Nintendo have done a great job toning down the barrier of entry to the competitive scene in Pokémon. In previous games, you’d be required to breed for the right IVs and nature. Not only did this take a ton of time, it was insanely boring. Then you’d have to EV train and level up those Pokémon, such a tedious task.
If you’re not familiar with natures. Each Pokémon has one and they contribute towards stat distribution. Some Pokémon will want a nature that decreases their Attack while increasing their Sp. Attack for example. See a list of natures here.
IVs are pre-determined on each Pokémon, and will determine how strong their stat is. If one Pokémon has low Attack IVs and another has high Attack IVs, the latter will have a lot more Attack even if they’re levelled exactly the same way.
EVs no longer exist.
In Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee, the nature can be determined by paying the NPC in the Celadon City Pokémon Center $10,000. See the table here to find out how to get the desired nature for all Pokémon caught within 24 hours after paying.
After a catch combo of 30-32, any additional Pokémon caught will guarantee at least 4 good IVs. Then use candies to boost their stats!
If you’re struggling to fill that last spot in your team, take a look at this list. It’ll go through the 10 most competitive Pokémon in the entire game!
10. Alolan Dugtrio
Type: Ground/Steel
Can Mega evolve: No
Recommended Move-Set: Earthquake, Stealth Rock, Rock Slide & Sucker Punch
Recommended Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Sp. Attack)
Attack and Speed stats are heavily featured for Alolan Dugtrio, making it a potent physical attacker. You want it to be as fast as possible, which is where the Jolly nature comes in. Setting up Stealth Rock is important in any competitive battle, it can win games by itself against certain teams.
Just be aware, Alolan Dugtrio is exceptionally weak defensively for a Steel type, any kind of special attack will deal some heavy damage.
9. Gengar
Type: Ghost/Poison
Can Mega evolve: Yes – Retains Ghost/Poison type
Recommended Move-Set: Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Dazzling Gleam & Thunderbolt
Recommended Nature: Timid (+Speed, -Attack)
Gengar’s mega evolution and varied move-pool allow for a powerful and versatile party member. In addition to the moves listed above, there’s a few more moves (such as Psychic) that could replace one of them.
This Pokémon hits like a truck and can cover almost any match-up in the game. All you need is the right IVs, candies and mvoes!
The Timid nature is there to help avoid being one-shot by fast Psychic type Pokémon, being able to out-speed them is crucial to Gengar’s success.
8. Rhydon
Type: Ground/Rock
Can Mega evolve: No
Recommended Move-Set: Earthquake, Rock Slide, Megahorn & Poison Jab
Recommended Nature: Lax (+Defense, -Sp. Defense)
In terms of needing a defensive bulwark that can hit like a truck, Rhydon is the best in the game. No other physical Defense based Pokémon can compare to this one in terms of tankiness compared to damage potential.
As it can learn many different types of moves, building a physical move-set to cover your team’s weaknesses isn’t difficult at all.
I’ve always found Rhydon pretty awesome but I’ve been put off due to his ineffectiveness in the story-line. I’ll definitely be adding him to my squad to battle competitively though!
7. Gyarados
Type: Water/Flying
Can Mega evolve: Yes – Becomes Water/Dark type
Recommended Move-Set: Waterfall, Crunch, Outrage & Earthquake
Recommended Nature: Adamant (+Attack, -Sp. Attack)
My personal favourite Pokémon of all time, although I don’t understand how it can’t learn any Flying type moves. Regardless, Gyrados is an absolute brute, with a weird move-pool available. Able to learn Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Dragon Pulse & even Ice Beam allow for some major variations here and there. They’re all special attacks though, Gyarados should be built fully Attack based.
Able to Mega evolve into a Water/Dark type gives it S.T.A.B bonuses on Crunch and Waterfall, usually enough to at least deal a ton of damage!
6. Alakazam
Type: Psychic
Can Mega evolve: Yes – Retains Psychic type
Recommended Move-Set: Recover, Psychic, Dazzling Gleam & Calm Mind
Recommended Nature: Timid (+Speed, -Attack)
Boasting some honestly insane stats, Alakazam goes with its Mega Stone to become even stronger. With base stats of 175 Sp. Attack, 105 Sp. Defense and 150 Speed when Mega Evolved, few Pokémon can match this one.
