Pokemon GO is by no means a small game. With the current lineup of Pokemon from the mainline videogame titles crossing the four-digit mark, the sheer amount of work for every single Pokemon, its animations, movesets and everything is an enormous task to put to use, and although not all but the game has many of the Pokemon available in the mainline games. Those that still haven’t made it can come soon enough. With so many different kinds, power matters, especially for players who focus on the competitive aspect of the popular mobile title. This is how the Ultimate Pokemon GO Power Guide is relevant and useful for all players who want a thorough list of all the info they’ll need to know about to get to answer of which is the strongest Pokemon, one that is the best against which other Pokemon, and which one would be best suited to use in the game against other opponents as well as the best choice for the most universally strong Pokemon.
The Type Matchup:
Those who know about Pokemon know that Pokemon come in a variety of types which are strong against one type and not good against another. Hence the Types come into play to see which Pokemon comes out with the best usage and a type that helps it stick it out against all others. Of course, there isn’t one single Type or a combination of types that makes it the best one to use, but there is a play of strength that helps it tank damage from moves that it’s weak to and in return dish out enough to win through, and by checking the whole list of available Pokemon in the game, one can get the numbers in and see the way to victory.
To decide what comes the strongest on the basis of this, we take into account the Pokemon Type and the Move Type it has and the Move Type it’s weak too. We check if the Moves it knows are strong enough to take out most opponents including ones that it would be weak to and that the moves it gets hit with back don’t knock it out.
There are a total of 18 Types of Pokemon as of this day. The Fairy Type is the newest one that wasn’t available in the beginning, but Pokemon GO came out in 2016 and that gave way to having it added from the start:
- Grass.
- Water.
- Fire.
- Electric.
- Normal.
- Flying.
- Fighting.
- Ground.
- Rock.
- Bug.
- Poison.
- Ghost.
- Psychic.
- Dark.
- Dragon.
- Steel.
- Ice.
- Fairy.
It is on the basis of these 18 Types that Pokemon are categorised either into one or two combinations of Types. That paves the way for a Pokemon’s Type Matchup in Pokemon GO. Moves are also categorised into these 18 different Types.
Pokemon Type:
A Pokemon Type gives it the Type Matchup against other Pokemon Types. For example, Chikorita is a Grass Type Pokemon so its Pokemon Type is Grass. This makes it able to learn Grass Type Moves and gives them a boost of Power, and in return, the Grass Type is weak against Types like Poison, Bug and Fire Type Pokemon because they take less damage from Grass Type Moves and do more damage in return.
A Pokemon Type may also make it a suitable match against another Type which doesn’t directly counter it. For example, the Dragon Type has a great defence and takes Not Very Effective Damage from Water, Grass, Fire and Electric Type moves despite it not doing Super Effective Damage against them. So there is a little more to it than Pokemon Type and the overall Matchup.
The Full Pokemon Type Matchup:
For Pokemon Type Matchup, it is seen as a Type being either Strong against one type or Weak against another. Here is how every single Pokemon Type matches up against other Types:
- Grass –
Strong against Water, Ground, and Rock.
Weak against Flying, Poison, Bug, Fire and Ice. - Water –
Strong against Ground, Rock and Fire.
Weak against Grass, and Electric. - Fire –
Strong against Grass, Bug, Steel and Ice.
Weak against Water, Ground and Rock. - Electric –
Strong against Water and Flying.
Weak against Ground. - Normal –
Is Normal Against Everything.
Weak against Fighting. - Flying –
Strong against Grass, Bug and Fighting.
Weak against Electric, Rock and Ice. - Fighting –
Strong against Normal, Rock, Steel, Ice and Dark.
Weak against Flying, Psychic and Fairy. - Ground –
Strong against Poison, Rock, Steel Fire and Electric.
Weak against Water, Grass and Ice. - Rock –
Strong against Fire, Flying, Bug and Ice.
