Top 10 Flying Pokémon

This ancient Rock/Flying dinosaur from the original generation is as fast as it is fierce. Blessed with blistering speed even amongst Flying type Pokémon, it has been said to enjoy tearing out the throats of its enemies! For these reasons, it has been used by countless trainers in the original games to become Pokémon masters. A staple throughout the anime series since the show began, it received a further boost from the release of mega stones, as mega Aerodactyl is as threatening as it has ever been.

This Brave Bird is Reckless!! Staraptor’s hidden ability, boosts the damage it delivers while also hurting itself. Paired with its potent attacks, this Pokémon is notoriously hard hitting, as one of the most physically powerful birds in the game. A staple of Ash’s team in the Diamond and Pearl series, Staraptor is featured in a classic mid-battle-evolution scenes, in which it grows from Staravia to Staraptor to win a battle against a Honchkrow. This bird will always take a hit to make the play!

From its modest start as Ash’s cute and lonely Charmander , Ash quickly lost the handle on this teenaged rebel when it evolved into Charmeleon, and could barely convince it to save his life as it became a fully grown Charizard!

A core member of Ash’s team since then, Charizard was always a bit of a throwaway competitively due to its four times weakness to rock, that is until it took a prominent step forward in the Pokémon world with the introduction of mega evolutions, receiving two mega forms for trainers to choose from! Sure, we don’t always associate him with being a flying type – since he wasn’t one initially – but we couldn’t help but give him a shout-out in this list.

Remember how much you loved seeing his base form in caves? Neither do we! But if you put in the work, the annoying Zubat would turn into this speed demon. Boasting the same speed as Aerodactyl, this poisonous bat can make quick work of its opponents. One of the better Pokémon that one could evolve by increasing the friendship stat, the best example of this can be seen with Brock’s Golbat, whose friendship over the series transformed it into Crobat. As we often see in the world of Pokémon, friendship always prevails!

This Pokémon proves that sometimes you really can judge a book by its cover! Salamence looks as fierce as it is powerful: it boasts dominant stats, Dragon/Flying typing, a strong movepool, as well as a mega evolution! Salamence plays a few roles in the series, such as being the mount for the villainous Pokémon hunter “J”. Because of its role as an iconic flying/dragon since the third generation, as well as its dominant mega evolution form, there is no surprise this monster makes our list.

Ho-oh is a particularly iconic Pokémon in this list, as it appeared to Ash in the first episode of the series, and has inspired his journey ever since. Ho-oh is a Legendary Pokemon, and as such, it packs fearsome stats and an extremely useful ability called Regenerator. It’s considered the master of the three Legendary Beasts, Entei, Suicune, and Raikou, as well as the counterpart to Lugia. As far as well-known birds go, it is hard to match Ho-oh!

Ban this beast! Rayquaza has no regard for fair play, as its typing, stats and moves are all overpowered - and we haven’t even talked about its mega evolution! Mega Rayquaza is strong in every regard that in many competitive environments it is fully banned.

Its dominance owes to the role that it plays in the Pokemon pantheon. Rayquaza is the master of the weather trio along with Groudon and Kyogre, and its extreme power is the only thing that prevents them from subjecting the world to an apocalyptic war of the elements. It is good to know that this monster is out there patrolling the skies!

Boasting incredible defence stats, Psychic/Flying typing, and the ability multiscale, this Legendary bird is incredibly hard to take out. Its role in the Pokémon world is also iconic, in no small part due to the baby Lugia named silver that Ash meets in Johto. Who could possibly resist an adorable legendary Pokémon? Lugia also plays an important role in Pokémon lore, as it is considered guardian of the sea and master of the first generation Legendary Birds.

Where Pidgeot lacks in stats, it makes up in brand name recognition! This bird is the original flying type - at least according to anyone born before 1997. The first flying/normal type found in the generation one pokedex, Pidgeot is the most similar pokemon to a common pidgeon.

While it may not be gifted with stellar stats, it did receive a mega evolution, providing a niche for it as a speedy special attacker. And who can forget Ash’s Pidgeot, which evolved while saving him from a flock of Fearows, before leaving him to watch over other pidgeys and pidgeottos. Is anyone else waiting for that big return?

At the top spot we have the first generation Legendary trio: Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Not only are these the most iconic flying type Pokémon, they are also iconic examples of their secondary typings: ice, electric and fire. These birds paved the way for later legendary trios with their identical base stats, shared primary typing, and status as being equal among themselves in Pokémon lore. While they may not actually be equal in competitive play as Articuno and Moltres both share a crippling four times weakness to rock, nothing has stopped the three from capturing the imagination of fans since their debut in the original games and series.