If You Could Change a Pokémon...

[RK9]

Disclaimer: I'm sure someone will look at this through their Smogon goggles and still come at my ass for making changes that wouldn't make a Pokémon competitively better but making a Pokémon OU from NU was never really the intention with this.

As for the starters go, I would change their stats somewhat. I mentioned it somewhere before, but GameFreak insisting on making them runnable as mixed really makes some of them fall short, as such, I'd change it to:

Venusaur: Can stay as it is. I'd put 9 base points into HP to reach the same BST as Charizard.
Charizard: Physically orientated. The best part of his movepool is all physical, in terms of damaging moves as well as boosting moves (Belly Drum, Swords Dance, Dragon Dance). As such, I would swap his attack and special attack stat around. That way, if you really don't want to use Flare Blitz because of recoil, you can run him semi-mixed with Fire Blast or Flamethrower or whatever without massively hampering him. Like this, you also fix the whining of "Two Mega Evolutions!" by only giving him one to go even further physically orientated.
Blastoise: Now this is a tough one. Blastoise is supposed to be more bulky opposed to offensive as his stats show, but even then, between his two attack stats, there's only a difference of 2 base points. I'd take away 10 base points from attack and assort them into Special Attack to bring him up to 95 Special Attack. To illustrate, this means that his base stat is the same as Drizzile. A first stage evolution... Also an additional 4 Base Points into HP to reach the same BST as Charizard.

Meganium: Is a bit in the same boat as Blastoise. Considering how physically orientated it's movepool is though, I'd take 10 Special Attack and put it in Attack. Adding to that, an additional 9 points into HP to have the same base total as Typhlosion (who has the highest BST across the Johto Starters).
Typhlosion: The Charizard syndrome. Stat-wise intended to most likely be a Special Attacker but it's movepool gears it fully towards Physical Attacker. Unlike Charizard however, I'd keep Typhlosion as it is stat-wise. Instead, I'd expand it's movepool a bit more. Earth Power, Scorching Sands, most notably. (Explosion as a final resort). This way, it has another good move besides purely Fire moves without needing to intentionally handicap it in order to use it, cause Eruption is just too good to pass up on.
Feraligatr: Doesn't really need any work. I guess I'd allocate 4 Base Points into either HP or Special Defense to reach an equal BST with Furret's Delinquent Cousin.

Sceptile: Sceptile, oh Sceptile. Where did it go wrong for you. Like Charizard and Typhlosion, geared towards Special Attack stat-wise but in terms of moves Physical. And to be honest, unlike Typhlosion, I don't see much reason for Sceptile to stay Special other than Leaf Storm. Between Dragon Dance, Earthquake, Leaf Blade, and various physical Dragon STAB like Scale Shot, Dragon Claw, Dual Chop, Outrage and stuff like Thunder Punch, it got pretty much enough to combat that what is necessary. Therefore, swapping Attack and Special Attack would help it out a lot. An additional 5 Base Points into either HP or Physical Defense to reach the same BST as Swampert.
Blaziken: Has some good Special Attacks but it's physical movepool is so much more notable. Focus Blast vs High Jump Kick, Low Kick or Close Combat tells you all you need to know. It's physical attack is already fine, as such, I'd reduce it's Special Attack by 30 points, put 20 of them into Speed and split the remaining 10 into 5 and put them into Defense and Special Defense respectively. The remaining 5 to reach the same BST as Swampert go into HP.
Swampert: No need to change. He comes in and gets the job done. A combination of his stats, typing and movepool options ensure that he doesn't really need any notable changing.

Torterra: I'd allocate the 9 Base Points into Special Defense to reach the same BST as Infernape. Other than that, I don't think Torterra needs any particular changing.
Infernape: Stays as it is.
Empoleon: Stays as it is too. Allocate 4 Base Points into HP to reach Infernape's BST.

