5 weakest starter Pokemon, ranked

Starter Pokemon are some of the most famous faces in the franchise. Due to their typially cute designs, many fans have fond feelings towards this set of Pocket Monsters. However, there are some that are much weaker compared to the others in the series. While every starter is bound to be someone's favorite, some can make the early game much more difficult.

This article lists five of the weakest starter Pokemon. Base stats, movepools, and attack preferences have been taken into consideration for this ranking.

Note: This ranking is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer

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Top 5 weakest starters in the Pokemon franchise

5) Treecko

Treecko may not be the weakest, but its poor movepool in the Hoenn region makes it the worst of the three choices (Image via The Pokemon Company)

While it may hurt to see such a universally loved Pokemon starter on this list, Treecko is simply not a very good pick compared to Torchic or Mudkip. While it was recently made better, thanks to the introduction of Leafage, this move is not present in any game where the Pocket Monster can be selected as a starter (as of writing).

While Torchic and Mudkip get 40 base power elemental moves in Ember and Water Gun, Treecko only receives the base 20 power Absorb. While it is still a decent choice, thanks to the first gym in the Hoenn region hosting the Rock element, the creature has very little value outside of this.

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4) Oshawott

Oshawott's questionable movepool and low base stat total earns it the spot on this list (Image via The Pokemon Company)

While it was a much more viable option in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Oshawott's starter representation in the main series is a bit lackluster, to say the least. With a lack of many special attacks in its movepool, the Pocket Monster depends on Water Gun for its damage until evolution.

This would not be such a bad spot for Oshawott if its only other Water-type move before evolving wasn't Water Sport, which weakens the damage of Fire-type attacks, an element it already resists.

Oshawott and its fellow Unova starters also have close to the lowest base stat total of all other starters in the franchise.

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3) Snivy

Snivy has terrible attacking stats overall, being the weakest of the Unova starters (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Many fans agree that Snivy is underwhelming compared to the other starters in both the Unova region and overall. In terms of its movepool, it has a lot of advantages, with access to Growth, Leer, and the 45 base power move, Vine Whip. However, it lacks the offensive stats to deal much damage without the need for set-up.

If players have Snivy, they will not be able to get another Grass-type option until after defeating the first gym leader. With no meaningful utility before it evolves, like Leech Seed or status powders, Snivy cannot get much use from its defensive stats.

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2) Fennekin

Fennekin's movepool actively goes against its stats, resulting in an overall weaker early-game companion (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Fennekin has amazing potential and can evolve into one of the few Fire and Psychic-type Pokemon.

However, in its base form, Fennekin is one of the weaker starters due to its movepool pushing for it to use physical attacks despite its higher special attack stat.

Before evolving, Fennekin gains access to Flame Charge, Tail Whip, and Howl, while its only special attack is Ember. With the first three mentioned being tied to physical attacks or boosting their effects, the creature can struggle during Kalos' early game. Thankfully, it has the advantage against the first gym since it specializes in Bug types.

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1) Chikorita

Chikorita is notorious for being the worst starter in the franchise (Image via The Pokemon Company)

While Chiokorita is very cute and touched the hearts of many with its appearance on Ash's team in the anime, these are the only good things it has going for it. While it has been getting slightly better in recent generations, this evolutionary line, at its core, is meant to be used in a supportive role.

With access to moves like Aromatherapy, Reflect, and Light Screen as it levels up, Chikorita has very little use on playthrough teams where damage and type coverage is key.

With better Johto Grass-type critters like Bellossom and Sunflora being capable of dealing much more damage, there is never a reason to choose Chikorita aside from personal choice.