Ask an old-school Pokemon fan which Genration was the best, and they'll say "the first." And of course they have every reason to think so, as the First Generation was the most culturally visible and relevant of ALL Pokemon generations, to the point they're the only Pokemon commonly known. But if we were to take a step back from the Nostalgia and the personal bias, could we honestly answer the question of which Generation was objectively the BEST?
Consider what each Generation brought to the table. Generation 2 introduced 2 new typings, a whole new region that connected to the previous one, new Pokeballs, and of course new Pokemon. Generation 3 introduced Pokemon Abilities, the biggest and most graphically varied region to date, and of course new Pokemon. Generation 4 introduced tons of new features such as the Dream World, separating damage into Physical and Special (which previous Genrations limited to the Typing of the attack; EG Normal was always Physical and Fire was always Special), and the chance of a Pokemon species having more than one ability, further proving that each Pokemon is unique. Generation 5 introduced 156 Pokemon, more than any other Generation to date, plus the Global Link. Generation 6 added Pokemon Amie and put the franchise fully into 3D. And finally Generation 7 replaced HM's with Ride Pokemon, freeing the player from wasting a team slot on a Pokemon reserved only for using HM moves.
Each generation of Pokemon builds up on what the last one achieved, adding more to what were already fantastic games. In this sense, we could logically say "Generation 7 is the best," but that's not right. Every Generation might build up from the previous, but each Generation HAS to be measured individually in order for us to truly come to objectively declare one Generation to be the best.
Ah, but how? That's the conundrum. In order for us to truly measure each Generation against each other, we need to find a criteria that each Generation can match. And what would that criteria be? This is where our analysis starts hitting road blocks.
Let's say we use the criteria of Starters. Which Generation had the best Starter Pokemon? Were we to analyze them vy Type combinations, we could easily and safely say Generation 4 had the best Starters due to their final stages having some of the best typings I've ever seen. Torterra is, from a type combination POV, the BEST Grass Starter ever, due to only having 4 weaknesses, one Immunity, and two Resistances. Empoleon is also the second best Grass Starter, having 3 weaknesses, 9 Resistances (one of them being Double) and one Immunity. Infernape, Typing wise, is the worst of the Gen 4 Starters. But saying such a thing ignores that Infernape is a BEAST offensively speaking! By using this same criteria, we find the WORST Generation to be Generation 2, whose starters are all Monotype, hindering their offensive and defensive capabilities.
But then this ignores just what Generation 2 has going for it. Generation 2's contributions to the franchise can never be overstated; this is the Generation responsible for at least 50% of the entire franchise as it exists today! The introduction of the Steel and Dark types did much more than weaken Psychic; it gave the Fighting type a (pardon the pun) fighting chance to be considered not just useful, but ESSENTIAL in team building! Furthermore, separating the Special stat into Special Attack and Special Defense completely and utterly changed the game in ways that can never, ever be fully put into words. In Generation 1, thanks to the Special stat, Psychic types DOMINATED the meta-game. Starting in Generation 2, this was no longer, and would never again, be the case.
But what about the only other Generation to introduce a new typing, Generation 6? The introduction of the Fairy type didn't just weaken Dragon types, they gave Poison and Steel types justification for being used offensively. However, unlike the introduction of Steel and Dark, Fairy didn't change the Meta in such an atomic way; sure giving a new weakness to Dragon is always nice, but Dragon hasn't dominated the Meta in the way Psychic did back in Generation 1.
So does this mean Generation 2 was the best? No! In spite of introducing two new types, Generation 2 only introduced 6 Pokemon for each of these new types. What's more, the player couldn't get any Dark types beyond Umbreon until after beating the Elite Four, and Pokemon Gold players who couldn't trade found themselves having access to only HALF of all Steel types! Why? Because two of the new Steel Types were Pokemon who evolved through trading (Steelix and Scizor) and one was version exclusive to Pokemon Silver (Skarmory)!
Contrast with Generation 3, which doubled the amount of Steel and Dark type Pokemon available, while also doing the same to the Ghost AND Dragon types, which by then only counted with 4 Pokemon each! As if that were not enough, Generation 3 introduced the first Legendary Rock and Steel Pokemon in the franchise! Further, Generation 3 made the first Steel type Pseudo-Legendary, Metagross!
So does that make Generation 3 the BEST? Not at all! Generation 3 was a step back, technologically speaking, from Generation 2 in some ways. In spite of appearing on a far more potent and sophisticated console than its predecessor, Generation 3 did away with the day/night cycle that awed players the world over in Generation 2. This made the Generation 3 games appear less advanced than Generation 2; the day/night cycle was one of the most BRILLIANT ideas Generation 2 ever implemented, and it made the Pokemon world seem more real.
