA!!! all over, and I'll be damned if Braviary isn't one of the favorite Pokémon of many Pokémon fans, even outside the USA. Why? Because he is one of the strongest Pokémon in the Pokémon White and White 2 video games to get through the games with.

So yeah, it's strong, so it obviously does well in battles. Braviary is quite hard to get in Pokémon White, though, you'll have to catch a Rufflet in his thirties and evolve him into Braviary starting at level 54. By that time you have probably already beaten the Elite 4, N and Ghetsis. That's a bit of a letdown, but he'll be a great Pokémon for the post-game stuff. Gamefreak has fixed this hard-to-get issue in White 2, though. In fact, you're able to catch Braviary quite early on in the games; just before you reach Nimbasa City, at route 4 and at level 25. He won't be good against the Nimbasa Gym, but he's an excellent Pokémon throughout the rest of the game. His attack stat is just great, while he has some medicore other stats. His special attack stat is bad, but if you're clever you won't use it, anyway. Braviary's got some diversity on his sleeve, too: he can learn loves like Fly, Rock Slide, Thrash, Return, Shadow Claw, Sky Attack and Superpower. And Braviary has some superpower, believe me! Generation V is seriously the best generation so far. I'm absolutely lyrical about this Pokémon, and there is still one fifth generation Pokémon left to go!

#6: Dragonair

If I had to mention one thing Gamefreak has done wrong while creating some interesting Pokémon, it would be Dragonair's evolution. I just can't see how the skinny serpent-like Dragonair can evolve into a plump dragon like Dragonite. Honestly, I don't get it. Dragonair has such an air of grace, beauty, cuteness, friendliness and calmness around it, whereas its evolution Dragonite is just a big, plump and clumsy dragon-like Pokémon (I can't even call it a full dragon). Don't get me wrong, Dragonite is an amazing Pokémon to use while playing the video games, as it has a great attack stat and a decent special attack stat. It also has some good defenses and a good enough speed stat. Its speed is a little on the low side, but that shouldn't be a problem, because it hits hard with strong moves like Outrage, Dragon Claw, Earthquake, Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Superpower, Fly, Iron Tail, Aqua Tail, two of the three elemental punches (Fire Punch and Thunder Punch) and a whole lot more. Dragonite is a favorite for many people competing with each other, because it is strong, diverse and capable of taking quite some hits. I admit I've used it a couple of times, too, but if I have to be honest, Dragonite is nothing like Dragonair. Gamefreak has done a bad job creating Dragonite like a clumsy and orange dragon, especially because Dragonair could have had such an awesome blue, serpent-like evolution even more graceful and beautiful than Dragonair is. If you see the images below (click on them to enlarge, or drag them to other tabs), you know why I prefer Dragonair over Dragonite and why Dragonair has a spot in my top 10 and Dragonite does not. Besides, Dragonair is my favorite first generation Pokémon; the remaining four are from the second generation or later. Don't forget to look below, though! Oh, by the way... That pink Dragonair is a shiny one, but because regular Dragonair are blue, it could be mistaken for a female one. Well, in this picture it probably is a female Dragonair, but you get my point...

