THE TOP 15 - Every team should have at least a few of these guys. Period. End of story. kthnx bai.

Blissey: The. Best. Special. Wall. In. The. Game. Softboiled = LOLOL I DON'T DIE, Seismic Toss gets around the laughable attack, Thunderwave makes enemy attackers cry. Heracross, Metagross, and most Fighters beat it.

Celebi: All-around great stats. Can stall with Heal Bell/Leech Seed, or Calm Mind up and rape everything with STAB Psychic. T-tar and Dugtrio can take it out, and if you actually use it (*snicker*) Articuno was MADE to kill Celebi.

Gengar: Unimpressive stats, though it's fast. What makes him shine is the typing (3 immunities, 4x resist Bug/Poison) and the fact that you can't predict it. It has a ridiculous movelist, and can go either special mashing with Thunderbolt, elemental punches, and Shadow Ball, or pull a fast Focus Punch out of its ass. Not much counters him straight, though Pyschics will if he didn't bring Shadow Ball and Blissey walls him if he didn't bring Focus Punch. Dusclops too.

Heracross: Powerhouse stats and Megahorn, like the one good bug attack in the game, makes Hercross feared. Rapes Celebi in particular, and can put a dent in pretty much anything. Salamence, Gyrados, and any physical wall stop Heracross in its tracks, though.

Jirachi: Good stats and awesome typing. He's very unpredictable, though most of his sets use Calm Mind. He's basically the only Special Sweeper that isn't lolpwnt by Snorlax and Blissey. Dugtrio, EQ Snorlax, T-Tar, and Metagross can stop him with difficulty.

Metagross: A ridiculously powerful attacker with good defenses. True, he's got bad speed, but that's what Agility is for. Plan: Agility up, Meteor Mash/EQ everything, go out with an explosion. Skarm and any big fat defensive water (*coughSuicunecough*) can wall Metagross off.

Milotic: Standard fat water type. Not as good as Suicune, but...well...HYPNOSIS! And Recover is pretty cool too. Electricity can put a dent in him, Blissy can stall him , and Starmie rapes him.

Raikou: The best special sweeper in the game, with the possible exception of Jirachi. Calm Mind up and start raping the shit out of everything that gets in your way. Flygon, Blissey, and Snorlax are the only surefire counters to him.

Salamence: The best physical sweeper, maybe. Possible exception: Aero and Tauros. Anyways, Dragon Dancing Saly is the scariest thing since a SD/Agility'd Groudon, and Choice Banding Saly pretty much devastates anything that gets in its way. The best thing is if you guess it's one and it turns out to be the other...well, hope you have life insurance. Anything fat with an ice attack kills it unless it's already DD'd up, Weezing walls him, and Skarm does too as long as Saly didn't bring fire blast.

Skarmory: What Blissey is to Special attacks, Skarm is to physical. It has pathetic stats in everything except defense, but backs up the insane defense with a strong steel/flying typing. There's not much that can stand up to, say, Salamence or Aerodactyl-but Skarm can. Spikes and Haze just make it more awesome. Only problem is Magneton rapes him (Magnet pull means no switch out and STAB Thunderbolt is a one-hit) and anything with Rapid Spin can make Spikes useless.

Snorlax: Snorlax is one of the most dominant Pokemon in every single generation, if not the single most dominant Pokemon overall. It can be a major threat on any team, no matter what moveset. This baby singlehandedly changed the whole metagame. The most powerful set is probably Curselax, who can curse up (I mean, it doesn't care about its speed anyways) and rape the hell out of everything that crosses its path. Stallity types work well against him: Celebi, Suicune, and SKARM! T-tar and Metagross can do a number on him too.

Starmie: Old school it is, but Starmie can wipe out a team that's not prepared for it. It's fast with a good special attack, but what makes it powerful is the insane moveset. Surf, Boltbeam, Recover, and Psychic are all decent choices, and Recover is very useful. It also gets Rapid Spin, which makes Spikers cry. Jolteon and Raikou scare it, as do Blissey and Snorlax. Lanturn is pure death too, but nobody cares about Lanturn.

Suicune: Say it with me. CM Cune has no weak. 
The best bulky water in the game. Roar gets very very very funny if you have some Spikes laid down, Ice Beam makes Suicune the game's best Salamence killer, Surf is just awesome, but it's best attack is Calm Mind. A CM'd up Suicune is impossible to stop, especially because Suicune has insane Defense AND Special Defense. Not many solid counters: Heracross, Raikou (Zapdos doesn't like Ice Beam), Polywrath is funny if not really workable, Lapras is also a counter that otherwise sucks, Ludicolo is just way too funny not to mention. If it used Rest, hard-hitters like Salamence can shred Suicune if its user isn't careful.

Tyranitar: Tyranitar is *the* most feared pokemon in pokémon today, as well it should be. No matter if it's Boah, a nigh-unstoppable Special Attacker with Focus Punch, or DDTar, who decimates everything if he pulls off ONE Dragon Dance. Seriously, any team that can't take T-tar is asking to have its head handed back in one long sweep. Swampert beats him up well. Flygon's okay, and so is Breloom. Zapdos with Light Screen can wall it FORVER, and Heracross beats the Focus Punch version. Claydol, too.

Zapdos: A great Special sweeper with excellent versatility. Just kill Blissey and Zapdos will be able to shred a good deal of things. He's probably the best for raw Lighting-type power, and the Light Screen version makes T-tar cry. Most special sponges can wall him off, and Lanturn gets honorable mention for doing so too. Swampert and Flygon work if he didn't bring Hidden Power, and Regice is an excellent counter.

OTHER STANDARDS: Frankly, the above 15 are strong, but using them all just makes for a boring game. The following are also excellent fighters, and will often show up on tournament teams.

Aerodactyl: 130 speed, 105 attack. Choice Band up and sweep.
Blaziken: Always a good option for firey goodness combined with good Fighting moves.
Claydol: THE T-tar wall, and great defense. Also has Rapid Spin.
Donphan: Good attack, defense, piss-poor Special/Speed. Walls, damages, Rapid Spinns.
Dragonite: Not Salamence, but a strong Dragon-type. Loses out to ice though.
Flygon: Good typing, decent stats, and insane movelist. Very unpredictable.
Gyrados: Taunt, Dragon Dance, kill. Walled by Skarm, so bring Maggy.
Jolteon: Fast lightning-type. Good baton passer, but Raikou's a better sweeper.
Ludicolo: Totally badass, good typing, good special wall. Not Blissey, but more fun.
Mangeton: Decent Special, great typing, world's #1 Skarmory raper.
Medicham: This guy strikes HARD. Only problem is that he's pretty slow.
Reice: Another decent Special Sponge. Benefits from okay defense too.
Sceptile: Only useful for Leaf Blade, like the one decent grass move ever.
Swampert: Covers Physical and Special well, counters a lot of popular pokes. Strong.
Vaporeon: Counters Suicune and has Wish/Baton Pass. Not as useful as Mr. No Weak.
Weezing: If you're sick to death of Skarm, Weezing is a strong alternative wall.