The following information is a guide to the movesets that should be given to the various Pokémon in Red, Blue and Yellow. Much better info is available at Azure Heights or Pokémon Daily. I wanted to make my own guide, as Gold and Silver are now upon us, and I wished to summarise my own knowledge of R/B/Y Pokémon strategy. If you don't understand anything here, either go to the sites linked to above, or ask me yourself. Ideally, I'd have my own website to put this on, but as I don't, the h2g2 will do¹. All Pokémon are evaluated by type, with the best Pokémon of a type at the top of their section, and the worst at the bottom. Only descriptions of final evolution Pokémon are used: this is because the only good reason not to evolve them is personal preference for the unevolved form. Most of these movesets will work for unevolved Pokémon anyway.

STAB

STAB stands for Same Type Attack Bonus. This means that a Pokémon using a move the same type as its own will get a 1.5% bonus. For instance, if used by Raichu, Surf has 95 base power, but if used by Lapras it will have 142.5 base power². Whilst this can be very useful to some Pokémon, other Pokémon are screwed by it. Butterfree, for instance, is Bug/Flying, but cannot learn attacks of either element. Also, Dragonite has the highest Attack stat in the game. Wigglytuff has an average Attack stat. Because it gets STAB for Hyper Beam, a Normal attack, Wiggly will be able to do just as much damage as Dragonite with a Hyper Beam! It is crucial to take STAB into account when creating movesets, and so it will be mentioned a lot in the following evaluations.

Normal

Normal types are a very diverse lot, with varying strengths and TM compatabilities. Due to this, it's very hard to summarise them as a whole.

Damage done to Normal types

2x: Fighting
1x: Bug, Ice, Psychic, Fire, Grass, Normal, Rock, Electric, Flying, Ground, Poison and Water
0x: Ghosts

Damage done to Normal/Flying types

2x: Electric, Rock and Ice
1x: Bug, Fighting, Psychic, Fire, Normal, Flying, Poison and Water
1/2x: Grass
0x: Ground and Ghost

Damage done by Normal attacks

1x: Bug, Fighting, Ice, Psychic, Fire, Grass, Normal, Electric, Flying, Ground, Poison and Water
1/2x: Rock
0x: Ghost

Recommended Normal Attacks

Hyper Beam-TM 15
Power: 150
Accuracy: 89.4%
PP: 5
Effects: In Red/Blue/Yellow, miss the next turn unless the enemy Pokémon faints. In Stadium, always miss the next turn.
Comments: A great attack which is almost always guaranteed to finish off a weak enemy. Unfortunately, I do not recommend it in Stadium, as the recharge turn is a bit of a high risk to take.

Explosion-TM 47
Power: 350
Accuracy: 99.6%
PP: 5
Effects: Attacker faints
Comments: A great attack for a Pokémon that's on its last legs. Recommended on most Pokémon that can learn it, especially if they have a good Attack stat. Some Pokémon, like Snorlax, can learn Self-Destruct, but not Explosion. Self-Destruct is identical to Explosion, except it only has 250 Power. Self-Destruct is still as highly recommended as Explosion.

Slash
Power: 70
Accuracy: 99.6%
PP: 20
Effects: Almost always critical hits.
Comments: As it has such a high critical hit rate, it really has about 140 power, making it very powerful. It also disregards Barrier, Reflect and Acid Armor.

Body Slam-TM 08
Power: 85
Accuracy: 99.6%
PP: 15
Effects: 30% chance of paralyzing the enemy.
Comments: Often considered to be the best Normal attack due to the very nice PAR rate.

Double-Edge-TM 10
Power: 100
Accuracy: 99.6%
PP: 15
Effects: Attacker recieves recoil equal to 1/4 of the damage inflicted.
Comments: Excellent on Pokémon with high HP, like Snorlax and Wigglytuff, as they can shrug off the recoil well.

Swift
Power: 60
Accuracy: 99.6%
PP: 20
Effects: Ignores Accuracy decreases (Sand Attack, Flash and Kinesis) and Evade increases (Double Team and Minimize)
Comments: Not much good on its own, but when coupled with Swords Dance, it can be deadly against some popular movesets.

Pokémon data

Snorlax-I love Snorlax. It's my favourite Pokémon. It looks cool and cuddly, it eats and sleeps all day, and it's one of the best Pokémon of one of the best types. It learns Amnesia, possibly the best move in the game, it learns Rest naturally, and it has the second best HP in the game. It also has a high Attack, which is deadly when coupled with Normal STAB.
Type: Normal

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 523
Attack: 318
Defense: 228
Speed: 158
Special: 228

Movesets:


Amnesia/Double-Edge/Ice Beam/Rest


Takes advantage of the higher Special gained from Amnesia with Ice Beam. Thunderbolt, Psychic and Surf are also good choices for the third slot. Alternatively, use a physical attack: Earthquake, Rock Slide or Self-Destruct.

