Fighting-type Pokémon are known for their high attack stat and strong physical moves. While fighting types are typically underrepresented in high tiered competitive play, their good pool of strong, physical attack moves make them prime for carrying your team through Pokemon Scarlet & Violet.
There are a wide variety of good Fighting types with great move pools this time around, making it better than ever to focus on Fighting types for your team than ever before. Even so, it’s important to know what Fighting types in particular to be looking for. Here are the best Fighting types available in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet.
10/10 Flamigo
New in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Flamigo’s unusual Flying/Fighting typing makes for some interesting setups. It does have a respectable 115 Attack and 90 Speed, but just okay HP and outright bad Defense make it hard to use well.
With its focus being on physical attacks, it has plenty of great Fighting and Flying type moves to take advantage of, but none of the ones it learns are any good until Brave Bird at level 54. Flamigo can learn plenty of great Flying and Fighting type moves, but the new TM system means you will have to do plenty of grinding in order to get it there.
9/10 Heracross
The gen II Bug/Bighting-type staple makes a return in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, although this time it has much more competition for its spot. Its formerly spectacular 125 Attack is hardly in a class of its own, and the new version of Volcarona steals its typing specialty. Its moveset has fallen behind as well.
If you’ve been latching on to Heracross since being impossible to find in the generation II titles, you can still do well with it in Paldea, but it’s hard to recommend it over any others ahead of it on this list.
8/10 Quaquaval
One of the final starter Pokémon evolutions, Quaquaval is a well-rounded Water/Fighting type with just average Health, defenses, and Speed, with a focus on physical attacks. For a starter evolutions, its stats are nothing to write home about, and most of its learned moves are Flying type for some reason. It does learn Close Combat, but so does just about everything on this list. None of its Water attacks are anything to write home about either.
Quaquaval has legitimate argument to being the best designed of the new starter trio evolutions, but it might also be the most disappointing in battle as well.
7/10 Lucario
The gen IV favorite is back, and it has the same tricks as usual — a frail yet elite mixed attacker with great Speed. Still a Fighting/Steel type, Lucario maintains its 3 weaknesses and 9 resistances. Lucario has its usual great setup moves with Calm Mind and Swords Dance, which distances it from other Fighting types in Paldea.
Its big upside to others on this list is most of these moves are learned before level 50, meaning you can get up and running with Lucario far faster than other Fighting types here.
6/10 Annihilape
Possibly the coolest new evolution of a pre-existing Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet, Primeape gains a new evolution with a Ghost subtype of all things. All of its stats see a boost with HP being the most notable at a +45. It learns both Cross Chop and Close Combat fairly early, both before level 40, but that’s just about it for its learnset. It doesn’t learn a single Ghost-type move natively, and the only decent physical Ghost attack it can learn through TM is Shadow Claw.
If you were a huge Primeape fan, you should be plenty sated, but sadly Annihilape falls just a step or two short of being incredible.
5/10 Iron Hands Hariyama
Exclusive to Pokémon Violet, Hariyama drops its pure Fighting typing for an Electric subtype of all things. Unlike most of the new forms in Scarlet and Violet, Iron Hands Hariyama sees boosts to every single stat with zero trade-offs. Only its Speed stays the same at 50. Three weaknesses with massive HP, Attack, and Defense make it a nightmare to KO.
It also has the perfect learnset with the usual building up of more powerful Electric and Fighting type physical attacks, while even offering some great setup moves like Belly Drum and Detect.This new form of Hariyama has a chance to become one of the most feared Belly Drum users in Scarlet and Violet.
4/10 Slither Wing Volcarona
Exclusively found in Pokémon Scarlet, this new version of Volcarona drops the Fire subtype in exchange for Fighting, and it is far less of a direct upgrade than its other new form counterparts. It swaps its usual great Special Attack stat for the same 135 base power in regular Attack instead. It also drops its Speed in exchange for this.
Slither Wing Volcarona also starts with decent STAB physical attacks, like Bug Bite and Low Sweep, eventually working its way up to Lunge, Superpower, and First Impression. It also maintains a decent enough 85 Special Attack if you want to use it more like a mixed attacker, but with all of its learned attacks being physical, it’s clear what direction the game is pointing you in.
3/10 Great Tusk Donphan
Donphan’s new form is a Ground/Fighting type and is exclusive to Pokémon Scarlet. This version of Donphan sees small boosts to its key stats, most notably Speed, which goes from a slow 50 to a more competitive 87. Donphan still maintains its solid Attack and Defense stats, with a plus 25 to HP making it a more viable wall. With 6 weaknesses, Great Tusk Donphan is more useful as a damage dealer and potential sweeper now with its Speed stat.
Sadly, Donphan’s move pool is very thin in the early game, ultimately learning moves like Earthquake and Close Combat, but not until levels 49 and 63 respectively. Great Tusk Donphan has serious competitive capabilities, but will be too much trouble getting to a viable spot before the main story is already over.
2/10 Iron Valiant Gallade
The new form of Gallade is a Pokémon Violet exclusive, and it loses its Psychic/Fighting typing in exchange for a Fairy/Fighting combo typing. While it sees small boosts to a few stats, more substantially toward physical Defense and Speed, it also drops its Special Defense 55 points. While Gallade’s HP is still somewhat lacking, a beefy mixed attack stat along with its typing make it the ultimate glass cannon.
Its strong learned attacks with Dazzling Gleam and Close Combat come fairly later on, with good type coverage in Grass, Psychic, Dark, and Normal moves in its learnset. Its new form does add two new weaknesses in Fairy and Psychic, but this isn’t nearly enough to offset Iron Valiant Gallade’s positives.
1/10 Koraidon
The cover art Pokémon for Pokémon Scarlet, Koraidon comes with the usual insane legendary Pokémon stats, with the lowest being a solid 85 Special Attack. Koraidon, being a Fighting/Dragon type, has access to high power physical moves like Drain Punch, Brick Break, and Dragon Claw. Closer toward level 100, it learns 120-power attack moves with Outrage and Close Combat.
This would be enough to put it high on the list, but its ability, Orichalcum Pulse, changes the battle to sunlight and ups its Attack throughout the duration of it. Koraidon will be a fan favorite through the higher tiers of competitive play for some time to come.
