Starter Type Poll 2: Dark

[Greninja The Mario Karter]

If you haven't seen my post involving choosing a starter for every type, I would like to refresh you with some criteria I made, and the first criterion is mandatory. Here is the mandatory criterion. I'll be doing each of the eighteen types in poll form to see what everyone thinks.

• The Pokemon in question has to evolve twice (meaning it has to have a three stage evolutionary line), and it has to maintain its specified type throughout its entire line.

Here are the general targets that I hope to aim for.

1. I want Pokemon to get within or as close to starter base stat total ranges as possible. The ranges are 307-320 for base forms, 405-420 for middle forms, and 525-535 for final forms.
2. The Pokemon should ideally evolve via level up all the way through, and even more ideal, its first evolution should occur in the teens (level 10-19) while its second evolution should occur in the thirties (level 30 to 39). I will allow for non-level up evolutions, but I will try to avoid trade evolutions whenever possible.
3. I want to pick the Pokemon that looks and feels the most like a starter to me. I will allow for dual typed base forms if necessary, but I would prefer to avoid them if possible.

Going in alphabetical order, second is Dark. There are five options in this poll, but two of them immediately suck because of their egregious evolution levels.

If you want to see my doc on this ordeal, click this link here.

Picking a Starter for Every Type Using Existing Pokemon

Picking a Starter for Every Type Using Existing Pokemon Criteria for Starter Pokemon Mandatory Criterion The Pokemon must evolve twice, meaning it has to have a three stage evolutionary line, and it must maintain its specified type throughout its entire line. General Targets I want Pokemon to get...

docs.google.com

 

[Greninja The Mario Karter]

The three stage options for Dark are Galarian Zigzagoon, Sandile, Pawniard, Deino, and Impidimp, but Deino and Pawniard immediately suck. Their egregious evolution levels (50 then 64 for Deino and 52 for Pawniard) instantly disqualify them. Could you imagine not being able to evolve your starter a single time until level 50?

The remaining options are Galarian Zigzagoon, Sandile, and Impidimp, and the base forms are universally weaker than base form starters, with Sandile (292) getting the closest. However, Galarian Linoone (420) falls exactly within the range, while Krokorok (351) and Morgrem (370) are noticeably weaker. While all three lines evolve by level up, Galarian Zigzagoon has the best evolution levels, evolving at 20 then 35 (albeit at night), compared to Sandile evolving at 29 and 40, then Impidimp evolving at 32 and 42. Combine that with the fact that Obstagoon gets the closest to the range of the final forms, and Galarian Zigzagoon is the Dark starter.