Serperior: Contrary already patched this one up a long while ago. Between that and stuff like Coil and Swords Dance in case you want physical sets, this is fine.
Emboar: Emboar, buddy. They really dropped the ball on you. First of all he'd become Fire/Ground. Then his Special Attack. It has no business being this goddamn high. I'd lower it with 50 points. Then put 25 points into its defense and special defense respectively.
Samurott: Now this is a tough one. As someone who always uses Physical Attack Samurott, the temptation is high to just yeetus deletus his Special Attack stat but the fact that he gets Ice Beam, Scald and Hydro Pump ensures it has good tools to be Special. However, it's physical movepool is just too damn good to do nothing with, especially when bolstered with Swords Dance. (And it's signature move used to be Razor Shell for crying out loud). His Special Attack and Physical Attack get swapped. This means 108 Base Attack for Samurott. Now we take 25 points away from the Special Attack stat. 15 of these we put in Speed. The remaining 10 go into Special Defense.

Chesnaught: Put 4 points into Special Defense to reach the same BST as Delphox. Otherwise, no changes.
Delphox: I guess other than it's design I wouldn't really change anything. God this design is ugly.
Greninja: Put 4 points into Special Attack to reach Delphox's BST. That's it.

Decidueye: Man, you suck so much. You still give me bad flashbacks to my USUM playthrough. Remove 30 Special Attack and allocate at least 20 of that into Speed. The other 10 can go into HP and Defense by splitting it into double 5 respectively.
Incineroar: I'm not really sure why it became so extremely slow when Torracat was fast so I'd shave off 15 Special Attack and put it into speed.
Primarina: Can stay the way it is right now.

Galar trio:
Other than a better Special Movepool for Intelleon, they're actually... pretty well done. On that note, fear the Kong.

 

[Neyo]

Castform needs to have a sandstorm form. It also needs a buff to it’s stats. It had amazing potential, but it is being limited so much.

 

[RK9]

Castform needs to have a sandstorm form. It also needs a buff to it’s stats. It had amazing potential, but it is being limited so much.

Not just the stats but I think also Forecast itself could do with a buff or additional effects to help it out.

 

[nickdt]

Galar trio:
Other than a better Special Movepool for Intelleon, they're actually... pretty well done. On that note, fear the Kong.

Stat wise, they are okay. Movepool wise, they are lacking (Cinderace is a physical attacker, but can mainly learn Special attacks for move that aren't Fire, Fighting or Normal - i would Swap Electro Ball for Wild Charge and i would also give it acces to Rolling and Triple Kick). I would give Rillaboom acces to Thunder Punch, but also Foul Play (Why can it learn Darkest Lariat, but not Foul Play).
I would change Inteleons movepool as well. Its a spy, so it nor being able tolearn Shadow Sneak or Shadow Ball doesn't make sense for me. I would also give it Flash Cannon, to cover its retreat with a Flash if it gets caught/spotted.

 

[R1ke]

Grapploct should be Fighting/Water type imo. It also needs better coverage moves like rock slide, earthquake, fire/thunder punch, zen headbutt, knock off, etc. I'd also give it more moves to take advantage of technician such as bulldoze and rock tomb.

 

[Dieter]

Lucario without that chest spike (I cant' hug him properly)

That sounds like quitter talk

 

[Dieter]

So generally speaking I don't think a Pokémon has to be a typing just cause it could like it should be. Does Stunfisk look like it should or could be a water type? Sure. Does it make sense for Stunfisk to be ground/electric? Absolutely. But I do think there are cases where a change of typing would make sense from both a design and a game mechanics standpoint

• Why, of why is crabrawler not fighting/water type? It's a crab-like pokemon that makes its home on beaches, has access so several water type moves, it is a barely used type combination, AND it would make it gaining the ice type upon evolution a smoother transition
• Celebi. Onion fairy. Protector of forests, time traveller, strong fae aesthetic. Why was it not retconned to grass/fairy? I get they don't like touching mythicals and legendaries, but would it really be so terrible?
• Sinistea and polteageist. They're ghost tea. They merely use the cup and teapot as a vessel, their real body is made of black tea. Even their dex entries point this out. Why aren't they ghost/water? It's also a type combination that's been used only once before, in which the ghost typing almost comes as an afterthought. And why doesn't it learn scald?

 

[prog rocker]

Why, of why is crabrawler not fighting/water type? It's a crab-like pokemon that makes its home on beaches, has access so several water type moves, it is a barely used type combination, AND it would make it gaining the ice type upon evolution a smoother transition

Well, the crab Crabrawler is based on can't survive in the water, so I can see why it didn't get Water as a type.