Weak against Fighting, Ground, Steel, Water and Grass. - Bug –
Strong against Grass, Psychic and Dark.
Weak against Flying, Rock and Fire. - Poison –
Strong against Grass and Fairy.
Weak against Ground and Psychic. - Ghost –
Strong against Ghost and Psychic.
Weak against Ghost and Dark. - Psychic –
Strong against Poison and Fighting.
Weak against Bug, Ghost and Dark. - Dark –
Strong against Ghost and Psychic.
Weak against Fighting, Bug and Fairy. - Dragon –
Strong against Dragon.
Weak against Ice, Dragon and Fairy. - Steel –
Strong against Rock, Ice and Fairy.
Weak against Fighting, Ground and Fire. - Ice –
Strong against Flying, Ground, Grass and Dragon.
Weak against Fighting, Fire, Rock and Steel. - Fairy –
Strong against Fighting, Dark and Dragon.
Weak against Poison and Steel.
This is the whole of Pokemon Types and how they work in Pokemon GO. As you can see, some types are weak against a few while others are weak against many and some types are strong against many and some are strong against a few. There is no one specific type that is strong against all or weak against all, hence there is no one Pokemon that wouldn’t be countered. This gives more depth to understand which Pokemon work the best.
And to top it off, Pokemon that come in different combinations of types also get different Type Matchups based upon this whole list, so players would have to learn which Type goes well against which to pick out which Pokemon is the best Pokemon to go with.
Move Type:
A Move Type is similar to a Pokemon Type in the sense that all Moves in Pokemon GO also have types. If this type is the same as the Pokemon Type, the move gets a big boost to its Power, and it does even more damage to types that it is strong against.
For example, the move Razor Leaf is a Grass Type Fast Attack in Pokemon GO. This move does normal damage to Pokemon types that it is neutral to like Normal, Psychic, Dark Type etc, Super Effective Damage to Pokemon Types it’s strong against such as Water, Ground and Rock, and Not Very Effect Damage to Pokemon Types it is weak against such as Flying, Poison and Fire.
Full Move Type Matchup:
Similar to Pokemon Type Matchup, Moves also have effectiveness against Pokemon Types which is a little different than the list given above. This is because a few moves are checked whether they would be Super Effective or Not Very Effective against Types, hence Move Type Matchup should be learnt as well.
This is the full Move Type Matchup list that is active in Pokemon GO:
- Grass –
Super Effective against Water, Ground, and Rock.
Not Very Effective against Grass, Bug, Steel, Flying, Poison, Fire and Dragon. - Water –
Super Effective against Ground, Rock and Fire.
Not Very Effective against Water, Grass and Dragon. - Fire –
Super Effective against Grass, Bug, Steel and Ice.
Not Very Effective against Rock, Fire, Water and Dragon. - Electric –
Super Effective against Water and Flying.
Not Very Effective against Ground, Grass Electric and Dragon. - Normal –
Has Normal Effectiveness against most types.
Not Very Effective against Rock, Ghost and Steel. - Flying –
Super Effective against Grass, Bug and Fighting.
Not Very Effective against Rock, Steel and Electric. - Fighting –
Super Effective against Normal, Rock, Steel, Ice and Dark.
Not Very Effective against Flying, Poison, Bug, Psychic and Fairy. - Ground –
Super Effective against Poison, Rock, Steel Fire and Electric.
Not Very Effective against Flying, Bug and Grass. - Rock –
Super Effective against Fire, Flying, Bug and Ice.
Not Very Effective against Fighting, Ground and Steel. - Bug –
Super Effective against Grass, Psychic and Dark.
Not Very Effective against Fighting, Flying, Poison, Ghost, Steel, Fire and Fairy. - Poison –
Super Effective against Grass and Fairy.
Not Very Effective against Poison, Ground, Rock, Ghost and Steel. - Ghost –
Super Effective against Ghost and Psychic.
Not Very Effective against Normal and Dark. - Psychic –
Super Effective against Poison and Fighting.
