The Best Pokemon to Use in Gen 1 Playthroughs Explained

Summary

The team of Pokemon suggested in this article represents a well-rounded selection of types and stats for a successful Gen 1 playthrough.
Venusaur is recommended as the best starter for a Gen 1 playthrough due to its Grass-type advantage against early gym leaders and high Special stat.
Nidoking, Ninetales/Arcanine, Slowbro, Jolteon, and Dodrio are also recommended for their accessibility, type coverage, and usefulness in battles throughout the game.

While the Pokemon series isn't home to the most difficult games, there are those within the community who try to play the games at the optimal level. To this end, players search for the strongest, most useful critters to comprise their team so that they have the smoothest experience possible when playing through a generation. The original Gen 1 games have a lot of quirks to them, given that they were the first games in the series, and there are some specific monsters that yield the best chance of success for players tackling Pokemon Red and Blue.

The criteria for what makes a critter a good candidate for a team member include how accessible they are, their stat total and overall strength, and how useful they will be in dealing with a game's major battles.

For the purposes of this analysis, only Pokemon Red and Blue are being considered, since Pokemon Yellow doesn't offer players a choice of starters outside of Pikachu. These mons also aren't necessarily the strongest in the generation but offer the most utility for the point in the games where they become available.

The Best Pokemon Team for a Successful Gen 1 Playthrough

Pokemon	Type
Venusaur	Grass/Poison
Nidoking	Poison/Ground
Ninetales/Arcanine	Fire
Slowbro	Water/Psychic
Jolteon	Electric
Dodrio	Normal/Flying

This team of creatures represents a fantastic cross-section of types and stat distribution while also being largely accessible to the average player. A lot of Gen 1's most powerful mons are acquired through trade evolutions, meaning that players making their way through a Gen 1 game in the modern day may have a difficult time accessing them, which has been taken into consideration for this analysis. Additionally, players will need to consider the need to use HMs throughout their playthrough and catch a team of mons that can learn all the necessary HMs for completing the game.

Venusaur

To start with, Bulbasaur is the clear best starter for a Gen 1 playthrough for a variety of reasons, including the fact that there aren't many good Grass-type options in Gen 1. Bulbasaur is great in the early game since its Grass-type will be super effective against Brock and Misty, as well as resist Lt. Surge's team. Additionally, Venusaur has a high Special stat, which comprised both Special Attack and Special Defense in Gen 1, and since Grass, Fire, and Psychic were considered Special types before the Physical/Special split, Venusaur gets solid offensive capabilities, as well as high defense against two super effective types.

Nidoking

Nidoking is one of the best early-game monsters players can obtain since it gives them the possibility of having a fully evolved mon before the second gym. Nidoran can be caught on Route 22, just to the West of Viridian City, which then evolves at level 16, meaning players will be able to have Nidorino quite early. Nidorino evolves into Nidoking using a Moon Stone which can be found in Mt. Moon, potentially giving players a fully-evolved Nidoking before Cerulean City and making this mon the perfect team member to bring to Lt. Surge since it gains immunity to Electric attacks thanks to the Ground type it gains when it evolves.

Ninetales/Arcanine

Two of the best Fire types in Gen 1 are version exclusives, with Vulpix being available in Blue and Growlithe being available in Red, and depending on which version a player has, they should grab the one that's available to them. Both of these mons can be found just outside Celedon City on Route 7, meaning they become available at the perfect time for players to add a super effective type to their team ahead of their battle with the Grass-type Gym Leader Erika. Vulpix and Growlithe also evolve with a Fire Stone, which can be purchased in Celedon City, giving players access to another full-evolved mon fairly early in the game.

Slowbro

Psychic is an incredibly powerful type in Gen 1, so it's a necessity that players have a Psychic type mon on their team heading into battles against trainers like Poison-type Gym Leader Koga. While Alakazam is by far the best Psychic type in the game, it is a trade evolution mon and will likely be too difficult to obtain in a modern Gen 1 playthrough to be worthwhile. However, Slowbro is a great alternative as a Water/Psychic type that can learn Surf, has solid defensive bulk, and Slowpoke can be caught relatively easily by fishing on Route 10 or in Celedon City using a Super Rod.

While the Ghost type is usually super effective against Psychic types, there is a bug in Gen 1 that makes the opposite true. As such, Psychic types are only weak to Bug types in Gen 1, and since the most powerful Bug-type attack is Twineedle with a base power of only 25, Psychic types go relatively unchecked in battle.

Jolteon

A Gen 1 playthrough wouldn't be complete without an Eeveelution on the team, and Jolteon is the clear winner for most players. Jolteon has incredible Speed, which makes it even more of a threat due to the fact that a mon's Critical Hit rate is tied to its Speed stat in Gen 1, so a fast monster like Jolteon is going to hit Crits quite often. What's more is that Eevee can be obtained for free in Celedon City, meaning players could potentially evolve and have access to Jolteon in time for some tough battles against their rival's Pidgeot and Gyarados.

Dodrio

While Dodrio may seem like an odd pick for a final team member, it ends up rounding out this team quite well. It can learn Fly, which is a must for getting around the Kanto Region, and Doduo is obtainable on Route 17, which is just after players obtain the HM for Fly. Dodrio is also a fairly fast critter with a high Attack stat, meaning it can take advantage of the Normal type and Flying type both being Physical types with powerful moves like Drill Peck and Hyper Beam which can help in most trainer battles, including the Elite Four's Bruno.

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