Pokémon Legends Z-A: Which starter should you pick?

Like almost every main series Pokémon game, Pokémon Legends: Z-A has players becoming a brand-new trainer by picking from one of three starter Pokémon — Chikorita, Totodile, and Tepig. Your first Pokémon will likely be with you throughout your journey in Lumiose, so picking the right one is important. 

But which one should you pick? They’re all so cute, and they all become so powerful. If you’re on the fence, we’ve put together this handy Pokémon Legends: Z-A starter Pokémon guide to help you make the first and potentially biggest decision in the game. 

Best starter Pokémon in Legends ZA 

Overall, your best bet for a starter Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A is Chikorita. 

Chikorita is a bit of an underdog, generally being the least popular of the three Johto starters, and its final form, Meganium, historically hasn’t been great. Here in Legends: Z-A, though, Chikorita has been given a bit of a glow-up, and it’s a great choice that will last you through the entire game. 

There are a few key reasons for this. Chikorita’s Grass typing is very helpful in the early game, as there are plenty of Water-, Rock-, and Ground-type Pokémon in the early stages of the story, all of which are weak to Grass-type moves. Chikorita and its evolutions also learn powerful Fairy-type moves, have high defense stats, and a wide variety of supportive moves like Light Screen, Reflect, and Safeguard, which can come in handy in a pinch. 

The real clincher for Chikorita though is that it has a massive selection of health restoration moves — moves like Giga Drain, which deals damage and restores health, Synthesis which restores health without dealing damage, and Leech Seed, which slowly absorbs HP from enemies. These moves are good in most Pokémon games, but the action combat in Legends: Z-A makes them even better. 

You can only use items every so often in combat in this game, as when you do there’s a cooldown before you can use another one, so you really don’t want to waste your opportunities for healing on HP. Instead, using restorative moves like the ones Meganium has and saving your item usage for Revives and status healing moves is the way to go. 

If you’re not sold on Chikorita, then Tepig is probably the next-best option. Fire Pokémon are relatively rare compared to Grass- and Water-type, so having a guaranteed Fire-type as your starter isn’t a bad idea. Totodile is fine too, and will get you through the game with few issues, but Water-types are abundant and there are far better options not far into the game if you’re set on having a Water-type Pokémon.