>>34892917Kanto: Not Charmander. Early game sucks if you don't get good encounters, but once you're past Misty it's not too big of a deal. Bulbasaur is naturally best early on but doesn't do a lot at the very end, whereas Blastoise is sort of in the middle. Charizard gets pretty good lategame if you're playing the remakes, but Kanto does not like Fire that much.
Johto: Any of the three honestly. Even Chikorita is pretty decent as the bulk lends itself well to a Nuzlocke setting. For HGSS, Typhlosion has no movepool but works really well, but Feraligatr has the edge due to things like Ice Fang and physical Waterfall.
Hoenn: Mudkip is just the best overall by far. Torchic tends to fare better early on and fades lategame until the Elite Four, while Treecko tends to get better towards the end but has a really bad mid-game. Not as bad in the remakes but Swampert is still the best choice.
Sinnoh: You may want Chimchar in DP because lol Fire types, but all of them work pretty well, though Piplup is probably the worst choice as it takes the most time to get going.
Unova: Oshawott by far. Emboar is slow, frail, and has terrible match ups against many lategame foes, especially in BW2 (it's better in BW1), while Serperior's movepool is ass and Snivy is hard to keep alive to evolution. Samurott has a nice set of balanced stats and Water is rarer in Unova (mainly (BW1) than other regions.
Kalos; Any work. Fennekin is probably the worst due to Charizard having the best Megas and the fact that Litleo and Fletchling are fairly common early on, so picking Fire is less necessary. Froakie takes a bit of time to get going but both Greninja and Delphox work late game. Chesnaught is underrated, not the easiest to use but still a great choice.
Kalos: Popplio is the best overall, but Litten is great too, but frail until Incineroar stage. Rowlet is pretty bad and gets worse in the Ultra games. Becoming Ghost type is factually worse because Dark is fucking everywhere.
