From the original one-word-in-all-caps berries of Gold, Silver, and Crystal, to the beautifully-designed and unique berries of the newer generations, these small fruits have always been vital to a good Pokemon team. Berries in the Pokemon world provide an incredibly wide array of benefits, boons, and bonuses, and can often be what makes or breaks a battle.

Since their debut in the Generation II games, berries have gone through several changes in appearance and effect. Many of them provide healing or status condition removal, but experts know that this is just the beginning of the berry barrel. Here are some of the best berries and their effects, ranked.

10 Enigma Berry

Let's start with a weird one, shall we? This berry, which is adorned with a large question mark, is not one that many players will have spent time with in a playthrough. Originally serving as an item placeholder for e-reader items in Generation III, this berry served a fantastic purpose from Generation IV onward.

When held by a Pokemon, this berry will heal one-quarter of its health after being hit by a super-effective attack. Many super-effective attacks leave targets with HP, so this can be vital to hanging on long enough to get off a move against your opponent.

9 Damage-decreasing Berries

Passho, Chople, Occa, Yache, Charti. What do these berries all have in common? They reduce the damage from super-effective moves of different types. In this case, water, fighting, ice, and rock, respectively.

If the user holding the berry is hit with a move that's super-effective and matches the type of berry, it'll reduce that move's power by half.

For some Pokemon that are competitively viable but have terrible weaknesses (or double-weaknesses), these berries can be a matter of life and death. Garchomp, for example, is a favorite in the competitive scene, but its double-weakness to ice can be a real hindrance.

8 Golden Razz Berry (Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee)

The Let's Go games are like a spinoff of Pokemon GO, from features to mechanics, and even many items. One thing that the Let's Go games borrowed are the types of berries, including regular, silver, and golden variations of Razz, Pinap, and Nanab berries.

The best of this trio in many cases is the Golden Razz Berry. Just like in Pokemon GO, these berries significantly increase your chance of a 'mon staying in the ball when you try to catch it. This can be the difference between securing that Mewtwo or shiny, or losing it to a ball break-out again.

7 Chesto Berry

One of the best moves in Pokemon is Rest. It'll completely heal all of your HP while curing any non-volatile status condition. The one downfall to Rest, however, is that it puts your Pokemon to sleep, and they won't wake up for three turns. This is where the Chesto Berry comes in to play. If the Pokemon is holding it, it'll wake up.

This "Rest and Chest" strategy is simple: use Rest to completely heal your 'mon, then attack on the next turn after it munches a Chesto and wakes up. It's perfect.

6 Sitrus Berry

Ah, the bane of any player struggling to defeat a Gym Leader. These juicy yellow berries are a favorite of NPCs, being held by many of their Pokemon. Sitrus Berries will heal your Pokemon 25 percent of their max health (30 HP in Generation III).

Like most other berries, this can save you a turn of healing if your Pokemon is holding it. With NPCs, you'll get their health into the red, and they'll heal. It's frustrating and shows how good this berry is if you use it for your own benefit.

5 Silver Pinap Berry - Pokemon GO

Pokemon GO is all-too-often a candy collection game. To evolve your Pokemon, power it up, give it a second move, and then you'll need that species' candy. To evolve Pikachu, you'll need a certain number of Pikachu candies, for example.

With this in mind, a berry that can double the amount of candy you get for a catch is an easy sell. This is why the developers introduced the Pinap Berry. But, in some cases, you'll be sacrificing using a Razz Berry (which helps you catch the Pokemon) in favor of doubling the candy.

It's a risk, and that's what makes the Silver Pinap so appealing. It doubles candy but also increases the catch rate. Nice.

4 Lum Berry

This berry, along with its Generation II counterpart the MiracleBerry, is a favorite among the top players in Pokemon. While berries like Pecha and Persim cure poison and confusion, Lum cures any status condition.

You can try your chances with a more specific berry, but why bother when Lum is a cure-all? These little green fruits are perfect in a wide variety of cases, and you should always have a stack of them in your bag.

3 Leppa Berry

Do you ever find yourself hoarding Ethers and Elixirs out of fear of using them at the wrong time, and then needing them later? Running out of Power Points (PP) on a move is one of the most frustrating things that can happen to you, especially in situations where you can't visit a Pokemon Center.

With such items in limited supply, resource management becomes an issue. Luckily, this little red berry is your friend. Leppa Berries will restore 10 PP to a move. If the Pokemon holds it, it'll restore the PP when it hits 0 automatically.

2 EV-Reset Berries

In short, each time your buddy defeats another Pokemon, it'll earn Effort Values in different stats. Over time, you'll notice these EVs influence how those stats progress and increase. The problem with this is that each Pokemon has an upward limit to how many EVs it can earn.

If you've earned them in the wrong stats, you'll want to redistribute them. Luckily, you can do this with a certain group of berries: Pomeg, Kelpsy, Hondew, Qualot, Grepa, and Tamato. Each resets a certain stat's EVs, and as a bonus, increases friendship.

1 "Pinch" Berries

Sometimes, in a heated battle, you'll wish for a Hail Mary as your Pokemon's HP hits the red zone. Luckily, that "Hail Mary" exists in the form of a certain group of berries; Ganlon, Salac, Petaya, Apicot, Lansat, Custap, Micle, and Starf.

When your Pokemon's HP falls below 25 percent, and it's "in a pinch," these berries will raise a particular stat or cause an effect. One favorite among players is the legendary Custap Berry, which will make you move first when your HP is below 25 percent.

This often decides a winner, allowing you to hang on with a tiny bit of HP and ultimately turn the tide in your favor.