I was constantly out of healing items back when the old gym system and absurd turnover rate required fighting about 200 battles just to get 30 coins, so I used to do that with every pokemon I caught or evolved that was decent enough to be of some use in a fight before I transferred it. That was almost anything of a fairly high level, but Pidgeotto, Raticate, and Furret were the ones I used most frequently.
Eventually, the dodge glitch made that extremely frustrating and nearly impossible to do, and later the new gym system made it unnecessary anyway, so it's been a long time since I used throwaway attackers. I still get more potions and revives than I ever use now, but just about anything over 1000 CP ought to be able to win a fight or two.