Rank every regions Pokémon from worst to best.

[keepitsimple]

7. Kalos
6. Hoenn
5. Alola
4. Sinnoh
3. Johto
2. Unova
1. Kanto

7: Sinnoh. Even worse than all the twee early game crap, Lucario and Garchomp are irredeemable.

agreed on Garchomp lol, he looks way too goofy. having that weird bulge coming out of his forehead, and even worse those single claws at the end of each arm instead of hands haha, haxorus is the best designed dragon type, i wish he was better than garchomp competitively =(

 

[Akkipeddi]

7. Alola
6. Unova
5. Johto
4. Kalos
3. Kanto
2. Hoenn
1. Sinnoh

Yes, weirdly enough, I love Sinnoh Pokémon. Lucario, Garchomp, Giratina, Dialga, Palkia, Luxray, Staraptor are some of my favourites. I also think the starter line was one of the best seen. As for Unova, as much as I am a fan of the games (my favorite still being BW2), I'll admit most designs were hit or miss.

 

[Minedreigon]

7. Kalos. Good grief, this gen’s dex was polarising for me. There are like 1 or 2 I really love, like the Honedge and Scatterbug lines, but a lot of forgettable unmon lines like Dedenne, Furfrou, Meowstic, Avalugg, Heliolisk, Gogoat, Slurpuff, etc, and this makes up a lot of the dex, and then there are Pokémon I just hate, like the starters, Aromatisse, Barbaracle and Hoopa. In particular, these few make up my least favourite Pokémon of all time.

6. Kanto. Honestly this can never be higher. So much of the Kanto dex is severely under-designed which means they don’t stand out much. Like, why would I use a generic crab like Krabby when Crabrawler is a thing now, or why would I use a generic fish like Goldeen when we have things that expand on generic fish and are more specific like Alomomola now? I just find it really boring as a result. There’s a few real total stinkers in there for me like Mr. Mime, Machoke, Jynx and I guess Parasect (who I will applaud for being one of the most... interesting designs from gen 1 at least) but this is counterbalanced by it having more designs I like than Kalos did. Porygon, Lapras, Snorlax, Dragonite... even this roster has favourites for me.

5. Alola. It’s like Kalos, + more favourites, - Pokémon I hated, + Ultra Beasts, which I really, really like. There’s not much else to say about it really. It DOES have the horrible Bounsweet line though. I also don’t like how Necrozma basically redid Kyurem’s gimmick with much worse execution imho.

4. Johto. It’s basically Kanto’s dex except smaller and more interesting. Some unmons like Stantler, nothing I totally despise, and a couple of my all time favourites like Heracross and Yanma. I feel like a lot more of the designs are fleshed out here in comparison to the Kanto Pokémon.

3. Hoenn. These Pokémon feel really region appropriate, which I appreciate a great deal. There’s nothing I really hate here, everything feels really solid overall, and there’s a lot of them so I guess that makes me like the roster a lot.

2. Sinnoh. Much like Hoenn’s, this dex has some really s olid designs, except the main draw for me is the new evolutions for Pokémon present in it. I really like all of them! So it’s basically Hoenn + those which means I like it a slightly more than Hoenn’s dex. We also finally got dinosaur Pokémon!

1. Unova. Kanto done right, but so, so much more than that too. That many Pokémon with very few Pokémon I feel are generic, absolutely none I actively dislike (Liepard is my least favourite dark type but that’s not saying much), and many of my all time favourite Pokémon, like Reshiram, Scolipede, Escavalier, Snivy, Hydreigon, Krookodile, Stoutland, Darmanitan, Volcarona, Haxorus, Zekrom, Excadrill, Eelektross, Archeops, Zoroark, Reuniclus... good lord there are so many, I really could go on. Furthermore, A lot of the Pokémon are widely useful in game, even if they don’t evolve too early, because BW planned ahead for this with Eviolite, and BW2 made some of them under levelled catchables. That’s the only major complaint I could possibly have with this roster partially eliminated. And to top it all off, the Pokémon feel even more regional appropriate than Hoenn’s roster. Good job BW, best regional dex yet.

 

[Scammel]

6. Kanto. Honestly this can never be higher. So much of the Kanto dex is severely under-designed which means they don’t stand out much. Like, why would I use a generic crab like Krabby when Crabrawler is a thing now, or why would I use a generic fish like Goldeen when we have things that expand on generic fish and are more specific like Alomomola now?

Now that's interesting, because I think Krabby has a great, streamlined design and blows the confused, ungainly Crabominable out of the water. I also really like Goldeen and Seaking as a fairly weak and common species of recognisable fish (though they're clearly based on decorative goldfish and koi, not generic fish).

