Ranking the Pokemon: #35- Venusaur

Venusaur is probably the best overall fully-evolved Pokemon of the three, but you'll notice it's only the second-highest one on this list (the mystery third one will be revealed when the time comes. Goodness, I'm so mysterious). Venusaur also gets some bonus points for being the "mascot" of both Pokemon Green, which is the Japanese version of Blue, and also Pokemon LeafGreen, which was basically the same game. Being the mascot means you're on the box. That's a pretty special honor.

However, the solar system's second planet-dinosaur does have a few things going against it, most notably it's dual Grass/Poison type. That means Fire hurts it a lot. And so does Ice. And so does Psychic. And so does Flying. Those are a lot of common types, and Venusaur is really only super strong against Water-types (which will probably have an Ice move in its arsenal). Poison is only useful against Grass and Bug in Generation I, and it lost that Bug domination in subsequent generations. So...you can use Venusaur's other type to battle an opposing Venusaur. So meta. 

There's also not a TON of great moves for the...tropical resort plant cat thing? Whatever it actually is. SolarBeam is the go-to Grass-type, though I actually prefer Razor Leaf for Venusaur. And maybe most Grass-types. It's base power is only 55 compared to SolarBeam's 125, but it almost ALWAYS gets a critical hit, so it ends up doing more damage over two turns than SolarBeam, since the latter is one of those annoying "I have to charge" moves. In fact, that annoying point is illustrated in this delightfully foul cartoon. Body Slam is a good Normal-type move to toss on there, and as much as I hate the Leech Seed/Toxic combo, which seems to get progressively worse every generation, Venusaur is probably the best candidate for it. If your opponent doesn't switch out they'll faint in no time, and you'll reap the benefits by getting some seed health transferred back to you. And that seed health tastes GOOD.

Finaly, Saur-Saur does have a solid base statline, as every move hovers right around the above-average mark, and an impressive Special rating. So that Razor Leaf will be aided by both STAB and a nice Special attack. Works for me. 

Battling Grade: B+

Previously: #36- Raticate