If you’re a fan of Water-type Pokémon, you may have noticed that they don’t always have the highest IVs in the game. In fact, there are only two Water-type Pokémon in the S-Tier.
This doesn’t mean that other Water-type Pokémon are bad, but it can be challenging to find the most effective ones.
It is worth noting that Pokémon are much more than Individual Values. Moves and Abilities are just as important to determine the best Water-type Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet.
Don’t worry, though. We did the research for you. As long as you go with a Pokémon that is in the list below, you should do okay.
Gyarados
Gyarados is not an S-Tier Pokémon but makes it into the A-Tier with a decent 540 total base stats. It can have Anger Point, Moxie, or Intimidate as an Ability — and you really want Intimidate.
Being a Flying-type Pokémon only grants a few resistances and makes it especially vulnerable to Electric-type attacks. I don’t really see anything else that you get from it.
Gyarados takes four times as much damage from Electric-type attacks and takes twice as much damage from Rock-type attacks.
As for its Resistances, Gyarados takes only 50% damage from Steel-, Fire-, Water-, and Gut-type moves. It is also immune to Ground-type moves.
Although this might sound good, chances are nobody who understands Pokémon’s strengths and weaknesses will ever use a Ground-type Pokémon against a Water-type one.
Nevertheless, you may always Terastallize your Gyarados defensively to prevent an enemy from one-shotting you at a critical moment.
Hydro Pump, Dragon Dance, and Waterfall are all excellent moves for Gyarados to utilize. He is a force to be reckoned with, thanks to his strikes and the Intimidate Ability.
Gyarados is a Pokémon that is remarkable and successful in competitive fights. Mainly due to its possible arsenal of several strong techniques that are not of its type, an Ability that lowers enemy defenses, and a high Special Attack IV. Players shouldn’t anticipate this Pokémon to only use Water-type moves.
For that reason, make sure to add Earth Quake to your Gyarados’ repertoire if you intend to have a way to deal with Electric-type enemies. This way, you can try one-shotting them as well, making your Gyarados an even scarier foe.
Gyarados has a pretty good Special Attack stat, 125, making Hurricane, Hydro Pump, Hyper Beam, and Blizzard especially powerful when used by it. You can also make it learn Electric-type moves from TMs if you want to surprise your opponent.
Quaquaval
Quaquaval is the final form of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s initial Water-type Pokémon. Quaquaval has a chance of having Torrent, Moxie, or Swift Swim as an Ability and can have a maximum Total Base Stats of 530.
Since its highest IV stat is 120 Attack, the Naughty Nature might be the best one for Quaquaval. It increases the Pokémon’s Attack by 10% while lowering its Special Defense by 10%.
Quaquaval evolves from Quaxwell at level 36, which evolves from, Quaxly at level 16. Although it is a pure Water-type Pokémon at first, Quaquaval gains the Fighting type and, with it, many more resistances.
It takes twice as much damage from Grass-, Electric-, Flying-, Psychic-, and Fairy-type attacks. However, it takes only 50% damage from Steel-, Fire-, Water-, Ice-, Rock-, Grass-, and Dark-type moves.
Quaquaval has access to one of the best Water-type moves in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Hydro Cannon. This move has 90 Accuracy, 5 PP, and 150 Power. The target is hit with a highly damaging watery blast.
Unfortunately, there are two slight problems. The user can’t move on the next turn, and it is a Special Attack move.
To make the best possible use of Quaquaval’s physical Attack IV, you might want to go with Close Combat. It has 120 Power, 5 PP, and 100 Accuracy.
The user fights the target up close, inflicting damage without guarding itself. This also lowers the user’s Defense and Special Defense stats.
Palafin Hero
Palafin Hero is an S-Tier Pokémon with one of the Highest Attack IVs you can find in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet.
You can find this Pokémon with Zero to Hero or Oblivious as an Ability. Its total base stat can be as high as 650.
Since its Attack can be as high as an absurd 160, the Naughty Nature will be great for this Pokémon. It will increase its Attack by 10% in exchange for lowering its Special Defense by 10%.
Palafin also has decent Speed and HP, so there is a good chance it will attack first or survive long enough to one-shot its adversary.
Considering its monstrously high Attack IV, the one-shot potential of this Pokémon cannot be ignored.
Palafin Hero is a Water-type Pokémon, which means it is only weak to Grass- and Electric-type moves. On the other hand, it takes only half damage from Steel-, Fire-, Water-, and Ice-type attacks.
Getting a Palafin hero might be a bit hard since its first form, Finizen, only evolves to Palafin when it reaches level 38 or higher when you are using it in co-op mode.
Once you have Palafin, there is a weird process for you to use Palafin hero. You have to Switch Palafin during a Pokémon battle. So basically, call it back and send it in again to fight.
You can find more details on how to catch these Pokémon in our guide on how to catch every Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet.
The best Water-type move you will use with this Pokémon is Hydro-Pump. Luckily, it can also use Blizzard, an Ice-Type attack.
Unfortunately, they are both Special attacks. Suppose you want to make use of Palafin Hero’s ridiculously high Attack IV. In that case, you have to go with Giga Impact or Focus Punch.
Iron Bundle Delibird
This version of Delibird, Iron Bundle Delibird, is an S-Tier Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. It’s kinda weird to see this Pokémon as one of the best of its type since it looks very harmless from a distance.
Unlike its original and much weaker version, Iron Bundle Delibird is a Violet Exclusive Ice- and Water-type Pokémon with a total maximum of 570 combined IV scores. Its highest possible IV value is 136 Speed.
Iron Bundle Delibird can have Quark Drive or Guard Dog as an Ability. I particularly like Guard Dog since it boosts the Pokémon’s Attack stat if intimidated. Moves and items that would force the Pokémon to switch out also fail to work.
Iron Bundle Delibird is a good choice to face Pokémon like Gyarados and Salamance. Not only do they both have the Intimidate Ability, but they are also, respectively, some of the best Flying-type and Best Dragon-type Pokémon in the game.
Unfortunately, this Ice and Water combination only gives Iron Bundle Delibird a few resistances. It takes 50% damage from Water-type moves and 25% damage from Ice-type moves, but it is weak to Fighting-, Rock-, Grass-, and Electric-type moves.
As for the best moves it can use, you can count on its high Special Attack to deal good damage with Ice Beam, Hydro Pump, Blizzard, and Hyper Beam.
What to Do Next
Once you’ve added some aquatic friends to your team, make sure to look at the best ways to level up Pokemon quickly so you can get them into battles as quickly as possible. Leveling can feel like a grind sometimes, but with the right method, you’ll be battling in no time.
Check out the best Electric and Grass types in the game, too. These types are particularly strong against Water type Pokemon so it’s important to know how to counter them.
