Here Are The Most Popular Pokémon In Scarlet And Violet
Everyone’s got a favorite Pokémon. There are over 1000 of the little (and big) guys, so asking someone which one they like the best means you can get some pretty wide-ranging answers. But which are the most popular in each game? You could argue that the competitive meta might decide, but Pokémon games sell millions of copies and only the tiniest fraction of those are to pro trainers. In reality, the most used ‘mons in the games are going to be the coolest and cutest in the Pokédex. To commemorate the Switch RPG’s second anniversary, Game Freak has released popularity stats for Scarlet and Violet, and has broken down the rankings for a few different contexts, including type, Synchro Machine use, and overall popularity. Let’s break down each.
Most synchronized Pokemon
One of the more interesting stats revealed by Game Freak identifies the most popular Synchronized Pokémon. This refers to critters people can take control of, using the Synchro Machine introduced in Scarlet and Violet’s Indigo Disk DLC. This device lets you sync your brain with a Pokémon and control them in the games’ open world.
My girl Latias is among the most used as she can fly quickly, making it easy to get around as the dragon/psychic Legendary. Other popular Pokémon include Rayquaza, Varoom, and Gholdengo, and each is much speedier than your usual on-foot traversal. It seems like folks that gravitate towards Pokémon that have utility, instead of just controlling monsters for the novelty. The full list is as follows:
Latias
Rayquaza
Garchomp
Meowscarada
Ceruledge
Varoom
Gholdengo
Miraidon
Ogerpon
The most caught Pokémon by type
Game Freak looked through the Pokémon most players are catching in the Paldea region, and divided them by type. A lot of these Pokémon likely have high spawn rates in the open world, appear in several areas, and are relatively easy to find, boosting their place on this particular list, without reflecting their actual popularity. For example, Gyarados appears in the list of Pokémon added to the most teams (we’ll break that down next), but neither it nor its pre-evolution Magikarp are among the most-caught water-types. But the list for each type is as follows:
Normal:
Deerling
Fletchling
Lechonk
Flying:
Rookidee
Bombirdier
Flamigo
Ground
Diglett
Phanpy
Mudbray
Fire
Growlithe
Litleo
Charcadet
Fighting
Mankey
Makuhita
Riolu
Rock
Rockruff
Nacli
Klawf
Ghost
Haunter
Sandygast
Gimmighoul
Fairy
Floette
Sylveon
Fidough
Water
Psyduck
Wooper
Buizel
Bug
Scyther
Scatterbug
Tarountula
Dark
Murkrow
Sneasel
Maschiff
Poison
Grimer
Salandit
Shroodle
Psychic
Ralts
Spoink
Flittle
Steel
Cufant
Varoom
Orthworm
Grass
Hoppip
Skiddo
Capsakid
Electric
Mareep
Shinx
Pawmi
Ice
Cetoddle
Cubchoo
Snorunt
Dragon
Axew
Cyclizar
Tatsugiri
Most commonly added to a team
So, after all that, which are the Pokémon most people are actually bringing into battle? Game Freak has revealed the 10 Pokémon that appear in most players’ teams. Some of these aren’t too surprising, such as the aforementioned Gyarados and other long-time favorites like Garchomp and Lucario. However, Fletchinder, Pawmi, and Charcadet are a bit more surprising as they are all unevolved members of their evolutionary lines, and indeed Pokémon new to this generation. Still, each was among the most-caught Pokémon in their respective typings, so there’s some expected crossover.
The most interesting names, however, are the inclusion of Meowscarada and Skeledirge, the final forms of starter Pokémon Sprigatito and Fuecoco. This seems to reveal that the grass and fire starters were the most popular this generation, as no form of Quaxly, the water-type starter in Scarlet and Violet, appears on the list. Annoyingly enough, Game Freak also includes Floragato and Crocolar, the middle evolution of both of these starters, on the list, which doesn’t tell us much of anything as that just reaffirms people are using those two starters throughout their playthroughs. I have to wonder which two Pokémon were pushed off the top ten list by essentially giving two Pokémon multiple spots in the ranking. The full list:
Gyarados
Garchomp
Lucario
Fletchinder
Floragato
Meowscarada
Crocolar
Skeledirge
Pawmi
Charcadet
Most popular Tera Raids
Tera Raids are one of the big post-game grinds you can do in Scarlet and Violet, and one of the ways Game Freak has been supporting the RPG post-launch. This has been in the form of several events over the past two years, and it looks like some of the most popular were shortly after launch in 2022. Charizard and Cinderace were two of the first Tera Raid events that brought previously unobtainable Pokémon to Scarlet and Violet, and it looks like that was peak for these events. The six-star Ditto, Eevee, and Blissey events were also popular, though those weren’t the same boss battle-level challenges that fans were grinding and strategizing for, and the Pokémon were already in the game. The list reads:
Charizard
Ditto
Eevee
Blissey
Cinderace
Everyone’s favorite gym leaders
In The Indigo Disk, you can invite different characters to hang out with you at school, and that includes the Paldean gym leaders. Game Freak has revealed the top five most popular guests players hung out with, and Larry, the best gym leader Pokémon has had in decades, is on this list. Good job, team. The taste jumped out. The top five are:
Iono
Grusha
Brassius
Katy
Larry
The most used sandwich ingredients
Sandwiches are a key mechanic in Scarlet and Violet, helping you to attract different kinds of Pokémon depending on what you make. Game Freak has revealed that players have made nearly half a billion sandwiches in the past two years, with the current tally at 432,932,482. The most popular ingredients include:
Pickle
Tomato
Ham
Banana
Green Bell Pepper
The condiments most players are using are:
Butter
Wasabi
Mayonnaise
Salt
Peanut Butter
Most common TMs
The last stat Game Freak has revealed was the most common TMs used to teach Pokémon certain attacks. The one that is the most obvious in retrospect is Tera Blast, a normal-type move that takes on the elemental affinity of its user’s Tera type. Nearly every Pokémon can learn this move, but none of them learn it naturally through leveling up, so statistically speaking, it makes sense that it would be one of the most-used TMs in the game. The full list is as follows:
TM 073 Drain Punch
TM 171 Tera Blast
TM001 Take Down
TM005 Mud-Slap
TM007 Protect
Scarlet and Violet spent an extra year in the spotlight as the primary Pokemon games on the market, as The Pokemon Company didn’t release a new RPG or expansion this year. Pokemon Legends: Z-A will come to Switch sometime in 2025, but 2024 was the first year there wasn’t a new Pokemon game or DLC on the market since 2015. And if you’ve still not played, it’s well worth dipping in.
