• 5 hours ago
What is the best gifted Pokémon in every main series game?
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00:00Who doesn't love free stuff?
00:02Gift Pokemon, where you get a Pokemon or egg
00:05pretty much totally for free,
00:07have been present in every mainline game
00:09since the beginning, and today I'll be determining
00:12which gift Pokemon I believe is the best
00:15in every mainline Pokemon game.
00:17We'll start with red and blue,
00:19and Bulbapedia lists the gift Pokemon as the starters,
00:22the $500 Magikarp, the Celadon Eevee,
00:25Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan in the dojo,
00:28Lapras in Silph Co., and the fossils.
00:31However, that's not the list I'm going with.
00:34I have some clarifications to make.
00:36First, I have two important exclusions
00:39that will apply throughout the entire video.
00:42The first is starter Pokemon.
00:44They are technically gifts, but if I include them,
00:47then the best gift Pokemon in every game
00:50is just the best starter Pokemon in every game,
00:53which is a separate concept that I've already covered,
00:57so it'd be lame to just repeat that
00:59and make this a best starters video.
01:01And then the second exclusion is just all fossil Pokemon
01:05because it's a mess.
01:06Sure, some fossils are gifted to you directly,
01:09like the Old Amber, but others,
01:11like the Helix and Dome fossils,
01:13you just find on the ground.
01:15Bulbapedia credits the Reviver Scientist
01:18as the one gifting you the Pokemon,
01:20but are they really gifting you the Pokemon
01:23when you hand them the fossil
01:24and then they just come back with it as a Pokemon?
01:27Like, it was your fossil to begin with.
01:29They're not gifting you a Pokemon,
01:31they're gifting you a service.
01:32Additionally, Bulbapedia's page on gift Pokemon
01:35sometimes includes fossils, but sometimes doesn't,
01:39even in the same region with the same obtainment method.
01:43It lists Anorith and Lileep in Gen 3, but not Gen 6,
01:47and I do not know why.
01:48It's simply too annoying to parse through this
01:51and trying to divide them up based on whether the fossil
01:53is physically handed to you or found in the dirt
01:56would just get too confusing.
01:57So for simplicity's sake, all fossil revived Pokemon
02:01are just excluded from this video.
02:03They might get their own video later, though.
02:05I am also excluding the $500 Magikarp.
02:08It's very clearly a purchase, not a gift,
02:11and I think it's weird that Bulbapedia included that
02:14on the list of gift Pokemon,
02:16but not all of the game corner Pokemon.
02:19Like, all of those are also purchased
02:22with a different currency.
02:23Eevee doesn't have anyone give you the Pokemon directly,
02:26but I'm still including it because you don't pay for it.
02:29In fact, you might actually steal it.
02:32It's just sitting on a table, and then you grab it and go,
02:35but you're not handing over a fossil
02:37or any money or Pokemon of your own,
02:40so I think it's fine.
02:42The guy in the room doesn't stop you,
02:44so I'm counting it as a gift from him or the universe.
02:50But to evaluate the remaining Pokemon,
02:52Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan are respectable options,
02:55but the Fighting type simply is not good in Gen 1.
02:58There's no Dark or Steel type, no Normal Specialist,
03:01and the Rock gym is done,
03:03leaving only Ice that it's strong against.
03:06Fighting is far from useless,
03:08but it really only shines against a few
03:10of Giovanni's Pokemon and then half of Lorelei's team.
03:14The top two contenders are the Eevee and the Lapras.
03:17Lapras is one of, if not the, best water types in the game,
03:22because it's also Ice type.
03:24Well, that, and it also has good stats and good move pool,
03:27unlike the other water Ice type Pokemon.
03:29Ice is scarce and very helpful against Glance,
03:31and Lapras is the only Ice type to get Ice Beam
03:34at a reasonable level, only at 38.
03:37Water also shines well late game,
03:39since the final two gym leaders are Fire and Ground.
03:42And then, of course, Eevee is incredibly versatile.
03:45You can immediately evolve it
03:46into one of three different Pokemon,
03:48depending on your team needs.
03:50Sure, some are better than others.
03:52See my best Eeveelution in every game video.
03:55But it's nice, because even if you chose Charmander
03:57or Squirtle, you can simply turn Eevee
04:00into the type you aren't using.
04:02Both are very useful Pokemon,
04:04but there is a clear winner due to the factor
04:07of not hating your life.
04:09Eevee is obtained at level 25
04:11as soon as you get to Celadon,
04:13which is around the level your team would be upon arrival.
04:16And then you can evolve it immediately
04:17by purchasing a stone at the store.
04:20Meanwhile, Lapras is obtained significantly later,
04:23requiring you to defeat Blue and Silph Co,
04:25and his team is almost to level 40.
04:27But it's not just that Lapras comes later.
04:29It's the fact that you get it at level 15!
04:34What?
04:35Your team is like level 40!
04:37Why is it 25 levels lower?
04:40Training up Lapras becomes a giant chore,
04:43so because of that, Eevee is the clear winner
04:45in red and blue.