Chansey-Chansey has one huge advantage: the best HP in the game. This, coupled with great Special, more then overcomes Chansey's awful Attack and Defense, and mediocre Speed.
Type: Normal

Max Stats at Level 100

HP: 703
Attack: 108
Defense: 108
Speed: 198
Special: 308

Movesets:

Molly Nut Bomb-Thunder Wave/Minimize/Seismic Toss/Softboiled


Thunder Wave makes up for Chansey's Speed, Minimize makes her a very hard target, Seismic Toss does a set amount of damage to all Pokémon, regardless of type, and Softboiled ensures she lives that bit longer.

Other movesets:

Reflect/Thunderbolt/Ice Beam/Softboiled to take advantage of Chansey's Special, or Minimize/Seismic Toss/Ice Beam/Softboiled.

Tauros-The bull has great Speed, Attack and Defense, its Special being the only thing letting it down. Howvever, it's still worth giving it a mix of Physical and Special moves. An all-out offensive strategy is best.
Type: Normal

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 353
Attack: 298
Defense: 288
Speed: 318
Special: 238

Movesets:


Body Slam or Double-Edge/Earthquake/Blizzard/Thunderbolt


This Tauros might not survive long against a high-Special species like Alakazam or Articuno, but it can dish out damage in the form of some of the best elements in the game: Normal, Ice, Electric and Ground.

Clefable-Clefable is one of the most versatile Pokémon there is. It can learn a staggering 34 of the 50 TMs. The only problem is that its stats are not the best. They are still pretty darn good, and Clefable is well worth adding to the team of anyone who doesn't consider it to be too gay-looking.
Type: Normal

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 393
Attack: 238
Defense: 244
Speed: 218
Special: 268

Movesets:


It's almost impossible to recommend a moveset for Clefable. You should make a moveset based on your own team.

Persian-Persian is fast. Real fast. This, coupled with Slash, makes Persian one bad kitty. Plus, it's rarely used in serious play, meaning you have the single most important element in Pokémon on your side; the element of surprise. Alas, its other stats are pretty mediocre, so it can dish out punishment, but not take it.
Type: Normal

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 333
Attack: 238
Defense: 218
Speed: 328
Special: 228

Movesets:


Slash/Bubblebeam/Thunderbolt/Hyper Beam


Slash is multi-purpose, Bubblebeam take out Rock Types, Thunderbolt is always handy, and Hyper Beam is the finishing move. Note that there is not a single moveset that will give Persian a fighting chance against Ghosts: Normal attacks don't work, and Persian's Special means Bubblebeam and Thunderbolt won't be much use against Gengar. If you're in Stadium, consider Body Slam or Double-Edge over Hyper Beam.

Dodrio-Dodrio is easily the best Normal/Flying type. It's got great Attack and Speed going for it. It's Defense and Special ain't what they oughta be, so it's wise to go fairly offensive.
Type: Normal/Flying

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 323
Attack: 318
Defense: 238
Speed: 298
Special: 218

Movesets:


Agility/Drill Peck/Body Slam/Hyper Beam


After a single Agility, Dodrio will always be faster than the enemy, unless, of course, the enemy Pokémon also has Agility, a parylyzing move, or String Shot. Drill Peck and Body Slam hammer away, and Hyper Beam finishes the opponent off. On Stadium, consider Reflect or Double-Edge over Hyper Beam.

Kangaskhan-Overall, a pretty average Pokémon. It has good HP, Attack and Speed, but its Special is nothing short of shocking. Due to this, it can only handle physical attacks. Kangaskhan might be forgiven if it weren't for the fact that they're so hard to catch.
Type: Normal

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 413
Attack: 288
Defense: 258
Speed: 278
Special: 178

Movesets:


Body Slam/Earthquake/Rock Slide/Seismic Toss or Hyper Beam


Just attack, attack, attack like crazy. Hopefully Body Slam will parylyze. Earthquake, Rock Slide and Seismic Toss mean that there are no types which will escape from getting some considerable damage done to them, unless they are fast and have high Special, like Starmie, Mewtwo and Alakazam. Alternatively, slap Double Team and Rest over Rock Slide and Seismic Toss/Hyper Beam to go defensive.

