Tag Archives: Single Type

Best Pokemon Games for a Rock Type Run

I feel so sorry for the Rock type. There are many Rock-only runs that are borderline great but fall short due to late availability, limited diversity or weakness exposure. Yet there are a few Pokemon games that are pretty good for a Rock Monotype Run. A Monotype Run is a self-imposed challenge where you only catch and train one type of Pokemon in the games. In this case, you can be like Brock but better! So let’s take a look which games you should play (and avoid) and which Pokemon you should definitely have on your team! Let’s Rock and Roll!

Rules

Only Pokémon of a certain type may be caught and trained.
You must catch the first Pokémon available of that type if your starter does not match that type (you’ll then have to discard that starter).
You may train a Pokémon that evolves to said type as long as you do it ASAP.
No outside trading allowed.
Mega Pokémon count as long as you Mega Evolve them as soon as they appear on the battlefield.
Only Pokémon caught before Elite Four are counted.

Best Games
Rock’s biggest downfall is its struggle to deliver an early available Pokemon. There are no starters (yet) that evolve into it and you can’t catch one until after the first gym in over half the games. You also have a big lack of diversity with a lot of lackluster Rock/Ground or Rock/Water Pokemon filling up your slots. So (most of) the games I recommend push for that early availability and diversity.

As such, the best games, by technicality, would be Sword/Shield. Not only do you catch a Chewtle by Route 2, all your weaknesses are covered before the first gym thanks to the Wild Area (which is good since the gym is Grass oriented). Also, that Coalossal is niiiiice, good way to stick it to your Steel and Grass foes! You can also get two Pokemon with the Sand Stream Ability (Gigalith and Tyranitar in Shield).

If you can stomach the wait, you might want to consider XY. Yes, I know the first Pokemon you get isn’t until well after the first gym but holy crap once you get your first Rock Pokemon the rest will come crashing down on you like an avalanche! You get Dwebble and Binacle back to back; then Glittering Cave gives you a host of them, and then you revive either Tyrunt or Amaura; all before the second gym. Also, you get the very rare Aerodactyl!! Y edges out X due to the version exclusive Tyranitar (which again, has Sand Stream), but X gets Aggron so it’s a dinosaur trade-off!

I’m just going to throw this out there because why not but think about HeartGold and SoulSilver. You get a Geodude very early in the southern tip of Route 46 and an Onix/Geodude in the Pokewalker. Also, HGSS has Magcargo AND Tyranitar which the original games do not have so that’s cool. You’re a bit limited in diversity so just keep that in mind!

Worst Games
Oh man, which one should I choose??? They’re all so tempting. I mean, to be fair, a lot of these games are just riding hard on that meh horse. Some of the games you just have to wait until after the first gym and then after that it’s fine.

I think I’m going to give it to Pokemon Diamond. Your full team is a Graveler, Onix, Sudowoodo, and Rampardos so you are exposed to every single one of your five weaknesses. In fact, the DPP series are the only games where Rock doesn’t neutralized its weaknesses! I know, crazy, right? Pearl switches Rampardos with Bastiodon and Platinum gives you Rhydon and Probopass but it’s still not great.

Also, Kanto games are really rough. You get a Geodude after the first gym and that’s it for a looooong time. You have to take that Geodude to Misty (Water), get an easy break with Surge (Electric), and then after catching Onix you face Erika (Grass). It’s going to take a long time before you can finally go to Cinnabar and revive Aerodactyl and another Fossil Pokemon.

Rock Teams in Pokemon Games

Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, LeafGreen
Ideal Team: Graveler, Rhydon, Onix, Aerodactyl, Omastar/Kabutops
First Pokémon: Geodude at Mount Moon after first gym
Covers weaknesses? Surprisingly, yes

Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold, SoulSilver
Ideal Team: Tyranitar (HGSS via Safari), Rhydon, Graveler, Sudowoodo, Corsola, Magcargo (HGSS)
Optional: Shuckle, Onix
First Pokémon: Geodude via southern portion of Route 46 before the first gym; via Pokewalker then Geodude (Rugged Road in 0+ steps) and Onix (Rugged Road in 4000+ steps or Dim Cave in 1000+ steps) are available.
Covers Weaknesses? Yes
Note: In HGSS, you can get a Slugma Egg from Primo in Violet City center. You’ll need to give him a phrase which is dependent on your Trainer ID which you can receive here.

Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, OmegaRuby, AlphaSapphire
Ideal Team: Rhydon, Aggron, Lunatone (S, AS)/Solrock (R, E, OR), Magcargo, Relicanth, Armaldo/Crustle (ORAS)
Optional: Graveler, Cradily, Boldore (ORAS), Barbaracle (ORAS)
First Pokémon: Geodude and Aron (RSE only) via Granite Cave shortly before the second gym
Covers Weaknesses? Yes

Diamond, Pearl, Platinum
Ideal Team: Graveler, Onix, Rampardos (Diamond and Platinum)/Bastiodon (Pearl and Platinum), Probopass (Platinum), Sudowoodo, Rhydon (Platinum)
First Pokémon: Geodude either Oreburgh Gate or Ravaged Path before the first gym
Covers Weaknesses? No, in all versions Water, Ground and Fighting moves are not neutralized. In Diamond, the Rock type is additionally weak to Grass and Steel moves.
Note: Please be aware that you can only get Rampardos OR Bastiodon in Platinum! It depends on your Trainer ID number. If the last digit is even you get a Bastiodon and if it’s odd you get a Rampardos.

Black, White, Black2, White2
BW Ideal Team: Boldore, Crustle, Carracosta, Terrakion
Optional: Archeops
First Pokémon: Roggenrola via Wellspring Cave after first gym
Cover weaknesses? Yes, if you pick Carracosta over Archeops as it gets rid of the Steel and Water weakness.

B2W2 Ideal Team: Crustle, Corsola, Terrakion, Aggron, Probopass, Lunatone
Optional: Onix, Gigalith, Solrock, Shuckle
First Pokémon: Onix and Roggenrola via Relic Passage (Castelia City side) after the second gym
Cover weaknesses? Yes
Note: You can get a Gigalith from a hiker on Route 7

X, Y
Ideal Team: Tyrantrum, Barbaracle, Crustle, Aerodactyl, Probopass/Aggron (X), Tyranitar (Y)/Lunatone
Optional: Solrock, Aurorus, Relicanth, Rhydon, Onix, Boldore, Carbink, Corsola, Graveler, Magcargo, Shuckle, Sudowoodo
First Pokémon: Dwebble and Binacle via Rock Smash in Ambrette Town. This is well into the game but is still before the second gym. Get the Rock Smash TM from the girl outside of the Aquarium. You can then get Rhyhorn, Onix, Solrock, and Lunatone almost immediately afterwards in Glittering Cave with the fossils following shortly thereafter.
Weaknesses Covered? Yes

Sun, Moon, UltraSun, UltraMoon
SM Ideal Team: Rhydon(scan), Aerodactyl, Relicanth/Caracosta(Sun), Bastiodon(Moon)/Probopass, Lycanroc, Golem
Optional: Sudowoodo, Rampardos (Sun), Archeops (Moon), Carbink, Corsola, Boldore, Minior
First Pokémon: Bonsly via Route 1, after the Grand Trial
Cover weaknesses? Yes
Note: You can get an Alolan Golem via in-game trade at the Tapu Village Pokemon Center, you will need a Haunter.

USUM Ideal Team: Tyrantrum (US)/Lycanroc, Rhydon(scan), Tyranitar, Aerodactyl, Relicanth/Caracosta(US), Bastiodon(UM)/Probopass
Optional: Lycanroc, Sudowoodo, Rampardos (US), Archeops (UM), Omastar (US), Kabutops (UM), Graveler, Armaldo (US), Cradily (UM), Carbink, Aurorus (UM), Boldore, Corsola, Minior, Onix (scan)
First Pokémon: Bonsly via Route 1, after the Grand Trial
Cover weaknesses? Yes

Sword, Shield
Ideal Team: Crustle, Drednaw, Coalossal, Stonjourner (Sword)/Tyranitar (Shield), Gigalith, Solrock (Sword)/Lunatone (Shield)
Optional: Sudowoodo, Rhyperior (Raid), Shuckle, Onix, Barbaracle
First Pokémon: Chewtle by overworld (10%) via Route 2.
Weaknesses Covered? Yes, and it’s taken care of before the first gym! Which is good because it’s Grass, see if you can evolve your Rolycoly before you fight Milo otherwise you might need to lean on Dwebble. Also, get the Sandstream Ability from Gigalith.

MVP (Most Valuable Pokemon)

Tyranitar
The most powerful non-Mega Rock Pokemon, Tyranitar is the go to guy for your team. There are just so many reasons why you should have one on your team. It has incredible stats (600 BST) making it stronger than Legendary Rock Pokemon like Terrakion and it can hit hard and take a beating. It also has among the best move diversity for Rock Pokemon; it can naturally learn powerful Rock, Ground, and Dark moves and be taught fantastic Electric, Fire, Ice, Ghost, Dragon, Steel, and Fighting moves. Tyranitar is further boosted by its Sand Stream ability which automatically starts Sandstorm and gives all your Rock Pokemon a 50% increase in Special Defense stats (which a lot of them need).

All the games that I recommend for a Rock playthrough have Tyranitar which is its main problem. It’s not very common. Sometimes they’re non-existent or just show up too late like GSC or the Black/White games. Also, Tyranitar evolves really late (level 55) so you won’t be able to use its Sand Stream ability until the end of the game. You might have to babysit it for awhile but man it will be awesome when you finally evolve it!
Available in: HGSS, Y, USUM, Shield

Rock/Water Pokemon
The Rock Type has a ton of weaknesses (Grass, Water, Steel, Ground, and Fighting) yet oddly, every game except the Sinnoh series neutralizes its weaknesses. And that’s because you have the stellar combo of a Rock/Water Pokemon with a Rock/Flying or Rock/Bug Pokemon. If you have an Omastar with Aerodactyl or a Carracosta with Crustle on your team then you’re set! All your weaknesses are covered.

Rock/Water Pokemon like Kabutops, Drednaw, and Relicanth are available in every region except Sinnoh (which is why Sinnoh games are bad for Rock runs). Having that Water typing gives you some great diversity juice with the likes of Water and Ice attacks. Unfortunately, some of these Pokemon are lackluster (like Corsola) but you get some pretty good ones! Omastar has the highest Special Attack stats for all non-Legendary Rock Pokemon and Barbaracle is really strong and further boosted by its Tough Claws Ability.
Available in: Every game except Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum

Armaldo, Crustle, and Shuckle
Paired up with your Water Pokemon are your bugs who neutralize the other weaknesses (Fighting, Grass, and Ground)! These guys are also relatively common in the series so you could run into one during your journey. Obviously, Shuckle…not that fun to train! Great for the metagame but training one on your Rock team…?…bleh. That’s why Armaldo and Crustle are the go to Pokemon for your team. Great Attack and Defense stats and just overall very appealing Pokemon! I like their designs and concepts. Unfortunately, not a lot of move diversity going on here but at least Armaldo can learn some decent Water moves like Aqua Tail and Aqua Jet. Also, teach your Crustle Body Press in Sword and Shield; the move’s power is based on the user’s defense which is fantastic for Crustle (125).
Available in: GSC (Shuckle), RSE (Armaldo in all three and Shuckle in Emerald), HGSS (Shuckle), BW (Crustle), B2W2 (Crustle and Shuckle), XY (Crustle and Shuckle), ORAS (Armaldo), US (Armaldo), SWSH (Shuckle and Crustle)

Aggron, Bastiodon, and Probopass
Among the best Rock Pokemon for Defense and Special Defense stats, these three Rock/Steel Pokemon are going to be the tanks on your team. They can also block Grass and Steel attacks but with a trade-off of the 4x weakness to Fighting and Ground moves. Still, these guys are great. Really lean into defense and support moves for Probopass and Bastiodon but for Aggron just go all out offense! It can learn a variety of moves like the elemental punches, Dragon Claw, and Aqua Tail which are all very great and Aggron ranks among the best Rock Pokemon for move diversity. Unfortunately, you can’t Mega-evolve Aggron in ORAS as it loses its Rock typing but it’s still a great Pokemon all the same. And who doesn’t want a ceratopsian on your team?! You can get two here!
Available in: RSE and ORAS (Aggron), Pearl (Bastiodon), Platinum (Probopass and Bastiodon), B2W2 (Probopass), X (Aggron and Probopass), Y (Probopass), Moon and UM (Bastiodon and Probopass), Sun and US (Probopass)

Aerodactyl
The fastest Rock Pokemon around with a fantastic 130 stat, Aerodactyl is the must-have flying reptile for your team. First, it has an immunity to Ground moves and counters Fighters and Grass Pokemon easily. Pair this up with your Omastar or Kabutops and you’re all set! But also, Aerodactyl carries some really nice moves like Iron Head, Crunch, elemental fangs, and Dragon Claw. Aerodactyl can be set up like a revenge sweeper just going in and quickly wiping out the opposing team before they can do too much damage.

Two big setbacks. The first is that Aerodactyl is pretty awful in learning Flying moves mainly Wing Attack, Sky Drop, Aerial Ace, or Fly. Not a lot of good choices to choose from. Also, despite having the Rock Head ability, Aerodactyl doesn’t learn a lot of recoil moves. Mainly Double Edge and Take Down and that’s it. Not even Head Smash, a Rock-type move! Boo!
Available in: RBY, FRLG, XY, SM, USUM

Lunatone
I was really debating about putting this meteorite in but I figured why not. Lunatone is an overall…alright Pokemon! It’s the kind of Pokemon that makes you shrug and say yeah, it’s not bad! For a Rock team, I think it’s pretty special; it has the Levitate Ability (so no Ground weaknesses) and its Psychic typing counters Fighters and gives you some interesting move diversity. Lunatone ranks among the best Rock Pokemon for Special Attack with an alright 95 power! Haha. Not a lot but hey, beggars can’t be choosers. But with that, it can use all its awesome Fairy moves like Moonblast as well as Shadow Ball, Psychic, Power Gem, and Ice Beam. Pretty good for a Rock Pokemon!

