Having appeared so early in the series, Blue has had many iterations over the years and has come back for several games, including his role as the Viridian gym leader in Gold & Silver as well as both Red and Blue appearing in the Generation VII games for the Battle Tree post-game content. Thanks to his many appearances, Blue has had many, many different Pokemon in his team, with some being far better than others.
26 Raticate
If there wasn’t the running theory that Blue was visiting the Pokemon Tower because the player killed his Raticate in the S.S. Anne battle, it would be very easy to forget that he even had a Raticate. Only appearing in two battles, Ratatta, and later Raticate, didn’t put up much of a fight and it’s no wonder that he swapped it out later in the game.
25 Sandslash
Only appearing in a handful of battles in Pokemon Yellow, Sandslash makes about as big an impact on Blue’s team as Raticate did, with a pathetic range of moves that only really gets better by the time players reach the Pokemon League, where its only notable attack is Earthquake.
24 Clefable
Only appearing in Pokemon Stadium, Blue’s Clefable had the potential to be a great threat that fell flat due to its poor stats and misuse. With Psychic, Thunderbolt, Blizzard, and Double Edge, it has the ability to hit most Pokemon for at least neutral damage, though this isn’t the way a Clefable is supposed to be used and makes it a rather lackluster choice for his team.
23 Pinsir
Like Clefable, Pinsir only appears in Pokemon Stadium and had the potential to be a great threat, only to be let down by the fact that Pinsir can’t learn a single Bug-type move. However, with Swords Dance, Seismic Toss, Hyper Beam, and Toxic, it has the potential to plow through teams that don’t deal with it fast enough, though it will fall very fast to a well-placed Flamethrower.
22 Electabuzz
Another Pokemon Stadium exclusive that would later become one of Gary’s Sinnoh Pokemon as Electivire in the anime, Electabuzz suffers not from its moveset, but from its stats. Unfortunately, while it has Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Reflect, and Seismic Toss to use, this isn’t enough to deal significant damage to the player’s team.
Both Reflect and Thunder Wave have the potential to make the player’s life hard, but Electabuzz is so frail that it can be felled by any relatively powerful neutral attack.
21 Piloswine
While Blue’s Round One team in Pokemon Stadium 2 is easily one of his best, incorporating Pokemon used in Red, Blue & Yellow, his Round Two team is significantly worse.
One of these team members is Piloswine, which isn’t terrible as it is holding a Quick Claw and has the moves Ice Beam, Rock Slide, Earthquake, and Roar. But, like Electabuzz, it is able to be knocked out far too easily.
20 Scyther
Another Pokemon from Blue’s Round Two team, Scyther would have been better utilized had it been evolved, but as a Bug and Flying-type, there are too many moves that can easily take it down.
The biggest threat that Scyther can present is with Baton Pass, as it has both Agility and Swords Dance alongside Wing Attack, meaning if the player doesn’t knock it out fast, it may pass high stats onto another teammate.
19 Houndoom
While Houndoom isn’t as good as one of Blue’s other Fire-type Pokemon, it is still fairly decent and makes for a good addition to his Round Two team in Pokemon Stadium 2.
That being said, it suffers from two of its coverage moves, Iron Tail and Reversal, being physical attacks while Flamethrower and Crunch are special attacks — moves that it makes better use of thanks to its stat distribution.
18 Slowbro
Of the handful of Water-type Pokemon that Blue has used in Pokemon Stadium, Slowbro may be one of the best examples of wasted potential. While it has powerful moves like Psychic, Surf, Earthquake, and Blizzard at its disposal, it suffers from not having more support moves to help it make up for its low speed, meaning it can often be knocked out rather quickly.
17 Magneton
Appearing only in Blue’s Yellow team if his Eevee doesn’t evolve into Jolteon, Magneton suffers from having a very shallow movepool at the time, though it is still a powerful Electric-type in its own right.
