Best Grass Starters From All Pokémon Games Ranked!

Which Grass Type Starter Pokemon is best?

8. Chikorita/Bayleef/Meganium Chikorita

The Chikorita line sports some of the cutest designs for starter Pokemon, so you are definitely forgiven if you opted for these sweet little critters as your favourite Grass Type starter Pokemon. But compared to other Grass Type Starter Pokemon, they are on the weaker side (see all the Weakest Pokemon Ranked here - but Chikorita happily gets its own mention in our Cutest Pokemon Ranked list!)

 When it comes to the gyms and Elite 4, the Chikorita line is kind of bad. It only holds advantages against Chuck’s Poliwrath, Will’s Slowbro, Bruno’s Onyx, and Pryce’s team, only 6 Pokémon. But Pryce’s team is full of Ice-types, so they all also deal super effective damage to Meganium, as well as the fact that pretty every other gym or Elite 4 member also deals super effective damage or resists Grass-type moves.  Meganium happens to be just as bad competitively, making the Chikorita line one of the weakest Starter Pokemon lines. But we still love it, just look at that cute little face!

7. Rowlet/Dartrix/Decidueye Rowlet

Okay, who can resist the little peaky (or beaky) face of Rowlet, it has to be the best designed Grass Type Pokemon starter! Dartrix and Decidueye both carry epic designs too, they are truly such beautiful Pokemon critters. Against the Elite 4, this line can hold its own, just. While it can handle Olivia and some of Hau’s Pokémon, it is far from the most effective, as what really gets Decidueye is the Kahili’s Flying-types and Molayne’s Steel-types and competitively it doesn't have as many options, with its only skill being a stall breaker, which is just very niche. What it does do well at, however, is locking down those Pokemon that work to whittle your team down bit by bit, with abilities such as Spirit Shackle and wreck shop. There's definitely a few things to consider, but this Grass Starter line tends to win hearts for its adorable and epic design, rather than its battle prowess.

6. Treeko/Grovyle/Sceptile Treeko

The Treeko line is a bit of a mixed bag, but not too bad a line to start with. For starters, it’s super helpful in the beginning against Roxanne’s Rock-types, and also at the end against Juan, Wallace, and most of Tate & Liza’s team. But it does not fare well in the middle of the Hoenn games. Two of the gyms are Fire and Fighting, with an Electric gym made up of mostly Steel-types as well. Plus, the Ice-type Elite 4 member actually has Ice-types that aren’t part Water. If you are looking for a good Pokemon in battle, this may not be the starter for you. Sure, its Unburden ability is super helpful and gives it a boost to its already great speed once an item is used, but it is never really able to take full advantage of it. And when it goes up against the Mudkip line and the Torchic line, two of the best starters in the whole franchise, it just can't compete. It's a really cool Grass Type Starter Pokemon line if you love geckos though! 

5. Snivy/Servine/Serperior Snivy

These Pokemon are beautiful and powerful and have the best of both worlds, they truly are the most elegant Pokemon on this list! They are also lucky enough to carry the Contrary ability and with it, Serperior turns any stat decreases into increases. That means that its strongest move Leaf Storm won’t drop its special attack 2 stages, but rather increase it instead. It gifts you an incredibly powerful special sweeper with decent 95 base defenses. These benefits don't quite carry in to game however, as all 4 of its weaknesses appear with the Gym Leaders and the Elite 4. With a second typing things might be different, if we were to give Serperior a secondary Dragon or Fire-typing, it would just be so powerful!

4. Chespin/Quilladin/Chesnaught

With some very nice defensive stats it can take advantage of in combat, Chesnaught is pretty good competitively, with abilities such as Spikes, Spiky Shield and healing moves like Drain Punch and Leech Seed. Not only is Chesnaught a solid Viking, Buzz Lightyear on steroids beast of a Pokemon, its prevolved forms Chespin and Quilladin are ultra adorable, quirky and goofy too! This line could easily be ranked higher, except that the Chespin line doesn't perform quite as good in-game.

3. Turtwig/Grotle/Torterra Turtwig

The Turtwig line is known for its prowess in game and famously takes out most of the gyms in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. It has a powerful dual Grass/Ground-typing which can take on about half of the Gym Leaders and Elite 4 very comfortably and it's fair to say its pretty incredible. However cool it is in game, these skills don't quite carry over in combat as, while Torterra has great attack and defense stats, it can really only do one thing with it: set up Stealth Rocks and try and hit everything that comes in. Anyone remember the appearance of Torterra as the entire earth in the Detective Pikachu movie? So so cool! 

2. Grookey/Thwackey/Rillaboom Grookey

Grookey is so cute, such a mischevious yet adorable little critter that is worth choosing on appearance alone, it is like the puppy of your dreams that you always wanted to adopt! This line is uniquely awesome because of its hidden ability Grassy Surge, which summons Grassy Terrain onto the field, healing all Pokémon every turn and boosting Grass-type attacks. It goes perfectly with Grassy Glide, the new attack move in Sword and Shield that means your Pokémon gets a good priority that’s boosted with Grassy Terrain. You will have everything you need along with Rillaboom’s incredible attack, as an actual force of nature.

The Grookey line also performs well in game, overpowering the first half of the Gym Leaders really well, finding the other half a challenge, yet still managing to pull some nice coverage moves that really help it to power through. There is so much to enjoy about the Grookey line! Grookey and its evolved forms really are an exciting and powerful choice for your in-game journey, you won't regret going with this cheeky fellow! Get you a Pokemon starter that can do it all, like Grookey, although there is one more Grass Starter to feature that just pips it to the post!

1. Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venusaur Bulbasaur

Not only pretty iconic, the Bulbasaur line is like Gandalf, it's old school, powerful and always manages to come out on top. Apart from the Balrog situation, but you get my meaning! To find the best of all time, you have to go back to the very beginning. The Bulbasaur line is formidable, handling pretty much all of the Kanto gym leaders and the Elite 4 with ease, carrying an advantage against 3 and resisting another 3. It also carries a secondary Poison-typing that means it is immune to Koga’s Toxic.

Its evolved form Venusaur is just formidable in combat with its ability Chlorophyll and becomes a special sweeper in the Sun with moves like Solar Beam, Sludge Bomb, and Weather Ball. Venusaur is actually one of the best sun sweepers in the game, without even mentioning Venusaur’s mega evolution that means it can gain the ability Thick Fat. This move can halve all Fire and Ice-type attacks that hit Mega Venusaur, covering two of its four total weaknesses. Who says Grass Types are mediocre? Defensive moves like Sleep Powder, Leech Seed, Toxic, and Synthesis are also in play - you can read about all of these in Best Grass Type Moves Ranked! There couldn't be a more iconic Grass Type Starter Pokemon and this is the best Grass Type Starter Pokemon for sure.

If you enjoyed this post definitely check out Best Names for Grass Type Pokemon - to find the perfect name for your new grass based bestie! - Best Nicknames for Gardevoir, Best Bulbasaur Nicknames ideas, Best Grass Type Pokemon Ranked and Cutest Pokemon Nicknames for every type!