But where’s Solrock…? Well…Solrock and Lunatone may be similar with its typing, and ability but its their stats that makes a difference. Each of their stats are the same but rearranged differently and for Solrock, its Physical Attack is 95. So two problems, one, a lot of other Rock Pokemon can match that stat or better and two, Solrock FAILS tremendously on its moveset. Solrock packs mainly Special moves but can’t use them at all with its puny 55 Special Attack stat. It’s really sad. That’s why you should go for Lunatone instead.
Available in: Sapphire, Black2, White2, XY, AlphaSapphire, Shield

Best Pokemon Games for a Fire Type Run

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I think the Fire type is the most difficult starting type for a Monotype Run. Fire Pokemon can be relatively rare, are not that diverse, and most crucial of all, are again and again exposed to their weaknesses. However, unlike the Grass type, Fire is an amazing attacking type and you can hit a lot of Pokemon with super effective damage! You also get some great resistances to Ice and Fairy types! Although there are some fun runs out there, be prepared to be exposed to at least one of your weaknesses. Let’s take a look!

Monotype Run Rules

Only Pokémon of a certain type may be caught and trained.
You must catch the first Pokémon available of that type if your starter does not match that type (you’ll then have to discard that starter).
You may train a Pokémon that evolves to said type as long as you do it ASAP.
No trading allowed.
Mega Pokémon count as long as you Mega Evolve them as soon as they appear on the battlefield.
Only Pokémon caught before Elite Four are counted.

Best Games

By far the best game in the series for a Fire run is UltraSun followed by Sun. No other games except Pokemon Black (and that’s barely because you get Reshiram at the end of the game) neutralizes your weaknesses. But of course, you need more than just coverage for a great team and these games have it! By Generation VII, Torkoal gets the Drought ability which temporarily increases Fire attacks, decreases Water attacks, and makes Solarbeam a one-turn attack. That’s fantastic! You also get a variety of strong Pokemon such as other Fire starters via the Island Scan feature! UltraSun wins out over Sun just for having more Pokemon like Volcarona, Charizard, and Houndoom.

There are certainly other games that are great for Fire teams but you won’t have complete coverage against your weaknesses. Basically any of the games from Generation VI and on I would put on this list as there’s a lot of good diversity and strength in these teams.

Worst Games

I would say Pokemon Yellow is the worst of the bunch but it IS a close call. Generation I, in general, is very poor for many Monotype Teams but Fire seems particularly crappy because of its homogeneity and restrictive movepool. More importantly, since Pikachu is your starter (and not a Fire type like virtually every other game) then your first Fire Pokemon is a Charmander right before the second gym so that will take awhile (then of course you have to face Misty so good luck!!).

There are many memes regarding Diamond and Pearl’s incredibly awful Fire Pokemon and it’s frankly deserved. You get Chimchar (good start), then a Rapidash (alright…) and that’s it. Just two Pokemon!!! Seriously?? At least Infernape is excellent so you might as well do a Single Pokemon challenge and just grind your starter. Don’t even bother with that Rapidash…

Fire Teams in Pokemon Games

Red, Blue, Yellow, FRLG
Ideal Team: Charizard, Arcanine (Red, FireRed, Yellow)/Ninetales (Blue, LeafGreen, Yellow), Magmar (Blue, LeafGreen), Flareon, Rapidash, Moltres
First Pokémon: Charmander via starter or via Route 24 after Mt. Moon in Yellow.
Covers weaknesses? No, Rock or Water not neutralized.

Gold, Silver, Crystal, HGSS
Ideal Team: Typhlosion, Magmar, Ninetales (S, SS)/Arcanine (G, C, HG), Flareon/Magcargo (HGSS), Rapidash, Ho-Oh (G, HG), Entei
First Pokémon: Cyndaquil via starter
Covers Weaknesses? No; Rock, Water, and Ground (besides Ho-Oh) are not covered
Note: In HGSS, you can get a Slugma Egg from Primo in Violet City center. You’ll need to give him a phrase which is dependent on your Trainer ID which you can receive here.

Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, ORAS
Ideal Team: Blaziken, Camerupt, Magcargo, Ninetales, Volcarona (ORAS), Arcanine (ORAS)
Optional: Torkoal, Flareon (ORAS), Magmar (ORAS), Rapidash (ORAS), Ninetales (ORAS), Darmanitan (ORAS), Primal Groudon (OR)
First Pokémon: Torchic via starter
Covers Weaknesses? No, Water and Ground not neutralized. In OmegaRuby, Water can be taken care of due to Primal Groudon’s Ability.

Diamond, Pearl, Platinum
Ideal Team: Infernape, Rapidash, Flareon (Platinum), Houndoom (Platinum), Magmar (Platinum)
First Pokémon: Chimchar via starter
Covers Weaknesses? No, Ground and Water not neutralized

Black, White, B2W2
BW Ideal Team: Emboar, Darmanitan, Chandelure, Volcarona, Heatmor, Reshiram (B)
Optional: Simisear
First Pokémon: Tepig via starter
Cover weaknesses? Only in Pokemon Black and even then it happens at the very end when you get Reshiram. Otherwise you’re exposed to Water moves in both versions.

B2W2 Ideal Team: Emboar, Arcanine, Magmar (B2)/Camerupt (W2), Darmanitan, Volcarona, Chandelure
Optional: Flareon, Simisear, Darmanitan
First Pokémon: Tepig via starter
Cover weaknesses? No, Water is not neutralized

XY
Ideal Team: Delphox, Talonflame, Charizard, Pyroar, Houndoom (X), Chandelure
Optional: Simisear, Flareon, Magcargo, Torkoal, Heat Rotom
First Pokémon: Fennekin via Starter
Weaknesses Covered? No, in Pokemon X, Rock is not neutralized. In Pokemon Y, Water and Rock are not neutralized.

Sun, Moon, USUM
SM Ideal Team: Incineroar, Arcanine/Turtonator (Sun), Talonflame, Torkoal, Marowak, Emboar (scan)
Optional: Flareon, Chandelure (scan), Salazzle, Magmar, Typhlosion (scan), Oricorio
First Pokémon: Litten via Starter
Cover weaknesses? Only in Sun thanks to Turtonator. In Moon, Water is not neutralized. However, you can cut back on Water’s strength if you train a Torkoal which now can learn the ability Drought.

USUM Ideal Team: Incineroar, Arcanine/Turtonator (US), Charizard (scan), Torkoal, Marowak, Blaziken (scan)
Optional: Flareon, Chandelure (scan), Pyroar, Talonflame, Infernape (scan), Delphox (scan), Salazzle, Volcarona, Magmar, Houndoom (US), Oricorio
First Pokémon: Litten via Starter
Cover weaknesses? Only in Ultra Sun thanks to Turtonator. In Ultra Moon, Water is not neutralized. However, you can cut back on Water’s strength if you train a Torkoal which now can learn the ability Drought.

Sword, Shield
Ideal Team: Cinderace, Torkoal, Centiskorch, Coalossal, Heat Rotom, Turtonator (Sword)/Arcanine
Optional: Flareon, Ninetales, Salazzle, Chandelure, Heatmor, technically Darmanitan in Zen Mode
First Pokémon: Scorbunny via Starter
Weaknesses Covered? Sadly no, Shield is weak to Water and Rock. Sword is weak to just Rock thanks to Turtonator.

MVP (Most Valuable Pokemon)

Fire Starters
Of course! Your starter! Really, what saves the Fire type from abysmal Monotype Runs is Charmander and friends. They make a HUGE difference in your Monotype Run. And the best part is, starters rank among the strongest for their types and are packed with awesome moves, great type combos, and wonderful stats. You won’t be disappointed with them.

The Fire starter has more dual types in its line up than the other two starters. This automatically improves your diversity and, in some cases, eliminate a weakness. Of course, you have the three Fighters, Blaziken, Infernape, and Emboar. They neutralize Rock attacks AND the Fire+Fighting STAB is one of the best dual offensive moves in the game (also Emboar can also learn Scald which is nice against your Ground and Rock foes!). The classic Charizard gives you immunity to Ground attacks and gives you some nice Dragon moves and if you have Charizard X you can have a soft counter to Water foes. Delphox and Incineroar, while they don’t give you any resistances, still give you move diversity along with unique, level-up attacks. Typhlosion and Cinderace unfortunately get overshadowed by these starters but at least the Typhlosion line is adorable!

Also, don’t forget to catch other Fire starters in Generation VII! The Island Scan feature is amazing and is one of the reasons why you can cover your weaknesses thanks to the Fighters.
Available in: Every game. Only in Pokemon Yellow and the Let’s Go games do you not get a Fire starter but Charmander still appears in those games.

Arcanine
The most perfect boi is the most perfect team member. I kid you not, Arcanine is the strongest non-Mega, non-Legendary Fire Pokemon. Like, what?!?! Seriously? That’s awesome! And Arcanine is one of the most common Fire Pokemon in the entire series! Super spectacular. Arcanine also gets progressively better and by Generation V really becomes a must-have as it can learn Outrage and Wild Charge and a few other cool moves. Arcanine’s biggest weakness is its single typing which doesn’t give you a diversity boost but has far as downsides go that’s not bad!
Available in: Red, Yellow, Gold, Crystal, FireRed, HeartGold, B2W2, ORAS, SM, USUM, SWSH

Fire Bugs
Volcarona and Centiskorch I think are great members that will add a nice flavor to your overall vanilla team. First, they offer a soft counter to Ground Pokemon and Centiskorch can learn a lot of anti…anti-Fire Pokemon moves like Powerwhip, Scald, and Thunder Fang. Volcarona is also among the strongest Fire Pokemon and pair that with Quiver Dance and Fiery Dance means you can easily set up and sweep opposing teams. Volcarona is pretty common too and you can get a fully evolved one in B2W2 which is fantastic. Of course, there’s a foreboding 4x Rock weakness which is tricky when you fight Ground foes. Also, Volcarona evolves very late so you’ll be stuck with Larvesta for quite awhile in many of the games…
Available in: Volcarona in BW, B2W2, ORAS, USUM and Centiskorch in SWSH

Chandelure
The wonderful Chandelure has among the highest Special Attack stats out of all Fire Pokemon with a whopping 145! Even STAB attacks that deal neutral damage will still deal a great deal of pain to your opponents. You can also teach it Energy Ball so immediately you have a counter to all your Fire foes. Chandelure’s Ghost characteristics come through and give it a lot of great status moves like Calm Mind, Will-O-Wisp, Hex, and Confuse Ray. Chandelure is also surprisingly common and you can find it in many games from Pokemon BW onwards. The biggest trade off is Chandelure is a bit fragile and not that fast so it may faint on you before you can even do anything.
Available in: BW, B2W2, XY, SM, USUM, SWSH

Torkoal
Some Pokemon are here through a combination of their stats, their moves, or their availability; Torkoal is here solely for its ability. Starting in Generation VII on, Torkoal can learn the Drought Ability which gives it automatic Sunny Day status for five turns once it enter the battle. This means you don’t have to set up a Sunny Day move and instead go right into using boosted Fire attacks and an instant Solarbeam on your opponents! Also, Torkoal has one of the highest defense stats (140) out of any Fire Pokemon and considering Fire’s defense is among the weakest for the types that’s pretty nice. Torkoal can also learn strong Ground and Rock moves too which is a plus. Still, not much else to talk about Torkoal AND it’s pretty slow so just keep that in mind as you’re training with one.
Available in (with Drought): SM, USUM, SWSH

Turtonator
Any Swimmer you will face will be a constant struggle of agony and hardship. There are frankly very few Fire Pokemon that neutralize their Water weakness (as of Generation VII over 3/4 of the Fire teams are exposed to Water attacks). Charizard X is going to be one of them but given its rarity you might be better up with Turtonator. On the whole, there’s not a lot going for Turtonator besides its Dragon typing. It has okay stats, it’s only in three games so far, and it has an alright ability (Shell Armor which protects against Critical Hits). Still, it’s better than nothing and you can at least teach it some good Rock and Ground moves.
Available in: Sun, UltraSun, Sword

Best Pokemon Games for a Psychic Type Run

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Psychic type | Pokémon Wiki | Fandom

Ah, the Psychic Type. For many people, it’s their favorite Pokemon Type and I don’t blame them! There’s so many cool and weird Psychic Pokemon that are amazing and wonderful And starting in Generation IV, we started getting Psychic Pokemon that not only had high Special stats but Physical stats as well! As such, having a team full of Psychic Pokemon is surprisingly doable in many games. So let’s take a look which Pokemon games are the best (and worst) for a Psychic-only team and which Pokemon you should look out for.

Rules

Only Pokémon of a certain type may be caught and trained.
You must catch the first Pokémon available of that type if your starter does not match that type (you’ll then have to discard that starter).
You may train a Pokémon that evolves to said type as long as you do it ASAP.
No trading allowed.
Mega Pokémon count as long as you Mega Evolve them as soon as they appear on the battlefield.
Only Pokémon caught before Elite Four are counted.

Best Pokemon Games

The Psychic Type has a surprising range of games you can choose for your Monotype Run. I’d say it’s even doable as far back as Pokemon Gold/Silver so you have a collection of nice choices XY is probably the best games with X edging Y due to version exclusive Starmie. But that honestly won’t be a problem as you can train at least 21 Psychic Pokemon in either game!! The diversity in this game is incredible AND you have Fennekin as your starter who is main reason why XY are the best games.

There are still plenty of other games to choose from for your Psychic Run that won’t be disappointing including ORAS, USUM, and SWSH. I really like ORAS as you can catch Ralts very early in the game and evolve them into a powerful Gardevoir/Gallade. However, it will be awhile before you can catch other Psychic Pokemon so keep that in mind but at least you can catch one of the Lati@s! USUM gives you a little more selection at the beginning and you can train a Metagross which is very nice. Finally, SWSH unloads a torrent of Pokemon on you to the point that you can have a full team with all your weaknesses neutralized right before the first gym!

