Mr. H's list 5: Top 20 Pokemon (Besides Pikachu)

There are so many things that make Pokemon the most important thing of my childhood. And it's not just mine, if you were 6-12 years old in the late 90s, you understand the impact Pokemon had on our generation. As such, there's always been one Pokemon who stood above the rest, that Pokemon would, obviously, be Pikachu. On any list you'll find that is similar to this one, Pikachu will be #1. Therefore, like my last list, I'm excluding Pikachu off this list.

Your shit's not wanted here

This list is confusing, what exactly is it? Well, it's the top Pokemon who really stood out above the rest, as far as popularity goes. These Pokemon are or were the most talked about, or somehow had more of an impact on the series than your average Pokemon. They're not all powerful, they're not all Generation I (but most are, for nostalgic reasons), but they are all pretty damn awesome.



Here goes, Mr. H's list of the Top 20 Pokemon (besides Pikachu)

20. Jynx

Seriously, what the hell

I remember seeing this Pokemon when I was 6 years old and not knowing what exactly to think. Was it a trainer, a main character, what? I didn't think it was a Pokemon, but it is. Bearing a shocking resemblance to a cheap Detroit hooker with cheaply dyed hair, it's no wonder it caused so much controversy that an episode actually had to be banned due to the possibility of it being racially influenced. The sheer "What the hell" of this Pokemon lands it on the list.

19. Lickitung

I've talked to friends about this Pokemon before, what the HELL where they thinking, naming a Pokemon this? It's probably the easiest Pokemon to tie to any fantasy possible, who knows why. Like Jynx, it's a Pokemon that makes no sense but is somehow comical and entertaining. Note that it evolves into Lickilicky.

18. Wobbuffet

If you've ever watched the Pokemon anime, you're aware of Wobuffet's significance. It's got a ridiculously large fanbase and is banned from a lot of Pokemon tournaments due to it's specialty in repelling moves back. Regardless, this Pokemon is completely hilarious, it's voice, it's personality, everything makes it funny.

17. Rattata

I had to choose between Pidgey or Rattata for this spot. They both have one huge thing in common, it's pretty much the first wild pokemon you see in every game (except for Ruby/Sapphire since those games aren't good). Rattata has one thing going for it in that it doesn't evolve into something spectatular like Pidgeot, instead, you get a bigger rat. Rattata is notorious for their cheap shots in Pokemon tournaments (did some research, it's called the F.E.A.R. stategy, imagine that)

16. Marrill

After the first wave of Pokemon pretty much destroyed any hope of any of us children having a future, we foamed at the mouth for this never-before-seen Pokemon that went by Pikablu. This was pretty much the first Generation II Pokemon we saw if you don't count Ho-oh in the first episode of the anime. This Pokemon made us freak the hell out, in short. Lately, Marrill's not too special, it doesn't have the biggest fanbase and isn't known as Pikablu anymore for obvious reasons. But for me, everytime I see it, I think of that name.

15. Porygon

You know you're badass when you make even the Japanese ban you

Pretty much every single Pokemon released in the generations so far have had some sort of spotlight from the anime and it's movies, all for Porygon and it's evolutions, that is. That's not true, though. Porygon was featured in an early episode of the first Pokemon series, in a normal episode. They went to a virtual world riding on the giant Porygon. There was an issue though, the episode contained rapidly flashing lights, and those lights caused 700 Japanese children to have seizures. Yow. It was only showed on TV once, and never translated into English. However, the episode CAN be found on the Internet.

14. Raichu

One of my personal favorites (and a staple on my current SoulSilver team), Raichu's got something big going for it: It evolves from Pikachu. Since Pikachu is not allowed on this list, Raichu had to go on it. It's got a pretty big fanbase for a number of reasons, one of them being that it, again, evolves from Pikachu. Would it be famous without this quirk? Most likely not, but hey, it's Raichu.

13. Lucario

The newest Pokemon on this list, Lucario has a lot of good quirks going for it. It was one of the first Generation IV Pokemon to be revealed, and had a movie dedicated to it. Afterward, Nintendo made the (in my opinion, horrible) decision to replace Mewtwo with Lucario on Super Smash Brothers: Brawl. Many were angered, but a lot of us soon learned that Lucario's a pretty okay guy, the whole aura thing is a nice little edition.

12. Snorlax

He's on here for one obvious reason, and that reason being that he's God damn Snorlax. Before Groudon went and pummeled Snorlax's weight, there was nothing cooler than a 1,014 lb Pokemon in Generation I. Not only that, he was pretty much the cornerstone of any first time player's team in the first games, due to the mandatory PokeFlute-battle you have with him. I usually used him, I know that much. Snorlax is the kind of Pokemon that everybody has to remember because he's just, well...Snorlax

11. Magikarp

If Doubles Guy were a Magikarp...

