Aranquanid is a new, seventh generation Pokémon that is Water/Bug in typing and honestly looks like a nightmare on legs as its head is surrounded by water, but it retains its spider-like body. Arachnophobes, beware! With this Water/Bug-typing, Aranquid is weak to Electric, Flying, and Rock, but one of these can be easily shut down fast with a STAB move. The one thing to note about this water spider Pokémon is its normal ability Water Bubble. It decreases the power of Fire-type moves by 50% used on it and prevents you from being burned which is all fine and dandy, BUT the kicker is that this move also doubles the power of all water type moves BEFORE adding in STAB thus making your attacks now triple in power instead of a standard 1.5 STAB. This is an amazing boost for this rather slow Pokémon.

Speaking of stats, Aranquanid is slow, but it has excellent defenses. It has a Sp. Defense of 132 and regular Defense of 92. This is then followed up by its Attack at 70. The others are all negligible. This is not a Pokémon to use for Special moves so accept that now. It does however learn Mirror Coat which, with your speed means that you can almost always use it to your advantage. Liquidation will now go from 85 power to 255 after Water Bubble kicks in. Lunge for your Bug STAB even though you will not use it a lot. Crunch for more coverage while you could go for Poison Jab for those random Fairy-types. Sadly, Aranquanid will not learn anything to check Electric Types, so beware that you do not get slapped by one. Also, take care when it comes to Flying-types. You can learn Special Ice moves, but why would you with a 50 in Special Attack?

Golisopod is a weird bug Pokémon that probably was the fossil Pokémon of this series, but it was scrapped because Game Freak could not be bothered to make another. Thankfully for you, you don’t have to choose between the two fossils to get this one. That is provided that you can get a Wimpod without Wimp Out kicking in and it running away. Speaking of Abilities, Emergency Exit does the same thing as Wimp Out which can be to your benefit if you know your strengths. It does carry the same weaknesses as Aranquanid, Electric, Rock, and Flying. It also has horrible Speed (40) but everything else is not that bad. It was a beautiful 140 in Defense and a 125 in Attack. It boasts a 90 as well in Sp. Defense.

Movewise, it does learn some decent Moves, but again, it does learn Liquidation, so STAB. You can go for Razor Shell if you want to try lowering your foes Defense. Sucker Punch can work if you want that Dark Boost. First Impression is good, but you have to use it in the first turn, so X-Scissor is there if you do not want to have to deal with a first turn only STAB Bug move. Leech Life is perfect for recovery. Brick Break is good too. Payback is good since you will always be going last. Rock Slide is excellent for flying types that will try to check you.

Primarina is the final evolution of Popplio, the Water starter Pokémon and is a good choice if you want the easiest playthrough. After Evolving from Brionne, Primarina picks up an additional Fairy-typing and becomes quite good. It just has to be aware of its three weaknesses, Electric, Grass, and Poison. For its ability, the hidden one, Liquid Voice, if you can get it, is better, which makes all sound-based moves become Water-type. Continuing with other Water-type Pokemon thus far on this list, Primarina has a measly 60 in Speed which is better than the previous two pokes, but it is not amazing.

Other than that though, it has fairly average stats in the 70s and 80s other than its Sp. Attack at 126 and Sp. Defense at 116. Primarina is great for in-game, but post-game, it will have time stacking up against those Pokémon with high Physical attacks. First of all, your weaknesses. Ice Beam and Blizzard will keep Grass-types at bay while Psychic will help with the Poison-types. Nothing you can learn will help with Electric-types, so beware. Moonblast for that Fairy-type STAB and either Hydro Pump for power or its signature move, Sparkling Aria for a nice blast against your other foes. Energy Ball is another move you may want to consider for when you go up against other bulky Water-types.

Tapu Fini is part of the Guardian Deities of the Sun & Moon franchise where Game Freak decided that three in game minor legendaries was not enough, and made FOUR. Tapu Fini is just like Primarina in that it too is Water and Fairy in typing. When it lands in battle, its ability Misty Surge sets up Misty Terrain for five turns. This prevents status effects from being inflicted along with a 50% downgrade of Dragon-type moves. Nature Power becomes Moon Blast, and Mist Seed will boost your Sp. Defense 1 stage. It too has the same weaknesses as Primarina; Electric, Grass, and Poison. Speaking of stats, Its Sp. Defense is a whopping 130 with a 115 in Defense. It also has a 95 in Sp. Attack and an 85 in Speed. Thankfully with Speed like that, as long as you are not doing online battling, it will allow you to outspeed most everything.

As for its movepool, it is basically just another Water-type Pokémon. You will need a Heart Scale to re-teach this Pokémon Moonblast, but it is preferable to any other Fairy-move it can learn. It does have the trademark move of all the Tapu Pokémon, Nature’s Madness, but why would you even bother to with that one. Aqua Ring can be good for recovery if you are pairing it with Leftovers. You can let it learn Hydro Pump or Muddy Water if you don’t mind it missing, while Surf hits 100% of the time. Ice Beam or Blizzard for Grass and even Shadow Ball for Ghost Types. The choice is yours! You also could do a sub-set with Substitute, Aqua Ring, Leftovers plus Moonblast and Surf. Nothing will really worry you other than Steel-types, but that is not the end of the world and there are only a few Steel-type Pokémon who are mixed with something other than Ground or Rock.

Wishiwashi starts out as a joke. Until it hits level 20, this fish is not even worth your time. However, when it does hit level twenty, and it has more than 25% HP, its ability Schooling kicks in making it a beast. Everything but HP and Speed skyrocket multiplying all of Wishiwashi’s stats by five to seven. Don’t miss out on this amazing Water Pokémon! Wishiwashi is pure water which means that it only has two weaknesses, Grass and Electric. Thankfully for you, there are not many Electric-types in this game and while there are lots of Grass-types, you can accommodate for that. In School Form, Wishiwashi has a 140 in both Attack stats, a 135 in Sp. Defense, and a 130 in Defense. So really, pending it’s nature, you can build Wishiwashi how you please, right? Well… kind of.

If you make Wishiwashi into a special attacker, it really is limited to Water, Ice, and Normal moves. You could make it a Rest/Sleep Talk set as it does have the Defenses to do it, but you need to be careful then because Wishiwashi will be locked into one Water STAB and one Ice move. That is it. If you take it the Physical route, there is much more that can be played with. Beat Up is an amazing move that it learns which combines the power of all the pokes on your team and attacks. Aqua Tail or Waterfall naturally makes sense after that. U-turn is perfect for the multiple Grass types that have debuted in this game, while Earthquake will let you wreak havoc. You could set up this physical attacker as well with a Rest/Sleep Talk setup with Toxic and a Water STAB to stall your foes out from ever landing a hit on you in normal form too. Ultimately Wishiwashi is one of the most diverse Water Pokémon we have seen in awhile. Simply put, it’s fantastic!