Your favourite Pokedex Generation

[Linkachu]

Thanks to a certain other topic, I've become curious to know which generation of Pokemon is the most favoured within the Pokecharms community. I'm not referring to each generation in regards to the video games/regions/gameplay advancements/etc., I'm specifically referring to the collection of Pokemon that were introduced within each generation.

This question tends to lend itself to flamewars, but we're all mature individuals here, right? Right...? Lolz, who am I kidding? |D
Point being, you're all free to debate to your heart's content, but let's keep any idiotic fanboy wars out of this thread. ;x

Anyways, I seem to pick up new favourite Pokemon with each new generation so I can't really pin point one particular gen that I like more than the others. Gen I and Gen III are both special to me for sentimental reasons but I highly appreciate certain Pokemon from Gens II, IV and V as well. For this reason I've voted for liking all of the gens equally. That choice may not be entirely accurate but it's still more true than the alternatives.

 

[KoL]

Favourite 'Dex generation is Gen II for me. It's probably influenced somewhat by Gen II being my favourite generation as a whole, but when it comes down to it this generation not only gave us two brand new Pokemon types but also provided:

- Badgers that are on fire
- Water/Electric fish
- Hellhounds that breathe fire
- Electric sheep
- Giant spiders
- A giraffe with two heads
- Espeon and Umbreon, 'nuff said
- A killer alligator thing that thinks it's a dinosaur
- A badass Dragon in Kingdra
- Ho-Oh, my favourite legendary Pokemon
- Raikou looks awesome too
- Tyranitar, one of the most prominent Pokemon in the game
- Crobat, to make Zubat awesome
- A monkey with a hand for a tail
- A breakdancer
- Miltank for leaving hoofprints in many player's asses
- A elephant that is also a tyre
- A metal bird with swords for wings
- A psychic totem-pole bird
- ...alright, fine, I guess Lugia's pretty cool too
- FUCKING DUNSPARCE!!

I could go on but yeah, you get the point.

As far as design and function goes, I'd consider Gen V to have the best 'Dex, but I personally like Gen II's 'Dex more for the awesome gameplay experience it came along with.

EDIT: Just because everyone else did it:

1. Gen II
2. Gen V
3. Gen I
4. Gen III
5. Gen IV

Gen II is my favourite due to personal bias admittedly, but this is my list so fuck you. Gen V I've already said had the most well-designed regional 'Dex of every region as shown by VGC11, Gen I... well, who'll ever forget that? Gen III was just there really in comparison for me and Gen IV shows to me the designers didn't give a flying fuck about making a good 'Dex that time around.

 

[Toastie]

1. Gen V
2. Gen II
3. Gen I
4. Gen III
5. Gen IV

I think Gen II's Pokedex has the most potential, but it's wasted by a lack of evolutions for some Pokémon. I think if the Gen II games had been developed to be more standalone, then it would be top of my list. For instance, Dunsparce and Corsola are really cool concepts, but they're pretty useless in terms of battling, and they could really use evolutions.

Gen III suffers from a similar problem. There are way too many 2-stage lines (and 1-stage lines, for that matter). There are some Pokémon that, again, have tonnes of potential that isn't fully realised because they need that crucial evolution. I think Game Freak concentrated too much on the ecosystem of Hoenn and not enough on the Pokémon themselves. A good example is the Swalot line. It just screams "random blob with moustache" to me, but could be cured with a creative third stage evo.

I like Gen I. It's a bit plain in terms of Pokémon designs, but there are some really cool ones, and I could easily think of a top ten of favourites. Gen IV simply didn't have enough new evolutionary lines, and I think the style was a bit too cartoon-y (Drapion and Hippopotas are good examples). However, the evolutions were mostly great (Togekiss!)

Gen V is top because Game Freak really went all out in terms of creativity. I like tonnes of its Pokémon, even ones that appear to be hated by many (such as the Vannilite line). Also, I love how it has a celtic-style Pokémon (it's a starter, which is even better!)

 

[Coreysawrus]

1. Gen V
2. Gen II
3. Gen III
4. Gen I
5. Gen IV

Gen 5 has had the widest choice and had the most Pokemon I liked. Gen II just had a little less choice. Gen III had so much wasted potential but I did like the Pokemon. Gen I is Gen II but with out some of the great extras or evolutions, not too many Pokemon that I actually liked. And Gen IV hardly any choice and lots of Pokemon I disliked.

