How do I figure out the pros and cons of a Pokemon?

Question

What do I need to compare when figuring out the pros and cons of one or more Pokemon.
Examples: How do I figure out the pros and cons of using Blastoise?
How do I figure out the pros and cons of Slowbro and Slowking?

Comments

Are you talking about for in-game or for competitive? Smogon is generally the place to go when looking for information about competitive and it has plenty of resources you can use. While it doesn't directly explain the pros and cons of each Pokemon, I recommend looking at the viability rankings of the tier you are interested in to help you determine what you want to use. If you don't see a Pokemon on there, chances are there is no point to using them at all as the cons far outweigh the pros. If you want more detail about a specific Pokemon then you can check to see if they have an analysis for them at https://www.smogon.com/dex/ss/pokemon/[Pokemon-name]/ but since the game is still relatively new there aren't entries for every single Pokemon yet. You still can get a basic idea about them by looking at their analysis from the previous generation, though.

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The pros or cons of any Pokémon would most likely be it’s type advantage or disadvantages. For example, Blastoise is pure water, which is not good for handling Grass or Electric types. But because it is Water type, it can also be super-effective against fire , rock or ground types if using a water type move. Hope I helped✌️

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Pros are usually resistances, higher stats, and good moves that the Pokemon can learn. Cons are usually weaknesses, lower stats, and good moves that the Pokemon can't learn. Also they depend on the format you're playing.

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It's more helpful to compare each Pokemon against each other than to simply think about pros and cons. You can have an excellent Pokemon whose pros far outweigh its cons, but it still won't be worth using if it's directly outclassed by another Pokemon.
The biggest pro a Pokemon can have is that it's the best at a particular function. The biggest con a Pokemon can have is that other Pokemon do its role better. Assessing this properly comes with understanding the metagame.

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Not all particular functions are useful. Being the best Lunatone counter is not a pro if very few opponents use Lunatone.

Answer 1

This one is quite simple yet complicated. All you have to do is simply check its movepool and see how it helps in its stats. Abilities and typing analysis should come after the movepool and stats. Let's take Black Kyurem for example and let's start with the stats

HP 125
Atk 170
Def 100
SpA 120
SpD 90
Spe 95

As you can see, it is mainly built to be a physical attacker. Now let's see if it's movepool helps it. *insert thinking face

Nope, it doesn't. It's dragon stab can be used with its 170 attack but its other type cannot. The only physical stab ice move it gets is freeze shock and we all know how that works. It gets worse. Most of the moves it gets are special. Now let's add its typing and abilities. It's typing, defensively, is garbage and ability, well you have a mold breaker with fancy name

Thus we can conclude that

pros
- monstrous attack stat
- decent speed and bulk
- powerful offensive type combination
- mold breaker with fancy name
- great coverage moves

cons
- relies on z crystal or power herb to make use of one of its stab on its 170 attack but even with that it's only a one time use
- lack of a physical movepool, meaning it has to rely on being a mixed attacker and thus making its 170 attack almost wasted
- stealth rocks
- many of those coverage moves are special

This is just a sample analysis. Basically, you just have to determine its role via analyzing stats then see if its movepool, abilities and typing help it in its role. Take note though, that this is only on paper. Things would be a lot more complicated if you factor in the metagame

Answer 2

The pros or cons of Pokémon can be decided by its typing. For example, Blastoise typing is water, which is weak against Grass or Electric types. It probably wouldn’t go well if you sent out a Blastoise against a Raichu or Venusaur. However , if it used a water type move on Charizard, then it would be super-effective. This may not be accurate, as some Pokémon can attack first with a move that’s super-effective even though they are weak to the opposing Pokémon’s moves if they are fast enough, or they can resist the hit of the super-effective move because of their high Defense or Sp.Defense. Hope I helped✌️