Well, to tell you the truth their is no "best" pokemon. In fact, there are no best "Top 10" pokemon. EVERY card has uses(Excluding Shellder and BASE Gastly). Just in case you haven't caught on by now, all Top 10 list are OPINIONS. Got that? One die hard Rain Dance player might consider Blastoise better than Electabuzz. Where, on the other hand, some Haymaker die hard might consider Electabuzz to be stronger than Blastoise. Well, enough rambling here is my Top 10 list in RANDOM order.
 
CHANSEY- Does the best at what she's best at; stalling. Chansey tops the charts with 120 Hp along with a damage preventing attack allowing her to sit out there in the active spot taking the blows while you pump up your bench. Then, when she's about the die, go out with a BANG using Double Edge.
 
VENUSAUR- A very nice 100 Hp along with a SWEET pokemon power allowing you to transfer energy around your pokemon. In other words; with 4 energy and a Venusaur you whole team is ready to go. And, on top of that, Solar Beam does a nice 60 for the late-game and there's that 2 retreat. Over all good on every aspect except for stage.
 
ELECTABUZZ- Arguably the best basic currently out. Or, for that matter, arguably the BEST pokemon out. With a great 70 Hp along with a paralyzing attack that sets up for the almighty Thunder Punch that does 30 base damage with a possible 40 damage with a lucky flip! The only downside is a 2 retreat, but if it was lower, he'd be too good!
 
NINETALES- 80 Hp is pretty good for a stage 1, but the real power lies within Fire Blast. 80 damage for 4 fire with 1 discard; that's amazing! Unlike the big lizard (a.k.a Charizard) 80 damage is barely ever an overkill. And to top  off one of the best fire attacks in the game, there's Lure that allows you to stall while you build up Fire Blast by swithching pokemon constantly. Can this get any better? The answer to that is, "Yes." Ninetales has a 1 energy retreat cost!
 
SCYTHER- The most versatile pokemon currently out hands down. With a fantastic 70 Hp, free retreat, and an all colorless attack for 30 damage, Scyther fits into ANY deck. Plus with the new release of Rainbow Energy you can use it as a grass energy for Sword Dance allowing you to do 60 damage on turn 2-3 depending on if you used a DCE or not!
 
ALAKAZAM- The King of Stall. With his unique ability to move around damage counters with no restriction(except not being able to knock out pokemon) you basically have your whole bench's Hp helping your active. He does have a terrible 3 retreat cost and somewhat sub-par attack. But then again; who cares!? Alakazam is a bench warmer unless he's gusted out(But then you really have to worry about that high retreat). The main downside of Alakazam is that he(?) comes from Abra, but then again the new TR one isn't near as bad as his(?) Base twin.
 
WIGGLYTUFF- 80 Hp is pretty sweet for a stage 1, but once again, like Ninetales, her(?) true power lies in Do The Wave. With a full bench Wigglytuff can dish out a hefty 60 damage. And for the whip cream on top Wiggly evolves from Jiglypuff who is a pretty good basic.
 
BLASTOISE- 100 Hp is certainly T-riffic, but Rain Dance is why Blastoise is really here. Rain Dance allows you to attach as many water energy as you like to water pokemon as you like, there by letting you charge up pokemon in 1 turn. Hydro Pump really isn't that great considering you do 60 damage for 5 WATER energy. BUT then again Blastoise is mainly used for his power so his high retreat and sub-par attack don't really matter.
 
FOSSIL MAGMAR- I just love this guy. 70 Hp, smokescreen sets up for the 40 damage per turn smog(If heads and your opponent doesn't do anything to rid of poison). And then on top of that he's a BASIC with a 1 retreat cost! This guy is great from almost every aspect(The aspect that's not great is he requires coin flipping).
 
PROMO MEWTWO- A huge improvement over the old one. 70 Hp helps a lot along with an attack that lets you get Psyburn powered up. Just an all around good basic.
 
    Well, there's my OPINION on the Top 10 pokemon. Just in case you're wondering why Hitmonchan wasn't on the list it's because just too many pokemon have resistance to him. Namely, Scyther. I mean EVERY type has at least one pokemon with resistance to fighting.
    Please remember that these aren't the only good pokemon. There are many other good pokemon out there such as Muk, Mr. Mime, and the Gastly line(All of them FOSSIL).
    And now; I bring you the Top 5 trainers! Remember this is in RANDOM order.
 
BILL- As my mommy always says, "Two cards are better than one." That's mainly what people think of Bill, but he has another purpose. Here is a game situation describing his other use.
    You and your opponent have been battling it out the whole game. You really need a Lapras sense there's a Mr. Mime up against your Rain Dance deck. You draw a card and it's Bill! You Bill and draw a water energy and an Articuno. Your opponent passes and you draw a LAPRAS.
    Even though Bill didn't get you Lapras it got you 3 cards closer to it so you could draw it on your next turn.
 
PROF. OAK- It's always nice to dump a hand loaded with crap and start of fresh. It's also good to dump a hand full of good stuff if you need a certain card. In fact, one time I dumped almost a godly hand to Oak just for a pluspower.
    I got it, attached it to Farfetch'd, and Leek Slapped with a heads against a Squirtle to win the game.
    Prof. Oak also gets you closer to the cards you need, only he does it more efficiently. But then again Prof. Oak can deck you MUCH faster than Bill can.
 
GUST OF WIND- It's always nice to GOW out that benched Squirtle and destroy it with Electabuzz. Or that benched Magikarp and let Scyther do his dirty work. Or gust out a pokemon who you have resistance to or a pokemon that doesn't have enough energy to attack. Or a pokemon with a high retreat cost. The possibilities are endless.
 
 COMPUTER SEARCH- Search your deck for ANY card! With the only drawback being you have to discard 2 cards from your hand! Just dump some crap or a card that your opponent has resistance to or something like that.
 
SUPER ENERGY REMOVAL- Unlike Energy Removal, SER sets your opponent back 2 turns. So in other words they can't get back to where they were on their next turn. Also, if they have a double colorless BAM both that and another energy go to the discard pile. You do have to discard 1 of your energies but it's worth it!
 
    So there you have it! My OPINION on the top 5 trainers. These aren't the only great trainers though. Take Item Finder for example. I just think these 5 surface just a little bit higher than the rest.
 
Sincerely,
Tycoon
 
    Send all money, major credit cards, or blank checks to JohnDaTycoon@mindspring.com comments are also receives(I prefer the money though)