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Pokemon Legends: Z-A kicks off with us very quickly getting an opportunity to permanently become best friends with one of Urbain’s three Pokemon as our starter, with Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile as the three possible options. Listen. All three are good. All three can be viable. However, if you’re looking for one to pick over the other two, I’m going to say Totodile every time.
It doesn’t come down to movesets or typing. All three of the Pokemon Legends: Z-A starter Pokemon can be really helpful or the best fit for certain situations, and this isn’t the sort of game where you really need to be concerned about countering certain types of opponents early on. Rather, I think Totodile is the one to pick in Pokemon Legends: Z-A because it takes a while before other really good “water” type characters show up.
Fire type? Within the first thirty minutes you’ll catch a Fletchling during the tutorial and Pansears are frequently found hiding in trees growing on Lumiose City’s streets. Grass type? Flabebes, Budews, and Bellsprouts are super common, and I saw more Pansages in trees than Pansears. When it comes to early water types, you’re pretty much limited to Magikarps or Binacles after reaching your second Wild Zone, and I found Panpours were a little less common than the other two when exploring.
It’s good for a practical reason too. One of the types of obstacles you’ll need to remove from city streets to access different areas are piles of purple toxins. Totodile learns Water Gun not long after the tutorial, making it an helpful ally when traversing the city. It also is handy getting the ice-type Ice Fang move from it so early, since one of the only other options for an early ice attack is to get the Ice Punch TM from Mable research.
Of course, all of this is also somewhat moot. Within a few hours of playing, Mable will summon you to her research to pick one of the three Kanto starters for free. So you can choose a Bulbasaur, Charizard, or Squirtle. And if you’re taking on side quests early on, you’ll get a free Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie too within the first five hours too.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is available for the Switch and Switch 2.