04:47But in yellow, things aren't quite the same.
04:50All the red and blue gift Pokemon are present,
04:52but since you start with Pikachu instead,
04:55the original starter trio become offered as gift Pokemon
04:58at different places throughout the game.
05:01Bulbasaur in Cerulean,
05:02Charmander just north of Nugget Bridge,
05:05and Squirtle in Vermilion,
05:07although after getting the Vermilion City badge.
05:09To clarify, when I said I was excluding starter Pokemon,
05:12it's starter Pokemon that you actually
05:15start your journey with.
05:17If that category of Pokemon is obtainable later,
05:19it's fair game,
05:21with one notable exception that I will get to later.
05:24These three are now the earliest gift Pokemon in the game,
05:27which is a massive perk.
05:29The sooner you get Pokemon,
05:31the more use you get out of them.
05:32All three are strong candidates,
05:34but Bulbasaur is far and away the best.
05:37It's already the best Kanto starter,
05:38and it remains that despite missing the Rock Gym.
05:41It still gets to help with Misty,
05:43resisting Lieutenant Surge, and Giovanni down the line.
05:47Plus, I now know about the Toxic Leech Seed
05:49damage stacking strategy,
05:51and Venusaur gets both of those moves.
05:53Bulbasaur is the best yellow gift Pokemon by a mile.
05:57Next is Gold and Silver,
05:59and the gift Pokemon are the Togepi from the Mystery Egg,
06:02Kenya the Spearow, the Eevee from Bill,
06:04Shucky the Shuckle, and the Tyrogue from the Karate King.
06:08Tyrogue is instantly out.
06:10It requires Waterfall to find the Karate King,
06:13which you cannot use until you have eight badges,
06:15and the Tyrogue is only level 10.
06:18I hate when they do that.
06:19I know why they did that,
06:20because it evolves at 20,
06:21but why not just make the Tyrogue available sooner?
06:23Shuckle is generally a pretty underwhelming Pokemon
06:26without using insane gimmicky strategies.
06:28I know, you don't effle with Shuckle,
06:31but most of the time it's not that great.
06:35And since this is Gen 2,
06:36Togepi is not Fairy type and cannot become Togekiss.
06:40In other words, it stinks butt cheeks.
06:43Togetic's base stat total is only 405,
06:46which means it's only as strong as a middle stage starter,
06:50and it requires a friendship evolution.
06:52So it's down to Eevee versus Kenya the Spearow.
06:55Bill gives you Eevee and Goldenrod
06:56after meeting him in Ecruteak,
06:58while Kenya can be given to you a bit sooner,
07:00as soon as you get to Goldenrod.
07:02Now at first glance, this may seem an easy choice.
07:05Eevee can turn into five different powerful Pokemon,
07:08while Fearow is just an underpowered bird.
07:11Wrong!
07:13First, I want you to watch this clip
07:14from my best Eeveelutions in every game video.
07:16First off, Espeon and Umbreon are friendship evolutions,
07:20which have always been annoying,
07:21but they're even more annoying in Gen 2 with no Soothe Bell.
07:24Plus, if you level up too far,
07:26you can miss out on moves you can't get back
07:29because there's no move reminder either.
07:31But it's actually the original trio
07:33that are in dire straits.
07:35In Gold and Silver,
07:36the only way you can get a Water, Fire, and Thunder Stone
07:39is from Bill's grandpa in the Sea Cottage,
07:43which is in Kanto!
07:44It is impossible to use Vaporeon, Flareon, or Jolteon
07:48on a pre-league team without trading,
07:52which is unhinged.
07:53Like, why would you lock Regional Dex Pokemon
07:57to after the league?
07:58So, Eevee is worse than it appears,
08:01while Kenya is better.
08:04Fearow gets Drill Peck,
08:05which in Gens 1 through 3 was stronger than Fly.
08:09Plus, Kenya has a different OT than yours,
08:11uncommon for gift Pokemon,
08:13and thus gets boosted experience,
08:15which is wildly helpful.
08:17Really, the only downside to Kenya
08:19is that you have to commit a crime.
08:22The guard intends for you to drop it off
08:25with a friend on the other side of the region,
08:26so it's supposed to be a temporary gift.
08:30But there are no consequences for not delivering Kenya.
08:34So if you're comfortable committing Grand Theft Spearow,
08:37then Kenya the Fearow
08:39is absolutely the best gift Pokemon in Gold and Silver.
08:43Ha-ha, it is I, guaranteed, boy!
08:45And since Valentine's Day is coming up soon,
08:48I've been thinking about love languages.
08:51And I'm curious, what are your top ones?
08:54So I actually heard that there's no scientific evidence
08:56to support-
08:57Oh my God, have a little fun!
08:59Okay, sorry.
09:00Physical touch and acts of service, I guess.
09:03Interesting.
09:04You see, mine is sound.
09:07Do you mean words of affirmation?
09:09No, sound.
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09:51What?
09:52What do you mean, safe hair?