The main difficulty that players will face is with its combination of Thunder Wave, Screech, Swift, and Thunderbolt, which can easily tear through teams that aren’t able to cope with the Paralysis status effect.
16 Exeggutor
Blue’s Exeggutor is laughably bad in the original Red, Blue, & Yellow games, with its only damaging moves being the awful Barrage and halfway decent Stomp. In subsequent games, however, it gets a major power boost with moves like Psychic, Giga Drain, Sleep Powder, and even Explosion in HeartGold & SoulSilver.
15 Cloyster
Cloyster suffered a lot in the first three generations for having a largely special attack-focused movepool with a higher physical attack stat, though its enormous defense stat more than made up for this.
While it won’t deal as much damage with its moves in Clamp, Aurora Beam, Ice Beam, and Spike Cannon, the fact that it has two moves that can freeze a player’s Pokemon makes it a team member that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
14 Pidgeot
Seen as Blue’s signature Pokemon in Pokemon Masters EX, Pidgeot has been a staple of Blue’s team in most of his iterations as well as being the first Pokemon he ever catches in Red & Blue. While its appearance in the generation one games is fairly weak, each subsequent iteration of Pidgeot gets progressively stronger, culminating in it gaining a Mega Evolution in the Gen VII games.
13 Rhydon
Like much of his Generation I team, Blue’s Rhydon suffered from its poor moveset at the time that only got better as the generations rolled over. In FireRed & LeafGreen, it got a decent upgrade with Earthquake, Rock Tomb, Scary Face, and Take Down, but it was the upgrade in HeartGold & SoulSilver that really stands out, as it has Mega Horn and Thunder Fang as great coverage moves alongside Earthquake and Stone Edge.
12 Rhyperior
Once Gen IV came along and gave several Pokemon some well-deserved evolutions, Blue upgraded several of his Pokemon, including his Rhydon by evolving it into Rhyperior.
This mainly functions as a simple stat buff for his Rhydon, but it is enough to make what used to be a decent threat even more imposing.
11 Ninetales
As Blue’s replacement for Arcanine in Pokemon Yellow, Ninetales does little in the way of making up for the colossal gap in power, but it is still a decent Pokemon nonetheless.
While its moveset in Yellow is laughable with Fire Spin, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, and Confuse Ray, it gets a decent upgrade in Pokemon Stadium, where it has Dig, Flamethrower, Toxic, and Confuse Ray.
10 Aerodactyl
First appearing in Black 2 & White 2’s Pokemon World Tournament, Aerodactly leaves a lasting impression with not only its great moveset in Stone Edge, Earthquake, Ice Fang, and Fire Blast, but also with its held item, a Choice Band.
Aerodactyl would return in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, without a Choice Band this time, but with just as good a moveset with Crunch, Rock Slide, Sky Drop, and Roost.
9 Miltank
It seems as though Blue knows just how much players hate Whitney’s Miltank, since he decided to add one to his team in Pokemon Stadium 2. While it doesn’t have Roll Out or Milk Drink, Blue’s Miltank does have Body Slam, Earthquake, Reversal, and Shadow Ball at its disposal, as well as holding the Miracle Berry to cure any status condition.
8 Kingdra
While not quite as imposing as Clair’s Kingdra, Blue’s has just as much potential to sweep through teams thanks to its held item, the Scope Lens, which increases the critical hit ratio of all attacks. Aside from this held item, it also has Surf, Dragon Breath, Ice Beam, and Flail to ensure it is always hitting something hard for neutral damage.
7 Arcanine
Easily Blue’s best Fire-type among all of his teams, Arcanine is an imposing force that is somewhat underwhelming in Red & Blue thanks to its lackluster moveset. However, this would be rectified in all following generations to make it a horrifying powerhouse on his teams.
Its best moveset is most likely the one seen in the Pokemon League in FireRed & LeafGreen, with Iron Tail, Aerial Ace, Extreme Speed, and Overheat to cover many of its bases and deal large amounts of damage with every attack.
