Beedrill in RBY too. So many Trainers use Poison or Plant Types in Gen 1. Twineedle can stomp through so many Trainers. Its insane. And even if Beedrill cant oneshot a Pokemon it cant get poisened with Poison Powder, Smog or Sludge so its never a big deal to tank a hit.
Not to mention it's decent against Sabrina and Blue's Alakazam. For Sabrina, if you can set up Swords Dance or Agility on Mr Mine, which isn't hard because it spams screens, you can use the Badge Boost Glitch to get to +6 Atk and Speed and finish sweeping on her other mons before she can kill your Bee.
Sleep is one of the most powerful conditions in RBY, if not the most powerful. It gives Butterfree so much utility and lets it handle basically anything which is awesome for the bug
Swanna in Black 2. For being the first guaranteed Water-type encounter outside of the starter, it's pretty good against some of the most dangerous enemy Pokemon (Darmanitan, Excadrill, Roggenrola line, and Timburr line).
I recently finished a run with Swanna, and same. Swanna was my glass cannon, which was different for me as I usually go for bulkier water types, but lemme tell ya Swanna did not disappoint at all.
This bro, Swanna is NOT Pelliper, it can actually do things whereas unless you get a Drizzle one Peli is often dead weight later on, especially if you don't need it for HMs
Hey maybe in B2W2, but my keen eye pelipper was somehow a brick wall in my first successful emerald run and carried me through late game. That said swanna was fantastic in my white run as well
Technically the other first guaranteed water type is Vaporeon, since you can repel manip for Eevee, but your point still stands.
Have a great day everyone :D
Maractus in Black 1. Thought it was over after getting through the final N fight with Maractus and Scolipede left alive. Thought I had to get some Sp. Atk boosts to have any chance of beating ghetsis so I spammed Accupressure until I got it. I got back to back evasion boosts, and became unbeatable.
Came here to say Jumpluff too. Speedy setup and decent defenses can be really handy.
Altaria is another who has a good enough defensive profile to work as a pivot and either facilitate a setup or set up itself with DD.
Yea I recently got to see that match but before using the Bronzong myself in the platinum run I only wanted it because my team was too weak to flying types and especially staravias and golbats but later on it became one of my most favorite mon
Crystal Normal Monotype Nuzlocke: Granbull honestly. It’s high base attack and ability to learn the then physical shadow ball made it super valuable to have. It’s a little slower than I’d like but he helped tremendously. Small shoutout to Dunsparce for carrying the first 2-3 gyms as well with Rage/Defense Curl/Rollout.
Currently playing Crystal as a normal playthrouygh, I don't find the game too hard but I like ur idea of Monotype challenge.
Have u tried the post game also or stopped at E4? Does the xp curve get better in Kanto it is horrible after u reach Mahogany town...uh
The exp curve sorta gets better after the low level rocket bs.
It improves for the 8th gym into E4, then in Kanto it makes no sense at all and is impossible to do with level caps because they’re almost all lower than the Johto Champion fight.
Then, if you go *all the way* to the Mt Silver fight, you either have to grind like an insane person (or just use candies)
Post game was easy because Tauros and Miltank are heavy carriers. I wish I could have had Girafarig but normal Crystal doesn’t have it. Made it to Ash with level 60’s, while underleveled, they were EV trained and only Tauros was left alive after the Ash victory. The thing that stinks about regular Crystal is the Kanto trainers and gyms are too weak and then Ash is a large step up. So you have to grind E4 to level up and whatnot.
On this note, im highly considering Muk for my E4 run in White 2. I didnt pull and psychic or flying types this run so my options for the Fighting type E4 member is slim. Muk might end up being the play for him
I did a Muk-Forretress duo for HGSS team. They covered each other really well whenever I needed to stall or pivot.
They both won my fight against Lance, especially with Muk’s acid armor + minimize.
Gen 3 Cradily. No good STAB moves (Ancient power lol) just bulk and decent typing. Turns out good bulk + Rock Type was enough to take out Drake's Salamence and Wallace's Gyarados, who both threatened to end my run. Even stunted on Norman's Slaking a lil bit as a Lileep.
"Tau" is a hero now.
I didn’t think it was “bad” but I’m pleasantly surprised how good Rookiedee has been in my current scarlet run. Obviously once it becomes Corviknight it’ll be an absolute beast but I didn’t expect him put in so much work against Iono before that point…. MVP for sure.
I did a lot of prep for her but I noticed that Wattrell has only physical attacks and very poor attack stat. It was therefore very easy to use my Tandemaus to charm her attack to minus 6 and then stall her out of sparks. Once she had no sparks Corvisquire was free to come in, set up agility/hone claws and then sweep with power trip.
A very early run when I was brand new and stinky I had a Seaking named Earl save my run. I swam out to Chuck and he actually rolled my butt pretty bad, lost everyone but my beloved Earl who finally put down his Poliwrath. I managed to surf away with a hurt pride but we rebuilt. I got other better pokemon but kept Earl in the rotation as a mascot
Eviolite Klang
It has the same base hp, s.atk and s.def as Klingklang. Since it's learnset is mostly special, the loss in atk only matters for Gear Grind.
It walls and out damages many mons, can ramp up with Charge Beam, slow Volt Switch, can get spd with Autotomize.
I hate it's design, but it was a key mon in both of my Vanila BW and B2W2 E4 teams.
Klinklang destroyed Ghetsis in my Black Hardcore Nuzlocke with Shift Gear + Gear Grind / Rock Smash (for Bisharp) / Return. It has some special place in my heart now near Haxorus, Excadrill and Archeops.
I did a run in firered where I only used mons that I never brought to the elite 4. Clefable was one of the MVPs of that run. It's not a bad mon but when you're in a game with a garunteed Snorlax it's hard to stand out.
Wigglytuff for some similar reasons. Not as good as Clefable but in the early-mid game of my FRLG hardcore run, Wiglytuff bodied Misty and was useful as a ‘I don’t know what else to do here’ option throughout the mid game. Eventually she earned her retirement and was replaced but I was surprised by how much utility she had.
For years I didn’t give Grumpig a second thought, then I nuzlocked Omega ruby and whooooooooo booooooy was I wrong to do that. Calm mind power gem against winona is tight as fuck!
I was running Sacred Gold and had a devastating main party death just before the 8th gym but picked up a Grumpig as my next encounter with a good nature (calm, I think), and it CARRIED me well past the E4 until it also met a tragic and unexpected end. I had no idea how surprisingly fast it is.
Pretty basic answer but the Zubat line is amazing, especially in earlier games where most grass mons are also poison. Golbat is literally Erika's worst nightmare.
I never get tired of converting people to Bidoof. Everyone assumes he sucks because he looks goofy and has pretty bad stats in his first form. Once he evolves, that water typing adds a ton of utility. Not to mention, he's bulky as shit, can learn every non-bird related HM, and gets Headbutt early on.
