Utility
Balanced
BTier
70Speed · Below Avg

Politoed's spread isn't flashy. Sp. Def leads, Speed trails, 3 stats clear the bar. Tough to catch and worth 3 Sp. Def EVs, on a 1.06M XP medium-slow curve.

Base Stats
High
HP90
B
Attack75
C
Defense75
C
Sp. Atk90
B
Sp. Def100
B
Speed70
C
Total500
Details
Catch Rate
Challenging45 / 255
Growth Rate
Medium Slow1.06M XP
Height1.1 m
3'07"Small
Weight33.9 kg
74.7 lbsLight
Base XP225
High Yield
Abilities
Water AbsorbRare
Absorbs water moves, healing for 1/4 max HP.
Damp
Prevents self destruct, explosion, and aftermath from working while the Pokémon is in battle.
DrizzleHATop Pick
Summons rain that lasts indefinitely upon entering battle.
Water Absorb grants Water immunity
EV Yield
HPAtkDefSpASpD+3Spe
Strong Special Defense training target
Pokedex Entries

A group of Poliwag and Poliwhirl will form with a Politoed as the leader. Politoed’s cries make the Pokémon of the group obey.

Type-wise, Politoed takes extra damage from Electric and Grass. It resists 4 types, giving it decent defensive coverage. Water Absorb grants an additional Water immunity, reshaping the matchup chart. Politoed's special bulk (base 100 Sp.Def) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.

Politoed Weakness and Resistance Chart
DamageTypes
2x (Weak)Electric, Grass
0.5x (Resist)Fire, Water, Ice, Steel
Type ChartGood
2Weak
4Resist
1Immune
Score0
4xCritical
None
2xWeak
ElectricGrass
½xResist
FireWaterIceSteel
¼xResist
None
0xImmune
Water
STAB (3)
FireGroundRock
How to Beat Politoed (Best Counters)

Hippowdon deals 39-46% with Earthquake.

Heatran
HeatranOutspeeds
FireSteel
A
Recommended Build
AbilityFlashfire
ItemAir Balloon
NatureTimid
Moves
  • Earth Power
  • Flash Cannon
  • Magma Storm
  • Stealth Rock
Damage vs Politoed
Flash Cannon
12-15%
View Heatran builds →

Politoed is one of 2 ways Poliwhirl's chain can end. This one takes the trade route, while the siblings go different directions. Breed through Poliwag to get eggs. Poliwrath has 10 more total stats, but Politoed makes up for it with a stronger Sp.Def gain (+60 from Poliwag). View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

4 Forms
Poliwag
#060Poliwag
25
Level 25
Poliwhirl
#061Poliwhirl
Poliwrath
#062PoliwrathWater Stone
Politoed
#186PolitoedTrade + Kings Rock
Stat Comparison 4 Stages
Poliwag
Water
Poliwhirl
Water
Poliwrath
WaterFighting
Politoed
Water
HP
40
65+25
90+25
90+25
ATK
50
65+15
95+30
75+10
DEF
40
65+25
95+30
75+10
SP.ATK
40
50+10
70+20
90+40
SP.DEF
40
50+10
90+40
100+50
SPE
90
90
70-20
70-20
BST
300D-Tier
385D-Tier+85
510C-Tier+125
500B-Tier+115
ROLE
Balanced
Balanced
Balanced
Balanced
TYPE
Utility
Utility
Physical
Mixed

Breeding

Very Easy

Breed with Politoed to get Poliwag eggs easily using 114 partners from the Water1 egg group.

Egg Groups
Water1
Gender
♂50.0%♀50.0%
Hatch Time
20 cycles·5,140 steps
Quick~5 min with Flame Body
Breed With (best first)
azumarillblastoisegolduckferaligatrkingdraswampertslowbroslowkingoctilleryludicolodewgongcrawdaunt
12 of 114·

Nothing fancy here. Politoed builds around Damprock for extra utility, Calm nature for the right stat lean, and max HP and Sp. Def EVs. Drizzle does its job quietly.

