Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are the first entries in the ninth generation of the franchise, and they take place in the Paldea region. Like all other mainline entries into the franchise, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will introduce new Pokemon while also including many that have featured in previous regions as well.
The Johto region was first introduced in the second generation of the franchise, starting with Pokemon Gold and Silver. Since then the Johto region has been revisited in Pokemon Crystal and the remakes of the original pair; HeartGold and SoulSilver. Out of the hundreds of Pokemon that have been designed over the past two decades, several inhabitants of the Johto region could be considered some of the best there are.
10 Ampharos
Ampharos is a solid choice for anyone looking to add a pure Electric-type Pokemon to their team, and it also has the ability to learn other moves of several types as it levels up. The ability to paralyze opponents is always appealing, and Ampharos' high special attack makes it one of the stronger Pokemon that can make good use of that.
Combining the variety that Ampharos offers in special attacks with the fact that it only has a single weakness to ground-type attacks makes it a bulky offensive option for any team.
9 Jumpluff
Jumpluff might seem like an unusual choice given that it doesn't have particularly high offensive or defensive stats but this dual grass and flying-type Pokemon can be fantastic if used properly. Jumpluff has access to the classic grass-type moves that drain the opponent of HP in order to keep itself healthy, while also offering several ways to inflict status ailments.
Using moves like Giga Drain alongside Poison Powder and Stun Spore gives players the ability to grind an opponent down over several turns without suffering much damage at all.
8 Scizor
The Johto region is perhaps best known for introducing steel-type Pokemon to the franchise and some of them remain great options to this day. Scizor is the evolution of Scyther and as such it retains the bug type as well, giving it access to the incredibly strong X-Scissor attack but also rendering it very weak to fire-type attacks.
As long as there are other options within the team to take out fire-type Pokemon, Scizor can be a great addition due to its strong offense and resiliency to other types.
7 Misdreavus
Misdreavus is relatively weak offensively but ghost-type Pokemon have long been good choices thanks to their immunity to several types. What Misdreavus does offer is access to Perish Song and Mean Look, a rare move combination that guarantees that any Pokemon will be forced to stay on the field and then faint within four turns so long as Misdreavus survives.
Since being introduced in the Johto region, Misdreavus also evolves thanks to a development made in the fourth generation. This evolution into Mismagius greatly improves its offensive capability while retaining all the existing benefits.
6 Tyranitar
Tyranitar is simultaneously the strongest dark Pokemon introduced in the first eight generations, and the strongest rock Pokemon available as well. It does have plenty of type weaknesses in order to balance out its power and is relatively slow, but it's still one of the best Pokemon from the Johto region.
Its high base stats coupled with the ability to learn both Hyper Beam and Giga Impact make Tyranitar a fantastic choice for anyone building a team from the Johto region provided they're willing to accept the drawbacks.
5 Umbreon
Eevee is one of the most popular Pokemon in the entire franchise thanks to its cute design and the huge amount of options when evolving it. Two of its evolutions were introduced in the Johto region and one of them, Umbreon, can be incredibly useful in a long and drawn-out battle.
Umbreon is a dark type with the ability to cause different status ailments in order to slowly drain an opponent while its high defensive stats enable it to stay relatively safe at the same time.
4 Espeon
Espeon is the second of the two Eevee evolutions that were introduced in the Johto region and is often regarded as one of the best options by some fans. It has some of the highest speed stats of any Pokemon and the fact that it's a pure psychic type with high special-attack makes it a great offensive choice for any team.
These factors give Espeon the ability to cause huge amounts of damage early on which makes it a great alternative to other psychic types like Alakazam and Hypno.
3 Houndoom
Any Pokemon whose design is based on a dog is always going to be popular with fans, but Houndoom is one of the few who are actually functional as well. Houndoom's design was based on both the mythology surrounding hellhounds and the real-life Doberman Pinscher, giving it one of the most fearsome looks of any Pokemon in the Johto region.
It's a dual-fire and dark-type Pokemon with quite high attacking stats, which often allows players to overpower opposing types that would normally give it trouble.
2 Blissey
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Blissey is the generation two evolution of one of the Pokemon most often seen in the anime at the side of Nurse Joy, Chansey. It's a normal-type Pokemon with high HP and special defense that combines to allow it to survive well against opponents who focus on special attacks.
Blissey only has a single weakness, against the fighting-type, and access to healing moves which makes it a solid choice for anyone looking to outlast a Pokemon that can make short work of the rest of their team.
1 Donphan
Donphan is one of the best pure ground-type Pokemon ever introduced and has very few weaknesses as a result. It also has access to a number of normal-type moves as it levels up, giving it more versatility than it would first appear.
Donphan was also one of a select few Johto inhabitants to have a major role in the anime as a member of Ash Ketchum's team after being caught as a Phanpy, making him stick in the mind of many fans of the franchise.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet will release for Nintendo Switch on November 18, 2022.