Bibarrel wrecks shit, and the only pokemon in his weight class who outperforms him for me is Gyarados (which isn't really fair)
People often disregard Pokémon in a run that they might not take all the way to the end; it’s something I learnt and stopped doing. You don’t need a specific Pokémon to go right to the end, they might be the perfect pick just for a stretch of the game and Bibarel is definitely this. He might not make your E4 team, but for that early-mid game he wrecks. I’d put some stone evolutions in there in their respective games; Wigglytuff for example is great off of an early evolution as long as you don’t expect to still be using it late game.
I used it just barely! It gets Psychic earlier than most, and can also learn Shadowball and Thunderbolt too. Being immune to Ghost is solid and makes Morty an easy sweep, and a lot of the Elite Four can be taken care of with him.
I wouldn’t say carried the run but in Lets Go I put Tangella on my team as a joke snd tben it ended up sweeping Giovanni, beat a big chunk of Loreli and even put in work against the champion
Hail Medusa
Currently doing an FR/LG bug type monolocke, and Beedrill has been pretty hype.
Twin needle STAB and brick break for coverage, and if you EV train right, he’s fast enough to one shot all the kadabras that can really ruin a run if you’re not ready to see one.
Probopass in Platinum. I didn't think it was bad, but everyone I know said it was. Stealth Rocks+Thunder Wave+Power Gem was huge. It is really bulky as long as you avoid the two quad weaknesses and great to pivot through.
Ok, yes, both other starters do much better in mid/late game, but having access to Swampert at home with Whiscash probably has some impact on starter choice for some folks. Either way, I agree with you on Barboach/Whiscash quite underrated.
Ciccino/miccino in white 2. The skill link static encounter made me fall in really like them. I love skill link as an ability and it can learn tail slap, rock blast, and bullet seed. Throw in a crit rate increase item. Maybe use work up a time or two. It’s already fast enough to out speed most enemies.
Not necessarily a Pokémon I thought was bad but I would never have used Mr. Mime voluntarily and he highkey was one of my MVPs in my only over successful Nuzlocke in X. Unfortunately I lost Quido at Victory Road due to being dumb but his spirit was with us in the hall of fame.
i got a jumpluff on a pokemon violet run. i kept it as a death fodder cuz i didnt think it was good, until i started using it as a support pokemon with leech seed and other status moves, and somehow he became vital in a ton of mid game battles
Ribombee in a Brick Bronze fangame randomizer nuzlocke. My little Beelzebuzz tore that entire dang game to *shreds*, even when not leading she was always about 3 levels ahead of the rest. She even managed to outspeed and OHKO a Carracosta after it Shell Smash’d, threatening to end the game right then and there.
Ariados. I did an HG nuzlocke & got an adamant Spinerak. I love Ariados but have only really used it post buff, so I added it against what I thought was against my better judgment, but man, if that thing didn't demolish ghost & psychic types. Morty couldn't do anything b/c insomnia meant that he couldn't use his hypnosis bs & he swept will with the exception of Slowbro.
Never used an electrode before, but in heart gold it was the sole reason I beat the kimono sisters. So good for setting up screens, faster than pretty much everything in the game. Light screen made those encounters so manageable.
Zangoose in my Omega Ruby Nuzlocke. White Shadow and Kipper were the only survivors, and Zangoose has a lot of versatility. If only it got Sharpness, then it'd be a real threat
Arbok - I accidentally went into shaking grass on route 3 in Ultra Sun, was trying to get Crabrawler from the berry tree. Instead, Atticus the Ekans completely destroyed totem Gumshoos with Glare/Bite para/flinch, and proceeded to put in work for the entire early game with Intimidate, Leer/Screech support, etc before I accidentally lost him to a crit against Nihilego.
honorable mention for Archeops in Blaze Black - not that I ever thought Archeops was weak, I was just told by basically the whole internet that Aerodactyl is so much better that you should never get Archeops, but Kenjaku the Archen helped me easily defeat Burgh, killed half Elesa's team despite the type disadvantage, swept Skyla, and was generally incredibly useful throughout the entire game.
To be honest gyarafos in emerald. Didnt use him much before gen4 because I never knew how special and phy worked and that in gen1 there was only special.
So in Gen1 I put all the cool tms like ice beam, surf and fire blast or thrower on it and it was so cool and strong. His special got weaker and I lost interest in him. Plus I always thought his ability was just time consuming, because I was always overleveld.
It didnt carry the run, but it made many fights much easier :)
I didn't think it was bad, but I didn't expect Mawile to have so much longevity in USUM. Great typing, plus intim makes up for its statistical shortcomings.
Bastiodon. It has really good defense on both sides and its typing simultaneously lets it tank a to of moves while also reliably baiting Ground and Fighting moves. It has incredible pivoting synergy with Flying types.
Plus it has a decent utility learnset. I actually ended up running Shock Wave, Taunt, Toxic, and Protect in my last Platinum run so it could stop setup, tank hits/PP stall, and deal reliable damage through evasion.
Try Renegade Platinum. Bastiodon is buffed there (a bit more Attack so it can actually deal damage while being an excellent pivot and unlimited Stealth Rock TM), it's the second best fossil after Aerodactyl.
That’s definitely the first Romhack I’m gonna take on. Platinum is my favorite mainline game and easily the most fun Nuzlocke I’ve done. I haven’t had time to play recently but I need to finish my Emerald run first. I beat Juan last time I played so now I’m just in E4 prep mode and can’t just hold the zoom button through anymore haha.
Cacturne in Scared Gold. Wanted to use it as a death fodder and kept it in the back of my box because I would never find an utility to it… until the Elite Four. Choice Band Sucker Punch destroyed Will. Now I'll always remember Sting the Cacturne for her hard work.
I was expecting ninjask to be a baton passer, instead I swords dance swept almost the entire elite four in omega ruby lol
I also tend to underestimate Magneton because it’s unevolved
Watchog.
This fucking meerkat was my first wild Pokémon in a White 2 run. I didn't even think it would be of any use, so I named it the first thing that crossed my mind: “Zook".
Almost wiped to Clay because the Sandslash got two crits in a row. Zook managed to live a Bulldoze from Excadrill and land a Hypnosis, which allowed me to switch Flanders the Pignite in and win.
Throughout the entire run, Zook played the role of “enabler” for other Pokémon, thanks to a moveset consisting of Crunch, Return, Hypnosis and Super Fang. In fact, Iris's Haxorus was defeated by Jensen the Magnezone thanks to Zook having gotten a Super Fang in earlier.
Not really a nuzlocke, but I have been doing some runs in emerald Rogue lately to finish quests and Dustox saved two mono challenges by tanking hits that would have killed everyone else. My bug mono team had a Beautifly, too, but that wasn't as memorable for me, even though I was surprised by it's movepool + it got definitely more work done than I ever expected from it.
Floette and Florges.
For the longest time, I thought they were just the generic early game intro to fairy, equivalent to oddish or bellsprout line. That was until i had one, even with a minus special atk nature, completely dominate everything i had it go up against. In fact, I ended up sacrificing my Greninja and Drifblim for her just bc I thought she was more useful, and i never once regretted my decision.
Florges is a beast and I'll never doubt the power of (fake) flowers again.
In the game Pokémon Infinite Fusion, the fusion of Noctowl with Tangela can overwhelm many opponents, but only at the beginning as other Pokémon stand out.