#7: Nidoking

Nidoking is the last member of the Nido family: Nidoran ♀, Nidorina and Nidoqueen, and Nidoran ♂ and Nidorino  preceded him. There are actually two evolution lines, the female line of Nidoran ♀, Nidorina and Nidoqueen being the first and the male line of Nidoran ♂, Nidorino and Nidoking being the second. Nidoking is the counterpart of Nidoqueen (get them by using a Moon Stone on Nidorina or Nidorino), but he is definitely the fighter of the two. Both Pokémon are pretty well-balanced, with Nidoqueen having a slight preference to defenses and Nidoking having a slight preference to offenses. That's the one you want in battles, especially because he is slightly faster than Nidoqueen, too. He gains access to strong moves like Outrage, Iron Tail, Superpower, Aqua Tail, Thrash, Megahorn, Earthquake, Return, Brick Break, Rock Slide, Stone Edge and Poison Jab, as well as the elemental punches. Teach him even special-based moves like Surf, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Dragon Pulse, Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Sludge Wave, Thunder, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Earth Power and Sludge Bomb if you want; his special attack is decent enough, although I personally prefer physical-based moves. This well-balanced Pokémon is a good addition to any team, and I've used him several times when getting through FireRed and LeafGreen. He's not overly strong, but he's not weak either. Besides, I've always had a thing for Nidoking. That's because he looks hazardous, strong, masculine and defensive and he greatly resembles some kind of reptilian dinosaur, too. Oh hell, he was even my favorite Pokémon during the first generation, because he looked just plain cool and awesome to me. That opinion has kind of stuck with me until today, and that's why Nidoking has such a high spot in my list of favorite Pokémon.

#8: Eevee & evolutions

Eevee is a very remarkable Pokémon in the world of Pokémon. This cute little doggy is the only Pokémon that can evolve into more than three different Pokémon! In fact, it evolves into either Flareon (fire-type), Vaporeon (water-type), Jolteon (electric-type), Umbreon (dark-type), Espeon (psychic-type), Leafeon (grass-type) or Glaceon (ice-type). Recently, Sylveon has been revealed for the upcoming Pokémon X and Y games. It is not yet known how to evolve your Eevee into the new fairy-type Sylveon, but it will probably be totally different from how to evolve Eevee into one of the previous seven. Each Eeveelution evolves from Eevee in a unique way, no way is the same. In the first generation it was fairly easy to evolve Eevee: you get Jolteon by using a Thunderstone on it, Flareon by using a Fire Stone and Vaporeon by using a Water Stone. It got a little harder in the second generation Eeveelutions: Eevee evolves into Umbreon by leveling it up one level at nighttime at a high friendship level and into Espeon by doing the same, except at daytime. In generation IV, Glaceon and Leafeon were introduced. Eevee wasn't available until after you have defeated the main game in Diamond and Pearl, but it was available early on in Platinum. To evolve it into Leafeon, just level it up nearby the moss-covered rock in Eterna Forest (Pinwheel Forest in generation V); to evolve it into Glaceon, just level it up nearby the ice-covered rock at route 217 (Twist Mountain in generation V). There is no doubt that Eevee is by far the Pokémon with the most evolutions.

By the way, here is a list of other Pokémon that can evolve into more than one Pokémon, with a maximum of three:

- Gloom (gen. I) evolves into either Vileplume (gen. I) by using a Leaf Stone or Bellossom (gen. II) by using a Sun Stone.

- Poliwhirl (gen. I) evolves into either Poliwrath (gen. I) by using a Water Stone or Politoed (gen. II) by trading it while having it hold a King's Rock.

- Slowpoke (gen. I) evolves into either Slowbro (gen. I) at level 37 or Slowking (gen. II) by trading it while having it hold a King's Rock.

- Tyrogue (gen. II) evolves into either Hitmonchan (gen. I) when its defense is higher than its attack, Hitmonlee (gen. I) when its attack is higher than its defense or Hitmontop (gen. II) when its defense and attack are equal, all starting at level 20.

- Wurmple (gen. III) evolves into either Silcoon (gen. III) or Cascoon (gen. III) at level 7, depending on its personality value.

- Kirlia (gen. III) evolves into either Gardevoir (gen. III) at level 30 or Gallade (gen. IV) when Kirlia is male and when you use a Dawn Stone on it.

- Nincada (gen. III) evolves into Ninjask (gen. III) at level 20 and possibly also Shedinja (gen. III) when you have at least one normal Poké Ball in your bag and an empty spot in your party.

- Snorunt (gen. III) evolves into either Glalie (gen. III) at level 42 or Froslass (gen. IV) when Snorunt is female and when you use a Dawn Stone on it.