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10:07I'd get you something with the discount,
10:08but you didn't say your love language was GIFs.
10:12Again, there's no evidence to support love languages.
10:15We all appreciate all forms of-
10:17Ugh, boring!
10:19Ta-ta!
10:20Crystal adds three significant changes.
10:22The first is that the Eevee Stones can be obtained earlier,
10:25and thus give you a true chance
10:27to use the Kanto-Eeveelution trio.
10:29If you're willing to deal with the annoyance
10:32of waiting for random trainers
10:34to call you on the phone to give you one.
10:36The second is that you can now get a Dratini as a gift
10:39in the Dragon's Den,
10:40but that's not taking the winning spot
10:42since it's after eight badges and only level 15.
10:46But the third and biggest change
10:48is the introduction of the Odd Egg.
10:52Once you get to the daycare,
10:53at least in the Western releases,
10:55the daycare man gives you this egg
10:57that can hatch one of seven different Pokemon,
10:59all of which will know Dizzy Punch
11:02and have a dramatically increased chance of being shiny.
11:05Most of these are uninteresting to me, honestly,
11:08but Smoochum stands out to me a lot.
11:11Jynx has a special attack stat of 115,
11:14which pairs really well with its Ice and Psychic typing,
11:17which are always special moves in this gen.
11:20This type combo is also just insane in this game.
11:24Lots of Poison types, the Fighting Gym,
11:26Claire's Dragon types, and then in the League,
11:29oh my God, the League.
11:3119 League Pokemon are weak to Ice or Psychic or both,
11:37and there's only 26 total.
11:39That's almost three quarters of the League
11:42that just a Jynx could handle.
11:45Now, I do have to admit,
11:46there are some downsides to Smoochum.
11:49First, you'll have to reset
11:50until you actually hatch a Smoochum,
11:52not one of the other Pokemon,
11:53and that could take several tries
11:55and might force a reset of a shiny.
11:57Then you'll be stuck with Smoochum's terrible stats
11:59until level 30 or 37
12:02if you want Psychic over Confusion before post-game.
12:05Because stupidly, Smoochum gets it at level 37,
12:08but Jynx doesn't get it at all?
12:10Early game movesets, man, don't make much sense.
12:12You'll also have to buy the Ice Punch TM
12:14for a decent Ice move,
12:15although that's not really a big deal.
12:17All of that stuff kind of hurts Smoochum's stock a bit,
12:20but not enough for it to lose the crown.
12:23The Odd Egg Smoochum is the best gift Pokemon in Crystal,
12:26and you might get a shiny one too, which is pretty cool.
12:29Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald
12:30have dramatically less impressive gift Pokemon options.
12:34In fact, before the League,
12:35which is the only period of time
12:36that I'm considering gift Pokemon,
12:39there's only two,
12:40the Why Not Egg in Lava Ridge
12:42and Castform from the Weather Institute.
12:44Why Not stinks.
12:46Wobbuffet is a full gimmick Pokemon
12:48with only niche usefulness,
12:50and you'd have to raise it from only level five
12:52since eggs hatched at level five before Gen 4,
12:55which means Castform actually won something!
12:58Ha ha ha ha!
13:00I don't care if I had to exclude fossils to do it!
13:02My boy actually won something!
13:06Somehow!
13:07Also, for the record, Castform isn't great,
13:10but it's not complete trash.
13:13If you set it up with a specific weather and weather ball,
13:15like Hail against Wynonna or Rain against Tate and Liza,
13:19it can be somewhat helpful.
13:20I wouldn't call it good,
13:22but it's better than a Why Not or Wobbuffet,
13:25which can only deal damage if it takes damage itself.
13:28FireRed and LeafGreen have the same offerings
13:30as the Gen 1 games,
13:31but Lapras is leveled up to 25,
13:34still behind where your team is gonna be,
13:36but not as drastically.
13:38This does make the call between Eevee and Lapras
13:40quite a bit tougher.
13:41Eevee gives you more options sooner,
13:44but Lapras's early Ice Beam at level 31 is extremely good.
13:49Both are very solid,
13:50but since Lapras still needs you
13:52to spend time training it up
13:54to catch it up to the rest of your team,
13:56I'm still gonna give Eevee the win here.
13:58Diamond and Pearl only have two pre-league gift Pokemon.
14:02Okay, technically the Hearthome City Eevee
14:04could happen before the league
14:06if you get the National Pokedex before the league,
14:08but no one's gonna do that.
14:09It's an insane chore,
14:11and it'd be the worst gift Pokemon anyway
14:13because you couldn't get it
14:14until you had done just an outrageous amount of nonsense.
14:17Annoyingly, the other two gift Pokemon come from eggs.
14:20The Happiny in Hearthome and the Riolu from Iron Island.
14:24Happiny can be evolved quickly
14:25since you get the Oval Stone in the Lost Tower
14:27on the next route,
14:28so you can have Chansey early
14:30and begin the process of increasing its friendship
14:32for evolution at a low level and before your third badge.
