- home
- guides
Water Pokémon make up the largest percentage of the Pokédex, so we've dived in to find the very best
Author:
Ryan Woodrow
Publish date:
Making up roughly 15% of the Pokédex, Water is the most common type of all Pokémon, so picking out the best was no easy task. Not just because there are so many to choose from, but because they are all so very different. There may be plenty of fish Pokémon, but you can convincingly give just about any creature water powers by giving it a few aquatic design elements and changing it’s body-color to blue.
Still, we dove into the fray and picked out the best Water Pokémon that bring us joy.
If you're looking for more great Pokémon, then check out our rankings of the best fire Pokémon and the best Pokémon games.
Kingdra
Generation 2 was great at picking out Pokémon evolution lines from Gen 1 that felt a little incomplete and giving them brilliant final evolutions. Seadra is a cool Pokémon, but it definitely looks and feels like a middle evolution, so Kingdra coming along was sorely needed. It takes all of the potential of the adorable Horsea in the best possible direction, making the most of a sea horse’s unique shape while bringing the power.
Lumineon
There are tonnes of Pokémon that ape the style of a traditional cartoon fish, but we think Lumineon stands above the rest. The navy blue combined with the pale blue is a great color combination that makes it stand out in even the most crowded underwater environments. While it would’ve been nice if it kept more of Finneon’s pink highlights, the little that is there accentuates the design to keep it interesting.
Tapu Fini
The Tapus are perhaps the most visually striking group of legendary Pokémon. Their role as island guardians is clear as day with the tribal island patterns on their shells, and they use bright colors to stand out from the crowd and highlight their powers. Tapu Fini is one of the most reliable to use in battle, bringing plenty of the bulk that Water is known for, while packing quite a punch when it’s let loose.
Vaporeon
If a type has an Eeveelution, then that Eeveelution is probably one of the best Pokémon of that type, there’s really nothing else to it. Vaperon is the standout of the original trio, as it undergoes the most dramatic change in its design, adopting traits like the tail and fins to look like an adorable mermaid.
Palkia
Palkia is a great-looking Pokémon, although there’s absolutely no way you could tell it was Water-type just by looking. That doesn’t matter though, as the pure power injected into this dragon of space is enough to make it one of the best Water-types by default. Although it could make better use of the pink in its design, it has the visual bulk of a god-like creature while maintaining speed and power.
Milotic
If you played Gens 3 or 4 as a kid then Feebas and Milotic are undoubtedly lodged in your mind forever. Party because of Wallace and Cynthia’s Milotic which would inevitably destroy everything you put in front of them, but also because of just how difficult they are to get hold of. Feebas is one of the hardest Pokémon to catch in those games, and then you have to go through the grind of maxing out its Beauty stat to evolve it.
It was worth all that effort though, as not only is Milotic a beautifully-designed Pokémon, but it’s a bulky powerhouse to boot.
Greninja
For Pokémon Day 2020, The Pokémon Company ran a poll on Google, letting fans choose their favorite Pokémon, eventually compiling the list to determine the single most popular Pokémon of all time. Greninja won that poll by a margin of almost 40,000 votes, and it’s easy to see why.
While it strays a little bit far from the design of it’s pre-evolutions, taken in a bubble, it has all of the simple but cool design factors that made Charizard so beloved all the way back in 1996. Ninjas have dominated pop culture in one form or another for generations, so Greninja had an easy path to popularity. Combine that with it being Ash’s main partner for one of the better arcs in the Pokémon anime – getting a new unique form in the process – and Greninja has solidified its spot as an all-time great.
Gyarados
If you didn’t have a Gyarados on your team in Red & Blue, then you weren’t playing the game right. While it faints at even the sight of an Electric-type, everything else about it was so powerful it was impossible to ignore. Designed to teach trainers that even the weakest and most pathetic Pokémon have power inside, Gyardos’ design is one of the best examples of how Gen 1’s simplicity can make something awesome. The Chinese dragon design is instantly recognizable, with only a few changes needed to make it feel like a Pokémon.
Empoleon
If you picked Piplup because of its overwhelming cuteness, then we can understand why you might not be the biggest Empoleon fan, but we think it takes the penguin design in the perfect direction. Rather than risking anything a bit goofy-looking (like Inteleon would later suffer with), the designers picked an emperor penguin – the coolest type of penguin – and beefed it up until it was an unstoppable force of nature. Say what you want about the karate monkey or the ground tortoise, but nothing was more intimidating than trying to sneak up on a massive Alpha Empoleon in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
Suicune
One of the legendary beasts, Suicune is definitely the standout member of the trio. Partly because it got to become a cover legendary with Pokémon Crystal, but also because it’s got the most lovable design of the three. Both Entei and Raikou shine in their own ways, but Suicune’s streamlined design, bright colors, and all-business facial expressions make it so easy to love. Then you’ve got its cape and dual tails that run up its body, which make it looks like it’s constantly running into the wind.
