Water Type Pokemon GO

Water is the most populated type in Pokemon GO with more than 170 released species, ranging from kiddie-pool Magikarp to oceanic legendaries like Kyogre, Palkia, and Manaphy. Water attackers handle three of the most common raid weaknesses — Fire, Rock, and Ground — making them universally useful and beginner-friendly. Water moves are also resisted by relatively few types (Water, Grass, Dragon), so they rarely deal “neutral disaster” damage. Signature Water moves include Hydro Cannon (the starter Community Day move), Surf, Hydro Pump, Origin Pulse (Primal Kyogre exclusive), and Aqua Tail. Water types are weak to Electric and Grass, both of which are extremely common attacking types in PvP.

Best Water-type attackers

Primal Kyogre and Mega Swampert top the Water attacker tier list, with Kyogre, Mega Blastoise, Mega Gyarados, and Shadow Swampert close behind. Kyogre with Waterfall and Surf or Origin Pulse is the long-standing benchmark Water raider. Mega Swampert combines Hydro Cannon STAB with the Mega Attack multiplier to surpass non-Mega Kyogre on shorter raids. Shadow Feraligatr, Shadow Swampert, and Shadow Empoleon (also Steel) round out the Shadow tier. Greninja, Empoleon, Samurott, Inteleon, and Quaquaval bring Community-Day-tuned Water DPS at lower investment cost. Sharpedo (Water/Dark) flexes between roles thanks to Crunch.

Water type in PvP and GO Battle League

Water types own the Great and Ultra League meta. Swampert with Hydro Cannon and Sludge Wave dominates open Great League. Lanturn (Water/Electric), Azumarill (Water/Fairy), Quagsire (Water/Ground), and Carbink-killer Empoleon are core picks. In Ultra League, Swampert, Walrein, Cresselia counters like Mandibuzz, and Pelipper see consistent usage. In Master League, Kyogre, Palkia, Origin Forme Palkia, Mega Swampert, and Gyarados lead the Water charge. Specialty cups frequently allow only Water types — formats like Element Cup and Sunshine Cup favor Lanturn, Marshtomp, and Toxicroak counters. Greninja brings unique Dark coverage with Night Slash.

Strengths, weaknesses and strategy

Water attackers shine against Fire (Mega Charizard Y, Heatran, Reshiram), Rock (Tyranitar, Rhyperior), and Ground (Garchomp, Excadrill). They are 1.6× weak to Electric and Grass, and 2.56× weak when those moves are paired with weather boost. Rainy weather amplifies Water by 1.2× and is the optimal raiding window. Avoid Water types in Foggy or Cloudy windows where opposing Grass or Fairy attackers are likely buffed. Many Water Pokemon are dual-typed, which can help (Water/Steel like Empoleon resists Electric) or hurt (Water/Flying like Gyarados takes 4× from Electric). Always check secondary typing before committing six Water raiders to a fight.

Notable Water Pokemon

Water Community Days have produced legacy moves that define the meta: Squirtle, Totodile, Mudkip, Piplup, Oshawott, Froakie, Popplio, and Sobble all unlocked Hydro Cannon as their CD charged move, vaulting Swampert, Empoleon, and Greninja into raid relevance. Magikarp Community Day in 2018 introduced Aqua Tail Gyarados. Kyogre received a Raid Day in 2024 that unlocked the long-awaited Origin Pulse legacy move. Primal Kyogre debuted as a Primal Raid in 2024, immediately taking the Water DPS crown. Mega Blastoise, Mega Gyarados, and Mega Swampert appear regularly in Mega Raid rotations, and Shadow Swampert is one of the most highly-prized Shadow farms in the game.