 

[ShinyZekrom009]

Well, I'm very biased too, as Gen III was the one I started Pokemon with. I did do a little Stadium when I was little, but Emerald and XD: Gale of Darkness were my first Pokemon games that weren't all about battling, and actually had a storyline. I've never played a Gen I storyline game, and while HG/SS finally let me experience Gen II, I didn't grow up playing it. While Gen II admittedly had an excellent PokeDex, I'm more comfortable and familiar with Gen III. So, here's my list:

1. Gen III
2. Gen V
3. Gen II
4. Gen I
5. Gen IV

The reason Gen IV is at the bottom is because it is the only Pokemon game I've ever played and grown bored with(aside from Pokemon Ranger), and the 'Dex is small and filled with Pokemon from previous Gens. Pre-evolutions such as Chingling, Budew, and Happiny made no lasting impressions on me, and many of the new evolutions for previous Pokemon were not very impressive. And that Gym Leader/Elite Four battle theme? Self-explanatory. I'm not saying Gen IV is awful(in fact, I still like for some of the other things, like a Champion who uses a variety of types for her Pokemon), but I like the other Gens more.

 

[Typhlosion]

It has to be gen 2 for me: Don't we all enjoy the rage of TYPHLOSION? Hey, that's me!

 

[Doubled]

Its a really hard decision for me :< However, if I had to pick based on Pokedex alone, I'd say Gen IV. Shocker, right? There's something about that I really like. For instance, Garchomp. Until then, it seemed like dragons/monsters had to be bloated or have some cartoonish/round aspect about them, but Charchomp comes along with a sharp body with just over all epic appearance, not to mention he's a freaking LAND SHARK DRAGON....ON LAND...THAT CAN DIG INTO THE GROUND AND EAT YOU...ON LAND. But not just him, there's really just a lot of 4th gen Pokemon I love and whenever I make a team, there's usually at least one of these guys on there, such as Lucario, Gallade, Staraptor, Gliscor, Rhyperior, Electivire, Magmortar, Toxicroak, really there's a bunch. However you also have to respect the typings for the starters. Yes, you had a repeated Fire/Fighting type, but Infernape did it correctly, not to mention that no matter what starter you chose, there was not a real significant advantage over the other, even with Empoleon, if you had Ice Beam for Torterra anyway. Not only this but the overall designs were just amazing. Granted, I really REALLY love all the generations, but...I can't really point it out. Okay, I'll admit that the 4th gen series was kind of boring, but the dex? I think that this generation was the one to REALLY make people think about their teams more.

However, here's my list.
1. IV
2. II
3. V
4. I
5 III

 

[NiteFox]

1. Gen III
2. Gen V
3. Gen I
4. Gen IV
5. Gen II

I remeber vaguely playing Blue and, as it was my first game, I was in love. My bias against Generation II came from me not playing it. When I would write short Johto stories, I found it hard because I didn't know that Johto was an 'expansion' (in my opinion) to Kanto. I also feel that Johto had the leat amount of Pokemon to build a good team with. That is my thoughts as too why it's in last.
Now Generation III was amazing- Pokemon wise. It was the first reagion where I don't like atleast on of the starters. I feel that there is more variety in the third and fifth generations. I enjoied the fourth generation Pokedex, but I also felt like it was an expasion pack, too. Generation one sits in the middle, becuase that region was both a mix of "I hate it/ I love it."

 

[Poe]

Generation two will always have my heart and soul, (gold and silver. ♥).
I loved Generation I, but when Generation II came along there was like this awesometastic update, and part of me feel like Pokemon, the games and anime alike, wasn't truly alive untill the 2:nd generation. All the new amazing Pokemons and evolutions, not to mention BABY-Pokemon! And now they had genders so that you could actually breed them!

After Generation II, I feel like the amount of Pokemon I actually like has decreased with each generation. The design of the Pokemon has turned a little too "experimental art" for my taste. ^^;

 

[Shiny Motley]

As always with topics about generations, I'm highly biased towards Generation III because it helped bring me back to the franchise. Most of Generation II didn't really appeal to me, so I kinda skipped over it (it also happened in the age when Pokemon wasn't cool at my school anymore so nobody talked about it then, sob)

Because of that, a good percentage of my favorites come from Hoenn. Breloom, Flygon, Plusle, Minun, Kirlia, Blaziken, Swellow, Altaria, Spheal, Banette, Metagross, and Kyogre are just some that have particularly appealed to me, with many more also making the list that I can't think of off the top of my head. XD

Gen. V is a really close second, for similar reasons. Zebstrika, Swanna, Mienshao, Chandelure, Dewott, Excadrill, Lilligant, Hydreigon, and Meloetta are definitely some of my all-time favorites, and most of the others, though a little odd-looking I guess, have some sort of charm for me as well.

