Choosing your starter Pokémon is one of the biggest decisions your child will make while playing Pokémon Sword and Shield. They get to choose one of three Pokémon that each have two evolutions: Scorbunny, Grooky, and Sobble.
At the end of the day, any of the three starter Pokémon will be viable choices to help finish the game. If you fully evolve your starter then they will most likely be the most powerful Pokémon of the appropriate type in your party.
However, their different types do lend some advantages in the way you handle the first few gyms. In order, the first three gyms are Grass, Water, and then Fire.
Scorbunny
If they choose Scorbunny, then it means that they elected a fire type Pokémon.
This means it will be super effective against the Grass type gym that comes first. But, it will be weak against the the next gym which is water type, so there will be a sharp spike in difficulty. It’s a good idea to make sure you catch a Yamper (a yellow and brown Pokémon that looks like a corgi) because he is electric type or any of the grass type Pokémon on the routes leading up the the Second gym. Electric type and grass type Pokémon are both super effective against water type Pokémon. The third gym you encounter is a fire type gym. Obviously, Scorbunny, being fire type, is not very effective against its own type. Fortunately, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to catch water type Pokémon on the way up to and leading away from the second gym. Water type Pokémon are super effective against fire so you’ll want to make sure to catch and use one.
Sobble
If they choose Sobble, then it means that they selected a water type Pokémon.
This means that the first gym will be particularly difficult because the grass type Pokémon there will be super effective against your starter. This makes it very important that you collect a flying type or bug type Pokémon in the very early game. One good flying type Pokémon the capture is Rookidy. This is a flying type Pokémon that will remain strong throughout your time with the game. Sobble is also not very effective against its own type, so you will have another difficult time against the second gym. Just like if you chose Scorbunny, It’s a good idea to make sure you catch a Yamper (a yellow and brown Pokémon that looks like a corgi) because he is electric type or any of the grass type Pokémon on the routes leading up the the Second gym. Electric type and grass type Pokémon are both super effective against water type Pokémon. Sobble, gets its chance to shine in the third gym where it is super effective against the fire type Pokémon there.
Grooky
If they choose Grooky, then it means they selected a grass type Pokémon.
This means it will not be very effective against the grass type Pokémon in the first gym you come across. This makes it very important that you collect a flying type or bug type Pokémon in the very early game as they are both super effective against grass types. One good flying type Pokémon the capture is Rookidy. This is a flying type Pokémon that will remain strong throughout your time with the game. Grooky is super effective against the water type Pokémon in the second gym. The third gym will be particularly difficult because the fire type Pokémon there are super effective against your starter. Fortunately, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to catch water type Pokémon on the way up to and leading away from the second gym. Water type Pokémon are super effective against fire so you’ll want to make sure to catch and use one.
This choice is ultimately a matter of taste. There are players who will swear by one type or another and others that will choose a different type every game based on which Pokémon is the cutest.
What do you think? What Pokemon are you choosing?
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Linda Wrobel