The *Definitive* Ranking of Each Pokemon Starter Trio

With the latest announcement of Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, people began frothing at the mouth when the newest starter Pokémon ran, squirted, and bounced their way into our hearts. Though my opinion of these three are still in its preliminary stages, I’ve certainly formed some solid thought of the previous 7 main-line generations and their starting Pokémon. BEHOLD! My definitive ranking of Each Pokémon starter trios.

#7 – Johto (Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile)

Sorry Johto, but you’re dead last. Though Pokémon Silver and Pokémon Gold rank high on my personal list of best games in the franchise (A list for another day), I couldn’t have been more bored with the starters. An alligator? Ok. A fire mole? Whatever. A four-legged animal with a leaf on its head? Sorry four-legged-Oddish-wannabe… The final evolutions aren’t anything to get excited about either, especially with the subdued characteristics and binary types. Even when these Pokémon emerged in Pokémon Go, I found them purely for the ‘dex and NOT because I was excited to see them. However, I will give it to Totodile; they have grown on my over the years in terms of their cuteness, though not enough to emerge out of the bottom…

#6 – Unova (Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott)

Similar to Johto, the starter trio seem boring. Snivy is a pretentious snob that lifts its nose to others. The pretentiousness continues throughout its evolutions; getting more and more entitled. I mean, the final evolution is called Serperior (a mix of serpent and superior) and the only thing I want to do is slap it in the face. Tepig, though cute and adorable initially, evolves into a brutish, borish, boar. Let’s not forget that Emboar is the THIRD fire-starter evolution in a row to be a Fire/Fighting-type. (Can anyone say broken record?) Oshawott, the strange otter Pokémon, has a nice evolution, Samurott, that has a horn shaped like a sword- a freaking sword! I trudged through Oshawott uninteresting awkwardness so I could have the sword-horned beast!

#5 – Sinnoh (Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup)

The Sinnoh region has some of my favorite evolutions in the series (shoutout to Mamoswine, Porygon-Z, and Dusknoir), but I couldn’t care less about its starters, ESPECIALLY with their final evolutions and their typings. Chimchar’s final evolution, Infernape, was the second back-to-back Fire/Fighting-starter Pokémon, so that was a huge disappointment with the innovation. Torterra, Turtwig’s final form, is Grass/Ground, which has a 4X weakness to ice (a popular type used in competitions) is debilitating, though it is cool that this typing is unique to this Pokémon. The best of the trio, Empoleon, offers a uniquely-specific Water/Steel typing, giving it resistance to a massive ELEVEN types and, well, it looks like a badass. It’s trident-like headgear, paired with the tuxedo-like appearance, totally offers a “sophisticated yet deadly” vibe. Clearly, I chose Piplup in Pokémon Diamond.

#4 – Alola (Rowlet, Litten, Popplio)

This is where things start to get a bit tricky. Rowlet, easily my favorite Grass-type starter is an adorable owl with – get this- a leaf bow tie. The moment I saw this, I knew this would be my starter. The excitement grew even more when I saw, Decidueye, the first Ghost-type starter who shoots arrows out of its arm. Litten, the adorable fire kitten, eventually bulks up into the beastly luchador, Incineroar. Happily, though Incineroar is a fiery fist-fighter, it is NOT a fighting-type, but rather fire/dark. I’d like to think that this is an “LOL” moment from Game Freak, but I don’t think they’d offer a passive-aggressive respons to the exhaustion of all the Fire/Fighting types from previous generations. Unfortunately, Popplio just doesn’t meet the standard of the other two. This ditzy clown-seal transforms into an elegant seal that sings its attacks? I’m sure someone would find this metamorphosis appealing, but sadly it does nothing for me.

#3 – Kalos (Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie)

The Kalos region, though didn’t top the list, has my favorite final evolution type breakdown. Pokémon X and Pokémon Y pushes the typical Fire vs Water vs Grass with an additional Psychic vs Dark vs Fighting typing. Chespin evolves into a strong-shelled thorny beast. Fennekin evolves into a mystical Harry-Potter cosplayer. Froakie evolves into a stealthy ninja that has its tongue as a scarf. Each one is distinct, well fleshed out, and absolutely engaging. This was one of the first regions in quite some time that I was pressed to choose my starter. Push came to shove and I chose Chespin, but FOMO went into full force and pressured some friends to trade me the other two for a full set to begin my adventure!

#2 – Kanto (Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle)

Welp. The original trio is a staple in the Pokémon franchise. I remember first seeing them in my early elementary school days, fixating on a red lizard, blue turtle, and vegetable-looking dinosaur. Even throughout the 20+ years, I’m constantly brought back to these three and how on-point their archetypes are. The transformation of Charmander progresses naturally; lizard, bigger lizard, big lizard with wings. Though it wasn’t a shocking transformation, it gave fans a bigger and better version of its original form. Bulbasaur follows this natural progression, but this time with the bulb on its back. From raw bulb, to small sprout, to full on blooming flower, it was super cool to see this tiny dinosaur emerge into an earth-shakingly giant beast. Squirtle, my favorite of the three, grows from a jovial turtle to a literal cannon-welding-tank. These starters go one step further and have insanely awesome and powerful Mega Forms; further growing their archetypes (I mean, Mega Blastoise has bigger cannons, Mega Charizard X and Y have larger wings, and Mega Venusaur has an enormous flower). I love these starters, but not as much as…

#1 – Hoenn (Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip)

The best starter trio within Pokémon hails from Hoenn! The fiery chick, Torchic, is a tiny bundle of warmth that I just want to snuggle with until I fall asleep in bed (and pray it doesn’t burn the house down). Treecko seems like a suave tree-climber that would be more than happy to grab me some fruits and enjoy on a lovely spring day. Mudkip, the mellow mud maniac, makes me want to just lay in the dirt, enjoy a light drizzle, and moisturize my skin (fancy, right?). Their evolutions, for the most part, elevate their appearances and make a more aggressive outlook. Blaziken, the original Fire/Fighting Pokémon, has a great progression, especially when you realize that it is indeed a fierce-fighting-fire-chicken. On paper, if someone was to tell me “fierce-fighting-fire-chicken”, I’d think of a literal raw chicken running around, yelling because it is literally being cooked as its scurrying around. Happily, Blaziken exceeds that vision by leaps and bounds. Sceptile and Swampert also have interesting layouts, increasing the ferocity and aggressiveness of the starters. What really got me going was the Mega Evolutions of these three. Each one presents a powerful push towards a key physical characteristic. Mega Swampert literally looks like his muscles have muscles; a scene so insane that I just have to chuckle at it. Mega Sceptile is the same way, but instead of muscles, it’s the tail. And Mega Blaziken?! *Swoons*

So whatta you think? Agree? Disagree? Think I’m bananas crazy and need to be carted away? Sound off in the comments below and let’s civilly chat 😉

Harry Loizides is a contributor for Duel Screens and also manages Middle of Nowhere Gaming. When he isn’t making cool math projects for his students, he’s busy catching Pokemon and conquering ancient Greece in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Be sure to catch his adventures on Twitter and Instagram.