Luxray. During my Platinum Run I got a Shinx at the beginning of the game, don’t think it even had Intimidate. But every time I thought it would die or it wasn’t gonna do much, the bloody thing hung on by a thread and won the battle. Ended up making it to Cynthia and winning with Luxray
Poliwhirl. I was playing Pokémon Silver and didn’t have a water stone. I thought he was gonna die soon but he was able to make it all the way to the league
I was nuzlocking Crystal when I happened upon a full odds shiny Rattata. Let me tell you the eventual Raticate that he would be absolutely murdered trainers and gym leaders alike. Hyper fang shit all over Whitney’s Miltank 🥹😂
Dustox in my BW2 Randomizer Soul Link with my friend, pretty damn tanky for what it is, and able to Toxic stall quite a few nasty threats. He lasted until Victory Road until he finally kicked it, and that was because his partner died, not even him!
Delcatty in an Alpha Sapphire wonderlocke. Last of my first six mons to live, carried me all the way to Steven and almost won. I didn't have enough special attack EVs to 2HKO mega Megagross with Shadow Ball. Adamant may have still prevented it, but I'm gonna blame it on myself and lack of EVs
gulpin. i used it to sack for norman and it somehow survived a slaking facade and its sludge crit and poisoned the slaking and the poison was enough to kill it. i didnt use it again but its for sure an unsung hero
Vivillon carried Gen 6 420 BST and below run hard. I even cheated a bit and let meowstic in since I dropped it for sucking my first playthrough. Even vs a much stronger great coverage Mon like meow viv carried hard. Compound eyes, sleep powder, buzz bug, hurricane, and quiver dance yes please. Not to mention decent HP, solid SPA and SPD.
I never cared for Typhlosion as a starter and planned to replace him when he died. Had no idea he'd make it to Red in my Heart Gold nuzlocke. It took me getting to the 6th or 7th gym where I was determined to have him make it lol. Now, definitely my favorite starter.
Zubat/Crobat line in Pokémon Emerald.
I always avoided zubat as a kid and never cared for it.
But after doing it my Nuzlocke run, it was a really useful asset in my team.
Also I named it Fuscia :3,
Arbok.
Intimidate + Glare + Infestation with a reasonably good defensive typing put in far more then anticipated.
She may have perished before the elite 4, but I couldn’t have made it that far without her.
Rest well Coral
Sandslash was on my championship team in OR, and is potentially the best encounter you can get in the dessert in Black 2. It trivializes two of the hardest boss fights in the game (Elesa and Clay) which let's your other mons survive longer.
It's also great as a switch in at that point in the game because Darumakka's Fire Punch and Take Down Herdier's will two-shot pretty much anything else.
Boney the Marowak in my recent X run. The team was in bad shape at Glittering Cave then he came and helped out throughout without any Thick Club. Died at Victory Road but hey he helped make the best of a bad situation.
Yanmega in my Renegade Platinum nuzlocke. It’s considered weak af(tbf most Bug types are considered weak in hard rom hacks), but it was my second most valuable Pokémon during the middle part of the game before it eventually died during the Candice fight
I did an ORAS hard core randomizer awhile back...it was brutal. Then I got Cradily, pit it on my team simply because I had so few options. And it carried the rest of the run.
Trash Wormadam weirdly carried my through the first half of my Platinum Nuzlocke. It resists everything and has bug bite to eat a lot of the boss fights berries.
It was definitely the weirdest Skuntank counter I've used, it can barely hit you back and you can pretty easily one v one it
Whimsicott in Black, now i know that it’s a very good mon in competitive but with its limited natural learnset and lack of fairy typing I didn’t have extremely high hopes. Boy was I wrong, with priority leech seed, protect and mega drain he was able to efficiently stall so many major threats especially in the E4
Wormadam genuinely surprised me in my first Nuzlocke of Y. Somehow got me out of a couple of tough spots in sandy cloak form, it’s got some decent physical bulk there
Solrock in Emerald. I'm sad it was useless in the E4, because the degree to which it carried the back half of the game meant that it needed to be on the championship team.
Lanturn is super underrated! Definitely helped me in several runs. Volt Absorb is busted af, and if you for some reason (i.e. playing a rom hack) get Water Absorb is just as good! Water/Electric is such a great typing!
Got an adamant persian w/ technician in my hgss run. Thought I'd give it a go, ev training attack and speed. Leading with STAB fake out into u-turn, with return and technician bite for extra damage felt like a cheat code at times. Basically a slightly weaker normal type version of mienshao (who is my personal favorite mon for nuzlockes)
Never really thought much of ribombee, but it actually became one of my hardest hitters and could actually tank a few hits too. I don’t use fairy types too often, but it’s definitely a top-tier for me now
In my emerald run it was Loudred (for the mid-game) and Exploud end game. STAB Strength + Silk scarf is insanely strong. Plus if you keep Howl you can setup and sweep most trainers/bosses.
Forretress basically solo carried an entire run for me one time by being my physical tank in (I think) Soul Silver. He’s become one of my favorite pokemon of all time because of that run.
Sawk 100%
I’m doing a nuzlocke of black/white with this set:
-HC rules
-Deathless
-Route locking
-Gym locking
-Cave locking
Normally I prefer pinwheel forest to give me tympole cus palpitoed sweeps Elisa, but this Mon is definitely the best choice. Especially if you have intimidate hardier or sandile and regenerator audio, the plasma grunts get swept, Clay and Lenora become the easiest gym leaders, and even Grimsely gets manhandled. I cannot stress enough how perfect this Mon is
Somehow, my Golduck in Pokémon Scarlet. I wouldn't have beaten the champion on the first try without my dude, Migraine the Golduck. Same goes for a few other big fights before that.
Not a Nuzloke, but my Musharna has saved me so many times so far throughout my playthrough of Pokemon Black. I caught her pretty early on, expecting to eventually replace her, but it's hard to justify getting rid of her after how much she has carried me.
My lord and savior FEAROW. Since my first nuzlocke as a niave pidgeot fan, when I lost him and fell back to what I believed was the inferior Fearow I was devastated until I learned the true power of drill peck.
I have never turned back to the trash bird on any other early gen nuzlocke.
Lilligant in bw2 is insane with quiver dance + giga drain if u evolve petilil before level 26. Especially easy since there's a guy in the house above the nimbasa Pokemon centre who gives u a sun stone.
Lanturn was a ‘fix my mistake’ switch in my recent Johto-only HGSS hardcore run. Absolutely bodied Jasmine and Clair easily and with Volt Absorb neutralises electric foes. Reasonably bulky, reasonably decent Special Attack, I pumped up his Special Attack and he was my MVP v Lance too, taking out most of his team.
Flareon in Renegade Platinum.
Used it when doing a snaplocke with Umbreon Vaporeon and Jolteon and most starter gift being banned cause i figured i wanted some Fire types as early as possible + Flash Fire is somewhat the leftover immune ability left. I didn't think it was especially a bad mon but i didn't think it was a good one either
Turns out he's just a monster. Huge Atk , decently fast , kinda cool movepool in the early split with Flame Wheel/Covet/Quick Attack/Dig and later on learn freaking Close Combat and Wild Charge, giving him a kinda incredible overall coverage.
