Playing Pokémon is straightforward, but sometimes you want to challenge yourself by choosing a starter that has a downside with most gyms, or fight your way up by choosing a safer option. For example, if you play Pokémon Red and choose Charmander, it is considered the hard difficulty due to having to deal with its two weaknesses, the Rock and Water types, in the first two Gym Battles. Bulbasaur is a simpler choice as it doesn't have this drawback at first, which makes Squirtle the normal difficulty in the game.
Sword and Shields campaign is simple, but there are many ways to determine which is the best starter to choose. With exclusive Gym Animators as well, we'll go through each starter and indicate how they'll perform overall from start to finish of the game's main story.
What is the best Starter Pokémon in Sword and Shield?
Grookey
The Chimpanzee Pokémon will have two type advantages against two of the eight Gym Leaders if you play Sword, which includes Water Gym Leader Nessa and Rock Gym Leader Gordie. Shield only gives you one type advantage, with Nessa being the only one in both games and Gordie's mother, Melony, taking over the ice gymnasium leader position. Pokémon Shield will give you a moderate challenge since only Kabu and Melony have a type advantage against you.
Since Grookey will ultimately remain a pure weed type once he evolves to Thwackey and then Rillaboom, his selection will be a constant challenge. Whenever you go up against Champion Leon, he'll have both Cinderace and Charizard on his team, so having a Water or Rock-type Pokémon in your party will help you take care of business, especially once the latter starts in Gigantamax. .
Scorbunny
Scorbunny at the start will give you an easy victory, Milo being the first gym leader and grass type trainer in Sword and Shield. And depending on the version, it will have either two advantages or two disadvantages. If you play Sword and choose Scorbunny, you'll have to worry about Nessa and Gordie. For the latter, Scorbunny is learning Combat-type moves, so despite his weakness towards Rock-types, his move pool will help gain the upper hand.
To deal with Leon, the evolution of Scorbunny Cinderace can take care of Mr. Rime and Aegislash. Having an Electric-type will help you deal with Inteleon and Charizard while you can have an Ice, Fairy, or Dragon-type Pokémon against Haxorus and Dragapult.
Sobble
So far, Sobble has a type disadvantage against Milo and is neutral against Nessa. It will be necessary to wait for the third gym battle to face Kabu, the leader of the Fire type gym. Unlike the other two starters, Sobble will instead have two type advantages in one game, but only have one disadvantage in another. Sword is a great choice for Sobble as a starter, but it's also a great Shield option if you don't want to face a lot of downsides.
Once you fight Leon, the evolution of Sobble Inteleon can take care of Rhypherior and Charizard, and with a Fire-type Pokémon, you can take care of Rillaboom and Aegislash. An Ice, Fairy, or Dragon-type Pokémon can also face Dragapult and Haxorus, as in Scorbunny's situation.
Final verdict
Overall, what's the best starter to choose Pokémon Sword and Shield? While your starter has Type Weaknesses for at least a few Gym Leader Battles, you may encounter Pokémon such as Rookidee for Milo, Yamper for Nessa, and Chewtle for Kabu to help you get cover for the types of. your starter.
If you want an easy start then Scorbunny is a great choice because you'll be ready to take on Milo. Grookey is a good choice if you want a tough championship battle against Leon, and Sobble is the perfect middle ground for a tough start but constant challenge throughout the game.