- Clamperl (gen. III) evolves into either Gorebyss (gen. III) by trading it while having it hold a DeepSeaScale or Huntail (gen. III) by trading it while having it hold a DeepSeeTooth.

- Burmy (gen. IV) evolves into either Wormadam (gen. IV) at level 20 when it's female, while its cloak depends on the current surroundings, or Mothim (gen. IV) at level 20 when it's male.

So how do these Eeveelutions put up in the video games? Well, they're actually not bad at all! Let's start with the original three: Jolteon, Flareon and Vaporeon. Jolteon exceeds in special attack and speed and it even has some decent special defense, too! Its attack shouldn't be used and its defense is quite mediocre, but it makes up for that with some strong attacks like Discharge, Thunderbolt and Thunder. Unfortunately, it's not very diverse; the only special-based attack it can learn for some type diversity is Shadow Ball. It's capable of learning Signal Beam, but you'll have to go to the Move Tutor in generation V. Then Vaporeon is a little bit better: it has great special attack and special defense, learns strong moves like Surf, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Shadow Ball and Signal Beam. You can say it has a little more diversity than Jolteon, but watch out for its defense stat. It's not absolutely terrible, but Vaporeon doesn't often hit first due to its low speed. Finally, we have Flareon. It has some great attack stat and a decent special attack stat. It's a shame it doesn't learn the appropriate moves to make use of that great attack stat. The only one of its type is Fire Fang, and it can learn Superpower and Iron Tail through the fifth generation Move Tutor, but that's about it except for Dig. Flareon does learn Overheat, Heat Wave, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower and Fire Blast and its special attack is good enough to make use for it, so go ahead if you want to use it. You can also teach it Return, too.

One letdown about all Eeveelutions, though, is that they learn their strongest moves in such high levels that you have to get through the game with mediocre, if not bad, moves (altough that issue was fixed in Black 2 and White 2). The only one who gets around that is Espeon. It has a great special attack stat and it even learns Confusion and Psybeam early on, making it a strong and fast (it has a very good speed stat, too) STAB-hitter early on. Later on, it has access to Shadow Ball, Grass Knot. Psychic and Signal Beam, making it a diverse enough Pokémon to use. Espeon is definitely the best Eeveelution to use, although its defense is not that good, so watch out for physical-based attacks. As opposed to Espeon being the best Eeveelution, Umbreon is by far the worst to use. It has a lack of good moves, its attacking stats are mediocre and it's quite slow, too. Umbreon is meant to use as a tank, however, with great defenses to take quite some hits. It is more capable of being a supporting Pokémon and there are several ways to set up a battle with Umbreon, with it having moves like Toxic, Protect, Confuse Ray or Double Team, and a strong attacking move like Dark Pulse (taught by a Move Tutor). It's not my kind of strategy, but feel free to use it if you want to. I personally like Espeon more...

Lastly, we have Leafeon and Glaceon. Now, there are more Pokémon that evolve by using a certain stone on it or by leveling it up at a high friendship level, at nighttime or at daytime. However, Glaceon is obtained by leveling up Eevee nearby a ice-covered rock and Leafeon by leveling Eevee up nearby a moss-covered rock. It's worth it, though, because Leafeon has a good attack stat, an even better defense stat and quite some decent speed. Its special attack and special defense are not that good, however, but that's not in the least a problem. It has access to some good moves like Razor Leaf, Leaf Blade, Return, Dig, Seed Bomb, X-Scissor, Iron Tail and even Take Down and Double-Edge (learned by Eevee), although Leafeon will get recoil damage in return. Not bad! Glaceon is a little worse, though, even though it has a great special attack stat. It barely learns any good moves by leveling up, except for its last move Blizzard. It learns Ice Beam, Shadow Ball and Signal Beam for some type coverage, but that's about it. And that's exactly the problem with most of the Eeveelutions: the lack of diversity. They learn some good moves indeed, but some of them are hard to get and some are learned at ridiculously high levels. The benefit of Eevee having so much evolutions is that each Eeveelution has its own strategy, with more strategies to come in generation VI. Sylveon (see image below; click on it to enlarge it, or drag it to another tab) is one of them, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were one or two more new Eeveelutions to be waiting for us.

