The world of Pokémon is huge spanning across 122 games, 16 movies and 7 official series with numerous seasons. The official Pokédex lists 890 Pokémons in total spread across 8 generations. The first Pokémon that you’ll pick up is serves as your trusty starter Pokémon.
Starter Pokémons are little cute creatures that you stick with until the end. They set your course for the game and help you level-up as a newbie.
The best part is that the starters train and evolve with you, so no matter how powerful Pokémons you face in a duel, your starter Pokémon will always come in handy.
In each generation, there are three types of starter Pokémons- Grass, Water and Fire. All three of them have two evolutions each, evolving into a more ferocious version of their own respective type.
Without further ado, let’s find out all Pokemon starters.
List Of All Pokemon Starters Ranked In Order
Generation 1 Starters – Bulbasaur / Charmander / Squirtle
The first generation of Pokemon starters is still the most iconic and recognisable among all Pokemon starters. Bulbasaur was a grass and fire type, Charmander was a fire type and Squirtle was a water type.
They were the ones that kick-started the Pokemon franchise with Pokemon Red, Blue and Green, the first Pokemon games. The first-gen starters also happen to be the starter Pokemons of the original TV series.
Choosing among them was not an easy choice. All of them looked adorable and evolved into powerful beasts in their final forms. Your starter Pokemon also defined your playstyle for the rest of the series.
Decades after their debut, the original trinity continues to maintain their status as the most recognisable Pokemon ever. Charmander posed as the most popular choice amongst the players as it evolved into Charizard.
On the other hand, Bulbasaur was the least popular as it was assumed he wasn’t quite powerful but that’s simply not true. Despite your choice amongst the three, we’re certain that you must’ve enjoyed exploring the original Kanto region with your trusty Pokemon.
Special Mention: Pikachu
Pikachu is the most iconic Pokemon in the world. It was the starter Pokemon of Ash Ketchum and today, it serves as the mascot of the franchise. But Pikachu wasn’t a starter Pokemon in any game, except for Pokémon Yellow where he was only starter Pokemon.
Apart from that, you can only get Pikachu as a starter Pokemon in Pokemon Go if you walk away and don’t pick Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle thrice.
Generation 2 Starters : Chikorita / Cyndaquil / Totodile
After the immense success of Generation 1 games and titles, Pokemon decided to expand its universe and introduce 100 new Pokemons in 1999 as the part of Generation 2. The starter Pokemons were Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile.
Chikorita was the grass-type Pokemon, Cyndaquil was the fire Pokemon based on a mole and Totodile was the water type starter.
Unlike the first-gen starters, Totodile proved to be the most popular starter and with good reasons. Totodile was based on a crocodile and evolved into a huge and vicious crocodile. Chikorita and Cyndaquil’s evolutions and powers weren’t simply as impressive as Totodile.
The trio served as the starter pack in Pokémon Gold and Silver, released on GameBoy colour back in 1999. The game also introduced the brand new region of Johto for the players to explore.
Generation 3: Treecko / Torchic / Mudkip
The world of Pokemon really started to expand and gain international recognition by Generation 3. Gen 3 starters included Treecko, Torchic and Mudkip. Treecho was the grass type starter that looked absolutely ferocious.
Torchic was the fire type starter and Mudkip was the water type starter, both of which looked cute and soft, which ideally are not the characteristics that one wants to see in starter Pokemons.
The third generation thus also happened to be the first and only one where the Grass-type starter was preferred over the other two, and with good reasons.
Treecko’s evolutions were also grass type, while Torchic evolved into a fire and the fighting type and Mudkip evolved into a water and ground type Pokemon.
Generation 3 Pokemons were first seen on Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire for Game Boy advance in 2002.
Generation 4: Turtwig / Chimchar / Piplup
The fourth generation of starters was a lot less experimental and stuck with more traditional looks. You can easily see through the Pokemon makeovers of real-world animals.
Turtwig, the grass-type Pokemon, was a land turtle with a small plant sprouting on top of its head. Chimchar was a fire type Pokemon with its tail on fire and Piplum was a water type Pokemon that looked like a cute bird.
