From Scizor to Lucario, here are the top ten Steel Pokémon of all time, ranked from worst to best.
Of all the various different types in Pokémon, Steel is one of the most intriguing. Not only is it arguably up there with Fairy and Water as one of the most powerful types in the game – it’s also got some incredibly inspired monsters, as well as some downright rubbish ones.
Originally introduced to the series in Gen 2, Steel Pokémon really only came into their own with the addition of Fairy-types in X & Y. Now, they’re some of the most popular Pokémon in history – although not all Steel-types are made equally. We’ve collected the ten best Steel Pokémon of all time and ranked them from worst to best in order to determine who the greatest hunk of metal in Pokémon history is.
As with all our other lists of the best Water Pokémon, best Fire Pokémon, and more, there’s only one rule: Each evolutionary family can only be represented by one individual Pokémon from it in order to include as many different species as possible.
From Dragapult to Gengar, here are the ten best Ghost Pokémon of all time, ranked from worst to best.
Ghost Pokémon are arguably some of the most popular creatures from Nintendo’s illustrious series, introducing a variety of beloved ‘mons in every single generation to date. While Ghost-types have traditionally been a bit hit-or-miss, when they hit, they hit hard – it’s almost as if they’re not immaterial spectres capable of floating through walls and drinking your brain juice.
As with every type in Pokémon, some Ghost-types are a whole lot better than others. That’s why we’ve decided to put together a list of the best Ghost Pokémon ever designed, which includes ‘mons from six of Pokémon’s eight generations – sorry Gen 2, you’ve got the best Pokémon gamesfor sure, but your ghosts just aren’t that Gastly.
The universe is often frighteningly disdainful of mortal existence, specifically if you’re a cutesy Pokémon that’s somehow ended up in a first-person shooter (FPS).
Yes, there’s an unofficial Pokémon FPS now, and it’s every bit hilarious as it sounds. Independent game developer Dragon put together a fan mock-up after reading some memes about a hypothetical Pokémon FPS. Sort of like that Final Fantasy 7 classic camera concept from a few weeks back, only far more cursed. More like fire (away) Pokémon types, am I right?
You can watch a snippet of the fan-made Pokémon FPS below. Pikachu is undoubtedly grateful that this isn’t official, unless they want to end up on our best shooters of all time list eventually.
The small team of fans behind this went into some detail on YouTube regarding how they made the mock-up which you can check out here. Dragon even imported models and animations from newer Pokémon games into the Unreal Engine to add that authentic flavor.
From Gardevoir to Alakazam, here are the ten best Psychic-type Pokémon of all time, ranked.
Just like in real life, there are plenty of spoon-bending shenanigans in the world of Pokémon. Psychic-types are often included among the most popular Pokémon of all time, having been series staples ever since their inception way back in Red & Blue. Those ridiculous portals in Sabrina’s gym…
Not all Psychic Pokémon are made equal though, with certain monster magicians making a holy show of the competition – Espurr might be able to pull a bunny out of a hat, but these other lads are on a whole other level. Because of that, we’ve decided to put together a list of the best Psychic Pokémon of all time, ranked from worst to best.
As with our other lists of the best Water Pokémon, best Fire Pokémon, and best Dragon Pokémon, every evolutionary line can only be represented by one individual form from it – if Alakazam makes the cut, Abra and Kadabra are disqualified by default. This is to make the ranking as diverse and all-encompassing as possible, while also avoiding Abracadabra, Alakazam jokes.
Before we get on to the main event, let’s go through some honorable mentions:
Reuniclus.
Slowbro.
Mewtwo.
Solgaleo.
Hatterene.
Alolan Raichu.
Exeggutor.
Latios.
If your favourite is included above, sorry – they’re great, but just don’t quite manage to crack the upper echelon of Psychic Pokémon. Here’s who does.
From Garchomp to Rayquaza, here are the ten best Dragon Pokémon of all time, ranked.
