Toxicroak, Male, Relaxed, Lv.65
Poison Jab, Brick Break, Sludge Bomb, Nasty Plot
Mr. Reliable
Impressions: I've always loved the way Toxicroak looks, and now I love the way he plays too. After a solid start despite some nightmarish starting stats (being immune to Poison Hax certainly helped), Toxicroak (then Croagunk) just kept getting better and better, quickly establishing himself as my staple lead attacker due to his mixed offences and his excellent typing allowing him some unusual resistance combinations. He evolved pretty late and his usefulness had petered out slightly just before he did, but after that he never struggled. Of course I never sent him in against any Psychic Pokemon if I could help it. All in all, a truly reliable Pokemon, and even if he wasn't my absolute best, he was certainly my absolute favourite.
Rating: 9/10

Omastar, Male, Mild, Lv.65
AncientPower, Mud Shot, Ice Beam, Surf
The Wrecking Ball
Impressions: Got off to a slightly annoying start when, at Lv.1, his only attack was Constrict, which did 1 damage. On the flipside though, he only took 1HP in return, due to his awesome typing and his awesome Defence. When Omanyte finally evolved, he was unstoppable. His Sp.Atk reached untold levels of awesomeness, and nothing could stand in his way. I even had to stop using him periodically to let the other Pokemon catch up. All in all, Omastar has become my favourite fossil to date, and I recommend him highly. His lack of Speed is more than mitigated by how easily he dispatches Dragon-types with his monstrous Ice Beam, and even AncientPower is a murderous tool of death in his tentacles.
Rating: 10/10

Mismagius, Female, Docile, Lv.65
Confuse Ray, Charge Beam, Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse
The Glass Cannon
Impressions: I tend to find Ghost-types difficult to use. Not so Mismagius. She was a pickle at first, as Psywave, her only attacking move, was unreliable at best, which seemed a waste of her awesome Sp.Atk stat. Luckily she leveled up quicker than any other teammates, and before long she was tearing holes in anything that moved (and some things that didn't) with Psybeam and, later, Shadow Ball. Comfortably my quickest Pokemon, that Speed stat would come in handy later on when her Sp.Atk started to decline in comparison to my other team members', particularly Omastar's. Speed allowed Mismagius to set up Charge Beam, after which Shadow Ball laid Bruno's entire team (twice) and countless other tough trainers to rest. She's not the force she was between levels 40 and 55, but my god were those levels fun, and were it not for this little lady, I'd have really struggled against the game's numerous Gyarados. The archetypal Glass Cannon, and I love her.
Rating: 9/10

Girafarig, Female, Sassy, Lv. 65
Zen Headbutt, Psychic, Crunch, Strength
The Unsung Heroine
Impressions: A real trooper. Girafarig was my first Pokemon to faint, against a Sentret of all things. She seemed to see that as an incentive to improve, and my oh my did she improve. Suddenly Facade, Headbutt and Confusion made her an unstoppable force, which lasted pretty much all the way until the other Pokemon on my team caught up with her BST by evolving. Even then, despite the BST deficit, she still kicked far more ass than I ever expected her to, and I'm incredibly glad for her assistance during the Challenge. A real unsung heroine.
Rating: 8/10

Dragonite, Male, Adamant, Lv.65
Dragon Dance, Dragon Rush, Waterfall, Fly
The late bloomer
Impressions: No Pokemon had as erratic a journey as my Dragonite did. I had massively high hopes for him as a Dratini, but his stats sucked horribly despite the perfect Nature. He couldn't take advantage of great starter moves like Extremespeed because his Atk was lame and it only had 5PP, and he levelled up at snail's pace. His disappointing journey took a massive upward swing when he learned Dragon Rage, which suddenly propelled him to the forefront of my team's attack. Then he evolved, and things went downhill again. Dragonair wasn't strong enough for the stage of the game when he evolved; opponents were starting to get tough when he was in the mid-30s and early 40s, and poor Dragonair couldn't keep up, especially when he levelled up so slowly. Dragon Rush helped a bit, but a terrible Elite Four performance left Dragonair reeling at the bottom of my team in terms of usefulness. And then, everything suddenly got better at Lv.50. Suddenly he was a monster, a beast of terrifying power and ruthlessness. Dragon Dance appeared, and he could not be stopped. He swept mercilessly through Kanto, and even Lance couldn't stand in his way second time round. A fitting end to his underdog story.
Rating: 8/10

Pinsir, Male, Quiet, Lv.65
X-Scissor, Swords Dance, Rock Slide, Brick Break
The Demolition Specialist
Impressions: Probably the Pokemon I liked the least out of this team before I started the Challenge, and consequently probably the Pokemon that has won me over the most. Despite his awful nature (it literally could barely be any worse for a Pinsir) he immediately propelled himself to the top of my roster before the 1st Gym, with ViceGrip destroying... anything, really, and his high Defence stopping any opponents from leaving a mark. Until Lv.10ish, at least. He wasn't any use for the first two Gyms due to his type, although he was the only Pokemon who could learn Cut. At that point in the game that was all he was used for; he consistently fell behind in levels because he was underused and took ages to level, and eventually even ViceGrip stopped hitting so hard. Over time, though, I really learned to appreciate this Bug's talents. He's not a complex Pokemon, he's never going to uproot any trees with radical movesets. But what he does, he does very well. He hits hard, he hits fast, and he takes down some really awkward threats, not least the first two Kimono Girls in some style. He's rough and ready, a bit erratic - sometime's he's absolutely perfect for the job, but if not, he tends to be utterly useless - there's rarely a middle ground. Overall though, he averaged out to be a good, handy Pokemon who filled a useful niche on the team, especially in Kanto.
Rating: 8/10​