Worst Pokemon Games

I would avoid the Kanto and Unova games with the worst one being Yellow. What they all have in common is a later-than-usual appearance of Psychic Pokemon and a team exposed to common weaknesses. Despite B2W2’s abundance of Pokemon, I would avoid them as Eevee is your first Pokemon and that’s well after the 2nd gym. Yellow is especially dismal because your first Pokemon appears after the 2nd gym and you barely have a full team of six Pokemon.

Delphox (Pokémon) - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon ...

List of Pokemon Psychic Teams

Red, Blue, Yellow, and FireRed, LeafGreen
Ideal Team: Hypno, Mr. Mime, Exeggutor, Jynx (all versions except Yellow), Starmie (all versions except FireRed), Slowbro (all versions except FireRed)
Optional: Kadabra
First available Pokémon: Abra via Route 24 after Mount Moon for all versions except Pokemon Yellow, just before the second gym; in Pokemon Yellow you catch Abra in Route 5 after the second gym.
Covers weaknesses? No, Bug and Ghost are not neutralized.

Gold, Silver, Crystal, and HeartGold, SoulSilver
Ideal Team: Espeon, Exeggutor, Girafarig, Xatu, Jynx, Starmie/Slowbro
Optional: Lugia (S, SS), Kadabra, Hypno, Wobbufett, Mr. Mime (HGSS via Safari), Unown
First Pokémon: Unown at the Ruins of Alph before the first gym; after Unown you can get a Slowpoke at the Slowpoke well before the second gym.
Via Pokewalker Abra (Town Outskirts at 5000+ steps), Wobbufett (Noisy Forest at 4000+ steps), Slowpoke (Beautiful Beach at 1000+ steps), Smoochum (Dim Cave at 5000+ steps), and Staryu (Beautiful Beach at 5000+ steps) are available.
Covers Weaknesses? No, Dark is not neutralized

Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and OmegaRuby, AlphaSapphire}
Ideal Team: Gardevoir, Medicham (R,S,ORAS)/Gallade (ORAS), Girafarig, Xatu, Claydol, Starmie/Slowbro (ORAS)
Optional: Lunatone (S, AS)/Solrock (R, E, OR), Lati@s (ORAS), Grumpig, Espeon (ORAS), Bronzong (ORAS), Gothitelle (ORAS), Hypno (ORAS), Beheeyem (ORAS), Musharna (ORAS), Unown (ORAS)
First Pokémon: Ralts via Route 102 before the first gym
Covers Weaknesses? Yes, except Emerald where Dark is not neutralized

Diamond, Pearl, Platinum
Ideal Team: Mr. Mime/Gardevoir (Platinum), Bronzong, Medicham/Gallade (Platinum), Kadabra, Girafarig, Espeon (Platinum)
Optional: Chimecho
First Pokémon: Abra via Route 203 before the first gym
Covers Weaknesses? Yes

Black/White and Black2/White2
BW Ideal Team: Musharna, Swoobat, Sigilyph, Gothitelle (B)/Reuniclus (W), Beheeyem
First Pokémon: Munna via Dreamyard right after the first gym
Cover weaknesses? No, Dark and Ghost are not neutralized.

B2W2 Ideal Team: Sigilyph, Gothitelle (B2)/Reuniclus (W2), Starmie, Claydol, Metagross, Solrock
Optional: Grumpig (B2), Swoobat, Lunatone, Beheeyem, Espeon
First Pokémon: Eevee via Castelia Park before the third gym
Cover weaknesses? Yes

X and Y
Ideal Team: Delphox, Gardevoir, Gallade, Malamar, Slowbro, Sigilyph
Optional: Kadabra, Meowstic, Medicham, Grumpig, Lunatone, Solrock, Swoobat, Espeon, Chimecho, Mr. Mime, Wobbuffet, Reuniclus, Exeggutor, Jynx, Gothitelle, Starmie (X)
First Pokémon: Fennekin via Starter
Weaknesses Covered? Yes

Sun, Moon, and UltraSun, UltraMoon
SM Ideal Team: Oranguru (Moon)/Gothitelle (scan), Starmie, Espeon, Metagross, Raichu, Slowbro
Optional: Hypno, Kadabra, Bruxish, Oricorio, Reuniclus (scan)
First Pokémon: Pichu via Route 1
Cover weaknesses? No, Dark is not neutralized in Sun and Moon.

USUM Ideal Team: Oranguru (UM)/Malamar, Slowbro/Starmie, Gallade (scan), Metagross, Gardevoir (scan), Delphox (scan)
Optional: Hypno, Kadabra, Bruxish, Oricorio, Xatu, Claydol (UM), Beheeyem, Mr. Mime, Espeon, Raichu, Slowking (S.O.S. by Slowpoke in Kala’e Bay), Jynx
First Pokémon: Pichu via Route 1
Cover weaknesses? Yes, all weaknesses are neutralized.

Sword and Shield
Ideal Team: Orbeetle, Sigilyph, Bronzong, Gardevoir, Gallade, Malamar
Optional: Swoobat, Musharna, Solrock (Sword)/Lunatone (Shield), Meowstic, Reuniclus (Shield), Gothitelle (Sword), Hatterene, Mr. Rime, Espeon, Claydol, Xatu, Wobbuffet, Beheeyem, Rapidash (Shield), Indeedee, Oranguru (Shield)
First Pokémon: Blipbug by random encounters (30%) via Route 1
Weaknesses Covered? Yes, and it’s taken care of before the first gym!

MVP (Most Valuable Pokemon)

Gardevoir Pokédex: stats, moves, evolution & locations | Pokémon ... Gallade Pokédex: stats, moves, evolution & locations | Pokémon ...

Gardevoir/Gallade

Starting in Generation 3 the Gardevoir line has been incredibly popular, both in real life and in games, and will be incredibly useful for your team. They also keep getting better and better with Generation 4 introducing Gallade and Generation 6 adding the Fairy type to Gardevoir and giving both Mega forms. It also helps when you can find Ralts very early in the game, a lot of times before the first gym.

Gallade and Gardevoir are the must haves for your team. They fill in different roles and counter different Pokemon you may encounter. Gardevoir has high Special Attack, can learn a variety of Special moves, and the Fairy type neutralizes Bug and Dark attacks. Meanwhile, Gallade has a high Physical Attack, can learn a lot of Physical moves, and can also easily counter Bug and Dark foes. Gallade is especially important for that high Physical Attack, something that a lot of Psychic Pokemon don’t excel at.

Honestly, the biggest disadvantage to them is trying to find a Dawn Stone for your Kirlia. They can be a pain in the butt to acquire. Even in ORAS, you don’t get one until right before the Elite Four which stinks. So if you’re having trouble getting that Gallade, especially if your playing Generation 3, then you might want to consider Medicham instead.

Available in: RSE (just Gardevoir), Platinum, XY, ORAS, USUM, SWSH

Metagross Pokédex: stats, moves, evolution & locations | Pokémon ... Bronzong Pokédex: stats, moves, evolution & locations | Pokémon ...

Metagross/Bronzong

Our Steel bois are top tier for team members and although they lost their nifty Dark and Ghost resistances in Generation 6, they’ll still provide a great support. Both of these Pokemon also fill different roles for your team so if you want offense then go with Metagross but if you want defense then stick with Bronzong. Bronzong’s abilities give it a further immunity, which is nice, and so if you want outstall a team or setup some great moves then hell yeah, train that bell! Meanwhile, Metagross is the strongest non-Legendary, non-Mega Psychic Pokemon so you definitely want him on. Metagross also carries a ton of Physical moves like the awesome Meteor Mash and the fantastic Earthquake. Metagross can definitely fill in missing spots or holes that you would be lacking.

I would say their biggest downside is their exposed Ghost and Dark weaknesses. It’s too bad this were to happen to them so if you’re pining for those good ol’ days I’d suggest Pokemon Platinum as Bronzong reeeeeeally shines as that defense. And like I said, Bronzong is NOT an offense Pokemon so don’t try to make a shield into a hammer.

Available in: DPP (Bronzong), B2W2 (Metagross), ORAS (Bronzong), SM and USUM (Metagross), SWSH (Bronzong),

Xatu Pokédex: stats, moves, evolution & locations | Pokémon Database Sigilyph Pokédex: stats, moves, evolution & locations | Pokémon ...

Flying/Psychic Pokemon

Xatu was one of the first Psychic Pokemon introduced to counter a Psychic weakness, in this case Bug type. From there, Xatu, and later Sigilyph and Swoobat, offer common and decent support for your Psychic team. Of course, Flying moves are super effective against Bugs but you could also use them against foes like Scrafty or Medicham who may resist Psychic attacks. Sigilyph also has some weird support moves that can boost its stats and lay down some crazy moves on your opponents. Swoobat can be found relatively early in Black/White and even though I love this bat’s design…their stats are pretty low so you may want to switch to Sigilyph once you catch one.

I will admit they are not the strongest Pokemon out there but I would argue their unique typing and movesets offsets their weaknesses, barely any of the Psychic Pokemon can learn a strong Flying move so they can fill that hole. The flyers are also quite common so if you wanted an easy anti-Bug member then they are more than likely there to support you.

Available in: GSC and HGSS (Xatu), RSE (Xatu), BW and B2W2 (Swoobat and Sigilyph), XY (Sigilyph), SM (Oricorio), USUM (Oricorio and Xatu), SWSH (Xatu, Sigilyph, and Swoobat)

Girafarig Pokédex: stats, moves, evolution & locations | Pokémon ...

Normal/Psychic Pokemon

Bug counters won’t be too difficult for you to find (and heck, neither will Dark types) but you’re going to have a rough time trying to find a Ghost encounter; there’s just not that many Psychic Pokemon out there that can do it. Thankfully, there are three Pokemon who are completely immune to them! Girafarig, Oranguru, and Indeedee’s Psychic/Normal typing gives them a perfect counter to Ghost foes. Additionally, Girafarig can naturally learn Crunch, Oranguru can be taught Shadow Ball, and Indeedee can be taught Shadow Ball and Dazzling Gleam. Sure, they may not be the strongest Psychics on your team but if you need a Ghost counter then they’re your best bet!

Available in: GSC and HGSS (Girafarig), RSE and ORAS (Girafarig), Moon and UM (Oranguru), Sword (Indeedee), Shield (Indeedee and Oranguru)

Slowbro Pokédex: stats, moves, evolution & locations | Pokémon ... Starmie Pokédex: stats, moves, evolution & locations | Pokémon ...

Slowbro/Starmie

I add these Pokemon here because of their commonality AND their fantastic stats combined with a stellar move diversity. Slowbro can act as a tank and can learn Flamethrower; Starmie can be taught Thunderbolt and is incredibly fast. And of course, both of these Pokemon have been around since Generation 1 so there’s a high chance you’ll run into either of them. Slowpoke can even be caught early in Johto before the 2nd gym which is sweet. You can also get a Mega-Slowbro in ORAS so don’t let that slip you bye!

Available in: RBY and LG (both), GSC and HGSS (both), RSE (Starmie), B2W2 (Starmie), X (both), Y (Slowbro), ORAS (both), SM (Starmie), USUM (both)

Malamar Pokédex: stats, moves, evolution & locations | Pokémon ...

Malamar

Rounding out our crew is Malamar the funky calamari Pokemon! I still find it funny that our first Psychic/Dark Pokemon is an upside down squid, lol. But Malamar is honestly pretty good! The Dark typing is the main reason why it’s here but it works great as a soft counter to other Dark Pokemon and a hard counter to Ghost types. I honestly recommend you have a Malamar with a Contrary Ability cause it can naturally learn Superpower which instead of lowering it will raise Malamar’s Attack and Defense stat so use it! You can also catch an Inkay at the beginning of USUM which is super nice and immediately eliminates two of your three weaknesses. Speaking of which, if you see a Bug Pokemon then get the heck out of there!

Available in: XY, USUM, SWSH

Best Pokemon Games for a Water Type Run

4 Replies

Without a doubt, the Water type is among the best types in Pokemon for a Monotype Run. A Monotype Run is a run where you only train one type of Pokemon throughout the whole game. Water is perfect for this as, with very few exceptions, you are bound to have a Water starter in your game. Water is also the best starter type because it has only two weaknesses (unlike Grass) and it’s quite abundant (unlike Fire). As such, you can pick a random Pokemon game and you are more than likely to have a great team. Let’s find out which games are the best though (and the worst) and which Pokemon you should look out for!

Rules

Only Pokémon of a certain type may be caught and trained.
You must catch the first Pokémon available of that type if your starter does not match that type (you’ll then have to disregard that starter).
You may train a Pokémon that evolves to said type as long as you do it ASAP.
No trading allowed.
Mega Pokémon count as long as you Mega Evolve them as soon as they appear on the battlefield.
Only Pokémon caught before Elite Four are counted.

Worst Games

There’s really only one “bad” game out there and that’s Pokemon Yellow. Obviously, you have that Pikachu starter so that’s a setback but the real kicker is that your first Pokemon is after the first gym AND it’s Magikarp! You buy it from the shady guy at the Pokemon Center near Mount Moon. So you basically have to train with a Magikarp until level 20 so if you’re up for the challenge then go for it! Haha. Honestly though, if you want to play in Kanto just pick RBY or FRLG and you’re in for a fun time.

Best Games

Yeesh this is tough. Just look at the chart above and you’ll see what I mean! So many perfect scores. I got a personal favorite but before I say it check out XY, USUM and SWSH as you can catch over 30 Water Pokemon!!! XY also has the highest abundance of Pokemon for a Monotype Team for any type (and it has Greninja which is super ballin’)! So if you want variety go for those! Generation VII also introduced Pelipper with the Drizzle Ability so if you want to make it rain then those are the games to do it!

