Pokémon Legends: Z-A: Best Team Comps For Every Starter

Updated Jul 30, 2026, 12:21 PM EDT Matthew Danielson is a Senior Gaming Staff Writer for Screen Rant, using their expertise in fighting games, RPGs, and action titles to provide insight into your favorite experiences. Matthew does a bit of everything, including helping ideate new content surrounding the hottest games and classics that continue to stoke nostalgia. With multiple years of experience, Matthew is your go-to expert on a variety of topics, from detailed fighting game experience to the most nuanced builds for your favorite RPG. Matthew has worked for Screen Rant as a Gaming Senior Staff Writer since August 2022, and has been proud to release many articles that have helped people with unique problems while playing games. As a long-time fan of TTRPG games, Matthew is also a veteran DM for Dungeons and Dragons, having hosted numerous campaigns over nearly a decade. The number of challenging trainer battles in Pokémon Legends: Z-A changes as you progress, forcing you to alter your team comp of Pokémon every so often. Depending on what starter you picked, your Pokémon squad can look different, with some creatures having a balanced spread of types. To make the strongest team possible to synergize with your starter, you'll want to assemble a group that covers a variety of match-ups. Considering how unique Legends: Z-A combat is from other Pokémon games, you have to consider how traditional Pokémon teams may not be as strong as they were in previous titles. For example, no Pokémon has hidden or innate abilities in this spin-off, instead relying on other factors. Traits like being able to Mega Evolve, being a large Alpha variant, and other features contribute the most to a Pokémon's strength here. Best Pokémon Teams After Choosing Tepig Pair Your Fire-Type With Strong Defensive Coverage At A Glance: + Evolutions: Tepig (Fire), Pignite (Fire/Fighting), Emboar (Fire/Fighting), Mega Emboar (Fire/Fighting) + Pignite and Emboar's Fire/Fighting dual-typing make them stronger against a larger variety of Types, but also increases its own weaknesses + The evolution line is fairly slow, so have one or two speedy members on your team + Complement the Pokémon's aggressiveness with strong defenses Picking Tepig as your starter will eventually leave you with Pignite and Emboar, two Fire/Fighting-types who are excellent attackers for your team. That being said, the earlygame of Legends: Z-A will have you only use a pure Fire-type in Tepig, which means that Pokémon with a stronger type variety will be helpful to have. As you grow stronger, you'll need Pokémon with strong defenses to balance out the aggressiveness of Tepig and its evolutions. All the starter final forms, like Emboar, Meganium, and Feraligatr, have a Mega Evolution in Legends: Z-A. These starters could all be the one Mega Evolution you have on your team, but they don't have to be if you find a stronger option. The following table has three collections of possible earlygame, midgame, and endgame teams that could work with Tepig as that starter levels up in strength throughout your adventure: Earlygame Team Midgame Team Endgame Team Tepig (Fire) Gastly (Ghost/Poison) Bunnelby (Normal) Bellsprout (Grass/Poison) Pikachu (Electric) Staryu (Water/Psychic) Pignite (Fire/Fighting) Absol (Dark) Gyarados (Water/Flying) Diggersby (Normal/Ground) Victreebel (Grass/Poison) Doublade (Ghost/Steel) Emboar (Fire/Fighting) Excadrill (Ground/Steel) Dragonite (Dragon/Flying) Froslass (Ice/Ghost) Greninja (Water/Dark) Eelektross (Electric) At the early stages of the game, Tepig works best when you simply have enough type match-ups to cover everything that Fire is normally weak to: Ground, Rock, and Water. Hence, why Staryu is so important, as it is not only a fast Water-type, but also a Pokémon whose Psychic-type gives it even more advantages. For the middle and late game, as Tepig evolves into Pignite and Emboar, the same philosophy applies. Dragonite provides bulk to your team, while Greninja and Eelektross add much-needed Speed to make up for Emboar's slow stats, giving you more versatility in battles. With Excadrill, Gyarados, Victreebel, and Froslass all having great Mega Evolutions as well, any of these Pokémon could be great to pair with the Fire/Fighting juggernaut. Best Pokémon Teams After Choosing Chikorita Place Other Fast Growing Creatures Alongside The Enhanced Grass-Type At A Glance: + Evolutions: Chikorita (Grass), Bayleef (Grass), Meganium (Grass), Mega Meganium (Grass/Fairy) + The final evolution's strength is best paired with defensive Pokémon to protect it + Boost Maga Meganium's strength with a few other strong attackers to end battles quickly and brutally Chikorita gained a lot of benefits compared to its original appearance as a Johto starter, mainly in the Grass/Fairy-type Mega Evolution of Meganium. As one