Pidgeot-Pidgeot suffers from being badly downstaged by our friend Dodrio. It's still better than Fearow and Farfetch'd, but it's not really worth considering in your team unless you happened to get attached to it, having trained it from a Level 2 Pidgey. That said, its HP, Attack and Speed are pretty good.
Type: Normal/Flying

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 369
Attack: 258
Defense: 248
Speed: 280
Special 238

Movesets:


Double Team/Rest/Double-Edge/Sky Attack


Power up with Double Team, recovering health with Rest when neccessary, then relentlessly pound away with Double-Edge and Sky Attack. Fly is a good alternative to Sky Attack. Whether or not Pidgeot has the survivability for this strategy is debatable.

Fearow-Like Pidgeot, it's humbled by Dodrio. Unlike Pidgeot, it learns Drill Peck, a useful attack. It's faster and has better Attack then Pidgeot, but its HP, Defense and Special all suck.
Type: Normal/Flying

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 333
Attack: 278
Defense: 228
Speed: 298
Special: 220

Movesets:


Agility/Drill Peck/Mirror Move/Double-Edge


Mirror Move isn't so great, but certainly has novelty value. Consider dropping it and Agility for Double Team and Rest.

Wigglytuff-Ah, bless. Poor Wiggly looks so cute, and it has great TM compatibility, with very high HP. However, its Attack is only average, and its Defense, Special and Speed are despicable. Wiggly is Clefable's weak little brother.
Type:Normal

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 483
Attack: 238
Defense: 188
Speed: 188
Special: 198

Movesets:


Thunder Wave/Body Slam/Hyper Beam/Blizzard

Thunder Wave parylyzes, Body Slam wears 'em down, and Hyper Beam finishes 'em off. Blizzard is for Rock/Ghosts. You could also try the Double Resting alternative:

Double Team/Rest/Double-Edge/Hyper Beam or Blizzard

Porygon-There is no excuse for such a mediocre Pokémon being so hard to obtain. None. All of its stats suck, especially its Speed. It learns some cool moves, but lacks the ability to use them with any success. Porygon's special move, Conversion, is handy. Howver, once Converted, it no longer gets STAB for Normal moves. It would seem Porygon was invented solely to make it harder to complete your Pokédex.
Type: Normal

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 333
Attack: 218
Defense: 238
Speed: 178
Special: 248

Movesets:


Thunder Wave/Conversion/Recover/Psychic, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Blizzard or Double-Edge


Thunder Wave should make up for Porygon's awful Speed. Conversion and Recover are cool, and the fourth move really depends on your team.

Raticate-Another Pokémon with good Attack and Speed held back by bad Defense and Special. Raticate, like Porygon, learns a cool special move: Super Fang. Super Fang is great for opening a battle, as it will immediately half the opponent's health. Unfortuneatly, Super Fang is wasted on a monster as crappy as this.
Type: Normal

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 313
Attack: 260
Defense: 218
Speed: 292
Special: 198

Movesets:


Super Fang/Body Slam/Dig/Blizzard


Super Fang to open the match, Body Slam to damage and PAR, Dig for Ghosts and Blizzard for Rock/Ground types. Blizzard could be replaced with another move; Raticate's Special means that it won't be doing much damage. I just can't think of a better move.

Lickitung-Using Lickitung should be fun; just look at it! It has good HP and TM compatabilities, and medium Defense, but its Attack and Special are bad, and its Speed is awful. If Lickitung had Mewtwo's stats, it'd be unstoppable. But it doesn't, so it isn't.
Type: Normal

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 383
Attack: 208
Defense: 248
Speed: 158
Special: 218

Movesets:


Double Team/Rest/Swords Dance/Hyper Beam or Earthquake or Double-Edge


Potentially deadly if it gets set up, but that's not too likely too happen. Next!

Farfetch'd-Like Lickitung, a cool-looking Pokémon with good moves that was robbed of any chance of being decent. Every single one of its stats is below average.
Type: Normal/Flying

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 307
Attack: 228
Defense: 208
Speed: 218
Special: 214

Movesets:


Double Team/Swords Dance/Rest/Swift


Notice how I've been recommending DT/Rest for all the Pokémon that have nothing better to do? This is a typical 'Swift Dancer' for countering Double Teamers. You're screwed versus a Ghost or Rock type. The best way to remedy that is by not using Farfetch'd.