But if these Eeveelutions disappoint me so much battle-wise, then why do I like Eevee and its evolutions so much? Well... Firstly, Eevee is so damn cute that it almost kills me. Yeah, I know I'm a guy and all, but I have a thing for incredibly cute Pokémon and Eevee is definitely one of them. I even had an Eevee plush, which was my favorite Pokémon plush doll. Second, the fact that Eevee evolves in so many Pokémon, with even more to come, makes it one of the most unique Pokémon ever. There are so many choices to evolve your Eevee into nowadays, that it isn't even funny anymore. Well, I know which one Eeveelution I'm never gonna get myself. And if you paid attention, you know which one I mean. Finally, the last reason that I like Eevee and its evolutions are their designs. Curious how an apparently normal dog-like Pokémon evolves into dog-like creatures resembling the type Eevee evolves into. It's easy to see that Jolteon is electric, Flareon fire, Vaporeon water, Espeon psychic, Umbreon dark, Glaceon ice and Leafeon grass. Only I don't really get Sylveon's design and typing, but it's without a doubt an awesome new Pokémon and I'll eventually get used to it, anyway. Anyhow, Eevee and its evolutions definitely deserve a high spot in my list of favorite Pokémon. That was number eight, seven more Pokémon to go!

#9: Darmanitan

Darmanitan is not at number 9 in my list of favorite Pokémon because of its design, that's for sure. Yeah, it's a very weird Pokémon indeed, but it's a good weird. And its design is definitely not bad, it's actually very nice! The reason that Darmanitan is one of my favorite Pokémon, however, is because its attack stat is absolutely NUTTERS!!! When playing Black, White, Black 2 or White 2, I always catch myself a Darumaka to get through the game with. Always. It will eventually evolve into the monstrous Darmanitan, which has the ability Sheer Force. This ability takes away the added effects of moves and adds 30% extra power to those moves. Let's take a Darmanitan with Sheer Force and a Charcoal or Flame Plate attached to it. Instead of 75 power, Fire Punch does much more damage. The 50% boost from STAB, the 30% boost from Sheer Force after taking away the chance to inflict a burn and the 20% boost from the Charcoal or Flame Plate make Fire Punch end up as a 175,5 power move. Crazy!!! Imagine what happens to Flare Blitz, which has a base power of 120 and which Darmanitan is also capable of learning (as a Darumaka). Also, a risky move for Darmanitan to have is Belly Drum, which halves its attack but MAXIMIZES ITS ATTACK STAT BOOST BY A FLIPPING 6 STAGES!!! Darmanitan does not have great defenses, though, so you might want to use a potion during the turn afterward. But a combination of STAB moves, Sheer Force, Charcoal or Flame Plate and Belly Drum makes Darmanitan an excellent sweeper in any team! And any strong physical-based attack would be a great addition to its movepool, too, even if it's not a fire-type one. I'm happy this Pokémon exist, and I always use it when getting through the game once more.

There also exist some Darmanitan with the Zen Mode ability (see image below). When their HP reach half or less, these Darmanitan pretty much curl up in a blue egg-like stone statue. In fact, these are the ancient Darmanitan statues you can find in the Desert Resort, next to the Relic Castle. Give one of those statues a RageCandyBar and you will be able to fight it and catch it if you want. When changed into its Zen Mode form, Darmanitan becomes a very strong special-based attacker (the special attack stat of the standard form is downright awful, but you didn't need that stat, anyway), plus it gains the additional psychic-type. That comes in handy with Belly Drum and three special-based moves, preferably two of them STAB moves. I recommend it to have Belly Drum to cut its HP in half, either Fire Blast or Flamethrower (it can also learn Heat Wave through a Move Tutor if you want it), Psychic, and another strong special-based move like Focust Blast or SolarBeam. You shouldn't worry that your Zen Mode Darmanitan will be knocked out after having used Belly Drum, because it gets some very nice defenses once your normal Darmanitan has changed into its Zen Mode form. It becomes much slower, though, but it should be able to take a hit, anyway.

