Best Water Pokemon in Fire Red/Leaf Green

Lapras is the best Water Pokemon in Fire Red/Leaf Green. Its all-round stats and versatility can’t be beaten. However, there are plenty of other good Water options including Starmie, Gyarados, Vaporeon, and Poliwrath. Read more about each Pokemon below!

Fire Red/Leaf Green Best Water Pokemon

If we don’t include Blastoise which is not available to players who don’t pick Squirtle at the start of the game, then Lapras is your best bet for a Water Pokemon in Fire Red/Leaf Green.

Lapras

Lapras doesn’t evolve from anything, nor does it evolve into anything. It’s just Lapras. It’s the ‘Transport’ Pokemon and its huge HP and the quality of moves it learns from a low level puts it top of the list.

Lapras base stats (Fire Red/Leaf Green)

Lapras’ base stat total is 535:

• HP: 130
• Attack: 85
• Defense: 80
• Sp. Attack: 85
• Sp. Defense: 95
• Speed: 60

With beneficial nature plus EVs and IVs, Lapras’ max base stat total at level 100 is 1655.

Best Lapras moveset in Fire Red/Leaf Green

Lapras’ attack and special attack stats are fairly even which, coupled with a reasonably broad move pool, makes it a very versatile option.

Ice beam (learned at level 31) gets a same type attack bonus (STAB) by virtue of Lapras’ dual Water/Ice type. It’s a must have in any Lapras move pool to provide coverage.

STAB Surf has high power, 100 accuracy and plenty of PP so it’s another easy choice for Lapras

When Psychic can be used, it’s pretty hard not to include it given how strong Psychic moves and Pokemon are in Fire Red/Leaf Green.

Finally, Lapras is perfect for utilizing Perish Song to dispatch tricky opponents given its high HP and defensive stats.

What is Lapras strong against?

Lapras has plenty of effective moves at its disposal. Its Ice moves are super effective against Grass type Pokemon in Fire Red/Leaf Green, which is useful coverage as Water Pokemon are otherwise naturally weak against Grass type moves.

Lapras’ water moves will do the business against Fire and Rock Pokemon and its Ice type moves will cut through Flying and Dragon Pokemon.

Both Water and Ice are also super effective against Ground type Pokemon.

What is Lapras weak against?

Electric, Grass, Fighting and Rock are all super effective against Lapras’ dual Water/Ice type.

Otherwise, Lapras’ most obvious vulnerability is its low speed. Even with its considerable bulk, this might cause problems against fast Pokemon.

Where to catch Lapras in Fire Red/Leaf Green

There are a couple of ways to get your hands on a Lapras in Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green:

1. Talk to the NPC on the seventh floor of the Silph Co. building in Saffron City. He will gift you a level 15 Lapras.
2. Catch a Lapras in the wild in Icefall Cave on Four Island

Other strong Water Pokemon in Fire Red/Leaf Green

Several other Pokemon can legitimately be crowned the best Water Pokemon in Fire Red/Leaf Green – a lot depends on your play style and the make up of the rest of your team. Here are four more options:

Starmie

Starmie is one of my personal favorite Pokemon but there’s bad news for FireRed players – this great dual Water/Psychic type is a LeafGreen exclusive.

Starmie base stats (Fire Red/Leaf Green)

Starmie’s base stat total is 520:

• HP: 60
• Attack: 75
• Defense: 85
• Sp. Attack: 100
• Sp. Defense: 85
• Speed: 115

With beneficial nature plus EVs and IVs, Starmie’s max base stat total at level 100 is 1876.

Best Starmie moveset in Fire Red/Leaf Green

The best move set for Starmie is not that dissimilar from Lapras, with the main difference being that Starmie’s big special attack makes it a more effective bolt beam option.

Ice Beam and Thunderbolt don’t get STAB when used by Starmie but these special moves are very powerful even without the bonus and provide amazing coverage in the late game battles.

