There was something magical about experiencing the epic journey of Pokémon Red/Blue and becoming a Pokémon master, even though we were confined to our small, pixelated virtual world of Game Boy greens and greys. Setting out with my new Charmander, along with the excitement of catching my first Pokémon was a thrilling experience, even if my first catch happened to be a measly Weedle.
Though our experiences varied, we all had our trials and our triumphs; our moments of dominance, and our humbling defeats. Whether it meant getting stuck in one of those treacherous, maze-like caverns, failing to catch that Mewtwo for the tenth time, or falling in the final battle of the Elite 4, the game had its challenges. Though, this is partly what made it so enjoyable.
Most of the challenges and victories rested largely at the hands of the Pokémon themselves. After all, they were our monster warriors; going on the front lines and "taking one for the team," so to speak, so our success or failures relied on them. And while the amount of original Pokémon from the '90s is dwarfed by several hundred nowadays, there was still quite a variance and unpredictability in having 150 Pokémon at your disposal. It wasn't long before we learned just how different they were, and it often took some trial and error to play to their strengths. Even most of the really powerful Pokémon usually came with their quirks and weaknesses, which could make training them a grind.
This article will help sort out which Pokémon are the best-of-the-best but will also come with warnings of the blemishes that come with their strengths, which make training them trickier than you might have thought.
25 Dragonite: The Dragon Pokémon
When it comes to raw power, this is the mother of all generation 1 Pokémon, second only to Mewtwo and on par with Mew in total base stats. It's something of a headache to train with its slow rate of level progression and with how much grinding it takes to reach this final form of Dratini, but it's certainly worth the effort in the end. Being one of the best of the rare dragon type Pokémon (not to mention an intelligence near the level of humans), Dragonite is resilient and can learn some powerful attacks, including a long list of effective TMs (technical machines).
24 Articuno: The Freeze Pokémon
You'll need to embark on a treacherous journey through the Seafoam islands and battle some tough Pokémon on your way to nab this legendary bird, but it's more than worth it. I recall Articuno being the first major difference maker in my Pokémon Red lineup against both in-game foes and real-life friends, making me a near-unstoppable force.
While training it won't always be simple, thanks to its slim learn-set of attacks, what few moves Articuno does learn are massively powerful. It can use both Ice Beam and the super-powered Blizzard, both of which can freeze an opponent, rendering them instantly vulnerable.
23 Electrode: The Ball Pokémon
This electric Pokémon is essentially a ticking time bomb that packs a ton of power and is one of the speedier Pokémon. It's just too bad that its 2 most powerful moves, Self Destruct and Explosion, take out your Pokémon along with your opponent's.
Electrode provides a truly explosive offense to your Pokémon lineup.
Naturally, this makes training it a long and difficult process if you wish to milk the greatest amount of potential out of Electrode. Though it certainly proves useful as a sort of front-line damage dealer that can take one for the team.
22 Mew: The New Species Pokémon
Mew is so rare that you need to implement a risky glitch (at least in Red, Blue, and Yellow) just to get a shot at catching it. Not only is it tough to find, but it's perhaps even tougher to capture, and just as tough to train, thanks to the large amount of XP it takes for it to reach level 100. You'll need a lot of patience to train it too, as Mew will be a mere level 7 when you engage it in battle and will have a very small set of moves.
Still, if you can jump through all these hoops, this odd offshoot of Mewtwo is certainly worth obtaining with its powerful Psychic attack. It can also learn literally every TM in the game. Talk about versatility!
21 Dragonair: The Dragon Pokémon
The middle child of the Dragonite trio, this Pokémon, according to lore, can make it rain or snow on command. It can also slither through the sky with its snake-like body despite lacking the wings Dragonite sports, so it's no wonder this little guy is tough to train.
Looks can be deceiving when it comes to this deceptively strong Pokémon.
It takes quite a while to grow Dragonair into that much more exciting Dragonite form, and its mediocre defense makes it fragile, but this Pokémon's strength helps even things out. It can learn the extremely powerful attack, Hyper Beam, and contains base stats that are well above average.