14:36It's easier to increase the friendship
14:37of lower level Pokemon
14:38because you get a certain amount of friendship
14:40each level up,
14:41and of course you have more level ups faster
14:44when the Pokemon is lower level.
14:45The biggest issue here though
14:47is that Chansey and Blissey
14:48really just full support Pokemon,
14:51which in my experience,
14:52tend not to be as useful in playthroughs
14:54as they are in competitive battles.
14:56For example, Chansey is somewhat infamous for toxic stalling,
15:00but like, that doesn't work as well
15:03when you're fighting trainers
15:04that'll just use a full restore.
15:06Lucario is a significantly better Pokemon.
15:09Fighting in Steel is a great stab combo
15:11for later in the game,
15:12combating Byron, Candice,
15:14and several other Pokemon
15:15scattered across other late game trainers.
15:18It has a lot of options for good fighting stab,
15:20and you can teach it Flash Cannon thanks to Byron's TM.
15:23However, you have to deal with the massive annoyance
15:26of raising it up from level one
15:28when your team is in like the late 40s.
15:31At least your team at the Happiny is only in the 20s.
15:34I mean, I guess that could help
15:35the friendship evolution happen faster
15:37because you toss in the Soothe Bell
15:38and level it up from one to like 20 relatively quickly,
15:41but like, still, it's annoying.
15:42So Blissey's easier to get.
15:44Lucario is much better.
15:47And I think I'm gonna give it to Lucario here.
15:49They're both quite a bit of work,
15:51but Lucario's late game usefulness,
15:53I'd say, dramatically outweighs having Blissey earlier.
15:57Platinum dramatically changes the offerings though.
16:00Happiny is gone,
16:01and Cynthia now gives you a Togepi egg in Eterna.
16:04The Eevee is no longer locked to the post game,
16:07and you can get a Porygon in Veilstone.
16:10All of these are solid Pokemon, and I should know.
16:13I beat the game without catching any Pokemon,
16:15which means using a starter Pokemon,
16:17and then like a bunch of gift Pokemon.
16:19I used all these Pokemon.
16:20But I have to say, Eevee is just too good to beat.
16:24With all the options it gives you,
16:25all of which are almost immediately accessible,
16:28except Glaceon, poor Glaceon,
16:30the Eevee can be useful to you
16:32regardless of what your team is prior to that point.
16:35Sure, Togepi is earlier, and Togekiss is awesome,
16:38but you can't get the Shiny Stone until Iron Island,
16:40and it's not as crazy good without the Fairy type.
16:43Purrgold and SoulSilver have many
16:45of the same gift Pokemon as their predecessors.
16:47The Togepi egg, Kenya the Spearow, Eevee from Bill,
16:50Shucky the Shuckle, Dratini from the Dragon's Den,
16:53and Tyrogue from the Karate King.
16:55There is no odd egg anymore,
16:57but there are some new pre-league offerings.
16:59One of them is really unique and interesting,
17:02but not practical.
17:04In the Cienwood City Pokemon Center,
17:06an NPC will give you a Tentacool
17:08if you have only one Pokemon in your party,
17:11and Zero in your boxes.
17:14It's a creative way to prevent soft-locking you
17:16on the island.
17:17If you have no Pokemon that can learn Surf,
17:20you can always get another one that can
17:22so you can get back to the mainland.
17:25It's fascinating,
17:26but not an accessible Pokemon for most people.
17:30Then in the Violet City Pokemon Center,
17:32this random guy Primo will give you a Mareep egg,
17:35a Wooper egg, and a Slugma egg
17:37by inputting the correct password,
17:39which you can only know by putting your save file's
17:41specific info into an online calculator,
17:44because it's different depending on your trainer ID
17:47or something like that.
17:48I used all three of these Pokemon
17:50in my no-catching playthrough of HeartGold,
17:52but alas, none of them are the best.
17:54Quagsire and Macargo frankly aren't that good,
17:57and while Ampharos is great,
17:59you can catch a higher-level Mareep just down the road.
18:02So since the Primo eggs are pretty underwhelming
18:04and there's no odd egg,
18:06the crown returns to my goat,
18:08the bird-napped Spearow, Kenya.
18:10Black and White's Bulbapedia list of gift Pokemon
18:13is deceptively long.
18:15There's the three monkeys, but you only get one,
18:18the one that's weak to your starter.
18:20Zorua is only a gift Pokemon if you have an Event Celebi,
18:23so that's disqualified.
18:25I'm not considering the fossils.
18:27And then there's the Larvesta egg,
18:29which is absolute trash.
18:31Look, I love Volcarona.
18:33I don't love raising a level one Pokemon
18:37all the way up to level 59.
18:4059 just to have a fully-evolved Pokemon.
18:45I'm not gonna do it.
18:46That's unhinged.
18:48Black and White were on some kind of nonsense
18:51with some of those level-up evolution levels.
18:53No thank you.
18:54This means the monkeys are all that's left,
18:56so the crown by default goes to whichever one you get.
