I Played Every Pokemon Game To Find The WORST Starter Pokemon...

[@squidwater6700]

I love how almost every one of my favorite starters are the worst of their respective regions 💀

[@naurmael]

Right there with you

[@spyroclone152]

Don't feel too bad. I'd argue that this video was pretty poorly constructed overall since Papasea here didn't really go into extensive reasoning for why certain starters didn't work besides type matchups and ... his own opinions on design, I guess. This would be the last video I'd ever point to if I wanted to justify a starter being bad.

[@armaggedon390]

That's just what life is like for Grass type trainers.

[@InVINCEable2326]

​@@armaggedon390I always go grass typing in every new entry. Never realized they were the worst in most games. But it won't deter me from continuing to pick them in future games

[@kryzethx]

​@@spyroclone152 He's not wrong though; in general, Grass has the most weaknesses, and the least coverage, so it will almost always be the worst in any region that isn't full of rocks, grounds, and waters. It's more likely for a region to be full of bugs, flying, or poison types. Most regions also have similar or better grass type options in the early game, making the grass starter superfluous in most regions that it would excel in. Fire has a similar amount of weaknesses, but generally has more type coverage (especially the dual typed starters) than grass, and most regions don't have easily obtainable fire type alternatives, so it can't be easily replaced in the regions it would excel in. Water is just the best type in general. Few weaknesses, great coverage (since Surf + Ice Beam is so common), and even though there are many alternatives, most aren't available from the start of the game, and few of them are notably better than the water starter. He goes over most of these points, just in a more condensed format, in the video.

[@bobjob2514]

Um… actually… (snorts, adjusts glasses) Pidgey’s gust is normal type in gen 1. Spearow supremacy!

[@jfei64]

No no. You see he clearly means to grind Pidgey to to level 28 (31 if you let it evolve to Pidgeotto) so that it will learn Wing Attack to deal with those pesky level 5 bugs.

[@BirnieMac1]

Nidoran male tho Doesn’t it get peck quite early?

[@wentoneisendon6502]

Another whacky gen 1 fact I didn't know

[@TKnHappyNess]

@@jfei64 Wing Attack isn't even that powerful in Gen 1

[@AlphaDal-if9vv]

I agree

[@Wailmur]

Grass types being really awful makes me sad

[@SanderEvers]

So basically, if you want a hard mode Pokémon game: pick the Grass starter.

[@Purriah]

Nah, the games are too easy lol

[@MrFrog-kq4rw]

Except for gen 1

[@Mrperson0]

@@MrFrog-kq4rw Charmander isn't hard mode outside the first two gyms. Meanwhile, the Chikorita like struggles against everything.

[@jessicamagri8211]

Yeah, gen 1 is the exception. I had such a hard time in the beginning with charmander in pokemon red

[@DarkestVoid]

@@Purriahcry harder

[@solitare4602]

I like Meowscarada. It looks like a Phantom Thief. How is that not cool? Plus, I'm a sucker for moves that can't miss, and I like auto-crit moves too.

[@BubblesChika]

I don't know what Game Freak were thinking in Gen 2. They threw Chikorita under the bus, making it weak for over half the game. If Johto does ever gets another remake, they really need to rework Chikorita's moveset and probably even give it a second typing so it isn't so weak to everything around it

[@TheShiningEnergy]

and actually give Johto gym leaders actual Johto pokemon.

[@VCV95]

​@@TheShiningEnergyand actually give johto johto pokemon

[@PokeMilesPlays]

@@VCV95It really is ridiculous how many Johto Pokémon aren’t even obtainable until postgame. Then you finally get one, and have to train it 60 some levels because it’s only level 5. I specifically remember houndour is found on the route between Celadon and Saffron and even then it’s only there at night. Although I can understand the fact that they wanted to make Kanto have more diversity in Pokémon, why would they just get rid of that diversity in every later game besides HGSS. Also, since GSC added numerous Pokémon only found in Kanto, why would they not include those in the Kanto Pokédex in games with that sorting system (GO, Home, Bank, etc.).

[@BusinessSkrub]

Chikorita is the bomb. The only starter in Johto who can easily blast through Miltank laughing the whole way

[@BubblesChika]

@BusinessSkrub There's much luck involved even getting a Reflect off if you couldn't reset for a female to be immune to attract. Stomp is too powerful and there's a good chance it'll be flinched if it's not immobilised by love

[@edfreak9001]

i am pausing the video at 0:01 to guess that it's chikorita

[@JohnnyHikesSW]

Literally using Meganium is torture, I guess it could be OK in VGC but it's beyond useless in singles

[@DarkestVoid]

@@JohnnyHikesSWtoo bad for you the point isn’t about shitty competitive play it’s based on playing through the story.

[@JohnnyHikesSW]

@DarkestVoid and most of the story is played in singles, where Meganium is horrifically annoying to use. I tried to use it on a playthrough, but it was so frustrating that I had to start over with Totodile

[@darkninjafirefox]

Meganium may struggle in its home region, but it does pretty well in coliseum! The doubles format let's it make better use of its support moves

[@bvd_vlvd]

Meganium is insane, I used it in the Emerald's battle tower to set up screens and toxic-synthesise, and the only threats were those annoying toxic-double teamers that I'd miss every single time lol It's kinda like Charizard, easily the worst most of the game, easily the best for the post game. It's just that Gen 1&2 postgames don't exist

[@CrazyWeridoRH]

How would Rowlet do poorly against Araquanid if it takes neutral damage from bug and can hit it super effectively with flying moves?

[@spyroclone152]

Especially a flying type Z move.

[@CordyMcDonald]

The Meowscarada slander is unfounded, she’s a cool jester freak :( Also flower trick being a guaranteed crit that can’t miss is pretty good

[@Connowot387]

It is good, but Grass/Dark? Even with Tera Types and Protean, it’s hard to make the original typing good. Still, don’t mess with Flower Trick. The fact it always crits and never misses is like MAGIC.

[@bonfanteplays]

Meowscarada slaps HARD.

