The Pokemon franchise is 20 years old, and in that time there have been a lot of pocket monsters. What started out as 150 fictional critters has ballooned to 721 across six generations of games, that doesn't even include what new additions are coming in Pokemon Sun and Moon. And, well, they vary in quality quite a bit; for every adorable Pikachu there’s a Luvdisc —literally a heart turned on its side that’s supposed to be a fish. Two decades after the series debuted, the most important question is which pokemon is the best.
# SquirtleOne of the biggest debates in the pokeverse is which of the original starters is best. And while Charmander is pretty adorable, there’s just something about Squirtle. Maybe it’s the way it looks in sunglasses, or maybe it’s that it has the best possible name.
# TurtwigApparently the designers at The Pokemon Company really know their way around a turtle. They got things really right with Squirtle, and improved on him a few years later with Turtwig, one of the starters from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Turtwig is, literally, a baby turtle with a twig growing out of its head. As it evolves, so does the twig, eventually turning into a giant tree on the back on an intimidating turtle called Torterra.
# CuboneThe Pokemon games may seem like cute games for kids, but they can get incredibly dark. Cubone is easily the saddest pokemon in existence. The little guy wears a skull on its head, which is creepy enough, until you realize that it’s the skull of its dead mother. According to the Pokedex, "when it thinks of its dead mother, it cries. Its crying makes the skull it wears rattle hollowly." Seriously, just add this guy to your team now. It could use the company.
# PiplupPiplup is the kind of creature that can get by on its looks alone. If you found out that Piplups ate baby Squirtles alive, and teased Cubones by stealing their skulls, well it wouldn’t make much difference. Because look at that little face. A Piplup is so cute that after seeing one you will forever look at penguins as a disappointment.
# EeveeEevee is an inspiration to everyone. Most pokemon have their futures planned out for them. A Pikachu knows that, eventually, it will become a Raichu. There’s no chance it will be anything different, that’s just not how things work. Sometimes it’s hard not to feel like that myself, as if my future is predetermined and I can't do anything to change it. But Eevee’s future isn’t so set in stone. Depending how you play, it can become any number of creatures, from the electric Jolteon to the icy Glaceon. The world isn’t a straight road for Eevee, it’s a series of paths, and it’s the only pokemon that will teach you that you have freedom to choose.