At the beginning of each and every Pokémon adventure, you will be presented with a single decision: grass, fire, or water.
This is the most significant choice you will ever have to make in the world of Pokémon.
Your starter is going to become your closest ally. Your first choice. They are with you from the beginning of the game, and it is quite likely that they will remain with you all the way through to its conclusion.
Which of these beverages should you choose as a starting if you enjoy drinking water?
Not only that but which one is the most effective when compared to others in terms of competition? Let’s find out!
8. Oshawott/Samurott
Samurott is the poorest water starting Pokémon, although it doesn’t make it a terrible Pokémon overall.
Great mixed attack numbers and excellent bulk are offset with average speed. It’s too sluggish to compete in Trick Room and too fast to use effectively against faster opponents.
But Smaurott can make the most of its varied attack numbers with an excellent set of moves.
Some of the most notable moves it can learn to include grass knot, ice beam, aqua jet, megahorn, and hydro pump.
Samurott’s layout is the one major drawback for me.
It evolves from the cute Oshawott to the stylish Dewott. This indicates that we are entering more traditional samurai terrain, although the seal we see here is wearing a helmet and has facial hair.
Frankly, I would have preferred it if Samurott had been nothing more than a disguise for Heihachi.
7. Sobble/Inteleon
It came as a shock to me when Drizzile changed into Inteleon.
My hopes for a more punk rock aesthetic were dashed when we were presented with a James Bond who was even skinnier than usual. So, indeed, Inteleon is a classic example of a company with a fragile foundation;
Extremely quick, with a powerful special attack and a somewhat modest overall attack.
But Inteleon’s Sniper capability is what truly sets it apart.
As a result, all critical hits will now deal 2.5x normal damage.
If you use Inteleon’s trademark move Sniper Shot in conjunction with the Scope Lens item and focused energy, you will always score a critical hit.
In this way, the minimum power of Snipe Shot is increased to 280.
Though it performs admirably in-game and has a single weak gym leader to contend with, Inteleon is held down by its lack of diversity.
It’s pretty much all you’ll be doing, and if your opponent has anything faster, you’re out of the game.
However, inteleon is still an effective tool for leaving your opponents in the game disturbed, not stirred.
6. Piplup/Empoleon
The combination of water and steel in Empoleon’s typing is fantastic.
This, together with its high special defense, makes it a superb utility Pokémon. Empoleon’s competitive capabilities include the use of stealth rocks, defogging to remove obstacles, roaring to transition opponents, and using Toxic to incapacitate foes.
As an added bonus, Empoleon has a powerful special strike.
Scald is a powerful water strike with the potential to burn, and Empoleon is a master of its use.
To what end, therefore, has Empoleon been ranked lower? The gaming performance of Empoleon is, to put it mildly, subpar.
Three of the gyms are vulnerable to their weakness. Its claimed strengths against two members of the Elite Four, however, are nullified when put up against Empoleon.
If Empoleon doesn’t eliminate Bertha’s squad first, Flint’s Infernape will finish it off.
Anyway, I think Empoleon is fantastic. A penguin torpedo isn’t the worst option if you’re looking for a water type.
5. Totodile/Feraligatr
When compared to the others, Feraligatr stands out as the most terrifying.
Do not be deceived by its average statistics. The effects on teams may be devastating. The explanation behind this is multifaceted. We need to make some calculations, and we apologize in advance.
Although its attack is just 105, Feraligatr’s actual strength lies in its Sheer Force ability.
Any ability with a secondary effect is amplified by 1.3 times but has the effect nullified. The Life Orb, which boosts attacks by an additional 1.3x at the expense of 1/10th of your health points, will no longer function properly under these conditions.
It indicates the initial power of Liquidation increases from 85 to 136.
One of the finest late-game sweepers in Generation 2 when equipped with Dragon Dance and a respectable Defense stat.
In-game, Feraligatr is equally as useful. However, its move set makes it useful against any except the top two gym leaders.
It would be prudent to risk all on this alligator.
4. Popplio/Primarina
The Primarina brand is fantastic.
When I was little, I recall that many people didn’t enjoy Popplio since it was a snot-blowing clown, but that only made me appreciate it more. The fact that it’s both a water and a fairy kind is a bonus.
Since there are no gym leaders in Sun and Moon, it is a bit more difficult to defend Primarina’s inclusion in the games.
But we have the Elite Four and the Four Great Ones.
How many of these other trainers does Primarina not do as well against? 6 of the 8.
It’s not even close: Primarina is the best starting Pokemon in the whole Alola area.
What about in terms of competition, then?