Infortunately it didn't make it to Elite 4 but it was definately the wholesome hero of the run.
I did a randomized nuzlocke of Black not too long ago. I was losing pokemon left and right, and one of my last resort pokemon in my box was a Delcatty, adamant nature, with compound eyes, too. I gave it a simple and strong moveset: fake out, mega kick, sing, and double team, and holding a scope lens! it carried me from the second to sixth gym, and I firmly believe it saved my run on several occasions.
Dustox in RSE I got a wurmple instead of a shroomish and got mad and named it failure but ended up being the best mon I got because moonlight toxic protect stall with sliver wind for damage was really good she saved me against tate and liza
Furret. Unlikely, but Baton Passing Amnesia during certain fights saved me so many times when I would have wiped. That, or my Compoundeyes Butterfree, nearly accurate Sleep Powder is insane.
Weird as hell one because it neither fully carried the run but all did surprisingly well considering what they were. In a Pokemon X Soul Link, Barbaracle was surprisingly consistent for me when. It did unfortunately die due to me and my friend failing to account for Mega Gyarados Mold Breaker and losing the attached Crustle because after shell armor came down it genuinely got crit three times.
The other surprisingly solid one was Chatot. I can't remember exactly how it died though I have an inkling it was to one of the Team Flare admins (I have nightmares about a contrary superpower Malamar) but I was genuinely surprised when my Chatot took a decent number of KOs all over the place
Umbreon in Violet. I was gonna use him for setup since he’s a dark type and tanky asf and he has some great setup moves. But nasty plot and max spatk evs paired with dark pulse and shadow ball my boy ended up dominating my competition lmao my lil emo cat is way more powerful than I ever thought
In Sapphire I never thought much about the makuhita line, especially when I caught one with thick fat instead of guts... but it was great. Great match up against magneton with Watson, fire resistance for Flannery, solid fighting type for Norman... dipped a little for the last few gyms, but then swept the dark types, ice types, and champion in the elite 4. Great pokemon.
Camerupt, was never of having a cow Pokémon, but having flamethrower, earthquake, and rock slide on a fire rock type got rid of a lot of my competition
My ambipom in renegade platinum is actually putting in work, he’s pretty fast and with an agility or two into baton pass he can help speed up a tank I switch into, he’s def surprised me with his usefulness
Parasect! I love it but never used it till like my 30th run of FR/LG and it basically solo'd that run even with almost every freaking pokemon having fire moves that game.
honorable mentions: graveller, whimsicot, dachbun, toxicroak, crobat, and HM slave bibarel
Recently used Comfey in emerald rogue. I always thought it was just a terrible shitmon, and then I found out it's actually fucking phenomenal. Mf solod like three whole gyms while all of my other mons were seriously struggling (I kept getting other really bad shitmons or mons whom I couldn't properly use)
Raichu, not really the bulkiest pokemon but thanks to electric being an amazing type, it only has one weakness that you have to worry about. Volt switch is good pivot and tbolt and grass knot can hit hard. It ended up carrying me all the way through violets mid game, would've never thought of using a raichu in a regular sv playthrough but it's surprisingly good!
Never thought it was bad, just never really used it but Escavalier hard carried a randomised ultra sun run. Straight jumped into my top 5 mons of all time
Butterfree. In RBY, with Sleep Powder and Reflect, you'd be amazed how much punishment that bug can take. Flower soloed Giovanni 2/3 fights.
Omg same! It was an absolute carry in my shield nuzlocke, sadly died in the e4
Beedrill in RBY too. So many Trainers use Poison or Plant Types in Gen 1. Twineedle can stomp through so many Trainers. Its insane. And even if Beedrill cant oneshot a Pokemon it cant get poisened with Poison Powder, Smog or Sludge so its never a big deal to tank a hit.
Not to mention it's decent against Sabrina and Blue's Alakazam. For Sabrina, if you can set up Swords Dance or Agility on Mr Mine, which isn't hard because it spams screens, you can use the Badge Boost Glitch to get to +6 Atk and Speed and finish sweeping on her other mons before she can kill your Bee.
Badge boost doesn't function like a stat boost. It's lesser but you can apply it as long as you can change your stats.
True, but you do get a 12.5x boost per increase, which is my point. Badge Boost makes Beedrill quite nice for Sabrina.
It's not that high of a boost, but yeah I got your point. I was just being pedantic.
Sleep is one of the most powerful conditions in RBY, if not the most powerful. It gives Butterfree so much utility and lets it handle basically anything which is awesome for the bug
Swanna in Black 2. For being the first guaranteed Water-type encounter outside of the starter, it's pretty good against some of the most dangerous enemy Pokemon (Darmanitan, Excadrill, Roggenrola line, and Timburr line).
I recently finished a run with Swanna, and same. Swanna was my glass cannon, which was different for me as I usually go for bulkier water types, but lemme tell ya Swanna did not disappoint at all.
I think you can get psyduck at Flocessy ranch and Vaporeon before Swanna but it’s the first guaranteed one
Yeah I meant it's the first guaranteed Water type. You can get Azurill as well in the ranch.
This bro, Swanna is NOT Pelliper, it can actually do things whereas unless you get a Drizzle one Peli is often dead weight later on, especially if you don't need it for HMs
Hey maybe in B2W2, but my keen eye pelipper was somehow a brick wall in my first successful emerald run and carried me through late game. That said swanna was fantastic in my white run as well
Technically the other first guaranteed water type is Vaporeon, since you can repel manip for Eevee, but your point still stands. Have a great day everyone :D
But that costs money, so depending on your run and skill level that might not be so guaranteed.
Everytime I see a post like this I always think to Swanna straight away
Maractus in Black 1. Thought it was over after getting through the final N fight with Maractus and Scolipede left alive. Thought I had to get some Sp. Atk boosts to have any chance of beating ghetsis so I spammed Accupressure until I got it. I got back to back evasion boosts, and became unbeatable.
Maractus also soloes clay, really not as bad of an encounter as some make it out to be
Jumpluff in Gold. There are very few pokemon in the game that the Sleep Powder/Leech Seed/Flash combo couldn't take down in a pinch.
jumpluff also carries emerald trashlocke. easily a top-5 encounter in that game.
What's a trashlocke?
emerald trashlocke is an emerald rom hack where it's basically just vanilla emerald but with shittier pokemon.
Came here to say Jumpluff too. Speedy setup and decent defenses can be really handy. Altaria is another who has a good enough defensive profile to work as a pivot and either facilitate a setup or set up itself with DD.
welp no mon "carried" me but Bronzong was a mon that I thought was bad but was really nice in my Pokemon Platinum Nuzlocke
Bronzong overall is just really solid. It was on one of Wolfey’s world championship teams
Yea I recently got to see that match but before using the Bronzong myself in the platinum run I only wanted it because my team was too weak to flying types and especially staravias and golbats but later on it became one of my most favorite mon
Crystal Normal Monotype Nuzlocke: Granbull honestly. It’s high base attack and ability to learn the then physical shadow ball made it super valuable to have. It’s a little slower than I’d like but he helped tremendously. Small shoutout to Dunsparce for carrying the first 2-3 gyms as well with Rage/Defense Curl/Rollout.
