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Are you a Charmander elitist? Did you choose Chikorita, despite its reputation as one of the worst Starters ever? Or are you just happy to pick up Fennekin, Piplup or Quaxly if that means you can set out into the world and hardly ever speak to your Mom again, all at the ripe old age of 10?
Personally, if I were lucky enough to be faced with a generous Professor and three balls brimming with promise—containing your future bestie, no less—I’d pick my Starter solely on vibes. But that’s not what this blog’s about.
In my last blog, I discussed the merits of all the Starter Pokémon in the first 5 regions. Today, let’s look at the four more modern regions: Kalos, Alola, Galar, and Paldea. Who knows, maybe we’ll even throw in a bonus region at the end to round it all out…
I’ll be considering type advantages, overall stats, and versatility in their region to help you make the ultimate decisions to help you become Pokémon Champion.
Spoilers abound for gameplay. No plot spoilers.
Kalos
What’s better than organising your team around your rival? That’s right—having to fend off four rivals at once!
So, if you have so many buddies to spar against (and plenty of hard-hitting key battles throughout X and Y), which is the best little guy to take with you around Kalos?
Chespin, at first glance, looks like a solid choice. It’s a bulky boy, with high HP and Defense stats from the get-go. Once it gets to Chesnaught, it becomes Grass/Fighting, giving it access to Wood Hammer and Hammer Arm which hit hard due to its high Attack stat. It also learns Leech Seed and Spiky Shield, adding defensive utility. It does well against several Gym battles, including Grant’s Rock Type Gym and Gym Leader Ramos’ Water Pokémon.
Despite this interesting Dual Typing, which gives Chesnaught more of an edge in battles, it also opens it up to a double weakness to Flying. There are plenty of Flying Types in Kalos, and there’s a late-game Flying Type Gym to handle too. With Chesnaught’s poor Special Defense and Speed, it’s just too vulnerable to fast Flying Types and super-effective special attackers like Psychics.
Greninja—Froakie’s final evolution—is one of the most beloved Pokémon of all time. (Speaking of, does anyone remember Ash Greninja? Cool or bizarre?) It’s one of the fastest Pokémon in the game, and its Water/Dark Typing and ability to learn Ice and Grass moves gives it great type coverage. It even has a secret weapon in later games: its hidden ability, Protean. This allows Greninja to change its Type to match the move it’s using, giving it a huge strategic advantage in battle for high versatility.
However, with its low physical and Special Defenses, coupled with its limited bulk, if you can’t take out an opponent quickly, you’re likely to fall in one or two hits.
Enter stage right: Fennekin. Not only did I love its fox design as a kid (until it became bipedal), but Delphox’s Fire/Psychic Dual Typing was, and still is, very exciting. I have always loved Psychics, and whilst this means this Starter must be very careful with Kalos’ Water, Ground, Dark, Ghost, and Rock Types, the advantages outweigh the negatives.
Fennekin is very useful early on, taking out common Bug and Grass Types with ease. Its Psychic moves let it hold its own even in the second Gym, which specialises in Rock Pokémon—a feat not many Fire Starters can boast. But one of the most impressive advantages of Delphox is that it performs exceptionally well against notoriously hard Types like Fighting, Ice, Psychic, Fairy, and Steel. We see Bug, Fighting, Grass, Fairy, Psychic and Ice Gym Leaders, and both Fire and Steel in the Elite Four, so taking your firey pal with you throughout is a must.
Finally, it can learn some fantastic moves to boost its already impressive performance. Utilising Calm Mind with its high Special stats for an effective Special sweep is a fantastic strategy for Kalos, so give it a go next time you boot up your copy.
Alola
You get a regional variant! And YOU get a regional variant!
It’s nostalgia city here in Alola. Its tropical climate means that we have regional variants of many Pokémon from earlier generations that have adapted to Alola’s unique climate and ecosystems. Alolan Vulpix, the cutest of them all, is now an Ice Type to survive in Alola’s snowy mountains, whilst Alolan Exeggutor is a Grass/Dragon Type, growing much taller to resemble a tropical palm tree. Genius marketing tactic from the Pokémon Company here.
The Starters in Sun and Moon are also modern classics, so let’s get right into them.
Despite its popular final Evolution, Litten is another victim of the animal-to-dipedal journey that many fans (read: me) are now sick of. Sure, Incineroar’s a Fire/Dark powerhouse with high Attack and HP, and it’s effective against many of the key Trials, especially against the Grass-Type Totem Lurantis and Ghost-Type Totem Mimikyu. However, for me, the negatives really outweigh the positives. It’s just so slow, and it relies heavily on physical moves, greatly limiting versatility.
