This page is currently a work in progress, It'll be finished soon I swear.
*Not including legendaries
Abra is THE Psychic Pokemon to me. It has a cute design with its face reminding me of a Kitsune mask. The teleport gimic makes trying to catch one fairly memorable and the move comes in handy until you get Fly. The naming scheme is fun and the fact it evolves into a sweeper powerhouse (At least back when elemental punches were special) makes Abra an absolute must catch in every one of my playthroughs. Its shiny is ok, the pink torso doesn't look as good as the brown.
Gengar is the best Ghost Pokemon in the series. It's like the mirror inverse of Clefairy in both design and typing. With Normal type attacks being so common (especially in the earlier games) it's not uncommon to face wild or NPC opponents who literally cannot deal damage to Gengar. Which comes in extra handy as it is another monstrously powerful sweeper who learns all the elemental punches. Shame Ghost moves are physical in the early games. Its shiny with the purple eyes is also cool.
The OG and most iconic Dragon. Owning one feels special, like you've finally gotten a Pokemon fit for a champion. I'll grind my lvl 15 Extremespeed Dratini all the way to lvl 55 without hesitation. Its biggest strength is also its biggest issue however, as Dragonite is good at everything but isn't great at anything. It has no niche. I think the green shiny looks good in Gen 2 but they made the green too dark in later games but it probably should have been blue or pink to match its pre-evolutions.
I always loved birds of prey IRL. Braviary is like a giant native American eagle complete with a war bonnet. Do you think that's why Gamefreak made them all male? Maybe it's just because Gen 5 is filled with ugly and redundant designs but I always found Braviary to be pretty striking and memorable. It's another mean sweeper although this time trading speed for bulk. If I had to complain I think given that it levels slow and doesn't evolve until lvl 54 Gamefreak probably could have given it another 5-10 points of speed just to put it above the average of 82 without making it OP. Maybe even given it a Steel move for coverage. The shiny looks slightly worse but it's inoffensive.
It's like a tiny fighter jet which is badass. The steel feathers always reminded me of the bad guy from Kung-Fu Panda 2. It always makes me happy to see this thing get some competitive use as in my head it can do it all. It walls, it stalls, it can setup, recover or pressure your opponent into switching and then hit them with a pursuit on the way out. I like the idea of its shiny design where the green makes it appear like the metal has oxidized but in practice the shiny design just makes Skarmory look sickly.
Scyther was never good, which should be a crime. It's a sweeper with no attacks, not getting a single decent STAB move until like Gen 4. The design is one of the best in the series, being a preying mantis with sword arms which are way cooler than the silly scissor hands Gamefreak gave to its evolution. Its shiny looks decent, it's like Scyther got a tan but seeing as Scizor's shiny is green Scyther's should have been red.
Another Gen 5 surpise, Krookodile is everything Feraligatr wishes it was. Another mean sweeper, Krookodile feels like a bully. It's moveset reads like Jimmy Hopkins' to-do list. From trapping your opponent to throwing sand in their eyes, Foul Play is literally "Stop hitting yourself" and it's all topped off with the most satisfying Crunch in the series. Krookodile makes me want to build a team around Sandstorm. Its shiny looks terrible though.
Speaking of Sandstorm, here's THE Sandstorm setter. Setting the weather on entry feels really powerful, it's like you're taking control of the battle before it's even started. But Hippowdon isn't just a weather setter, it's also a bulky attacker that comes pre-loaded with whatever elemental fang move you like then learns a nasty Earthquake. It's tanky enough to stall and you're basically guarenteed to get away with setting Stealth Rocks. It's a shame Hippowdon got done so dirty when the series went 3d. The 3d model doesn't convey its personality at all. Its shiny just makes it look less visually interesting.
There's shockingly slim pickings when it comes to Electric Pokemon. There's only like a dozen of them and half of them are just Pickachu but ugly. So I said I may as well pick the original Electric rodent over any of it's dopplegangers that look like something Palworld would cook up. Pickachu's cute and it's gotten lots of great moments in the anime on account of being Gamefreak's favourite. Its moves and stats are whatever and its shiny looks like it got sunburnt.