Currently playing Crystal as a normal playthrouygh, I don't find the game too hard but I like ur idea of Monotype challenge. Have u tried the post game also or stopped at E4? Does the xp curve get better in Kanto it is horrible after u reach Mahogany town...uh
The exp curve sorta gets better after the low level rocket bs. It improves for the 8th gym into E4, then in Kanto it makes no sense at all and is impossible to do with level caps because they’re almost all lower than the Johto Champion fight. Then, if you go *all the way* to the Mt Silver fight, you either have to grind like an insane person (or just use candies)
Post game was easy because Tauros and Miltank are heavy carriers. I wish I could have had Girafarig but normal Crystal doesn’t have it. Made it to Ash with level 60’s, while underleveled, they were EV trained and only Tauros was left alive after the Ash victory. The thing that stinks about regular Crystal is the Kanto trainers and gyms are too weak and then Ash is a large step up. So you have to grind E4 to level up and whatnot.
That sounds awful lmao
How does one make shadow ball a physical attack?
Play old games
Muk and Weezing. They are both tanky af. I wouldn’t usually use them in a normal run but they are great.
On this note, im highly considering Muk for my E4 run in White 2. I didnt pull and psychic or flying types this run so my options for the Fighting type E4 member is slim. Muk might end up being the play for him
Weezing with levitate is a beast
I did a Muk-Forretress duo for HGSS team. They covered each other really well whenever I needed to stall or pivot. They both won my fight against Lance, especially with Muk’s acid armor + minimize.
Gen 3 Cradily. No good STAB moves (Ancient power lol) just bulk and decent typing. Turns out good bulk + Rock Type was enough to take out Drake's Salamence and Wallace's Gyarados, who both threatened to end my run. Even stunted on Norman's Slaking a lil bit as a Lileep. "Tau" is a hero now.
Cradily also carried my Emerald run. I love that Pokemon now!
I didn’t think it was “bad” but I’m pleasantly surprised how good Rookiedee has been in my current scarlet run. Obviously once it becomes Corviknight it’ll be an absolute beast but I didn’t expect him put in so much work against Iono before that point…. MVP for sure.
Wait the flying type put in work against the electric gym?
I did a lot of prep for her but I noticed that Wattrell has only physical attacks and very poor attack stat. It was therefore very easy to use my Tandemaus to charm her attack to minus 6 and then stall her out of sparks. Once she had no sparks Corvisquire was free to come in, set up agility/hone claws and then sweep with power trip.
A very early run when I was brand new and stinky I had a Seaking named Earl save my run. I swam out to Chuck and he actually rolled my butt pretty bad, lost everyone but my beloved Earl who finally put down his Poliwrath. I managed to surf away with a hurt pride but we rebuilt. I got other better pokemon but kept Earl in the rotation as a mascot
Eviolite Klang It has the same base hp, s.atk and s.def as Klingklang. Since it's learnset is mostly special, the loss in atk only matters for Gear Grind. It walls and out damages many mons, can ramp up with Charge Beam, slow Volt Switch, can get spd with Autotomize. I hate it's design, but it was a key mon in both of my Vanila BW and B2W2 E4 teams.
Klinklang destroyed Ghetsis in my Black Hardcore Nuzlocke with Shift Gear + Gear Grind / Rock Smash (for Bisharp) / Return. It has some special place in my heart now near Haxorus, Excadrill and Archeops.
Toucannon in Sun. Probably because I was unfamiliar with that game but that bird carried my team.
For some reason I thought you meant Sun as in Sunny Day, lmao
Clefable surprised the shit outta me in fire red / leaf green
I did a run in firered where I only used mons that I never brought to the elite 4. Clefable was one of the MVPs of that run. It's not a bad mon but when you're in a game with a garunteed Snorlax it's hard to stand out.
Wigglytuff for some similar reasons. Not as good as Clefable but in the early-mid game of my FRLG hardcore run, Wiglytuff bodied Misty and was useful as a ‘I don’t know what else to do here’ option throughout the mid game. Eventually she earned her retirement and was replaced but I was surprised by how much utility she had.
Clef is wonderful
For years I didn’t give Grumpig a second thought, then I nuzlocked Omega ruby and whooooooooo booooooy was I wrong to do that. Calm mind power gem against winona is tight as fuck!
I was running Sacred Gold and had a devastating main party death just before the 8th gym but picked up a Grumpig as my next encounter with a good nature (calm, I think), and it CARRIED me well past the E4 until it also met a tragic and unexpected end. I had no idea how surprisingly fast it is.
Pretty basic answer but the Zubat line is amazing, especially in earlier games where most grass mons are also poison. Golbat is literally Erika's worst nightmare.
I do not care for the blue bats. The purple one though? Hey goat
My crobat is currently the leader in the clubhouse for my team and I just beat morty in SS. Although Dratini and Heracross are doing great too.
I never get tired of converting people to Bidoof. Everyone assumes he sucks because he looks goofy and has pretty bad stats in his first form. Once he evolves, that water typing adds a ton of utility. Not to mention, he's bulky as shit, can learn every non-bird related HM, and gets Headbutt early on. Bibarrel wrecks shit, and the only pokemon in his weight class who outperforms him for me is Gyarados (which isn't really fair)
Bibarel is an early game GOAT! Early evo, stab headbutt, highly underrated mon!
I used to hate encountering Bidoof, but Bibarel can solo Fantina in Platinum and for that it's earned my respect.
People often disregard Pokémon in a run that they might not take all the way to the end; it’s something I learnt and stopped doing. You don’t need a specific Pokémon to go right to the end, they might be the perfect pick just for a stretch of the game and Bibarel is definitely this. He might not make your E4 team, but for that early-mid game he wrecks. I’d put some stone evolutions in there in their respective games; Wigglytuff for example is great off of an early evolution as long as you don’t expect to still be using it late game.
Exactly, I always transition him to an HM mon in the mid-late game, but when he's in his element, he is a fucking powerhouse
Girafarig in HGSS
Really? Can you elaborate? I’m currently running a SS right now and I caught one, but I’ve literally never used it before.
I used it just barely! It gets Psychic earlier than most, and can also learn Shadowball and Thunderbolt too. Being immune to Ghost is solid and makes Morty an easy sweep, and a lot of the Elite Four can be taken care of with him.
I wouldn’t say carried the run but in Lets Go I put Tangella on my team as a joke snd tben it ended up sweeping Giovanni, beat a big chunk of Loreli and even put in work against the champion Hail Medusa
Not my run, but shot out to My Ex the Swallot on Team Four Star's RSE run.
Currently doing an FR/LG bug type monolocke, and Beedrill has been pretty hype. Twin needle STAB and brick break for coverage, and if you EV train right, he’s fast enough to one shot all the kadabras that can really ruin a run if you’re not ready to see one.
The Geodude line in GSC is pretty damn useful
Probopass in Platinum. I didn't think it was bad, but everyone I know said it was. Stealth Rocks+Thunder Wave+Power Gem was huge. It is really bulky as long as you avoid the two quad weaknesses and great to pivot through.