 

[Esserise]

So generally speaking I don't think a Pokémon has to be a typing just cause it could like it should be. Does Stunfisk look like it should or could be a water type? Sure. Does it make sense for Stunfisk to be ground/electric? Absolutely. But I do think there are cases where a change of typing would make sense from both a design and a game mechanics standpoint

• Why, of why is crabrawler not fighting/water type? It's a crab-like pokemon that makes its home on beaches, has access so several water type moves, it is a barely used type combination, AND it would make it gaining the ice type upon evolution a smoother transition
• Celebi. Onion fairy. Protector of forests, time traveller, strong fae aesthetic. Why was it not retconned to grass/fairy? I get they don't like touching mythicals and legendaries, but would it really be so terrible?
• Sinistea and polteageist. They're ghost tea. They merely use the cup and teapot as a vessel, their real body is made of black tea. Even their dex entries point this out. Why aren't they ghost/water? It's also a type combination that's been used only once before, in which the ghost typing almost comes as an afterthought. And why doesn't it learn scald?

I actually prefer Crabrawler as mono-Fighting but I agree on the other two.

Actually this reminds me - surely there’s an argument to be made that Shelmet should be Bug/Steel and then lose its secondary typing upon evolution? Escavalier is part-Steel because it stole the armor from Shelmet, but then why wasn’t that also reflected in Shelmet’s type combination?

Even if it were a matter of not wanting Accelgor to seem like a “downgrade” (not that I think that has really ever stopped them before; look at Nincada and Surskit giving away their unique types for the very common and shit-tacular Bug/Flying combo), you could probably get away with making Accelgor into a Bug/Fighting-type, since it’s like a ninja, or even Bug/Water, since Accelgor has a number of traits that link it to water. (e.g. Hydration Ability, needing to live in damp areas so its body doesn’t dry out - you’d even give it a nice STAB Water Shuriken in later games.)

Also, you mention retconning Celebi, and I would similarly like to propose revamping Cresselia. So, there’s a pretty common school of thought that, like Celebi, the Lake Guardians of Sinnoh being quasi-based on pixies merits them being changed to Psychic/Fairy. I’m going to cut against that somewhat - not that I can’t understand the argument there, but personally, I’ve always been more irked by the fact that Sinnoh gave us four mono-Psychic Legendaries with Levitate - the Lake trio, and Cresselia. But there are a few reasons why I would prefer to alter Cresselia rather than the trio.

First is that, although they do have some pixie elements in their design and concept, I think mono-Psychic actually works great for Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf. They are representations of the human spirit, dividing it into three core components: Knowledge, emotion, and willpower. To me, these notions all feel much more natural under the purview of Psychic rather than Fairy. The Fairy type, in my mind, has more of a connotation with the otherworldly - something mystical and strange, beyond human experience. From that angle, I almost think that Fairy would actually contradict the Lake trio’s thematic concept of representing humanity’s cerebral foundations, whereas mono-Psychic lends them a certain sense of clarity and straightforwardness. Meanwhile, the Fairy type has been somewhat closely linked to the moon ever since it was first introduced, and Cresselia is literally the moon Pokémon (yes there’s Lunala, but it’s a weird alien thing playing on a different set of tropes). So I think it’s a much better fit for Cresselia’s theme anyway.

(As an aside, I’m kind of surprised that there aren’t more calls to make the Lake trio either Psychic/Water or Fairy/Water, to tie in with the whole lake thing.)

Second is that, if my problem is with type overlap and sameyness, then I worry that making all three of the Lake Guardians into Psychic/Fairy-type would be more noticeably redundant than just making Cresselia be Psychic/Fairy or mono-Fairy. I know that type and Ability only play so much of a role in determining how a Pokémon functions, but even with that in mind, I think the mono-Psychic typing for the Lake trio causes the nuances of their different stat spreads to become more apparent than they would of the three were all Psychic/Fairy. (This is kind of hard for me to explain, I’ll admit.) Plus, you’ve got to remember that we also have Mr. Mime and Gardevoir, and then in the next two generations, we pick up Tapu Lele, Galarian Rapidash, and Hatterene. How many Psychic/Fairy-types do we need?

