I've finished two playthroughs using Primarina/Vikavolt/Salamence/Mudsdale/Salazzle/Pangoro and Decidueye/Magnezone/Crobat/Arcanine/Starmie/Bewear.
Primarina: S tier. Brilliant movepool (Scald, Sparkling Aria, Moonblast), great stats, great typing and early availability.
Vikavolt: Up to C tier. Grubbin and Charjabug are both pretty good with early access to Bug Bite, Spark and Acrobatics by level 20. Charjabug also has decent Attack and great bulk with Eviolite. Unfortunately its Attack stat becomes underwhelming by island 3 and it doesn't evolve until Vast Poni Canyon. When it evolves into Vikavolt, it learns Thunderbolt and has enough Special Attack to OHKO/2HKO any non-Steel Pokemon with Thunderbolt/Energy Ball/Flash Cannon. Great later on in the game, can easily single-handedly sweep with an X Speed/Agility. It's weak around the Sophocles - Vast Poni Canyon phase, but even then it's strong against Nanu and Faba.
Salamence: D tier. Comes early but with a 1% encounter rate. Weak as a Bagon, decent as a Shelgon, strong as a Salamence. However, it hits very few Pokemon for super effective and I never found that I needed it. It contributed little to the team despite being difficult to find and catch. It's not worth the investment.
Mudsdale: A tier. All has been said about this Pokemon. Fairly early availability, great stats and ability, good movepool.
Salazzle: A tier. Again, all has been said. This was probably the MVP of my team, just the fact that it can outspeed and clean up any non-Rock Pokemon made it very useful.
Pangoro: B tier. Hits hard and has great type matchups against a lot of Pokemon in the game. It is also one of the few not-garbage Dark types.
Decidueye: B tier. Decent offence and bulk. I didn't end up using it all that much but it's guaranteed to beat at least one Pokemon on the enemy team in every fight thanks to its Z-move and Sucker Punch.
Magnezone: S tier. Overpowered.
Crobat: Down to B tier. Early availability and superb for the first two islands. Early evolution (around Lana/Kiawe trial) and access to Acrobatics and Cross Poison means its strong early. However, its mediocre Attack and average typing make it underwhelming for the rest of the game. Great for E4 Hala, B tier material for the rest of the fights.
Arcanine: A/B tier. Early availability, great stats but poor typing and average movepool. I evolved it at level 34, though I would recommend waiting for Flare Blitz if you actually want a useful Pokemon past Po Town. Growlithe itself is great, but it lacks strong moves outside of Flare Blitz. Its typing means it has no good matchups after Guzma. Extremespeed is not very useful unless you happen to have a team with no fast Pokemon. Without Flare Blitz it's probably a B tier Pokemon.
Starmie: A tier. Reasonable availability, good typing, great stats, insane movepool. Early Scald and Psychic access let it hit hard and later access to Ice Beam and Thunderbolt are just extras. It doesn't hit as hard as the Pokemon in S tier however, and its bulk is also only average.
Bewear: A tier. Fairly early availability and hits really damn hard. Great from the moment you get it (vs Olivia) and maintains usefulness due to great physical bulk and OHKO/2HKO most Pokemon with Hammer Arm and Return. It also makes Acerola easy thanks to Payback/Shadow Claw and immunity to Ghost. It's not good against every fight in the game but its great at what it does.
Primarina: S tier. Brilliant movepool (Scald, Sparkling Aria, Moonblast), great stats, great typing and early availability.
Vikavolt: Up to C tier. Grubbin and Charjabug are both pretty good with early access to Bug Bite, Spark and Acrobatics by level 20. Charjabug also has decent Attack and great bulk with Eviolite. Unfortunately its Attack stat becomes underwhelming by island 3 and it doesn't evolve until Vast Poni Canyon. When it evolves into Vikavolt, it learns Thunderbolt and has enough Special Attack to OHKO/2HKO any non-Steel Pokemon with Thunderbolt/Energy Ball/Flash Cannon. Great later on in the game, can easily single-handedly sweep with an X Speed/Agility. It's weak around the Sophocles - Vast Poni Canyon phase, but even then it's strong against Nanu and Faba.
Salamence: D tier. Comes early but with a 1% encounter rate. Weak as a Bagon, decent as a Shelgon, strong as a Salamence. However, it hits very few Pokemon for super effective and I never found that I needed it. It contributed little to the team despite being difficult to find and catch. It's not worth the investment.
Mudsdale: A tier. All has been said about this Pokemon. Fairly early availability, great stats and ability, good movepool.
Salazzle: A tier. Again, all has been said. This was probably the MVP of my team, just the fact that it can outspeed and clean up any non-Rock Pokemon made it very useful.
Pangoro: B tier. Hits hard and has great type matchups against a lot of Pokemon in the game. It is also one of the few not-garbage Dark types.
Decidueye: B tier. Decent offence and bulk. I didn't end up using it all that much but it's guaranteed to beat at least one Pokemon on the enemy team in every fight thanks to its Z-move and Sucker Punch.
Magnezone: S tier. Overpowered.
Crobat: Down to B tier. Early availability and superb for the first two islands. Early evolution (around Lana/Kiawe trial) and access to Acrobatics and Cross Poison means its strong early. However, its mediocre Attack and average typing make it underwhelming for the rest of the game. Great for E4 Hala, B tier material for the rest of the fights.
Arcanine: A/B tier. Early availability, great stats but poor typing and average movepool. I evolved it at level 34, though I would recommend waiting for Flare Blitz if you actually want a useful Pokemon past Po Town. Growlithe itself is great, but it lacks strong moves outside of Flare Blitz. Its typing means it has no good matchups after Guzma. Extremespeed is not very useful unless you happen to have a team with no fast Pokemon. Without Flare Blitz it's probably a B tier Pokemon.
Starmie: A tier. Reasonable availability, good typing, great stats, insane movepool. Early Scald and Psychic access let it hit hard and later access to Ice Beam and Thunderbolt are just extras. It doesn't hit as hard as the Pokemon in S tier however, and its bulk is also only average.
Bewear: A tier. Fairly early availability and hits really damn hard. Great from the moment you get it (vs Olivia) and maintains usefulness due to great physical bulk and OHKO/2HKO most Pokemon with Hammer Arm and Return. It also makes Acerola easy thanks to Payback/Shadow Claw and immunity to Ghost. It's not good against every fight in the game but its great at what it does.
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