Ditto-No, no, and thrice no. Bad Ditto. Go and stand in the corner. The worst Normal type, if not the worst Pokémon in the entire game. Really. All its stats are dire. Transform helps this, as it gives Ditto the same stats as the enemy. But Ditto probably won't survive the first turn before it can Transform. Also, Transform doesn't copy HP, and Ditto has crap HP. A good idea, hideously executed.
Type: Normal

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 299
Attack: 194
Defense: 194
Speed: 194
Special: 194

Movesets:


Transform


The standard Ditto moveset. You could also go offensive with Tranform, defensive with Transform, or opt for the controversial Transform.

Water

Water types are the most numerous in the game. They commonly have low Attack and Defense, but high Special.

Damage done to Water types

2x: Electric and Grass
1x: Bug, Fighting, Ghost, Psychic, Normal, Rock, Flying, Ground and Poison
1/2x: Ice, Fire and Water

Damage done to Water/Ice types

2x: Fighting, Grass, Rock and Electric
1x: Bug, Ghost, Psychic, Fire, Normal, Flying, Ground and Poison
1/2x: Water
1/4x: Ice

Damage done to Water/Psychic types

2x: Bug, Grass and Electric
1x: Normal, Rock, Flying, Ground and Poison
1/2x: Fighting, Ice, Psychic, Fire and Water
0x: Ghost

Damage done to Water/Rock types

4x: Grass
2x: Fighting, Electric and Ground
1x: Bug, Ghost, Psychic, Rock and Water
1/2x: Ice, Normal, Flying and Poison
1/4x: Fire

Damage done to Water/Poison types

2x: Bug, Psychic, Electric and Ground
1x: Ghost, Grass, Normal, Rock and Flying
1/2x: Fighting, Ice, Fire, Poison and Water

Damage done to Water/Flying types

4x: Electric
2x: Rock
1x: Ghost, Ice, Psychic, Grass, Normal, Flying and Poison
1/2x: Bug, Fighting, Fire and Water
0x: Ground

Damage done by Water attacks

2x: Fire, Rock and Ground
1x: Bug, Fighting, Ghost, Ice, Psychic, Normal, Electric, Flying and Poison
1/2x: Dragon, Grass and Water

Recommended Water Attacks

Surf-HM 03
Power: 95
Accuracy: 99.6%
PP: 15
Effects: Can be used in one-player to cross water, provided you have the Soul Badge
Comments: Probably the best Water attack, as well as the best HM.

Hydro Pump
Power: 120
Accuracy: 79.7%
PP: 5
Effects: None
Comments: The most powerful Water attack. Surf is usually preferable, as it has better accuracy and more PP.

Bubblebeam-TM 11
Power: 65
Accuracy: 99.6%
PP: 20
Effects: 10% chance of lowering opponent's Speed
Comments: Not a good attack for the actual Water types, but some Pokémon of other types, like Persian, cannot learn any better Water attacks.

Crabhammer
Power: 90
Accuracy: 84.4%
PP: 10
Effects: It almost always Critical Hits, effectively giving it a base power of about 180
Comments: Bearing in mind the high Crit Hit rate, more powerful than Hydro Pump. Unfortunately, can only be learnt by the low-Special Krabby and Kingler.

Pokémon data

Starmie-Starmie can be unstoppable. It might possibly have the best move compatability in the game next to Mewtwo and Mew. It can learn these brilliant moves: Minimize, Recover, Surf, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Ice Beam and Blizzard. It has great Speed and Special. Its part Psychic type makes it even more useful.
Type: Water/Psychic

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 323
Attack: 248
Defense: 268
Speed: 328
Special: 298

Movesets:


Thunder Wave or Minimize/Recover/Surf or Ice Beam or Blizzard or Thunderbolt or Psychic/Thunderbolt or Psychic or Surf or Ice Beam or Blizzard


Oy. OK, just make a combination from any of the moves above, and you'll be fine. Just don't pick the same move twice.

Slowbro-At first glance, Slowbro is a reasonable Pokémon. Pretty high HP and Defense and decent Special, but low Attack and hideous Speed. However, it has two things saving it: a part-Psychic type and Amnesia. Psychic is the best type, Amnesia is arguably the best move. Slowbro rocks. It was hard deciding if Starmie was better than it, but Slowbro relies on Amnesia and can't learn Thunderbolt.
Type:Water/Psychic

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 393
Attack: 248
Defense: 318
Speed: 158
Special: 258

Movesets:

Tobybro-Thunder Wave/Amnesia/Surf/Rest


Universally recognised as the best Slowbro moveset, and possibly the best anything moveset. Sheer brilliance from Mr. Toby Martin, AKA Azure Height's very own Wintermute.