Gen. IV, though, definitely is on the bottom of my list. I really just felt like the creators didn't care about what they made, so they made some cool new Pokemon and added a whole ton of evolutions and pre-evolutions just to fill up space to make it look like they had made more cool 'mons. Not that I didn't have favorites as well, I just felt like I just hated it so much...

SO yeah, order-wise my favorites were III, V, I, II, and IV.

 

[Picnicker Virgil]

My favorite is the 3rd generation. It has my number one favorite Pokemon (Spinda) as well as a lot of other Pokemon that I consider favorites as well. In order, my favorite generation 'Dexs would be:

1. III
2. II
3. V
4. I
5. IV

I'm not a big fan of the fourth generation. Drifloon is one of my favorite Pokemon, but for the most part the Pokedex didn't do much for me. Fifth generation was a big step up from that and had a lot of good Pokemon in it. I don't have anything against the 1st generation, I guess I just don't love the Pokedex in the same way I do the ones that came after it.

 

[Satoren]

I've played the Hoenn games to hell and back, and I don't think I can ever touch them again, barring a (at this point highly unlikely) remake.

Even so, Hoenn's Pokemon really stood out for me. They had a good number of new critters, most of which were not tied to some other species from previous generations. They were a colorful bunch and stood on their own in terms of design and fighting ability. And if you weren't particularly attached to any of Hoenn's exotic Pokemon, there was a reasonable chunk of returning favorites like Pikachu, Gyarados and Vulpix also in the mix.

 

[Secad MS]

My order of gens are:

1. IV
2. V
3. III
4. II
5. I

I have personally played the first three on my list, even if the gen III game I played was my little sister's. However, IV takes the lead because it was the first generation I played, it had great use of the DS's features, and introduced a bunch of great new mechanics.

 

[Keleri]

I have favorites from every generation, so I voted for the equal option as well. Check out my signature.

I do think there's been a design shift toward more complicated designs as the generations advance, but I would say that pokemon has maintained its particular look pretty well.

 

[Shocari]

1. Gen III
2. Gen V
3. Gen I
4. Gen IV
5. Gen II

I've been playing Pokemon since '98, and I did not skip out on a single Gen. For me, it's about equal parts Pokemon I like in the 'Dex and the overall well-roundedness of the 'Dex.

I like Gen III's regional Pokedex the most because it feels the most solid to me. Tons of good Pokemon to use, as well as a large amount of my favorites, most of which can be obtained in some form or another before the fifth Gym. Sure, a fair number of 'mons are almost completely terrible because it was before the Physical/Special split, but the amazing diversity of types means that I can easily find something similar to replace it with. Gen V also fit that for me, mostly with Black 2/White 2's expanded 'Dex(which added in a lot of my favorites).

Gen I was also fairly good at having a number of good Pokemon available at reasonable times, but being very non-linear after getting Cut on the S.S. Anne was equally awesome. However, I don't enjoy playing RBY much anymore because of how terrible the level-up movepools are compared to FRLG(which could still use some Physical/Special split to make only a small handful of Pokemon a bit more viable).

Gen IV is a bit of a split for me, as I greatly enjoyed HGSS but am loathe to play through DPPt again. While I did enjoy a some of the Sinnoh Pokemon, they are few and far between, and HGSS falls into the same category as Gen II in terms of the placement of Pokemon.

Speaking of Gen II, while I love playing it, I did not like that the vast majority of Pokemon I like are only available only right before the Elite 4 or are in Kanto, making them almost completely nonviable because of massive level-grinding or sheer unavailability to be placed on my team to defeat the Elite 4 with. This usually leaves me facing the Elite 4 with three or four Pokemon, which doesn't happen for me in any other Gen.

 

[precita]

Probably Kanto or Hoenn's.

The problem with Johto's is a lot of the pokemon felt unusable due to no evolutions. Pokemon were weak like Aipom, Smeargle, Mukrrow, etc. and didn't improve until later on.

Gen IV just had too many evolutions of old Pokemon, but I did still like a number.

Gen V is my least favorite set.

 

[Carmen Lopez]

Forgot my internet ate my post from last time. While I do value every single generation of Pokemon, my favorite has to be Hoenn's overall. For some reason, the dex just felt complete and able to stand on its own (something we saw again in Gen V). There were just enough new and original Pokemon to compliment what was already there. I know a lot of people didn't like Gen III all that much, but I really do like the designs of the Pokemon overall--particularly Gardevoir, Metagross, Mawile, and all of the starters. There are very few Hoenn Pokemon I dislike.