Hello again my dear island guests, it is time for another top 5! Another Pokémon type! So let’s go super effective against our previous lists and pick the fighting type to discuss this week. A type that is very close to my heart, because for a long type it composed my favorite deck to run in the pokémon TCG!
Rules And Honorable mentions
Like always the same rules apply!, In this case.. special forms do not count. Mega Lopunny, Mega Mewtwo and Meloetta all gain the fighting type and could be considered for this list. However I did not feel it was right to select pokémon like these for a list like these. Only one pokémon per evolution line.Also if I can not prevent evolution without an everstone an evolution that will make the pokémon less awesome will be held against its earlier form. For example while I love Clobbopus, I do not like Grapploct nearly as much, and while I could still not learn it taunt.. I did not know the first time and the Pokémon was kind of ruined for me. So it just gets an honorable mention here.
Secondly and more vaguely the pokemon has to fit to my standards of fighting type. If I don’t believe it’s a fighting type and the typing has just been added to give it STAB boosts, it will not make the list. Noticeable examples for me are Marshadow , the adorable little ghost , which in my eyes should be pure ghost and Bewear. Whose typing I would not know.. I guess I’d give it Normal-Fairy. It’s strong sure.. but it likes hugs and just wants to do bear things. It’s based on a stuffed animal.. that doesn’t really scream fighting type to me.. so while it is in my heart it’s not on the list. What said..let’s start the match.
Fighting Type Number 5: Lucario
Lucario is a bit the de facto favorite fighting type of people and it made many favorite lists and here it is yet again. So what exactly is so great about Lucario?! First of all it basically has Ultra Instinct.. or Tsuna’s Hyper Intuition from Hitman Reborn. By sensing the fighting aura of it’s opponent it can read the movement of it’s opponents now that is cool! Designwise I’d put it in the top ten of best designed pokémon easily and this pokémon has gotten so much love in just about every bit of pokémon media that it is hard to miss or not find an incarnation you like. It was amazing and heartwarming in it’s own movie.. it made me cry, it’s a great character in Pokken, he is a pretty solid fighting in Smash. Lucario does it all. His mega evolution nicely designed as well.
In battle Lucario is also a gambit, he has an great 110 base stat in both special as physical attack. While it’s physical moveset is more diverse getting access to all elemental punches, ghost, ground, dragon fighting steel the covery is amazing. Yet Special Lucario gets access to calm mind to bolster his somewhat lackluster defences and has access to some of the most competitive moves like Focus Blast for stab, Shadow Ball for weakness covery and Dark Pulse for trying to get scummy flinches. Lucario is so diverse you can literally build your very own fighting badass. I like having options and few come more diverse than this fan favorite. I would dress up like him.. but I doubt I could pull it off!
Fighting Type Number 4: Breloom
Breloom is a bit of a weird fighting pokémon. At first glance you might not say it is fighting.. yet to me this one is very deeply connected to the typing. Because back in the time I played Showdown Breloom was a pokémon that kept kicking my ass. A friend by the name of Olivia ran one in her team and it was insanely strong. With a base stat of 130 in physical attack it also has Lucario beat in a straight up conflict of strength. While it lacks in the other stats, it’s access to priority moves and speed reduction can make it a hassle to get around. It’s ability technician makes these abilities double in base-power. While frail.. it hits like a truck which makes Breloom fun to use. I am very keen on glass cannons, Pokemon can be kinda easy and I care for my Pokémon I do not want them to faint so it makes things fun!
What really sells me on this Pokémon is it’s design though. I am not sure why but it mesmerises me. It feels awkward yet speedy. It’s a mushroom chicken.. thing. While of course i could have put Blaziken on the list in its stead as the thought fighting chicken but Breloom has something I really a personality quirk that I miss in Blaziken. While Blaziken is cool this is a pokémon I end up caring for. Blaziken just doesn’t do that for me. This little super fastly shadowboxing plant guy never got enough love and than I could finally use it on my squad. I even got a secret ability one which is what makes it so good. A technician boosted Mach punch .. I could have named it Saitama! I named it Colonel though! Because of the military color scheme and the chickeny face vibe. I shall always remember Colonel!
Fighting Type Number 3: Falinks
Gen VIII had a few pokémon I absolutely fell in love with and this pure fighting type pokemon is one of them.Even if it never made my squad because it did not fit in with my Princess Tea Party theme it became endeared to me. I would have called mine.. The Bobs.. because well it’s a bunch of little spartan ball like things that have the cutest marching animation. Not a lot of fighting pokémon can get away with looking cute and still feeling like a fighting tupe Point and case Stufful. Kirby that looks like he stole the powers of Leonidas followed by a bunch of his allies really works well for a fighting type. Their special move No Retreat is super cute as well and really shows the warrior atmosphere. Which is kind of a new take on the fighting type. Up until now fighting types usually were martial artists or wrestlers but this is a very interesting take that I am up for.