[@finnsnow2495]

@@Connowot387 I mean it's not meant to be a tank anyway, although grass isn't the best offensive typing it hits pretty hard on even neutral hits. Plus it gets knock off and other useful moves, the type is definatly the disadvantage but that's the case with almost all grass starters.

[@Nisi1]

meowscarada is my favorite of the gen 9 starters by far. sure its typing sucks defensively, but unlike its grass/dark cousin wo-chien it can hit and run well

[@solitare4602]

@@finnsnow2495 Grass/Dark is also weirdly good defensively too. It's immune to Powder and Prankster moves. You're not stopping that thing from hitting and critting you.

[@TheTakato122]

People always oversell how hard it is to use Charmander in gen 1, the fact that Fire is weak to Rock/Ground means nothing in Brock's Gym because none of the mons actually have any Rock or Ground-type moves and Rock-types generally have terrible Special.

[@boks93]

This! Also everyone always overvalues the type advantage of Bulbasaur for the first two gyms. Venusaur doesn’t get a good stab move (Flamethrower and Surf are just so far better than…..Mega Drain? Razor Leaf is good in Gen1 but only because of the stupid crit mechanic). After Misty you might as well box your Bulbasaur

[@Sean-mq7wt]

​@@boks93Bulbasaur/Venusaur remain relevant into the third gym because of type resistance against Surge. It's after that that it's utility falls off a cliff.

[@boks93]

@@Sean-mq7wt fair enough point. But who doesn’t just get a Diglett and sweeps the gym with Dig/Magnitude? It’s such a goated encounter next to the electric gym

[@Chronopie]

Disagree on the SV starters. Every type in the game is represented by either a gym, a titan, or a star base, so it's not like Gold and Silver where Chikorita has no advantages ever. Sprigatito bodies Klawf. resists Brassius and Iono, steamrolls Kofu, and should have evolved into Meowscarada by the time you're hitting Ryme and Tulip. You don't have great matchups into the star bases though, tbf. Quaxly, on the other hand, has terrible matchups against Brassius and Iono, and Tulip, and Ryme's Toxtricity, and depending on how far you've evolved, Kofu's Veluza and Larry's Staraptor. Grusha also has coverage on his Frosmoth and Altaria. And Flower Trick is far better than Aqua Step.

[@nothing51286]

Yup, Quaxly is definitely the worse option. Meowscarada gets insane coverage moves, has great attack and speed for a starter, has an insane signature move in flower trick, and gets u-turn at level 24 to switch out of anything it can't handle. Quaquaval can't do any of that, and is just as weak all those scary flying types S/V has as Meowscarada is.

[@robertbarrows6687]

@@nothing51286 Yeah, the grass-type slander and not even going into Meowscarada's stats or the fact it can learn TM's (Aerial Ace or Acrobatics which hit with its big attack stat as a Sprigatito or Floragato) to make he first two gyms a cake walk...yeah.

[@rohankhatri3226]

Completely agreed. I never struggled with Sprigatito...in fact it almosg beat everything with Night Slash, Flower Trick, Chilling Water and Play Rough.

[@BusinessSkrub]

Same how people say Chikorita is "bad", just because it's the worst starter in Johto. Squirtle is "worst" in Gen 1, it doesn't mean it's a BAD mon.... Contrary to Papa's opinion, Bayleef bodies the crap out of Miltank because Reflect and Poisonpowder. Even if you get flinched, it did like 11 damage. Just try attacking again lol, it'll die eventually if you bring a couple potions. Much better than Cyndaquil getting insta killed by the first hit of rollout, and Cyndaquil is my favourite starter for Johto lol

[@TruBluLew23]

@@nothing51286 While I'm not a Meowscarada hater, Quaquaval can do all of that. It has 120 Atk & 85 Speed vs Meowscarada's 110 Atk and 123 Speed. It's signature move Aqua Step raises it's speed while still hitting decently hard, it also gets U-Turn by TM (and as of Teal Mask, Flip Turn). And Larry's Staraptor and Kofu's Veluza is a moot point if you Tera Quaquaval, since you lose your fighting weakness. They're both strong in their own ways to make them just about equal with each other.

[@JoyBoyAlter]

...... I like Meowscarada..... It's not my favourite Pokemon, but I like it.....

[@CrownedDoe]

#1 Chikorita fan since OG gold/silver. In HGSS, mine wore the gold leaf crown showing that we were super besties. 💚

[@Ryanwizardstaff]

All Gen 4 starters are good... Yes, Infernape is probably a little ahead due to the lack of alternative Fire options. Still, Empoleon has a fantastic defensive typing in Water/Steel and Torterra gets access to STAB Earthquake upon evolution at level 32 which is absolutely busted.

[@adamgray1857]

Meowscarada hits 3 gyms for super effective damage This opposed to Quaxwell hitting 2 (if fully evolved before Larry) but then also gaining the same weakness to Flying Quaquavell also cant use its fighting stab against the ghost gym and is weak to two gyms. So they have the same amount of weaknesses to the gym leaders but Meowscarada hits more for super effective damage.

[@LilyMaeBlossom]

Ye, it feels like he kinda glossed over the secondary typing meowscarada had which is just objectively good. Quad weak to bug? Who cares, gen 9s bug type is super early on and is honestly pretty weak. Also maybe a hot take, Quaquaavil is so much more unnerving to me with it's dance dance than Meowscarada is for being a bipedal cat magician.

[@bdt2002gaming]

Maybe I’m thinking too hard into this, but it almost feels like each of the three Paldea starters was designed to be good at one of the three “story arcs” or whatever you’d like to call them. The problem is, with the game’s poorly thought out open-world style, I can’t exactly tell who’s good for which one, only that Meowscarada happens to be by far the worst one for Starfall Street for some reason. Seriously, aside from Giacomo, you lose every fight here including Clavell’s and Penny’s 💀

[@adamgray1857]

@bdt2002gaming so every type is represented in the three story lines so including those it'll just be type chart for the starters

[@Sailor-Khione]

Also why would you even go for some of these gyms with it unless he's assuming we will be doing a solo run

[@nomnom2407]

To be fair to Charmander, in Gen 1 he can beat Brock because he has no actual Rock moves, and in Gen 3 it at least gives you Metal Claw to deal with Geodude, and maybe Onix.

