Best Water Starters From All Pokémon Games Ranked

What is the best Water Starter Pokemon? It's definitely a good question and can be totally subjective, based on so many components! When any Pokémon journey begins, you’re given a single choice: grass, fire, or water. It may be the most important decision you’ll ever make in Pokémon. So which water starter is best in battle, statwise and ability-wise and makes for the best companion Pokemon?

Which is the best Water Type Starter Pokemon?

8. Oshawott/Samurott

Even though Samurott is a pretty good Pokémon to have by your side in battle, such is the strength of other water type starters that it ends up here at the bottom of the list. A Water type Pokémon from in Generation 5, it is known as the Formidable Pokémon. It boasts great mixed attack stats and awesome bulk, but is let down by its middling speed. It’s slow enough to be completely destroyed by most electric types, and just a little too fast to take advantage of Trick Room competitively. However, Smaurott does have an awesome movepool that’s able to take advantage of its mixed attack stats. Some highlights it can learn are hydro pump, ice beam, aqua jet, megahorn, and grass knot. Samurott's design is kind of a little anticlimatic though, going from the adorable Oshawott to the really cool looking Dewott, to then totally moving away from the Samurai vibe with a seal with a helmet and facial hair. Although definitely don't underestimate a Seal!

7. Sobble/Inteleon

Sobble is such an adorable starter, I don't blame you if this is the critter you couldn't help but choose as your favourite Water Type Pokemon! Its evolved form Inteleon really is the definition of a glass cannon Pokemon in combat. It boasts super impressive speed, really high special attack, but the rest of its stats don't quite match up. Kind of like an energy drink Pokemon-ified. But Inteleon has a trick up its sleeve, namely the ability: Sniper. This makes every critical hit do 2.5x damage instead of 2x. Combined with Inteleon’s signature move Sniper Shot, the Scope Lens item, and a focus energy, you have a guaranteed critical hit every turn and means Snipe Shot have a guaranteed base power of 280! Its only weakness is its lack of variety, making it difficult for it to adapt in challenging situations.

6. Piplup/Empoleon

Piplup is another adorable Pokemon that has its own feature in our Cutest Pokemon Ranked list! Its evolved form Empoleon boasts some particularly powerful typing, a dual Water and Steel Type Pokemon from Generation 4, known as the Emperor Pokemon. It's fair to say the stakes are high on this list as Empoleon is a really good bet to take in to combat with you! It also possesses great special defense, making it incredibly formidable in combat and a fantastic utility Pokémon. Competitively, Empoleon can set up stealth rocks, defog away hazards, roar to transition opponents, and cripple opponents with Toxic. It boasts a great special attack and can wield the ability Scald, one of the best Water Type Attack Moves in Pokemon as it also carries a chance to burn your opponent.

Empoleon only appears here on this list because weirdly it struggles in-game. It’s weak to 3 of the gyms and the two Elite 4 members that it’s supposed to be strong against happen to be just as strong against Empoleon! All of Bertha’s team can finish off Empoleon if it doesn’t finish them off first, and Flint’s Infernape can easily take it out. Despite this, Piplup/Empoleon is a really, really great bet to choose as your starter and there's a lot of fun to be had, not only an adorable option but a powerful one too!

5. Totodile/Feraligatr

Totodile is definitely another cute little Pokemon and its name kind of sounds like a toddler pronouncing 'crocodile'. But don't underestimate this little guy as its evolved form Feraligatr is easily the scariest of the bunch, potentially one of the scariest Pokemon to come up against. Its stats may look a little ordinary on paper, but there's so much more than meets the eye. This thing can devastate teams, due to a combination of different elements. While its attack is a decently high 105, Feraligatr’s true power comes from Sheer Force. Any move that has a secondary effect is increased 1.3x, but removes the effect. This also affects the Life Orb item which increases attacks by an additional 1.3x at the cost of 1/10th of your hit points. This means the move Liquidation goes from a base power of 85 to 136! Combine this with the move Dragon Dance and a decent defense stat, and you have one of the best late game sweepers for Generation 2. Feraligatr is just as effective in-game as well. While it’s only strong against two total gym leaders, its move pool allows it to be effective against just about all of them. You could easily go all-in on this alligator.