I love Kanto's mundane diversity, it feels like a credible ecosystem of stylised creatures rather than a cast of over-detailed characters competing for space. It's what I always felt was the difference between Pokémon and Digimon. A creator with less restraint might have created more Ghosts and Dragons at the expense of Water, Normal and Poison, but Kanto's more high-profile lines feel that much cooler because they exist in a world that reflects our own.

agreed on Garchomp lol, he looks way too goofy. having that weird bulge coming out of his forehead, and even worse those single claws at the end of each arm instead of hands haha, haxorus is the best designed dragon type, i wish he was better than garchomp competitively =(

God, yes. It's made worse by just how much of a nightmarish mish-mash Garchomp is at a conceptual level. A dragon with shark features might have made a cool Dragon/Water type, but it also flies like a jet plane and has Ground typing? It's the car Homer Simpson designed.

 

[GarchompTheAssassin]

(Thought this was rank the regions for a second..)

Pokemon wise:

Sinnoh > Kanto > Kalos => Unova => Johto = Hoenn > Alola

Based on where my favourites are from

 

[Minedreigon]

Now that's interesting, because I think Krabby has a great, streamlined design and blows the confused, ungainly Crabominable out of the water. I also really like Goldeen and Seaking as a fairly weak and common species of recognisable fish (though they're clearly based on decorative goldfish and koi, not generic fish).

I love Kanto's mundane diversity, it feels like a credible ecosystem of stylised creatures rather than a cast of over-detailed characters competing for space. It's what I always felt was the difference between Pokémon and Digimon. A creator with less restraint might have created more Ghosts and Dragons at the expense of Water, Normal and Poison, but Kanto's more high-profile lines feel that much cooler because they exist in a world that reflects our own.

There are articles that draw comparisons between the biodiversity in our world and the biodiversity in the Pokémon world. I have one bookmarked on arthropods in particular if you want to read it. What you’ll notice is that all generations have lots of Pokémon based on real life animals, and even if creative liberties are taken you can still group most Pokémon into some kinds of biological classification.

My point here is that this is achievable without going to the extremes of having Pokémon designs that are literally just animals with little to no abstract features at all, like Krabby. For many gen 1 Pokémon of this nature I can name another Pokémon based on the same idea that takes more of a leap with it, and because they both a) capture the essence of the real world animal and b) are more creative with said original idea, I end up preferring the later gen alternatives. Krabby? Crabrawler. Poliwag? Tympole. Seel? Spheal. Zubat? Noibat, although Zubat isn’t as bad. Pidgey? Pidove, and even Hoothoot to some extent. Shellder? Clamperl.

I know not every generation 1 Pokémon is like this. I like Tauros, for example. Yes, it’s a bull, but the tail is the creative leap. It’s acting as a whip so it can rile itself up into a frenzied rage. That’s the kind of thing I’m talking about. Too many gen 1 Pokémon don’t have this kind of thing compared to Pokémon in later generations. I get why, technical limitations and all that, but that doesn’t mean I have to give it a free pass.

And beyond this we also need to consider that there are some Pokémon that barely resemble real animals at all, and even though this is not reflective of our ecosystem, that’s fine, because if our world and the Pokémon word were too similar it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting. When you’re able to find a balance between abstract ideas and familiar ideas, you’ve hit the nail on the head. Yes, this is part of the reason I like the Ultra Beasts so much, but that’s not the point.

The point is that I feel this roster of so many real life animals with no particularly notable special features is unexciting and overshadowed by what later gens achieved by either integrating more stylisation or just using ideas other than real life animals for the basis of their designs. Probably good for the time, but barely holds a candle to what the series has done since. This is why the Unova roster is my favourite, because it did exactly this. Hence why I called it “Gen 1 done right”. I hope that makes sense.

As for the over abundance of water types, yeah, that sort of leaves a sour taste with me too. I don’t know or care how accurate of a representation of our ecosystem that is, realism shouldn’t harm the gameplay, and here it does because it means less diversity.

 

[Dragalge]

7. Sinnoh
6. Hoenn
5. Kanto
4. Kalos
3. Johto
2. Alola
1. Unova

 

[Scammel]

My point here is that this is achievable without going to the extremes of having Pokémon designs that are literally just animals with little to no abstract features at all, like Krabby.

Perhaps I'm just tickled by Krabby in particular. I especially love how it has more Attack than Complete Zygarde, Mew, Kyogre, and others. After all...

You can't expect a demigod

To beat a decapod.

Look it up.

 

[SubtleVVeirdoh]

Personally, I’d rather use Krabby/Kingler than its Alola equivalent.

7. Kalos
6. Alola
5. Sinnoh
4. Kanto
3. Johto
2. Hoenn
1. Unova

 

[Orphalesion]

7th(worst): Johto, too many of them were evos/prevos of Kanto mons, some of the interesting species (imho) were only found in the post game. Dragona nd Ghost continue to have a terrible type distribution and the new types, Dark and Steel are practically non-existent. Plus the Pokemon share many characteristics with the Kanto ones.

