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My Pokémon Dream Team

Attention all Pokémon masters, today I’m going to share the six Pokémon that would make up my absolute perfect, unstoppable dream team. Before I begin, however, I need to give you a few disclaimers:

  1. I’m going to draft and discuss my dream team from the standpoint of playing the Pokémon gameboy games, and not anything really related to the show or cards.
  2. I’ll only be referring to the original 150 Pokémon that can be found in the first generation of Pokémon games (Red/Blue/Yellow), and not any of the other bajillion that came after.

Now with that said, let’s get into the fundamentals of what makes up a dream team.

Stats

Obviously rule #1 for creating a perfect team is to have Pokémon that have good battle stats; what I mean here is high attack, defense, special attack, special defense, and speed. To break that down, here’s a brief description of each major stat:

  • Attack - How much damage you do with physical attacks (tackle, body slam, rock throw, gust, etc.)
  • Defense - How much damage you can mitigate from physical attacks
  • Special Attack - How much damage you do with non-physical attacks (ember, water gun, razor leaf, psychic, etc.)
  • Special Defense - How much damage you can mitigate from non-physical attacks
  • Speed - Determines who attacks first on each turn (you’d be surprised at how important this one is)

Obviously no one Pokémon will be the best at all of these, but you have to know what type of Pokémon are best at what stats, and then try to use that to your advantage. For instance, Alakazam (psychic type) has a very high special attack and speed, so that makes it good at 1 hit KOs right off the bat; but if it gets hit even once by a formidable opponent, that’s going to do some major damage. Golem (rock/ground type), on the other hand, has low speed but an incredible defense, so even though it won’t usually go first on a turn, it can handle quite a beating to where it’s okay for it to attack second. You don’t necessarily have to have a team full of Pokémon that maximize each stat, but just make sure that your play style takes advantage of your Pokémon’s best statistics.

Types

There are many types of Pokémon in the first generation (15 to be exact), and you absolutely need to have a team that is diversified among these types. Yeah, sure, you could have a team full of fire Pokémon and maybe do okay in the game, that is, until you fight a Blastoise (water type); that Blastoise will put your fire out in no time, and you’ll be left crying on the sidewalk next to the Pokémon center. Each type of Pokémon has its own strengths and weaknesses towards certain types (except for normal types, which are not super-effective against anything), and you need to pick and choose a team that is able to somehow take the advantage against each type of Pokémon. For example, having a team consisting of a water, fire, grass, flying, rock, and psychic type Pokémon is a rock-solid team right there. Even though those individual types have their own weaknesses, your team is practically guaranteed to have at least one Pokémon be super-effective towards anything that your opponent can throw at you.

Trainer Experience

Yes, I’m sorry to say that even you as the trainer have to put in some mental effort to make sure you become the ultimate Pokémon master; you can’t rely only on your Pokémon. What I mean here is that you can have a super-charged team all day long (e.g. Charizard, Blastoise, Venasaur, Zapdos, Dragonite, and maybe even a Mewtwo), but if you’re not aware of what your opponent’s Pokémon types are or what their general stat breakdowns are (e.g. high attack, low speed), then you might be in for a tougher time than you think. Most NPC (non-player character) trainers don’t seem to be too smart in this area either, so you can usually slide by them without knowing too much about this, but gym leaders will take you down if you’re not careful. Even if you manage to make it past the gym leaders, don’t even think about battling the Elite Four until you become well versed in the general Pokémon knowledge discussed above.

Dream Team

Now that we’ve got the fundamentals out of the way, we can step into what I would consider to be my perfect dream team. Some stats that I particularly value are Attack (both Attack and Special Attack) and Speed. My personal play-style is to try to do as much super-effective damage as fast as I can, with a goal to never let my opponent even get a chance to strike. So, here goes:

Charizard (Fire/Flying)

Fire Pokémon are pretty uncommon to come across in your travels, so I typically opt to get the fire Pokémon choice right off the bat. Fire Pokemon can rip grass, bug, and ice types to shreds, and Charizard has got a high speed and special attack to typically make this happen in just one hit. Plus, its secondary flying type allows Charizard to learn the necessary HM 02 (Fly), as well as protects it from those pesky ground-type moves.

