Sets, Thoughts, and Honorable Mentions

Dollachura (Pilfoard) @ Metal Coat
met in Goldenrod Game Corner
-Glare
-Return & Thief (since they're both TMs, I can switch mid-attempt!)
-Shekelshot
-Explosion

I fell in love as soon as I saw one! A shockingly solid mon, with a great typing, fun unique move, Glare access, and the fattest Explosions known to man. My primary Thief for the run, too! Despite its overall only 'fine' stats in most regards, its high Speed made for a very useful little asshole in a lot of situations. Thank you Mr. Donald Cashman.

My starter for the E4, and came in clutch a few times.

Arion (Casanocta) @ Quick Claw
met in Dark Cave
-Dark Pulse
-Flamethrower
-Surf
-Steel Cannon

I really liked the base form, so I put in the work to evolve it and got the absolute king of utility. His TM coverage is NUTTY, with an incredible range of moves and on-field utility (I think literally all of them???), including even being a backup Thief before evolution! A slow mon in combat, but a fantastic backup sweeper and second-stringer.

King of the Karen fight, with a lucky Quick Claw proc allowing him to clean up for the entire rest of the team and crush her.

Megamilpa (Yuefoe) @ Amulet Coin
met in Goldenrod Transit Station
-Thunderbolt
-Shadow Ball
-Razor Wind
-Recover

An unassuming pickup who sat in the boxes for a while until curiosity about stone evos struck in the middle of the Rock Cairn quest. A somewhat low-key moveset early on made me unsure of its long-term viability, but Megamilpa stuck around for the long haul after Pryce, coming in for PP Stalling certain legendaries or really obnoxious moves, Electric coverage, and some occasional Fire Spins...

...until at level 47 or so, he *finally* picked up Razor Wind, and turned into an offensive MONSTER, who shredded through the Tohjo Falls and Victory Road trainers like tissue paper. A solid second-stringer for much of the run who finally came into full bloom right when I needed him most.

Hexley (Terratora) @ King's Rock
met on Route 32
-Earthquake
-Flame Wheel
-Rock Slide
-Iron Tail until learning Accelerock mid-attempt

As a Magcargo superfan, when I caught a giant cat with my first Pokeball and it turned out to be a Fire/Rock legendary, I was psyched. Slow and a bit frail specially, but the offensive prowess of Fire/Rock/Ground has never been anything to sneeze at. Aside from switching Morning Sun for Iron Tail (recovery's only so nice when you die to a Water Gun), this is a mon with a thoroughly linear gameplan—hit them really hard until they die with great offensive coverage physical moves. When I caught Hexley, he was a MASSIVE boost to the overall power of my team, and remained a really solid pick throughout the second half of the game.

MVP of the Lance fight, destroying half of his team and letting me scout out Saigohana's type with a half-health Accelerock.

Gigi (Illuxury) @ Pink Bow (for style~!)
met in Ilex Forest
-Leech Life
-Shadow Ball
-Calm Mind
-Icy Wind

Look, right when I'm really thinking about my final team member you drop a mon with my two favorite types, who is a mean girl spooky bug octopus with girlypop girl power style sense? And is a setup sweeper? And has CALM MIND? In a Gen 2 game? And has SUPER FANG? My favorite move that's only on shitmons and Pikaclones, for the swagger? (Not that I used it here.) And it's an actual functioning mixed attacker? With health drain? What is a girl supposed to do but stand in solidarity with my mean girl queen?

MVP of the Will fight, she got into a Calm Mind battle with his Cola that she handily won. And, of course, the pinch hitter

HERO (Retroglyph) @ King's Rock
met in Ruins of Alph
-Moonblast (Sketch)
-Psychic (Sketch)
-Earth Power
-Spore (Sketch)

The main character of the run. I fell hard and I fell fast for Retroglyph as a mon concept, and HERO came out swinging with a high-power Hidden Power Flying right on time for Bugsy, immediately cementing himself as a great team member... before then picking up Screens for Silver 2. HERO's team role changed across the game between support and offense as he gradually picked up better offensive moves, skyrocketing in strength with Earth Power lategame...

...until getting Sketch, at which point HERO became the #1 king in all regards—coverage, average move power, speed (fastest on the team!), "having Spore", "having Spore" (but for catching legendaries!)... His typing still means he has a number of weaknesses, but endgame Retrogylph is truly a force to be reckoned with.

An incredible mon! Well, WELL worth the effort of picking up, despite his relatively modest stat spread relative to other final stage mons.

The only mon on the team capable of defeating Bruno's Kurobi, speed tying it and locking it down.

HONORABLE MENTIONS TO:

Graduate Q (Tobascoon): My starter. A solid mon who was phased out as I looked for other mons, but great earlygame.
Lil Jimbob (Allseeraph): The king of earlygame with Draining Kiss and Glare, and a mon I'd gladly use again.
Squatch (Snowup): A fantastic early hitter I just didn't have the full follow-through to continue using through the mediocre middle stage as teambuilding expanded. Another one I'll use again if I replay, probably.
Chillguy (Pripyderm): A mon who only just barely missed the cut, and a huge part of Ecruteak and Mahogany. A FANTASTIC defensive mon who would skyrocket in power if I could just find Toxic (or get him to learn it by level, if I had to guesS), who skipped out on a bit of the game by being a bit too high-level. Sad, but that's the way it goes. See you, Space Cowboy.
Terry (Wiwright): A midgame champ for his raw cuteness, who only got the cut on the back of the sheer, insane luck of catching Hexley—had Hexley not been pulled, Terry would've likely stayed the entire game.
Grispy (Chompion): A guy who I used for a bit. Thanks.
Kiwi (Pepoffer): The Swimmer of the first half, and a fat fuck who used Bullet Seed and Mega Drain a lot. Great mon!
Blantsfemy (Generopsis): Came out swinging with the meanest Fire Spins known this side of Mt. Fuji, and was a real shit team member all the way to Jasmine. Did you know her number is big. She has a really big number.
Wild Woody (Red Rudey): The greatest Pokemon I have ever seen in my life. Was really low-level and only got use for like an hour as I did sidequests. Is still here because it's Red Rudey.
Kumongous (Behemothra): A mon I really, really wanted to use for a long time, who pitched in for the Radio Tower arc but ultimately lost out to girl power for the final slot.
Luigi (Satelisk): Was here for Clair. Is really, really cute.
Tenjian (Kurobi): Was also here for Clair. Also lost to girl power for the final slot, but did push Strength several times in Blackthorn and the Dragon's Depths. The in-battle move, I mean.
Shaggy (Cerkitsaya) and Bus (Maulzer): Had a great deal of sex for the Lucky Egg quest. Seem pretty good, besides that.