Not Very Effective against Steel, Psychic and Dark. - Dark –
Super Effective against Ghost and Psychic.
Not Very Effective against Fighting, Dark and Fairy. - Dragon –
Super Effective against Dragon.
Not Very Effective against Steel and Fairy. - Steel –
Super Effective against Rock, Ice and Fairy.
Not Very Effective against Steel, Fire, Water and Electric. - Ice –
Super Effective against Flying, Ground, Grass and Dragon.
Not Very Effective against Steel, Fire, Water and Ice. - Fairy –
Super Effective against Fighting, Dark and Dragon.
Not Very Effective against Poison, Steel and Fire.
This is the basic mode of how Pokemon works and how the Type Matchup is one of the most essential things to take into account when choosing a Pokemon that is the strongest. Now let’s see an example to take into account all that we’ve learnt above.
For Example, Mewtwo is a Psychic Type, with a variety of Movesets that it can learn which would make it suitable for most battles. The Psychic Type Move would get a buff to its power through the same Type Matchup, hence all those opponents that are Weak to Psychic Type Moves would be easily defeated by Mewtwo since it is one of the strongest Pokemon in the game with really high Attack and good Defense and HP. For Mewtwo’s weaknesses, Bug Type, Ghost Type and Dark Type Moves are really strong against it. Hence for those Pokemon that are strong against Mewtwo, if they are countered enough to help Mewtwo win against them without changing its Move Type too much to lose its Power, we have a winner, i.e. the strongest Pokemon in Pokemon GO.
The Pokemon GO Mechanics:
Pokemon GO works a bit differently than most usual Pokemon games, although there are many similarities as well such as the Type Matchup that we’ve discussed above. For Pokemon GO, the numbers play a little differently, Super Effective and Not Very Effective Damage Numbers are different, and there is the aspect of CP; the main way how you check which Pokemon is the strongest in general, there are Mega Pokemon, there are random Boosts and much more.
Raids and Player Battles hold different numbers too, so there is a whole variety of things to go through to get to the the Pokemon that would be the most powerful.
Strongest Pokemon CP:
CP or Combat Points are the numbers that decide a Pokemon’s overall stats and Power in Pokemon GO. The more CP a Pokemon has, the more powerful it is with better Attack, Defense and HP. This way it becomes a little more simplified to judge which Pokemon to use.
Players can help a Pokemon grow and increase its Combat Points or CP but know that not every Pokemon can achieve a higher CP number. A Pokemon like Kricketune would have a low CP overall as compared to other Pokemon despite players using as much candy on it as another Pokemon. The reason for this is that it has low Base Stats, the actual thing which decides Combat Points or CP in Pokemon GO.
For Pokemon that would have high Base Stats, they would have high CP in the game and hence they would be stronger, which is why the highest positions in the Base Stats and CP list would be mostly Legendary Pokemon because they have high Base Stats. Players need to work it out to know the Base Stats of Pokemon and learn to guess which would be better to use.
We can take the example of Mewtwo again for Combat Points. Since it’s a legendary Pokemon from Kanto, it has high Base stats, and in Pokemon GO, it sits with 300 Base Points in Attack, making it one of the strongest Pokemon in the game when using any moves, especially Psychic Type Moves because of its Same Type Matchup. It also has a high 182 Defense, and 179 Max HP. This would make it have really high CP in Pokemon GO, the number going as high as 4178. This would make it viable to be one of the best Pokemon to have in battles as compared to Kricketune mentioned above, which has Base Stats of 160 Attack, 100 Defense and 155 max HP giving it only a max CP of 1653.
It is kind of sad to know that some Pokemon just aren’t as good and as Powerful as others because Pokemon of all shapes and sizes are out there with many favourites, but one shouldn’t let that stop them from being a favourite Pokemon. Besides, for what it’s worth, Pokemon GO or Pokemon, in general, isn’t just about having the strongest Pokemon, it’s about many other things such as catching all kinds of them, raising them, finding shiny versions, making them partner Pokemon, feeding them, raising them, and much more. Sometimes, even Pokemon with a lower CP may be suitable for battle because of its Type Matchup against another Pokemon, so it’s not too big of a deal.
