Pikachu

Pikachu is the mascot of Pokemon and glass cannons alike. With Light Ball, few Pokemon on traditional offense teams are able to reliably switch into it. It threatens the tier's numerous Water- and Flying-types, and, unlike other Electric-types like Ampharos, it has Surf to 2HKO Ground-types like Nidoqueen and Piloswine. Pikachu's Speed is quite good too, surpassing threats such as Qwilfish, Kabutops, and Gyarados while tying with Mr. Mime. As a result, Pikachu is one of the scariest Pokemon to give free turns, possibly only being outdone in this regard by the dominant Scyther. However, its atrocious bulk leaves it taking heavy damage from almost every attack and OHKOed by any STAB Earthquake. While Pikachu is very powerful, it can fail to significantly damage threats like Hypno, Chansey, and Ampharos, which can threaten it in return. It faces competition from other, more reliable Electric-types such as Electabuzz, which has much better bulk and Speed. Pikachu‘s reliance on Light Ball also means Thief completely ruins it, and, while its Speed is good, it's slower than threats like Dodrio, Scyther, and Haunter. Pikachu is inconsistent, but it is still capable of destroying teams.