Even if you don’t pick the Grass starter, you can still aim to have some kind of Grass-type Pokémon on your team – and why not go for a strong pick? Here’s my ranking of the best Grass-types across Hoenn.
5. Shiftry
Suggested Moves:
Feint Attack Leaf Blade Extrasensory Leaf Storm
Shiftry is a strong Grass/Dark-type with a pre-evolution that’s available very early on. Its middle form (Nuzleaf) will learn Shiftry’s best two STAB moves before it evolves. These are Feint Attack (a Dark-type move) which is learned at level 24, and Leaf Blade (a Grass-type move) is learned at level 28. You should also teach Nuzleaf Extrasensory at level 36, to cover it’s weakness to Fighting-type attacks. In fact, don’t evolve Nuzleaf into Shiftry until it learns Extrasensory – because Shiftry evolves by using a Leaf Stone, so it learns very few moves. The one move Shiftry can learn post-evolution is Leaf Storm, a powerful Grass-type move which it learns at level 44. Note that this does lower Shiftry’s Special Attack after using it, but it can dish out some great damage. Make sure to avoid using this if you plan to follow it up with an Extrasensory. How to catch: Catch a Seedot on Route 102, then evolve it into Nuzleaf by raising it to level 14. Once Nuzleaf has learned Extrasensory, find a Leaf Stone by surfing across the south of the river on Route 119. Use the Leaf Stone on Nuzleaf to evolve it into Shiftry. Note that Shiftry is exclusive to Emerald, Ruby, and Omega Ruby.
4. Ludicolo
Suggested Moves:
Energy Ball Surf Waterfall Zen Headbutt
Ludicolo has a lot of utility, along with some strong grass-type moves. Like Shiftry, Ludicolo also uses an Evolution Stone to evolve. So make sure you don’t evolve Lombre until it has learned all the level-up moves you want it to know. The Ludicolo family doesn’t learn any good Grass-type moves naturally. So you’ll want to take the Acro Bike into the Safari Zone to pick up Energy Ball (TM53). Ludicolo can deal huge Water-type STAB damage and take you through the overworld with Surf and Waterfall, two HM moves that you’ll get naturally during the main story. So those are both worth using. And for its final move, teach Lombre Zen Headbutt at level 31 to cover for its Poison-type weakness. How to catch: Catch a Lotad on Route 102, then raise it to level 14 to evolve it into Lombre. Pick up a blue shard on Route 124 and trade it to the Route 124 Treasure Hunter to get a Water Stone in return. Once Lombre has learned Zen Headbutt, use the Water Stone on it to evolve it into Ludicolo. Note that Ludicolo is exclusive to Emerald, Sapphire, and Alpha Sapphire.
3. Breloom
Suggested Moves:
Spore Seed Bomb Sky Uppercut Toxic
Breloom is a Grass/Fighting-type that can learn an extremely rare move if you raise it right. Normally, Shroomish evolves into Breloom at level 23. But if you stop it from evolving until level 40, it’ll learn Spore. This is the only 100% accurate sleep-inducing move in the entire series. But if you decide not to raise Shroomish this way, Breloom is still a good addition to the team – although you’d missing out on its best move. For its main offensive moves, Breloom should use Seed Bomb and Sky Uppercut. Seed Bomb can be learned at level 36 by Shroomish & level 41 by Breloom. Sky Uppercut is only learned by Breloom, at level 39. If you’re raising Shroomish to level 40 to get Spore, just take Breloom to the Move Reminder in Fallarbor Town to teach it Sky Uppercut at any level. And finally, teach Breloom Toxic, the best Poison-inflicting status move in the game. If you took the Spore approach to raising Shroomish, it’ll already know Toxic by the time you evolve it. How to catch: Catch a Shroomish in Petalburg Woods – it will evolve into Breloom from level 23 (don’t let it evolve until level 40, though).
2. Roserade
Suggested Moves:
Toxic Sludge Bomb Giga Drain Petal Dance
Roserade is a huge Gen 4 upgrade to Roselia that got buffed even further in Generation 6. If you’re playing RSE, Roserade won’t be available. So in that case I recommend skipping this entry altogether, since Roselia isn’t nearly as good. Roserade is a Grass/Poison-type, so we’ll be teaching it Toxic to inflict Poison, as well as Sludge Bomb for some Poison-type STAB. Toxic is learned by Roselia (and Roselia only) at level 40. Sludge Bomb can be found as TM36 in the Dewford Town Hall after beating the Petalburg Gym. Then for Grass-type STAB, Giga Drain is your best choice here. Roselia learns this at level 25. You can also keep Roselia from evolving until level 50 to teach it Petal Dance, but I don’t recommend waiting that long to evolve it. How to catch: Catch a Roselia on Route 117. Once it learns Toxic, grab a Shiny Stone from Route 121. Use the Stone on Roselia to evolve it into Roserade.
1. Mega Sceptile
Suggested Moves:
Leaf Blade Energy Ball Dual Chop Agility
Sceptile is an awesome Grass starter that doesn’t even need its new mega form to top the list. As for a moveset, there’s a couple great Grass-type moves to consider: Leaf Blade and Energy Ball are the best choices here, dealing Physical and Special damage respectively. Leaf Blade is learned by Grovyle at level 23, while Energy Ball can be found in the Safari Zone as TM53. If you’re playing ORAS, make the most of Mega Sceptile’s new Dragon-typing by teaching it Dual Chop at level 36. You can fill Sceptile’s final move slot with a few different moves, depending on whether you want to buff it or give it more offensive moves. Personally, I like to teach it Agility to sharply boost its Speed. Grovyle learns Agility at level 35. How to catch: Choose Treecko as your starter on Route 101, then raise it to level 16 to evolve it into Grovyle. Grovyle will then evolve into Sceptile, starting at level 36. Sceptile’s Mega Stone will be given to you during the main story.
