Which Starter Should You Choose in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet? Best Starter Pokemon Explained

As has been the case with every new entry in the mainline Pokemon series, Scarlet and Violet offer up three starter Pokemon for players to choose from. These are the water-type duck Pokemon, Quaxly, the fire-type crocodile Pokemon, Fuecoco, and the grass-type cat Pokemon, Sprigatito. While it’s easy to get sucked into their adorable looks, don’t let them lull you into a bad decision. Here’s which starter you should choose in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

All Starter Stats in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

We’ve broken down all the base stats of each of the three starter Pokemon you can choose from in Scarlet and Violet in a convenient table below.

The table above highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each starter, and their subsequent evolutions, too. For example, Fuecoco offers high HP, Defense, and Sp. Atk stats at the expense of Attack and Speed. Quaxly, on the other hand has a higher Attack Stat and an average HP, at the expense of Defense. Sprigatito excels in Speed, Attack and Defense, but is lacking in the Sp. Atk and HP areas.

Ultimately, each of the three starters’ stats are balanced in such a way that no one of them is significantly overpowered compared to the others. However, by getting the right Nature for Fuecoco, for example, you can help balance out their weaknesses.

Starter Pokemon Final Evolution Typing, Strengths & Weaknesses

Of course, your starter Pokemon isn’t going to stay as a cute and cuddly pal for your entire adventure. As you level them up, they’ll evolve, as Fuecoco does at level 16.

Typing

Each of the starters’ final evolutions bring with them a new secondary typing. These are:

• Sprigatito: Grass and Dark-type
• Fuecoco: Fire and Ghost-type
• Quaxly: Water and Fighting-type

This is something else you should consider. If you’re a fan of Dark-types, Sprigatito may be the starter for you. More about the Fire and Ghost-type combo? Then Fuecoco and its evolution Skeledirge are going to be the Pokemon for you.

Type Strengths & Weaknesses of Final Evolutions

Due to these new typings that each starter Pokemon gets when they evolve into their final form, so to speak, they actually become stronger and weaker against different typings to what the original starter Pokemon had. We’ve listed the strengths and weaknesses of each final evolution of the starter Pokemon below:

• Skeledirge (Fuecoco’s Final Evolution)
  • Strong Against: Bug, Ghost, Grass, Ice, Steel, Psychic
  • Weak Against: Dark, Ghost, Ground, Rock, Water
• Meowscarada (Sprigatito’s Final Evolution)
  • Strong Against: Ghost, Ground, Psychic, Rock, Water
  • Weak Against: Bug (x2), Fairy, Fighting, Fire, Flying, Ice, Poison
• Quaquaval(Quaxly Final Evolution)
  • Strong Against: Dark, Fire, Ground, Ice, Normal, Rock, Steel
  • Weak Against: Electric, Fairy, Flying, Grass, Psychic

Looking at the typing strengths and weaknesses of the final evolutions of the starter Pokemon, you could argue that Quaxly in the long-run would be the ‘strongest’ starter Pokemon to choose, because its final evolution Quaquaval has the most typing strengths and the joint fewest weaknesses.

So Which Is the Best Starter Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet?

Ultimately, you shouldn’t overthink this decision too much. The right starter Pokemon for you can depend entirely on your own personal preference. Did you fall in love with Quaxly the moment you saw him? Then you’ve got to go for the best duck the Paldea region’s ever seen. If you’re leaning more towards the heavy hitting Special Attack stats of Fuecoco, then you’ll want to go for the fire-type.

That’s everything you need to know on which starter you should choose in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and which is the ‘best’ to choose. For more on the game, we’ve got you covered with guides on how to restart Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, how to get EXP Share, all Mystery Gift codes, and much more below.