Both the Zen Mode strategy and Sheer Force strategy are fine, but I prefer the latter. Those Belly Drum and Sheer Force boosts are really nice, while that Zen Mode form only has its base special attack stat ready to attack with. You'll find the Sheer Force Darmanitan (in other words: the normal one) much more efficient when using it against ordinary trainers in the games. Darmanitan is a monster and it's the strongest Pokémon in my team every time again. No exceptions... 

#10: Milotic

Coming in at number 10 is the beautiful sea serpent Pokémon Milotic. Capable of calming their enemies by removing their negative feelings, Milotic are peaceful Pokémon that typically try to avoid battles. They appear to dislike conflict (altough the official art says otherwise, because Milotic looks a little angry), and they will even appear before arguing humans in an attempt to calm their minds. All this suggests that Milotic possesses empathetic abilities similar to some psychic-type Pokémon and that it is loosely based on sirens, mythical creatures who can hypnotize with their voice to make men attracted to them. It is said to be the most beautiful of all Pokémon, which is quite ironic giving the fact it evolves from the ugly fish Feebas. You're able to get a Milotic by maximizing Feebas' beauty with Pokéblocks in generation III and Poffins in generation IV, or by trading it with a Prism Scale in generation V. The latter is probably the easiest way to get such a beautiful Pokémon. Milotic is in many ways the counterpart of Gyarados: both are serpent evolutions of weak fish Pokémon and both appear in times of conflict, Milotic to becalm and Gyarados to wreak havoc. Both have base stat totals of 540 and both are tied with each other for the greatest increase in base stat total after evolving, with 340 points, as well as for the highest base stat total of any non-legendary water Pokémon, along with Kingdra. Milotic is definitely a beautiful Pokémon and that fact, together with all above characteristics, makes one of my favorite Pokémon with ease. I just had to put it in the top 10 because of that, although I never use it in the video games.

So how does it cope in the video games? Well, let's say that Milotic is not a bad Pokémon to use. It has a good special attack stat and an even better special defense stat, while having reasonable defense and speed. Just don't use its attack stat, because that stat is pretty lackluster. It has access to strong special-based water-type moves like Surf, Hydro Pump and Scald, as well as physical-based ones. Those I don't recommend. It can learn Ice Beam, Blizzard and Hyper Beam, too, but that's about it concerning special-based moves. Milotic is not really diverse, but it can hit hard with its water-type moves and a little ice-type coverage is not bad, either. It won't be the best on your team, but it's also not gonna do bad. I don't use it myself, but I won't try to stop you from using it, either.

Nah, Milotic is just one of my favorite Pokémon because of its beauty. And because of that, many pieces of pretty fan art have surfaced on the internet. Come on, people. I dare you. Just Google 'Milotic' and 'Shiny Milotic' (see image below for a shiny Milotic; click on it to enlarge, or drag it to another tab) and you'll come across some very nice drawings. You'll understand immediately why Milotic is one of my favorite Pokémon: its elegance, grace, beauty and fierceness make it one of the most amazing Pokémon ever. It's almost unbelievable and unbearable that Milotic evolves from that ugly fish Feebas. Feebas is super weak, super lame, super weird, super goofy, super dumb and super creepy and it's definitely one of my least favorite Pokémon. It's absolutely worthless, except for the fact it's the one Pokémon evolving into Milotic. I don't get it. It's kind of weird I don't dislike Magikarp as much as I dislike Feebas, other than the fact that in every game there is a trainer with six whopping Magikarp on his team. Luckily, we have Milotic once it's there. Gamefreak definitely has done a damn good job with creating this amazing Pokémon!