But me? I have to fall back on my tried and true Sapphire, Emerald, and AlphaSapphire for this amazing reason. Your starter is a Mudkip, who can take care of your Electric problems, and then catch a Wingull, for your Grass problems, and then catch a Lotad for further diversity. Boom, three Pokemon ready to help you and get you up and running by the first gym! And if you don’t like Wingull then you get the Old Rod in Dewford Town and fish for a Magikarp! From there, you can catch a beautiful collection of Water Pokemon that range from Crawdaunt to Tentacruel and the likes of Slowbro and Jellicent in ORAS. ORAS is also always nice with its cool catching feature so you can find Hidden Abilities and Egg Moves easily! (I love Crawdaunt with Adaptability).

Water Teams in Pokemon Games

RBY and FRLG
Ideal Team: Blastoise, Slowbro (all versions except FireRed), Poliwrath, Lapras, Tentacruel, Vaporeon
Optional: Starmie (all versions except FireRed), Gyrados, Omastar/Kabutops, Cloyster (all versions except LeafGreen), Dewgong, Golduck (all versions except LeafGreen), Kingler, Seadra, Seaking
First available Pokémon: Squirtle via starter or Magikarp via the Pokecenter just before Mt. Moon in Yellow
Covers weaknesses? No, Electric is not neutralized

GSC and HGSS
Ideal Team: Feraligatr, Gyarados, Quagsire, Slowbro/Starmie, Tentacruel, Lanturn
Optional: Lapras/Dewgong/Cloyster, Vaporeon, Seaking, Golduck, Azumarill, Kingler, Corsola, Poliwrath, Octillery (S, G, HG, SS), Mantine (G, C, HG), Suicune
First Pokémon: Totodile via starter
Covers Weaknesses? Yes

RSE and ORAS
Ideal Team: Swampert, Gyarados, Ludicolo (S, E, AS)/Lanturn, Tentacruel, Sharpedo/Crawdaunt, Starmie/Slowbro (ORAS)
Optional: Pelipper, Azumaril, Milotic, Whiscash, Relicanth, Walrein, Wailord, Vaporeon (ORAS), Jellicent (ORAS), Seismitoad (ORAS), Gastrodon (ORAS), Kingler (ORAS), Clawitzer (AS), Lumineon (ORAS), Alomomola (ORAS), Dewgong (ORAS), Barbaracle (ORAS), Kyogre (Sapphire and AS)
First Pokémon: Mudkip via starter
Covers Weaknesses? Yes

DPP
Ideal Team: Empoleon, Quagsire/Whiscash/Gastrodon, Gyarados/Mantine, Tentacruel, Octillery, Vaporeon (Platinum)
Optional: Golduck, Milotic, Azumarill, Floatzel, Lumineon, Palkia (Pearl)
First Pokémon: Piplup via Starter
Covers Weaknesses? Yes

Black/White and Black2/White2
BW Ideal Team: Samurott, Seismitoad, Carracosta, Swanna, Alomomola, Jellicent
Optional: Simipour, Basculin
First Pokémon: Oshawott via starter
Cover weaknesses? Yes

B2W2 Ideal Team: Octillery, Walrein, Jellicent, Vaporeon, Swanna, Starmie
Optional: Samurott, Simipour, Basculin, Azumarill, Mantine, Wailord, Golduck, Pelipper, Lapras, Floatzel, Corsola, Dewgong
First Pokémon: Oshawott via starter
Cover weaknesses? No, Electric is not neutralized

XY
Ideal Team: Greninja, Clawitzer (X)/Cloyster (Y), Gyarados, Slowbro, Quagsire, Ludicolo
Optional: Simipour, Bibarel, Crawdaunt, Seaking, Sharpedo, Golduck, Blastoise, Pelipper, Swanna, Wailord, Tentacruel, Starmie (X), Qwilfish, Lapras, Seadra, Relicanth, Vaporeon, Mantine, Octillery, Lanturn, Corsola, Gorebyss, Huntail, Alomomola, Whiscash, Poliwrath, Floatzel, Barbaracle, Azumarill, Wash Rotom
First Pokémon: Froakie via Starter
Weaknesses Covered? Yes, and in more ways than one, you can interchange some of these Pokemon for others and still be fine.

Sun/Moon and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
SM Ideal Team: Primarina, Gyarados/Pelipper, Slowbro/Starmie/Bruxish, Gastrodon, Golisopod/Aquachnid, Lanturn
Optional: Whiscash, Poliwrath, Milotic, Lanturn, Sharpedo, Corsola/Relicanth/Caracosta (Sun), Azumaril (scan), Feraligatr (scan), Cloyster/Lapras/Walrein(scan), Golduck, Vaporeon, Politoed (S.O.S. by any Pokemon in the rain at Malie Garden)
First Pokémon: Popplio via Starter
Cover weaknesses? Yes. Also, heads up, Pelipper now knows the ability Drizzle. Take that into account if you want to make a rain team.

USUM Ideal Team: Primarina, Gyarados/Pelipper, Slowbro/Starmie/Bruxish, Gastrodon, Empoleon (scan), Golisopod/Aquachnid
Optional: Whiscash, Poliwrath, Milotic, Lanturn, Sharpedo/Crawdaunt/Greninja (scan), Tentacruel, Corsola/Relicanth/Caracosta(US), Omastar (US), Kabutops (UM), Jellicent, Clawitzer, Blastoise (scan), Swampert (scan), Cloyster/Lapras/Walrein(scan), Golduck, Vaporeon, Slowking (S.O.S. by Slowpoke in Kala’e Bay), Politoed (S.O.S. by any Pokemon in the rain at Malie Garden)
First Pokémon: Popplio via Starter
Cover weaknesses? Yes. Also, heads up, Pelipper now knows the ability Drizzle. Take that into account if you want to make a rain team.

Sword and Shield
Ideal Team: Inteleon, Gyarados, Gastrodon, Dracovish, Araquanid, Ludicolo (Shield)/Cloyster
Optional: Crawdaunt, Drednaw, Quagsire, Seismitoad, Golisopod, Qwilfish, Toxapex, Whiscash, Wishiwashi, Pyukumuku, Barraskewda, Milotic, Wailord, Lanturn, Mantine, Basculin, Vaporeon, Pelipper, Kingler, Seaking, Octillery, Wash Rotom, Cramorant, Lapras, Jellicent, Arctovish
First Pokémon: Sobble via Starter
Weaknesses Covered? Yes, and it can be taken care before the first gym! Which is good because the first gym is Grass. You might want to consider a Rain team with Pelipper’s Drizzle ability.

MVP (Most Valuable Pokemon)

Top 6 Water Starters in Pokemon | LevelSkip

Your Starter

With over 100 Water Pokemon available, it would be overwhelming to list a whole bunch of Pokemon so I’m going to limit it to five key roles that’ll include multiple Pokemon.

By far, the most valuable member on your team is your Water Starter! Excluding Yellow and the Let’s Go games, you are guaranteed a Water Starter at the start of the game! Because of this, the Water Starters are the principal reasons why the Water Type is the best type to do a Monotype Run. They are quite formidable and rank among the strongest non-Mega, non-Legendary Water Pokemon. The starters come in many different flavors whether it’s their dual typing, stat distribution, Mega forms, or unique moves.

They’re all great but there are some that stand out to me. Swampert’s Ground typing gives it a nice immunity to Electric moves and a STAB Earthquake attack. Empoleon’s unique Steel/Water typing gives it a basket of resistances. Greninja is fast, knows Water Shuriken, and is very cool looking. And Blastoise can Mega Evolve and learns a a diverse set of moves. The other four are amazing as well; pick one and have at it!

Quagsire Pokédex: stats, moves, evolution & locations | Pokémon ...

Water/Ground

You only have two weaknesses to worry about; Grass and Electric. Thankfully, you gain a necessary Electric immunity with Water/Ground Pokemon who are super popular and can be found in almost every game! Not only can they act as a necessary wall but they also have those sweet STAB, Super Effective attacks against your Electric foes!

There are five familes of W/G Pokemon; Quagsire, Swampert, Whiscash, Gastrodon, and Seismitoad. And the nice thing is they all range from decent to great with some bringing unique abilities or moves to the table. The OG Quagsire can learn Earthquake naturally since Gen 2 and has the Water Absorb Ability. Swampert is a starter and can Mega evolve in ORAS. Gastrodon has the highest Special Attack among the five, naturally learns Earth Power, and knows Water Drain. Seismitoad is ugly and has Swift Swim. And Whiscash is there.

Of course, the biggest thing to worry about is that 4x weakness to Grass, just don’t even think about facing an Oddish! Thankfully, you’ll have another team member that will spot you…

Swanna Pokédex: stats, moves, evolution & locations | Pokémon Database

Water/Flying

There since Generation 1, you are guaranteed to find a Water/Flying Pokemon in every game. That’s awesome! Sure, there are other Pokemon out there that can wall Grass types like Tentacruel (who is most excellent) but they are nowhere near as common as these flying bois. They are one of the main reasons why your weaknesses are covered in throughout the games. They’re pretty much the antithesis of their Ground brethren who lose a weakness but gain a 4x weakness; in this case to Electric moves.

Okay, so Gyarados is incredibly popular, strong and very common! So when you’re fulfilling your dream role of being an amazing Water trainer then have this sucker on your team! Biggest thing to think about though is Gyarados has a dismal lack of Flying moves and, imo, doesn’t really become useful until Gen 4 when the Physical/Special split happened. Still, he can learn a lot of strong physical moves which is great! If you want Flying moves consider maybe Cramorant or Swanna who can learn them naturally and easily by TMs. Also, Pelipper, in later generations, has the Drizzle Ability which is super sweet. Mantine is alright but at least has some decent bulk.

Slowbro Pokédex: stats, moves, evolution & locations | Pokémon ...

Move Diversity Learners (e.g., Slowbro, Clawitzer, Octillery, Ludicolo)

This is a relatively broad category but basically, many Water Pokemon are kind of limited in their movesets. 99% of them can learn a strong Ice Move, which is incredible, and over half can learn a strong Ground move like Earthquake. But finding a Pokemon that knows a Fairy, Grass, Fire, or Electric move can be challenging. You’ll need a Pokemon that can fill in gaps for you!

Slowbro is probably the best example of a multi-talented Pokemon! Some Pokemon can learn a diverse set of moves but aren’t able to fully utilize them (like Golisopod). But Slowbro has a high Special Attack AND can learn Flamethrower, Shadow Ball, Signal Beam, and of course Psychic. Meanwhile, Clawitzer has the Mega Launcher ability so be sure to have it use Dragon Pulse, Aura Sphere, and Water Pulse (and maybe Flash Cannon or Sludge Wave). Then you have Octillery who can learn Energy Ball, Flamethrower, Flash Cannon, Sludge Wave, and Psychic. Finally, Ludicolo can learn the Grass attacks, Elemental Punches and potentially learns Zen Headbutt and Drain Punch. You should also consider other Pokemon like Lanturn, Tentacruel, and Jellicent for move diversity.

Ludicolo Pokédex: stats, moves, evolution & locations | Pokémon ...

Rain Users

Our last group includes all the Pokemon boosted by the rain. Of course, Water attacks are strengthened while it’s raining and Thunder is 100% accurate but there are Pokemon whose abilities make them much better while it’s raining. This is definitely beneficial if you happen to have a Pelipper from Gen 7 onward who has the Drizzle Ability. A lot of Water Pokemon have Rain Dish, Swift Swim, or Hydration abilities which are activated in the rain. Hydration and Rain Dish will be the rarest for you but quite a few Water Pokemon know Swift Swim so if you want to have a fast team then look out for these guys! For me, I like the idea of having a Rain Dish Ludicolo who can keep chugging along with HP recoveries in Leech Seed, Giga Drain, and Drain Punch.

Best Pokemon Games for a Steel Type Run

Best Pokemon Games for a Flying Type Run

5 Replies

Would you be surprised if I told you that the Flying Type in Pokemon is among the best types ever to do a Monotype Run?? In fact, it’s so good, I’d rate it as the third best behind Water and Normal Type. Why is that? Well, you can find a plethora of Flying Pokemon throughout the games, with very few exceptions you can catch your first Flying Type before the first gym (and even as a Starter!), and it’s surprisingly easy to cover their weaknesses. The diversity Flying Pokemon have is absolutely amazing and they were the first of the 18 types to be paired with every other type. You will have a fun time with this often overlooked team of Pokemon. Let’s take a look at the best and worst games in the series for a Flying Type Run and which Pokemon you should be looking out for!

Rules

Only Pokémon of a certain type may be caught and trained.
You must catch the first Pokémon available of that type if your starter does not match that type (you’ll then have to discard that starter).
You may train a Pokémon that evolves to said type as long as you do it ASAP.
No trading allowed.
Mega Pokémon count as long as you Mega Evolve them as soon as they appear on the battlefield.
Only Pokémon caught before Elite Four are counted.

Best Games

Okay, so here’s the thing. There’s quite a few Pokemon games that I would recommend for a Flying Type Run, in fact if you go to my game-specific articles, you will frequently find Flying as among the best types in each game. So writing about every single game that does well would be time consuming and frankly bloated so let’s keep it short.

Old school games hold up well here but I really like the Kanto and Johto games as their Flying diversity is almost unparalleled and you can train the likes of the Legendary Birds, Charizard, and Aerodactyl in Kanto and Xatu, Skarmory/Gligar, Crobat, and Ho-oh/Lugia in Johto. In both games you can also train Gyarados, Dragonite, a host of Normal/Flying Pokemon, and many bugs as well. The Johto remakes, HGSS, also get a boost with the likes of Yanmega, Honchkrow, and Gliscor (all of which I love, love, love, love!).

If I had to pick one series of games that are the best it would be Pokemon XY. No other games in the entire series comes close to matching the diversity of Flying Pokemon here as you can train over 30 unique families!! This diversity means you can constantly switch in and out certain Pokemon and pick a whole host of favorites without feeling too constrained by type weaknesses. The fact you can get a Charizard, Aerodactyl, Yanmega, Gliscor, and Salamence really sells it for me.