Popplio couldn’t be any more different. It heavily counters Incineroar when it gets to Water/Fairy Type Primarina, and it’s a powerful special attacker with highly damaging moves like Moonblast and its signature move Sparkling Aria. Primarina’s typing and stats give it an edge in key battles, including against Kiawe’s Fire Trial, Olivia’s Rock-type Trial, and Nanu’s Dark-type Trial. Its Fairy typing also makes it highly effective against rival Hapu’s Dragon-type Pokémon and the Elite Four. It still needs to watch out for strong physical attackers, especially from Poison, Steel, and Electric types, that are common throughout Alola. So, if you want to have a consistent experience throughout the region, I’d say go for Popplio.
That is, if Rowlet wasn’t in the mix! This cute little owl Starter is surprisingly solid. It learns Peck at level 8, helping to reduce the damage done by super effective Bug moves that are encountered frequently in the early game. It performs well against early Totem Pokémon and Trials, particularly the Water, Ground and Psychic Type challenges. When it evolves into Decidueye, it becomes a Grass/Ghost dual type, which provides immunities to both Normal and Fighting Types and gives it a significant advantage in many battles. As long as it takes advantage of its good physical Attack and Special Defense stats, and avoids the Dark Types in the later game, Decidueye is your effortlessly cool go-to for Alola.
Is this the first Grass Starter winner?! I’m sure that leafs Litten and Popplio green with envy!
…I’m sorry, pretend I didn’t say that.
Galar
Babe, a new region just dropped and it’s based on the UK! I’m well chuffed!
You could pick Grookey, the Grass Type monkey that evolves into hard hitting, drum thumping Rillaboom, emulating classic British rock music. At first, it’s not too bad. Galar’s Gym challenge starts off with the classic trio of Grass, Water and Fire as its first three, so with Grookey being neutral to Grass and strong against Water, it’s a solid first pick. Additionally, it’s a powerful physical attacker with access to moves like Drum Beating, Wood Hammer, and Earthquake, allowing it to hit hard in battles.
But we all know the issue with the pure Grass Typing. Bug and Flying are early issues as per most Pokémon games, meaning that picking Grookey can mean a slow start. Poison, Fire and Ice are also prominent in Galar, particularly later in the game, so even if you are ready to pummel away with your giant primate, you might just be stopped short.
Scorbunny, inspired by England’s football mania, has immediate advantage against Milo’s Grass Gym. So, picking the Fire Type first means that, by the time you get to the Water and Fire, you most likely have other options to shore you up against your weaknesses. And throughout the game, our hot-to-trot fire bunny certainly has some great match ups. This early Grass Gym win puts you out in front quickly, and Cinderace’s pure Fire Typing resists the tough Fairy Gym and easily takes out Gym Leader Melony’s Ice Types. Dragon Type Gym Leader Raihan has a Duraludon, which is part Steel. Taking it out before it can Gigantamax and wipe your team is a big old plus point for Cinderace.
Once you get to the Champion Cup, Cinderace is the partner you want in your corner. Its access to Fighting Moves like High Jump Kick and Bounce means that it’s effective against plenty of Normal and Dark match ups, like Marnie’s team and Hop’s Snorlax. It resists Bede’s Fairies, too. The only one you need to look out for is Gym Leader Nessa, who comes back in full force with her Water Pokémon. Plus, Cinderace’s signature move Pyro Ball has an impressive 120 base damage, truly turning up the heat.
But this doesn’t mean Sobble’s out for the count—yet. Sobble’s final evolution, Inteleon, is a fast Pokémon with high Special Attack. Its Sniper Ability (clearly inspired by secret agent James Bond) increases the power of critical hits, meaning that if you come up against one and you’re not ready, you can go down quickly. We know this by now, but Water Pokémon tend to have fantastic Type coverage, and Inteleon is no different. I always want at least one member of my party to have Ice Beam for Dragons, and this crafty reptile can also learn Shadow Ball to take out Ghost and Psychic Types.
The issue is, Inteleon is quite fragile. Take out your opponent fast, or you will fall to the many Electric and Grass Pokémon you’ll see throughout Galar.
So, who wins? Basically, if you like fast and offensive gameplay—and the Libero Hidden Ability, which changes its type to match the move it uses—Cinderace will be your ace in Galar.
Paldea
Our latest region really shook up the formula. As open world as Pokémon has ever been, Paldea allows you to take on the Gyms in any order as part of the Victory Road path. If you want, you could instead prioritise taking on Team Star for Operation Star Street, or walk along the Path of Legends to take out the Titan Pokémon dotted around the map. There’s no designated order, and there are key battles for every single Type for the first time.
This all may make choosing the best Starter for this Region a bit more complicated than the others.
