The Pokémon series, as even the most die-hard fans will tell you, is definitely a little averse to change. The latest entries, Nintendo Switch’s Pokémon Sword and Shield, have a lot of interesting secrets and easter eggs, but didn’t exactly push the envelop in terms of innovation. We pick our Fire, Water or Grass starter and head off to be the very best (like no-one ever was). Once again.
Still, they weren’t about to turn that familiar format on its head, were they? As such, we were left with the usual dilemma: which starter will be the best to train? This is a tough choice, as factors like movepools, weaknesses, tankiness (or the lack of it) can make your job much easier or harder. Here are all the Water-type starters, ranked by how tough a time you might have with them.
8 Mudkip
Now, Mudkip will indeed grow to have a 4x weakness to Grass. It’s the only Water starter lumbered with one, in fact, so things aren’t looking good right off the bat for our beloved meme star. Its assets more than make up for this, though.
Marshtomp and Swampert are Water/Ground Pokémon, meaning that they’re only weak to grass. They learn some solid enough moves from both types quite early, and have very solid all-around stats. This means that they can tangle with a wide variety of opponents, which they’ll have to do while levelling up over the course of the main game. Swampert’s been a solid competitive pick for generations, too, which is another notch on its belt.
7 Piplup
‘Adorable little penguin-baby’ and ‘super-tanky monster’ aren’t phrases that you tend to see together too often, but it’s funny just how well they apply to the Piplup line.
Piplup and Prinplup are both pure Water-types, but Empoleon is Water/Steel. It’s still the only Pokémon with this type combination, which grants it all manner of resistances. A little later in the main game, this will pay dividends, as you never quite know what you’re going to face. It’s a little more vulnerable than Swampert and needs TMs to learn solid Steel moves, but it’ll be a worthy partner throughout your journey and has some interesting bulky sets for competitive matches too.
6 Squirtle
Next up, we have a Pokémon that needs no introduction. Squirtle is a member of the very first starter trio, and has cemented its place in franchise history as a result. In the original games and their remakes, it was a popular pick, and remains a very solid Water-type partner Pokémon.
As befits its be-shelled nature, this line is more defensively orientated as a rule. Its well-rounded stats make it quite versatile, learning some sold Water STAB and a decent range of coverage moves. The addition of Shell Smash this generation has made it a frightening sweeper too, though it’s not really specialized enough to perfectly suit any one role.
5 Popplio
With every new generation comes a starter that isn’t quite as popular as its counterparts. For Generation VII, that Pokémon was Popplio. Rowlett and Litten just had an instant appeal that some fans didn’t see in this underrated little critter.
The thing is, Popplio’s eventual typing (Water/Fairy) and stat spread as Primarina is surprisingly good. It has high base Special Attack (126) and Special Defense (116), and learns some powerful Water and Fairy STAB itself. At the same time, though, it’s quite a while before it learns those moves naturally, and its lacking Speed means that you may have an issue training it. A good fit for the middle spot of our list.
4 Oshawott
Generation V’s Oshawott is also a heck of a mixed bag. As a general rule, Fire-type starters tend to be more offensive and faster, while Grass-type starters are more on the defensive side and Water-types are the middle ground. That’s just a rule of thumb, of course, but no Pokémon demonstrates it better than Oshawott.
Throughout its wild ride to evolving into Samurott, its stats remain very solid and very average across the board. Samurott’s highest base stats are its HP (95), Attack (100) and Special Attack (108), which are certainly workable and give its trainer a little more choice as to how to use it (along with some interesting but limited coverage options like Megahorn). At the same time, though, it’s a little all over the place in that regard, and it also has average Speed that means it can be outpaced and taken out.
3 Totodile
Pokémon Gold and Silver’s Totodile is yet another Water-type starter with very middle-of-the-road stats. It’s predominately a physical attacker, though it’s a reasonably good tank on that side as well if needs be. It can perform very well, but the main assets used by a competitive set aren’t available to those training one up for the purposes of the main game.
To really make Feraligatr shine, it needs to be able to make use of Dragon Dance and its Hidden Ability, Sheer Force. Outside of breeding or tutoring, it doesn’t get many strong moves (at least for a long time), which limits its utility when playing through the story.
2 Sobble
The newest addition to the Water-type starter stable, much like its fully evolved counterpart Cinderace, is defined by one main trait: its very impressive Speed. At base 120, it’s one of the fastest starter Pokémon ever, but this comes (as it usually does with Pokémon) at a heavy cost: its defenses are absolutely abysmal.
Inteleon’s base 125 Special Attack is the second highest of any fully evolved starter (beaten out by Primarina by a single point), but it’s a pure Water-type and the lack of a second STAB really hurts it. It can struggle to deal the damage, and when it can’t finish off a foe, it’s often on a one-way trip back to its Poké Ball when it takes a hit in return. It does have some nice power and speed, but they’re not quite enough a lot of the time. A problem our final starter Pokémon knows only too well. A little better, in fact.
1 Froakie
A lot of Pokémon fans just didn’t take to Froakie when it was first revealed. Little did they know, it would get the last laugh when it became one of the most competitively viable starter Pokémon ever, with its Hidden Ability Protean and blistering Speed (not to mention the very existence of Ash-Greninja).
In that sense, yes, Greninja is an absolute powerhouse. Sadly, you’d never know it if you were just playing the main story. Without Protean, without access to the best TMs, the Froakie line can seem very lackluster, struggling to output damage and totally unable to take much of a hit at all.