There is probably not a more annoying Pokemon to find when fishing, nobody uses a Magikarp because of how useless it can be, and there's always some dick of a trainer who has six of them for you to battle. Because of that, it's on the list. Forget about the fact that it oddly evolves into a Sea Dragon of Undoubtable Death, remember it's roots. Splashing, flailing, it's really only doing the best it can, right?

10. Lugia

When people got a hold of this Pokemon after the first movie was released, they were pretty confused. Here we are with this garguantuan bird who really looks pretty nice. Lugia's one of the better legendaries to be released, and there's a reason why everybody who KNOWS SHIT ABOUT VIDEO GAMES chooses Silver and SoulSilver over Gold and HeartGold.

9. Jigglypuff

Jigglypuff was the hero of the anime's beginning. It was the stereotypical bitchy 6 year old girl, not sure why, just is. Everyone wanted a bit of Jigglypuff, and it still has a huge fan base today. I need not mention that Jigglypuff is a huge badass on the Smash Bros. games, and that her upward throw is the easiest way to beat All-Star mode without using a heart container (found that out myself :D). Like I said before, this list needed it some Jigglypuff.

8. Bulbasaur

Pokemon numero uno. This is one of the three legendary starters of the beginning of the first games. Everybody liked them some Bulbasaur. There's not much to say, really, when it comes to Bulbsaur. Everybody loves it. Nobody's really sure why, but it's Bulbsaur, how could you not?

7. Dragonite

^Victory

Another one of my personal favorites, Dragonite was the ultimate Pokemon of the first generation. It did not get better than him. If you had a Dragonite, you were cool. That's how it was. This Pokemon was the ultimate Dragon type, and it had every feature needed to be the BAMF of the first games. Lance had three, need I remind you, that automatically makes it awesome. Nowadays, you can see Dragonite on memegenerator.net.

6. Eevee

Jesus Christ I need to hug it

This Pokemon and it's 600 evolutions are a consistent favorite among every Pokefan. It's always been one of my favorites (namely Espeon, even though I have Umbreon on my team). Eevee's the ultimate combination of what people like: Fluffy, cute, and god damn strong. This is the one of the only Pokemon where people desperately want more evolutions out of, and hopefully we get some with the upcoming Generation V.

5. Squirtle

The god damn Squirtle Squad and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirtles. He's a BAMF, everybody likes Squirtle in the same aspect as Bulbsaur, but he's a god damn turtle with a squirrel tail. JESUS CHRIST. When it comes down to it, the three starters are among the favorite of everybody who has ever played Pokemon, Squirtle's no exception.

4. Mudkip

I absolutely refuse to say the actual phrase that goes along with Mudkips, but the magic is that I don't need to since everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY knows it. Why Mudkip and not Torchic or Treecko? Who knows, there may be a reason for it but nobody would be able to figure it out. There's no doubting the power of Mudkip, who knows what it could cause.

3. Mewtwo/Mew

Legendaries nowadays are getting kinda stale, I mean, think about it: We had like 11 come out in Generation III and another 9 or so come out in Generation IV, one of them being the absolute creator of the world. But back in Generation I, we had five legendaries, the birds (who cares), and these two. People foamed at the mouth for the Level 70 Mewtwo that could be caught, and foamed at even more intense rates for the event-exclusive Mew. Without wifi, remember that getting a legit Mew was almost impossible. When these two duked it out in the first movie, oh my God, the brain matter took years to clean up.

2. Charizard

You can't tell me you didn't want 30 of these

The ultimate BAMF of Pokemon, really. Charizard is damn awesome, a flying lizard that shoots fire. It doesn't get much better than that. Nowadays with all the other Pokemon, it doesn't quite get the attention that it used to. Regardless, it's impact on the first generation of Pokemon and the kids who played was HUGE. First, it started with being the Fire starter's final form. NICE. And then, it became the strongest member of Ash's team on the anime. WORD. And don't forget, the original Charizard card was worth several hundred dollars around the time it came out. EVEN BETTER. Charizard was the #1 Pokemon of the first generation, up until...

1. Slowpoke

So little to say..

Again, like my side-kicks list, call me generic or whatever, I don't care. Slowpoke's the only Pokemon other than Pikachu that almost everybody knows. One of the first ever internet memes as well as one that still lives today (as an ultimate generator of spam), Slowpoke is the ultimate example of what makes Pokemon so great. Think about it, it takes like, 5 seconds for this thing to feel pain, and it evolves when a Shellder bites it's tail, this become a Slowbro. It evolves into a Pokemon with the word bro in it, my God.

There you have it, this list was harder than one would think, and it's slightly more opinionated than my other lists, however, it was a good list for me to make.