Water Pokémon: you really can’t go wrong with them. They’ll either drown you to your demise if you’re on the opposing side, or refresh you back to health if you’re their partner. Either way, they’re gonna be making some serious waves.
Water-types have amazing resistances and hit quite a few key types for super effective damage. Couple that with the fantastic new batch of Water-type talent that the Paldea region has gifted players and you’ll be sure to notice the Fire-types quaking in their boots.
Here are the 10 best new and returning Water-type Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet based on their design, lore, and competitive viability.
10) Wugtrio
Wugtrio is just three silly little dudes hanging out together in a rock, vibing. They’ve got no business looking this similar to Dugtrio while somehow multiplying the goof factor twofold. But they do, they exist, and we are grateful.
Wugtrio is one of the new Convergent species just introduced in Generation IX, which are Pokémon that look almost identical to another line of Pokémon, but have no biological relation to them, and have evolved to look similar due to adapting to their environment.
Unlike Dugtrio, however, Wugtrio is absolutely horrible in battle. Apart from its dumpster-fire stats, it even lost its Arena Trap ability, which gave Dugtrio, on the other hand, at least one niche in competitive battles.
9) Paldean Tauros: Aqua
Remember Tauros? It was a pretty strong Gen I Pokémon with its classic design that you can’t really go wrong with. In Paldea, there are three different forms of a single Paldea variant of Tauros, and Paldean Tauros’ Aqua Breed is quite the stunner.
Not only does it get access to Intimidate, an amazing ability to cripple physical attackers, it also has a solid stat distribution while boasting the signature move Raging Bull, which turns into a 90 base power Water move for the Aqua Breed that also breaks screens and Aurora Veil.
Apart from that, it looks super cool too: a charcoal-black Tauros with specks of blue scattered throughout to indicate its type. Pretty badass, if you ask us.
8) Slowbro
We all know Slowpoke, the chillest dude in all of the Pokémon world to exist, not a single thought behind those eyes. Slowbro is kinda the same, except it’s smarter and slightly more proactive—the keyword here being “slightly.”
It is said that after Shellder clamped down on Slowbro’s tail, it lost the ability to feel pain due to the poison released by Shellder into Slowbro’s body. Slowbro, unlike its pre-evolution, is able to unleash incredibly powerful psychic attacks, but just prefers not to because it’s a chill, peaceful Pokémon that would rather zone out and have a good time.
What’s funny is that because Shellder has now attached itself onto its tail, Slowbro can no longer use it to go fishing, forcing Slowbro to swim in the waters and catch fish itself. Shellder is almost like Slowbro’s workout buddy, and is just getting Slowbro’s life together.
7) Quaxly
This little feathered friend is quite the charmer with its confident, smug demeanor mixed with just the right amount of cuteness which is shown off brilliantly during Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s initial cutscenes.
While Quaxly may have been the least popular of the three starters in the Paldea region, it turns out to be more of a “worst of the best” kind of situation. The starter trio in Gen IX is solid, and Quaxly was the perfect personality to round off the animated and vibrant trio.
6) Iron Bundle
Who would have thought that Delibird could actually be redeemed? While we do think the regular Delibird looks better, and is just overall more pleasant (as seen in the anime) its future Paradox form in Iron Bundle really makes it a threat in competitive battling.
With its ability Quark Drive activated, it can either be the fastest thing on the field, or hit like an absolute truck. As you’d expect, a Pokémon this offense-oriented would have lower bulk, but Iron Bundle is actually pretty decent on the Physical Defense side. It also loses its Flying secondary typing for Water, which makes it objectively better in terms of defensive capabilities.
5) Rotom-Wash
Rotom is certainly an interesting concept, a tiny ghost that possesses various appliances and gains different powers through each one. The specific one that stands out during competitive play is Rotom-Wash, however.
Rotom-W has an incredible dual-typing in Electric/Water, and while this would normally leave a Pokémon with two weaknesses in Ground and Grass moves, Rotom-W possesses the ability Levitate which lets it be immune to Ground moves, leaving it with only a single weakness.
