I feel the ones that we really need to discuss are:
Mawile - Mawile has had a good review by Lucchini. Though many come quick to berate it for needing two Heart Scales, I honestly think that you could go through the game with just Play Rough if you really had to choose. You lose a little leverage against Aqua and Magma's two prime Pokemon as well as a select choice of other Pokemon; however, Fairy has solid neutral coverage. It takes a little bit of a detour and what not to work it up. Still, Mawile is really strong for mid-to-late game and doesn't really have moments it slows down barring Wattson and Flannery. It requires some grinding but it honestly can self-sustain in a short amount of time. It's hard to really state it's B, but considering its cost in efficiency it isn't a long-stretch.
Absol - Many state it possibly being A, but I think I could be convinced to B. Let me explain. Absol and Medicham are incredibly similar. There are minor differences of course, but they're both frail physical attackers. Absol has some perks as a Mega Absol in that it can set up on Luvdisc against Wallace and Dusclops against Phoebe. Medicham's goal is to hit hard right on the get-go and just pray the attacks land. A big thing is I want to quote
IcyMan28 because he proposed Absol to remain in A but Meditite to drop to B.
My greatest reservations with Absol in A are that it comes rather late, is underleved, and is somewhat frail. After thinking it over, however, I think access to SD + Night Slash should be enough to hold it over as it catches up to the rest of the team. Its mega evolution has high mixed offenses and speed (plus Magic Bounce protects it from status and debuffs), though its access to coverage moves is somewhat limited by gameplay elements. Bonus points for faring well in gym 7 and the E4, however.
Meditite also belongs in B rank, I think. It comes around the same time as Absol, which I gave A rank, but I think there are a few key differences. For one, Meditite is extremely frail with piddly 30/55/55 defenses. It relies on HJK for all of its damage output which is strong but risky, and it is still 5 levels away from evolution. Once it evolves into Medicham, it will need a Heart Scale for Zen Headbutt and possibly one of the punches depending on your needs. Mega Cham is sufficiently fast and strong that nothing can stand in its way. However, Medicham does not have any gym advantages and can find itself outsped by a variety of pokemon, many of them being Team magma / aqua's Golbat given the teams greater presence late-game. Medicham still remains as frail as ever, though to be fair it will knock out most pokemon in one hit. It fares well against half the E4 and is alright against the others, and does decently against Steven as well. If I had to sum it up, Medicham is a great pokemon that would benefit from coming a bit earlier in the game and maybe being a little faster. I think B is fine for it.
Though Medicham needs Heart Scales and some training, it is a hella strong Mega Evolution that usually requires little to set up in some of its matchups. It usually can stomach a hit against the enemy. In fact, if you look close to Mega Medicham's defenses to Mega Absol:
Medicham - 60 HP | 85 Def | 85 SpD
Absol - 65 HP | 60 Def | 60 SpD
Mega Medicham is actually bulkier than Mega Absol lol. Now Meditite is indeed frail. You could pick up the Eviolite just below where you capture it in Route 124. You just need Cut to really access it (Fly helps too).
So honestly I find them a bit closer than what you're comparing them as.
Meditite - See Absol.
I think after we discuss these we can move on to B / C.
=====
The following will be tier changes or reasons to decide keeping the Pokemon in its respective tier.
Latis - S-> A - After a long thought process and discussing with others, I feel that Lati@s does not deserve S Tier. It is one that is hard to really justify in S rank for some reasons.
-
Latis have mediocre STAB
Luster Purge and Mist Ball both have an astounding 5 PP with a whopping base power of 70. That isn't even bad - it's arguably pathetic. You could argue that Dragonbreath is still available and has generally neutral coverage. While this is true, Dragonbreath loses steam very quickly and requires setup to be viable in pushing through things (with Charge Beam or Calm Mind). It's true that some Pokemon like Grumpig and others don't have much to say on that; however, let's also remember their STAB does have a little more oomph behind it and more reasonable PP. Though Psychic, as an example, has an immunity and some resistances there is also truth that it has Super Effective damage against some targets. Dragon is only effective against Altaria, the rare Dragon Tamer, and then Drake.
