Kadabra

The middle stage between Abra and Alakazam, and the only one of the three that a trainer gets to see in action for a good long while: Abra evolves at level 16, and what comes after depends on a trade, so almost the entire playable life of the line is spent in this form.

What defines it isn't its head, but what it holds in its hand. The silver spoon acts as an amplifier for the alpha waves coming from its brain, and the Pokédex entries claim that without it, its telekinesis is only half as strong. Those waves aren't harmless to the surrounding area either: they give headaches to anyone who comes close and make devices malfunction. One entry goes further and describes a shadow that appears on the screen of any nearby device, supposedly bringing nothing but misfortune. Another claims that only someone with great mental power can hope to train it.

There is also an explanation for its origin that no other Kanto species carries around: some believe it was a boy with psychic powers who lost control and ended up transformed into this. It is 1.3 meters tall, weighs 56.5 kilograms, and its official category is Psi Pokémon.

The 400 points are spread with very little subtlety: 120 Special Attack and 105 Speed on one side, then 40 HP, 30 Defense, 70 Special Defense, and roughly 35 Attack that are good for nothing. Any neutral hit from an opponent at its level knocks it flat.

What saves it is Magic Guard, its Hidden Ability: only direct attacks can damage it. No Spikes, no sandstorm, no poison or burn, no item recoil. It comes in with Focus Sash intact even when the field is covered in hazards, and survives one guaranteed hit to return one of its own. Synchronize and Inner Focus, its two regular Abilities, don't come close: passing on a status condition or resisting flinching matters little when the real problem is surviving the first hit.

Pure Psychic type. On offense, it punishes Fighting and Poison, gets stuck against Steel and other Psychic types, and can't touch Dark types; defensively, it resists Fighting and Psychic, and falls apart against Bug, Ghost, and Dark. A Sneasel switching in on the predicted move ends the matter without discussion.

Its movepool is short and honest: Psychic as its main attack at level 43, Calm Mind at 11 to raise Special Attack and Special Defense at once, and Hypnosis at 6 if you can live with its accuracy. Psycho Cut, at 18, is physical, and with 35 Attack it isn't worth using. On Smogon, it has had analyses in NU and the tiers below, always as a fast revenge killer that comes in, gets a KO, and leaves. In a normal playthrough, it fills the same slot: the fast middle stage that gets through half of Kanto before the first Dark type shows up.

It belongs to the Human-Like Egg Group and hatches as Abra, never as Kadabra. The gender ratio is three males for every female—25% female—so building your own line starts with finding the female or using Ditto. Its 20 incubation cycles equal about 5355 steps, making it one of the slower eggs.

Evolution has two separate conditions, and neither is optional: Abra becomes Kadabra when it reaches level 16, and Kadabra becomes Alakazam by trading, with no item or minimum level required. That second half is what leaves so many people with a permanent Kadabra on the team: players who play alone get stuck here.

Its habitat is urban, and its Capture Rate of 100 puts it in the comfortable part of the table: neither the resistance of a 45 nor the freebie of a 255, but a couple of well-placed Poké Balls after lowering its HP. Wild specimens sometimes carry a Twisted Spoon, the item that boosts Psychic-type attacks, and defeating one awards 2 Special Attack EVs. It grows at a Medium Slow rate, and its base happiness is 70.