18:59It's immediately helpful against the first gym,
19:01that's the whole point of the gift,
19:04but they also have usefulness later.
19:05I will say I think Pansear
19:07probably performs the best of the three,
19:09with its Fire type helping against the Bug and Ice gyms,
19:12while the other two really just help against the Ground gym,
19:14although the Fire monkey is good for the same reasons
19:17that Tepig is the best starter in Unova,
19:19and if you pick Tepig, then you'd get Pansage.
19:22But no matter which one you get,
19:24they're all the best gift Pokemon.
19:25The others are terrible,
19:26and they're gonna help you with the first gym right away.
19:29Black 2 and White 2 also have a deceptively long list.
19:32All of the Pokemon on this very long list
19:35are actually post-game, except the starters,
19:38N's Zorua from Rude,
19:39and the hidden ability Deerling
19:41from the Season Research Lab.
19:43Both Zorua and Deerling are obtained around the same time,
19:46and each have something unique about them.
19:48Zorua's OT is N,
19:49which means it gains boosted experience,
19:51while Deerling has its hidden ability Serene Grace,
19:55which boosts the chance for move secondary effects
19:57to activate.
19:58Sawsbuck's Grass typing is more useful sooner,
20:01being immediately helpful in the ground gym
20:03than the water gym later.
20:04Zorua's Dark typing comes into play in the League
20:07against Chantal and Caitlyn.
20:09Because of Sawsbuck's earlier usefulness,
20:12this may appear like an easy win for Deerling,
20:15but it's not as good as it seems.
20:18The first issue is that it doesn't evolve until level 34,
20:22noticeably above Clay's level.
20:24It also doesn't get a damaging Grass move
20:26until Energy Ball at 32,
20:28which uses Sawsbuck's inferior special attack.
20:31But most unfortunate for Deerling
20:33is that its hidden ability is actually worse
20:36than its regular ones.
20:38In all of Sawsbuck's entire level up move set,
20:42the only moves that have secondary effects
20:44that Serene Grace could boost are Energy Ball,
20:47which as already mentioned,
20:48uses its inferior special attack,
20:51and whatever move Nature Power decides to summon,
20:54which is of course inconsistent.
20:55Then the only other move it learns
20:57that Serene Grace helps is Bounce from a move tutor.
21:01If you wanna use Sawsbuck on your team,
21:03you're actually better off just catching a Sapsipper one
21:07in the grass right outside the Research Lab's door.
21:10Therefore, Zorua is the best gift Pokemon
21:13in Black 2 and White 2,
21:15especially because it's also the only way
21:17to get a Zorua in the game.
21:19Next are X and Y.
21:21And this is where I have to clarify that thing
21:23that I mentioned earlier.
21:25The second starter choice
21:27also does not count for this video.
21:29In case you don't remember
21:30when you reach Sycamore's Lab in Lumiose,
21:32he lets you pick one of the Kanto starters
21:34that you can eventually Mega Evolve.
21:36It didn't feel in the spirit of the video to include them
21:39because in my other best starter videos,
21:41I've discussed the best pair of starters to pick in X and Y.
21:45So without that choice and the fossils,
21:47that leaves the Lucario from Karina
21:48and the Lapras from the Breeder east of Shalor City.
21:51Both are great Pokemon and it was a tough call.
21:53I'm just kidding.
21:55It's obviously the Mega Lucario.
21:57625 base stat total, over 140 in both attack stats.
22:01And then it has Adaptability,
22:03which boosts its stab power from 1.5 times to two times.
22:09This is a fully broken Pokemon
22:11that can steamroll the rest of the game single-handedly.
22:16This is the best gift Pokemon, period.
22:19And the fact you get it in a game
22:21where almost no other trainers even use Megas is ridiculous.
22:27Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
22:29have the same gift Pokemon as the originals,
22:31but with many more.
22:33Most come after the League though.
22:35And the only new one before the League is Cosplay Pikachu,
22:39given at level 20 after completing any contest.
22:42This is interesting because each costume
22:44comes with a very unique signature move,
22:47but the Pikachu can't evolve.
22:49And it doesn't have boosted stats
22:51like the starter Pikachu in Let's Go Pikachu.
22:54Therefore, it's stuck as a 320 base stat total
22:57regular Pikachu with a fancy move.
23:00Maybe I'd consider it if you fought the water
23:02or flying gyms like immediately, but you don't.
23:05They come a lot later,
23:06and therefore the Pikachu stinks for battling.
23:10Good for contests, but I care about the battling.
23:13Therefore, the crown stays with Castform,
23:16which is pretty dope and honestly fair.
23:19I've actually beat all of Alpha Sapphire
23:21with just a Castform.
23:23Sun and Moon's options are sparse.
23:25Without the fossil Pokemon,
23:27the only pre-League options are the Eevee egg
23:29from the Rancher at Paniola Ranch,
23:31and the Aerodactyl from the Ace Trainer in Seafolk Village.
23:35Yes, Aerodactyl is a fossil Pokemon,
23:37but I'm not excluding fossil Pokemon,
23:38I'm excluding fossils that require revival.
