The 10 best rental Pokemon in Pokemon Stadium

destructoid.com:

The rerelease of Pokemon Stadium via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack has been a mixed bag. On one hand, it’s great to see a spinoff like Pokemon Stadium see the light of day again. Interest in competitive Pokemon battling has taken off exponentially since 2000, so Stadium in many ways feels more relevant today than it was at launch.

On the other hand, the greatest feature of Pokemon Stadium was its integration with Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow via the N64 Transfer Pak. The Switch release of Pokemon Stadium sorely lacks this, forcing players to use rental Pokemon with… less than ideal movesets. Pokemon like Alakazam that are otherwise very good in Generation 1 are rendered practically useless due to rental movesets. Beating Pokemon Stadium with rentals is an uphill battle, but if you are absolutely dedicated, you can make progress with these monsters. You just have to know who to choose.

A couple disclaimers. First, the “best rental Pokemon” will change depending on the encounter. Every Pokemon’s move pool changes between Cups, which can dramatically affect their viability. Additionally, some rental Pokemon counter specific trainers better than others. For example, Dugtrio isn’t on this list, but it is invaluable in outspeeding Lt. Serge’s Raichu before it uses Surf.

Additionally, remember that we’re reverting to Generation 1 rules in Pokemon Stadium. Special Attack and Special Defense are lumped into one stat, and physical/special moves are predetermined by Type. So moves like Ice Punch do not scale off Attack. With all that out of the way, here are generally the best rental Pokemon in Pokemon Stadium.

Here’s the thing about Psychic-Type Pokemon in Generation 1: they’re practically uncontested. Even an