The 10 Best Water-Type Pokémon, According To Ranker

The Pokémon franchise has crossed the 900 total species mark with its latest release, Legends: Arceus. Of those 900-plus Pokémon that comprise the National Pokédex, Water-type species are the most common group across all 18 types with 145. A pool of species that deep has unsurprisingly provided many popular fan favorites across each generation of games.

Now with the current tally of creatures, the Ranker voting community has listed their ten favorites. The list is fairly diverse, with beloved starter Pokémon, regular wild ones, franchise mascots, and iconic Legendaries resonating with fans the most.

Milotic

The Game Boy Advance era’s Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald introduced memorable creatures that stuck with fans even in the five generations since. The monotype Milotic is not only a fan favorite but also one of the strongest Pokémon from the Hoenn region overall.

It’s a sturdy creature in defense and has a hefty Special Attack stat as well, making Water a perfect typing for it. The serpentine-inspired Pokémon has a creative design that has an air of elegance, but it’s a shame the way to evolve Feebas at the time to get Milotic was incredibly tedious.

Swampert

Hoenn was also arguably one of the regions in Pokémon with the most consistently beloved starters across all three options. Gameplay-wise, they all offered something worthwhile in battle throughout the story and even in some competitive settings. Specifically, Swampert is a dual Water/Ground-type that is impressively bulky.

That typing eliminates the detrimental Electric-type weakness that would otherwise wreak havoc on Water-types, and it’s a rare example of a Physical Water-type in offenses. Its design take on a beefy axolotl is a wonderfully inventive one and reflects Swampert’s physical build, especially with its Mega Evolution.

Squirtle

Nostalgia certainly plays a part to a certain degree, but Kanto — the region that started it all — understandably goes down as a bonafide classic for longtime fans. Along with it came some of the Pokémon franchise’s best starters, to the point where first forms like Squirtle are iconic in their own right.

Squirtle has a charmingly vintage design with its turtle inspiration, and the anime has also been a big help for its reputation. Just as well, as it’s one of the better starters to pick in Kanto in order to help get through the early games.

Vaporeon

One of the biggest franchise mascots outside of Pikachu is the fellow Kantonian Eevee. What makes it special for so many fans is the engaging concept of having a Pokémon that can evolve into many others depending on typing.

Even with the competition, the Water-type Vaporeon ranks as one of the best “Eeveelution” Pokémon among its eight counterparts. On top of its standout and graceful mermaid-like design, it’s among the most competitively viable evolutions as well thanks to its defensive and stalling capabilities with moves like Acid Armor and Toxic.

Suicune

Gold, Silver, and Crytal still stand as one of the best mainline Pokémon games ever made, and also remain excellent examples in making a successful sequel(s). Some of the most beloved Legendary creatures came from the Johto region and Suicune, of the Legendary Beasts trio, is one of the most iconic representatives of the region.

Its serene leopard-like design paired with the northern aurora motif easily made it a favorite among veterans. Given its “Legendary” classification, it’s no shock that Suicune is a powerhouse in combat due to its Special Defense and solid Special Attack stats.

Blastoise

With the acclaimed status of the original generation and the anime’s perception, Squirtle’s final form Blastoise continues to prove to be an enduring Water-type favorite among the Pokémon fan base. It’s a great, natural progression from both Squirtle and Wartortle from an artistic perspective and a strong partner for a Kanto region playthrough.

Both offensive stats manage to be on par with each other and solid overall, allowing for some creative movesets. Blastoise’s robust character design also reflects its strong Physical and Special Defense stats, and even more so with its Mega Evolution.

Gyarados

Gyarados is one of the franchise’s best examples of the phrase “from zero to hero.” Magikarp was — mechanically — useless in-game during most battle situations. For the most part, players can only get one that knows the attack Splash, which does nothing in combat. But after grinding to Level 20, it turns into the menacing Gyarados.

It’s one of the most creative designs, combining a sea serpent with the Chinese dragon of folklore. While its dual Water/Flying typing is a detriment, its capable Special Defense and immense Physical Attack can make it lethal with the right build. And with its Mega Evolution, Gyarados gets an exciting alternate redesign as well as a dual Water/Dark typing.

Kyogre

Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald (as well as the remakes) had an excellent main trio of Legendary Pokémon tied to the story and Hoenn’s lore. These were some of the first games many fans have experienced, and Kyogre left many young players at the time awestruck.

This super-ancient whale creature also seems to take an added influence from the biblical serpent Leviathan in its design, creating a suitably larger-than-life beast in scope. In terms of battle, Kyogre was one of the most popular Legendary picks during the Nintendo 3DS era of games, namely thanks to its Primal Reversion form from Alpha Sapphire.

Lapras

The dual Water/Ice-type Lapras has also been a famous Water-type representative from Kanto since the original Game Boy games and the classic days of the anime. The peaceful and endearing plesiosaur-inspired design gives it both a layer of mystique as well as friendliness, especially thanks to its portrayal with Ash and Red in the shows.

Lapras was also a special find in the Kanto games, as there was only one given as a gift. Johto’s games made it a wild encounter but were only in one location that depended on the day of the week. For combat, Lapras is famous for its Special Attack and versatile movepool consisting of moves like Psychic and Thunder — in addition to Water and Ice attacks.

Greninja

Though the Kalos region started to mark the growing staleness of the Pokémon games for many (until Legends: Arceus), Greninja managed to become so popular that it won a 2020 popularity poll against every other species at the time. An impressive feat and the artistic approach to it is enough to understand why.

The sleek ninja design and the creativity used in making its tongue like a cloak proved to be Game Freak at some of its best in terms of art direction. Greninja is a dual Water/Dark-type, being able to capitalize on a deep movepool and a daunting Hidden Ability in Protean. It’s no wonder its popularity made it transcend its own franchise and into Super Smash Bros.

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