Pokemon Scarlet & Violet: the best Pokemon of every type

Building a balanced team can be difficult with so much choice in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, but we'll help you out by picking each type's best Pokémon

Creating a varied team with lots of different types on it is vital to success in Pokemon. While theming your teams around one or two types can be a fun challenge, you’ll quickly struggle if you come across anything that is super effective against your party. Still, even when you know what types you need to cover, picking which of the many available Pokémon should fill that role is tricky.

We've already taken a look at the best new Pokémon and the worst new Pokémon that Scarlet & Violet added, but for this list, we're opening it up to any creature that can be found in the Paldea region. This is all about finding the strongest candidates to wipe the floor with anything that may stand in your way on your journey.

That said, we're excluding the region's legendaries and the new paradox Pokémon, as you won't be able to obtain them until the very end of the game, so they can't help you on your adventure.

Normal – Dudunsparce

While there are a few decent Normal-types in Paldea, the winner for this category was never in question. Dudunsparce is not only a meme-worthy evolution of beloved Generation 2 Pokémon, Dunsparce, but it has some surprisingly powerful moves. Things like Hyper Drill and Boomburst are surprisingly effective, even if they don’t get any type bonuses.

If you want to know how to get your hands on one, then check out our guide on how to evolve Dunsparce.

Grass – Meowscarada

Truth be told, Paldea is a little strapped for good Grass-types. Arboliva is a good choice if you’ve already selected your starter, but things don’t get much better than Sprigatito’s evolution. Grass/Dark is a good combination, and it backs it up with a solid Attack stat that will see you through plenty of tough battles. If that wasn’t enough, its signature move, Flower Trick, is a guaranteed critical hit.

Fire – Armarouge/Ceruledge

Technically this is two Pokémon, but as they are version-exclusive counterparts, you’ll only be able to get one in your game. While these two aren’t technically the strongest out there, they are the most consistent, with a wide movepool and solid stats to back it up. They both have signature moves too. Armarouge’s will lower the target’s Special Attack and Defence, while Ceruledge’s will heal 50% of the damage it deals.

You can catch a Charcadet almost anywhere in Paldea, although it has a very low spawn chance. However, there are a few guaranteed spawn locations dotted around that you can try.

Water – Dondozo

Not only is Dondozo massive with a really cool design, but it can hold its own on the battlefield too. You’ll have to invest in some TMs to give it anything other than Water-type moves, but if washing your opponents away is all you’re after, then you can’t go wrong here. As you might expect from a Pokémon this size, it is painfully slow, but it makes up for it with high Attack and Defence stats.

Electric – Luxray

Luxray is invariably one of the best Electric-types in any game it appears in. Truthfully, there are a lot of good options for this one in Paldea. Raichu is another pure-Electric ‘mon that would do you proud, and there’s Kilowattrel if you want something a bit different.

However, when it comes to reliability and power, Luxray just can’t be beaten. It’s not the bulkiest thing ever, but it will stand up to some heavy hitters. It can turn around and dish out the pain too with a powerful Wild Charge that is sure to one-shot any Flying-types that get in its path.

Flying – Talonflame

Talonflame is the best bird. It always has been and always will be. Leaving the beauty of its design to one side, it can be a powerhouse in battle too. It already has considerable speed, but that can be boosted to ridiculous proportions with Tailwind. It can hit like a truck too, with access to both Brave Bird and Flare Blitz, allowing it to one-shot just about anything that is weak to it.

Fighting – Lucario

While technically Koraidon could take this spot, since it’s a legendary Pokémon, you won’t actually be able to use it on your journey. As such, we’ve given the honor to Lucario instead, who has always been a reliable Fighting-type throughout the years. Fighting/Steel is a type combo with so many resistances that it can stand up to several of the game’s major battles. It excels in both Physical and Special Attack, making it extremely versatile.

