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The best starter in Pokemon Legends: Z-A is Tepig, with Totodile also being a good option. See the explanations for why you should use each starter, as well as the base stats and type matchups for their final evolutions here.
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|---|---|
| Best Starter | Best Team |
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List of Contents

By far the best starter to pick in Pokemon Legends Z-A is Tepig. Besides having a strong offensive typing, it was originally released later than the other two starters, meaning that its final evolution has an overall stronger stat line than the Gen 2 options.
Once Evolved to Emboar, it can learn hard-hitting moves like Flare Blitz and Close Combat, which can be further buffed by Power Up Punch or Bulk Up. The only real downside to Emboar are its long cooldowns due to its low Speed stat.
Tepig Location, Evolution, and Stats

Totodile is the middle option in that it has a good defensive typing with a balanced stat line. However, when compared to the Gen 5 starter in Tepig, its stat line once fully evolved is relatively outdated, especially in the offense department, and it leaves much to be desired.
Once evolved to Feraligatr, it can make use of moves like Aqua Jet and Liquidation to clear opposing Pokemon quickly. While it is slightly weaker in terms of base stats, Feraligatr's Mega Evolution allows it to effectively use Dragon Type moves, as well as giving it the best Dual-Typing among the three starters, with its only weaknesses being Dragon and Fairy types.
Totodile Location, Evolution, and Stats