6th: Kanto. I'm not a fan of the first 151. Too much beige, too much grey-purple and many type combinations are repeated ad nasueam (Flying/Normal, Rock/Ground, Grass/Poison Water/Ice). Too many of them look like generic, vaguely Reptilian/Dinosaur-like, bumpy monsters (which are frequently purple) even design features repeat way too much (a lot of bird pokemon are brown-beige with some pink sprinkled in). Plus it not only inflicted Voltorb on the world but has such "creative" evolutions as "Poliwhirl, but angry", "Three Digletts standing next to each other" and "Voltorb Turnover". And what's with those shonen-manga eyes on every other Pokemon?

5th: Sinnoh, on account of all those kinda uninspired Evolutions it contained like "Lickilicky and Tangrowth.

4th: Kalos. This would be higher if there were more Pokemon. I found many of the Pokemon excellent, but there just weren't enoguh of them. And despite the ever popular, absolutely meaningless chorus of "quality over quantity!!112!!@!" I find it still had it's fair share of forgettable Pokemon. But it also introduced my favourite Pokemon type, so...

3th: Unova. This is what brought me back to Pokemon. A whole region of pretty excellent new designs and it contains a lot of favourites of mine. There were a lo of designs I had wanted since I had been a child (an Electric zebra for example) and while there are some Pokemon I don't care for and find pretty uncreative, I think the number of excellent ones makes more than up for them.

2th: Hoenn. Here is where Pokemon got really interesting for me, Ghost, Dragon, Steel and Dark finally each got a decent amount of Pokemon and they got more creative with the type combinations. Plus they started using more colours in the designs. Personally I think that one reason so many people believed Hoenn to be a tropical reason was the vibrancy of the Pokemon designs, so different from the drab and samey ones of the previous two generations.

1st(best): Alola. While the low number continues to be a problem, this region once again dilvered many things I had wished for since I was a child (an isopod Pokemon for example) pretty much did for the Fairy Type what Hoenn did for Dragon/Ghost/Steel/Dark and in general added a lot of interesting lines to a number of my favourite typings. Plus it revitalized some old Pokemon in the shape of Regional Forms.
Of course the lack of fully original dark types is an issue, and the Alolan Forms are a mixed-bag (Three Digletts next to each other...with bad 1970s hair) but well...

 

[KyogreThunder]

7. Alola - I don't like the fact most Alola Pokemon are so slow, there are a few designs I love (Primarina, Vikavolt, Salazzle, Mudsdale, Midday Lycanroc, Wishiwashi, Passimian, Silvally), but some others are just...ugh (Crabominable, Palossand, Incineroar, Turtonator, Bruxish, the Tapus barring Tapu Koko, all Necrozma forms barring the Ultra one, Toxapex, Shiinotic, and Toucannon is the only regional bird I actually dislike).
6. Johto - too many evolutions and pre-evolutions of older Pokemon, and a good number of critters introduced in Generation II were pretty much useless until they got evolved forms (Togetic, Yanma, Sneasel, Aipom, Piloswine, Gligar), too many gimmicky Pokemon (Shuckle, Dunsparce, Unown, Smeargle, Wobbuffet).
5. Unova - half of them are great (Samurott, Braviary, Golurk, Haxorus, Galvantula, Krookodile, Reshiram, Mienshao) and the second half are just there (the Patrat, Pidove, Gothita, Solosis, Tympole, Tynamo, Klink, Yamask, Timburr lines and Throh, Sawk, and Heatmor), the genies are just insulting, and even in their Therian formes they aren't much better.
4. Kalos - I only dislike Dedenne, Carbink, Delphox and Diggersby, the rest are pretty well-designed.
3. Sinnoh - it introduced my favourite regional bird ever (the Starly line), and a bunch of old Pokemon got evolutions (although I'm not a fan of Probopass, Tangrowth and Lickilicky), the legendaries (barring Regigigas) are cool.
2. Kanto - love all the legendaries and only truly dislike Electrode, Hypno and Dugtrio.
1. Hoenn - love the "exoltic" vibe the Generation III critters have, and the legendaries (especially Kyogre, Groudon, Latios and Latias) are among my favourite designs.

 

[flod1]

7. Unova
6. Johto
5. Kalos
4. Sinnoh
3.Alola
2.Kanto
1.Hoenn

 

[RedJirachi]

I think that Kalos is my least favorite as it feels like it's missing a lot, its characters are rather lacking(though a few like Lysandre are done pretty well) and while most of the Pokemon the lack of quantity hurt it or than helped(eg: Alola)