All three of them evolved into fierce beasts with 2 evolutions each in their respective categories. Nonetheless, as the case with all the starters, they looked adorable.
Among the three, Chimchar was the most popular starter as it evolved into a Fire and Fighting-type. While on the other hand, Turtwig and Piplup stacked equally against each other.
The fourth Generation made their debut on Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, which also happened to be the first main series of Nintendo DS.
The game unlocked the new region of Sinnoh for you to explore with your trusty starter.
Generation 5: Snivy / Tepig / Oshawott
The fourth generation of Pokemon starters inaugurated the path for the modern Pokemon titles. You could choose among Snivy, the grass type, Tepig, the fire type, and Oshawott, the water type.
All the gen 5 Pokemon starters were equally well received. It was the first time ever where there was no clear winner or starter that posed as the obvious choice.
However, while Snivy and Oshawott evolved twice into their respective types, Tepig evolved into fire and fighting type.
The gen 5 starter Pokemons were introduced with Pokémon Black and White for Nintendo DS back in 2010. The game also brought along the brand new region of Unova for the players.
Special Mention: Victini
Victini isn’t exactly a starter Pokemon, in fact, it’s quite a rare Pokemon with extremely low catch rate. However, it happens to be #000 Pokemon on the Unova Pokedex. In other words, he’s the first Pokemon of Gen 5, a position that’s reserved for the grass-type starter.
Victini is a Psychic and fire type mystical Pokemon that brings victory to its trainer, no matter the odds. So if you manage to catch this Pokemon, your chances to win are next to 100%.
Generation 6 starters : Chespin / Fennekin / Froakie
The gen 6 starters pokemon included Chespin, the grass type, Fennekin, the fire type and Froakie, the water type. Chespin and Fennekin proved to be the more popular starters among the bunch. Froakie, on the other hand, didn’t receive much love due to it’s awkward and uninviting design.
The evolutions of the sixth-gen Pokemon starters were most remarkable compared to all other generation of Pokemon starters. While the first evolution resulted evolved the starters into another Pokemon of their respective type, the second evolution added a secondary type.
Chespin’s second evolution evolved it into Chesnaught, a grass and fighting type. Fennekin’s third form was Delphox, fire and psychic type Pokemon. Froakie evolved into Frogadier, which evolved into Greninja, a water a dark type Pokemon.
While Froakie was the lamest starter, Greninja proved to be the coolest among the bunch of evolved starters.
Generation 6 of Pokemon was introduced in 2013 and it made its debut on Pokémon X and Y for Nintendo 3DS. At the same time, the series also witnessed a transition from 2D designs to 3D designs.
Generation 7: Rowlet / Litten / Popplio (New Pokemon Starters)
Pokemon gen 7 starters claim the award for the most adorable Pokemon starters ever. Rowlet serves as the grass-type Pokemon, Litten is a fire type Pokemon and Popplio is a water type starter. The final forms of the starters evolved into Ghost, Dark and Fairy types along with their original traits.
The original fans of the series those secondary types are seen rather seldomly.
While they were definitely adorable, they don’t really win a lot of point in creativity. Rowlet was just an owl with a bow made out of leaves, Litten was a kitten and Popplio was a baby seal.
Gen 7 Pokemons were introduced in 2016 with 2016 Nintendo 3DS games Pokémon Sun and Moon. They also served in 2017’s Pokemon title Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon
Generation 8: Grookey / Scorbunny / Sobble
Gen 8 starters comprise of Grookey, Scorbunny and Sobble. They’re the latest and current generation of starters who made their debut in 2019 on Pokémon Sword and Shield for Nintendo Switch.
Grookey is a grass type starter, Scorbunny is the fire type and Sobble is a water type starter. All three of them evolve twice into the same types of Pokemons. Scorbunny has proved to be the started of choice among the fans, followed by Grookey. Unfortunately, Cobble doesn’t see as much love as it’s grass and fire counterparts.
So, which starter Pokemon is the best?
Your favourite one!
Starters Pokemon’s were designed to be equally powerful and useful. Your choice is simply based on your playstyle and preferences.
And if you ever feel like you missed out on something, you can always catch them all in the wild! The real winner is your favourite starter.