23:42And she doesn't give you an old Amber,
23:44she just gives you an Aerodactyl, so it counts.
23:47Both of these gift Pokemon are sadly underwhelming though.
23:50Eevee has the problem of being redundant.
23:53You can find Wild Eevee on Route 4
23:55before Paniola Town at a higher level.
23:59The gift Eevee could be better
24:00if it had its hidden ability maybe,
24:02but it doesn't have anything special about it.
24:05It's just a regular Eevee.
24:07Then Aerodactyl's issue is that it's late.
24:10You can't get it until you arrive at Seafolk Village
24:12when your team is in the early 40s.
24:15Thus its Rock and Flying type
24:16have already missed out on many of the battles
24:18they'd be most helpful with.
24:19Hala, Totem Salazzle, and Totem Lurantis.
24:22It can still come into play
24:23for some of the later battles though,
24:25such as the Totem Kamao plus Kahili and Hala in the League.
24:28Better late than useless though.
24:30Since there's no reason to train up the Hatched Eevee
24:33when you can get a better one in the wild,
24:35Aerodactyl is the best gift Pokemon in Sun and Moon.
24:38But while Sun and Moon had scant options,
24:41Ultra Sun and Moon go absolutely nuts.
24:44They still have the Eevee and Aerodactyl,
24:46but they also add a Surf-Knowing Pikachu
24:48if you get the high score on all four Surf courses,
24:50and a Poipole after beating Ultra Necrozma.
24:53Neither of these are the best though
24:54since they show up very late.
24:56However, they also added a litany
24:59of extra big Totem Pokemon.
25:02You get them by collecting Totem stickers
25:04as you progress through your journey,
25:05then talking to Samson Oak on Hee Hee Beach.
25:08There are 11 total,
25:09but you can only get six in one playthrough,
25:11since all but Mimikyu are version exclusive.
25:14In Ultra Sun, you get Gumshoos,
25:16Alolan Marowak, Lurantis, Vikavolt, Mimikyu, and Ribombee.
25:20But Ribombee is sadly only possible post-game
25:22due to needing all 100 stickers,
25:24one of which is at the Battle Tree.
25:26In Ultra Moon, it's Alolan Raticate, Araquanid,
25:29Salazzle, Togedemaru, Mimikyu, and Kamo-o,
25:33which is like Ribombee, only post-game.
25:35The Totem stickers are not story-based,
25:37but thankfully, I know around in the story
25:40when you'd get them if you're good
25:41about getting the stickers,
25:42because I did a playthrough of Ultra Moon
25:44without catching any Pokemon.
25:46Because of that, and also Ultra Sun playthroughs,
25:49I have experience with some of these Totem Pokemon,
25:51so I am very confident in which ones are the best.
25:54In Ultra Sun, it's definitely the Totem Marowak.
25:57Marowak has generally underwhelming stats,
26:00but if you get it a thick club item,
26:02annoying but very doable,
26:04you'll double its attack stat, making it brutally powerful.
26:08If you're good about getting the stickers,
26:09you'll get it right before the Grass Trial.
26:12Perfect timing.
26:13Its Fire-Ghost combo is then helpful
26:15against the Totem Togedemaru, Totem Mimikyu,
26:18Guzma's countless bugs, and the Totem Ribombee,
26:22all before the Pokemon League,
26:23where it goes on to help with half of the Elite Four.
26:26Additionally, this Totem Alolan Marowak
26:29is better than any other Alolan Marowak for two reasons.
26:34First, preposterously, Marowak gets Shadow Bone
26:38at level 27 in Gen 7.
26:40The Totem one is gifted at level 25,
26:42so it learns it shortly after,
26:44but normal Cubone evolve at level 28,
26:48missing the only physical Ghost move it learns at all.
26:52And the move reminder isn't until the League.
26:55This is horrible game design.
26:58They remedied it in Gen 8
26:59because they made it so Shadow Bone was an Evo move,
27:02which the Pokemon learns it as soon as they evolve,
27:06but they could have done that in Gen 7.
27:08That's when evolution moves were introduced.
27:11Or just make it learn Shadow Bone at level 29.
27:1524.
27:19Because of this outrageous oversight,
27:22the only reasonable way to use an Alolan Marowak
27:26on your team in Gen 7
27:28is to use the Totem Alolan Marowak in Ultra Sun.
27:32Additionally, the Totem Marowak has its hidden ability,
27:35Rock Head, which prevents recoil damage.
27:38This is useless for a while,
27:40but then at level 53,
27:41it learns the game-changing move Flare Blitz,
27:45120 power stab move with attack doubled by Thick Club
27:49and no recoil damage drawback.
27:53It hits like a hundred trucks.
27:55Then in Ultra Moon, the other fire type is also my pick,
27:58the Totem Salazzle.
28:00You get it only slightly after Marowak,
28:02around arrival to Ula'ula Island,
28:04but that's fine since it's not great for Olivia anyways.