Worst Games

Pokemon Black/White are the worst games for a Flying Type Run. What’s funny is that this team is not necessarily bad just not as good as other games. The biggest drawback is that “late” first Pokemon which you can only get after the first gym (Black/White are the only games in the entire series to do this). This is also the game with the lowest amount of Pokemon you can train and you’re exposed to your weaknesses. Still though, you can get a full team of unique flyers and you can train the likes of Sigilyph, Archeops, and Emolga. Ironically, Black and White are also the only games in the series where you can catch either a Tornadus (Black) or Thundurus (White) before the Championship and they’re really good Flying Pokemon. B2W2 are so much better so you should go for those. You can train a Gliscor, Skarmory, Vespiquen, and many others!

Pokemon Games and their Flying Teams

Pokemon RBY and FRLG
Ideal Team: Charizard, Dragonite, Aerodactyl, Gyarados, Zapdos, Articuno
Optional: Pidgeot, Fearow, Dodrio, Scyther (Red, FireRed, Yellow), Moltres, Butterfree, Golbat, Farfetch’d
First Pokémon: Charmander via starter or Pidgey (Yellow) via Route 1.
Covers Weaknesses? No, Rock is not covered.

Pokemon GSC and HGSS
Ideal Team: Gyarados, Dragonite, Gligar/Gliscor (G, C, HG)/Skarmory (S, C, SS), Murkrow/Honchkrow, Jumpluff/Togekiss (HGSS), Xatu
Optional: Dodrio, Pidgeot, Spearow, Mantine (G, C, HG), Crobat, Yanma/Yanmega, Scyther, Ledian, Butterfree (G, C, HG), Farfetch’d, Ho-Oh (G, HG), Lugia (S, SS)
First Pokémon: Pidgey and Hoothoot via Route 29 before the first gym.
Via Pokewalker Pidgey (Refreshing Field at 0+ steps), Doduo (Refreshing Field at 2000+ steps), Spearow (Noisy Forest at 0+ steps), Hoothoot (Rugged Field at 0+ steps and Suburban Area at 0+ steps), Murkrow (Suburban Area at 1000+ steps), Zubat (Dim Cave at 0+ steps), and Dratini (Blue Lake at 5000+ steps) are available.
Covers Weaknesses? Yes, regardless of your version

Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and ORAS
Ideal Team: Gyarados, Salamence, Swellow, Ninjask, Skarmory, Xatu
Optional: Beautifly, Masquerain (R, S, ORAS), Pelipper, Crobat, Altaria, Tropius, Honchkrow (ORAS), Drifblim (ORAS), Mega-Pinsir (ORAS), Mandibuzz (ORAS), Chatot (ORAS), Unfezant (ORAS), Pidgeot (ORAS), Braviary (ORAS), Rayquaza (Emerald)
First Pokémon: Wurmple via Route 101
Covers Weaknesses? Yes

Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum
Ideal Team: Gyarados, Vespiquen/Yanmega (Platinum), Drifblim, Honchkrow (Diamond), Gliscor (Platinum), Tropius (Platinum)
Optional: Staraptor/Noctowl/Chatot/Togekiss (Platinum), Pelipper/Mantine
First Pokémon: Starly via Route 201
Covers Weaknesses? Only in Platinum, in Diamond and Pearl the Electric and Rock types are not neutralized.

Pokemon Black/White and Black2/White2
BW Ideal Team: Tornadus (B)/Thundurus (W), Sigilyph, Archeops, Emolga, Swanna, Braviary (W)/Mandibuzz (B)
Optional: Swoobat, Unfezant
First Pokémon: Pidove via Route 3 after the first gym
Cover weaknesses? No, Rock is not neutralized.

B2W2 Ideal Team: Skarmory, Gliscor, Emolga, Altaria, Swanna, Sigilyph
Optional: Swoobat, Crobat, Unfezant, Drifblim, Mantine, Pelipper, Mandibuzz (B2)/Braviary (W2), Delibird, Vespiquen
First Pokémon: Pidove via Route 20 before the first gym
Cover weaknesses? Yes

Pokemon XY
Ideal Team: Talonflame/Charizard, Gyarados, Gliscor, Salamence/Dragonite, Aerodactyl, Honchkrow
Optional: Ninjask, Mothim, Butterfree, Swanna, Pelipper, Swellow, Vivillon, Jumpluff, Swoobat, Crobat, Drifblim, Emolga, Hawlucha, Sigilyph, Staraptor, Mantine, Fan Rotom, Skarmory, Noivern, Pidgeot, Altaria, Scyther, Yanmega, Delibird
First Pokémon: Pidgey, Scatterbug, and Fletchling via Route 2
Weaknesses Covered? Yes, and in more ways than one. You can have several different team matchups and still have your bases covered.

Pokemon Sun/Moon and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
SM Ideal Team: Toucannon, Gyarados, Drifblim, Aerodactyl, Salamence, Skarmory
Optional: Braviary (Sun)/Mandibuzz (Moon), Crobat, Talonflame, Masquerain, Honchkrow, Minior, Fearow, Staraptor (scan), Oricorio (4 forms), Dartrix
First Pokémon: Rowlett via Starter
Cover weaknesses? Yes

USUM Ideal Team: Toucannon, Gyarados, Charizard (scan), Aerodactyl, Salamence, Skarmory
Optional: Braviary (US)/Mandibuzz (UM), Crobat, Talonflame, Masquerain, Honchkrow, Minior, Xatu, Tropius, Hawlucha, Noivern, Pidgeot, Fearow, Noctowl, Drifblim, Oricorio (4 forms), Dartrix
First Pokémon: Rowlett via Starter
Cover weaknesses? Yes

Pokemon Sword and Shield
Ideal Team: Corviknight, Noivern, Sigilyph, Togekiss, Gyarados, Hawlucha
Optional: Swoobat, Braviary (Sword), Mandibuzz (Shield), Xatu, Noctowl, Unfezant, Butterfree, Pelipper, Delibird, Ninjask, Vespiquen, Drifblim, Fan Rotom, Cramorant, Mantine
First Pokémon: Rookidee by overworld (30%) and Hoothoot and Caterpie by random encounters (5% and 15%) via Route 1.
Weaknesses Covered? Yes

MVPs (Most Valuable Pokemon)

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The Early Bird

In every single Pokemon game, excluding Pokemon Black and White, you can catch a Flying Pokemon on the first route. These birds are the primary reason why the Flying type is amazing for a Monotype Run. They evolve into a strong final form who can pack quite a punch! Most of them can learn Dark, Bug, Fighting, and Steel moves which is nice. Really the biggest thing that’s holding (most of) them back is their Normal typing which doesn’t offer much for diversity and defense.

One thing I’m beginning to notice about these birds is that Gamefreak is making them more and more unique in later generations. Up until Generation 5 they were pretty similar but in Gen 6 we got Talonflame with its nice Fire/Flying combo, Toucannon has a super high Attack stat which goes well with Beak Blast, and now Corviknight offers an amazing defense with its Steel/Flying. They really make those later generations that much better for a Flying run.

Available in: Every game’s first route except BW who only appear after the first gym.

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Gyarados (and other Water/Flying Pokemon)

There since Generation 1, Water/Flying Pokemon are rather ubiquitous in their occurrences. Six out of the so far eight generations have introduced at least one new Water/Flying Pokemon and every game contains at least one catchable family. The Water typing gives your team access to moves you may otherwise lack mainly Water and Ice attacks. You also get a nifty neutralization from Ice moves and a STAB attack against Rock Pokemon with the trade off being that 4x weakness to Electric (which honestly, as far as problems go, this one is at least manageable). Although Swanna and the others are fine the best one by far is also the most common and of course I’m talking about Gyarados.

I cannot stress how important it is to have Gyarados on your team, especially starting Gen 4 onwards. The physical/special split really benefited Gyarados’ high Attack stats so it can use Waterfall incredibly well. Although Gyarados’ Flying movepool is pretty poor, that’s okay as you have at least five other team members who can more than make up for this. You can teach Gyarados anything from Outrage to Iron Head, Ice Fang to Crunch, and most delicious of them all, Dragon Dance. I would say your biggest problem is its Magikarp stage but given that it evolves at level 20 it’s honestly not even that big of a deal considering you would be at your second or third gym by then.

Available in: Every game. Gyarados can be found in every game except Black/White and B2W2.

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Gliscor/Gligar

So once you get your Gyarados the next question you should ask is, can I get a Gligar or Gliscor? Gliscor pairs amazingly well with your Water Pokemon thanks to its immunity to Electric moves (which is really nice) and Rock neutralization. Not only that, a STAB Earthquake attack is sooooo gooooooood and can really stick it to any Electric or Rock Pokemon that trouble you. Gliscor also knows a variety of elemental fang attacks, Rock Slide (nice), Poison Jab (Poison is surprisingly rare for Flyers), and some very strong Dark and Bug moves.

Like Gyarados, Gliscor suffers from an okay selection of Flying moves and a 4x weakness, this time to Ice attacks (this is not too bad as Gliscor will already be avoiding Water Pokemon anyway). Gliscor is also not that common so pay attention to that when you pick your games. And finally, Gliscor did not become available until gen 4 so if you’re playing Gen 2 then you’re stuck with Gligar. Thankfully, don’t fret about your Electric or Rock weaknesses as there are other Pokemon to help you out like…

Available in: Gold, Crystal, Platinum, HeartGold, B2W2, and XY

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Dragon/Flying Pokemon

Neutralizing your Electric problems (with a 4x weakness to Ice moves) are the Dragons who are amazing additions to your team. The four Pokemon are really common and it would be hard to miss one for your team. Salamence and Dragonite are the strongest, non-Legendary, non-Mega Flying Pokemon. They can deliver powerful attacks both physical and special, they are fast, and they can take the hits. You also have the plethora of moves they can learn which adds a lot of necessary diversity to your team. They both can learn Earthquake to take care of your Electric foes. They are frankly wonderful. Your biggest downsides for these two are their late game appearances compounded by late evolutions which means you’ll have to be very patient if you want one on your team.

On the flip side you have Noivern and Altaria, who trade their lower stats for easier training and commonality. Altaria…it’s alright…nothing too special, but it does learn Moonblast, one of the few Flying Pokemon that can learn a strong Flying move. Noivern is definitely where its at though both with speed and design. Its decent Special Attack stat means you can use some great moves like Boomburst, Flamethrower, Psychic, and Shadow Ball. I also like how you can catch Noibat relatively early in Pokemon SWSH.

Available in: RBY and FRLG (Dragonite), GSC and HGSS (Dragonite), RSE and ORAS (Salamence and Altaria), B2W2 (Altaria), XY (all four), SM (Salamence), USUM (Salamence and Noivern), SWSH (Noivern)

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Skarmory and Corviknight

Taking care of your Rock and Ice weaknesses (pairs nicely with your dragons…) are Skarmory and Corviknight. Steel/Flying is one of those type combos that works so extremely well. The Flying type is immune to Ground and neutralizes the Fighting weakness and the Steel neutralizes Ice and Rock attacks. Of the two, you’re more likely to run into Skarmory, who’s surprisingly common, compared to the very recent Corviknight. Your main advantage in carrying these guys is defense so if you have a tricky opponent you can throw them out to stall or to dish out status-based moves. Admittedly, their movepool selection is rather small but they can still learn the standard Steel moves which is nice to have against Rock and, especially, Ice Pokemon.

Available in: Skarmory in Silver, Crystal, RSE, SoulSilver, B2W2, ORAS, XY, SM, USUM. Corviknight in SWSH

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Charizard

I don’t think you’ll need me to convince you to train a Charizard! It’s Charizard! Who wouldn’t want to train one??

But it goes deeper than just pure joy of having one on your team. First, Charizard, of course, is a starter. You pick Charmander in RBY or FRLG and you’re good to go! You can also catch one just before Mount Moon in Let’s Go and get one from a trainer after Mount Moon in Yellow. So Charmander can be found relatively early if not the start of your game. But! It can also be found outside of Kanto! You can train one in both XY (with the bonus Mega Evolutions) and in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon via Island Scan. That’s nice. But you know what’s also nice??? That movepool diversity is delicious. Fire moves are stellar and all but you also have Dragon Pulse, Rock Slide, Earthquake, Thunder Punch, Shadow Claw, and Brick Break. Excellent. Biggest thing to worry about are Rock moves which are killer. The Ice resistance is appreciated but a Pokemon that can learn an Ice move may be a Water type so that’s a bit rough. Regardless, Gamefreak’s affection towards their favorite starter means you’ll have a nice time with your fiery buddy.

Available in: RBY and FRLG (Starter), LG and Yellow, XY, and USUM (Via Island Scan), SWSH (via max raid battle but they are extremely rare, you can check it out here)

Best Monotype Runs for Pokemon Let’s Go

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The Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu (LGP) and Eevee (LGE) games gave fans of the series a new opportunity to dive back into Kanto and replay Pokemon Yellow but with many improvements. But if you want to try something new and not go through the same old routine, why not try a Monotype Run? A Monotype Run is a run where you only catch and train Pokemon of a certain type (emulating the role of a Gym Leader if you will). This offers a layer of challenge to the games you may not experience and give you an opportunity to train other Pokemon you may originally pass over. The new catching system and the introduction of Alolan forms have also given new life to certain types, like Poison or Grass, who may have been lackluster in the original games. With that said, let’s take a look at the best and worst types for Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee!

RULES

You can only catch and train Pokémon of a certain type. Once you capture your first Pokemon of that type, disregard any previous Pokemon on your team.
If a Pokémon evolves to said type you may train it but evolve it ASAP.
No outside trading allowed, this includes from Pokemon Go
If a Pokémon changes to said type via Mega Evolution you are allowed to train it provided you Mega evolve it every time.
Only Pokémon caught before the Elite Four are counted.

Best Types

Hold onto your butts everyone, I think exclusive Pokemon affect the Let’s Go games more than any Pokemon games in the entire series! This is primary because A. the amount of Pokemon is limited and B. many of the exclusives have Alolan forms which further compounds the issue as you have to trade a non-Alolan Pokemon to get its Alolan form. So PLEASE pay attention which version you have as this can drastically change your first Pokemon and your team.