Primarina is excellent, to put it bluntly. To put it simply, it’s a big, bad special attacker with excellent typing. It can deal massive damage to anything thanks to its access to moon blast and hydro pump. The perfect self-improvement move is also its own: Relax your thoughts.
The main point going against it is the simultaneous introduction of another water/fairy type Pokémon, Tapu Fini, which accomplishes the job better.
However, this in no way diminishes Primarina’s status as a top-tier Pokémon starter.
3. Squirtle/Blastoise
The original water starter epitomizes what it means for a young boy to create a Pokémon.
Can we figure out a way to make this turtle more interesting?
“Arm it,” they said.
“…Done.”
You know what though? That was effective.
That’s a very cool gadget. And Blastoise is the Pokémon most people picture when they hear the word “Hydro Pump.”
In-game, Blastoise is a valuable companion. Its main weakness is two gym leaders, although it has an advantage against three of them.
This works alright, but its true strength lies in a competitive setting.
There was a time when Blastoise, with its enormous weight, was considered one of the finest quick spinners in the game.
When it underwent its mega evolution, gaining access to the new ability Mega Launcher, its already impressive stats skyrocketed.
Aura and pulse-based techniques benefit greatly from this.
This effectively grants Mega Blastoise STAB for Water Pulse and a doubling of its power for Dark Pulse, Aura Sphere, and Dragon Pulse.
The finest thing to happen to Blastoise in gen 8 is receiving Shell Smash, despite the fact that it also receives a fantastic-looking G-Max.
As a result of learning this move, Blastoise becomes a formidable opponent.
Since the debut of Blastoise, Pokémon has undergone tremendous development. Nonetheless, this massive turtle has proven itself over and again to be resilient.
2. Froakie/Greninja
Many will be shocked to learn that Greninja is not number one.
That’s quite understandable, too.
Incredible in both speed and special attack power. With Protean, it also boasts perhaps the finest ability in the game.
When using a certain maneuver, Protean will automatically adapt the user’s typing style to fit that style. That translates to the use of STAB for every action. Additionally, its movepool is rather big.
In addition, it possesses another superpower, Battle Bond.
With this, Greninja becomes Ash Greninja, gaining increased speed, special attack, and the power of its trademark move, Water Shuriken.
Priority is given to multi-hit special moves like Water Shuriken.
Few Pokémon are able to hold their own against Ash Greninja. It is without question the most competitively viable Pokémon on this list.
However, if this is the case, then why isn’t it at the top?
The problem is that it doesn’t shine as brightly in its first game as it does in competition.
Against the two gym leaders and one of the Elite 4, Greninja undoubtedly has the upper hand.
Nonetheless, it has a low strength-to-weight ratio, ranking fifth out of the top five when facing four gym leaders. That’s double the amount of any competing water starter and nearly half the battle won!
Although Greninja excels in competitive play, it has a lot of room for improvement as a playable Pokémon.
1. Mudkip/Swampert
I take it you like Mudkipz then? Me too!
In addition to being my favorite series of starting Pokémon, this is also one of my top picks for best Pokémon ever.
This bad guy has gotten me through a lot of tough Nuzlocke sessions.
Final form Swampert is a formidable Pokémon in battle.
Its type and high defensive stats make it an excellent utility Pokémon to have on hand for stealth rocks or wide guard. Also, Mega Swampert is a top-tier rain sifter.
One of the puffiest Pokémon you’ll ever see, to boot!
The Swampert line’s exceptional performance in Hoenn, though, is what makes it truly amazing.
With its amazing water/ground type, Swampert has only one weakness: grass.
There are a total of seven grass-type Pokémon you will face in the big fights of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. In addition, Swampert has a STAB edge against four gyms and the majority of Stephen Stone’s Pokémon.
With access to all water-type HMs in addition to strength and rock smash, Swampert makes an excellent HM user.
Do I have an inherent bias? Absolutely.
However, the Swampert line offers unparalleled competitive and in-game usefulness among water starters.
That’s why it’s the finest water starter ever invented.
Choosing Your Starter
Although some openers perform better than others, they all have the potential to be dangerous.
Choose a starting whose design appeals to you; from my experience, people have more pleasure with the Pokémon they develop a strong connection to rather than those with the greatest base stat totals.
Feel free to cast your vote, and I’ll see you at the next poll!
Questions & Answers
Which of the Kanto beginning Pokemon is the greatest, and why?
Since Grass is effective against the game’s first three gyms and you’ll have other monsters by the time you reach the gyms you’re weak against, the answer is Bulbasaur and Venusaur for the plot.
Charmander/Charizard is generally the best choice for competitive play, while its vulnerability to Rock makes it a dangerous choice when facing an opponent with Stealth Rock.