28:07High speed and special attack, good special move pool,
28:10and toxic poisoning Totem Pokemon,
28:12even steel ones thanks to corrosion,
28:15can be a great strategy
28:17since they don't have seemingly endless ways
28:18to heal themselves like some trainers do.
28:21It doesn't have quite as many favorable matchups
28:23as Marowak does, but its poisoning abilities and speed
28:26I think balance that out.
28:27Besides, you can't pick one over the other.
28:30They're in different games.
28:31Now, of course, both of these fire types
28:33overlap with Incineroar,
28:34and then Marowak's ghost type overlaps with Decidueye,
28:38but like, Primarina's the best starter in Alola,
28:40so just pick that.
28:42Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee
28:43have mostly the same offerings as Yellow,
28:45but with some changes.
28:46First, the Celadon Eevee is gone
28:48since it's now a starter in one of the versions.
28:51Next is that the trio of Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle
28:54are dramatically less valued now.
28:57All three can be caught in the wild
28:59before they're accessible as gifts.
29:01Lapras is also leveled up again,
29:03now finally at level 34,
29:05only slightly lower than where your team would be.
29:07But like the starters, you can now find it in the wild
29:10at an even higher level.
29:12Porygon is also a new gift Pokemon in Silph Co.,
29:15but once again, can be found in the wild before this.
29:19Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan are not devalued though,
29:21since while they're now found in the wild too,
29:24it's not until Victory Road.
29:26Unfortunately, fighting still kind of sucks in Kanto.
29:29Like, yeah, Dark and Steel exist now,
29:31but the only Dark types are the in-game Trade Alola forms,
29:34and then the only Steel types are Magnemite and Magneton.
29:37And also their fairies are a thing?
29:40Oh no.
29:41The newest and most interesting gift Pokemon
29:43are Persian in Let's Go Pikachu,
29:45and Arcanine in Let's Go Eevee.
29:47Growlithe and Meowth are version exclusives,
29:50and in Vermilion City, if you show a specific character
29:52five of the base form found in your version,
29:55they'll give you the evolution of the Pokemon in the other.
29:59This is cool because both can be ridden immediately,
30:02allowing you to speed around the region sooner
30:04than you may have been able to otherwise.
30:06But if you want to use them as anything more
30:08than just bike replacements,
30:12they've got some problems.
30:13Persian is simply just not a stellar Pokemon in general.
30:17Really good in Gen 1 when crits were tied to speed.
30:21That's not a thing anymore.
30:23And then Arcanine, while very powerful,
30:26has a terrible moveset because it's a stone evolution,
30:29and so it misses out on crucial level-up moves
30:31that only Growlithe gets, such as Flare Blitz or Crunch.
30:36TMs can help, but this will be an inferior Arcanine.
30:40I mean, it allows you to have an Arcanine at all
30:43in Let's Go Eevee, but like, still.
30:45When discussing the other games so far,
30:47I've tried to balance usefulness with uniqueness.
30:51So even if a Pokemon's really useful,
30:54it has its value decreased
30:56if it's found elsewhere better sooner.
30:59But here I have to choose a useful Pokemon
31:03that's not unique, like Bulbasaur or Lapras,
31:06or a unique Pokemon that's not useful,
31:09like Persian or Arcanine.
31:11It was a tough call, but I decided
31:13that the best one overall is Lapras.
31:16Persian and Arcanine are simply better used
31:18as Dex filler bikes than team members.
31:20A wild Bulbasaur can be caught sooner
31:22than the gift Pokemon, and thus used against Brock.
31:25And while Lapras can be found elsewhere,
31:27it's actually quite challenging to catch.
31:30Simply taking the gift one can save a lot of headache.
31:32And then you have a strong water type
31:34to finish the game with, then use its ice powers
31:36against Lance and Trace's Mega Pidgeot.
31:39And now we've reached generation eight,
31:41beginning the era of DLC.
31:43From here on out, when discussing a game
31:45that does have DLC, I will give one answer
31:48assuming you do not have the DLC,
31:50and one answer assuming that you do.
31:53However, all gift Pokemon still have to be obtainable
31:56before you've beaten the league.
31:58In Sword and Shield, I actually don't have much
32:00of a choice in the base game.
32:02Ignoring fossils, starters, and post-game Pokemon,
32:05the only gift Pokemon left are the Toxel Egg,
32:08plus Gigantamax Pikachu and Eevee,
32:10which require save data of Let's Go on your Switch to get.
32:13That's like, kinda DLC, kinda event.
32:17I really don't think that should count.
32:19But even if they did, like, they don't evolve.
32:23Not great.
32:24Plus Toxel is just simply better.
32:26It's annoying to train up to Toxtricity,
32:28but once you have one, it's a fun Pokemon to use.
32:31I actually used one in my first Sword playthrough.
32:34But then if you have the DLC,
32:36you get some insanely good gift Pokemon,
32:41and a lot of them.
32:42We're ignoring the Crown Tundra gifts
32:44because they come too late.