With that said, I think the Normal type is the best type in the games for a Monotype Run followed by Poison (LGP), Electric, and Flying (although I would also consider Bug, Ground, Grass and if you’re patient, Water and Rock). Normal is the overall winner here due to its abundance, strong late-game Pokemon, and of course early availability whether it’s a Route 1 Pokemon or, of course, your starter Eevee in LGE. Normal Pokemon also can learn a variety of moves which is super fantastic! Wigglytuff’s Normal/Fairy typing is really nice against Fighters and Snorlax is so iconic you just have to ask why wouldn’t you train one??

I’m a huge fan of Poison type so I’m bias but I think LGP is among the best in the series for a Poison run! That’s right! You heard it here first. You can catch an Oddish in the first route, catch both Nidorans right afterwards in Route 22, then catch a Weedle and Bulbasaur (!) in Viridian Forest. Of course, you have Tentacruel, Golbat, Venomoth, and Haunter backing you up but the real kicker that puts LGP above LGE is the Alolan Muk which gives you that sweet, sweet, immunity to Psychic Pokemon who are so very common in Kanto. I’m currently playing the game for a Poison run and it’s like every dream coming true for me.

Electric was already decent in RBY but I think it’s much better here as Electric Pokemon can now learn a variety of moves and you can get an Alolan Graveler and an Alolan Raichu which gives you that nice variation that many Electric teams are really lacking in. Throw in the Zapdos and your partner Pikachu and you’re in for a fun time!

Finally, Flying type is really good as you can catch all three legendary birds before the Elite Four, acquire a Pidgey in the first route, train a Dragonite and Charizard, resurrect an Aerodactyl, and farm Magikarps for that amazing Gyarados. Your only issue here is that weakness to Rock attacks which can be covered thanks to Gyarados’ Water attacks.

Worst Types

Quite a few of types I would not recommend unfortunately. Ghost is probably the worst as you can only catch one after the third gym and you basically have two team members, Haunter and Alolan Marowak. Dark type is also very abysmal as you only have two partners, an Alolan Raticate and either an Alolan Persian (LGE) or Alolan Muk (LGP) which are acquired much later (plus, LGE is exposed to all of Dark’s weaknesses). Dragon Pokemon are very rare and although you can catch a Charmander early on, your first true Dragon Pokemon won’t come until after you get the Sea Skim ability which is basically just past the game’s halfway point. Other types I would not recommend due to late availability would be Ice, Steel, and Fighting (LGE).
Team Combinations

Bug

Ideal Team: Parasect, Venomoth, Scyther (LGP)/Pinsir (LGE), Butterfree, Beedrill

First available Pokémon: Caterpie and Weedle via Route 2 before the first gym.

Cover weaknesses? No, Flying, Fire, and Rock not neutralized.

Dark

Ideal Team: Alolan Raticate, Alolan Persian (LGE)/Alolan Muk (LGP)

First Available Pokemon: Alolan Rattata in Cerulean City before the second gym

Cover Weaknesses? Yes in LGP thanks to Alolan Muk. In LGE, Fighting, Fairy, and Bug are not neutralized.

Dragon

Ideal Team: Dragonite, Mega Charizard X, Alolan Exeggutor

First Available Pokémon: From a certain point of view, Charmander via rare spawn in Route 3 after the first gym. You can catch a Dratini via Route 10 after you get the Sea Skim ability.

Covers Weaknesses? No, Dragon not covered

Electric

Ideal Team: Pikachu/Jolteon, Alolan Graveler, Electabuzz, Magneton, Alolan Raichu, Zapdos

Optional: Electrode

First Available Pokémon: Pikachu in Viridian Forest in LGE or Pikachu as a starter in LGP

Covers weaknesses? Yes

Fairy

Ideal Team: Wigglytuff, Clefable, Mr. Mime, Alolan Ninetales (LGE)

First Available Pokémon: Clefairy in Mt. Moon after first gym

Covers Weaknesses? No, Poison or Steel are not neutralized

Fighting

Ideal Team: Machoke, Hitmonlee/Hitmonchan, Primeape (LGP), Poliwrath

First Available Pokémon: For LGP, Mankey via Route 3 after the first gym. For LGE, Machop via Rock Tunnel after the third gym.

Covers Weaknesses? No, Flying or Psychic not neutralized.

Fire

Ideal Team: (Mega) Charizard, Arcanine (LGP)/Ninetales (LGE), Magmar, Alolan Marowak, Rapidash, Moltres

Optional: Flareon

First Available Pokémon: Charmander via Route 3 after the first gym (special spawn)

Covers Weaknesses? No, Rock is not neutralized

Flying

Ideal Team: Charizard, Dragonite, Aerodactyl, Gyarados, Zapdos, Articuno

Optional: Pidgeot, Fearow, Dodrio, Scyther (LGP), Moltres

First Available Pokémon: Pidgey via Route 1

Covers Weaknesses? No, Rock is not covered.

Ghost

Ideal Team: Haunter, Alolan Marowak

First Available Pokémon: Gastly at Lavender Tower well after the third gym

Covers Weaknesses? No, Ghost and Dark is not covered

Grass

Ideal Team: Mega Venusaur, Exeggutor, Vileplume (LGP)/Victreebel (LGE), Parasect, Alolan Exeggutor, Tangela

First Available Pokémon: Oddish (LGP) or Bellsprout (LGE) via Route 1

Covers Weaknesses? No, Flying and Ice is not neutralized.

Ground

Ideal Team: Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Rhydon, Onix, Alolan Dugtrio, Sandslash (LGP)

Optional: Graveler, Dugtrio

First Available Pokémon: Nidorans in Route 22

Covers Weaknesses? No, Water is not neutralized

Ice

Ideal Team: Lapras, Articuno, Dewgong, Jynx, Cloyster, Alolan Sandlash (LGP)/Alolan Ninetales (LGE)

First Available Pokémon: Alolan Vulpix (LGE) or Alolan Sandshrew (LGP) via trade in Celadon City before the fourth gym.

Covers Weaknesses? Yes in LGP thanks to Alolan Sandlash. In LGE, Rock is not neutralized.

Normal

Ideal Team: Snorlax, Tauros, Pidgeot, Wigglytuff, Kangaskhan, Eevee (LGE)/Chansey

Optional: Porygon, Fearow, Dodrio, Raticate, Persian (LGE), Farfetch’d, Lickitung, Ditto, Alolan Raticate

First Available Pokémon: Eevee as a starter in LGE or Pidgey and Rattata in Route 1 in LGP

Covers Weaknesses? Yes!

Poison

Ideal Team: Venomoth, Alolan Muk (LGP)/Haunter, Venusaur, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Tentacruel

Optional: Vileplume (LGP)/Victreebel (LGE), Weezing (LGE), Arbok (LGE), Golbat

First Available Pokémon: Oddish (LGP) or Bellsprout (LGE) via Route 1

Covers Weaknesses? Yes in LGP thanks to Alolan Muk. In LGE, Psychic is not neutralized.

Psychic

Ideal Team: Alolan Raichu, Mr. Mime, Exeggutor, Jynx, Starmie, Slowbro

Optional: Kadabra

First Available Pokémon: Abra via Route 5 after the second gym

Covers Weaknesses? No, Ghost is not neutralized.

Rock

Ideal Team: Graveler, Rhydon, Onix, Aerodactyl, Omastar/Kabutops, Alolan Graveler

First Available Pokémon: Geodude and Onix at Mt. Moon after the first gym

Covers Weaknesses? Surprisingly, yes.

Steel

Ideal Team: Magneton, Alolan Sandlash (LGP), Alolan Dugtrio

First Available Pokémon: Alolan Diglett via trade in Lavender Town after the third gym.

Covers Weaknesses? No, Ground, Fighting, and Fire not neutralized.

Water

Ideal Team: Blastoise, Slowbro, Poliwrath, Lapras, Tentacruel, Vaporeon

Optional: Starmie, Gyrados, Omastar/Kabutops, Cloyster, Dewgong

First Available Pokémon: Magikarp via the Pokecenter just before Mt. Moon, after the first gym. Psyduck can be caught right after Mt. Moon thankfully in Route 4.

Covers Weaknesses? No, Electric is not neutralized.

Best Monotype Runs for Pokemon Sword and Shield

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TLDR: Pokemon SWSH are the best games in the series for a Monotype Run. You can catch every type before the first gym. Water, Flying, Steel, Psychic, and Bug are probably the best whereas Fire and Dragon are the worst. The full list of teams is at the end of this article.

Without a doubt, Pokemon Sword and Shield (SWSH) are the best games in the entire Pokemon franchise for a Monotype Run (also called Single Type). A Monotype Run is a self-imposed challenge where you play a Pokemon game with only one type, sort of like a gym leader. You pick a type, like Dark, and catch the first Pokemon that matches that type, in this case Nickit, and from there only catch Pokemon of that type and progress your way to the Champion. The Pokemon diversity in SWSH is absolutely incredible as you can catch every type before the first gym (compared to XY’s 14 types)! Additionally, out of 18 types and two games, 32 of 36 team combinations have all their weaknesses covered which is INSANE (XY ties it for the best). As such any type you pick will basically be a winner! I have a list of full teams below but first let’s take a look at the rules.

Rules

A type must be selected before starting the game. Upon playing the game the player must make all attempts to capture a Pokémon of that type as soon as possible. Once captured, the previous Pokémon of the party must be disregarded if they are not of that type.
Pokémon that have yet to evolve into that type (e.g., Chewtle for a Rock type run) may be caught but must be evolved as soon as possible.
Out-of-game trading is not allowed
Only Pokemon caught before you fight the Champion are counted

Optional Rules
Many folks have commented that SWSH are among the easiest games in the series. If you find that to be the case with your Monotype team I encourage you to make it more difficult by imposing such rules as

Changing the battle from “shift” to “set” so you won’t have an advantage on your opponent
Not teaching your Pokemon TM, TR, or Move Relearner moves
Avoid potions and other healing items
And any other rules you think may give you a more challenging, but still fun, playthrough

Best Types

I could go on and on why all these types are amazing so I’ll do my best to keep it short and to the point. The short of it is that any type is pretty great because you can catch a Pokemon from EVERY TYPE before the first gym! No other game has come close to this perfection! The Wild Area is the main factor as, in some cases, you can have a full team of Pokemon of your type before hitting the first gym. But what about the best? Water, Steel, Psychic, Bug, and Flying are probably the best due to their extreme early availability and amazing diversity. There are so many team combinations that to say that one is the “best” is a mute point. My interpretation of a type’s ideal team will certainly be different from yours and I think that’s what makes these types so great.

Weather Teams are also really wonderful as you can catch Pokemon that will trigger weather conditions on the battlefield. Ground is excellent, as usual, but I want to focus on Ice and Rock. SWSH are probably the best games in the series for an Ice and Rock run. For Ice, you can catch a Snover and Vanillite at the Wild Area whereas for Rock you can catch a Larvitar in Shield and a Gigalith in both versions. These Pokemon’s abilities will trigger weather conditions that you can use to full advantage. I strongly recommend you to catch a Darmanitan in Sword as its ability Gorilla Tactics makes it a fast, physical sweeper.

Worst Types

Unfortunately, Sword and Shield came SO CLOSE to getting a perfect record! Despite your starter, Fire is probably the worst type due to its inability to cover weaknesses. In Shield you are exposed to Rock and Water moves whereas in Sword it’s just Rock thanks to the version exclusive Turtonator. Granted, Fire traditionally has a tough time covering weaknesses and has only pulled it off a few times. If a SWSH sequel comes out Gamefreak just needs to add Camerupt or one of the fire starters and it’s perfect. Still though, this is a pretty good team! You got a Torkoal with Drought, which is excellent, and combined with such Pokemon as Chandelure, Centiskorch, and Coalossal you’ll have a great team! Finally, Ghost in both versions and Fairy in Shield have a weakness exposed so be prepared.

Hmm, if I have to pick one more type it would be Dragon as it’s comparatively “bad” even though SWSH are the best games in the entire series for a Dragon run. It has two main pitfalls. Finding your first Dragon Pokemon can be a draaaaag. Initially, Dragon Pokemon only spawn from this one specific Den (37/64)in the Wild Area so if it’s not going you need to buy a few Wishing Stones to spawn them in Max Raid Battles. Thankfully, you’ll start with good team members like Trapinch, Axew, Noibat and Jangmo-o (Sword) or Goomy (Shield). Second, you will be wide open to your weaknesses until near the end of the game thanks to the late-appearing Duraludon so that Fairy and Ice Gym is going to be rooooooooough.

Wild Area and Your First Pokemon
Usually, finding your first Pokemon is pretty straightforward. Is it your starter? If not, what’s the first route it shows up on? That’s it.

Sword and Shield’s Wild Area has thrown that out of the window and was by far the most time consuming part of my research. I’m glad that 11 out of the 18 types can be found before the Wild Area because those were super easy. But those other seven types were rough so here’s how I broke it down. I wrote down what Pokemon were easiest or most likely to find first and then wrote other Pokemon you can find that are rarer but still possible to find. If there’s a Pokemon you can find only in Max Raid battles, I took note of that and wrote down their den numbers which were provided by Serebii.

Also, so we’re on the same page, random encounters are encounters with the “!” symbol whereas overworld encounters are Pokemon just walking around.

Type Teams

Bug
Ideal Team: Crustle, Centiskorch, Durant, Orbeetle, Galvantula, Araquanid/Golisopod
Optional: Butterfree, Vikavolt, Shedinja, Ninjask, Escavalier (Sword Raid), Accelgor (Shield Raid), Ribombee, Vespiquen, Shuckle, Frosmoth
First Pokémon: Blipbug, Caterpie, Grubbin by random encounters (30%, 15%, and 10%) via Route 1.
Weaknesses Covered? Yes, and it’s taken care of before the first gym!