[@marcosdheleno]

10:00 in defence of turtwig, it gets access to stab earthquake on becoming torterra at level 32. which is incredibly early, and since it got a really good attack. it will hit like a truck. even earlier on, it gets access to razor leaf at 13, which is probably the best early to mid grass move, and it also get bite and crunch which will melt any psychic or ghost you may face. its only real drawback is the lack of seed bomb for true stab grass move(unless you breed, which kills the point of geting it as a starter), and its atrocious speed. its great atk also makes it a good strength user if you want.

[@bvd_vlvd]

I'd argue it's better than Prinplup that spams bubblebeam and peck (or pluck) until it evolves. Very very weak and hard to use around Wake and Maylene

[@lazerbeam134]

It can be fun to setup sweep with Curse lol that's what I did in Platinum a lot

[@greenfox7657]

Bulbasaur won me over way back in 1997. He will never be dethroned

[@1musamune]

Quil-uh-den it's a play on Quill and Paladin also overlooking Rowlett's secondary type counters Araquanid's secondary type...the whole reason pure grass would struggle is the reason a Grass/Flying type thrives.

[@svenbtb]

lol not Sea calling me out for forgetting Quilladin's name RIGHT when I was thinking "Uhhh what was this one's name again" lmao

[@danielbiello07]

Interestingly, Chespin is the only gen 6 starter than can reliably solo Viola if you do level caps as it gets early access to rollout. The other 2 struggle with Vivillon

[@emarti3853]

Pidgey has no flying moves until Fly/wing attack gen 1. Gust normal move lol Also charizard cant learn Fly in R/B

[@Niall_Sene]

It may be a hot take, but Game Freak should swap Sceptile's attacking stats, I think it would even benefit from a nerf in Sp.Atk and a buff to its Atk. Sceptile is so cool and it's a shame that it can't live up to it's potential because the Physical - Special split actually screwed it over, even in Gen 3, you can tell it's supposed to be a physical attacker, but Grass being special was the issue.

[@OfAaron3]

The totem pokemon are different in SuMo and USUM. Rowlet has the advantage in SuMo because it's a Wishiwashi.

[@ShayTheValiant]

From what I remember of X and Y, almost everyone wanted to pick either Chespin or Fennekin, and barely anyone wanted to pick Froakie. That was until the final evolutions got leaked just before the games came out. People were put off by Chesnaught and Delphox, and were amazed when they saw Greninja, so then many of them switched over, including myself.

[@BusinessSkrub]

Strange, considering Chesnaught is far and away the coolest one :0

[@SacredSwordClips]

Bro didn't I see you before in another comment section with the same pfp. How tf did I find you again lmao

[@dvillines26]

I remember the leaks, lol, that was an experience. Somebody in...Canada, I think? got the game a couple days early. I remember everyone lost their shit when Goomy was introduced. now people are like 'oh yeah Goomy, that's cute' but then? Goomy was our new god of cuteness.

[@RayoMcQueen95990]

No? Some people originally really hated Greninja when it leaked, it wasn’t up until people understood how useful he is in competitive and got hit by the “anime makes him popular” ray, he became a fan favorite

[@ShayTheValiant]

@@RayoMcQueen95990 Again, that's not what I remember. Everyone wanted either Chespin or Fennekin until they saw their final evolutions, and then switched over to Greninja.

[@Urthdigger]

The funny thing about Charmander in FRLG, is that metal claw isn't quite the buff it may seem. Yes, you're going from a not effective to super effective... but both geodude and onix have nearly 4x the defense compared to their special defense. So it might be just a bit more damage than ember, while bulbasaur and squirtle get super effective special damage.

[@fadeleaf845]

No problem if you feel Sprigatito does worse in-game but it's worth bringing up how Skeledirge is the most overpowered starter you'll ever get, having a lot of bulk and a powerful typing, along with its signature move Torch Song being a fairly high power move that scales up your damage, allowing you to sweep through teams even if they resist fire.

[@kryzethx]

18:19 Booo, for not comparing the two starters to each other. Eevee obviously has the most options in terms of type coverage, but personally, I had an easier time with Pikachu, since its stat spread focuses on speed and offense, which is especially powerful after getting the PikaSurf move to cover its weaknesses, while my Eevee run struggled to kill almost anything even with super effective damage. Maybe I needed to feed them more candy, but Pikachu should take the win here

[@FrostFire425]

“If you pick Chespin, good luck” Chespin rollout go brrrrrrrrrr

[@cero0113]

Im genuinely curious: When did they change the terminology for starter pokemon???

[@oddsmile1234]

Starter is a fan term, but fairly recently a promotional thing came out and called them "First Partner Pokemon" And nobody uses it

[@amberwelch393]

Poor chikarita, fingers crossed that it gets the legends starter treatment in pokemon Z-A, or another future legends game, I really love the design of her evolution line

[@ohair87]

I will not stand for the Chespin/Quilladin/Chesnaught slander! Chespin is my 3rd favorite starter of ALL TIME after Decidueye and Swampert. He’s such a cute little guy.

[@patg148]

I will not stand for this cyndaquil slander

[@JollyQuilladin]

IKR? So rude

[@CocktailBoomin]

Womp womp

[@DigiRangerScott]

It’s not slander if it’s reasonable

[@masmurdermonkey9233]

Indeed! They were my first Pokémon. Give my boy a little credit, he may be the worst but he’s not *that* bad ;-;

[@patricialock1862]

A lot of team flare grunts have dark type pokemon, making the fighting type chesnaught not really hard to use against them. This wasn't really addressed. Cool video though! Kind of wish the video addressed more than fire/water/grass types (stat distribution was mentioned in gen two and was very interesting!) (and addressing second type for those who have it would be nice)

[@finnsnow2495]

I think Team Flare is just so easy you don't need any advantage at all. As someone who beat that game like three times I don't think I even looked at the scene when I fought them and I was not super overleveled. They just give them nothing I think you'd have to try to lose

[@patricialock1862]

@@finnsnow2495 honestly, good point

[@sandgemtown]

I guess if you have to pick for LGPE, the better choice would probably be Eevee since it gets way more special moves.