Of the special water moves, Surf is the most powerful and therefore sensible pick for Starmie.

One of the reasons that Starmie is so useful is that it is a dual Water/Psychic type. With its great special attack, that makes STAB Psychic almost unfairly powerful for Starmie. Stick it in your moveset for sure.

What is Starmie strong against?

There are few situations where you’d feel totally unconfident heading into a battle with a Starmie on your team.

Its super special attack and wide coverage make it well worth training up.

STAB boosted Water moves will wreak havoc against Fire, Ground, and Rock Pokemon, and Psychic specials will tear apart Fighting and Poison types.

What is Starmie weak against?

Bug, Ghost, and Dark type moves are naturally strong against Psychic Pokemon, though there aren’t many strong Bug moves (which is one of the reasons Psychic Pokemon are so effective).

It would also be a good idea to use Electric and Grass type Pokemon against Starmie as they are naturally effective against Water.

Where to catch Starmie in Fire Red/Leaf Green

If you’re playing Fire Red, the only way you can obtain a Starmie is by trading a Leaf Green player for one.

For Leaf Green players – Staryu can be caught in various locations using a Super Rod (which you can get from the fisherman in the house halfway along Route 12).

Use a Water Stone to evolve your Staryu into a Starmie. You can buy a Water Stone in the Celadon City Department Store on the 4th floor.

Gyarados

A scary looking flying water dragon that packs an outrageous attack, it has one of the more terrifying monikers in the original Kanto Pokedex: The ‘Atrocious Pokemon’.

Gyarados base stats (Fire Red/Leaf Green)

Gyarados’s base stat total is 540:

• HP: 95
• Attack: 125
• Defense: 79
• Sp. Attack: 60
• Sp. Defense: 100
• Speed: 81

With beneficial nature plus EVs and IVs, Gyarados’s max base stat total at level 100 is 1914.

Best Gyarados moveset in Fire Red/Leaf Green

Physical moves are the name of the game for Gyarados given its 125 attack.

Gyarados can learn Earthquake via TM – that’s a 100 power, 100 accuracy physical move. Thrash is also a good option (learned by level up) as it locks in the opponent for three turns and causes it to become confused.

Dragon Dance will make Gyarados’ attack even stronger (and also raise its speed) and something like Surf will be a good option to ensure there is at least one strong STAB special move when required.

What is Gyarados strong against?

Gyarados’ dual Water/Flying type gives it some nice advantages against other types. All of the following move types are not very effective against Gyarados: Fire, Water, Fighting, Bug, and Steel.

Any Pokemon that is in any way vulnerable to physical damage (average or low HP and defense stats) will not stand a chance against an angry Gyarados.

What is Gyarados weak against?

The biggest downside to using Gyarados is that it is totally useless against Electric Pokemon in Fire Red/Leaf Green. That’s because its dual Water/Flying type gives it a x4 weakness against Electric moves.

Where to catch Gyarados in Fire Red/Leaf Green

Another nice thing about Gyarados is that you can obtain one relatively early on in the game by evolving a Magikarp.

Magikarp might seem like the most pointless Pokemon ever created when you first encounter it but train it up by putting it in your first slot and then switching it out at the start of every battle.

Once Magikarp reaches level 20, it will evolve into Gyarados.

You can also catch a Gyarados in the wild in various spots across the Kanto region with a Super Rod.

Vaporeon

All three of the Eevee evolutions are very handy indeed and Vaporeon – the ‘Bubble Jet’ Pokemon – makes my top five Water Pokemon thanks largely to its big special attack (the highest of all the Pokemon in this article).

Vaporeon base stats (Fire Red/Leaf Green)

Vaporeon’s base stat total is 525:

• HP: 130
• Attack: 65
• Defense: 60
• Sp. Attack: 110
• Sp. Defense: 95
• Speed: 65

With beneficial nature plus EVs and IVs, Vaporeon’s max base stat total at level 100 is 1873.