20 Zapdos: The Electric Pokémon
Not to be outdone by its legendary bird counterpart, Articuno, Zapdos boasts a similarly impressive palette of powerful attributes, excelling in speed above all, allowing you to make an impact in battle. It learns one of the most powerful electric attacks in the game, Thunder, which can leave an opponent helplessly paralyzed and can learn some equally impactful TMs such as Sky Attack and Hyper Beam. Unfortunately, training this untamed electrified bird is no easy task, as its progression rate is very slow and it learns few moves on its own.
19 Kangaskhan: The Parent Pokémon
This Pokémon is perhaps even tougher to catch than it is to train, as it resides exclusively in the Safari Zone. You'll have to resort to the less-than-reliable Safari Balls, along with primitively chucking bait and rocks at the creature.
This Pokémon only comes in female form and has neared extinction according to its Pokédex entry.
The troubles of trying to manage a Kangaskhan don't end there either. It also requires a ton of XP to level up, meaning you'll be dealing with a slow rate of progression, which is further highlighted by the fact that it doesn't evolve. At least she's tough to take down, with an HP base stat of 105.
18 Mewtwo: The Genetic Pokémon
One need only watch Pokémon: The First Movie to realize just how untamable and unbeatable the legendary Mewtwo is, so it would only make sense that catching and training this psychic beast is no easy feat.
Mewtwo boasts the highest total base stats in Pokemon Red/Blue, weighing in at 590.
This is a rare case of a Pokémon being so high leveled and powerful that training it actually becomes a long and laborious process. He's so high-leveled and strong that few battles will yield significant XP. Though the fact that he already stands at level 70 when you find him and is the most powerful Pokémon in the game means you likely won't care.
17 Moltres: The Flame Pokémon
It wasn't exactly my favorite of the 3 legendary bird Pokémon, but the numbers don't lie. This fire-bird sports the highest total base stats between the 3, and learns the devastating Sky Attack at level 60.
Catching this coveted legendary Pokémon is no easy task, and training it isn't without its obstacles either. Like its legendary counterparts, it takes a great deal of XP to level it up, and its slim learn-set makes it tricky to utilize it in battle. Even when factoring in TMs, it could only learn a few fire moves.
16 Gyarados: The Surprisingly Lame Pokémon
It's not easy trying to train a giant, wild water dragon like Gyarados. Though once you've finally completed the arduous process of evolving a Magikarp into this beast, it's downhill from there.
This powerful Godzilla of the sea is certainly a major step up from the utterly useless Magikarp.
While the progress involved in leveling this guy up is still quite slow, at least it can finally hold its own in battle once evolved from Magikarp, and in a major way, with the Hydro Pump and Hyper Beam attacks it learns. It also makes the top 10 threshold for the highest total base stats.
15 Snorlax: The Sleeping Pokémon
This massive, lazy Pokémon is something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it's one of the slowest gen 1 Pokémon, making training one something of a headache as it'll be susceptible to sustaining some wallops.
Be sure not to wake the sleeping giant...
Though what Snorlax, um, "lacks" in speed, it more than makes up for in sheer offensive power and its massive HP bar, the latter of which is only second to Chansey. It can also take on an impressive number of TMs, which range from electric to water moves.
14 Aerodactyl: The Fossil Pokémon
This ancient Dinosaur-esque rock/flying type was just not worth the effort for many. You had to first find yourself an Old Amber fossil, which would then regenerate into an Aerodactyl.
What this Pokémon lacks in elemental abilities it makes up for in raw power.
Even once you got yourself one, leveling it up is a slow and tedious process, especially since it never evolves and utilizes a small, and not particularly diverse set of learned moves and TMs. Still, it sports a devastating combo of high attack and speed base stats, and the moves it does learn are quite strong.
13 Rhydon: The Drill Pokémon
One of the strongest rock and ground types, Rhydon comes from the school of slow-but-sturdy. It's equipped with both a raw offensive and defensive prowess, which makes it the Pokémon of choice for those who favor brute force over elemental glitz.
