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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet added 103 new Pokemon to the game, which brought the total number of pocket monsters in the franchise to 1008.
The new additions include Pokemon native to Paldea region, new evolutionary stages, and some regional forms of old ones. Most of the Pokemon that players will find in the region look extremely good. Their unique designs are one of the few things the game gets right.
Game Freak has also introduced a lot of new signature moves and abilities exclusive to particular monsters in Scarlet and Violet. This makes using Pokemon with these in battle feel even more exciting and rewarding.
This article will rank the 10 best Pokemon introduced in the Generation IX games based on their aesthetic appeal and competitive prowess.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinions.
Cetitan, Quaquaval, and other best Pokemon that debuted in Scarlet and Violet
10) Cetitan
Cetitan, the evolved form of Cetoddle, is an Ice-type Pokemon. Although It looks like a narwhal, it lives in snowy mountains. The concept itself is nice, but the design is a little weird, especially the areas around its mouth.
Luckily, its abilities and base Total of 521 make it a powerful Pokémon to have on the your team. Its ability, Slush Rush, makes up for its weak base Speed of 73 in snowy battles. Its enormous 170 base HP can make up for its poor Defense stats, while it can keep hitting fairly hard with its 113 base attack.
Moreover, it gets access to Earthquake, which can quite literally shake up three out of four of its Ice-type weaknesses, and Play Rough which takes care of the remaining one.
9) Quaquaval
The final evolution of the water starter in the Paldea region is by far the coolest looking among the three. Its bipedal nature suits its bird-based design, especially in contrast to Meowscarada. Quaquaval looks and behaves like Blaziken if it were a dancing water bird, which is a design choice worthy of putting on this list.
Being a Water/Fighting type, it is resistant to seven types but weak to five. Thankfully, it has a sufficiently high base Attack stat of 120. Its signature move, Aqua Step, will mostly be enough to knock off the foe’s first Pokemon. This will have its hidden ability, Moxie, kicking in. It further boosts its Attack, making the fight feel like a dance.
The rest of Quaquaval’s stats are also evenly divided, with a base total of 530. This pocket monster is on the list more for its overall appeal than its competitive strengths.
8) Farigiraf
Fans have wanted Girafarig to evolve for the longest time. It evolves when Girafarig levels up while knowing Twin Beam, which is also its signature move. It is a Psychic/Normal type.
Farigiraf is tall, unlike its pre-evolution form. While evolving, Girafarig’s tail head also turns hard and merges with its main head, giving it the appearance of a funky hoodie with teeth.
The Scarlet Pokedex says that Farigiraf’s psychic power is ten times stronger than Girafrig’s. This is also reflected in its total of 520 base stat. It is tanky with 120 base HP and has reasonably high Attack and Special Attack, albeit with low-ish Defense stats.
Its 60 base Speed is pretty bad but can easily become viable in a Trick Room setup. Its signature ability, Armor Tail, can also disrupt priority setup moves.
It gets decent cover moves like Dazzling Gleam and Low Kick to deal with its Dark Type weakness but isn’t equipped to deal with Bugs. Its hidden ability, Sap Sipper, adds a second immunity to Grass-type moves once hit by one.
7) Arboliva
The cute little Smoliv evolves into this regal-looking monster resembling an olive branch much more than an olive tree. The leaves on its head give it a very David Bowie-esque hairstyle that makes it even more fun.
It has a respectable base total of 510, but where it shines is its Sp. Attack and Defense, which are 125 and 109 respectively. It also has decent HP and Defense, making it difficult for enemies to one-shot KO it.
Arboliva’s type combination makes it weak, but Generation IX’s Terastallization makes it possible to switch types to a more suitable one.
Arboliva’s ability Seed Sower establishes Grassy Terrain when it is hit by an attack. With terrain boost and STAB boost combined, moves like Petal Dance and Giga Drain become very strong. Its secondary Normal typing comes in handy with TMs such as Hyper Voice and Tera Blast which it can learn.
6) Tinkaton
Tinkaton, the only Fairy/Steel type Pokémon found in Paldea, might be small but has massive strength. It is known to fling rocks into the sky, looking to pick fights with the deadly-looking Corviknight. It also does whatever it pleases and steals whatever it wants. The idea and execution behind its design is spot on!
Its type combination makes it resistant to nine types and to top it off, it has two immunities. Combined with its 105 base Special Defense, it is enough to make up for its average stat pool in other areas.
