The best Electric-type Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

The Electric type has always been appreciated by fans and has been given equal love from the devs themselves in the form of amazing Pokémon that belong to this type.

Electric only hits two types for super-effective damage but also possesses just a single weakness while having some nifty resistances, which a lot of the Electric-type Pokémon make great use of.

In this list, we’ll be talking about the 10 best returning and new Electric-type Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet based on their design, lore, and competitive viability.

The 10 best Electric-type Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

10) Bellibolt

This good lil froggy is probably one of the cutest Pokémon to come out of Gen IX, and also the best Pokémon to make use of the fake eyes motif that a lot of ‘mons have going on.

When you look at Bellibolt, you’re automatically assuming that this thing can’t move too fast, whereas, on the contrary, it is said that this amphibian is capable of moving very quickly, but usually chooses to act sluggishly. 

Hey, if we could lay around and move in slow motion all day, we would too, bud. No judgment here.

9) Iron Thorns

A lot of the future Paradox Pokémon are a swing and a miss visually, but Iron Thorns is a definite hit in our books.

The robotic redesign on Tyranitar just fits so well, along with the black and neon green that they’ve used as accents to its visual composition. 

In battle though, we’d just use Tyranitar over its futuristic counterpart. Since this thing does not set up the Sandstorm weather condition, it can’t take advantage of the Special Defense boost its predecessor receives and is relegated to being a glass cannon, especially because of its typing.

8) Luxray

Anyone who’s played the Gen IV games or its remakes knows how cool Luxray is. We were so amazed to see the little Electric pup we caught at the beginning of the game turn into something so badass.

Luxray possesses an intimidating presence (literally; it has the ability Intimidate) with its black and blue fur coupled with striking yellow accents and a glare that could paralyze foes from miles away.

The only reason Luxray isn’t higher up on this list is that it’s a little lackluster in battle. It doesn’t carry the damage output it needs and its coverage is poor as well. Hopefully, Terrastalization gives this doggo more viability.

7) Iron Hands

Honestly, from a purely visual standpoint, we prefer Hariyama over Iron Hands. At least it committed to one concept and pulled it off. This sumo-wrestling cyborg athlete just looks jarring. It is pretty good in the competitive scene of Pokémon, however.

Iron hands boasts amazing stats overall, and can be an intimidating sweeper under Trick Room. It also functions amazingly without Trick Room, supporting its team with Fake Out and being able to tank hits with its phenomenal bulk.

It can easily make up for its low-base Special Defense by investing EVs into it since you probably aren’t running it to be fast. On the other hand, you always have the option to slap an Assault Vest onto it, which happens to be a brilliant item for Iron Hands.

6) Toxtricity

It’s a punk rock Pokémon. That’s freaking brilliant, how could you not like this toxic rockstar?

This unique Poison/Electric dual-type ‘mon aptly possesses the ability Punk Rock, which gives all of its sound-based moves a 30 percent boost in power, which is basically a free Life Orb for its sound moves without the recoil. A win-win situation for us.

Furthermore, with Terrastalization, you can turn Toxtricity into the Normal type, get rid of everything that it was weak to, and fire off STAB, Punk Rock-boosted Boombursts to wipe out the opponent’s side of the field. Make sure to build your team appropriately so that you don’t wipe out your own team as well, though.

5) Rotom: Wash

Rotom: Wash is probably the single best Rotom form to use in competitive VGC and has also historically seen the most success in tournaments.

This possessed washing machine has great bulk with serviceable offense that can be boosted with items like Life Orb or Choice Specs. If you would rather bulk out this Pokémon even further and make it more supportive, it gets some great options like Will-O-Wisp, dual screens, Helping Hand, and Volt Switch to pivot out of the field and bring in its partner.

Rotom: Wash can also get rid of its single weakness in Grass by Terrastalizing into the Electric type—since it possesses the Levitate ability—while also supercharging its Electric moves with more damage output.