We’re back to Dual Typing, and these ones are some of the best: cute cat Sprigatito eventually becomes Grass/Dark Type Meowscarada, cool croc Fuecoco becomes Fire/Ghost Type Skeledirge, and dapper duck Quaxly eventually becomes the Water/Fighting Queen Quaquaval.
Let’s start with the sassy hurricane of the bunch. Quaquaval comes across well as the generation’s designated all-rounder. Offering a mix of physical power and agility, its ability to boost its Speed with its Signature Move Aqua Step makes it dangerous in longer battles, and means it can both hit hard and act quickly in battle. Its Water/Fighting Typing means it’s effective against plenty of match-ups, including Rock, Fire, Dark, Ice and Normal Types, but it’s weak to common types like Flying, Grass and Electric Types. Its stats are the most balanced of the trio, so alongside a decent roster of Pokémon, it can do pretty well and be a solid member of the team.
But we don’t want “solid”. We want impressive. Does Meowscarada give us that?
I see Meowscarada as a striking, consistent sweeper. Its hard-hitting Grass attacks like its Signature Move Flower Trick that always results in a critical hit and ignores defensive buffs means that, in a lot of battles, you’re impressed with the damage it can deal. Its secondary Type, Dark, is always welcome, as it can take out the consistently hard-to-deal-with Ghosts and Psychics that tend to dominate when given space to shine.
Whilst Meowscarada suffers defensively, meaning that you need to use it strategically to avoid a quick knock-out, it’s powerful and impressive enough to hold its own. Not to mention its hidden Ability Protean which—like we saw with Greninja and Scorbunny—changes its type to match the move it’s using for STAB, giving it fantastic versatility the other two lack.
The problem is, Skeledirge may not be just the best Starter for Paldea, but potentially the whole series. Yes, you read that right. And part of that reason is its OP Signature Move, Torch Song.
It’s such a sick move. The fiery bird on Skeledirge’s head becomes a microphone, and is powered up by the Pokémon’s song, flying towards the target. But the best part is, every time you use Torch Song, it raises Skeledirge’s Special Attack stat by one. This is an insane perk that allows the Fire Starter to just dominate, no matter the battle.
Additionally, it wrecks 6 out of the 8 Gym Leaders. That’s unprecedented. In order, we have Bug, Grass, Electric, Water, Normal, Ghost, Psychic, and Ice. Only Electric Gym Leader Levincia and Water Gym Leader Kofu can do anything against Skeledirge—and even then, Levincia has a Ghost Type Mismagius, so our firey croc isn’t out of the running here. It can also solo the champion. Someone at the Pokémon Company really wanted to give the Fire Starter a leg up. And it worked.
Bonus: Hisui
You didn’t think I’d leave ancient Sinnoh out, did you?
Whilst Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a different Kecleon of Frillish than other entries in the series, we are still given a Starter Pokémon after we drop into Hisui from a rift in spacetime. The fun thing is, they’re Starters we already know and love from past games, given new Hisuian evolutions to spice things up a bit.
Scroll up and you’ll see Rowlet took the grand prize for Alola. Sadly, I don’t think Decidueye’s new Grass/Fighting Typing does it any favours, but its Samurai, autumnal design is fantastic. Without any Gym Leaders to square up against, it’s hard to say if Decidueye is favoured in any key battles, but Water and Rock Types are frequently encountered in Hisui’s biomes, so it does well here. It’s got a high Attack stat, making it a solid choice, but its low Speed does put it at a severe disadvantage. Additionally, it has a double weakness to Flying, which is problematic given the amount of Flying Types encountered in Hisui.
Surely Oshawott wins then, right? Samurott’s Water/Dark Typing aggressively counters Typhlosian’s Fire/Ghost Typing, after all.
The thing is, we don’t come up against a Samurott very often, so it doesn’t really matter. Sure, Hisuian Samurott is useful against tough Ghost and Psychic Pokémon, but so’s Typhlosian, which also benefits from immunity to Normal Type moves. I do enjoy Samurott’s Signature Move, Ceaseless Edge, which sets up spikes on the field to deal chip damage to opponents over time, but Typhlosian has access to Eruption. It’s one of the most powerful Fire Type moves when used at full HP, allowing it to deal massive damage early in battle. Hisuian Typhlosian’s fragility means that careful planning is required, but if you set out a game plan, it excels due to its powerful offensive capabilities and versatility in the late game.
Honestly, revamping old Starters with new forms makes the Legends series super exciting, and you’d have fun taking any of them throughout Hisui.
Wrap Up
Whether you want an easy sweep or a bit more of a challenge, I hope this list has helped you decide which starter to pick next time you play through one of the later Pokémon games.
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