They really had to bend the rules to fit Colorless Pokémon into the Gym Sets. There was no Kanto gym leader associated with normal-types, so they pretty much just slotted these 'mons onto characters based purely on vibes. As a result, they tend to not really synergize with the leader-themed strategies, so they feel a lot less tied to their leaders than other cards in the sets.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. As we'll soon see, a few of the most powerful cards in the gym series came from this "fits in any deck" design philosophy.
Koga's Pidgey (lv 15) is an exactly average Basic, which is appropriate for the line in question. I tend to judge these more "boring" Basics by what they evolve into, but in this case there's no worthwhile Evolution coming.
As a result, this card can't receive a very high score. I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to throw a by-the-numbers basic in my deck, if it isn't going anywhere with the concept.
Grade: 3/10
Koga's Pidgey (lv 9) is at least a more interesting concept. This card does face the same issue most support 'mons face in these early sets, though. You can easily build a self-sufficient draw/search engine out of just the Trainers.
Still, this little guy has real applications in more limited formats, most notably Prop 15/3. I can't bring myself to give him a low score, but he has to stay somewhere in the middle since he only shines in a deeply limited format.
Grade: 5/10
Koga's Pidgeotto would have been pretty mediocre as a mid-stage Evolution card, but it gets worse. There is no Koga's Pidgeot. That's right; THIS is the payoff for the entire Evolution line.
It really feels like they were going to complete some of these lines later and never got around to it. Anyway, it has the stats of a 'mon that should evolve one more time, but it never does. Put it back in your binder.
Grade: 2/10
Lt. Surge's Rattata (lv 7) is roughly a side-grade to the original Rattata, with its low HP and free Retreat Cost. The attacks aren't as good as the efficient Bite of the original, though. The big upside here is that the Evolution Card is much better.
But the frailty of the line drags it down, and having to start from Rattata is a big part of the problem. As such, I can't bring myself to actually give this card a very high score.
Grade: 4/10
Lt. Surge's Rattata (lv 10) isn't very good either. It's ever so slightly bulkier, but lacks the free retreat. I'd run the previous version when it's necessary, but you should only ever consider them if using their Evolution.
Comparing the attacks is a wash, too. Quick Attack and Gnaw do the same average damage for the same energy cost. It's just a question of whether you like coin flips.
Grade: 3/10
Lt. Surge's Raticate (lv 32) is the only reason you would run this line, but it is a pretty compelling option. It has the same HP-halving Super Fang that the original Raticate had, but for a single Colorless energy!
There's actually a respectable deck built around it that abuses Mr. Mime's Meditate to finish off 'mons after their health is halved. It sounds like a joke, but it's more viable than you think. Still, this card isn't a self-sufficient threat without the combo.
Grade: 7/10
Lt. Surge's Raticate (lv 33) performs the very important role of being the useless older brother. To be fair, it can do 40 damage for a single Double Colorless Energy...while smacking itself for 20.
The other version's Super Fang will do comparable (or higher) damage without recoil for less energy on most board states. But this one can pop a Baby, so it's a decent one-of if your deck is already running its sibling card.
Grade: 4/10
Lt. Surge's Spearow (lv 8) is exactly the same as the original Rattata, just with a different Weakness and Resistance. But a Weakness to Lightning is awful, and that Fighting Resistance was a lot more important in Base-Fossil than it is in later formats.
I have nothing against this card, but it's decidedly average in the grand scheme of the WotC era. There are much better options out there.
Grade: 4/10
Lt. Surge's Spearow (lv 17) isn't super compelling, but Razor Wind does have a 50/50 chance of taking down anything with 40 HP or less for a single DCE attachment. (Or a 25% chance of one-shotting a baby.)
The free retreat cost is especially nice. And while I don't love Whirlwind, there are times when a cheap Whirlwind might put a threatening opponent away for a turn or two while the opponent adjusts their board.