Unfortunately, you also need a degree of patience when dealing with Rhydon, as it's painfully slow in both level progression, and speed during battle. You also need to rely heavily on TMs if you really want to get the most out of this Pokémon, since all of its learned attacks are "normal" types.
12 Exeggutor: The Coconut Pokémon
As far as grass types go anyway, this odd egg-faced Pokémon is pretty much the cream of the crop. Not only does it have base stats that break the top 10, but it can learn an array of useful psychic moves and lull its prey to sleep with Hypnosis.
Though, you'll have to rely on TMs a great deal, because its natural learn-set is astonishingly small. It also requires a large amount of XP to level up, and is vulnerable to a wide variety of elements, so Exeggutor trainers need to be careful when using one.
11 Arcanine: The Legendary Pokémon
One use of a Firestone is all it takes to turn Growlithe into the even more awesome fire-hound Arcanine. Unfortunately, this Pokémon looks much more intimidating than it is, at least when it comes to its slow progression and tiny learn-set, which contains only one fire move; Ember. You might as well stick with your Charizard.
It can't take on many TMs either, though it can at least obtain the powerful Double-Edge, Hyper Beam, and Skull Bash from them. It also boasts an impressive stat sheet, with a triple-digit attack and total base stats that are good for a top 10 spot.
10 Dratini: The Dragon Pokémon
When you ask someone who's played through the original Pokémon games which Pokémon is the most difficult to train, there's a good chance Dratini will be at the top of the list.
Training this Dragonite-in-the-making is quite the hassle.
This Pokémon takes an excruciating amount of time to train, requiring a whopping 1,250,000 XP to reach level 100. Compare this to, say, Jigglypuff, who only takes 800,000 to reach that same point. But hey, at least it can learn one of the most powerful moves on its own, Hyper Beam, and eventually evolves into one of the strongest all-around Pokémon, Dragonite.
9 Alakazam: The Psi Pokémon
This 3rd form of the constantly snoozing Abra demonstrates just how effective and fun psychic Pokémon are to fight with. It sports an impressive learn-set, with a variety of powerful moves like Psybeam, Psychic, and Confusion, and is compatible with a pretty long list of solid TMs.
You can evolve a Kadabra into an Alakazam by trading with a friend.
Still, keeping this mind-bending Pokémon alive can be a challenge, as its poor defensive stats makes Alakazam a liability in battle and thus tough to train at a decent pace.
8 Cloyster: The Bivalve Pokémon
One of the strongest water Pokémon in Red/Blue, Cloyster proves to be quite the defensive powerhouse, sporting a whopping 180 defense, and total base stats that fall in the top 10 of generation 1 Pokémon.
Though managing this massive shelled Pokémon can be a challenge, starting with the simple act of obtaining one, which can only be achieved by finding a Water Stone - a rare item only found in a couple of locations. Also, Cloyster's low HP and speed tend to offset its rock-solid defense somewhat.
7 Machamp: The Superpower Pokémon
As if it wasn't enough that this beefy fighting Pokémon has a relatively slow progression, you first need to train a Machop and Machoke, then find someone willing to swap the Pokémon in order to coax it into its final form, Machamp. His actual speed in battle is similarly sluggish, making him somewhat vulnerable.
This final form of Machop packs quite a punch.
Still, you can't deny the power that this champion boasts, weighing in at a whopping 130 attack and 425 total base stats, which resides in the upper-echelon of the generation 1 Pokémon.
6 Ditto: The Transform Pokémon
This little blobular manifestation is quite odd even for Pokémon standards. Ditto is the definition of a double-edged sword, as Pokémon trainers of Red/Blue quickly found out when attempting to level it up.
The copycat of the Pokémon world.
Its major ace-in-the-hole is that it can take on the form of any Pokémon it faces off against in battle and can use their own moves against them. While this makes it incredibly versatile, it also makes for a degree of unpredictability. Additionally, it's difficult to exploit elemental weaknesses since you'll be taking on the same elemental forms as your opponents.