Poison – Glimmora

Despite there being a decent selection of Poison-types in Paldea, none of them are all that exceptional. Glimmora is what we’ve gone with because it’s the most interesting, both in terms of utility and design. Rock/Poison is a decent combination, and it opens up quite a lot of potential for moves. Its natural learnset is almost exclusively its two main types, but with some TMs you can pull Ground, Psychic, and even Ghost into the equation.

Ground – Krookodile

If you’re looking for strong Ground-types, then there are quite a few in the ranks of the paradox Pokémon, but if you want something you can actually catch as you play then Krookodile is what you should be looking for. Ground/Dark isn’t the best type pairing, but it’ll let you play around with a lot of powerful moves that can consistently flinch opponents, or leave them otherwise incapacitated.

Rock – Tyranitar

Big strong dinosaur.

Psychic – Hatterene

This is perhaps a controversial pick given Gardevoir is available in Paldea, but if you’ve played Pokémon for a long time, you’ve likely used Gardevoir so many times. Hatterene is perfect if you want something with a similar function, but a very different feel. They have the same type and a very similar movepool, but Hatterene gets the edge with a slightly higher Special Attack and a significant improvement in Physical stats, making them viable for usage. The trade-off is a frankly pathetic Speed stat, but given the upside Hatterene has, it’s worth a try.

Ice - Baxcalibur

Pretty much a no-contest here. While there are plenty of Ice-types in the Pokédex, none of them come even close to standing up to this pseudo-legendary. It finally makes an effort to cover up some of Ice’s biggest flaws – namely the fact that they have a ludicrous number of weaknesses. It has a brilliant signature move called Glaive Rush, which is worth using for the animation alone.

Bug - Volcarona

Like Ice, Bug-types are quite fragile and tend to be lacking in the Defence department, so it’s no surprise that Volcarona – the bulkiest bug – has been the best the type has had to offer since it was first introduced. Fire covers a bunch of Bug’s weaknesses, and it lets Volcarona dish out ludicrous amounts of damage with its Special Attack stat and deadly speed.

Ghost - Annihilape

A new evolution for Primeape, this angry monkey fulfills all of the potential that Primeape doesn’t quite live up to. A physically attacking Ghost-type might seem like a strange idea, but Annihilape has so many moves to put to good use. Not only does it have its Ghost-type signature move, Rage Fist, but it has moves like the Ground-type Stomping Tramtrum and the Dragon-type Outrage in its natural learnset.

Steel - Kingambit

The Pokémon Company

Another new evolution for an old Pokémon, Kingambit turns Bisharp’s already considerable power into something enviable. It had brilliant Physical Attack, Defence, and even HP that lets it deal out a lot of damage while resisting attacks quite well. Steel/Dark gives it a whopping nine type-resistances, two immunities, and just three weaknesses.

Dark - Hydriegon

It’s perhaps an obvious choice, but pseudo-legendaries are just that good, and thanks to Paldea’s open-world design, you can pick up the base forms of these powerful Pokémon quite easily and early on your journey. It excels with both Physical and Special Attacks, with all of its other stats being nothing to sniff at either. Its natural learnset is a bit limited, but if you invest in some TMs you’ll be able to take down just about any opponent.

Dragon - Garchomp

An absolute killer from the moment it debuted, there is yet to be anything that tops Garchomp’s pure power as a Dragon-type. Unlike Hydreigon it forgoes a high Special Attack stat, instead spreading that power between its HP and Speed, making it bulky, fast, and deadly. It has a stunning array of powerful Physical Attacks that could one-shot just about anything in the right circumstances.

Fairy - Mimikyu

There are technically stronger Fairy-types out there (hello again Gardevoir), but Mimikyu is so endearing we can’t say no to it. Disguise means that it will always be able to survive at least one hit in a battle, which is sometimes the difference between winning and losing, but if that isn’t enough it can throw out some of the best Fairy, Ghost, and Dark moves available with a surprising amount of speed.