Water type
Pokémon.
The most populated type — defensive bedrock + rain abuse + utility.
Water stats
What defines the Water type
Water is the largest type by Pokémon count and one of the most versatile. Defensively it's a top-3 type: 4 resistances (Fire, Water, Ice, Steel), no immunity but only 2 weaknesses (Electric and Grass), making mono-Water Pokémon like Quagsire and Toxapex elite tanks. Offensively, Water gets the highest-BP STAB nuke in the game (Hydro Pump at 110 BP / 80% accuracy), plus utility moves like Scald (30% burn chance — was the meta-defining status spam for years) and Surf (hits both opponents in doubles for VGC). The Drizzle / Rain Dance archetype defines half of competitive Pokémon's history: Pelipper sets rain → Kingdra / Barraskewda / Iron Bundle use Swift Swim or Booster Speed to outspeed everything with rain-boosted Hydro Pump.
Best Water-type Pokémon
Top 12 by Base Stat Total across all generations
Palkia
Kyogre
Manaphy
Volcanion
Walking Wake
Suicune
Keldeo
Tapu Fini
Iron Bundle
Gyarados
Kingdra
Milotic
Water offensive analysis
Water hits Fire, Ground, and Rock super-effective — strong against the meta. Combined with Ice coverage it locks down most Dragon-types. Specs Hydro Pump under rain = 405% effective damage. Freeze-Dry (Ice move, hits Water super-effective) is the only common Water-counter outside resistant typing.
What Water attacks hit super-effective
What resists Water attacks
Strongest Water moves
Top 12 attacking moves by base power (Gen 9)
| Move | Cat | BP | Acc | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hydro Cannon | special | 150 | 90 | The target is hit with a watery blast. The user can't move on the next turn. |
| Wave Crash | physical | 120 | 100 | The user shrouds itself in water and slams into the target with its whole body t… |
| Hydro Pump | special | 110 | 80 | The target is blasted by a huge volume of water launched under great pressure. |
| Crabhammer | physical | 100 | 90 | The target is hammered with a large pincer. This move has a heightened chance of… |
| Aqua Tail | physical | 90 | 90 | The user attacks by swinging its tail as if it were a vicious wave in a raging s… |
| Muddy Water | special | 90 | 85 | The user attacks by shooting muddy water at opposing Pok�mon. This may also lowe… |
| Surf | special | 90 | 100 | The user attacks everything around it by swamping its surroundings with a giant … |
| Liquidation | physical | 85 | 100 | The user slams into the target using a full-force blast of water. This may also … |
| Aqua Step | physical | 80 | 100 | The user toys with the target and attacks it using light and fluid dance steps. … |
| Dive | physical | 80 | 100 | The user dives on the first turn, then floats up and attacks on the next turn. |
| Water Pledge | special | 80 | 100 | A column of water hits the target. When used with its fire counterpart, this mov… |
| Waterfall | physical | 80 | 100 | The user charges at the target and may make it flinch. |
Water defensive analysis
Just 2 weaknesses (Electric, Grass) makes mono-Water Pokémon great pivots. Water/Ground (Swampert, Quagsire, Clodsire) drops Electric weakness for 1 Grass 4× weak — net positive defensively. Storm Drain ability (Gastrodon) absorbs opposing Water moves and grants +1 SpA.
Water's weaknesses, resistances, and immunities
Weak to (2×)
Resists (½×)
Best Water dual-type combos
Water / Ground
Examples: Swampert, Quagsire, Clodsire, Whiscash
Only 1 weakness (Grass) and immune to Electric — best defensive duo in the game
Water / Steel
Examples: Empoleon
10+ resists, ice/Fairy answer with Steel STAB
Water / Fairy
Examples: Tapu Fini, Primarina
Misty Surge + Hyper Voice spam, immune to Dragon
Water / Dark
Examples: Greninja, Crawdaunt
Adaptability Water STAB or Protean type-changing offense
Water type history & meta shifts
Water gained Fire/Ice/Steel resistances stacked over gens. Gen 6's Fairy didn't affect Water directly. The big metagame shifts came from items: Choice Specs (Gen 4) supercharged Hydro Pump nukes, Eviolite (Gen 5) elevated Slowpoke and Frillish, and Heavy-Duty Boots (Gen 8) made Pelipper / Slowking-G into hazard-proof pivots.
Vibe in one line
Versatile, defensive bedrock, rain-team enabler.