Despite Chikorita being considered one of, if not the worst, starter across all Pokemon games, Legends: Z-A improves upon Chikorita, and allows it to become stronger than it was in previous games.
Out of the three starter evolution lines, Chikorita's evolution line has the better defenses and higher Special Attack stat, making it a viable bulky Special Attacker.
Chikorita Location, Evolution, and Stats
| Pokemon | HP | Atk | Def | Sp Atk | Sp Def | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mega Meganium
|
80 | 92 | 115 | 143 | 115 | 80 |
Mega Feraligatr
|
85 | 160 | 125 | 89 | 93 | 78 |
Mega Emboar
|
110 | 148 | 75 | 110 | 110 | 75 |
Mega Evolutions make the stat lines of the three starters a lot more balanced, in the sense that they're all slow and bulky attackers. If you're basing your choice of the stat lines of their Megas, then you can choose Meganium for a special attacker with balanced bulk, Feraligatr for a physical attacker that's physically bulky, and Emboar for a physical attacker that's specially bulky.
| Pokemon | HP | Atk | Def | Sp Atk | Sp Def | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Meganium
|
80 | 82 | 100 | 83 | 100 | 80 |
Feraligatr
|
85 | 105 | 100 | 79 | 83 | 78 |
Emboar
|
110 | 123 | 65 | 100 | 65 | 65 |
The final evolutions of the starters show that Emboar is the strongest one offensively, at the cost of lower defenses and speed. As for the other two, Feraligatr offers a good balance of offense and defense, while Meganium is geared towards being more defensive.
Chikorita
|
→ Lv. 16 |
Bayleef
|
→ Lv. 32 |
Meganium
|
Totodile
|
→ Lv. 18 |
Croconaw
|
→ Lv. 30 |
Feraligatr
|
Tepig
|
→ Lv. 17 |
Pignite
|
→ Lv. 36 |
Emboar
|
Unlike in Pokemon Legends Arceus, the starters in Z-A have the same evolution line as those in traditional Pokemon games. They all evolve into their second evolution around the same time, but Tepig's final evolution notably evolves a bit later than their Gen 2 counterparts.
Mono-type trainers are characters whose Pokemon all share one type. This doesn't mean that they exclusively use just the one type, and some of their Pokemon may have a dual type that can counter your chosen starter.
If you were to make your choice based on this list, Emboar is the standout option since it isn't weak to any of the types listed, and it's the only Pokemon with super-effective typing.
Note: This table is based on the types of your chosen starter and the Mega you're fighting, and it doesn't take into account either Pokemon's chosen moveset.
These are some of the other key Mega Pokemon matchups that aren't from the mono-type trainers. These are Megas that are encountered either from Rogue Mega Battles or as the ace of a character's team.
If you were to make a choice based off this list, Emboar is the standout option since it covers a ton of Megas both offensively and defensively. However, Feraligatr is also a solid choice since it is only weak to 3 Megas from this list.
| Pokemon | Description |
|---|---|
Emboar
|
Where to find: ・Evolve chosen Starter Pokemon. Summary: Main source of both powerful Fire and Fighting-type moves. |
Victreebel
|
Where to find: ・Evolve from Bellsprout, which can be found Wild Zone 5 and Wild Zone 10. ・An Alpha Bellsprout can be found in Wild Zone 5. Summary: Since Emboar is weak to Water, Victreebel can be the one to counter that type matchup. |
Gyarados
|
Where to find: ・Evolve from Magikarp, which can be found at Wild Zone 2 and Wild Zone 6. ・An Alpha Magikarp can be found at Wild Zone 2 and 6. Summary: Gyarados is your main counter against Ground, Rock, and Fire types. |
Froslass
|
Where to find: ・Evolve from Snorunt, which can be found at Wild Zone 12. Summary: Very helpful against Flying, Ground, Grass, and Dragon type opponents. Can also act as a decoy when healing other Pokemon due to it being a Ghost-type that can negate Normal and Fighting-type moves |
Gardevoir
|
Where to find: ・Evolve from Ralts, which is found at Vert Sector 4 during the Night. An Alpha Ralts can also be found in the same area. Summary: Main damage dealer of Psychic and Fairy-type moves. A good counter against Fighting and Dragon types. |
Excadrill
|
Where to find: ・Evolve from Drilbur, which is found in Wild Zone 8 and 14. ・Excadrill is also found in Wild Zone 14. Summary: Main counter against Fairy-types. Is quite tanky, due to its excellent dual type combination of Steel and Ground. |
Emboar has a nice, well-balanced kit that can honestly solo-carry the whole team, both offensively and defensively. So, you need to provide other types of Pokemon that can protect Emboar from super-effective attacks.
Its main weakness is Water, Flying, Psychic, and Ground, so good options are Victreebel, Gyarados, and Froslass. Gardevoir and Excadrill are the two outliers that can handle the other type matchups.
| Pokemon | Description |
|---|---|
Feraligatr
|
Where to find: ・Evolve chosen Starter Pokemon. Summary: Main source of both powerful Water-type moves. Can also learn a wide variety of other type moves, such as Ice, Fire, Electric, Dark, and Dragon, that can be counters against its weakness. |
Aromatisse
|
Where to find: ・Found on the Food Cart near Coiffure Clips, west of the Bleu Pokemon Center. ・Found On the Market Stall in Rouge Sector 6, northeast of Wild Zone 3. Summary: The best counter against Dragon-type. Not only is Fairy-type super effective against it, but is also immune to Dragon-type attacks. |
Abomasnow
|
Where to find: ・Evolve from Snover, which is found at Wild Zone 12. An Alpha Abomasnow can also be found at the same location. Summary: A tanky Grass-type due to its unique dual-type combination with Ice-type. Provides a powerful selection of Grass and Ice-type moves. |
Garchomp
|
Where to find: ・Evolve from Gible, which is found at Wild Zone 8. Summary: A pseudo-legendary Dragon and Ground-type Pokemon that can solo carry your whole party's offense due to its insanse stats and moveset. |
Heracross
|
Where to find: ・Can be obtained early by trading a Pikachu for it during the Side Mission, A Use for an Evolution Stone!. ・Found at Wild Zone 13. Summary: A strong and fast Bug and Fighting-type Pokemon that can immensely help you in the early game and will continue to be a major asset until the late game. |
Pyroar
|
Where to find: ・Evolve from Litleo, which is found at Wild Zone 3. An Alpha Litleo can also be found at the same location. ・A full evolved Pyroar can be found at Wild Zone 17. Summary: Can be caught early in the game and is a very powerful companion considering its wide variety of Normal and Fire-type moves. |
With Feraligatr being a solo Water-type Pokemon, you only need to counter its two weaknesses, which are Grass and Electric. This gives you more options to choose the other Pokemon that will join your party, preferably dual types.
Pyroar and Garchomp are effective counters to Feraligatr's weaknesses. Then, you can add other easy Pokemon to obtain, evolve, and have Mega Evolution capabilities, like Heracross, Abomasnow, or Aromatisse.
| Pokemon | Description |
|---|---|
Meganium
|
Where to find: ・Evolve chosen Starter Pokemon. Summary: Your main damage dealer of Grass, Poison, and Fairy type moves. Its Mega Evolution also makes it a Fairy-type, making Mega Meganium a unique dual-type Pokemon. |
Sharpedo
|
Where to find: ・Evolve from Carvanha, which is found at Wild Zone 10. An Alpha Sharpedo can be caught at the same location as well. Summary: A fast, agile, but reckless, Water and Dark-type Pokemon. It often learns moves that have recoil damage, but it does take a big chunk off of the opponents. |
Talonflame
|
Where to find: ・Evolve from Fletchling, which is found at Wild Zone 1. ・Evolve from an Alpha Fletchinder that can be found at Wild Zone 9. Summary: One of the fastest Pokemon in the game due to its insanely high base Speed. Talonflame is so fast, it can perform two to three attacks before the opponent can even use one. This Pokemon also compensates for Meganium's mid-level Speed. |
Sableye
|
Where to find: ・Found at Wild Zone 9. Summary: Naturally, Sableye is one of the few Pokemon that has no weakness, except for only one, which are Fairy-type attacks. This makes it very versatile against all other types. |
Glalie
|
Where to find: ・Evolve from Snorunt, which can be found at Wild Zone 12. Summary: A solid Ice-type Pokemon that can also be Mega Evolved. Main counter against Dragon types. |
Lucario
|
Where to find: ・Evolve from Riolu, which is found at the roof in Rouge Sector 4. ・An Alpha Riolu can be found at the roof in Bleu Sector 5. Summary: A very versatile Pokemon that is very resistant against multiple types, such as Dark, Normal, Ice, Bug, Dragon, Grass, Rock, and Steel. |
Meganium's true potential shows once it can Mega Evolve and learn certain attacks at high levels. With that in mind, you need to support Meganium with strong Pokemon that you can catch from the get-go.
Pokemon in the early game, such as Talonflame, Lucario, Sableye, and Sharpedo are very strong and almost all of them have Mega Evolution. They are also effective counters against Meganium's weaknesses.

Best Starter Pokemon: Which Starter To Choose



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I can't speak for others experiences, but I can say that giga drain ran this game for me. I can count the number of times my Meganium went down on 3 fingers. It was literally to bs end game stuff too and I was being greedy. I am confident in saying that it generally doesn't matter since all starters even the worst ones like Chikorita are better than half the games mons in most situations.