We’re not sure about you, but we’re kind of getting sick of just how OP Dragon Pokémon are. Sure, winged, fire-breathing lizards can be cool and all – but some of these lads don’t even have wings, and most of them can also summon lightning, hailstorms, earthquakes, and just about every other natural phenomenon you could possibly think of. Every time we see a PokéDragon, all we want to do is tell it to stop showing off.
That being said, some Dragon ‘mons really have cemented themselves as iconic figures in Pokémon history. While we’ve had enough of Cynthia’s ridiculous Garchomp and still have nightmares about Winona’s Altaria 20 years on, some of these creatures are among the best designed Pokémon of all time. As a means of celebrating that, we’ve put together a list ranking the top ten Dragon Pokémon from worst to best.
As was the case with our best Fire Pokémon and best Water Pokémon lists, each evolutionary family can only be represented by one ‘mon from it. This is in the interest of fairness and, well… interest. A list dominated by Gible, Gabite, and Garchomp would be a bit rubbish, especially when you consider that two out of three of those Pokémon are, in fact, also rubbish.
There are plenty of great Fire-types in Pokémon, although some are obviously better than others. Here are the top ten Fire Pokémon, ranked.
Fire-types have always been incredibly popular among Pokémon fans, with iconic ‘mons like Charizard, Blaziken, and Arcanine flaunting more flames than a Guy Fieri shirt. As with all other types though, some blazes burn brighter than others, with only a select few Fire Pokémon managing to erupt with the hypothetical ferocity of Mt. Chimney had Maxie’s absurd plan to flood the world with lava succeeded. Technically he wanted to “expand the world’s landmass,” but instead of going to the Netherlands and learning about polders he thought it prudent to impulsively rain magma down on everyone. As you do.
Anyway! If a Fire Pokémon is able to erupt with that intensity, they must be pretty damn good. We’ve compiled a list of the ten best Fire Pokémon, ranked from worst to best, to illustrate just which ones earn themselves a spot among that sweltering elite. As with our best Water Pokemon list, each evolutionary line can only be represented by one individual ‘mon – basically, if Charizard is included then Charmander and Charmeleon can’t be, because that would be boring.
Before we get onto the top ten, let’s name some honourable mentions – to Ho-oh, Flareon, Moltres, Incineroar, Volcarona, Rapidash, and Primal Groudon, we offer our condolences. You’re all great, but you’re just not top ten material. Do you know who is, though?
Water Pokémon are great, but which ones are the best? Here’s our official ranking.
Water is arguably one of the most valuable and versatile types in Pokémon, having massive utility in every single entry in the series to date. It’s super-effective against Fire, Rock, and Ground, all of which are extremely popular typings in both the mainline games and competitive play, and is incredible in virtually every meta thanks to its resistance of Steel, making Water ‘mons perfect bodyguards for highly coveted and annoyingly overused Fairy-types.
Best of all though, Water Pokémon are just the best Pokémon in general. If we were asked to be a gym leader and needed to choose a single type to battle with, you’d better believe we’d be training by doing the backstroke and catching fish with our bare hands. Water is power. Water is harmony. Water is life.
Okay, let’s move on before we start sounding as if we’re writing another Karate Kid reboot. Here are the top ten Water Pokémon of all time, ranked from worst to best with the caveat that evolutionary families can only be represented by one individual Pokémon each. But first: honourable mentions.
Swampert
Starmie
Greninja
Slowbro
Cloyster
Azumarill
Kingdra
Lanturn
Tapu Fini
Okay, let’s go – top ten Water ‘mons, as decided by the hardest science in history.
Our latest look at Pokémon Legends: Arceus makes it seem like the Pokémon game we’ve always wanted.
Pokémon is a series that values consistency, structure, and tradition. As we noted in our list of the best Pokémon games, there’s never really been a ‘bad’ entry in Nintendo’s illustrious catch-’em-up – although there have been more than a few safe ones, especially of late.