If you can manage to get a Calm Mind or two going, your Alakazam will easily sweep entire teams by itself. Really is quite mind-boggling but of course, trying to catch one with the right nature and IVs is an absolute nightmare as Abra keeps running away!
5. Aerodactyl
Type: Rock/Flying
Can Mega evolve: Yes – Retains Rock/Flying types
Recommended Move-Set: Rock Slide, Earthquake, Roost & Iron Tail
Recommended Nature: Adamant (+Attack, -Sp. Attack)
You can only get an Aerodactyl by taking some Old Amber (repeatably found in Cerulean Cave) to the Cinnabar Lab. So getting one with the right stats feels awesome, not like I’d know. Aerodactyl has a Mega evolution, increasing its Attack and Speed to nearly match that of the level of Alakazam, only with more defensive stats.
Replacing Iron Tail might be recommended, as Crunch could go in there or even Take Down. Aerodactyl is truly an epic Pokémon, criminally under-valued over the years but now it’s a lot more accessible!
4. Mew
Type: Psychic
Can Mega evolve: No
Recommended Move-Set: Psychic, Roost & any 2 other moves
Recommended Nature: N/A
Mew comes with a random nature, you get no choice. In terms of stats, it has 100 in each so again, the versatility is there. Maybe wait until you get a Mew and decide on your moves after that? Mew can learn any TM in the entire game.
There is the “annoying” build though. Basically you go with Roost, Toxic, Taunt & Stealth Rock. Mew is very tanky, especially with Roost keeping its HP topped up. So put the Stealth Rocks down, keep Mew healthy with Roost and aim to get Toxic going on all your opponent’s Pokémon.
Personally I don’t enjoy this play-style thematically but competitively its great. I recommended a different move-set to provide a more offensive approach.
3. Alolan Muk
Type: Poison/Dark
Can Mega evolve: No
Recommended Move-Set: Crunch, Poison Jab & your choice of 2 of Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch or Rock Slide
Recommended Nature: Adamant (+Attack, -Sp. Attack)
It seems the Let’s Go competitive scene is in love with what I call “juggernauts”, strong offensive Pokémon that can also take take a hit themselves. Alolan Muk is a Dark type in addition to being Poison, bolstering the power of its Crunch and Poison Jab moves. A puny Speed stat means it’ll rarely hit first but that’s fine, it rarely gets one-shotted either.
Muk can learn a ton of special moves but there’s no point, its Sp. Attack stat is dreadful. Instead, cover up any type coverage you need as Muk has the move-pool to cover almost anything.
2. Zapdos
Type: Electric/Flying
Can Mega evolve: No
Recommended Move-Set: Thunderbolt, Roost, Toxic & U-Turn
Recommended Nature: Timid (+Speed, -Attack)
Probably the biggest surprise on the list, just hear me out. Zapdos has a unique way of being used. You want as much Speed as possible, and for Zapdos to act as an annoyance rather than a typical Legendary Pokémon who destroys others.
U-Turn, Toxic and Roost allow Zapdos to keep switching in and out, while also staying healthy and keeping your opponent’s Pokémon poisoned. Legendary Pokémon are naturally bulky so don’t worry about taking a hit or two. Just make sure you get rid of Zapdos’ counters before sending them out properly!
1. Melmetal
Type: Steel
Can Mega evolve: No
Recommended Move-Set: Double Iron Bash, Earthquake, Thunder Punch & Rock Slide
Recommended Nature: Brave (+Attack, -Speed)
If you’re scratching your head wondering why you’ve never seen this Pokémon before, that’s because it’s brand new to Pokémon Let’s Go editions.
Acquired by giving a Meltan 400 Meltan Candies, this mythical creature has the same base stat total as Mew, only with a heavy influence into HP, Attack and Defense. Melmetal’s Speed is basically 0 though.
Although it doesn’t have the worst Sp. Attack stat in the world, Melmetal should be built for full attack with the possibility of adding a special move. Overall, few competitive Pokémon are as strong as Melmetal right now!
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