Choosing the right starter Pokemon is an incredibly important part of anyPokemongame and this is once again the case inPokemon Scarlet & Violet. When they first boot up the game to begin their journey through Paldea, players will be asked to choose between Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly, each of which has its own unique strengths and weaknesses.
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Sadly, it’s not quite as simple as looking at which starter has the best stats or which boasts the best design. Instead, players will need to weigh up a number of different factors, such as type effectiveness, what levels they evolve at, and how useful they’re likely to be in the games' eight gyms. Only then can players really determine which is the best starter Pokemon inPokemon Scarlet & Violet.
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Best Nature
Naive
Together with Ice-types,Grass-type Pokemonhave always been among the least desirable, but there’s actually a strong case to be made for choosing Sprigatito inPokemon Scarlet & Violet. Granted, its stats are fairly lackluster to begin with, but, by the time it’s evolved into Meowscarada, its Attack and Speed stats are both incredibly impressive, particularly the latter.
Being a Grass/Dark-type, Meowscarada has type advantage over three of the game’s eight gym leaders, making it a solid choice for those who like to keep a small team. Sadly, however, like many of theother cat-like Pokemonin the series, Sprigatito fails to carry its feline design into its final form, instead becoming more human-like with each evolution.
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Quiet
Fuecoco may not have the best design, but what it lacks in looks, it more than makes up for in stats and type effectiveness. As aFire-type Pokemon, Fuecoco will do well in three of the games' eight gyms, while its final form, Skeledirge, has type effectiveness against two additional gym leaders (Ryme and Tulip) on account of it being a Fire/Ghost-type.
Fuecoco and its evolved forms are strong special attackers too, which bodes well given that many of the best Fire andGhost-type attacksrely on the special attack stat, particularly the latter. The only downside to choosing Fuecoco is its low speed, but this shouldn’t be too much of an issue when the Pokemon has type advantage over the opposition.
Naughty
Quaxly is arguably the best-looking of the three Gen 9 starter Pokemon and is certainly the most memable, which will likely appeal to some players. Sadly, this is about all that theWater-type starter Pokemonhas going for it, as the lack of a Fire, Ground, or Rock-type gym leader makes the Pokemon fairly useless in gym battles until it has evolved into its final form.
Being a Water/Fighting-type, Quaquaval can be useful against both Larry and Grusha, which bodes well given that most players will likely be taking them on during the second half of the game. Even so, Quaxly’s weakness to both Grass andElectric-type movesmakes it a poor choice for the early stages of the game, as Artazon and Levincia will probably be two of the first gyms that most players visit.
Which is the Best Starter Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet?
Usually, trying to choosethe best starter in aPokemongamecan be incredibly tricky, butScarlet & Violetmake the decision a fairly easy one for players.Fuecocoand its subsequent evolutions having type advantage over five of the game’s eight gym leaders is just too difficult to ignore, particularly when two of those gym leaders (Katy and Brassius) will likely be among the ones that most players take on first.
For those who have an aversion toFire-type startersor are planning to bag themselves a Growlithe later on,Sprigatitois the next best option. As is often the case withPokemongames, there are plenty of great Fire and Water-type Pokemon inScarlet & Violet, so having a decent Grass-type right from the get-go might not be the worst idea, particularly when that Pokemon also happens to be incredibly fast and can prove useful in three of the game’s eight gyms.