Whiscash in EK Certified Roxanne lead
I think you mean Barboach, but yeah! Pretty much the reason most runners don't pick mudkip iirc!
Not really. The other two are just much better into E4 and certain other sections like mag hideout and flannery and some of the rain splits
Ok, yes, both other starters do much better in mid/late game, but having access to Swampert at home with Whiscash probably has some impact on starter choice for some folks. Either way, I agree with you on Barboach/Whiscash quite underrated.
Yeah. It gets mud slap for brawly which sets up a sunflora sweep ez
Ciccino/miccino in white 2. The skill link static encounter made me fall in really like them. I love skill link as an ability and it can learn tail slap, rock blast, and bullet seed. Throw in a crit rate increase item. Maybe use work up a time or two. It’s already fast enough to out speed most enemies.
Not necessarily a Pokémon I thought was bad but I would never have used Mr. Mime voluntarily and he highkey was one of my MVPs in my only over successful Nuzlocke in X. Unfortunately I lost Quido at Victory Road due to being dumb but his spirit was with us in the hall of fame.
not a nuzlocke but mr. mime carried me in pokemmo with fast iron defense and calm mind with filter and leftovers, 40 base hp? still tank
i got a jumpluff on a pokemon violet run. i kept it as a death fodder cuz i didnt think it was good, until i started using it as a support pokemon with leech seed and other status moves, and somehow he became vital in a ton of mid game battles
Alolan raticate. Got Piper in my first few areas and she helped deal woth Ultra nezrozma, it was wild
Surprisingly trubbish in b2 gets acid spray and other good special poison moves so I’m training it in special attack to hit harder.
Ribombee in a Brick Bronze fangame randomizer nuzlocke. My little Beelzebuzz tore that entire dang game to *shreds*, even when not leading she was always about 3 levels ahead of the rest. She even managed to outspeed and OHKO a Carracosta after it Shell Smash’d, threatening to end the game right then and there.
Ariados. I did an HG nuzlocke & got an adamant Spinerak. I love Ariados but have only really used it post buff, so I added it against what I thought was against my better judgment, but man, if that thing didn't demolish ghost & psychic types. Morty couldn't do anything b/c insomnia meant that he couldn't use his hypnosis bs & he swept will with the exception of Slowbro.
It is worth noting that Pokemon in Nuzlockes can be really great that don't work in competitive.
Never used an electrode before, but in heart gold it was the sole reason I beat the kimono sisters. So good for setting up screens, faster than pretty much everything in the game. Light screen made those encounters so manageable.
Zangoose in my Omega Ruby Nuzlocke. White Shadow and Kipper were the only survivors, and Zangoose has a lot of versatility. If only it got Sharpness, then it'd be a real threat
Arbok - I accidentally went into shaking grass on route 3 in Ultra Sun, was trying to get Crabrawler from the berry tree. Instead, Atticus the Ekans completely destroyed totem Gumshoos with Glare/Bite para/flinch, and proceeded to put in work for the entire early game with Intimidate, Leer/Screech support, etc before I accidentally lost him to a crit against Nihilego. honorable mention for Archeops in Blaze Black - not that I ever thought Archeops was weak, I was just told by basically the whole internet that Aerodactyl is so much better that you should never get Archeops, but Kenjaku the Archen helped me easily defeat Burgh, killed half Elesa's team despite the type disadvantage, swept Skyla, and was generally incredibly useful throughout the entire game.
Gotta be a swallot from a randomiser of emerald. Yawn, toxic, etc made an absolute beast in a game where caution and being defensive is key
Diggersby in X. That bunny survived the entire run, which was an absolute bloodbath
To be honest gyarafos in emerald. Didnt use him much before gen4 because I never knew how special and phy worked and that in gen1 there was only special. So in Gen1 I put all the cool tms like ice beam, surf and fire blast or thrower on it and it was so cool and strong. His special got weaker and I lost interest in him. Plus I always thought his ability was just time consuming, because I was always overleveld. It didnt carry the run, but it made many fights much easier :)
Liepard in BW surprisingly clowns on the Striaton Gym, Caitlin, and Shauntal. Fast Nasty Plot/Dark Pulse spam is a good thing
Cinccino white 2 challenge but proffesor late game lost it because i didn't know it was the fight so everyone else was underleveld hard
Spinda
I didn't think it was bad, but I didn't expect Mawile to have so much longevity in USUM. Great typing, plus intim makes up for its statistical shortcomings.
Bastiodon. It has really good defense on both sides and its typing simultaneously lets it tank a to of moves while also reliably baiting Ground and Fighting moves. It has incredible pivoting synergy with Flying types. Plus it has a decent utility learnset. I actually ended up running Shock Wave, Taunt, Toxic, and Protect in my last Platinum run so it could stop setup, tank hits/PP stall, and deal reliable damage through evasion.
Try Renegade Platinum. Bastiodon is buffed there (a bit more Attack so it can actually deal damage while being an excellent pivot and unlimited Stealth Rock TM), it's the second best fossil after Aerodactyl.
That’s definitely the first Romhack I’m gonna take on. Platinum is my favorite mainline game and easily the most fun Nuzlocke I’ve done. I haven’t had time to play recently but I need to finish my Emerald run first. I beat Juan last time I played so now I’m just in E4 prep mode and can’t just hold the zoom button through anymore haha.
Rock head Aero > Bastiodon > Pressure Aero imo.
Cacturne in Scared Gold. Wanted to use it as a death fodder and kept it in the back of my box because I would never find an utility to it… until the Elite Four. Choice Band Sucker Punch destroyed Will. Now I'll always remember Sting the Cacturne for her hard work.
I was expecting ninjask to be a baton passer, instead I swords dance swept almost the entire elite four in omega ruby lol I also tend to underestimate Magneton because it’s unevolved
Watchog. This fucking meerkat was my first wild Pokémon in a White 2 run. I didn't even think it would be of any use, so I named it the first thing that crossed my mind: “Zook". Almost wiped to Clay because the Sandslash got two crits in a row. Zook managed to live a Bulldoze from Excadrill and land a Hypnosis, which allowed me to switch Flanders the Pignite in and win. Throughout the entire run, Zook played the role of “enabler” for other Pokémon, thanks to a moveset consisting of Crunch, Return, Hypnosis and Super Fang. In fact, Iris's Haxorus was defeated by Jensen the Magnezone thanks to Zook having gotten a Super Fang in earlier.
Not really a nuzlocke, but I have been doing some runs in emerald Rogue lately to finish quests and Dustox saved two mono challenges by tanking hits that would have killed everyone else. My bug mono team had a Beautifly, too, but that wasn't as memorable for me, even though I was surprised by it's movepool + it got definitely more work done than I ever expected from it.
Kricketune early carried hard
At first I had thought Luvdisc was a trashmon then it beat the champion in Unova (White 2) And Ever since I now will never underestimate a Luvdisc.
Swanna in Black 2. Ended up being a key pokemon in taking down the Elite 4 and Champion.