This, far more so than anything else, is what makes the premise of Pokémon Legends: Arceus so enticing. Aside from spin-offs, the only Pokémon games from the last decade that made a sincere attempt at innovation were Pokémon Let’s Go and Pokémon Sun & Moon, both of which were lambasted at launch for pretty much no reason. Perhaps their mistake was to hide their genius beneath thin veils of familiarity, causing people to confuse valuable experimentation with an affront against tradition. In simpler terms, the “Give me something new!” crowd were quickly and effortlessly able to reframe their argument as “This isn’t what we wanted – this isn’t Pokémon!”
Why does this matter? Judging by the most recent Pokémon Legends: Arceus trailer– which featured almost 15 minutes of new gameplay and commentary for Nintendo’s upcoming blockbuster – Game Freak won’t be shy about its innovation this time around. Legends is set to completely overhaul the entire systemic foundation of Pokémon, eschewing self-contained cities and routes for cohesive semi-open-world areas while trading conventional battles for something more akin to what you might expect from a third-person, action-adventure game boss fight. Basically, Pokémon is a Magikarp approaching the top of the waterfall right now – if it makes a final leap and misses, it will plummet right down to where it started all those years ago. If it passes through the Dragon Gate, though? Well, it’s about to become a great big Gyarados capable of taking the world by storm like never before, which is a bit ironic because Gyarados isn’t actually a Dragon-type.
The thing is, while Pokémon is taking a huge risk with Legends: Arceus – which it usually does with spin-offs, as opposed to an official, numbered generation title – this is something that the series has been building towards for years. When we were kids, all we ever wanted was an open-world Pokémon game, where wild ‘mons could roam free through a region-spanning Safari Zone. It’s weird that want is finally on the verge of materialising.
That’s an important point: Even Red & Blue’s Safari Zone, basic and confined as it might look in retrospect, was a sort of prototype for what it would be like to encounter Pokémon in their natural habitats. In future generations like Diamond & Pearl, the Safari Zone’s individual areas were subbed out for one massive locale in the Great Marsh. Sword & Shield players will obviously recall – and likely still harbour some irritation towards – the Wild Area, which was drastically improved in Crown Tundra. By the time Legends: Arceus launches on Jan. 28, Pokémon will be less than a month away from turning 26 – all of those years have been spent building up to this moment.
That’s not to say that this is the moment in Pokémon history. Again, Legends: Arceus is quite obviously a research experiment for not just Gen 9, but in all likelihood Gen 10 after it. Still, it’s difficult to look at the most recent trailer without being able to identify all of the various ideas that have been incorporated from the last two and a half decades of Pokémon: Feeding wild ‘mons to distract them (Red & Blue), imbuing ordinary items like PokéBalls with a sense of craft (Gold & Silver), and assigning different personalities to wild ‘mons in the overworld (Let’s Go, later implemented in Sword & Shield). We’re still in shock that cutesy little Shinx is more aggressive than a feral wolf, but hey, if you had annoying humans pestering you all the time you’d probably want to smack them with a Spark, too.
Even non-Game Freak spin-offs like New Pokémon Snap and Pokémon Ranger have visible DNA here. There was no way Pokémon was going to ignore our childhood dreams forever, but watching Legends: Arceus manifest through trailers and social media posts over the last few months has been surreal. Now, exactly two weeks out from launch, it’s finally starting to land that this game – the one that previously only existed in our ten-year-old heads – is actually real. It’s coming out soon. We’re going to be able to play it. It’s borderline impossible to believe, but it’s true.
The most exciting thing about Legends: Arceus though is that it’s not just the culmination of lots of different concepts from throughout the series. While we knew we’d get an (at least partially) open-world game at some point, it’s also taking pains to come up with fresh ideas. For example, stealth seems to play a role in how you approach different ‘mons throughout the world, with varying degrees of cover being directly integrated into the environmental design. If you manage to sneak up on a Pokémon and catch them unaware, you can aim your PokéBall at their back to increase your chances of successfully capturing them. Mobility plays a role here too, as well as in action sequences like the Kleavor boss fight we’ve seen approximately 17 million times. The systems, from what we’ve been shown, are fluidly interwoven into the overarching structure of the world – it looks like it could, and should, be fantastic.