[@kryzethx]

My vote would have to go towards Pikachu; much more speed and higher offensive stats means Pikachu is more likely to outspeed and get the first turn kill, compared to Eevee. Frail defenses mean nothing in that case. Pika's one big weakness (rock/ground) also crumbles to the special water move that it gets.

[@sandgemtown]

@@kryzethx That's true but Pika and Eevee are both so jacked in LGPE + affection bonus they kinda just sweep anything anyways 😆Not really a bad choice either way

[@SD-VThe_LovablePsycho0100]

Primarina is, like, way better then Incieneroar. She's the best to use for the whole game.

[@DarkestVoid]

Nah Primarina is the worst starter of Gen 7 lmao

[@rafs8126]

@@DarkestVoid NEVERRR MAMA EATS BOTH OF THEM

[@TKnHappyNess]

Even though Sceptile did get the Dragon typing with it's Mega Evolution, most of the Dragon moves it gets are physical with Dragon Pulse locked to post-Delta Episode and Draco Meteor not being possible

[@Rikuoftheearth]

Quilladin does fit into the naming scheme. Chespin's line is based off the fighting D&D class. Chespin just derives from chestnut, but Quilladin is based off Paladin and Chestnaught is based off Knight. Which are D&D classes.

[@oddsmile1234]

Um actually, Chestnut isn't a D&D martial class so clearly its not the line's inspiration.

[@wrathofthesage]

​Dreadnaught is tho, in 5e for example ​@@oddsmile1234

[@Alusion94]

Knight also isn’t a D&D class

[@wrathofthesage]

@@Alusion94 in 5e it is

[@Alusion94]

@@wrathofthesageI can’t find anything that says Knight is a class, closest thing would be Fighter

[@IAmMissingnoMaster]

THE SHEER QUILLADIN DISRESPECT And Chespin is actually the _best_ choice for the first Gym! I know the matchups don't look great, but Viola leads with a Surskit who has Water Sport and no Bug moves, and Chespin learns Rollout! By the time Vivillon's out, it's a one-hit KO.

[@pointathim]

Chikorita struggles are immense. Gyms 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, E4 2, Champion, all of Team Rocket and the rival. Yikes

[@AlfieriV]

Literally the only routes a grass type is useful are the ones before Union Cave and near Cianwood City

[@BusinessSkrub]

It's almost like you're intended to have multiple teammates that cover those weaknesses by the end of the game, lmfao

[@kryzethx]

@@BusinessSkrub It's almost as if using any other Pokemon would be better than using Chikorita :D

[@NessBrawl64]

Meganium actually has a pretty good time vs. Clair relative to the other starters, both in GSC and HGSS: - Out of Clair's entire team, only one Dragonair has a super-effective move against it, which could be easily covered by Light Screen before it enters the battle if you levelled it up that much (it learns it around Lv. 40). If you did (a bit much for Johto, I know, but not impossible), you only gotta worry about a stray burn/freeze - It's the only starter than can hit Gyarados and Kingdra for neutral damage with its STAB. Body Slam is still slightly better than Razor Leaf, but Razor Leaf does have a better crit chance (and in HGSS can ignore Gyarados' Intimidate if you didn't cancel it out through a switch), Magical Leaf in HGSS is stronger anyway and neutral Grass STAB suddenly looks better when the other 2's STAB moves only do half damage (or even worse, 1/4 damage on Kingdra). They _need_ coverage to make things easier and even that isn't a perfect solution (it doesn't help Typhlosion lost Thunder Punch as a viable option in HGSS) - As it resists Kingdra's strongest move (Surf/Hydro Pump), Meganium forces it to rely on either the Dragon STAB or Hyper Beam, and it can tank the former better than Feraligatr can I can tell you from experience since it's always been the starter I picked the most in Johto, Typhlosion is the real one who got it the worst on this Gym. Gym 7 is also very misleading, as Pryce's pokémon do have Ice moves, but _every single_ pokémon on Pryce's team is also weak to Grass. It's pretty much a race to see which one knocks the other out first, and considering Pryce's actually _weaker_ than Jasmine level-wise, chances are you'll win. Jasmine herself is a way worse matchup than Pryce, and even then it isn't a hopeless one (only starter that resists Magnemite's Thunderbolts and can still hit Steelix for full damage through its weaker Sp. Def), just a worse time than the other 2 starters.

[@IAmMissingnoMaster]

Gyms 1 and 2: only their aces are a threat to Grass-types, and neither of them appreciate Reflect, so Chikorita is in a good position to support the rest of the team. Gym 6: If you mean Jasmine, Bayleef resists Magnemite's Thunderbolt, and her ace, Steelix, is her only mon not resistant to Grass. Razor Leaf targets its lower Sp. Def, and it won't appreciate Reflect. Gym 7: Pryce is a joke as an Ice-type specialist. You can _sweep_ him with Bayleef. Yes, speaking from personal experience. Gym 8: I would argue Meganium could help against her ace. Resists Surf, Reflect helps with Hyper Beam, Poison Powder to burn through those Full Heals and get in some chip damage, and it doesn't resist Grass. Fair on the rest.

[@DryBones271]

Mudkip isn't just good, It's Supreme! In ORAS if you are playing Omega Ruby Primal Groudon's ability doesn't even matter, BOOM Earthquake, good bye!

[@shadowrose8907]

Unpopular opinion: Greninja is massively overrated, design-wise

[@dovahkiin5902]

It's genuinely weird how bad Chikorita is. It's a defensive grass type that doesn't learn leech seed by level up. Worst move pool, worst match ups to basically every major battle there has never been a starter as bad as Chikorita is in it's games and hopefully there never will be. At least Serperior can just coil and leaf blade though a good chunk of it's game, Meganium has one of my favorite designs but has NOTHING going for it.

[@Accidental.Creation]

Meowscarada is my favorite. Come at me, I'm not afraid!

[@mjk64_]

I was honestly waiting for the “and bye bye” moment

[@pizzahutkidman8806]

Popilio is by far the best starter in Sun and Moon, it was so good that it was actually NERFED in Ultra Sun and Moon. Litten is GOOD but compared to Poppilo line there's no contest.

