The Strongest Pokémon For Every Type

The Pokémon world is expanding so much. It’s crazy to see how in the past 25 years, the Pokédex went from having 151 Pokémon to 898. We’re just shy of 900 and not too far off from hitting 1,000. As we’re in the era of a mobile generation, the eighth generation (Sword and Shield), and coming up on the remake era of Diamond and Pearl, here are the strongest Pokémon of every type.

Note that this list will not include Legendary Pokémon, Mythical Pokémon, Ultra Beasts, or anything that would be considered to be one-time catches in any game. If that were the case, the whole list would be mostly crowded with the aforementioned.

The strongest Pokémon for every type

Bug Type: Scizor

Scizor is not only one of the cooler Pokémon of the second generation, but also very solid. While mostly excelling in Attack and Defense, this hybrid type Pokémon can exploit the weaknesses of those who are susceptible to physical attacks. Scizor is rather durable against most things thrown at it and only really struggles to fight against Fire types.

Dark Type: Hydreigon

Hydreigon is a dual-type, Dragon and Dark Pokémon with a mostly even distribution of capabilities. They do, however, excel in offense. They can deal some critical damage, but also be able to take it with the right setup. Hydreigon does, however, struggle against Ice, Fighting, Bug, Dragon, and especially Fairy types.

Dragon Type: Garchomp

Garchomp is perhaps one of the more iconic Pokémon of the fourth generation. So much so that even the Elite Four Champion, Cynthia mains it. This Pokémon may not have the most defensive capabilities, but extremely excels Attack-wise. Having the right nature and setup for this hammerhead-looking Dragon-type can destroy its opponents. Just beware of taking it out against Ice, Fairy, or other Dragon types.

Electric Type: Electivire

Generation IV had a lot of interesting evolutions for Pokémon from Gen I. Electivire, probably being one of the coolest, is also what is considered to be a strong “wallbreaker” in competitive play. This Pokémon excels in Attack and Speed, which can help soften up an opponent’s team, especially when they have a Pokémon with extremely high defensive capabilities (Blissey, Shuckle, etc). Electivire will more than likely be the first one to attack in a battle. The only downside to it is that this Pokémon is a glass cannon, meaning it cannot take too much heat.

Fairy Type: Togekiss

While this Pokémon is literally a smile and some wings, there’s more to fear than a cute look. Togekiss is a beast when it comes to Special Attack and Special Defense. They can surely take the heat against those who don’t excel in physical damage. If you have the Serene Grace ability, you should ideally keep the Air Slash ability, drastically increasing the likelihood of your opponent flinching. You’re essentially an annoying tank that can only really be taken down with its weaknesses of Electric, Ice, Poison, Rock, and Steel.

Fighting Type: Kommo-o

Kommo-o is technically a Dragon-type Pokémon who can definitely compete with the likes of Garchomp, but it is also a Fighting-type. Since Garchomp has already taken the Dragon slot, Komm-o can be classified here. This Pokémon is well-versed in basically every stat with only little hindrances to its base HP and Speed. Attack and Defense are king for Kommo-o

Fire Type: Arcanine

Arcanine is definitely neck and neck when it comes to competing with Charizard for Gen I’s best Fire-type Pokémon. However, for the sake of power ranking, Arcanine has just a bit more above everybody’s favorite fire starter type. This Pokémon heavily excels in offensive capabilities with a decent stat for speed. Arcanine can deal some heavy damage and may most likely get the first hit in. It also one-ups Charizard in that Rock-type abilities don’t completely KO it.

Flying Type: Archeops

Archeops may not look the most intimidating, but can definitely hurt its opponents with its extremely high Attack stat. The Pokémon is also relatively fast, giving it an edge over those who may struggle defensively. It can cover a lot of ground to take on opponents with an opening wound, however, this Pokémon will start to lose steam upon losing half of its HP.