IVs Of The Strongest Pokemon:
IV, or Individual Value, is another aspect of Pokemon that is shared among many games. Individual Value is a secretive aspect of Pokemon that is their personal bits of hidden strength, giving them a boost of Stats and Power. Pokemon that have high or perfect IVs are the ones who are the strongest out of them all.
IVs are mostly considered from the perspective that imagines only one single kind of Pokemon is usable in a battle, for example, Rayquaza. Both opponents have Rayquazas, so which one would be the stronger of the two? It will depend on the one that has higher IVs, as the little extra bit of stats and power would make it the stronger choice.
The game provides a 15-point line of IVs that decide the total strength of a Pokemon.
How to check IVs in Pokemon GO:
The way to check Pokemon in the game is fairly easy. You simply have to open your Pokemon Inventory, choose a Pokemon, and then from the main view of the Pokemon, select Appraise. Your GO Team Leader will pop up and appraise your Pokemon and will afterwards show you a stat line of three bars. These three bars are for HP, Attack and Damage, the three basic stats of a Pokemon.
If the bars are full, that means you actually have one of the rarest kinds of Pokemon, called a Hundo Pokemon. This means it has perfect IVs and is the strongest of its kind. These are very rare to come across in the game so treasure these more than anything else!
Damage Numbers Of The Strongest Pokemon:
For Super Effective and Not Very Effective Damage in Pokemon GO, things sit a little differently as compared to normal Pokemon games. For example, the No Effect is gone from many Matchups such as Normal Type taking a little damage from Ghost Type Moves now, Dark Type also takes damage from Psychic Type moves etc. Here are the numbers which are set in Pokemon GO:
A Super Effective Attack does 160% of the normal damage that it would usually do. It is not complete double damage as it is in other Pokemon games.
For those Pokemon that are a combination of 2 Types and both are Weak to a single Type move, that move does quadruple the normal damage normally, however in Pokemon GO that damage will be 256% the normal amount.
A Not Very Effective Attack does 63% of the normal damage it would usually inflict. This is different from the complete half like it is in mainline Pokemon games.
There is also a lower slightly effective damage that does 39% of the normal damage which is true for moves like Ghost Type on Normal type as these normally have the No Effect outside of Pokemon GO in other games.
Slightly Effective Damage List:
The following is the whole list of Move Types that do only 39% damage in Pokemon GO:
- The Normal Type does slight damage to Ghost Types.
- The Fighting Type does slight damage to Ghost Types.
- The Poison Type does slight damage to Steel Types.
- The Ground Type does slight damage to Flying Types.
- The Ghost Type does slight damage to Normal Types.
- The Electric Type does slight damage to Ground Types.
- The Psychic Type does slight damage to Dark Types.
- The Dragon Type move does slight damage to Fairy Type Pokemon.
These moves are highly ineffective in battles against the mentioned Typed Pokemon and should not be used. However, if you find yourselves facing an opponent who would only know of a move that is only slightly effective against you, you’re lucky because your Pokemon will almost always win out of that match-up, considering your Pokemon is not too low CP than your opponent that is.
Weather Boost:
Pokemon GO also has a unique Weather Boost Effect that comes into play. Weather Boost is the kind of weather that you have in Pokemon GO which depends on where you are when playing the game. Depending on your weather, specific Move Types will get boosted up in Power as well as giving other rewards in the game and hence it is another essential element that you need to be aware of when battling.
The following are the different weathers that the game has specific alongside the Type of moves they boost:
- Sunny/ Clear – Grass, Fire and Ground.
- Rainy – Water, Electric and Bug.
- Partly Cloudy – Normal and Rock.
- Cloudy – Fairy, Fighting and Poison.