[@smolbrendan5978]

wait it was nerfed in the ultra games?

[@AJUniverse]

Thought, from the title, that this was going to be which was worst overall.

[@k.k.8133]

Saying Grass/Dragon is bad for having a 4x weakness but Water/Ground gets away with its 4x weakness to Grass... But yeah, Grass/Dragon is still worse overall

[@geonunes10]

The same way gen 1 is unkind to fire types, gen 2 is vicious to grass types. Don't do a monotype grass run unless you want to challenge yourself. I'm speaking from experience and I was aware of it before doing so

[@DigiRangerScott]

@@geonunes10 the fact that Houndoom is so blatantly stronger than Jumpluff and Sunflora (Irl originally said Houndour but I used the Grass final forms so I set it equal

[@SkydrawnIV]

Generation 2's Totodile, Cyndaquil and Chikorita will always be my favourites, they're just so vibrant and full of personality.

[@ace-trainer-aj]

For BW, the starter choice doesn't matter vs Elesa since everyone struggles against her in some form or another, but Snivy gets the shaft in Unova because of not only having type disadvantages everywhere, but the offensive movepool is even worse than Chikorita's

[@PURPLE_G0J0]

*Fun fact: Besides starter Pokémon being officially known as “First partner Pokémon”, Psudo legendary Pokémon are officially called “Powerhouse Pokémon”.*

[@kryzethx]

Meowscarada is by far the coolest looking final evolution of the Paldean starters. You might hate on Intelleon, but just look at Quaquavel for one second and tell me this creepy man duck thing looks better than Meowscarada. Skeledirge.. looks alright, but I don't really like the weird patterns on its face. Just random squares and triangles. Meowscarada has a cool mask and cape thing. It's awesome!

[@AnimalXing]

I gotta say, your memes on X have been hysterical

[@AnimalXing]

The ‘hello security?’ meme regarding Scarlet/Violet shiny hunting got me good

[@shanecoleman1597]

0:21 Who in the flying fuck of everything holy calls them that?! Never have I ever heard a soul even say those words in that order in a sentence before, I mean wtf!

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

One of the newer official reveals renamed them that. I personally feel it's too late into the game series to change things now.

[@Morgil27]

10:16 Candice

[@SexyDexy25]

He is also on his own, saying no one remembers her name. We do, he doesn’t

[@BCMZeroZero]

This has got to be some kind of gag or inside joke, but if it is, I don't get it.

[@farixguardian]

Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.

[@bethany5882]

Chikorita my beloved, I will never understand why they did you so dirty

[@jasonmedina4103]

But what is the worst Eeveeloution in XD: Gale of Darkness

[@kryzethx]

Flareon for sure. Fire being special, but Flareon having a much higher Attack then Special Attack, then having no physical moves is quite awful.

[@dvillines26]

Flareon or Umbreon. maybe Umbreon because it's entirely a support Pokemon. Vaporeon's kind of mid. You want to go with Jolteon or Espeon.

[@kryzethx]

​@@dvillines26 In a purely double battle format, having a bulky support Pokemon isn't the worst thing. Helping Hand and status moves can be good on the right team. Then again, maybe I'm underestimating Flareon. Shadow Ball could actually hit pretty hard coming from 130 Attack, and it *does* get access to Flamethrower (via TM) a bit earlier than Jolteon gets Thunderbolt TM. 95 Special Attack isn't unusable in that case, compared to Umbreon's pitiful 60 and 65, which won't really be killing anything.

[@walterkampmann6143]

Meowscarada is a beast 😢

[@IchigoKurosaki-iq6ox]

i personally am sick of Greninja think it got boring real quick in the anime and honestly Fennikin is just cuter and doesn't get ugly as it evolves gotta applaud you for acknowledging ScarVio´s superiority so many hate on them when they're clearly the best multiple stories in any order you want is how Pokemon should be

[@ananas7496]

Not criticising, I swear, but snivy is the only one who can beat the first gym with the move growth! xD

[@stormstrider]

'Nothing has changed much in Sinnoh' The inclusion of fairy type changed everything. my Gardevoir curbstomped Cynthia with a DKO against her Garchomp.

[@James-lw9ih]

Hammer away has officially been added to the vocab

[@rockowlgamer631]

I don't care, I'm using Chikorita. I'd prefer pokemon I like using over meta.

[@kryzethx]

Pretty sure there was an Elite Four member that mentioned something about using your favorites regardless of power; I think that applies here lol

[@rockowlgamer631]

@@kryzethx Yeah, too bad it doesn't apply to competitive play.

[@SamualN]

9:03 briefcase simulator

[@Xylarxcode]

Chikorita was the first name that popped into my head. Sorry, Chikorita. I don't hate you by any means, but you don't really measure up to your 2 buddies

[@soldierofgodrick2445]

If Meganiun learned leech seed by level up itd be soooo much better

[@MagusAgrippa8]

Grass types are frequently the weakest because Grass types tend to have super common weaknesses. Mostly because Flying types are everywhere.

[@fragnite60]

Say you've never played Chespin without saying you've never played Chespin.

[@PaPaSea]

I have. I also have a video on my channel of me picking Chespin in a playthrough you could find pretty easily

[@VideoGameVillians]

Every playthrough I do on a Pokemon game is a "catch em' all" run. So my team will be quite varied throughout as I'll need to level many Pokemon to max out my dex. That being said my starter will most likely be in my final team, and will absolutely be the fire Pokemon because the first game I played was Red and therefor I must use fire for all time.

[@Songal18]

Cand-ice is how I remember her name.

[@littlemollymouse]

It's so funny to me what an outlier the first generation is with it's starters. In almost every other generation the grass starter is weak to like half of the entire game and there are so few fire types that if you want a fire type Pokemon at ALL you have to pick the fire starter. But in gen 1 Charmander is weak to the first 2 gyms and it's secondary flying typing only really hurts it, where as I swear I think the main reason Bulbasaur is so good is because of the secondary poison type covering a lot of grass's usual weaknesses. (I love Bulbasaur so much~!)