Lapras (Water/Ice)

I typically like to choose Pokémon to raise that have at least one evolution, but I make an exception with Lapras. This Pokémon is such a beast with its high HP, high defense, and high special attack, it’s hard to deny the pure power of this ice and water machine. Because surfing is practically essential once you hit mid-game, you need to have a water Pokémon on you at all times; plus, they’re a staple type that is good against fire, rock, and ground, and Lapras’ ice-type help make it also strong against grass, ground (again), and dragon (one of the two types that are super-effective here).

Gengar (Ghost/Poison)

Ghost Pokémon are the only type in the game that are completely resistant to two Pokémon types (normal and fighting), and Gengar might as well be the king of ghost types. Gengar has sick special attack and speed stats, and although it’s not a psychic type, it can still learn psychic moves which are extremely powerful against fighting and poison type Pokémon. My favorite thing about Gengar is that it is one of the only Pokémon that can learn the Hypnosis/Dream Eater combo; dream eater is the most powerful psychic move, and if that’s not awesome enough, it also replenishes Gengar’s own health in the process (the only caveat is that the opposing Pokémon has to be asleep!). On top of all this, Gengar can still obviously learn ghost type moves which are effective against ghost and psychic types.

Machamp (Fighting)

Machamp is a fighting machine; it has an incredibly high attack power and HP combined with a decent enough speed to usually attack first. Fighting moves work very well against ice, rock, and normal types (which are very common), and Machamp gets a 1.5x damage boost for all fighting moves since that’s the type of Pokémon it is. Machamp can also learn most ground and rock type moves, which are both physical attacks and thus can make good use of Machamp’s high attack stat.

Raichu (Electric)

I know what you’re thinking: what about Pikachu? No true Pokémon trainer is complete without Ash Ketchum’s favorite! I know, I know, but in the games, Pikachu just doesn’t make the cut; however, its evolution, Raichu, all-be-it a chubby mouse, is crazy fast and has an intense special attack stat with which it can throttle opponents. Raichu’s specialty is obviously electric-type moves, and similar to Machamp, it gets a 1.5x damage boost for all moves of this type. You probably don’t even need that boost though if you play your cards right, because Raichu can usually take down water and flying type Pokémon in a single hit. Raichu’s pure power is best seen when facing an opponent like a Gyarados: Because Gyarados is both water and flying type, Raichu’s moves hit it for 4x damage instead of the usual super-effective 2x. Stack this with the 1.5x multiplier that it gets from being pure electric type, and you get a whopping 6x damage from a single thunderbolt.

Dragonite (Dragon/Flying)

I usually roll through most of the game with just 5 Pokémon until I get close to end-game (it just helps to make sure my Pokémon get more experience divided among them); that sixth slot is usually reserved for my “fun” or “all-around” Pokémon, and a Dragonite fits that bill perfectly here. Easily the game’s most powerful dragon-type, Dragonite is decked with a high attack, defense, and HP to take down any opponent. Dragon type moves are one of the only types that are good against other dragon types, and they’re fully effective against all types of Pokémon (no damage reduction here!). On top of this, dragon types are resistant to some of the most common Pokémon types (fire, water, grass, electric), and Dragonite itself is very customizable because it can learn a bunch of different TMs and HMs. Plus, the leader of the Elite Four, Lance, is a dragon Pokémon trainer, and it just feels so sweet to beat him at his own game!

So there you have it, my Pokémon dream team. With this spread sitting in the dugout, it’s pretty difficult to lose as long as you know what you’re doing. For all you critics out there though, remember to keep in mind that I’m only referring to the 150 Pokémon in the first generation, back before dark, steel, and fairy were even viable Pokémon types. My dream team would definitely change a bit in future generations with the introduction of these types. So what are your favorite Pokémon? Think you could beat my team in a battle?