Grave-E

WATER

Favourite

LUDICOLO

Following in the footsteps of Slowpoke Rodriguez and continuing the trend of cartoon characters perpetuating negative ethnic stereotypes, we have Ludicolo.
Just look at him. So jolly and happy, just wanting to boogie down. It makes me sick.
With dance fever. Cue the water-type-tight court cases!

Ludicolo is always going to be in my top 5 'mons. I love wacky, wild-card characters, and this guy fits the bill perfectly, which is great considering he has one. His ecstatic attitude is one that happens to be oddly infectious, and combined with his bizarre appearence, I always end up smiling whenever I see this character. Only the guys at gamefreak could somehow connect the dots from lilypad, to kappa, to mariachi maestro and manage to make it work so seamlessly. There are many 'mons whose character designs I often find myself wishing I could have come up with, but this is the one that always seems to bring that thought forward most often. 'I wish I could have created this character'.

Also, though I'm not much of a competitive battler, Ludicolo has always served me well on the videogame side of things. While known for his unique rain dish/substitute/leech seed combo, since his introduction to the series, it's always been the simple swift swim variant that I've been particularly fond of. Though whichever strategy you opt for, he's always going to be dancing around happily, as if seemingly taunting your opponent as the last of their hp is sapped away.

Least Favourite

SEAKING

Man, this thing is...unfathomably boring.

Seel and Dewgong are based on fairly interesting animals, and are stylised to a degree where they're definable from the creatures they're based on, so they can at least get away with having a horn tacked on and calling it a day.
This guy has no excuse. Take away that horn, and it literally is just a goldfish. The animal that a kid is forced to settle for when their parents won't let them keep a puppy/kitty/pony in the house.
What makes it worse is that it's pre-evolved form looks as if it has a a ton of personality in comparison, what with that pretentious glare and pouting lips, as well as a gown-like tail to accentuate it's...femininity? There's a word I never thought I'd be applying to a fish...
In any case, when you're able to make someone appreciate Goldeen of all 'mon, you know you're going to be left floundering on a favourites menu.
Definitely the 1st gen at it's very worst.