[@Pyrogecko08]

The grass starter is always number one in the dex and in my heart.

[@PkmnTrainerEmerald]

As people have pointed out Sprigatito and it's evolutions do much better than quaxly. In these latest generations the grass starters are doing much better than the water types. Also, Treecko does hit team aqua if you are fighting them in sapphire or Emerald while swampert beats team magma where as combusken is somewhere in the middle since it can hit both dark types they have in either team with team aqua having the sharpedo line and there's mightyena line in both.

[@TheAnalyticalEngine]

PaPaSea's try not to shiny hunt challenge, impossible difficulty

[@Rikoyasha15]

Personally casually playing RB I found Bulba being worst, yeah it was good for the 1sr few gyms but sucked everything else in between with its many weakness and pokemon that resist it with how common poison, bug and flying pokemon are. It typically takes stuff out much slower. And it lacked move variety too. Bulba is great competitively, but personally, as a casual play through, it drags and kinda replies on a glitch as its main gimmick. I dont see a reason to really have a grass type with 2 other grass/poison types to choose from Grass types in general typically draw the shorter straw compared to the other 2

[@bvd_vlvd]

Wait did you actually use leech seed toxic and are complaining it sucked? Seems like a you problem. Sleep powder is insane, razor leaf hits like fire blast with the autocrit and swords dance body slam sweeps the entire game from the point you can get it

[@Rikoyasha15]

@bvd_vlvd I just didn't like how stally it is and felt like almost everything resistant to it outside of gyms, in a single battle in competitive is 1 thing but going though multiple battles on a casual play through it gets boring when u don't 1 shot many mon and just drags

[@bvd_vlvd]

@@Rikoyasha15 I get that, grass in general has strong setting up options but they don't just one shot stuff like ground types do with earthquake and water types can with surf. I hope you give any mon a swords dance body slam combo, especially something with sleep powder, like Venusaur or Victreebel. I promise you'll fall in love with those pokemon again

[@youtube-kit9450]

You stopped too early when selling how badly Chespin has the deck stacked against it in X/Y. Around the fifth gym, it'll have evolved into Chesnaught. So it'll likely get STAB against Heliolisk and Magneton while getting a lot weaker against Emolga. Then, the next two gyms? Fairy and Psychic, perfect to punish you for your newly gained fighting STAB. The legendaries (which you have to fight/catch) are also fairy or flying, meaning brutal STAB against you. At least you are great against Lysandre's Mega Gyarados. The elite four - you'll stomp Siebold. But one's Drasna, whose dragons and flyings will resist you, Pachira will destroy you, and Wikstrom's steels? One's Scizor, a bug/steel, one's Aegislash, steel/ghost and one's Klefki, steel/fairy. It's insane how a steel type trainer isn't a free fight for a fighting type. Diantha... got a Hawlucha (murders you), a Pampujin (resists you harshly), an Aurorus (can murder you back), a Mega Gardevoir (murders you) and Goodra (resist grass and can fire blast you). Tyrantrum, in difference to the fight with Grant, is now more of a freebie because of fighting unambiguously besting rock. It's honestly crazy how Kalos vs. Chesnaught might rival Johto vs. Chikorita in how absolutely stacked it is against you.

[@genwunner13]

Love Chespin Used it in my first play through of X

[@katlahay6285]

I'm surprised you struggled with sprigatito. I used it and I accidentally casually decimated every gym with it. Its signature move is devastating and it is a very fast fully evolved starter. It was my first 100 in Scarlet just due to how much decimation it caused

[@lazerbeam134]

Torterra has STAB Earthquake that alone makes it worth having. 4x weaknesses are fine especially in a region with lots of Steel Rock and Fighting type options for that pesky Ice gym

[@elenm4203]

I dont think metrics used are accurate to determine which starter is the worst. I remember oshawott sucking badly even in compassion to snivy during my every challenge and non challenge run of Unova despite on paper being better. Like servine can beat bug gym despite having real bad four times resistent mach up and dewott can beat it only under certain very specific conditions like ev training if not count overleveling. Same goes with turtwig and piplup. I remember piplup really struggling agaisnt the first gym despite being a water type cause its frail and bubble is weak and i remeber it fainting a lot to grass types despite having coverage. Would be fair to judge starters by acctually testing them out in game and using tools that game provides you for every starter and how effective it is and hiw easy to utilise. Like i would never know that dewott have basicaly no tools for bug gym and that servine can acctually beat it and not being overleveled if i didnt test it. This approch most defenetly will shake up the end result, especially if its going to be "solo" testing with no support team members.

[@spyroclone152]

Yeah, I felt this video did a very poor job at exploring this subject matter. This felt more like the old style 2013 era of "best starter," adjacent videos which stemmed all their reasoning on the simple metric of type matchups, starter reputation, and ... "I like this better so its clearly better," mentality. Choosing Meowscarada as the worst starter on gen 9 due to it being a grass type, and also looking weird kind of put the final nail in the coffin of this video for me. Papa here didn't stop to consider the Sprigatito's moveset that gives it an advantage towards the start, nor did he bother giving an analysis on Quaxly due to him having a "funny hat."

[@elenm4203]

@@spyroclone152 Yeah. And there are a lot more fun and interesting observations that could be made regarding testing out starters and its a shame that it was just not even solely deeply theoretic analysis on the matter. There could be so much things to talk about. Because there is so much nuance especially if we talk about grass types. They can be hard to use but if you know what you are doing you will have relatively easy time. Or you can even find out that the "weakness" of the mon is not nesseraly the one. Like when i was testing Unova starters i noticed that pignite acctually struggles in normal gym more than servine despite being fighting type. Cause servine has leaf tornado by this point which is a better move to deal with Lenora's mons despite being a little inaccurate. The reason is intimidate. And in case of pignite its slow speed really hinders it here on top its attack being lowered cause often than not it gets outsped and servine isnt. Though it doesnt struggle as much as dewott cause it can acctually compensate with something. Dewott in Unova has to rely on brute force for most if not all of the battles in a setting where its doesnt get all that much coverage in game making its movepool rather shallow even in compare to snivy line and especially in compare to tepig line. Though all three struggle equally in this gym specificaly so you would feel pain with either of them. And funny thing Emboar acctually faces a lot of the same problems as Serperior and sometimes more because of its serperior typing. I learned the hard way how acctually many psychic and flying types are in Unova. Also i learned that being slow fire type in Unova is a lot more a of problem when thaere is so many ground types or mons with ground moves. Emboar and Serperior were more or less on equal footing when i tested thier performence but it sure did made me realise how people overstimate tepig lines effectivness solely goung from its typing. I myself mostly familiar with gen 5 on the matter and it would be really curious for me to know more about how other starters on others games hold up especially newer ones but oh well.