Best Build

All 17 games
Recommended
Ability
Drizzle
Item
Damp Rock
Best Nature for Politoed
Calm+SPD

Politoed best EVs are Sp. Def and HP

EVs

Doubles Bulky Support Moveset

  • ProtectFAST +4
  • Weather Ball
  • Helping Hand
  • Icy Wind

Recommended Teammates

Kingdra
KingdraDecent

Moves

All 17 games

TMs define Politoed's movepool. The natural moves cover basics with Hydro Pump and Muddy Water, but the real versatility comes from technical machines giving it Normal and Ice coverage and more. That's where the options open up.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1
Belly Drum
C——10Normal
Lv 1
Hydro Pump
B110805Water
Lv 1
Pound
—4010035Normal
Lv 1
Rain Dance
C——5Water

TM Moves

TM
TM128
Amnesia
C——20Psychic
TM143
Blizzard
B110705Ice
TM66
Body Slam
C8510015Normal
TM58
Brick Break
D7510015Fighting
TM28
Bulldoze
D6010020Ground
TM22
Chilling Water
C5010020Water
TM55
Dig
C8010010Ground
TM204
Double-Edge
C12010015Normal
TM133
Earth Power
A9010010Ground
TM149
Earthquake
C10010010Ground
TM122
Encore
S—1005Normal
TM205
Endeavor
D—1005Normal
TM47
Endure+4
C——10Normal
TM25
Facade
D7010020Normal
TM43
Fling
D—10010Dark
TM158
Focus Blast
B120705Fighting
TM192
Focus Punch-3
C15010020Fighting
TM152
Giga Impact
C150905Normal
TM174
Haze
B——30Ice
TM130
Helping Hand+5
A——20Normal
TM142
Hydro Pump
B110805Water
TM163
Hyper Beam
B150905Normal
TM117
Hyper Voice
C9010010Normal
TM135
Ice Beam
S9010010Ice
TM69
Ice Punch
B7510015Ice
TM34
Icy Wind
A559515Ice
TM110
Liquidation
C8510010Water
TM12
Low Kick
D—10020Fighting
TM39
Low Sweep
D6510020Fighting
TM80
Metronome
C——10Normal
TM35
Mud Shot
D559515Ground
TM05
Mud-Slap
D2010010Ground
TM209
Muddy Water
B908510Water
TM07
Protect+4
S——10Normal
TM203
Psych Up
C——10Normal
TM120
Psychic
C9010010Psychic
TM50
Rain Dance
C——5Water
TM85
Rest
C——5Psychic
TM70
Sleep Talk
C——10Normal
TM103
Substitute
C——10Normal
TM123
Surf
A9010015Water
TM32
Swift
D60—20Normal
TM01
Take Down
D908520Normal
TM171
Tera Blast
C8010010Normal
TM18
Thief
D6010025Dark
TM11
Water Pulse
C6010020Water
TM77
Waterfall
C8010015Water
TM193
Weather Ball
S5010010Normal
TM208
Whirlpool
A358515Water

Egg Moves

Politoed doesn't have any Egg moves

Tutor Moves

Politoed can't learn any Tutor moves
All 17 games

Politoed isn't available in the wild in Scarlet & Violet. Start by transferring Poliwag from Red. The evolution path from Poliwag to Politoed is covered in the steps below.

Trade Evolution Required — Requires trading with another player

How to Obtain Politoed in Scarlet & Violet

  1. Poliwag
    Step 1Obtain Poliwag

    Also found in:

    Red
  2. Poliwhirl
    Step 2Evolve into Poliwhirl

    Also found in:

    Red
  3. Politoed
    Step 3Politoed ✓

  • Don't let Politoed's 500 base stat total fool you. Drizzle is what makes it tick. It punches way above its weight class. We rate it B-Tier.

  • Politoed's biggest threats include Jolteon (Electric) and Exeggutor (Grass), all carrying super-effective STAB moves. Only 2 weaknesses means fewer dedicated counters to worry about.

  • Run Drizzle on Politoed. It's the ability that defines how you build around it and the main reason it holds a competitive niche. Politoed also gets Water Absorb and Damp, but they don't compare.

  • Politoed fills the balanced role. It's leaning toward the special side (base 90 Sp. Atk). Base 70 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many. And it's enough bulk to take a hit or two.

  • The core moveset is Protect, Weatherball, Helpinghand, and Icywind. Protect leads at 16% usage. This set covers the balanced role with a mix of damage and utility.

Politoed has been available in 17 games since Gold & Silver, though obtaining it requires a trade evolution. This extra step makes it less common than Pokemon found through standard wild encounters.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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