Couple this with Rotom’s good bulk, and you’ve got a Pokémon that’s tough to remove from the field. If you go for Rotom-W’s supportive set with moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Electroweb, it can turn into a real pest quickly. A more offensive set can be run with great success as well.
Rotom-W should be doing especially well in Gen IX, since Earthquake seems to be everywhere in the early metagame and Rotom-W’s ability lets it completely ignore the powerful Ground move and retaliate with strong offensive or supportive options.
4) Gyarados
Remember watching the anime back in the day and seeing James just toss aside his Magikarp and take it for granted each time, only to eventually watch it turn into the kickass beast called Gyarados, begging for Gyarados to come under his helm once again? So satisfying.
Gyarados makes its return in the Paldea region, and while there are a lot of new and intriguing Pokémon, it’s really hard to say that this classic Water-type has lost its luster. It’s cool and powerful from a lore standpoint, but also has great utility in competitive Pokémon with its useful ability in Intimidate, solid offensive presence, and decent supportive options.
3) Palafin
With over 1,000 Pokémon now existing in the franchise, you’d think we would’ve got a superhero Pokémon before now. Well, Gamefreak finally delivered by making Palafin.
At first glance, Palafin seems pretty lackluster, with middling stats all around. But all you need to do is pivot out this ‘mon once to see it come back on the field as Palafin: Hero, with a gargantuan Attack stat of 160, greatly increased bulk, and a good Speed stat to round it off.
Palafin also gets access to its signature move Jet Punch, a 60 Base Power priority Water move. Bonkers.
2) Gastrodon
Gastrodon is cute, okay? Among the many things Gen IV did right, coming up with Gastrodon reigns somewhere at the top. It’s the goopy little slug that could. It’s the underdog. The underslug. Everyone likes an underslug.
In the end, what real reason do you have to dislike Gastrodon? Even if you’ve seen one of its forms and disliked its color scheme, there’s another form with different colors that you’ll probably like better anyway. Oh and, forgive us for the controversial opinion but—Pink Gastrodon, best Gastrodon. Yeah, we said it.
Also, have you heard its cry? Sheer brilliance.
1) Dondozo (and Tatsugiri)
It’s time we talked about the elephant in the room—err, catfish in the room? And the dragon in the room? These are way too many uncanny creatures in one room, man.
Dondozo and Tatsugiri act as a combo, where Dondozo takes advantage of Tatsugiri’s Commander ability in Double Battles. When Tatsugiri and Dondozo are on one side of the field at the same time, Tatsugiri will enter Dondozo’s mouth and give it a +2 boost to each of its stats, while also letting Dondozo’s “Order Up” move raise a specific stat by one stage depending on Tatsugiri’s color.
This can make Dondozo a very offensive Pokémon that also can’t be easily removed from the field, especially because of its Unaware ability ignoring opponent Pokémon’s stat changes. While this synergistic strategy does make Dondozo the only Pokémon able to remain on the field in a Double Battle setting, there are strategies in which you can make Tatsugiri faint while it’s taken control of Dondozo in its mouth.
One such cool strategy is sending out a Black Sludge Tatsugiri and a fast and strong Choice Banded ‘mon that can learn U-Turn, like Dragapult, for example.
Turn one: Dragapult U-Turns onto Tatsugiri and pivots into Dondozo while Tatsugiri uses the move Endure to remain at 1 HP and survive any other hit for that turn, while also taking command of Dondozo and boosting it. Next turn: Tatsugiri faints from Black Sludge damage while you are free to send out any other Pokémon next to your boosted Dondozo. Overpowered? If you execute it well, then yes.
Dondozo is a cool Water-type Pokémon and all, since the last time we got a catfish Pokémon was way back in Gen III, but it is all but incomplete without talking about it alongside its companion Pokémon Tatsugiri, which is why we will be clumping the two together to take the No. 1 spot on our list.