[@RayoMcQueen95990]

In my case it was Emboar, has the type advantages but sucked due to its poor speed (only picked him in B2W2)

[@elenm4203]

@@RayoMcQueen95990 I tested it for prequel as well back in a day when i was curious about it. Emboars speed is endeed a huge problem though you can improve it with flame charge. The move you kinda want to keep if you dont want to get stuck in places like ground gym. Also a problem i noticed that in prequel its speed not as problematic as its typing from what i can remember. Or maybe when thise combine it gets problematic. I am not enturely sure. Elite four is brutal for all 3 starters to some degree though Samurott is a bit nuanced case depending on if you play with not overlevel rule or not.(Samurott learns swords dance above level cap and with swords dance it acctually has barely any problem at all). But in case of Emboar its fighting typing acctually kinda hinders its abillity to effectively solo psychic elite four member without overleveling especially if its female. And dont get me started on mendatory trainers who have ground, water, flying or psychic move. Though all starters struggled to some trainers in more or less equal degree in black and white. In black2/ white 2 Emboar's typing is not even remotly problematic as you pointed out. In that regard it acctually has an edge over Serperior cause Plasma grunts have lots bulky poison types. But both of them dont struggle as much as in prequals. Same applies to Samurott though ev training is probably nessesary to beat bug gym which easier for it in b2/w2. I would dare to say that for solo run for b/w Serperior is the better one if we go with semi-nuzlocke rules with no exxesive overlevel. And in b2/w2 its a toss up between Emboar and Serperior and which would be better depends on your playstyle. I find bulky and fast mons with set ups moves more convinient to use personally. Plus they have more unique challenges in compare to prequals so it harder to pick which would be better. There just way too many small details about runs with either of the starters in this gen that affect thier run. The more you know.

[@Moodyman90]

Chikorita is actually one of my favorite grass starters but man it's hard to use it not only in it's generation but in general. It would very much be my mascot but not actually on the team mon if possible.

[@UtopieKid]

Bulbasaur being so amazing in Gen 1 really hurt the grass starters in the following generations. Also, don't you dare insult my boy Chespin. Its evolutions may suck but Chespin itself is super cool

[@forceoffriction]

2:14 - Brock's Geodude and Onix both have a Special of 30, so Ember ended up still being satisfactory. It also wasn't impacted by Defense Curl, and both Pokemon don't have any Rock moves. They can only hit you with Normal moves.

[@PaPaSea]

fair point, but squirtle and bulbasaur do that better and aren’t weak to rock

[@Morgil27]

My person preferences: Gen 1- Charmander (even though I know it's hard mode) Gen 2- Cyndequill Gen 3- toss up between Treeko and Torchick Gen 4- Chimchar Gen 5- Snivy Gen 6- Fennekin Gen 7- that fire cat thing (forgot it's name) Gen 8- Scorbunny Gen 9- don't like any of them, but I ended up using Fuecoco in my initial playthrough Clearly I have a bias for fire types.

[@TheWarnvenoda]

Worst starters IMO -> For the story. 1G - Tie between Venusaur and Charmander. One is easier to use early game, the other becomes increasingly good. 2G - Meganium, and it breaks my heart because it’s my favorite. Really tough game for Grass types. 3G - Swampert because of its speed receives more hits than the other way around… Sceptile and Blaziken hits and kills before they get hit. I’d even say that Sceptile is better than Blaziken in the game because Blaziken becomes a monster with its hidden ability which he doesn’t get access to in regular game. 4G - Torterra. Weaker double typing compared to the other two. 5G - Emboar. Same reasons as Swampert in 3G. Speed stat. It gets hits and hits and eventually dies, despite having a huge HP stat, it has low defenses on the other side… while Serperior can definitely tank / wall / regen and take hits even when vulnerable to it. 6G - Greninja. Yeah you read me right ! This starter has zero bulk and its coverage power is mainly due to Hidden ability which it doesn’t get access to in regular game. Weakest of all three. Chesnaught has some decent bulk. I personally used Vivillon and Chesnaught alone to clear the whole game. Chesnaught doesn’t take special hits well… Vivillon can definitely swipe the rest. 7G - Incineroar. As always… slow starters are often the worst but this time it’s a close tie because Incineroar’s bulk is more than decent, far better than Emboar. And again. More value with its hidden ability, which he doesn’t have. 8G - Rillaboom would have been my worst pick if it wasn’t for Inteleon’s lack of moves… huge special attack, wasted, and no bulk. 9G - Quaquaval. Skeledirge has decent bulk and huge power. Meowscarada has better coverage than Quaquaval. ********************* Now end game content with hidden abilities, additionnal forms and viability. Still IMO not universal facts. The worst : 1G - Blastoise Charmander can severely hit. Venusaur can tank and refill, not to mention unkillable Mega. 2G - Poor unexploited Meganium. No coverage, not enough bulk. 3G - Tough. Because apparently Sceptile received a move that got him all the way up to #1 but got instantly banned - doesn’t lower his potential though ! Getting a move banned is proof enough that he is strong. Blaziken always the same insane Uber. So Swampert might still be the worst. 4G - Torterra low speed not enough bulk 5G - Tie between Samurott and Emboar. Too slow. 6G - Delphox. Greninja has versatility and Chesnaught bulk. 7G - Decidueye. Not strong or fast or bulky enough 8G - Inteleon by far, same reasons as story mode. No bulk no moves. 9G - Tie between Skeledirge and Quaquaval, but considering Skeledirge has decent bulk… I’d go for Quaqua as the worst. ******************* So overall, STORY MODE : I’d say that there is an even number of « worst starters » in each typing… depending on the gen, some took over. It’s a close tier. STRATEGY MODE : Fire starters appear to be the most valuable among all. It’s a near tie between Grass and Water types though -> Torterra and Meganium do not do justice to Grass type… and on the other hand very few Water types can glow at high level strat always too slow or too frail.

