#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!