of the strongest new Pokémon forms, you have to use Pokémon from Legends: Z-A's Pokédex to make up for Mega Meganium's weaknesses of Bug, Fire, Flying, Ice, Steel and Poison. While balanced, you need Pokémon who specialize in certain categories to defend your starter as best as possible. Much like before, this table gives you some examples of great team comps for Chikorita at all stages of its development: Earlygame Team Midgame Team Endgame Team Chikorita (Grass) Fletchling (Normal/Flying) Houndour (Dark/Fire) Gible (Dragon/Ground) Honedge (Ghost/Steel) Meditite (Fighting/Psychic) Bayleef (Grass) Gyarados (Water/Flying) Sableye (Ghost/Dark) Heracross (Bug/Fighting) Metang (Steel/Psychic) Camerupt (Fire/Ground) Meganium (Grass) Lucario (Steel/Fighting) Tyranitar (Rock/Dark) Charizard (Fire/Flying) Starmie (Water/Psychic) Garchomp (Ground/Dragon) Given Meganium's bulk later in Legends: Z-A, you need to have Pokémon on this starter's team who are good attackers more than defensive creatures. Almost the opposite of Emboar's ideal team comp, Chikorita benefits most with a wide attacking variety, making Gible, Houndour, and Fletchling great picks to cover its bad match-ups. As you level up, coverage gets stronger and stronger with the Pokémon listed. Steel-types like Metang and Lucario provide great resistances, while Tyranitar, Heracross, Gyarados, Camerupt, and Garchomp all have some of the highest damage output of any Pokémon on their move lists. Meanwhile, a strong alternate starter like Charizard adds even more strength, as that Pokémon has two distinct Mega Evolutions you could use. Best Pokémon Teams After Choosing Totodile Combat Common Pitfalls With Speed And Strength At A Glance: + Evolutions: Totodile (Water), Croconaw (Water), Feraligatr (Water), Mega Feraligatr (Water/Dragon) + Being Water-only significantly reduces its weaknesses to only Electric and Grass + Pair Totodile with defensive partners to bulk up the party + Pokémon with high Speed stats are also helpful to make up for Totodile's slow attack speed Similar to Tepig and Emboar, Totodile and Feraligatr are Pokémon with strong Attack stats, despite being a traditional pure Water-type. The biting strikes of Feraligatr are fearsome, but an often overlooked strength of this starter is how it has very few weaknesses with one typing. Unlike Chikorita, Totodile's bad match-ups are less common, giving you greater flexibility with the team comps you build around it. Feraligatr does not always remain a pure Water-type, as it gains the potent Dragon-type upon Mega Evolution. This is one of the best types in the game next to Fairy, making Totodile and Chikorita two Pokémon you almost always want to use for Mega forms rather than others on their teams. Although you can create a "jack of all trades" type of team with Totodile as it evolves, the table below provides some helpful examples of great teams to surround the Water-type with: Earlygame Team Midgame Team Endgame Team Totodile (Water) Litleo (Normal/Fire) Ralts (Psychic) Pancham (Dark/Fighting) Roselia (Grass/Poison) Gible (Dragon/Ground) Croconaw (Water) Umbreon (Dark) Talonflame (Fire/Flying) Florges (Fairy) Scizor (Bug/Steel) Raichu (Electric) Feraligatr (Water) Venusaur (Grass/Poison) Metagross (Steel/Psychic) Chandelure (Ghost/Fire) Hawlucha (Fighting/Flying) Tyrantrum (Rock/Dragon) Some overlooked Pokémon in Legends: Z-A make for strong pairings with Totodile, especially during the earlygame. While Gible is always a good choice, Ralts' Psychic prowess pairs well with Pancham's offensive skills, allowing them to compliment each other's worst match-ups. At the same time, Roselia covers Totodile's own Grass-type weakness, with Litleo giving your team a fiery boost to its attacking power as well. Later stages of the game sees Speed added to your team with members like Raichu, Scizor, and Talonflame. As your coverage grows, you can start investing more in the endurance of your team, taking on picks like Tyrantrum and Metagross to solidify the bulk of your squad. Other starters like Venusaur or Chesnaught fulfill the same role as Roselia earlier, giving you a Grass-type to support Feraligatr. Pokémon like Metagross work great with Feraligatr, as it can learn Earthquake to deal with Electric-type Pokémon that would otherwise knock out your starter. Hawlucha and Florges are strong X-factors on your team too, either covering rare types or providing much-needed speed to make up for Feraligatr's slow attacks. As you mix and match different Pokémon to find what team comp works best for your starter, these examples can provide a baseline in Pokémon Legends: Z-A to help you progress quickly through the game's battle-centric story. Released October 16, 2025 ESRB Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases Developer(s) Game Freak, Creatures Inc. Publisher(s) Nintendo, The Pokemon Company Engine Proprietary