The 10 Best Starter Pokemon Of All Time [Ranked] | TGG (2024)

Charmander

The best starter Pokemon has to be Charmander. This cute little guy evolves into the mega popular Pokemon, Charizard. Charizard has not one but two Mega Evolutions as well as an exclusive Gigantamax Form.

But Charmander is a cute little fiery salamander, and its charm is easily apparent. It's no surprise Charmander is one of the most picked starter Pokemon even though it's poorly suited to the first two Gym Leaders in its region's games.

Charmander certainly isn't the best early game choice, but that doesn't really matter because it's great anyway.

Charmander's enduring popularity, the honestly crazy popularity of its final evolution, and its totally awesome design combine to make it the best starter Pokemon of all time.

Charizard, Charmander's final evolution, even appears on this list of the best Pokemon of all time!

Froakie

Water type Pokemon Froakie is a great choice of partner for any first time trainer, and that's without its awesome final form Greninja. Introduced in Pokemon X and Y, Froakie is a cute little frog with a whole lot of charm.

Fans of Froakie and of frogs might also enjoy this list of the best frog Pokemon!

This entire evolutionary line has access to the amazing Hidden Ability Protean, which changes its type to the type of the attack it's about the use.

This means Froakie and its evolutionary line can get same type attack bonus for every move they use!

And yes, that is as broken as it sounds especially in competitive play! Which is why Game Freak changed the Ability to work only once per time it enters battle.

But before that change the Protean Ability was absolutely amazing and it's easy to see why Greninja with it were so popular.

Froakie's cuteness, its strong evolutionary potential, and its many appearances in the anime and other parts of the franchise mean it takes the second spot on this list of the best starter Pokemon!

Rowlet

Cute little Rowlet, introduced in Pokemon Sun/Moon, is a Grass type Pokemon with Flying as its secondary typing. Rowlet is great with Grass type moves, but its final form Decidueye is part Ghost type.

Rowlet has a super cute design, being a round little owl, but Decidueye is a seriously cool ranger, almost Robin Hood-like in its design.

This fantastic design choice propelled Decidueye to the ranks of the most popular Pokemon, and it's easy to love it.

Decidueye has even found its way onto this list of the best Grass type Pokemon!

Decidueye was even given a regional variant in Pokémon Legends Arceus where it swaps the Ghost type for the Fighting type instead.

This gives it access to some great Fighting type moves as well as giving it same type attack bonus for them.

Scorbunny

Scorbunny is a Fire type Pokemon, a cute little bunny taking its design cues from professional soccer (football) players. Scorbunny and its evolutions were introduced in Pokémon Sword and Shield.

Ridiculously cute, Scorbunny and its evolutionary line also has access to the Hidden Ability Libero.

Like with Protean, Libero allows Scorbunny and its evolutions to change its type to the type of whatever move it's using, meaning all its attacks are STAB attacks.

And it was just as broken in competitive play as Protean, so it was changed in the most recent games to work only once per appearance in battle. But before that it was pretty cool.

Scorbunny's final evolution, Cinderace, has an exclusive Gigantamax Form.

Oshawott

A Water type Pokemon, Oshawott is a starter Pokemon introduced in Pokemon Black and White. A seriously cute little otter, Oshawott is quite possibly the most popular of the three starters in its generation.

Torchic

Easily one of the most popular Fire type starters, Torchic is a cute little chicken. This unassuming little dude evolves into the awesome and powerful Blaziken!

Gifted to Hoenn region trainers at the start of the games by Professor Birch, Torchic is a popular choice.

Torchic andBlaziken can get the Hidden Ability Speed Boost, which increases its Speed stat every turn.

This lets Blaziken fire off strong physical attacks like Blaze Kick and Brave Bird to take out any opposing Pokemon unlucky enough to face it in battle!

Blaziken is a strong Pokemon already, but it's one of few starter Pokemon to receive a Mega Evolution! Blaziken can Mega Evolve into Mega Blaziken, which gets a massive power up allowing it to use its powerful physical attacks even more effectively!

Fans of Torchic and Blaziken may enjoy this list of the best Fire type Pokemon!

Torchic has the distinction of being the first starter Pokemon to evolve into the Fire/Fighting type combination, a combination which Game Freak loved so much they did it two more times!

Mudkip

Mudkip is a great little Water type starter Pokemon. Mudkip was even the subject of a really popular meme. But this little Hoenn region starter Pokemon is more than a joke, as it evolves into the seriously cool Swampert.

Thanks to its secondary Ground type Swampert has only one weakness, to Grass type moves. Swampert as dual type Pokemon has an immunity to Electric type thanks to its Ground type, so Mudkip is a great choice.

And honestly, it's such an awesome flex using your Water type starter Pokemon against the Electric type Gym Leader.

Like Blaziken, Swampert has a Mega Evolution which gives it a redesign and some powerful stat changes.

Turtwig

Perhaps not the most well known tortoise Pokemon, Turtwig is still pretty cool. This Grass type starter Pokémon evolves into the majestic and mighty Torterra!

Torterra is a Grass and Ground dual type Pokemon, but little Turtwig is a pure Grass type.

With a high Attack stat Torterra excels with powerful physical attacks, although as a base form Turtwig isn't quite so powerful.

But that doesn't matter as Turtwig with its big eyes and little twig is super cute.

Piplup

Water type starter Pokémon Piplup is beloved by many Pokemon fans. This Pokemon evolves into the regal Empoleon.

Piplup was featured heavily in the Pokemon anime as Dawn's partner Pokemon. Like many Pokémon starters it's super cute and evolves into something worth using in battle.

Empoleon recently received a new Hidden Ability, switching it to Competitive, which means it might even be better in competitive play too.

But Piplup is a great little guy and a starter Pokemon to love! Easily one of the best starter Pokémon.

Sprigatito

One of three new starter Pokémon introduced in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Sprigatito was an immediate hit thanks to its adorable design.

Although its final evolution is perhaps less popular than its base form, Sprigatito has a great design that exudes cuteness and charm.