Best Vaporeon moveset in Fire Red/Leaf Green

My preference with Vaporon given its low speed and average defense would be to go all out attack with special type moves.

Once you’ve acquired the HM, Vaporeon will cause chaos with STAB Surf.

Double the effectiveness of Surf, and any other Water type moves, by coupling them up with Rain Dance.

Give your Vaporeon a bit of coverage with Ice Beam and Blizzard – the latter dishes out some serious damage.

What is Vaporeon strong against?

Vaporeon is inherently strong against Fire, Ground, and Rock Pokemon thanks to its STAB Water moves.

Vaporeon’s most important attribute is its special attack which will cause trouble for all but the beefiest of special defenses.

What is Vaporeon weak against?

Electric and Grass moves are super effective against Vaporeon.

To counter Vaporeon most effectively, pick a fast with strong special defense (like the Electric type Eevee evolution, Jolteon, or even Venusaur).

Where to catch Vaporeon in Fire Red/Leaf Green

In order to get a Vaporeon, you need to evolve an Eevee using a Water Stone.

You can buy a Water Stone in the Celadon City Department Store on the 4th floor.

For Eevee, head to the Celadon Mansion and enter via the back door. Keep climbing the stairs until you enter a room with a bandana-clad man standing in it.

There’s a Pokeball on the table behind his left shoulder. Simply walk up and grab it – it has an Eevee inside it!

Poliwrath

What cute little Pokemons Poliwag and Poliwhirl are! And what a mean looking thing Poliwrath is! It’s known as the ‘Tadpole’ Pokemon but I’ve never seen a tadpole with fists that big.

Poliwrath is a good all rounder, is nice and bulky, and has access to an excellent variety of moves.

Poliwrath base stats (Fire Red/Leaf Green)

Poliwrath’s base stat total is 500:

• HP: 90
• Attack: 85
• Defense: 95
• Sp. Attack: 70
• Sp. Defense: 90
• Speed: 70

With beneficial nature plus EVs and IVs, Poliwrath’s max base stat total at level 100 is 1848.

Best Poliwrath Fire Red/Leaf Green moveset

All of Poliwrath’s base stats are within 20 points of each other – it’s a well rounded option that can be molded quite nicely to your desired tactic.

Poliwrath is a dual Water/Fighting type Pokemon so we can use both Brick Break and Waterfall with STAB goodness.

However, as Brick Break can be learned by a lot of other Pokemon, it might make more sense to save it for something else and fill the space with something less common: STAB Submission would be my choice.

Surf is a no brainer and you could do worse than including Blizzard for more powerful coverage.

What is Poliwrath strong against?

Poliwrath has quite broad natural defenses, with the following move types all only dealing x0.5 damage: Fire, Water, Ice, Bug, Rock, Dark, Steel.

Its water moves are also super effective against Fire and Rock as well as Ground, while Fighting moves do the business against Ice, Rock, Dark, and Steel as well as Normal.

What is Poliwrath weak against?

Don’t even bother trying to use Poliwhirl against Electric type Pokemon, Grass, Flying, Psychic, or Fairy.

Where to find Poliwrath in Fire Red/Leaf Green

Poliwrath evolves from Poliwhirl, which itself evolves from Poliwag. A Good Rod is good enough to hook a Poliwag in various different locations.

To evolve a Poliwhirl into a Poliwrath, you need to use a Water Stone.

You can buy the Water Stone in Celadon City on the 4th floor of the Celadon Department Store.

Poliwrath also made my list of the top Fighting Pokemon in Fire Red/Leaf Green.

Fire Red/Leaf Green best Water Pokemon – conclusion

There is a nice range of very decent Water Pokemon in Fire Red/Leaf Green but Lapras is the best of all. Other good options include:

• Starmie
• Gyarados
• Vaporeon
• Poliwrath