4) Kilowattrel

This regional early-route bird Pokémon is probably one of the better ones we’ve gotten among all of the generations.

Kilowattrell possesses an amazing defensive typing in Electric and Flying, giving it only two weaknesses and a bunch of useful resistances. If you look at its base stats, however, you can notice that its Speed is the only outstanding thing about it, but you’d have to look deeper to see that Kilowattrel can be more than a speedy supportive ‘mon.

This bird has the ability Wind Power, which gives it the Charged status when it uses Tailwind and until it ends, giving its Electric moves a 50 percent increase in damage. Kilowattrel will also get Charged when you hit it with a wind move, so you wanna be extra careful with your Heat Waves around it.

3) Pawmot

Pawmi is the very first Pikachu clone that actually evolves—not once, but twice. And what an amazing second-stage evolution this little guy has.

Well, in terms of design though, this overgrown rodent is pretty mediocre. It doesn’t help that all three stages of the Pawmot line look basically like the same Pokémon. How hard was it for the devs to change up the colors a bit, or make it get more distinct physical changes? 

Alas, there’s no use crying over spilled milk when we can rather talk about Pawmot’s competitive battling prowess. This Electric/Fighting dual-type was not on many players’ radars during the beginning stages of Scarlet and Violet’s VGC metagame, but out of nowhere, Pawmot went on to win two different recent tournaments.

Both the tournament-winning Pawmots ran completely different sets, one featuring its signature move Revival Blessing, while the other one utilized Assault Vest as an item with Fake Out and a bunch of coverage moves to deal hefty damage to the opponent. Pawmot is certainly a threat and has proved itself to not just be a one-trick pony.

2) Pachirisu

Yeah, Pachirisu is super cute and all, but did you know that this small baby is actually a world champion?

It was the 2014 Pokémon VGC World Championship Finals when Sejun Park gave the underdog Pachirisu World Champion status. Pachirisu, back then, was in a great spot in the meta to shine as a supportive ‘mon and redirector, which Sejun recognized.

In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Pachirisu is once again a solid option to support its team with supportive moves like Nuzzle, Encore, Fake Tears, Charm, Eerie Impulse, and redirection with Follow Me. With Terrastalization, Pachirisu can even get rid of all its Ground weakness by turning into the Flying-type, getting even tougher to remove from the field.

1) Pikachu

We’re sure you saw this one coming from miles away. Come on, it’s Pikachu—the mascot of the entire dang franchise. It is the very face of Pokémon. 

If you were to ask a random person one Pokémon that they know about, they are most probably going to bring up Pikachu; this little electric mouse is just that synonymous with the franchise. 

Pikachu is a middle-stage Pokémon—and was originally a first-stage Pokémon—so its base stats are certainly nothing to write home about. But since this tiny bugger is so universally favored, Game Freak even bumped not one, but two of its stats up—its Defense and Special Defense—in Gen VI. This is the only time a Pokémon received a stat buff in two different stats, and the only time a non-fully evolved Pokémon received stat buffs.

If that wasn’t enough, Pikachu has its own signature item that it can use, called the Light Ball. Having Pikachu hold this item will double both its Attack and Special Attack stat. With those buffs and this signature item, the devs actually turned a non-fully evolved Pokémon viable as a strong offensive threat that is very capable of picking up one-hit KO’s.

Finally, there are a bunch of random ways in which Pikachu has affected worlds outside the Pokémon franchise. Here are two interesting ones:

• The island nation of Niue released a one-dollar coin with its coat of arms on one side and Pikachu on the other to promote the Pokémon franchise.
• In 2008, Japanese researchers discovered a new protein and decided to name it “pikachurin.” According to them, it was named so since the protein shared Pikachu’s “lightning-fast moves and shocking electric effects.”

You simply can’t deny the epic proportions of Pikachu’s influence and greatness, which undoubtedly lands it in the No. 1 spot on our list.