Grade: 5/10
Lt. Surge's Fearow deserves some credit for being an extremely efficient attacker with a free Retreat Cost. If you attach a DCE, then you get to start doing an average of 25 damage per turn for one attachment. That's not bad at all.
Clutch is a nice option to have, mainly because it always does exactly 30 damage. That's an important threshold to hit in all of the Neo formats, so it's nice to have it here.
Grade: 6/10
Erika's Clefairy (lv 16) can evolve 'mons the turn they come into play, and from the deck no less! It does rely on a coin flip to make this happen, though. One cool gimmick application is to use this to get around Fossil Aerodactyl's Evolution-blocking effect.
It is a very playable card, but I don't love relying on coin flips to get my setup going. Probably not worth it in formats with Cleffa, but worth consideration otherwise.
Grade: 6/10
Erika's Clefairy (lv 17) has another consistency-boosting attack, this time searching your deck for any Basic Energy card. It doesn't actually accelerate your energy to the board, though.
If there were an evolution that synergized with it, then maybe it could be cool in a multi-color deck. Unfortunately, the lone Erika's Clefable definitely pairs better with the previous card.
Grade: 4/10
Erika's Clefable is only middling as an attacker, but you could use it in combination with its pre-evolution to start spamming the effects of Evolution Cards that activate on entry, most notably Dark Crobat.
One use of Fairy Power could potentially reset an entire board full of Dark Golbat and Dark Crobat, allowing you to reuse all that damage again. Erika's Clefable is far from mandatory, but it definitely has a niche.
Grade: 7/10
Erika's Jigglypuff is the most concise way to tell your opponent that you reject them and everything they stand for. 40 damage on turn 1, before factoring in any Pluspowers. In a format where many basics cap out at 40-50 HP.
War crimes have never been this cute. The fact that the most aggressive card released at the time had an attack called "Group Therapy" that could heal the opponent is just icing on the cake. It hits with all the elegance and grace of an elephant's butt cheeks.
Grade: 10/10
Giovanni's Meowth (lv 12) is forgettable. False Charity might snipe a powerful trainer, but it's just as likely to give your opponent a free draw. Double Scratch is usable, though, and only costs a single Double Colorless Energy.
I don't love the low HP on a card with no protection effects, but this would just barely be a serviceable card if the Evolution were at least above average. But the Evolution is not above average.
Grade: 3/10
Giovanni's Meowth (lv 17) has better HP, but a debilitating Retreat Cost. You normally expect clunky Retreat Costs to be reserved for excellent basics like Base Hitmonchan or Base Electabuzz, so it absolutely doesn't fit the card here.
Cat Fleas is okay, but luck-reliant, and Cat Kick is too expensive to warrant sticking around for. If you can afford to use Cat Kick, you probably should've evolved by now...assuming there was a good Evolution card...
Grade: 3/10
Giovanni's Persian is only useful for searching out a copy of specifically Giovanni, the one and only card it can search for. Except...you could just run more copies of Giovanni instead.
Everything else about the card reads like a punchline. 60 HP and an attack that's arguably worse than the pre-evolution's Cat Kick. Also, the irony of using an Evolution to search for a card that speeds up Evolutions is palpable.
Grade: 2/10
Blaine's Doduo is a very solid basic at a glance. Decent HP, acceptable attacks, and free retreat. It even has an attack that's functionally identical to Flail from previous sets.
The issue is that it doesn't evolve into anything that really matters. While the original Doduo evolved into a metagame staple that defines entire archetypes, this is just a solid Basic with an unimpressive Evolution card.
Grade: 3/10
Blaine's Dodrio does, for what it's worth, have a very powerful attack. It's just a shame that this very powerful attack completely whiffs on a coin flip. The most important 'mons from generation 1 have 70 HP, meaning you can't quite knock them out, and the most important 'mons from the Neo sets have 30 HP, meaning 50 damage is overkill.
It's also a little embarrassing for this card to have a Retreat Cost, considering the original Dodrio was still around at the time and just as strong as ever.