I used to think the red nostrils were Armaldo's eyes and those things sticking out of its head were its ears. Once I realised Armaldo doesn't have glowing red robot eyes it instantly lost like 5 coolness points. Fortunatly for Armaldo a lot of Rock Pokemon are ugly or boring so it gets to keep the number 1 spot. Probably my favourite fossil Pokemon, I like how it looks like it's halfway between a horseshoe crab and a dinosaur. It's a tank with a high attack and being immune to criticals is nice, although it could have sorely used a decent recovery move like Leech Life or some better support like Rage Powder. Its shiny looks like it's shell's rusted which is neat.
Pinsir's cooler brother, Heracross lives for one purpose and one purpose only, to click Megahorn over and over again. And if Megahorn doesn't work it also knows karate. Could Heracross use more coverage moves? Yes. Does it sorely need more utility options? Yes. But that's not the kinda Pokemon Heracross is. Heracross isn't a jack of all trades, it's the master of one. Every single ability it gets can be summarized as "When X happens, Megahorn deals more damage" which is exactly what I want from this Pokemon. Its shiny looked good in gen 2 but they made it soft pink in the later games which is the antithesis of everything Heracross stands for.
Ninetails feels like a premium Pokemon, probably due to the golden fur and gorgeous design. It kinda mogs Flareon appearance wise but they both have the needlessly complicated Flash Fire ability. Even braindead NPCs know not to use Fire moves on Fire Pokemon, Gamefreak should have just let it have Drought by default. Being fast but bulky with a whatever moveset also makes it kinda awkward to use. Its shiny is one of the best, trading the gold fur for silver doesn't cheapen it.
Everything about this Pokemon is weird. If you tried to explain what this Pokemon looks like to someone they would think you're nuts. It's a living palm tree with psychic powers and it's got eggs with faces instead of coconuts and it likes to self destruct. Also its faces look like it has fetal alcohol syndrome. Sure buddy. Thats all probably part of what makes it so memorable I guess. Also hatching an Exeggute from an egg feels wrong. Its shiny isn't my cup of tea, the red leaves make it look like its wilting.
Surf, the Pokemon. It's the Loch Ness Monster with a shell. I like that getting your hands on one is kind of a big deal. Only appearing on Fridays makes it into an event you've got to mark in your calendar. Listening to NPC rumors and back-tracking to old areas to re-explore with new abilities to find secrets is all stuff Pokemon needs more of. It kinda feels like its missing a first stage evolution baby form though. Hatching a 480lbs sea monster from an egg in my bag is like we skipped a step. Its shiny looks pretty.
Snorlax is very relatable. Lazy? Check. Gluttonous? Check. Always tired? Check. Snorlax lives my ideal lifestyle better than I ever could. Gamefreak knew exactly what they wanted Snorlax to be and to do when they designed it. Every move perfectly fits its gameplan and the fact it even comes already holding leftovers is the cherry on top. It's Bulky with a capital B and hits like a sack of bricks. What more could you want from a Pokemon? Its shiny even looks good to boot.
Maybe not the most creatively named Pokemon but the design is inspired. Probably the most fitting Pokemon to get the Intimidate ability. Its stats might be terrible and its movepool might need some work but it's got looks that could kill and the personality to match. It's the perfect heel for any villians team and it might cause some mild annoyance before you kill it in a single blow. It probably should have gained Dark typing in gen 2 to make use of Bite and Crunch and to give it a niche against Psychics. It had a good shiny in gen 2 and a bad one in every game after that. What is with Gamefreak saturating the colour palette of shinies after gen 2? They look garish.
One of greatest HM slaves of all time. Personally I always thought it looked more like a platypus than a duck. Why Gamefreak refuse to give Psyduck and Golduck Psychic typing I could not tell you. Maybe they felt it would be too powerful in Gen 1 and just never course corrected? I think those fears can be safely laid to rest nowadays. Maybe the joke is that it forgot that it's Psychic. Maybe the fact that it learns most of its Psychic moves through breeding is supposed to be some kind of environmental storytelling. Its shiny looks ok but they should have left its beak yellow imo.
I haven't played any game in the series past gen 5 so I don't have any first hand experience with Fairy type Pokemon so this is going to be based off what I've seen online, and I've seen some crazy things. What if Gardevoir and Gallade did a fusion dance, then had a baby with both Darth Maul and the Terminator at the same time? That would be a sight. And I've seen what the result of that unholy union would be. Iron Valiant takes the secondary typing from both Gardevoir and Gallade and mashes them together to a mixed attacker that can do it all. Complete with an ability that makes its highest stat even higher and a movelist that has legs for days. Its shiny looks like it's missing its paint job.
All sprites were obtained from archives.bulbagarden.net.