It's awkward to say because Latis have coverage in some scenarios - they have access to Surf and Dragonbreath is decent. Still, a big problem lies in that Luster Purge and Mist Ball are really the brunt of their damage and they can barely use them. Psychic arrives very late and Dragon Pulse might as well be a dream. They really don't have much for gym and E4 matches where they crush their opponents honestly and rely a lot on some TMs that are tricky to obtain (Thunderbolt has quite the detour).
In fairness this may be due to Latias (which may arguably be the only one that may need to drop). Here's a comparison with Mega Latios using Dragon Breath and Gardevoir using Psychic. I merely used Abomasnow as an example:
0 SpA Mega Latios (No Move) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Abomasnow: 112-133 (34.8 - 41.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
(112, 114, 115, 117, 118, 120, 120, 121, 123, 124, 126, 127, 129, 130, 132, 133)
0 SpA Gardevoir Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Abomasnow: 135-159 (42 - 49.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
(135, 136, 138, 139, 141, 142, 144, 145, 147, 148, 150, 151, 153, 154, 156, 159)
Despite having a Mega to spike Latios's damage it still can lose in damage output to those with something like Psychic.
Even as a comparison here is Magneton using Flash Cannon against an Ambipom:
0 SpA Mega Latios (No Move) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Ambipom: 136-162 (46.7 - 55.6%) -- 73.4% chance to 2HKO
(136, 138, 139, 142, 144, 145, 147, 148, 150, 151, 153, 154, 156, 157, 159, 162)
0 SpA Magneton Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Ambipom: 142-168 (48.7 - 57.7%) -- 94.9% chance to 2HKO
(142, 144, 145, 147, 148, 150, 151, 154, 156, 157, 159, 160, 162, 163, 165, 168)
The point of these isn't to demonstrate what are OHKOes, 2HKOes, or anyKOes. The major focal point is that
Latios must Mega Evolve to even be comparable to A Tier Pokemon like Magneton and Gardevoir. And with Gardevoir that's EXCLUDING her Mega Evolution.
Latios and Latias are free Pokemon and they're not necessarily bad, but I would argue they aren't necessarily doing the team huge favors either. They contribute to a point and they can help the team in some ways, but they lack huge advantages even over some of the A Tier Pokemon.
Electrike - A-> B - Electrike is a Pokemon that does have some issues that are hard to ignore. While strong, especially with Mega Manectric factored in, it takes a while to really get good. It's a Pokemon that realistically has two gym advantages and is a mediocre contributor or even a detriment in others. Its field performance is shallow as well since it relies solely on Electric-type moves until you get Overheat. Overheat still has drawbacks and some routes where it is somewhat effective in has rain in it. It's a strong Pokemon but really just lacks a lot of dominance needed to stay in A. B seems more fitting to me.
Treecko - A - Treecko will remain A. Though some may argue it is close to S-worthy, it still is a Pokemon that is plagued by really bad issues - most due to being a Grass-type. It gets very good once you hit key areas (Giga Drain is nice), but its gym performance overall is so-so and it lacks real power in the Elite 4 in some ways. I think it's a good Pokemon, but I don't really think it's so good that it is necessary. It's probably the ones currently in A that are close to S barring Kyogre and Groudon.
Ralts - A - People want Gardevoir in S, but I constantly will point out that beyond Brawly Ralts and Kirlia are likely bigger detriments than helpful for the team. All I want you to do is look at Kirlia's stats in comparison to, say, a Loudred.
HP/Atk/Def/SpA/SpD/Spe order.
Kirlia - 38 35 35 65 55 50
Loudred - 84 71 43 71 43 48
This is merely to paint as an example of just how bad Kirlia's stats are in general. And though it has a movepool buff it barely helps. Ralts stage is still pretty bad and Kirlia is evolving to a base stat total that's eerily similar to Stage 1 Pokemon. Well, close to it.
Wingull - A->B - No reasons needed really.
=====
Feel free to post your thoughts - especially on some of the Pokemon bolded.