For something so rare, I would have to say that it's abilities dissapoint me. Its special attack goes up by 20% when it evolves, but that's pretty much it. Take advantage of its attack rather than its special attack- the attack is about 20% better. There's not much to say... but if you want a ground type, get off your butt and catch a groudon.

moveset without human interference:

Slash - Sandstorm/crush claw - umm... there aren't really any other good moves. Teach it earthquake, and... hmm... toxic

If you're looking for a solid Raichu, look no further than the daycare center. It's best to breed a pikachu not a raichu, a pikachu, holding a light ball. The pichu will know Volt Tackle. Then evolve little Pichu as soon as possible, becase it stinks. Have it hold a soothe bell and feed it a million poffins/pokeblocks of it's favorite flavor. Since it's at a low level and its stats can't go lower, feed it the berries that foster friendship.

I would LOVE to say that pikachu and raichu are the best electric types around, but they are outplayed by quite a few. They lack in HP, and defensive power in physical and special.Their speed is fantastic, however, so take full advantage of this.

Moveset without human interferance:

Thunder - Thunderbolt - Double Team - Light Screen

Take out something in there for Volt Tackle. I just didn't put it up there because it requires "human interferance".

There have certainly been better poison types... but ekans is about average. THere are certainly worse (like beedrill) Arbok has descent attack and speed, however it lacks in every other catgory. You will definetly be better off taking advantage of it's stronger attack rather than it's weak sp attack. If you're looking to use it for E4, you are better off getting one with the shen skin ability, so that if you're stuck with any status issues, you can save your items for the others and arbok will heal itself. However, intimidate is good for competative battle, considering that some of the most popular competative pokemon (groudon, tyranatar, etc) have high attack, and you will want to take advantage of everything you can.

move set without TMs, HMs, and tutors

gunk shot- screech- stockpile (arbok has poor defence)- Crunch

Spearow and its evolved forom easily surpass pidgey and the gang in competative battling. Fearow has weaker HP and special attack than pidgeot, however special attack isn't very neccessary for flying types. Fearow boasts about 85% speed, with pidgeot lingering at about 60%. If you are a conservative fighter who likes to slowly wittle down your opponent's pokemon, then pidgeot is for you. But if you're looking for more of a powerhouse, get a fearow instead.

movelist w/out TMs, HMs, and tutors:

Drill Peck - Roost - Growl (Fearow has poor defense)- Arial Ace

Pursuit is also something to think about, considering that it's damage doubles when used first in a turn, and fearow has great speed. Agility is unneccesary for obvious reasons, and assurance is useless because Fearow will often attack first, negating assurance's effect.

As far as common first-stages go, rattata boasts some great speed, but it doesn't improve when evolving... which is a real bummer. However, all it's other stats go up by 20 to 25%. It's attack is it's next best stat, with about a 60/100. Still not so great. If you're looking for a strong normal type, wait a little longer for a snorlax or toraus.

moveset w/out TMs, HMs, and tutors

endeavor - double edge - super fang - bite

quick attack and scary face are slightly unnessecary,considering that it already has pretty good speed, however scary faceis a good option if you have slow pokemon in your party.

if you didn't select charmander as a starter, then pidgy is the first pokemon available that can use fly. its evolved froms have pretty good stats for a pokemon found so early in the game. it also learns a hefty share of moves. Teaching a pidgeot mirror move at level 56 can be a major help. If you have a pidgeot in one of the ds games, teaching it air slash at level 62 is another great idea. pidgeot's defensive and special defensive power have some to be desired of, however its stats in all other catogories reach a little above average. All in all, pidgy is not the best flying type around, but a great all- around fighter.

thinking about it, weedle is just like caterpie... but worse. it doesnt even have the poison point abilit, which poisons foes who use direct attacks on weedle. here's the best part: the best thing that beedrill can learn, is twinneedle. i think we all know of the lameness of twinneedle. there isnt much else to say. i guess weedle is also a waster of time -sigh-

Let's face the facts. catching a caterpie just isnt worth the money spent on the pokeball. its not like it learns some amazing attack at a high level, either. evolve that thang as soon as you can. However, even butterfree isnt that good. it has good speed and special attack, and horrible everything else. only in the DS games does it actually learn an OK attack, bug buzz at 40. dont waste your time. catch something else.

squirtle, along with bulbasaur, have better stats than charmander. However, once squirtle has become a blastoise, you realize that you may have made a mistake. Blastoise only has ok attack, defense, speed, and special stats. It has horrible HPP amounts, which is very dissapointing, consdering that it has a giant shell on its back. Hydro Pump is the water equal of fire blast, however water types have less stregnths than fire types, so blastoise looses to charizard there, as well. blastoise can use surf, but charizard remains a better choice because lapras has better stats, learns hydro pump sooner, and has some strong ice type attacks to choose from as well. also, its not like you have to go off and catch lapras. just talk to the sliph co guy in the same room as when you face your rival at sliph co. blastoise does learn rain dance at level 46, which can be quite useful, but watch out for electric types, because Thunder always hits when its raining.

first off, i have descided to do as many as i can every day, seeing that it would take so long with some 493 pokemon to cover.

ok- charmander has HORRIBLE stats as far as starters go, however, once it has fully evolved into a charizard, youll be left going, "what the heck happened!!!" charizard has some awesome speed and special attack, and you cant forget it's pretty good attack power, as well. if you chose charmander for as starter in red and blue, then you know what i am talking about when i say that the beginning of the game is MISERABLE. back then, charmander couldn't learn anything that whould have a regular effect on Brock's rock types. At least Scratch could put a little damage on Staryu and Starmie, just not enough to make it easy. Pluss, to add to the diffficulty on rock types, all the pokemon you can catch before facing Brock have a type disadventage, as well. For Misty, you can catch a pikachu. So, the guys at game freak took some pitty on us for Leaf Green and Fire Red, letting chharmander learn metal claw. (super effective against rock types. On the case of charmeleon, he easily breezes by the other 2 as far as second-stage stats. they are some of the highest around. Charizard, like i mentioned, has the best stats of the 3. Not only can he fly you places, but he can learn some killer fire tue moves, like fire blast and flamthrower. these attacks combined with charizard's special attack power are devestating. though the start is rocky, charmander is the best choice for all the kanto games.