#11: Scyther & Scizor

And we have reached the last pair of Pokémon before we enter the top 10 tomorrow: the bug Pokémon Scyther and Scizor. Scyther is already a strong Pokémon, but it was quite a letdown in the first generation, especially because it didn't learn any bug- or flying-type moves other than the weak Wing Attack. And that was only in Yellow. Instead, it had access to moves like Slash, Skull Bash and Double-Edge. They're not bad moves, but none of them super effective to any Pokémon due to them being normal-type. That changed in generation II, when Scizor came up. Wing Attack got a boost from 35 to 60 power and Scyther could learn Steel Wing (a great move for the steel-type Scizor, which you can obtain by trading Scyther while having it hold a Metal Coat). Later on in the generations they could even learn moves like Aerial Ace, X-Scissor, Acrobatics (yessss!) and Brick Break and Scizor even Iron Head. Not bad at all! Give Scizor a movepool of Iron Head, X-Scissor, Acrobatics and Swords Dance to boost its attack with a whopping two stages and you have a powerhouse! The only letdown is its speed: Scyther is fast, but when it evolves into Scizor, Scizor loses much of that speed. Fortunately, Scizor's attack and defense go up, plus it gets a very useful steel-type, giving it resistances to many types and neutralizing its weaknesses for fighting, flying, rock and ground it would otherwise have. And an immunity for poison is always good!

Now, why do I like these Pokémon so much? Easy, they're just plain awesome bug Pokémon! Most bugs are either lame, weird, weak, too normal or alright, or a combination of all or a couple of before-mentioned adjectives, with the exception of a couple of Pokémon like Heracross, Yanmega, Volcarona, Leavanny and Scolipede. Yes, I know Shuckle and Shedinja are also in this list, but that's because they have weird or interesting characteristics worth having a spot in my list for, especially that cute little Shuckle. But Scyther and Scizor look like strong and actually hazardous, too. Scyther is too obviously a mantis Pokémon, but Scizor resembles red ants and mantises as well as lobsters due to its crab-like claws it gains upon evolution. Because of their dangerous appearances, their designs and their power, Scyther and Scizor are the two best bug-type Pokémon and therefore deserve a high spot in my list of favorite Pokémon, although they have to miss out on the top 10. No worries, because the ten best Pokémon are even better than Scyther and Scizor!

#12: Crobat

Hell yeah, that poisonous bat... The reason why it's so high in this list is because it looks way more awesome than the original Zubat and Golbat. Those two are among the original 151 Pokémon, while Crobat is from generation II. However, Zubat and Golbat look weird, while Crobat actually looks vicious. And that's exactly what I want to see about poison-type Pokémon. Besides, Golbat needed an update, because it was a horrible Pokémon to use in the first few video games. It evolves into Crobat by leveling it up at a high friendship level, but Crobat wasn't really an improvement in generation II, though, other than the fact that it could learn Fly (Golbat couldn't until the fourth generation). Too bad, because Crobat has very decent attack, along with some quite decent defenses and a hell of a good speed stat, too. Throughout the generations, some interesting moves have been added to Crobat's movepool, although neither were very effective. Air Cutter and Air Slash are special-based, not really Crobat's strongest point, and Poison Fang, although sounding quite strong, has a base power of only 50. It got better in generation IV, when it got to learn strong moves like X-Scissor, Cross Poison (with a chance of poisoning and causing a critical hit), Steel Wing and Aerial Ace, but the cream of the crop of all moves it learns in generation V: Acrobatics! It has a base attack power of 165 (due to STAB) when it is not holding an item. That's the move we were all waiting for for him to learn! There are more and stronger Pokémon that can learn Acrobatics, though, but Crobat is still a reliable Pokémon to use. And while Zubat and Golbat are being just plain annoying, Crobat steals the show with a cool appearance. Eat that, Zubat! 

