There are plenty of things to love about Pokémon, but the chances are what first drew you into the series are the Pokémon themselves. The new roster is always the most exciting part of a new game, and with Scarlet and Violet adding 103 of the critters – the most new additions since Generations 5 – there is a lot to choose from.
We’ve completed our Pokédex and have had time to get to know all of the new Pokémon well enough to pick out our favorites. We’ve already chosen the worst new Pokémon if you’d rather see the bottom of the barrel, but right now we’re spreading positivity and talking about the ones that bring us joy.
Tinkaton
While the baby version of this Pokémon is among the worst of this generation, by the time it reaches its final form, the kinks have been worked out and we’ve got a great ‘mon on our hands. Steel/Fairy is a great type combination, and Tinkaton is a far better representation of it than Klefki can ever be.
“Small girl wielding a massive weapon” has weirdly become a JRPG stereotype between Sena from Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Hilda from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, but it clearly works, because it makes Tinkaton a very endearing character.
Garganacl
Gen 9 really didn’t add much in the way of Rock-types, giving us just three new evolution lines. While Klawf and Glimmora have their upsides, Garanacl is by far the most appealing, and best to take with you on your adventure. It had such a wide movepool, able to learn some of the best Rock, Steel, Ground, and even Fighting-type moves.
Plus, it’s one of the most unique-looking Rock-Pokémon out there. Gone are the days of Graveler just being a boulder with a face, now we have something with an interesting theme and a design that makes it look like a Minecraft mob. Top-tier stuff.
Chien-Pao
The Treasures of Ruin are slightly weird designs, especially for legendaries, but they still manage to capture the powerful feeling these Pokémon should have. They also manage to hold together a central theme without looking too similar. They’re all great in their own way, but can you really beat a snow leopard with swords for teeth?
That’s right, you can’t.
Kingambit
Several old Pokémon got new evolutions this time around and most of them were winners. Annihilape takes the fairly boring Mankey line in an interesting direction, and Dudunsparce is great if only for the name.
Kingambit really takes the cake though, even if it is a pain to try and evolve. While Bisharp isn’t a Pokémon that necessarily needed improvement, Kingambit is an incredible design that meaningfully and sensibly progresses the themes of that evolution line. It even manages to keep the chess theme, taking the name of a popular opening.
Roaring Moon
Now onto the paradox Pokémon. These alterations on existing designs were going to be tricky to pull off, especially in a way that didn’t feel too similar to Mega-Evolutions or regional forms. However, almost all of the paradox Pokémon are smash-hits as far as we’re concerned. Roaring Moon is the standout of the past iterations though.
Salamence is already a fantastic ‘mon – and one with a Mega-Evolution at that – and this design perfectly itterates on the design. Dragon/Dark is an inherently cool typing, even if it does come with a quadruple Fairy weakness. More than that, it embodies how these past forms are meant to look, making our favorite creatures seem more dangerous and feral than ever before.
Iron Valiant
Moving onto the future side of paradox Pokémon, Iron Valiant is definitely the coolest of the metallic monsters. Where the past versions look deadly in how feral they are, these future versions need to look a bit uncanny, so their menace comes from how wrong they feel and the unknown power they hold.
Iron Valiant ticks all those boxes while still managing to be something unique in its own right. While it’s officially supposed to be a future version of Gallade, due to the knight-theme, it incorporates aspects of Gardevoir’s design too, making it feel more like a hybrid, adding to that uncanny feeling.
Baxcalibur
If there’s one Pokémon you can count on to stand out in every generation, it’s the pseudo-legendary. While we wouldn’t put Baxcalibur on par with something like Garchomp or Metagross design-wise, it holds an incredible amount of power.
After the Ice-type has been so fragile for so long, this Dragon/Ice combo is very hard to deal with if it’s against you. It’s surprisingly fast, and it has a signature move where it flips upside down and changes at you axe-first – and you certainly can’t argue with anything that can do that to you.
Ceruledge
Everyone knows dark knights are cooler than light knights, which is why Ceruledge is superior to its counterpart. It’s so over the top in its edginess that we can’t help but love it – it even has “edge” in its name. Making great use of its different shades of navy/purple, this thing blazes with coolness. If that wasn’t enough it has fiery blades for hands, which it uses in its signature move to aboard its opponent’s HP.
Kilowattrel
Birds are great. This is a simple fact of life. If you’re ever in doubt of this fact, just look at Talonflame and then apologize. Kilowattrel is a perfect design that sits right along with the traditional “Route 1 birds”, even if it isn’t technically available that early in the game.
Electric/Flying is a fantastic type combo, and while Kilowattrel can’t compete with Thundurus on the battlefield, it’s still a reliable partner for your journey. Plus, on the design front, it managed to pull in elements of sea birds while still keeping an overall streamlined design that works the best for these birds.
Dachsbun
Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that bring you the most joy. There doesn’t need to be anything complicated about this, it’s just an adorable dog made out of bread.
There’s nothing more to say, it’s the best.
Written by Oliver Brandt and Ryan Woodrow on behalf of GLHF.
