This is Officially The Best Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire Starter on Switch

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen‘s debut on the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 was a pleasant surprise for fans of the series on Pokemon Day, and they may have opened Pandora’s box for more ports and classic games like Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. In fact, datamining allegedly confirmed that Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire are coming to Switch and Switch 2 in the near future, and while no date is in place and nothing is officially confirmed, it would make perfect sense for several reasons. These are:

Assuming that Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire on Switch is more a matter of when than if, which the datamining gives credence to, it’s also plausible that they will be regular ports like FireRed and LeafGreen. The Kanto remakes received very few changes on the Switch, which were just bug fixes, and not even for all the glitches found in the original, like mail duplication, ACE, or even the roaming Legendary Beasts having 0 IVs. Because of this, it’s easy to figure out the best starter for Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire on Nintendo Switch.

This is The Ultimate Team For Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, From Badges to Endgame

If you’re wondering what the best team in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is, these 6 Pokemon are the ultimate choice.

Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire’s Gym Leaders and Elite Four Explained

To start, it’s important to figure out the main battles in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, as choosing a given starter can be more or less helpful for some of those, altering the core experience. These are:

Roxanne (Rustboro City Gym, Stone Badge)
- Geodude Lv. 14
- Nosepass Lv. 15
Brawly (Dewford Town Gym, Knuckle Badge)
- Machop Lv. 17
- Makuhita Lv. 18
Wattson (Mauville City Gym, Dynamo Badge)
- Magnemite Lv. 22
- Voltorb Lv. 20
- Magneton Lv. 23
Flannery (Lavaridge Town Gym, Heat Badge)
- Slugma Lv. 26
- Slugma Lv. 26
- Torkoal Lv. 28
Norman (Petalburg City Gym, Balance Badge)
- Slaking Lv. 28
- Vigoroth Lv. 30
- Slaking Lv. 31
Winona (Fortree City Gym, Feather Badge)
- Swellow Lv. 31
- Pelipper Lv. 30
- Skarmory Lv. 32
- Altaria Lv. 33
Tate and Liza (Mossdeep City Gym, Mind Badge)
- Lunatone Lv. 42
- Solrock Lv. 42
Wallace (Sootopolis City Gym, Rain Badge)
- Luvdisc Lv. 40
- Whiscash Lv. 42
- Sealeo Lv. 40
- Seaking Lv. 42
- Milotic Lv. 43
Sidney (Elite Four)
- Mightyena Lv. 46
- Cacturne Lv. 46
- Shiftry Lv. 48
- Sharpedo Lv. 48
- Absol Lv. 49
Phoebe (Elite Four)
- Dusclops Lv. 48
- Banette Lv. 49
- Banette Lv. 49
- Sableye L. 50
- Dusclops Lv. 51
Glacia (Elite Four)
- Glalie Lv. 50
- Sealeo Lv. 50
- Glalie Lv. 52
- Sealeo Lv. 52
- Walrein Lv. 53
Drake (Elite Four)
- Shelgon Lv. 52
- Altaria Lv. 54
- Flygon Lv. 53
- Flygon Lv. 53
- Salamence Lv. 55
Steven (Champion)
- Skarmory Lv. 57
- Cradily Lv. 56
- Claydol Lv. 55
- Armaldo Lv. 56
- Aggron Lv. 56
- Metagross Lv. 58

Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire’s Rival Battles Don’t Affect The Best Starter

Aside from these fights, there are a few encounters with your rival in Gen 3 games, but they stop quite early, to the point you never see their fully evolved starter. Their best team is outside the Lilycove Department Store, where you fight a different team based on the starter you chose.

Swellow Lv. 31, Wailmer Lv. 32, Shroomish Lv. 32, and Combusken Lv. 34 (if you pick Treecko)
Swellow Lv. 31, Shroomish Lv. 32, Numel Lv. 32, and Marshtomp Lv. 34 (if you pick Torchic)
Swellow Lv. 31, Numel Lv. 32, Wailmer Lv. 32, and Grovyle Lv. 34 (if you pick Mudkip)

These are all pretty manageable battles, including the final one at the Lilycove Department Store. For this reason, they won’t be considered in determining the best starter in Gen 3 games, as there are no major changes to the result.

Why Mudkip is The Best Starter in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire

With all this in mind, the best starter to tackle Gyms and Elite Four in these games will always be Ruby and Sapphire‘s Mudkip if efficiency and consistency are what you value. This is because:

Mudkip has no issues with Roxanne, even unevolved
Mudkip/Marshtomp take and deal neutral damage vs. Brawly
Marshtomp takes no damage from Electric attacks vs. Wattson, and Ground is supereffective against its Pokemon
Both Water and Ground are supereffective against Flannery’s Pokemon
Marshtomp/Swampert take and deal neutral damage vs. Norman
Marshtomp/Swampert take and deal neutral damage vs. Winona’s Swellow, whereas Pelipper, Skarmory, and Altaria take no damage from Ground moves and resist Water
Swampert deals supereffective damage to Tate and Liza’s Pokemon
Swampert resists or takes neutral damage from Wallace, while also dealing neutral damage with Ground moves
Swampert can deal with Sydney’s Mightyena, Sharpedo, and Absol easily, but takes 4x damage from Cacturne and Shiftry’s Grass-type moves
Swampert takes and deals neutral damage vs. Phoebe
Swampert takes and deals neutral damage vs. Glacia
Swampert can deal with Drake’s Shelgon and two Flygon easily, but can struggle against Altaria and Salamence without Ice moves
Swampert can deal easily with Steven’s entire team except for Skarmory

Most of Swampert’s issues are tied to its lack of access to Ice moves for Winona, Sydney, and Drake, as well as a reliable way to deal with Skarmory. If you add Pokemon capable of dealing with these issues to your team, Mudkip is the best Pokemon in Gen 3 when it comes to starters, bar none, at least from a battle perspective. The games can be beaten using any starter, but if you’re looking for the best possible result, Mudkip is the play. After that, Torchic is the second-best, and Treecko is last.

This is because Torchic has a good advantage over some big fights, such as Sydney, Glacia, and Steven, whereas Treecko struggles against more Gym Leaders and Elite Four members, including the Champion. Things are different when picking a starter in Pokemon Emerald, though, as the third Gen 3 game makes some big changes to encounters and big fights, and Mudkip may not necessarily be the absolute best starter there.