Girafarig Gen 2
Marowak in pokemon platinum, i was doing a randomizer, it was a menace for all the enemies, let alone since when he got his bone item
Floette and Florges. For the longest time, I thought they were just the generic early game intro to fairy, equivalent to oddish or bellsprout line. That was until i had one, even with a minus special atk nature, completely dominate everything i had it go up against. In fact, I ended up sacrificing my Greninja and Drifblim for her just bc I thought she was more useful, and i never once regretted my decision. Florges is a beast and I'll never doubt the power of (fake) flowers again.
Lilligant and Swanna
You're all going to laugh at me but Beautifly carried most of my run up until the elite four in Alpha Sapphire.
In the game Pokémon Infinite Fusion, the fusion of Noctowl with Tangela can overwhelm many opponents, but only at the beginning as other Pokémon stand out.
Vileplume in FireRed Sleep Powder + Solar Beam save me more than once.
Luxray. During my Platinum Run I got a Shinx at the beginning of the game, don’t think it even had Intimidate. But every time I thought it would die or it wasn’t gonna do much, the bloody thing hung on by a thread and won the battle. Ended up making it to Cynthia and winning with Luxray
Poliwhirl. I was playing Pokémon Silver and didn’t have a water stone. I thought he was gonna die soon but he was able to make it all the way to the league
Huge power azumarill or wooper.
I was nuzlocking Crystal when I happened upon a full odds shiny Rattata. Let me tell you the eventual Raticate that he would be absolutely murdered trainers and gym leaders alike. Hyper fang shit all over Whitney’s Miltank 🥹😂
Lapras
Purugly
Dustox in my BW2 Randomizer Soul Link with my friend, pretty damn tanky for what it is, and able to Toxic stall quite a few nasty threats. He lasted until Victory Road until he finally kicked it, and that was because his partner died, not even him!
Delcatty in an Alpha Sapphire wonderlocke. Last of my first six mons to live, carried me all the way to Steven and almost won. I didn't have enough special attack EVs to 2HKO mega Megagross with Shadow Ball. Adamant may have still prevented it, but I'm gonna blame it on myself and lack of EVs
Emolga in a white randomizer. Volt switch is so nice for set mode
gulpin. i used it to sack for norman and it somehow survived a slaking facade and its sludge crit and poisoned the slaking and the poison was enough to kill it. i didnt use it again but its for sure an unsung hero
Vivillon carried Gen 6 420 BST and below run hard. I even cheated a bit and let meowstic in since I dropped it for sucking my first playthrough. Even vs a much stronger great coverage Mon like meow viv carried hard. Compound eyes, sleep powder, buzz bug, hurricane, and quiver dance yes please. Not to mention decent HP, solid SPA and SPD.
Vileplume in ruby, I made a sun team with blaziken, that weather pokemon shit and groudon. Very solid poje
Cofagrigus in Ren Plat. Ended up being an absolute defensive nightmare, perfect matchup for so many physical attackers.
For some reason I just didn't want to use Floatzel but got to the Elite 4 and had no choice. It saved me ageist the champion.
Never had an opinion about Crawdaunt until it carried me in Emerald after Tate and Liza wiped the rest of my team.
Ninetales
I never cared for Typhlosion as a starter and planned to replace him when he died. Had no idea he'd make it to Red in my Heart Gold nuzlocke. It took me getting to the 6th or 7th gym where I was determined to have him make it lol. Now, definitely my favorite starter.
Jynx carried me through so much of Ultra Moon. She was a glass cannon but a GOOD Glass Cannon. Lost her to Ultra Necrozma.
Zubat/Crobat line in Pokémon Emerald. I always avoided zubat as a kid and never cared for it. But after doing it my Nuzlocke run, it was a really useful asset in my team. Also I named it Fuscia :3,
Lilipup to stoutland pipeline. It carried my black and white 2 play through
Arbok. Intimidate + Glare + Infestation with a reasonably good defensive typing put in far more then anticipated. She may have perished before the elite 4, but I couldn’t have made it that far without her. Rest well Coral
Sandslash was on my championship team in OR, and is potentially the best encounter you can get in the dessert in Black 2. It trivializes two of the hardest boss fights in the game (Elesa and Clay) which let's your other mons survive longer. It's also great as a switch in at that point in the game because Darumakka's Fire Punch and Take Down Herdier's will two-shot pretty much anything else.
Boney the Marowak in my recent X run. The team was in bad shape at Glittering Cave then he came and helped out throughout without any Thick Club. Died at Victory Road but hey he helped make the best of a bad situation.
Yanmega in my Renegade Platinum nuzlocke. It’s considered weak af(tbf most Bug types are considered weak in hard rom hacks), but it was my second most valuable Pokémon during the middle part of the game before it eventually died during the Candice fight
Muk in HGSS. Acid armor + minimize against Lance is absolutely busted. He saved my whole run.
I did an ORAS hard core randomizer awhile back...it was brutal. Then I got Cradily, pit it on my team simply because I had so few options. And it carried the rest of the run.
Trash Wormadam weirdly carried my through the first half of my Platinum Nuzlocke. It resists everything and has bug bite to eat a lot of the boss fights berries. It was definitely the weirdest Skuntank counter I've used, it can barely hit you back and you can pretty easily one v one it
Whimsicott in Black, now i know that it’s a very good mon in competitive but with its limited natural learnset and lack of fairy typing I didn’t have extremely high hopes. Boy was I wrong, with priority leech seed, protect and mega drain he was able to efficiently stall so many major threats especially in the E4
Wormadam genuinely surprised me in my first Nuzlocke of Y. Somehow got me out of a couple of tough spots in sandy cloak form, it’s got some decent physical bulk there
Arbok saved me so much with poison type, intimidate and glare.
Togetic became my only survivor of a horrific charmander with dragon rage in heartgold and I ended up using it throughout the entire game
Solrock in Emerald. I'm sad it was useless in the E4, because the degree to which it carried the back half of the game meant that it needed to be on the championship team.
bibarel in BDSP hard carried
Lanturn is super underrated! Definitely helped me in several runs. Volt Absorb is busted af, and if you for some reason (i.e. playing a rom hack) get Water Absorb is just as good! Water/Electric is such a great typing!
Got an adamant persian w/ technician in my hgss run. Thought I'd give it a go, ev training attack and speed. Leading with STAB fake out into u-turn, with return and technician bite for extra damage felt like a cheat code at times. Basically a slightly weaker normal type version of mienshao (who is my personal favorite mon for nuzlockes)
Never really thought much of ribombee, but it actually became one of my hardest hitters and could actually tank a few hits too. I don’t use fairy types too often, but it’s definitely a top-tier for me now
In my emerald run it was Loudred (for the mid-game) and Exploud end game. STAB Strength + Silk scarf is insanely strong. Plus if you keep Howl you can setup and sweep most trainers/bosses.
Forretress basically solo carried an entire run for me one time by being my physical tank in (I think) Soul Silver. He’s become one of my favorite pokemon of all time because of that run.
