Pokémon: Ranking Each Member Of May’s Team

May is one of the rivals in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, & Emerald. Here are members of her in-game team, ranked.

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She might have been simply a contest star and travel companion in the anime, but May made for a great rival to the male protagonist in Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire and Pokémon Emerald. As the daughter of Professor Birch and an excited traveler from your hometown, her presence and joyous music is always great to run into on your journey.

When you do meet up with her on your journey, it’s usually to battle, where she proves herself further as one of the strongest rivals in the Pokémon series. These are all of her Pokémon that appear in the games, ranked in order of how strong and spectacular each of them is.

11 Torkoal

Torkoal is perhaps the most elusive of May’s partners, showing up in only one fight before never appearing again. This takes place in Pokémon Emerald early on in Rustboro City, being her only new Pokémon, if you started the game with Mudkip, before never appearing in any fights later in the game.

Not only is it odd for her to have a Pokémon that’s already claimed by Gym Leader Flannery as her signature Pokémon, but there’s no place she could have obtained this relatively rare Pokémon this early in the game. Altogether it’s just a confusing oddity, and not something distinctly recognizable as being one of May’s partners.

10 Numel

This fiery camel is in May’s party when you encounter her on Route 110, just under the Cycling Road. This battle is when you start seeing more of her team and is infamous as being one of the hardest rival fights in the entire Pokémon series.

That said, Numel is not the reason why. Thanks to its Fire-type and Ground-type combination, nearly any Water attack annihilates it, and with the mass of Water-types in this game it’s unlikely you’ll lack one. You also never see May evolve it into Camerupt, meaning you only fight this partner of hers in its weakest state.

9 Wailord

While Wailmer and Wailord are some of the most common Pokémon in all of Hoenn, it does fit her team significantly better than her previous partners. In the games, May is aiming to complete the Pokédex and explore, so raising strong and frequently-encountered Pokémon is a natural fit.

That said, Wailord in general has been a miss in terms of flavor in all of Pokémon. Having any trainer on land using one is a bizarre sight when you learn how big they are according to the Pokédex, and the choice to evolve it in the Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire remakes is odd. It might suit May, but it’s just too odd of a Pokémon for any trainer to use.

8 Breloom

Shroomish and Breloom are mostly unexciting Pokémon, but there’s not anything inherently wrong with them. The type-combination of Grass and Fighting makes for a unique fighter, and it learns tons of unique moves that set it apart from other Grass-types.

That said, you mostly get to see it as a Shroomish, with it only evolving in Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire. This is an absolute shame, as it takes a Pokémon that could be more distinctly belonging to May and does nothing with it besides making for a weak speed bump that your Pokémon will almost always be able to outmatch.

7 Ludicolo

Oddly enough, Ludicolo is the only version-exclusive Pokémon in May’s party, appearing in place of Shroomish and Breloom in Pokémon Emerald. Nonetheless, it fits her team’s theme by showing up everywhere early on in Pokémon Sapphire.

As common as it is, though, its joyous dancing self doesn’t fit with May’s explorative personality. The true owner of this Pokémon will always be Mirror B. from Pokémon Colosseum, who had a cheerful army of them dancing alongside him. With such an iconic owner, it feels unfair to take him away and give to a rival that doesn’t match that type of energy.

6 Magcargo

This is another Pokémon that May gains slightly too early, but as far as a scientifically interesting and common species goes, it’s great for her. It’s a Fire-type that shows up in the Lavaridge Gym, but its evolved form is rarely seen and its odd secondary Rock-typing makes it both curious and unique to May.

Unfortunately, it remains a less exciting Slugma in the original games, only evolving into Magcargo in the newer Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire. This seems like a miss in Pokémon Emerald, so it’s at least good that these newer versions could do more justice to her team.

5 Pelipper

The big-beaked pelican Pelipper is the cookie-cutter for May’s theme. It’s everywhere in Hoenn, it’s not claimed by any other trainers, and it can undoubtedly pack quite a punch in the right matchups thanks to its strong type-combination of Water and Flying.

While many types of Pokémon can resist it, it’s cleverly common against you. May uses Pelipper in Pokémon Emerald only if you have Treecko, which is weak to Flying-types, and Mudkip, whose Ground-type moves don’t affect Flying-types. May is playing directly against you with this party member and proves how clever she can be.

4 Raichu

Unless you’re a Pokéfan or Ash Ketchum himself, you don’t typically expect most trainers to have a Pikachu in their party. It might be cute and powerful, but for the most part, it’s extremely unusual to see someone using it just as a random inclusion since it needs to maintain its fame and brand identity.

Just having its evolution Raichu instead, though, is a clever way to get around this rule and lets a rival use this popular Pokémon. Rivals don’t always get great Electric-types like this, and it’s well-known enough that it’s a great exception to her usual rule of powerful commons while still being identifiably hers.

3 Swellow

Having the common Normal-type bird is completely on-brand for May, but the fact that it’s so powerfully effective of a Pokémon is what makes it distinctly her own. Few trainers use Swellow besides in the Fortree Gym, so getting to see another trainer use this flyer to its best shows the type of talented trainer May can be.

What holds it back from being a top member of her team, though, is that it’s relatively boring in its use. It can be quite strong, and in competitive battles, it can take great advantage of a Toxic Orb thanks to its Guts ability that boosts its power when under a status ailment, but May only uses it as a plain and neutral beater.

2 Tropius

Besides Wailord, Tropius is the largest Pokémon that May ever brings out, and makes a much superior titan to have in her arsenal. This flying dinosaur is a great example of the nature you explore around Fortree City, and while it’s quite large it’s by no means threatening or scary.

The last thing anyone would expect her to be is a threatening opponent with frightening monsters at her disposal. Unlike Blue and Silver, May is an incredibly friendly rival, and Tropius perfectly represents her identity as a neighborly opponent who puts exploration over battling.

1 Torchic, Treecko, and Mudkip

At the end of the day, what makes a rival is their first and prime Pokémon, and it’s almost always one of the starters you didn’t choose. You hardly see the starters of Hoenn elsewhere in the game, and being Professor Birch’s daughter it makes complete sense for her to have one.

Thanks to the high power of the starters in this generation, it also ends up being her strongest Pokémon by a huge margin and is most of what makes the Route 110 fight so challenging. Since her team is built around her starter, you’re also organically encouraged to find counters, so while it might seem overpowered, it’s plenty satisfying to defeat.

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