Grade: 2/10
Brock's Lickitung is actually kind of neat, if only because purely aggressive Lickitung cards are a bit rare. Its attacks are entirely focused on doing consistent damage, but it retains a very high HP stat for a Basic.
I suppose if you're playing a sealed format it's actually pretty solid as a card any deck can use, so it probably did go in a lot of casual decks at the time. But in constructed play, it just can't hang with the big dogs.
Grade: 4/10
Blaine's Kangaskhan isn't great. Child's Punch is laughable trash, but I suppose that was the point. You can only really use this card by charging up for One-Two Punch, but at that point why not just use the original Kangaskhan and draw cards while you wait?
Its one saving grace is that it's compatible with Blaine, so you can accelerate it even without DCE. But that's a pretty minor upside.
Grade: 3/10
Blaine's Tauros is a little mediocre, but not bad. But unlike the original Tauros, which had a home in Rage decks, this guy doesn't really fit anywhere. There's always something bulkier or harder-hitting.
It's another half-decent middle-of-the-road card, but that's not what competitive players are looking for. The metagame is ultimately all about the cards that do something broken, not the cards that feel fair and balanced.
Grade: 4/10
The Pokémon Trading Card Game has a long and storied history of unique, powerful Ditto cards. Koga's Ditto is not one of them. If Giant Growth didn't require a coin flip then this card could have been passable. Maybe even average.
But needing a coin flip just to bring your 'mon online is a pretty big drawback when the payoff is so minimal. It also doesn't pair well with Koga's whole switching in and out gimmick, since that would reset its stats.
Grade: 2/10
Lt. Surge's Eevee needed to exist so that his Jolteon could exist, but that's a minor payoff to a minor card. I guess they were expecting Surprise to be your main reason to use this card? But Rocket's Sneak Attack exists and is just a better version of this effect for free.
And everything else about the card ranges from below average to average. At least it can technically do 20 damage on turn 1 with a DCE?
Grade: 3/10
Sabrina's Porygon didn't need to exist. 40 HP for a 'mon that can't evolve is pathetic and you need to do something truly broken to make up for it. All we get here is a few uninteresting attacks that absolutely don't close the gap.
A card like this gets a low or middling score if it's an evolving Basic. But as an unevolving Basic, this thing is competing with cards like Base Chansey and Rocket's Zapdos for deck space. At least the original Porygon was weird.
Grade: 1/10
Rocket's Snorlax has a really cool concept behind it, but it's not a good card. Collapse is woefully inefficient for the cost, so the preferred way to use this card is to pair it with Rocket's Drowzee, which will either put the opponent to sleep or put this guy to sleep to activate Restless Sleep.
But that's a very passive and gimmicky strategy. There's no way to force your opponent to attack, which means they can just ignore this card if they want to.
Grade: 3/10
Erika's Dratini is so powerful that it sees play by itself, without ever evolving. Strange Barrier prevents any Basic from taking it down in less than 4 attacks (excluding Poison damage).
This card is used in Base-Gym specifically to stall for time, especially after getting hit with the infamous trapper combo and being left with an empty hand. It falls off a little bit in the Neo formats, where big Basics are less dominant.
Grade: 9/10
Erika's Dragonair can be splashed into a deck already running Erika's Dratini as an extra attacker, and Take Away can be a powerful option in the late game if you start falling behind. But honestly, it's usually better to play just the Dratini.
This also continues the trend of Erika not fully evolving her Pokémon. There is no Erika's Dragonite, although I don't think it would fit her aesthetic anyway.
Grade: 5/10
The tl;dr for the Colorless-types is that Erika's Jigglypuff is an unstoppable force and Erika's Dratini is an immovable object. It's funny how a lot of the best cards in the gym series just happen to be the ones related to Erika, specifically.
I would argue that the set actually did push Colorless design forward, though. We're gradually seeing more and more Colorless 'mons that focus on support abilities, consistency, and generically useful effects like walling out damage.
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