Falinks is a regular in Pokémon Showdown random matches as well. While it’s base stat total isn’t amazing nor are it’s stats, as its hidden ability it can learn Defiant and having acces to No Retreat which boosts all stats in return for being unable to switch out can make it hard to deal with. With just one boost it’s defense and attack are up their with the bigger names already. While Close Combat will decimate it’s defenses it’s speed and attack will remain. So to best utilize this you might put it on a sticky web team with something something that uses sleep as well. It is also useful in PvE because it is one of the few creatures that can learn false swipes. A move that will always leave your opponent on 1 hp. So it is great to hunt shinies with! While you get it a bit to late in game to really be fully used on in game team you still should be able to take it along if you are prepared to struggle a bit against special attackers. It’s a great charming pokemon and one of the best things Gen VIII gave us.
Fighting Type Number 2: Machamp
I considered Scrafty for this list because I really like the dragon dancing power set. Yet for the same reason as in the Dark Type list it did not make the cut. While I in both cases considered it like a close too favorite.. it is just a single battleset I like. I REALLY like it.. but in the end I had to scrap it.. for Pokémon I love for several reasons. Take Machamp for example. He was a staple in my TCG deck.. in two renditions, a evolution card that boosted my mons attacks and a EX version that worked as a revenge wall. Bring up Pokémon Twilight wings again. Bea and her Machamp were quite heartwarming, though not as heartwarming as Wooloo. Machamp is THE first trade evolution I ever got as well as the first self caught shiny I ever got. A Pokken character as well, the first I played, Machamp has been there for me in so many ways.
Now Machamp was one of the first thoroughly broken pokemon as well. It learned No Guard as an ability and Fissure as a move. Which meant it could land 1 hit KO moves with 100% accurancy. While the set always was somewhat “Illegal’ and hard to obtain, it is THE most famous Machamp build for those know know the basic of battlesets. Now other than that.. Machamp can be a bit dull to run.. It punches.. so he gets all the punchy moves, including the elemental ones. It just gets about everything you expect from it so it works great.. both in PvE and in PvP as it is diverse enough to be viable yet it slightly misses that excitement. That being said this is an excellent Pokémon that is easy to use and easy to master for beginners. It’s diverse moveset can really help you in learning to call your opponents plays. Knockoff, Ice Punch, Cross Shop , Bulk Up goes for miles and really can help you rip trough an opponents team. Given how OP fighting Dynamax moves can be, this really is special in it’s own slightly dull way.
Fighting Type Number 1: Medicham
The ace of my fighting pokémon deck.. the card that one me an anime con tournament and that is feared by my friends who ever faced the my double kicking medicham deck. This card is the reason this pokémon is here because I have such fond memories of it. It doesn’t hurt that it wears a pinkish kind of suit and the whole concept of Fighting Psychic really works for me. It’s such a cool typing and while Gallade is arguably the more stylish choice with the higher stats.. I really like this pokémon so much better. Medite it’s basic form, has become sort of a meme in my group of friends. A non Pokémon friend called it “smurf with a more stupid head”.. or sometimes “Diaper Smurf” and the little tyke became endeared to us through this silly nickname. While Lucario can read Aura’s of Pokémon trough battle skill Medicham learned to do this through starvation and meditation. It kind of reminds me of piccolo of dragon ball z but pinker! Pinkolo!
Definitely the weakest pokemon on this list, with a base stat of only 410 and a physical attack of 60! It has BAD stats. Very bad even. However when trained up with the ability Pure Power that attack stat gets doubled when it enters battle.Putting it at an attack of 120 which is fairly on par with most the monsters here. However in games where it has it’s mega evolution this beas’s base stat grows to 100 and thus a base attack power of 200 due to its ability! Now THAT is scary! It even always has the Pure Power ability when evolved so it also saves you a lot of breeding. So it can hit hard! Yet that isn’t the only way you can run this. Medicham can be used as a screen setter as well. Screens are defensive buffs that offer significant damage reduction for either physical or special attacks.. and both can be set up at the same time. It can set up the two major weather conditions of sun and rain. Which means you can always have your opponent guess on what type of set you use. In a game where a wrong guess or read can lead to absolute defeat..having something like Medicham can be much scarier for an opponent than a high stat total.Just like in martial arts it doesn’t always matter who is physically the strongest but how well you read your opponent. Also did I mention it’s kinda pink?!
This list was so much harder to make the fighting type has a lot of good pokémon that really emobdy their type well and with Kubfu coming out in the near future it hasnt become any easier to pick. So many fighting types are absolutely great! So which one is your favorite?! Leave a comment and see you next time!
Pinkie's Paradise 