Lastly, Cresselia being Psychic is kinda weird when put in the context of its relationship with Darkrai. Cresselia is the cure for Darkrai’s nightmare afflictions, but Dark is totally immune to Psychic, whereas Fairy actually counteracts Dark. Surely it should be Cresselia that has the advantage?

As for Cresselia’s Ability, something like Curious Medicine except only for curing sleep would make a lot of sense, as it would readily disrupt Darkrai’s Ability. You could even be cute and call it Sweet Dreams. (Although even with all this in mind, I’m not against the idea of also changing the Lake trio’s Abilities. Levitate is just so boring.)

 

[RK9]

Considering how much Dragonite is associated with the sea/water, I'm kind of surprised it's Dragon/Flying.

Would be fun to see it be Dragon/Water (Be it through a Mega or anything else.)

 

[Leaf_Ranger]

I'm going to state the obvious but Gyarados should be Water/Dragon. While I understand the Flying type due to a japanese tradition, seeing it on Lance's team as well as somewhat part of the Dragon's Den decoration makes it seems a clear change of type.

I'd make Horsea and Seadra Dragon types back in Gen 1 since they eventually evolve into one in Gen 2 plus Gen 1 needed more Dragon types. I also would've made Tyranitar a Dragon type in Gen 2 and made Primeape and/or Arbok part Dark type back then as well.

I certainly wouldn't mind that change for Horsea and Seadra but I think Tyranitar is good as it it simply for the fact that it's one of the few pseudo-legendary that isn't Dragon.
As for a Dark type snake, I'd prefer Seviper over Arbok.

 

[Esserise]

Considering how much Dragonite is associated with the sea/water, I'm kind of surprised it's Dragon/Flying.

I would think it’s supposed to emphasize how it has wings and can fly now... but Dragonair can also fly despite not having wings.

 

[swiftgallade46]

I would think it’s supposed to emphasize how it has wings and can fly now... but Dragonair can also fly despite not having wings.

Dragonair has wings on its head, but it’s always been weird to me that that doesn’t make it a Flying-type.

 

[Esserise]

Dragonair has wings on its head, but it’s always been weird to me that that doesn’t make it a Flying-type.

Truth be told, I actually really like the Dragon-Dragon-Dragon/Flying sequencing for the line, and I don’t think *I* would put Flying on Dragonair, but I think it’s telling that there’s so many different ways people can end up reading this set of designs. I think all that combined with the obvious aesthetic disconnect between Dratini/Dragonair and Dragonite really just goes to illustrate how their entire design process has been refined over time.

(That’s not me throwing a jab at Gen 1, though. I think there’s as many qualities that have been lost as have been gained over the years, and it does change the kind of results you get just as a matter of fact, not necessarily for better or for worse.)

 

[Bolt Strike]

I think Dragonite is definitely open to regional variants that explore some of the other aspects of its lore and concept, I could see Dragon/Water, Dragon/Fairy, maybe even Dragon/Electric happening in future games. But the base line is fine as is. Dratini and Dragonite are just regular old serpentine Dragons, and Dragonite gains wings. I see no need to retcon that.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Huntail and Gorebyss should've been Water/Dark and Water/Psychic.

I used to think they were because of their Poké Assists in Shadows of Almia.

the main one for me, I'd change based on a pet peeve of mine - arachnids aren't bug, wish they remove that type for them
Spinark and Ariados - Poison/Grass
Joltik and Galvantula - Poison/Electric
Dewpider and Araquanid - Poison/Water

...Hence why it's called bug and not insect, at least in Japanese and English.

Anyway, I'd change Empoleon's hidden ability to either Slush Rush or Competitive. I know neither existed in Gen 5, but several other Pokémon have had their hidden abilities changed.

 

[Daren]

Let's talk Onix, everyone's favourite four and a half hundred pound rocky boi with worse offensive power than a Pikachu. This is focused on making Onix more fun to use in campaign; you're generally not gonna use one in competitive or post-game facility, obviously.

Onix's stat total is generally pretty reasonable for when he appears (on par with Graveler) but the distribution is troubling:
HP 35
Attack 45
Defense 160
Sp. Attack 30
Sp. Defense 45
Speed 70
TOTAL: 385
Onix's absurd defense is offset by his bad HP and inability to do much while surviving all the physical attacks in the world. He does learn Curse very early nowadays so he can hurt people after a turn or two. He's also oddly fast but not fast enough.

