Nintendo IGN Readers' Choice Top 10

10)

Zekrom is large, full of electric charge and also serves as cover model for Pokémon White Version, which seems to be the preferred version of the game in North America. Zekrom is the only Pokémon from Black and White to appear in the top 10 -- No love for Chandelure!

9)

Generation II's incredible powerhouse, Tyranitar was a truly intimidating sight to see brought out in battle against you -- and a wonderfully satisfying source of shock for your own opponents when you trained one for your own team. Its typing, which included the then-new Dark-type, further solidified it as an imposing, even evil force not to be trifled with. It's held up over time, too, as it's still a popular option for serious battlers a decade later.

8)

Zapdos is the Electric-type terror that trainers first faced in the depths of Kanto's supercharged Power Plant. Because of its earlier placement in that quest relative to Articuno and Moltres.

7)

Rayquaza is a wickeder dragon than the entire cast of Dragon Wars, Reign of Fire, and Dragonheart combined. The third Pokémon in the legendary Weather Trio, Rayquaza comes to stop the fighting between Groudon and Kyogre that would destroy the world.

6)

Mew starred in the first Pokémon movie and one of the rarest Pokémon in the franchise, but many don't actually have one. Originally designed as a bit of an Easter egg for GameFreak's own staff, Mew quickly became more notable for its scarcity than its power or design.

5)

There's just something about this big, friendly dragon that's just so gosh darn lovable. In fact, I love all of his forms before this too, from the super cure Dratini to the graceful Dragonair.

4)

The soaring, shrieking king of the seas, Lugia is the monstrous beast who headlined half of Pokémon's second generation by appearing on the box of Silver. It stood out so much more than Ho-Oh, though, that it's gone on to become one of the franchise's most iconic legendary creatures -- it was featured again as "Shadow Lugia" in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness and Nintendo even once modified a Chrysler PT Cruiser to look like this most intimidating of Water-types.

3)

A blue turtle with giant cannons sticking out of its back is certainly amazing. It’s amusing to look back through the visual evolution of this creature -- in the Red/Blue days, Blastoise comes across more like a fat hippopotamus than a massively popular, kick ass Pokémon.

2)

This clone of Mew, which was intended to be the last of 150 first generation creations, just screams "awesome," and having it be one of the lead creatures in the first movie only solidified its star status. Mewtwo's popularity was also proven as it made the jump into Nintendo's juggernaut Super Smash Bros. series.

1)

When the Poke-Duel voting began, the editors around the office started speculating about which Pokémon would finally rise above the rest. It was all but certain that a first generation creature would rank first, but which would it be? Would it be Pikachu, the icon of the series for fifteen years? Perhaps Mew or Mewtwo, two of the rarest Pokémon of that era? Or perhaps it'd be one of the starter Pokémon -- one of the first three players ever laid eyes on in a Pokémon game?