32:45The levels are not scaled down
32:47if you have not beaten the game,
32:48or completed the Darkest Day,
32:50which is basically beating the game.
32:51Events in the Isle of Armor do scale down, though,
32:54and it features a ton of gift Pokemon,
32:57mostly Alola Pokemon from finding Diglett,
33:00but also a Porygon.
33:01But none compare to ones you get earlier than that
33:05simply by progressing the quest.
33:08First, very early, you can choose a Bulbasaur or Squirtle,
33:11both with the Gigantamax factor.
33:14The Kanto Starter's G-Max moves are insanely good.
33:17According to Wolfie, utterly broken in doubles.
33:19So one of these two is the clear winner,
33:22or they would be if you didn't get Cubfoo.
33:27It's not that much later in the quest,
33:29and then it's worked to get it evolved
33:30with having to travel around, increase its friendship,
33:33and then you have to be able to win the battles
33:34in the Tower of Your Choice.
33:36But those battles can be won around level 30,
33:40which means you can have an Urshifu
33:43with a base stat total of 550,
33:46and a signature move that always crits preposterously early.
33:50Remember how I said the Gigantamax Starters were broken?
33:53Urshifu has broken all of competitive Pokemon.
33:59It ignores Protect.
34:00Cubfoo is easily the best gift Pokemon in Sword and Shield,
34:04regardless of the Urshifu form that you choose.
34:06I'd spend more time discussing which form is better,
34:09but just the fact that it's a fighting type
34:11is amazing against the final three gyms.
34:13This thing, if not for Megalucario,
34:16would be the best gift Pokemon in this video.
34:18Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
34:20have the same gift Pokemon as Diamond and Pearl,
34:22plus two mythical, yes, mythical,
34:25Pokemon available stupid early.
34:27And Floaroma Town, you can get Mew
34:29if you have Let's Go save data,
34:31and Jirachi if you have Sword or Shield save data.
34:34These are obviously the best gift Pokemon,
34:36Jirachi I think a bit better, thanks to its Steel type,
34:39but they do require other games to be obtainable.
34:42I think it's best to exclude them
34:44because you need something other than
34:46just the game you're playing to get them,
34:48so they're not gonna count.
34:50Instead, my answer is just the same as Diamond and Pearl,
34:53Riolu from Iron Island.
34:54Legends Arceus, ah, coos,
34:56only has two non-starter gift Pokemon,
34:59an Alolan Vulpix for completing a request,
35:01and then Arceus, which I guess is a gift from itself?
35:06Like, you best it in hand-to-hand combat somehow,
35:12and then he's like, take a piece of me,
35:14and I'm like, what, like a leg?
35:16Vulpix obviously wins though,
35:18like, you only get the Arceus
35:19when the game is literally over.
35:21Finally, Scarlet and Violet,
35:23but there are almost no gift Pokemon without the DLC.
35:27One of them is a level five Galarian Meowth,
35:29which you can get by completing Salvatore's friendship quest,
35:32but then the only other ones Bulbapedia considers
35:35are Coridon and Maridon,
35:38but not technically obtained
35:39until defeating the Paradise Protection Protocol.
35:42Galarian Meowth's the easy win here.
35:44I think it's debatable about whether Coridon and Maridon
35:46should count as gift Pokemon,
35:47but like, even if you do,
35:49it's literally, you've beaten the game,
35:52and like, that is my threshold,
35:53so like, they're too late.
35:54Besides, I think Berserker,
35:56like, there's some good builds for it for like tarot raids,
35:59so that could be cool.
36:00But if we factor in the DLC,
36:02the Indigo Disc doesn't add any new gifts,
36:04but the Teal Mask adds three,
36:07an egg from Jacques with a random Sinnoh starter,
36:10a Hisuian Growlithe
36:11after completing the Blood Moon Beast storyline,
36:14and a Shiny Munchlax for clearing the Ogre Oustin
36:16on hard difficulty.
36:18Growlithe comes too late,
36:19since Blood Moon Ursaluna is level 70
36:22and does not scale down.
36:24The Munchlax isn't great either,
36:25since being shiny is cool,
36:27but accessing Ogre Oustin,
36:29then somehow beating hard difficulty
36:31sounds frankly nightmarish.
36:33The starter egg is easily the best.
36:35You can get it as soon as you get to Kitakami, basically.
36:39Low effort, free, and a bonus starter.
36:42All three are great,
36:43but if you want to reset for a specific one,
36:45the best is definitely Infernape.
36:48In my video, Best Starter Pokemon,
36:50if every game had all of them,
36:52I named Infernape as the best starter in Paldea.
36:55Fire Fighting as a type combo
36:56matches up so well against so much of the early game,
36:59and you can get this egg
37:00before taking on any story battles,
37:03since the only requirement to go to Kitakami
37:05is beginning the treasure hunt quest.
37:07And that's all the best gift Pokemon.
37:09Thanks so much for watching,
37:10and if that video intrigued you
37:12and you want to know the other best starter to pick
37:14if every region had all of them,
37:16I've put that video up on the screen here.