Apagig is a phrase that occasionally gets thrown around in Pokémon communities. The phrase, short for "all Pokémon are good in game," means exactly what it sounds like: there are certainly Pokémon who reign supreme in a competitive setting, but you can still use almost any character you want outside of that and still find success.
Pokémon GO is no different, and with no competitive scene to speak of, all Pokémon can be considered usable, and thus, a worthwhile investment.
However, where's the fun in that? Sure, it's fun to use your favorites, but isn't it even better to craft a team full of the strongest monsters available and obliterate anyone who dares to challenge you?
If your answer to that question is yes, then you're in luck, as Silph Road, a group from Reddit that has been collecting information about Pokémon GO since it was still in beta, has released a complete list of every Pokémon available (literally and theoretically) in the popular mobile game, as well as how they rank in regards to one another based on their attack stat, defense stat, stamina stat and overall stats.
So, which Pokémon stand out from the pack? Here they are, the top 18 Pokémon in Pokémon GO:
In what should be a surprise to no one, every single Gen I legendary Pokémon made the list in regards to overall best stats. However, none of them are obtainable, so their presence on the list is meaningless for the time being. With them gone, the top monsters in Pokémon GO are Dragonite, Snorlax, Lapras, Arcanine, Blastoise, Exeggutor, Gyarados, Vaporeon, Slowbro, Venusaur, Flareon, Muk and Poliwrath.
For the most part, the list isn't too surprising, as Dragonite, Exeggutor, Lapras and Slowbro were all considered exceptionally powerful back during Gen I. On the other hand, the presence of Arcanine, Blastoise, Vaporeon, Venusaur, Muk and Poliwrath is interesting, since, while they were all considered fairly good, they weren't quite on the level as the previously-mentioned four. Then, there's Gyrados, who was also considered quite strong but simply couldn't make proper use of its stats at the time.
With all that said, however, what dictated a Pokémon's value in the source game were their stats and their movepool, whereas these rankings are based solely on stats.
Now that you know which Pokémon are actually the best, it's time to go out and catch them. In Pokémon GO, a Pokemon's location is based on your geographical location, and luckily, other players have developed tools to let everyone else know exactly where to go to obtain the Pokémon of their choice.
The first of these is Poké Radar, a free crowdsourced app that records Pokémon sightings submitted by trainers and then allows users of the app to filter the reports down to their monster of choice. The app is great, for the most part, but a common complaint is that it's hard to make it work sometimes due to server overload.
The other is Pokévision, which displays the real-time locations of Pokémon based on the API of the game itself. What separates this tool from the previous one is that it also provides a timer that lets you know how long a monster will be available in a certain location, though you can't filer it down to the specific Pokémon you're seeking. Unfortunately, just like Poké Radar, this tool is rather popular, so it also suffers from server issues from time to time.
Now that we know which Pokémon are the best in the app, here are a final few tips: be sure to look for a Pokémon's base form, rather than an evolved one since those are easier to find. Name your Eevee "Pyro" if you want a Flareon, or "Rainer" if you want a Vaporeon. Some of these Pokémon, such as water types, are easier to find nearby actual IRL sources of water, so be prepared to travel depending on where you live. While you can get many of these Pokémon by hatching them from eggs, some of them, like Snorlax and Lapras, will require quite a bit of walking.
Lastly and most importantly, while these are no doubt the strongest Pokémon in-game, types are still key, so be sure to adjust your team appropriately when going off to challenge a gym (and be prepared to lose it soon afterward thanks to dumb AI).