4. Popplio/Primarina

Primarina is not just one of the most Beautiful Pokemon, boasting one of the most cutest evolutionary lines ever! Even when a lot of people didn’t like Popplio because it was a clown that blew snot bubbles, that just somehow made it even more endearing. Not to mention it gets the awesome dual typing of water and fairy. Its evolved form Primarina is easily the most useful starter in the Alola region, let's talk about the 4 kahunas and the Elite 4. Primarina has an advantage over 6 of the 8 of those trainers! Competitively, it performs pretty formidably in combat too, as a bulky special attacker with some wonderful typing and also has access to some equally formidable moves, such as Moon Blast and Hydro Pump, meaning it can create a ton of damage. Let's talk its perfect boosting move however - Calm mind, yet another element that cements this dark horse as one of the most useful starters in Pokemon ever! Its only qualm to be thought of is that there is another dual Water/Fairy type Pokémon introduced at the same time that just pips it to the post! That Pokemon is Tapu Fini. But one thing it cannot outdo this Pokemon on is its beauty!

3. Squirtle/Blastoise

This OG water starter is easily recognisable and one of the most famous Water Type Pokemon out there, not to mention the coolest and cutest! Plus when you think of a Pokémon using Hydro Pump, the image of Blastoise can't not come to mind! In game, Blastoise is pretty useful, having an advantage against 3 gym leaders while only being weak to 2 of them, but it is in combat that it really shines and comes to life! For a while, Blastoise was one of the best rapid spinners in the game due to its massive bulk. Its mega evolution only increased its potential - and then there's its new ability Mega Launcher. This boosts all moves with aura or pulse in the name, meaning that Mega Blastoise essentially gets STAB for Dark Pulse, Aura Sphere, and Dragon Pulse, plus a double boost for Water Pulse. While Blastoise also gets an awesome looking G-Max, the best thing to happen for it in Generation 8 is getting Shell Smash. This is arguably one of the best boosting moves in the game, and makes Blastoise truly formidable. Even though its been a long time since Blastoise was first introduced in the franchise, this incredible Pokémon has come a long way and can still hold its own well in combat, more than a viable answer to several of the tier's threats, most notably the omnipresent Nidoqueen. Not to mention Squirtle is the cutest little Water Turtle Pokemon you ever saw!

2. Froakie/Greninja

Greninja is also a Pokemon we have touched on time and time before, and for good reason. Many people may be surprised that Greninja didn't take first place on this list! Not only incredibly fast with a high special attack, it has arguably the best ability in the game with Protean, too. Protean automatically changes the user’s typing to whatever type matches the move it’s using. That means that every move gets STAB. Its expansive movepool is a major contributing factor to its potency as an offensive force as well: because it has such a high number of move options, it can circumvent would-be counters and defensive checks and leave one's opponent guessing at Team Preview.

Additionally, Greninja is one of the few viable offensively inclined user of Spikes and Toxic Spikes, which it is a stellar user of. Not only that, but it has another incredible ability with Battle Bond. This transforms Greninja into Ash Greninja, boosts its speed and special attack even higher, and provides a boost to its signature move Water Shuriken. Water Shuriken is a multi-hit special move that also gets priority. Greninja only truly falls short when it comes to bulk, which renders it incapable of taking even resisted hits repeatedly, and the inability to run every coverage move on one set - also although it has an advantage against two of the gym leaders and an Elite 4 member, it’s actually weak against four gym leaders! That’s more than any other water starter, and essentially half of the game! Greninja is an incredible competitive Pokémon, but it's not quite top of the Water Type Starters.

1. Mudkip/Swampert

Look at that innocent little face! Who would guess that Mudkip would turn out to be the best Water Starter Pokemon on our list! Tearing ourselves away from its adorable youthful form, its final evolved form is Swampert, which makes for an incredible Pokémon competitively. Known as the Mud Fish Pokemon from Generation 3, this dual Water and Ground Type possesses powerful typing combined with strong defensive stats, leaving it with only a single weakness: grass and making it a great utility Pokémon with stealth rocks or wide guard. In all of the major battles of Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, you will run into a total of 7 Pokémon that are grass types. Not only that, but Swampert has STAB advantage over 4 gyms and most of Stephen Stone’s Pokémon. And Swampert is an incredible HM user, getting access to all water type HMs plus strength and rock smash. Not only that, but Mega Swampert is one of the best rain sweepers out there. Not to mention it’s also one of the swollest Pokémon you’ll ever see! It works truly great in the Hoenn region. I may be definitely biased but there truly is no other any water starter that has as much utility competitively and in-game as the Swampert line. And that’s what makes it the best water starter of all time.

If you enjoyed this definitely check out Best Grass Type Starter Pokemon, Best Water Type Pokemon Ranked, Best Water Type Pokemon Nicknames and Best Tank Pokemon in Combat!