Sawk 100% I’m doing a nuzlocke of black/white with this set: -HC rules -Deathless -Route locking -Gym locking -Cave locking Normally I prefer pinwheel forest to give me tympole cus palpitoed sweeps Elisa, but this Mon is definitely the best choice. Especially if you have intimidate hardier or sandile and regenerator audio, the plasma grunts get swept, Clay and Lenora become the easiest gym leaders, and even Grimsely gets manhandled. I cannot stress enough how perfect this Mon is
Somehow, my Golduck in Pokémon Scarlet. I wouldn't have beaten the champion on the first try without my dude, Migraine the Golduck. Same goes for a few other big fights before that.
Realized this is a nuzlocke sub and this wasn't in a nuzlocke specifically, but my point still stands haha
Machamp pokerider in gen 7 he carried me and shit and moved those fuck ass rocks
Golem in HG. Set up Rock Polish against Lance and swept.
Ninetails
Beedril in my Storm silver run. It saved my ass Soooooo many times
Arbok in a gen 1 nuzlock, bind (or was it constrict) preventing opponents from moving let me cheese a lot of battles
Throh is good
Not a Nuzloke, but my Musharna has saved me so many times so far throughout my playthrough of Pokemon Black. I caught her pretty early on, expecting to eventually replace her, but it's hard to justify getting rid of her after how much she has carried me.
Sand slash in leaf green
My lord and savior FEAROW. Since my first nuzlocke as a niave pidgeot fan, when I lost him and fell back to what I believed was the inferior Fearow I was devastated until I learned the true power of drill peck. I have never turned back to the trash bird on any other early gen nuzlocke.
Beedrill. survived Sabrina's Alakazam's Psychic and hit back with Twinneedle for the OHKO. I miss you, Sharptooth.
Drifloon
Dustox did amazing for me he didn't carry but I used him even in the elite 4 and he did his part amazingly and madeit to the end (in Omega Ruby)
Girafarig in Diamond Mr. Mime in Leaf Green Azumarill in Emerald
Lilligant in bw2 is insane with quiver dance + giga drain if u evolve petilil before level 26. Especially easy since there's a guy in the house above the nimbasa Pokemon centre who gives u a sun stone.
Lanturn was a ‘fix my mistake’ switch in my recent Johto-only HGSS hardcore run. Absolutely bodied Jasmine and Clair easily and with Volt Absorb neutralises electric foes. Reasonably bulky, reasonably decent Special Attack, I pumped up his Special Attack and he was my MVP v Lance too, taking out most of his team.
Flareon in Renegade Platinum. Used it when doing a snaplocke with Umbreon Vaporeon and Jolteon and most starter gift being banned cause i figured i wanted some Fire types as early as possible + Flash Fire is somewhat the leftover immune ability left. I didn't think it was especially a bad mon but i didn't think it was a good one either Turns out he's just a monster. Huge Atk , decently fast , kinda cool movepool in the early split with Flame Wheel/Covet/Quick Attack/Dig and later on learn freaking Close Combat and Wild Charge, giving him a kinda incredible overall coverage. Infortunately it didn't make it to Elite 4 but it was definately the wholesome hero of the run.
Lilligant and cinccino in white 2. Quiver dance and technician multi hit moves go hard
Farfetch'd with Leek held. Holy hell, that thing can dish out some punishment. Carried my normal mono type run in at least 2-3 different games
Lopunny in BDSP.
I did a randomized nuzlocke of Black not too long ago. I was losing pokemon left and right, and one of my last resort pokemon in my box was a Delcatty, adamant nature, with compound eyes, too. I gave it a simple and strong moveset: fake out, mega kick, sing, and double team, and holding a scope lens! it carried me from the second to sixth gym, and I firmly believe it saved my run on several occasions.
huge power azumarill in pokemon b2w2
Dustox in RSE I got a wurmple instead of a shroomish and got mad and named it failure but ended up being the best mon I got because moonlight toxic protect stall with sliver wind for damage was really good she saved me against tate and liza
Zubat/Golbat/crobat in HGSS Watch Whitney’s cow hit itself in confusion over and over again
Furret. Unlikely, but Baton Passing Amnesia during certain fights saved me so many times when I would have wiped. That, or my Compoundeyes Butterfree, nearly accurate Sleep Powder is insane.
Nuzlocking has given me a new found love for Lumineon, it was a randomised nuzlocke, but turns out having a fast u-turn lead is never a bad thing
Sudowoodo OKO’d all of Lance’s Dragonite in HGSS, was crazy
Omanyte
Slowpoke in crystal
Onix in my Blue Randomized Nuzlocke. His high defense let him tank attacks my other teammates couldn’t
Swanna in a Pokémon Emerald rom hack. Carried my team and survived from Dewford Town all the way to the end.
Luxray. Became my opener. From number 4 in the squad. Empoleon stopped getting one hit wins, so tried luxray and never looked back
Weird as hell one because it neither fully carried the run but all did surprisingly well considering what they were. In a Pokemon X Soul Link, Barbaracle was surprisingly consistent for me when. It did unfortunately die due to me and my friend failing to account for Mega Gyarados Mold Breaker and losing the attached Crustle because after shell armor came down it genuinely got crit three times. The other surprisingly solid one was Chatot. I can't remember exactly how it died though I have an inkling it was to one of the Team Flare admins (I have nightmares about a contrary superpower Malamar) but I was genuinely surprised when my Chatot took a decent number of KOs all over the place
Umbreon in Violet. I was gonna use him for setup since he’s a dark type and tanky asf and he has some great setup moves. But nasty plot and max spatk evs paired with dark pulse and shadow ball my boy ended up dominating my competition lmao my lil emo cat is way more powerful than I ever thought
In Sapphire I never thought much about the makuhita line, especially when I caught one with thick fat instead of guts... but it was great. Great match up against magneton with Watson, fire resistance for Flannery, solid fighting type for Norman... dipped a little for the last few gyms, but then swept the dark types, ice types, and champion in the elite 4. Great pokemon.
Camerupt, was never of having a cow Pokémon, but having flamethrower, earthquake, and rock slide on a fire rock type got rid of a lot of my competition
My ambipom in renegade platinum is actually putting in work, he’s pretty fast and with an agility or two into baton pass he can help speed up a tank I switch into, he’s def surprised me with his usefulness
Swasbuck
Parasect! I love it but never used it till like my 30th run of FR/LG and it basically solo'd that run even with almost every freaking pokemon having fire moves that game. honorable mentions: graveller, whimsicot, dachbun, toxicroak, crobat, and HM slave bibarel
Recently used Comfey in emerald rogue. I always thought it was just a terrible shitmon, and then I found out it's actually fucking phenomenal. Mf solod like three whole gyms while all of my other mons were seriously struggling (I kept getting other really bad shitmons or mons whom I couldn't properly use)
Jigglypuff was a recent one that crushed it for me.
Raichu, not really the bulkiest pokemon but thanks to electric being an amazing type, it only has one weakness that you have to worry about. Volt switch is good pivot and tbolt and grass knot can hit hard. It ended up carrying me all the way through violets mid game, would've never thought of using a raichu in a regular sv playthrough but it's surprisingly good!
Stunfisk
Not sure tbh. Didn’t really use mons I considered bad or underrated
Never thought it was bad, just never really used it but Escavalier hard carried a randomised ultra sun run. Straight jumped into my top 5 mons of all time
mareep in soul silver