[@kryzethx]

Your Swampert take is insane lol. I'm pretty sure it's the speedrunners' only pick because of how good it is (at least in gen 3 Hoenn). Water/Ground typing is insane, removing its electric weakness, making it only weak to grass, which is a non-issue in this region due to no grass gym leader or elite four member. Meaning Swampert is either neutral against, or has an advantage against, almost every major battle in the game, which can't be said for the other two, since flying and water gyms + ghost e4 member counter Blaziken, and fire and flying gyms counter Sceptile. Dragon technically counters all three as well, but Swampert has Ice Beam, making Drake a non-issue by comparison.

[@kryzethx]

I think your take on Embroar is also a little flawed. I haven't replayed the Unova games just yet, but I remember having Serperior and struggling to use him in *any* major battles because of its lack of coverage and too many weaknesses. Serperior might hit first, but it's never killing anything in one.

[@kryzethx]

Wait a second, you rated Swampert lowly "because of its speed receives more hits", and you rated Embroar lowly because it "gets hits and hits and eventually dies", (i.e. having low speed) but then you rated Greninja lowly because it "has zero bulk", despite the fact that Greninja's best stat is its speed? And especially considering your review of Blaziken and Sceptile: "hits and kills before they get hit". That's literally Greninja. Why are you rating it on its lack of bulk and completely ignoring the fact that it's a sweeper, while using that same reasoning to rank Blaziken and Sceptile above Swampert? These rankings make no sense. Even if it's just your opinions, you can't provide hypocritical reasoning like this. Just say you like one starter better than the other at that point, since you're just trying to justify your own opinion with fake and arbitrary reasoning.

[@Saiyagurl]

Oshawott is my favorite starter out of them all too! I'm sad that Treecko is the worst of the Hoenn starters, but I must agree that my Alpha Sapphire journey dragged a bit and I didn't use my Treecko as much as I would have liked. He's still my favorite of the three though. On the other hand, I regret choosing Chespin in my Pokemon X playthrough. I had to remember to use it and I didn't bond with it much which is probably why out of all of my pokemon, it was the only one who didn't really love me by the end. I don't like Sobble's design either. I feel like its the weakest of the Galar starters in that regard. Great video!! I hope you get your Shiny Turtwig soon!

[@mr.mimikyu2342]

I feel so bad for Chikorita 😔 next time i play a gen 2 game I'm gunna pick her

[@kaitogirldraws]

Not gonna lie, when you asked what IS Chespin, my brain mixed porcupine and quill, so I just answered "It's a Quilladin". Then you said no one remembers the name of the second stage.... guess I am the weird one.

[@AJEsspee]

Hisui Typhlosion sweeps Arceus in Legends. The Ghost typing keeps it from using Judgment & you can just stall it with drain punch

[@zlol_ssbm]

Lmfao I totally didn’t know what chespins evo was called

[@AgusSkywalker]

Don't you mean "first partner pokémon"?

[@PaulaPearl]

Why does no one ever talk about the fact that if you pick bulbasaur in gen 1, it's weak to all of the rival's pokemon minus Rhydon. 2 psychic types (Exeggutor and Alakazam) , three flying types (gyarados - I know its part water but the flying makes damage from venuasaur neutral, charizard and pidgeot).

[@oddsmile1234]

Looking at the champion fight team I can tell you why 1, Venasaur has bulk and recovery in Leech Seed, Giga Drain and Synthesis, 2, Pidgeyot has wing attack and Sky attack, neither will do much as wing attack is base power is 35 and sky attack is a 2 turn move so you can switch out. 3, Neither Gyrados or Exeggutor have super effective moves on you 4, Charizard has Fire Blast and Fire Spin, both of which are inaccurate 5, Alakazam is going to be difficult for all the staters to handle.

[@Mrperson0]

@@oddsmile1234 ...Venusaur doesn't have Giga Drain or Synthesis in Gen 1. Also, most kids would pass on Sleep Powder and Leech Seed since they usually stick to attacks. Charizard can handle Alakazam pretty well thanks to the always crit Slash. Overall, Charizard and Blastoise are better than Venusaur after gym 3.

[@Morten_Laursen]

I was one of those kids who choosed Chespin as my first starter in X and Y. I had in the previously games always choosed the grass stater. So I found it naturally to do in X and Y. I kept Chespin until it reached Chesnaught and then proceeded to switch it out for Venusaue

[@NiyiDaNinja]

13:08 I was wondering why my Serperior didn't get to 200+ attack until I got past level 80, gahlee I felt so weak throughout my playthrough of White last year and now I know why

[@morgastic23]

So I recently did a playthrough of Emerald and I had both Treecko and Torchick on my team and Treecko got way more use, water type gym and champion, plus all the water routes, resists electric, technically super effective against Tate and Liza because 3/4 of their team members are rock or ground. By the time I beat the game Sceptile way out-leveled Blaziken despite Blaziken being a traded mon and getting bonus Exp

[@rc4780]

Saying Turtwig is worst than Piplup is wild. Enjoy your Fury Attack.

[@skyjordanking]

Torterra has a lot of weaknesses but the fact that they can all be countered by very learnable rock type moves doesn't mean nothing.

[@jessicamagri8211]

I feel the pain on losing the Ruby version. And for that, I mean legitimately losing in the game lol. Where I left off, I remember wandering around an obscure route where my Swampert was poisoned to hell and I didn’t want to faint and lose all my money. And as a perfectionist 9 year old afraid of failure…I refused to play it after that lol. But now it’s 20 years later, my sister found the original cartridges in her storage basement, and the cartridge is dead. Once we replace the battery in it though, I want redemption!! Haha

[@robynakai5751]

So the worst starter in Legends is very easy. My boyfriend picked Typhlosion and...literally everthing knows Crunch.