Amnesia/Surf/Psychic or Blizzard or Ice Beam/Rest


A moveset if you consider Tobybro too unoriginal to use. Of course, without Thunder Wave, Slowbro's too slow, so just use Tobybro! It is the best, after all!

Lapras-Certainly the best dual Water/Ice type. It's got great HP and Special and good Attack and Defense, with only its Speed letting it down. It can also learn great moves. Two thumbs up.
Type: Water/Ice

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 463
Attack: 268
Defense: 258
Speed: 218
Special: 288

Movesets:


Confuse Ray/Body Slam/Surf/Blizzard


Confuse the enemy, hope Body Slam paralyzes and start wielding some deadly STAB attacks. Thunderbolt and Psychic could both be thrown in the mix.


Double Team/Rest/Surf/Blizzard


Double Resting alternative to the above. Again, Thunderbolt and Psychic could be put in.

Vaporeon-Huge HP, great Special and Haze make Vappy very nice indeed. Haze is important because it can destroy any defences the enemy may have erected, such as Amnesia and Swords Dance. Vaporeon's Speed and Defense hurt it, however. Acid Armor would make up for the crappy defense, but it's hard to have both Haze and Acid Armor in the same moveset.
Type: Water

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 463
Attack: 228
Defense: 218
Speed: 228
Special: 318

Movesets:


Haze/Acid Armor/Surf/Blizzard


Intelligence must be used here; using Haze will cancel out any Acid Armors. It's best to send Vappy out against a Pokémon that has already set up, and then use Haze. With any luck, they will abandon defensive moves and go on the offence. You could definitely put Focus Energy over Acid Armor.

Gyarados-Evolved from the lowly Magikarp, Gayrados has high HP, Attack and Special, with decent Defense and Speed. Unfortunatley it is often shunned from usage because of its quadruple weakness to the popular Electric attacks.
Type: Water/Flying

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 393
Attack: 348
Defense: 256
Speed: 260
Special: 298

Movesets:


Surf/Body Slam/Blizzard/Thunderbolt


It's best to go fully offensive with Gyarados, so it's fortunate that it can learn such good moves. If you don't play Stadium battles, consider Hyper Beam over Thunderbolt.

Omastar-One of the most underused Pokémon in the game, and actually very good. Great Defense and Special mean that it is a tank, and can use Double Rest extremely effectively. The only major problem is a quadruple weakness to Grass attacks.
Type: Water/Rock

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 343
Attack: 218
Defense: 348
Speed: 208
Special: 328

Movesets:


Double Team/Rest/Substitute/Surf


A good PP waster. Seismic Toss is a good choice if you want to replace Surf with something with a bit more PP.


Double Team/Rest/Surf/Blizzard


Slightly more offensive than the above moveset.

Cloyster-High Attack, the best Defense and good Special mean that Cloyster is a solid choice. However, its Speed is low, which isn't that much of a problem, but it also has bad HP. It is this poor HP that means that Cloyster is often left off of teams.
Type: Water/Ice

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 303
Attack: 288
Defense: 458
Speed: 238
Special: 268

Movesets:


Surf/Blizzard/Double Team/Rest


Double Rester. Consider Explosion over either Double Team or Rest.


Double Team/Rest/Substitute/Clamp


PP waster extraordinaire.

Kabutops-Great Attack and Defense, but fairly poor Special. Useful because of its ability to learn Swords Dance. The problem is, it can't learn Rock Slide, which would be very powerful with Swords Dance and STAB.
Type: Water/Rock

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 323
Attack: 328
Defense: 308
Speed: 258
Special: 238

Movesets:


Double Team/Rest/Swords Dance/Double-Edge or Body Slam


It can waste PP, and it can also deliver highly deadly attacks once set up.


Swords Dance/Body Slam/Surf/Blizzard


An alternative leaning more towards the offensive.

Tentacruel-A great Pokémon let down by its own Poison type. It has great HP, Speed and Special, but unfortunately it can get murdered by Psychic types, who are by far the most popular type. A shame.
Type: Water/Poison

Max stats at Level 100
HP: 363
Attack: 238
Defense: 228
Speed: 298
Special: 338

Movesets:


Barrier/Surf/Blizzard/Mega Drain


Barrier makes up for Tentacruel's poor defense. Surf and Blizzard are both powerful attacks. Mega Drain is pretty poor without STAB, even with Special as high as Tentacruel's, but there aren't really any better options.


Double Team/Rest/Barrier/Surf


The Double Resting alternative. Although highly defensive, this 'Cruel still won't stand much of a chance against the ubiquitous Mewtwo and Alakazam.

Guide under constuction; watch this space.