Ghost Type: Dragapult

Dreepy’s final evolution is a force to be reckoned with. Dragapult has a very high base Attack and Speed stat, making it a solid pick for first hits and switching out. Top that off with its ability to have Clear Body, Infiltrator, or Cursed Body. Dragapult puts many other non-legendary Ghost-type Pokémon to shame with its high lethality and chance to ignore a lot of stat debuffs.

Grass Type: Tangrowth

Yet another Gen I evolution that became a thing in Gen IV. Tangrowth is Tangela’s way of showing that every dog has its day. This Pokémon has mostly solid stats across the board, especially paired with its Regenerator ability. Tangrowth is rather tanky, but can be taken advantage of due to its low Special Defense and Speed stats. If you take on a foe who is using a Pokémon who excels in Special Attack, Tangrowth may struggle there. Other than that, this is a stronger pick for testing the waters with your opponent’s strategies.

Ground Type: Rhyperior

Yet another Gen IV glowup. Rhyperior is a hulking, armored Rhino that can tear through even the toughest defenses while having a strong one of its own. If this Pokémon comes with the Solid Rock ability, it will help reduce its weaknesses against Water and Grass-type moves. It’ll also help combat its low Special Defense stat. Getting hit by a Rhyperior will definitely make a dent in your Pokémon’s HP in combat.

Ice Type: Mamoswine

Piloswine really rose to power with this evolution. Mamoswine, the final evolution of Swinub, is a beast of an attacker. This Pokémon is a strong pick, given its dual-type. Preferably, you’d want to have the Thick Fat ability so it can mostly counter Fire and Ice-type moves which are used in a more offensive strategy. They also have a huge health pool, making it semi tanky. However, it does have a low Special Defense and a serviceable Defense.

Normal Type: Blissey

Blissey has the highest base health of any Pokémon. She can definitely be a nuisance to other trainers who are trying to wither down their opponent’s defenses. If she has leftovers paired with her Softboiled move, she’ll be really hard to kill. She does, however, deal almost no damage. It’s only ideal to focus on the HP and Special Defense, and maybe the Special Attack, though she is more geared as a tank and utility.

Poison Type: Tentacruel

Despite probably having an aversion to this Pokémon because of how often you’d encounter it surfing, Tentacruel is pretty menacing. Sure, it’s a Water-type Pokémon, but its Poison abilities makes it a solid choice to have on your team. It’s definitely more of a Special Defense Pokémon given its serviceable abilities in other regions.

Psychic Type: Alakazam

You know if the main character of the anime has a Pokémon in their party, it’s definitely up there with being one of the greats. Alakazam is a first-generation Pokémon that is also just quite popular in general, but also speedy and very devastating. Chances are if you go up against an Alakazam, it’ll attack first. If your Pokémon isn’t strong against Special Attacks, you might just end up losing hard against it.

Rock Type: Tyranitar

Remember having a rematch against Gary in the Gen I remakes on the Gameboy Advance? He had a Tyranitar in his party and it was fearsome. Conveniently enough, that Pokémon is also one of the stronger ones overall in the franchise. It has high base stats basically all around aside from Special Attack and Speed. This Rock/Dark Pokémon is also one of the coolest looking Pokémon of Gen II, making it a ruler of looks and power.

Steel Type: Metagross

Metagross is just a cool Pokémon. Even the Elite Four champion of Hoenn has one in his party. This Pokémon is basically the Steel version of Tyranitar. It has some amazing overall stats, particularly in its Attack and Defense. It’s also a one that can surprisingly learn a lot of different moves, so people can easily be thrown off with whatever kit it has.

Water Type: Wishiwashi

Wishiwashi might be one of the more unique, non-Legendary Pokémon out there. Essentially, it’s rather weak in its normal form, but if it gets into its School Form, it’s extremely powerful in just about everything except for Speed. You will however, be at a massive disadvantage once this Pokémon goes below 25% HP. As long as that condition isn’t reached, this is an overall bruiser of a Pokémon.