Sword, Shield, Brilliant Diamond, Shining Pearl, Legends: Arceus · Galar · 2019
Gen 8 starters
Complete guide to all three Gen 8 starter Pokémon. Story difficulty, competitive viability, and which one to pick.
→ 
Grookey → Rillaboom
Grass → Grass
Drummer ape with Grassy Surge auto-setting Grassy Terrain.
View Rillaboom →
→ 
Scorbunny → Cinderace
Fire → Fire
Fast soccer rabbit with Libero (type changes to match each move).
View Cinderace →
→ 
Sobble → Inteleon
Water → Water
Sniper chameleon with Sniper boosting crit damage.
View Inteleon →Which Gen 8 starter should you pick?
Best overall: Scorbunny. Cinderace with Libero is the strongest Gen 8 starter competitively (banned from OU briefly during DLC). Pyro Ball + Court Change + High Jump Kick covers most matchups.
Best design / mascot appeal: Sobble. Sobble was the most popular pre-evo on social media in 2019. Sad noises, then becomes a cool sniper. Inteleon is competitively weaker but visually distinct.
Best for Grassy Terrain teams: Grookey. Rillaboom enables Tapu Bulu / Comfey / Whimsicott Grassy Surge spam. Best in Doubles/VGC.
Grookey → Rillaboom
Grass → Grass
Rillaboom's Grassy Surge ability auto-sets Grassy Terrain on switch-in (boosts Grass moves by 30% and heals 1/16 HP per turn for grounded Pokémon). Wood Hammer is one of the strongest Grass STABs ever. Best in OU as a setter for Terrain Pulse + Bulky teams.
Scorbunny → Cinderace
Fire → Fire
Cinderace's **Libero** ability (Hidden) is Protean — its type changes to match the move it's about to use, giving STAB on EVERY attack. Pyro Ball, High Jump Kick, Iron Head, U-turn make it the most-used starter in Gen 8 OU. Banned to Ubers in DLC tiers.
Sobble → Inteleon
Water → Water
Inteleon has Sniper (Hidden Ability) which makes critical hits do 2.25× damage instead of 1.5×. Snipe Shot always targets the chosen Pokémon and has high crit ratio. Less competitively dominant than Cinderace/Rillaboom — typically RU/UU.
Story difficulty
Scorbunny is the easiest start (fast, hits hard with Pyro Ball immediately). Sobble is the trickiest mid-game (Sobble's stats are sub-par until Drizzile). Grookey is reliable throughout with Wood Hammer + Grassy Glide priority.
Competitive viability
Cinderace (Libero) was dominant in OU until Hidden Abilities ban. Currently OU with regular ability (Blaze). Rillaboom is OU-staple Grassy Surge setter. Inteleon is UU/RU. All three are competitively viable, which is rare for a starter generation.
Fun facts about Gen 8 starters
Galar starters were the first to keep their pure typing on final evolution (no secondary type) — a callback to Gen 1's Bulbasaur (Grass/Poison was the exception). Cinderace is loosely based on soccer/football culture. Inteleon is a James Bond-style spy chameleon.