Annihilape is a Ghost & Fighting type, is the evolution of Primeape, and has a really great design, and its shiny isn't half bad either. Annihilape I would definitely deem one of the better battlers of Paldea, although not quite in top tier like Palafin/Houndstone/Flutter Mane, as this pokemon has pretty good stats, decent enough abilities and its movepool isn't all that terrible. Annihilape is definitely best known for KOing stuff with boosted Rage Fists, making it quite powerful if it has taken a good amount of damage itself. I absolutely love Annihilape and been awaiting ages for Primeape to get an evolution, so finally seeing Primeape get some love, and it just being magnificently done, I just couldn't help myself but to give this first, and I have absolutely no regrets putting this ahead of Ceruledge even though it was a very tight race between the two.
Ceruledge is a Fire & Ghost type, is the evolution of Charcadet if playing pokemon Violet, and has an amazing design. I would say this is my most favorite design of all the paldea pokemon, I just absolutely love it, although I do hate its shiny. As well, Ceruledge was another member of my in game playthrough team on Violet, and it was honestly the MVP late game on my team, taking out stuff left and right with its generally nice stats, pretty decent abilities and a pretty nice movepool. I absolutely love Ceruledge, and it could easily be in my number one spot over Annihilape down the road with how close of a race it was between the two for which I liked more, but at this point in time, I think I prefer Annihilape just slightly more, which is why I ended up deciding to give Ceruledge second this go around.
Clodsire is a Poison & Ground type, is the evolution of Paldean Wooper, and has an amazing design, as well as a pretty nice shiny. Clodsire was another member of my Violet playthrough team where it did pretty good even though some of its stats may not be the best, it was a good specially defensive wall. Alongside the fact that it has pretty good abilities for in game playthroughs, as well as those same abilities being pretty decent in competitive barring poison point, and then its movepool isn't half bad either. It wasn't one of my biggest team MVPs, but it still made for a great team asset. Overall though, as much as I love the derpy Clodsire, I just don't deem it as big or strong of a stand out over my top two, which is why I chose to give this the bronze medal this ranking.
Great Tusk is a Ground & Fighting type, is the past paradox of Donphan, and has by far my favorite paradox design from both the past and future paradoxes, as well I'd say it has my most favorite paradox shiny too. When it comes to battles though, Great Tusk does do pretty good, although it's not as great as some other paradox pokemon. As this prehistoric Donphan has good stats, a good ability in Protosynthesis, and a pretty solid movepool, alongside a good offensive typing in Ground & Fighting, this thing can still wreck opponents pretty easily. Overall, I absolutely love Great Tusk, and was happy Donphan got a good amount of love this game with getting both a past and future paradox, although we don't talk about its future one, but I had my top three set in stone since I started the ranking, so just staying true to that.
Iron Valiant is a Fairy & Fighting type, is the future paradox of Gallade, but design is more kind of a mixture of Gardevoir & Gallade, and I love it. As well, it's one of the few future paradox pokemon where the chrome fits pretty good with the shiny. On top of that, Iron Valiant is pretty good with battling as it has pretty nice stats, a pretty decent movepool, then of course the good ability in Quark Drive to help boost its stats more. Overall, I love Iron Valiant, and it's by far my favorite future paradox, but just prefer the others a tad bit more.
Pokemon Left:
Ceruledge
Annihilape
Clodsire
Great Tusk
Chien-Pao is a Dark & Ice type, is a part of the ruination quartet, and has my favorite design of the ruination group, as well as my most favorite shiny of that group. Alongside not only it being my favorite of the ruination four, but it's also what I would deem the best battler of that legendary quartet, and one of the best battlers from the Paldea pokemon as a whole. I mean when you look at things, Chien-Pao has fairly good stats, an amazing movepool, and best off all is its Sword of Ruin ability lowering the defense of opposing pokemon by two stages, which really just makes this an even bigger powerhouse. I absolutely love Chien-Pao, but I just felt the others better suited a top 5 over this, which is why I chose to give this sixth.
Pokemon Left:
Ceruledge
Annihilape
Clodsire
Great Tusk
Iron Valiant