Dark
Ideal Team: Drapion, Grimmsnarl, Malamar, Bisharp, Scrafty (Sword)/Pangoro, Mandibuzz (Shield)/Crawdaunt
Optional: Thievul, Liepard, Shiftry (Sword), Obstagoon, Skuntank, Umbreon, Weavile, Morpeko, Tyranitar (Shield), Hydreigon (Sword)
First Pokémon: Nickit by overworld (5%) via Route 1. Route 2 is more productive with Zigzagoon and Nickit by overworld (2% and 15%) and Purrloin and Seedot (Sword) by random encounters (10% and 20%).
Weaknesses Covered? Yes

Dragon
Ideal Team: Flygon, Dracovish, Turtonator (Sword)/Haxorus, Kommo-o (Sword)/Drampa (Shield), Duraludon, Dragapult
Optional: Goodra (Shield), Flapple (Sword)/Appletun (Shield), Dracozolt, Hydreigon (Sword)
First Pokémon: In Rolling Fields, you can always find Dragon Pokemon by Max Raids at Den 37/64. These include Noibat, Trapinch, Axew, Jangmo-o (Sword), Goomy (Shield) and sometimes Applin and Dreepy.
Weaknesses Covered? Yes, thanks to Duraludon who’s unfortunately catchable near the end of the game.

Electric
Ideal Team: Vikavolt, Toxtricity, Wash Rotom, Galvantula, Dracozolt, Arctozolt
Optional: Manectric, Jolteon, Other Rotom Forms, Boltund, Raichu, Morpeko, Togedemaru, Pincurchin, Heliolisk
First Pokémon: Grubbin by random encounters (10%) via Route 1. Yamper will follow soon after on Route 2 by overworld (5%).
Weaknesses Covered? Yes

Fairy
Ideal Team: Weezing, Togekiss, Gardevoir, Mawile (Sword)/Sylveon, Mimikyu, Grimmsnarl
Optional: Clefable, Shiinotic, Slurpuff (Sword), Ribombee, Whimsicott, Alcremie, Aromatisse (Shield), Hatterene, Rapidash (Shield)
First Pokémon: You can find a Ralts in Overcast random encounters in Rolling Fields. In Rolling Fields, Den 33/62 will always spawn Fairy Pokemon (Cleffa, Togepi, Cutiefly, Swirlix, Clefairy, Morelull and sometimes Impidimp and Ralts).
Weaknesses Covered? Only in Sword thanks to Mawile. In Shield, Fairy is exposed to Steel type moves.

Fighting
Ideal Team: Scrafty (Sword)/Pangoro, Lucario, Toxicroak (Shield)/Kommo-o (Sword), Gallade, Bewear, Hawlucha
Optional: Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Hitmontop, Gurdurr, Machamp, Sirfetch’d (Sword), Throh, Sawk, Passimian (Sword), Falinks, Grapploct
First Pokémon: You can always find Tyrogue by overworld encounters in the Rolling Fields and you can always find Pancham in the Rolling Hills’ western most grasses by overworld. In the East Lake Axewell, you can always find a Stufful by overworld encounters and sometimes by random encounters. Look out for Machop at South Lake Miloch as you can find them in most weather conditions. Finally, Ralts is rarer but you can find them in Overcast encounters at Rolling Fields. In Rolling Fields, Den 1/48 will always spawn Fighting Pokemon for Max Raid battles such as Scraggy (Sword), Croagunk (Shield), Timburr, and sometimes Riolu. This is before the first gym.
Weaknesses Covered? Yes, and you can accomplish this before the first gym!

Fire
Ideal Team: Cinderace, Torkoal, Centiskorch, Coalossal, Heat Rotom, Turtonator (Sword)/Arcanine
Optional: Flareon, Ninetales, Salazzle, Chandelure, Heatmor, technically Darmanitan in Zen Mode
First Pokémon: Scorbunny via Starter
Weaknesses Covered? Sadly no, Shield is weak to Water and Rock. Sword is weak to just Rock thanks to Turtonator.

Flying
Ideal Team: Corviknight, Noivern, Sigilyph, Togekiss, Gyarados, Hawlucha
Optional: Swoobat, Braviary (Sword), Mandibuzz (Shield), Xatu, Noctowl, Unfezant, Butterfree, Pelipper, Delibird, Ninjask, Vespiquen, Drifblim, Fan Rotom, Cramorant, Mantine
First Pokémon: Rookidee by overworld (30%) and Hoothoot and Caterpie by random encounters (5% and 15%) via Route 1.
Weaknesses Covered? Yes

Ghost
Ideal Team: Golurk, Dragapult, Dusknoir, Mimikyu, Gengar, Aegislash
Optional Pokémon: Runerigus, Cofagrigus, Shedinja, Gourgeist, Froslass, Polteageist, Rotom, Cursola (Shield), Chandelure, Jellicent, Trevanant (Raid), Dhelmise, Drifblim, Eternatus
First Pokémon: Watchtower Ruins is your best bet. Regardless of weather you will find a Duskull, Drifloon, Gastly, or Golett by random encounters. You can also find a Nincada at South Lake Miloch by Intense Sun random encounter. Finally, you will always catch Ghosts in Den 6/47 at Watchtower Ruins for Max Raid battles.
Weaknesses Covered? Unfortunately no as both are exposed to Ghost weaknesses (and Sableye is only available after the championship in Shield).

Grass
Ideal Team: Rillaboom, Ludicolo (Shield)/Dhelmise, Flapple (Sword)/Appletun (Shield), Roserade, Ferrothorn, Mow Rotom
Optional: Vileplume, Gourgeist, Cherrim, Shiftry (Sword), Eldegoss, Whimsicott, Shiinotic, Bellossom, Trevanant (Raid), Leafeon, Tsareena, Abomasnow, Maractus
First Pokémon: Grooky via Starter
Weaknesses Covered? Yes

Ground
Ideal Team: Flygon, Hippowdon, Golurk, Gastrodon, Excadrill, Sandaconda
Optional: Diggersby, Mudsdale, Onix, Whiscash, Steelix, Quagsire, Runerigus, Seismitoad, Rhyperior (Raid), Dugtrio, Claydol, Stunfisk, Mamoswine
First Pokémon: In the Rolling Fields, you will find Bunnelby in the overworld in every weather except Snowstorm and Thunderstorm; additionally, you will always find them by random encounter. You can also find Nincada, Mudbray, Baltoy, Golett, and Diggersby in random encounters throughout the Wild Area. They are most common in Sandstorms and Intense Sun (although Sandstorms won’t be unlocked until after the third gym). Look for Swinub when it’s Snowing, Barboach fishing in South Lake Miloch, and Tympole and Wooper in West Lake Axewell. You can also find Ground Pokemon for Den 16/52 in Rolling Fields for Max Raid Battles including the aforementioned Pokemon as well as Diglett and Yamask. There’s also a chance to find a Trapinch by Max Raid battles in Rolling Fields. This is before the first gym.
Weaknesses Covered? Yes

Ice
Ideal Team: Abomasnow, Froslass, Mamoswine, Cloyster, Mr. Rime, Frost Rotom
Optional: Glalie, Delibird, Glaceon, Vanilluxe, Beartic, Weavile, Frosmoth, Avalugg, Lapras, Darmanitan (Sword), Eiscue (Shield), Arctovish, Arctozolt
First Pokémon: You are guaranteed to find an Ice type Pokemon if it’s Snowing in the Wild Area. Find an area that’s snowing and start searching! The Pokemon you can find include Snover, Snorunt, Swinub, Vanillite, Delibird, and Shellder (fishing) via Wild Area. Look for Sneasel in Den 35 at West Lake Axewell for Max Raid battles. This can all be done before the first gym.
Weaknesses Covered? Yes, and it’s taken care of well before the first gym!

Normal
Ideal Team: Bewear, Heliolisk, Unfezant, Oranguru (Shield)/Indeedee, Drampa (Shield)/Obstagoon, Snorlax
Optional: Diggersby, Noctowl, Braviary (Sword), Greedent, Dubwool, Cinccino, Persian, Ditto
First Pokémon: Wooloo and Skwovet by overworld (15% and 50%) and Hoothoot and Skwovet by random encounters (5% and 50%) via Route 1.
Weaknesses Covered? Yes

Poison
Ideal Team: Drapion, Roserade, Toxapex, Weezing, Toxicroak (Shield)/Toxtricity, Gengar
Optional: Vileplume, Skuntank, Garbodor, Salazzle (Shield), Qwilfish, Toxtricity, Eternatus
First Pokémon: You can always find Stunky in random encounters at North Lake Miloch. Keep an eye out for Oddish, Gastly, Budew, and Roselia as they can be found throughout the Wild Area. Finally, Den 29/86 at East Lake Axewell will always spawn Poison Pokemon for Max Raid Battles.
Weaknesses Covered? Yes, and it’s taken care of before the first gym!

Psychic
Ideal Team: Orbeetle, Sigilyph, Bronzong, Gardevoir, Gallade, Malamar
Optional: Swoobat, Musharna, Solrock (Sword)/Lunatone (Shield), Meowstic, Reuniclus (Shield), Gothitelle (Sword), Hatterene, Mr. Rime, Espeon, Claydol, Xatu, Wobbuffet, Beheeyem, Rapidash (Shield), Indeedee, Oranguru (Shield)
First Pokémon: Blipbug by random encounters (30%) via Route 1
Weaknesses Covered? Yes, and it’s taken care of before the first gym!

Rock
Ideal Team: Crustle, Drednaw, Coalossal, Stonjourner (Sword)/Tyranitar (Shield), Gigalith, Solrock (Sword)/Lunatone (Shield)
Optional: Sudowoodo, Rhyperior (Raid), Shuckle, Onix, Barbaracle
First Pokémon: Chewtle by overworld (10%) via Route 2.
Weaknesses Covered? Yes, and it’s taken care of before the first gym! Which is good because it’s Grass, see if you can evolve your Rolycoly before you fight Milo otherwise you might need to lean on Dwebble. Also, get the Sandstream Ability from Gigalith.

Steel
Ideal Team: Corviknight, Excadrill, Bronzong, Ferrothorn, Aegislash, Duraludon
Optional: Perrserker, Steelix, Klinklang, Stunfisk, Bisharp, Mawile (Sword), Lucario, Copperajah, Durant, Togedemaru, Escavalier (Sword Raid)
First Pokémon: Rookidee by overworld (30%) via Route 1
Weaknesses Covered? Yes

Water
Ideal Team: Inteleon, Gyarados, Gastrodon, Dracovish, Araquanid, Ludicolo (Shield)/Cloyster
Optional: Crawdaunt, Drednaw, Quagsire, Seismitoad, Golisopod, Qwilfish, Toxapex, Whiscash, Wishiwashi, Pyukumuku, Barraskewda, Milotic, Wailord, Lanturn, Mantine, Basculin, Vaporeon, Pelipper, Kingler, Seaking, Octillery, Wash Rotom, Cramorant, Lapras, Jellicent, Arctovish
First Pokémon: Sobble via Starter
Weaknesses Covered? Yes, and it can be taken care before the first gym! Which is good because the first gym is Grass. You might want to consider a Rain team with Pelipper’s Drizzle ability.

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Future of Monotype Run Articles

Best Pokemon Games for a Ghost Type Run

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Update 12/30/2019: The article is now updated to include Pokemon Sword and Shield

I know what you’re thinking.

Yes, it CAN be done! BUT! If you want to do a Ghost Type Run you’ll have to do a little research first before you dive in because a Ghost Type run can be really rough. Ghost Pokemon have a habit of showing up around mid-game but the biggest problem by far is their limited diversity which can be very debilitating. They are the second rarest type ranking just above Ice Type. Because of which, trying to find a full team AND neutralize all your weaknesses can be a big challenge. Fortunately, there are a few great Pokemon games where you can have a fantastic Ghost team who’ll curse your opponents and haunt your way to victory! Let’s take a look which Pokemon games will be great for a Monotype Run (or Single Type Run) for you and your Ghost Pokemon. But first…

Rules

Only Pokémon of a certain type may be caught and trained.
You must catch the first Pokémon available of that type if your starter does not match that type (you’ll then have to discard that starter).
You may train a Pokémon that evolves to said type as long as you do it ASAP.
No trading allowed.
Mega Pokémon count as long as you Mega Evolve them as soon as they appear on the battlefield.
Only Pokémon caught before Elite Four are counted.

Best Games

The best games, by far, for a Ghost Type Run have to be Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon. These games just nail it on every front. First, they have the highest amount of Ghost Pokemon as of Generation VII. There are 13 unique Ghost families in Sun and Moon and 16 in USUM. And they are really good Ghosts like Golurk, Gengar, Alolan Marowak, Palossand, Aegislash, and Decidueye. You also have a nice abundance of Ghost Pokemon on the first island thanks to Hau’oli Cemetery and later Sableye on Ten Carat Hill. You also have Rowlett as your starter which evolves into a Ghost type which is FREAKING AWESOME. So far, it’s the only starter that can evolve into a Ghost which makes these games a lot less frustrating for a Ghost run. Finally, as of Generation VII, these are the only games in the series where you can catch a Gengar. That’s right! No need to trade! Go to the Thrifty Megamart, find a Haunter, use an adrenaline orb on it, chip its health down, and just sit and wait for it to call a Gengar. It will take awhile (as seen in this handy video) but you will eventually catch one. It’s because of these reasons that the Sun and Moon games are the best, by far, Ghost run games.

However, it will be tricky, especially at the beginning because Bite and Pursuit is very common for low level Pokemon so they can easily destroy the fragile Ghosts. Also, the first Totem Pokemon can be an Alolan Raticate so that’s rough. Thankfully, Rowlett would not evolve into Decidueye by then so you’ll be on equal footing by the time you face off against them. There’s also a huge abundance of Dark Pokemon on your first island so you’ll need to tread carefully as you gather your team.

There are a few other games you can consider but they rank in “B” territory for me. Pokemon XY can cover your weaknesses and give you variety but your first Pokemon, Nincada and Honedge, won’t come until after the first gym so you’ll need to be patient. On the flip side, you can catch a Nincada in ORAS before the first gym but you’ll be starved of Ghost Pokemon until the end of the game (made even worse if you’re playing OmegaRuby as Sableye is exclusive to AlphaSapphire). Pokemon Sword and Shield are really fantastic and you catch Dragapult who’s the strongest non-Legendary Ghost Pokemon but both are exposed to Ghost weaknesses (Sableye is catchable after the Championship in Shield). Still though, you can train a Golett very early and really, who wouldn’t?