Further, the games lacked a clear cut Rival character for the player to potentially wish to continously beat. This is something Generation 1 continues to outperform all future entries, as the Rival from that game was deliciously smug and condescending, but always ALWAYS a challenge to the player. Generation 2's rival took everything that made Rival 1 so good and expanded on it by adding a character arc of redemption. These two elements were sorely absent in Generation 3. (Wally MIGHT count, but he's not fought often enough in my opinion)
Generation 4 brought back the day/night cycle, while also greatly improving on several gameplay mechanics. The damage split between Physical and Special made many Attacks so much better, such as Flame Kick or Fire Punch, which took advantage of Blaziken's or Infernape's high Attack stats. Further, the introduction of Rotom gave the Ghost type the UBER Pokemon it needed, as Rotom was, typing wise, a BEAST. Only 2 weaknesses and 3 Immunities? YES PLEASE!
So Generation 4 is the best, right? Well, I'd say it's a CONTENDER for the best, but it has some glaring weaknesses we cannot ignore. Generation 4 brought competitive battling to new heights, as it was now possible to trade and battle players all around the world via Internet. But thanks to the move Stealth Rock, the Meta AGAIN became dominated by one type of Pokemon: Rock. Specifically, Rock types that could use Stealth Rock! This necessitated a nerf for Stealth Rock in Generation 5.
Now this is a personal opinion, but I find that far too many Generation 4 Pokemon to be unmemorable, or worse, memorable for the wrong reasons. Take Vespiqueen as an example. You get it from evolving female Combee at level 21. Fair enough, except that Combee have an 11% chance of being female! Further, to get a Combee you need to slather a special tree with honey and wait a total of 6 HOURS! Once you do, you have a 20% chance of finding a Combee! So...GOOD FUCKING LUCK!!!
Of course this isn't to say that Combee is the most frustrating Pokemon to catch. That honor belongs to Chansey in Generation 1, with the second place held by Feebas in Generation 3 (only found on 6 tiles all game). Combee can be said to be in the top 5.
But the more I think about it, the more I realize that for every BAD thing in Generation 4, there's a GOOD thing to counter it. Generation 4 has more evolutions and pre-evolutions for past Pokemon than there have ever been before or since. This CAN be seen as a bad thing. However, many of these evolutions are for Pokemon whom fans have been DYING to see evolve, such as Yanma, Murkrow, Sneasel, and Tangela. Likewise, Cyrus from Team Galactic? FANTASTIC VILLAIN! Cyrus was by far the best villain introduced in the franchise so far, and in my opinion, only N and Ghetsis surpass him.
Seriously. Giovanni was just a crime lord making a dishonest buck. Archie and Maxie were just eco-terrorists who were too short sighted in their goals. Cyrus wanted to end the goddamn world. That's hard core. Cyrus raised the stakes on how Pokemon villains could, and should, be: threats to the world. Sure Maxie and Archie also threatened the world; difference is, they didn't know what they were doing. Cyrus DID, and that's what makes him all the more memorable.
As villains go, however, I HAVE to give it to N and Ghetsis from Generation 5. These two provided something Pokemon had never see before: villains with DIMENSION to them. Team Plasma in itself was the manifestation of all concerns fans of the games had for the game world from day 1: of Pokemon being animal fighters exploited by humans for blood sport. The game then deliciously DECONSTRUCTS and DESTROYS these arguments by showing that, no, Pokemon are not enslaved or abused; they LOVE battling, and humans and Pokemon belong together.
Eeverything Generation 4 did, Generation 5 did better. Aha! But then we just go back to our first argument; by measuring each Pokemon game by the evolution of its mechanics, then Generation 7 wins handily and easily! But the fact that the 7th Generation has its own share of flaws keeps it from being the absolute BEST.
And so we find that we've gone nowhere in our arguments. However, were I to throw my hat in the ring, I'd say the CLOSEST Gen to be considered the best is Generation 4. With the best Starters in the series, a fantastic villain, beautiful graphics that have aged well, as well as a true implementation of a day/night cycle, this Generation might well be the BEST yet. Ironic, considering it's my least favorite.
Oh, and for the curious, this is my personal rankings for each Generation:
7- Generation 4 (Diamond and Pearl)
6- Generation 5 (Black and White)
5- Generation 1 (Red and Blue/Green)
4- Generation 6 (X and Y)
3- Generation 3 (Ruby and Saphire)
2- Generation 7 (Sun and Moon)
1- Generation 2 (Gold and Silver)
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