The newest edition of the Pokémon franchise, Sword and Shield, has players around the world excited for their chance to train, battle, and capture the beloved pocket monsters. With three new starters – Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble – to choose from at the beginning of your adventure it can be hard to decide which one is right for you. Here we explore each of these starter Pokémon, their evolutions and determine which is the best starter for your Pokémon journey.
Grookey
Grookey is a Grass-type Chimp Pokémon that evolves into Rillaboom. Not only does its Grass typing provide some good strengths against Flying-, Bug-, and Water-type Pokémon, but its initial move in battle is ‘Branch Poke’, which allows Grookey to throw stick-like arms at opponents. This move increases its attack power with each hit — up to three times — making Grookey’s early battles both easy and effective.
Rillaboom’s evolution gives it additional strength with Grass Charge: a powerful attack that heases both its physical attack power as well as its special defense. This makes Grookey an excellent choice if you’re looking for somewhat balanced starter with solid offensive capabilities.
Scorbunny
Scorbunny is a Fire-type Rabbit Pokémon that evolves into Raboot then Cinderace. In Sword & Shield they have unique abilities that allow them to speed up after using moves like Quick Attack or Double Kick — skills invaluable during battles where quick reflexes are required. Scorbunny also learns Ember early on in their journey which will provide good damage against Ice-, Steel-, Bug-, and Grass-types.
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