Worst Games

Yeah…just avoid Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, LeafGreen. You only got the Gengar line which is available long after the third gym and you can’t get a Gengar unless you trade. This is a very terrible run for Ghosts. Please avoid for your own sake.

I’d also avoid the Johto games as well. Gold, Silver, and Crystal gives you a Gastly via Sprout Tower before the first gym but you’re still gonna just have that Haunter (HGSS gives you a Misdreavus at least in the Safari Zone). Black, White, and B2W2, give you a decent selection of Ghosts but you’ll have to wait until after the third gym to catch one. Finally, Ruby and Pearl are inferior games to their already flawed counterparts due to version-exclusive Ghosts.

Ghost Teams in Pokemon Games

Pokemon RBY and FRLG
Ideal Team: Haunter
First available Pokémon: Gastly at Lavender Tower, after the third gym
Covers weaknesses? No, Ghost and Dark moves are not covered

Pokemon GSC and HGSS
Ideal Team: Haunter, Misdreavus (HGSS via Safari Zone)
First Pokémon: Gastly via Sprout Tower (or at night at Route 30 in Pokémon Crystal) before the first gym; Gastly can also be caught on the Pokewalker.
Covers Weaknesses? No, Ghost and Dark not neutralized

Pokemon RSE and ORAS
Ideal Team: Shedinja, Sableye (S, E, AS)/Spiritomb (ORAS), Drifblim (ORAS), Trevanant (ORAS), Froslass (ORAS), Jellicent (ORAS)
Optional Pokémon: Banette, Dusclops, Cofagrigus (ORAS), Mismagius (ORAS)
First Pokémon: Nincada in Route 116 before the first gym
Covers Weaknesses? Yes for Sapphire, Emerald, and ORAS. However, in Ruby, Ghost and Dark are not neutralized.

Pokemon DPP
Ideal Team: Haunter, Drifblim, Dusclops (Platinum)/Mismagius (Diamond), Rotom (Platinum), Froslass (Platinum)
Optional Pokémon: Giratina (Platinum)
First Pokémon: Drifloon on Fridays at the Valley Windworks before the second gym
Covers Weaknesses? No, Ghost and Dark moves are not neutralized

Pokemon BW and B2W2
BW Ideal Team: Cofagrigus, Chandelure, Jellicent, Golurk
First Pokémon: Yamask via Relic Castle after the third gym
Cover weaknesses? No, Dark and Ghost moves not neutralized

B2W2 Ideal Team: Cofagrigus, Chandelure, Banette, Drifblim, Jellicent, Golurk
First Pokémon: Yamask via Relic Castle after the third gym
Cover weaknesses? No, Dark and Ghost moves not neutralized

Pokemon XY
Ideal Team: Shedinja, Aegislash, Rotom, Golurk, Sableye, Chandelure
Optional Pokémon: Haunter, Phantump/Pumpkaboo, Drifblim, Banette
First Pokémon: Nincada and Honedge via Route 6 after the first gym.
Weaknesses Covered? Yes

Pokemon SM and USUM
SM Ideal Team: Decidueye, Sableye, Palossand, Aegislash(scan), Gengar (S.O.S. by Haunter in Thrifty Megamark after the Ula’ula Trials), Mimikyu
Optional: Trevanant, Dhelmise, Froslass, Drifblim, Chandelure (scan), Mismagius, Alolan Marowak
First Pokémon: Rowlett via Starter
Cover weaknesses? Yes

USUM Ideal Team: Decidueye, Sableye, Palossand/Golurk (US), Aegislash(scan), Gengar (S.O.S. by Haunter in Thrifty Megamark after the Ula’ula Trials), Mimikyu
Optional: Trevanant, Dhelmise, Froslass, Drifblim, Chandelure (scan), Mismagius, Banette, Jellicent, Alolan Marowak
First Pokémon: Rowlett via Starter
Cover weaknesses? Yes

Pokemon Sword and Shield
Ideal Team: Golurk, Dragapult, Dusknoir, Mimikyu, Gengar, Aegislash
Optional Pokémon: Runerigus, Cofagrigus, Shedinja, Gourgeist, Froslass, Polteageist, Rotom, Cursola (Shield), Chandelure, Jellicent, Trevanant (Raid), Dhelmise, Drifblim, Eternatus
First Pokémon: Watchtower Ruins is your best bet. Regardless of weather you will find a Duskull, Drifloon, Gastly, or Golett by random encounters. You can also find a Nincada at West Lake Axewell by Sandstorm random encounter or South Lake Miloch by Sandstorm or Intense Sun random encounter. Finally, you will always catch Ghosts in Den 6/47 at Watchtower Ruins for Max Raid battles.
Weaknesses Covered? Unfortunately no as they are exposed to Ghost weaknesses (Sableye is catchable after the Championship in Shield).

MVP (Most Valuable Pokemon)

Decidueye

At the top of our list is Decidueye, with only four in-game appearances there is a lot going for him. Mainly, Decidueye is one of the strongest non-Legendary, non-Mega Ghost Pokemon. This combined with their status as a starter Pokemon means you have your strongest team member right from the get-go.

I think your biggest flaw with Decidueye is his rather low movepool diversity. Don’t get me wrong, the moves it can learn are strong and rather exclusive but…not very diverse type-wise and that’s probably the Grass pairing weighing him down. Also, there is the elephant in the room with Decidueye being a starter from a later generation so availability is very limited at this time.

As a side note, I feel sorry about Dhelmise which was also introduced in this generation and is also very strong. Hopefully, you’ll get a chance to shine later, anchor-buddy!

Available in: SM and USUM

Sableye (and to an extent Spiritomb)

At the time of this writing, there are unfortunately no Ghost/Normal Pokemon officially released. Which is a shame as that pairing can give you a Pokemon that’s totally immune to Ghost moves. Thankfully, we have Sableye (and I guess Spiritomb) who can solve both your Ghost AND Dark problems!

Spiritomb’s availability is very limited but Sableye is much more common which is why we’re primarily focusing on Sableye. It’s stats are…okay…and honestly really lacking if I have to be honest. But it’s a trade off. You get subpar stats for a much-needed defensive typing and a decent moveset. Sabeleye can learn Dazzling Gleam which is ballin’ so take that Dark types! And those Dark and Ghost moves are really nice to stick it to Ghost enemies who may take you down with one hit.

Why not both? If you want Spiritomb and Sableye you can pick up AlphaSapphire. It’s one of the few games where you can pick up Spiritomb and not go through all sorts of crazy, underground, shenanigans. You can capture one before the Elite Four which is nice but…why not train a Mega Sableye instead??? Instantly Sableye’s medicore stats are boosted and you get a great defensive Pokemon ready to shield your attacks. Poor Spiritomb…at least you got OmegaRuby?

Available in: Ruby and Emerald (Sableye), XY (Sableye), OmegaRuby (Spiritomb), AlphaSapphire (Spiritomb and Sableye), SM and USUM (Sableye)

Aegislash

Aegislash’s arrival came a hair too late as Steel lost its resistances to Dark and Ghost in Generation VI. Very unfortunate but not the end of the world. Aegislash has some of the best stats either offensive or defensive for any Ghost Pokemon. Many competitive players use Aegislash’s form change to strike hard and strong and play defensive and cool. It’s super versatile and damn is it a cool Pokemon. Like Decidueye, its movepool is alright but who cares?? Those attack stats are out of this world (150)! A STAB Iron Head or Shadow Ball (and to an extent the priority move Shadow Sneak) can just obliterate opponents, throw in Sacred Sword and your golden.

Main issues here are its HP and Speed which are lackluster. So if you’re in Blade Forme and get hit by something you’re probably out of here. Bye bye. Still, the move King’s Shield can lower an opponents Attack stat so you can have them suffer. Open yourself back up and swish, slash!

Available in: XY, SM and USUM (Island Scan), SWSH

Chandelure

Chandelure is a fantastic, and surprisingly common, Pokemon in its own right and should always be considered when doing a Ghost run. It has a whopping 145 Special Attack stat which is just incredible. A STAB Shadow Ball and Flamethrower is enough to carry Chandulure around. If you want, you can burn your opponents with Will-o-wisp and use Hex which doubles its power to 130 (by comparison, Shadow Ball’s power is 80).

Hex can also be used with one of Chandelure’s abilities, Flame Body which has a 30% of burning an opponent if it physically attacks you. On the flip side, the Flash Fire ability makes you immune to Fire attacks and charges up your Fire moves instead. This can work very well if you have Shedinja, Decidueye, Trevanant, Dhelmise, Gourgeist, Froslass, or Aegislash on your team as you can bait an enemy Fire Pokemon, switch to Chandelure, take the hit and use Shadow Ball on them.

Only faults? This is minor but Chandelure’s Speed and bulk are okay. Not bad, not good, just average. You also won’t get an incredible move diversity out of Chandelure besides the usual Ghost, Dark, and Psychic moves that practically all Ghost Pokemon have. The Grass-move Energy Ball is nice though as well as its plethora of Fire moves. And who needs diversity when you have Calm Mind? Use that once or twice and just go to town!

Available in: BW, B2W2, XY, SM and USUM (Island Scan), SWSH

Golurk

When you’re doing a Monotype Run, you want to find the oddballs. The Pokemon who get off the bandwagon and do their own thing. These Pokemon, like Golurk, can round out your team and give you diversity that’s not just about weakness-neutralization. Golurk is, to put it simply, everything a Ghost Pokemon is not. It’s bulky, not particularly fast, has very low Special Attack, and it has high Physical Attack. Like, really high. 124 to be exact. Few other regular Ghost Pokemon, like my beloved Dhelmise, exceed that stat.

Here’s the thing. Golurk can actually use this stat to its full advantage! Dhelmise and Aegislash, and a lot of other Ghosts for that matter, struggle to reach the movepool that Golurk has achieved. This combined with Golurk’s Iron Fist ability makes him a BEAST. Hammer Arm, Shadow Punch, Dynamic Punch, and Focus Punch can be learned by leveling up while the elemental punches and Drain Punch can be taught by Move Tutor (best used in B2W2, US, or SWSH). Golurk can also learn Earthquake, Rock Slide, and Heavy Slam; physical moves that other Ghosts don’t even have a chance, a dream, to properly use or learn.

Available in: BW, B2W2, XY, US, SWSH

Gengar/Haunter

The Gengar line in Pokemon is such a twisted, crazy mess that I debated whether to include them or not. The biggest thing, by far, that’s holding them back is the required trading to evolve your Haunter which breaks the rules of the run. If it wasn’t for that they would be top of this list, no doubt. But they’re not and we have to sort through this to understand why Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar can still be very important to you and your team.

Of course, they are the first Ghosts that were introduced in Pokemon. And this early introduction combined with Ghosts’ scarcity, makes them the most common Ghost line in all the Pokemon games by far. They are catchable before the Elite Four in 21 games as of Sword and Shield (the next most common line, Chandelure, in catchable in 12 games). A few of these games are pretty early too! In the Johto and Galar games you can catch a Gastly before the first gym, in Sinnoh it’s shortly after the first gym, and Alola you can get them in the cemetery shortly before the first trial.

Haunter and Gengar can also learn some nice moves like Thunderbolt and Dazzling Gleam. If you’re training one before Generation IV you can teach them Ice, Thunder, and Fire Punch which they will use very well thanks to their high Special Attack. Gengar can also learn Focus Blast too. Sludge Bomb is also great for potential poison damage.

Despite being a second stage, Haunter is quite fast and has a really nice Special Attack stat (115). However, it’s incredibly fragile and a decent physical attack move can shut it down. But still, Haunter is really cool! I’ve trained Haunter several times when I was much younger on Pokemon Blue and it was great!

There’s also some good news for you Gengar purists. If you want a Gengar you can catch one in SM, USUM, and SWSH! In the Sun and Moon games if you go to the Thrifty Megamart after its trial and force a Haunter to call for help, there’s a chance it will call a Gengar. However, this is a very tedious process so be prepared to hang tight and be patient. This video demonstrates the procedure and how long it takes. SWSH is a bit easier as you can find Gengars in the Wild Area. All in all, once you catch your Gengar, you are ready to go to town on your opponents with a very powerful, and iconic, Ghost Pokemon!

Available in: RBY, GSC, FRLG, DPP, HGSS, XY, SM, USUM, SWSH

Mimikyu

Mimikyu has become one of the big stars of the Sun and Moon games. Besides the starters, it seems like Mimikyu is the most frequent Gen VII Pokemon seen in toys, art, and promotional materials. Thankfully, its inclusion in SWSH continues its popularity and makes it a worthy addition to your team.

Mimikyu’s very fun and very unique Ghost/Fairy combo gives your team a much needed resistance to Dark which otherwise is quite hard to pull off. It even beats Sableye as it has the power and moves to take out Dark Pokemon. It’s decent Physical Attack gives it access to moves that other Ghost Pokemon struggle to use like X-Scissor, Play Rough, Drain Punch, and Shadow Sneak (all of which can fight off your enemies). It also has pretty good bulk which ties nicely to its signature ability, Disguise. Biggest downside is that very low Special Attack but you got other Ghosts that can handle that easily so no need to worry. Don’t forget to pick up Mimikium Z in USUM!

Available in: SM, USUM, SWSH

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Tag Archives: Single Type

Best Pokemon Games for a Rock Type Run

Best Pokemon Games for a Fire Type Run

Best Pokemon Games for a Psychic Type Run

Best Pokemon Games for a Water Type Run

Best Pokemon Games for a Steel Type Run

Best Pokemon Games for a Flying Type Run

Best Monotype Runs for Pokemon Let’s Go

Best Monotype Runs for Pokemon Sword and Shield

Future of Monotype Run Articles

Best Pokemon Games for a Ghost Type Run