- Windy – Flying, Dragon and Psychic.
- Snow – Ice and Steel.
- Fog – Dark and Ghost.
Shadow Pokemon:
Shadow Pokemon are another unique aspect of the game. These are Pokemon that come through Team GO Rocket, either caught after defeating Team GO Rocket Grunts or leaders or by hatching 12 Km eggs which players receive after defeating the team.
Shadow Pokemon come with a unique aspect that boosts their Attack Stat but lowers their Defense Stat. Players can check the special Shadow Effect by opening their Pokemon View from their Pokemon Inventory and reading the Moves it knows. Right below the Fast Attack and Charged Attack, a Shadow Pokemon will have a Shadow Bonus Written with a plus number beside the Power Number that shows the exact amount added to it.
The Shadow Bonus also comes into play in certain Matchups where Power would mean the difference between hitting a Pokemon once or twice, and so it is one of the key aspects players should know about when considering which Pokemon would be the most powerful in the game.
Only a fixed number of Pokemon have been released as Shadow Pokemon in the game as of yet, but there are many strong options as well including Mewtwo. A Shadow Mewtwo with near-perfect IVs and grown CP is one of the contenders of the strongest Pokemon in the game.
Mega Evolution – One of the Strongest Pokemon Ability:
One of the best things about Pokemon GO is the addition of Mega Pokemon in the game. These are special Evolutions that act differently than how they work in older 3DS games like Pokemon X and Y and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Mega Evolution in Pokemon GO comes with special Boosts of Power that include the Mega Pokemon’s own Same Type Moves. Mega Evolution also gives a huge boost to the Base Stats of Pokemon, so they shoot up in Power and CP when they are Mega Evolved. This is how Mega Pokemon are one of the strongest Pokemon to have in Pokemon GO.
Even a few Legendary Pokemon have Mega Evolutions which could be added to the game later, and if so they would be the strongest Pokemon of Pokemon GO. However, since Mewtwo X or Mewtwo Y aren’t here, there are plenty of other Pokemon that take the high spot over here because they can Mega Evolve.
Many of the Pokemon that Mega Evolve in the game right now are Rayquaza, Blaziken, Sceptile, Swampert, Venusaur, Blastoise, Charizard, Ampharos, Tyranatar, and many more. Each one would allow its Type Matchup to get a big boost to its Same Type Move Power and that’s what would be the most powerful move to use.
How to Mega Evolve Pokemon in Pokemon GO:
If you have a Pokemon in the game whose Mega Evolution has been added, then in order to Mega Evolve it you will need Mega Energy. You can gather this energy by participating in Mega Raids of the Pokemon you want to Mega Evolve and defeat them, after which you will get Mega Energy of the specific Pokemon. By gathering up enough you can make them much stronger and better with a big boost to the Moves that are the same Type as the Mega Evolved Pokemon. Check out our full Guide to Mega Evolution if you want to go through all the steps and the bonuses Mega Evolution gives in the game.
The Final Choice Of The Strongest Pokemon:
Working with all that we have till now, depending upon each of the things mentioned above that give little leads to Pokemon to get to the top, we would get the answer as to what would the the Pokemon with the most Power in the game. Based on its Type Matchup, the Moves it knows, its Base Stats, its CP, its IVs, whether it has the Same Type Matchup or not, whether it could Mega Evolve or not, whether it comes to play within a place with the weather that matches its move type, whether it is a Shadow Pokemon or not, all of this would account into having the strongest Pokemon capable of delivering the most powerful move.
There could and will be many new additions made to Pokemon GO in the future that may include new ways to check how Power works in the game, new Mega Pokemon could be added and even brand new mechanics. Hence with time, the way to get the strongest Pokemon may change, but for now, players can judge and get to their own answers based upon all that we’ve shared over here in hopes of providing you with as much information about Pokemon GO and how Pokemon Power works.
For more on Pokemon GO, check out the mobile game’s official website.