Best of all though is what we discussed earlier: This is basically just one enormous Safari Zone without all of the cosmopolitan clutter of a game set closer to the modern era. The habitats of Pokémon drastically outnumber miniscule outcroppings of civilization in Hisui, making it a natural haven for ‘mons of all shapes and sizes. As the trailer says, Mt. Coronet is surrounded by distinct environments that “play host to different Pokémon ecosystems.” This is, for all intents and purposes, a world designed to facilitate Pokémon more so than the capture of Pokémon, which, when you think about it, is a far more fascinating premise than what we’ve grown used to over the years.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is out in just two weeks. Provided this isn’t a dream itself, it looks like you, me, and all the other grown-up kids who wished for a game like this when we were younger are finally going to have it in our hands. Just make sure you pick Cyndaquil or Oshawott – Rowlet is overrated.
The first-edition boxes didn’t contain what Paul was hoping.
Last week speculation that Logan Paul’s first-edition Pokémon Cards were inauthentic ran rampant. Well, the controversial YouTuber confirmed Thursday that the cards are indeed fake.
As we reported on Jan. 5, Paul spent $3.5 million on what he thought was several first-edition booster boxes for the Pokémon Trading Card Game. The fine folks over at PokéBeach put together a lengthy post detailing why the cards were probably fake, prompting Paul to have them verified by the Baseball Card Exchange (BBCE) in Chicago.
It turns out the booster boxes didn’t contain Pokémon Cards at all.
A new video on Paul’s YouTube channel reveals the boxes were, in truth, full of G.I. Joe trading cards. Check it out for yourself below.
Paul is, understandably, not happy about getting tricked. He bought the cards from fellow collector Matt Allen, who initially purchased the booster boxes for $2.7 million.
In the video, Allen states he wouldn’t have picked the cards up had the BBCE not already verified them — which the company did. PokéBeach’s report, however, made note that the BBCE was not all that experienced when it comes to identifying genuine Pokémon Cards. It wasn’t until a slew of collectible G.I. Joe cards spilled out of the booster boxes that everybody knew they’d been bamboozled.
The in-car video system caught the officers failing to respond to a backup request.
Two LAPD police officers were fired in 2017 for playing Pokémon GO while on duty and a California judge has denied their reinstatement appeal.
A report by VICE notes that, according to court documents, former LAPD officers Eric Mitchell and Louis Lozano lost their jobs for “willfully abdicating their duty to assist a commanding officer’s response to a robbery in progress and playing a Pokémon mobile game while on duty.”
In April 2017, Lozano and Mitchell received instructions to assist with a robbery in progress while being stationed at the LA mall where the incident was taking place. However, neither officer responded to the call. Instead, they chose to chase after a Snorlax, a rare spawn in Pokémon GO.
“For approximately the next 20 minutes, the [in-car video system] captured [Mitchell and Lozano] discussing Pokémon as they drove to different locations where the virtual creatures apparently appeared on their mobile phones,” state the court documents. “On their way to the Snorlax location, Officer Mitchell alerted Officer Lozano ‘a Togetic just popped up’.”
Two cops were fired from the LAPD after they failed to respond to the report of a robbery and drove off to hunt a Snorlax in Pokemon Go.
They appealed (said it wasn't okay for squad car recording of them to be used against them). They lost.
The officers then proceeded to catch Togetic, exclaiming — per court documents –“Holy Crap. Finally,” Mitchell said. “The guys are going to be so jealous.”
After the incident, both Lozano and Mitchell denied playing Pokémon GO. They tried to appeal on the basis that in-car video should not be used to monitor private conversations. On Friday, Jan. 7, though, a judge stated it was ‘flawed’ logic and denied their appeal.