#13: Sawsbuck

Now, Sawsbuck is a very exceptional Pokémon in the fact that it changes its form depending on the season. You can see that in the image next to this text (click on it to enlarge it, or drag it to another tab; the same goes for the pictures below). When you start above and go clockwise, you can see the summer form with a bush of green leaves on its horns, the autumn form with red-colored autumn leaves on its horns, the spring form with a few flowers on its horns and the winter form with a warm white fur. This changing of shapes is exactly the reason why I like Sawsbuck so much. What's more awesome than a buck Pokémon that changes drastically when the season also changes? Yeah, a lot of things, but you get my point, right? You know, this changing of looks has, although it doesn't serve a particular purpose other than entertainment, its benefits: if you've had it with one forme, you can get another after one month (each season in Black and White lasts one month in real-life). Another curious thing about Sawsbuck is that it's a normal/grass-type Pokémon, especially because most normal-type Pokémon are either pure normal or have the common flying-type as their second type. This unique typing also comes with six weaknesses, but you'll get a strong and reasonably quick Pokémon in return. Sawsbuck's attack and speed are good, although its defenses are quite meh. Sawsbuck makes up for that with some great moves: as a Deerling it can learn Jump Kick, a 100 power fighting-type move. Great! At level 37 it learns Horn Leech, a physical-based Giga Drain, meaning it will drain the opponent's HP while filling up its own HP. Fantastic! You can also choose between Return and Double-Edge, hitting anything that's not ghost-, steel- or rock-type for respectively 153 and 180 power due to STAB. Awesome! Return tends to be more reliable, though, because Double-Edge will let Sawsbuck take recoil damage. You can also teach it Wild Charge for some electric-type coverage, but that move also causes recoil damage on Sawsbuck. All moves are fine, though, and Sawsbuck is power- and appearance-wise a great Pokémon to have on your team.

#14: Cubchoo & Beartic

Hell yeah. Just be prepard for a freezing cold cuteness overload, because at number 14 in my list of favorite Pokémon are both Cubchoo and Beartic. Let's start with Cubchoo. Just look at it and you know exactly why it is one of my favorite Pokémon: it's... just... freaking... ADORABLE!!! Its cute look, its snotty nose and its shy pose just make it the most adorable Pokémon ever! And you'd say that Cubchoo has a cold because the mucus from his nose is constantly running, but that's actually its strength: when Cubchoo attacks, it inhales the mucus and uses it for its ice-type attacks. Kind of gross, I agree, but I forgive Cubchoo. Now, Beartic is quite another story. It looks like the snot of Cubchoo's nose has frozen into a beard of icicles. Lovely. Well, Beartic does look cool, actually. It's also very strong in the video games, as opposed to Cubchoo: this little cub Pokémon's attack stat is not bad, but it just doesn't learn the right moves to make good use of that. Upon evolving, Beartic learns Icicle Crash; that's by far its best move, so definitely keep it around. Unfortunately, Beartic is not really a diverse Pokémon. It learns Thrash and Shadow Claw for a very strong and a reasonably strong move, but that's about it. Thrash is a normal-type attack, but it just does normal damage on anything that is not steel, ghost or rock. Dig is an option, but you'll probably have a powerful Pokémon with Earthquake handy. If not, be my guest. Beartic's special attack is just too low to make use of Ice Beam or Blizzard, you'll find that Icicle Crash is much more powerful. Those are letdowns, together with its low speed stat. Beartic has quite some acceptable defenses, but nothing to write home about, although it's a strong Pokémon to use. I personally don't use it, but Beartic and especially Cubchoo are definitely two of my favorite Pokémon to date. Also, this evolution line of Cubchoo and Beartic (polar bears) and the coming X and Y evolution line of Pancham and Pangoro (panda bears) are also seen as ice- and fighting-type alternatives to Teddiursa and Ursaring (probably based on grizzly bears). Yeah, I can't help but to agree a little...