Tinkaton’s signature move Gigaton Hammer has 160 base power and with STAB in play, hits at a massive 240. 75 base Attack is more than sufficient for one shotting foes, especially if there is a type advantage involved.
It can also use STAB to inflict significant damage using the strongest physical Fairy move, Play Rough.
5) Flutter Mane
It is a Ghost/Fairy-type Paradox Pokemon which appears to be an ancient relative of Misdreavus. Its friendly name and petite appearance can be misleading as it is said to have a highly fierce and aggressive nature. Flutter Mane can be exclusively found in the Scarlet version.
Flutter Mane has only two weaknesses and three immunities, which makes up for its abysmal base HP and Defense of 55. With a whopping 135 each on Speed and Special Attack, though, it can rely on knocking out foes with one STAB attack.
Teaching it Sunny Day is very useful. Protosynthesis, the ability of all Ancient Paradox Pokemon, will increase its best stats even higher, making it a Special Attack and Speed overlord.
Flutter Mane’s move pool suits its stats and it gets decent cover moves as well. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have any superb counters to its two weaknesses.
4) Baxcalibur
The pseudo-lengendary Pokemon of the region is Dragon/Ice type. Baxcalibur has a spine on its back that gives it a Spinosaurus vibe. The fact that it is shaped like an ax adds to its fearsome appearance.
Baxcalibur's weakest feature is its typing. Its five weaknesses outnumber its three resistances. Offensively as well, it can only hit four types for super-effective damage. Despite this, it is a very powerful Pokemon.
It has a gigantic 145 base Attack with very appreciable bulk and reasonable Speed, all of which adds up to 600 base total. The region's pseudo-legendary Pokemon can make excellent use of its Attack stats using its signature move Glaive Rush. Using Protect can easily avoid the downside of taking double damage on the next round.
Defensive Steel-type Terastallization might make what is already a great Pokemon even better.
3) Cerulege
This Violet-exclusive Pokemon is probably one of the best designs in the game. Cerulege has everything working for it. A humanoid design that is not forced into any animal’s body landscape, a color scheme that matches the title, and fire and ghost energy hands that grow into great swords during battle.
Cerulege’s 525 base stat total is more or less evenly distributed across the board, with its Attack being its strongest point and its Sp. Attack being its weakest. It has decent physical and special Defense and middling Speed as well.
This Fire/Ghost type combination is superb, with seven resistances and two immunities. The latter is what gives Cerulege the edge over its Scarlet counterpart. Although weaker in base power than Armor Cannon, its signature move heals Cerulege for half of the damage dealt.
It also gets access to Close Combat, which is super effective on Dark and Normal, the only two types that can resist Ghost.
2) Annihilape
It took Primeape 24 years of bursting with anger to finally evolve into Annihilape. And it seems like it had to die. It is a Fighting/Ghost-type Pokemon. The only reason Annihilape is not number one on this list is that Gholdengo is simply perfect.
With a 535 base stat total and fantastic offensive typing, it can easily make up for its loss in the defensive typing department with its impressive bulk. Its signature move, Rage Fist, starts off at 50 base power but adds 50 to it every time Annihilape is hit without any drawbacks.
Annihilape can also learn coverage moves of almost every type, such as U-turn, Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, Acrobatics, Earthquake, Seed Bomb, Gunk Shot, and so on, making its move-set very versatile.
1) Gholdengo
Gholdengo evolves from Chest form Gimmighoul when it levels up and the player has 999 Gimmighoul Coins. It looks like C3PO made into a Pokemon and is supposed to be just as friendly.
It boasts a 550 base stat total and has nine resistances and three immunities, given its Steel/Ghost typing. It has above-average figures across its stat pool and a very impressive Special Attack.
Gholdengo’s signature move, Make it Rain, is a Steel-type Overheat, but better. It attacks everyone on the enemy side at the cost of bringing down the user’s Sp. Attack by one stage.
Outside of this, there are reliable STAB attacks in the form of Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon. Having Nasty Plot on it means that it can counter the negative effects of Make it Rain and then raise Special Attack by one stage.
Gholdengo’s signature ability, Good as Gold, makes it immune to all status moves. This means it cannot be put to sleep, paralyzed, and so on. Moreover, moves like Encore, which is also a status move, will not affect it.