Here is his evo buddy Steelix:
HP 75
Attack 85
Defense 200
Sp. Attack 55
Sp. Defense 65
Speed 30
TOTAL: 510

I want to "fix" Onix without changing it's very reasonable stat total by looking at Steelix's stats then working backwards:

New Onix:
HP 50
Attack 70
Defense 160
Sp. Attack 30
Sp. Defense 55
Speed 20
By dropping his speed below his evolved form (like most evolutions) and redistribution it we fix up his issues; he can actually hurt things you expect to fight at the point he's around and he's more durable all around, but as a gigantic rock monster is still slow. This makes him a more defensive but less dangerous alternative to Graveler, rather than a faster but otherwise terrible one.

 

[Dieter]

Let's talk Onix, everyone's favourite four and a half hundred pound rocky boi with worse offensive power than a Pikachu. This is focused on making Onix more fun to use in campaign; you're generally not gonna use one in competitive or post-game facility, obviously.

Onix's stat total is generally pretty reasonable for when he appears (on par with Graveler) but the distribution is troubling:
HP 35
Attack 45
Defense 160
Sp. Attack 30
Sp. Defense 45
Speed 70
TOTAL: 385
Onix's absurd defense is offset by his bad HP and inability to do much while surviving all the physical attacks in the world. He does learn Curse very early nowadays so he can hurt people after a turn or two. He's also oddly fast but not fast enough.

Here is his evo buddy Steelix:
HP 75
Attack 85
Defense 200
Sp. Attack 55
Sp. Defense 65
Speed 30
TOTAL: 510

I want to "fix" Onix without changing it's very reasonable stat total by looking at Steelix's stats then working backwards:

New Onix:
HP 50
Attack 70
Defense 160
Sp. Attack 30
Sp. Defense 55
Speed 20
By dropping his speed below his evolved form (like most evolutions) and redistribution it we fix up his issues; he can actually hurt things you expect to fight at the point he's around and he's more durable all around, but as a gigantic rock monster is still slow. This makes him a more defensive but less dangerous alternative to Graveler, rather than a faster but otherwise terrible one.

I quite like that but I also feel the speed drop is supposed to tell us something about the species. Iirc this happens with the turtwig line too.

I also think it would be reasonable to give it an extra ten BST, it's been done before for others. Since many of its weaknesses are primarily special attackers in the early and mid-game, I think it wouldn't be unreasonable to take some away there either. And that special attack you're never gonna use either.

HP 50
Attack 55
Defense 160
Sp. Attack 20
Sp. Defense 30
Speed 80

This would at the least put it above the average speed of grass types (not that you should engage in that matchup).

 

[swiftgallade46]

I don’t feel like going through my whole list right now, but one thing I’d do is give proper full movesets to Wymaut, Wobbuffet, Unown, Magikarp, Combee, Tynamo, etc.

I’d also give the Rotom and Oricorio forms more than just the 1 main STAB move. I mean, really, it’s just plain silly that Oricorio Baile doesn’t learn Fiery Dance.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

I think I would change Zacian and Zamazenta a bit. First, I would have liked for their Abilities to work differently: Intrepid Sword would act like a combination between Sniper and Super Luck, giving the user both an increased chance to land critical hits AND said critical hits would get powered up; Dauntless Shield meanwhile would act like a combination between Battle Armor and Magic Guard in that it negates critical hits against the user altogether and also prevents the user from being hurt by passive damage. This way both wolves' Abilities would truly cancel each other out, because as they currently are Zacian has an overwhelming advantage (any and all defensive boosts are rendered entirely moot by critical hits, which in turn are made more powerful with offensive boosts).

Secondly, I would let Zamazenta learn Body Press (seriously, why the hell doesn't it get this move. They introduce a Fighting-type move that works off the user's defense in the same Generation as a Fighting-type Pokemon themed entirely around defense... only for those two to not be compatible for some inexplicable reason) so it wouldn't have to rely on the defense-lowering Close Combat for Fighting-type STAB.

Finally, I'd leave the Attack/Defense-raising effect to the wolves' exclusive held items, the Rusted Sword/Shield, respectively. Just because I feel like it makes sense lorewise.