Generation Three of Pokemon introduced a feature that has become a recurring competitive niche: weather. With the ability to deliberately set certain weather conditions on the battlefield, you have options to make the most out of that with certain Pokemon.
This list will look at the damper side of things: the rainy weather. Rain teams have been one of, if not the most commonly seen weather-based teams out there, and Pokemon with abilities such as Swift Swim and Drizzle make it happen. There are twenty Pokemon listed here, all of whom are tailor-made to function on a rain team, or at their best when the clouds are dark and the raindrops are falling.
Updated August 13, 2022 by Kyle Laurel: As Generation Eight’s competitive meta reaches its home stretch, the rain team niche has seen somewhat of a resurgence. As such, we’ve expanded this list to give you a few more options to dish out high-octane offense in the midst of those typhoons.
20 Politoed
While it was overtaken by Pelipper as the best rain sweeper in Generation Seven, Politoed can still function in that role very well.
Of course, what caused Pelipper to surpass it is the fact that Pelipper can do many other things aside from setting the rain. Still, while Politoed isn’t as much of a Swiss Army knife, it can still provide some backup offense with moves like Scald, or be a utility Pokemon with moves like Toxic and Encore.
19 Ludicolo
Ludicolo is the first of many Swift Swim sweepers on this list. While it isn’t a go-to in Singles, it works great in Doubles and provides a nice little twist with its unique Water/Grass-typing.
It has access to some of the best attacking moves of its types, such as Leaf Storm, Hydro Pump, and Energy Ball. It also has excellent coverage moves such as Ice Beam and Focus Blast to potentially check the team’s weaknesses.
18 Bronzong
With rain being mostly associated with Water-types, seeing a Steel/Psychic-type on this list might seem kinda random. Truth is, a Pokemon like Bronzong is almost just as essential as any Water-type sweeper would be.
Bronzong is a great support Pokemon, whose weakness to Fire is offset by the rain. With Levitate in the rain, Bronzong is only weak to Dark and Ghost-types, which further magnifies its ability to set Stealth Rocks, screens, and the like.
17 Heliolisk
The Electric-type Thunder is a great attack to use in the rain, trading a risky 70% accuracy for a guarantee to never miss. As if that wasn’t enough to make Heliolisk tailor-made for rain, one of Heliolisk’s abilities works hand-in-hand with that very weather.
Said ability is Dry Skin, which gives Heliolisk an immunity to Water-type attacks and heals it gradually in the rain. It also has access to Surf, so if you need some backup Water-type offense, it could provide that.
16 Rotom-Wash
Combining a STAB Thunder that never misses and STAB-and-rain-boosted Hydro Pump can make a Pokemon pretty dangerous, and that’s exactly what Rotom-Wash has going for it.
It doesn’t have a fancy rain-exclusive ability like Swift Swim or anything, but alongside that powerful Thunder and Hydro Pump, it still does have that defensive potential support arsenal that makes it so useful, with or without the rain. Defog and Will-O-Wisp will be just as important to have in a moveset.
15 Starmie
Starmie’s abilities in the rain are twofold, providing equal contributions as a supporter and sweeper. Its excellent 115 Speed helps quite a bit in both of those causes.
With its 100 Special Attack, its STAB Water-type attacks are strengthened further, and its STAB Psychic-type attacks and wide arsenal of coverage (Thunder, Ice Beam, Grass Knot, Dazzling Gleam) and support moves (Rapid Spin, Recover, Toxic, Reflect, Light Screen) round out an excellent movepool.
14 Seismitoad
Seismitoad is essentially a budget Mega Swampert, and has replaced it now that Mega Evolutions don’t exist in the current games. It performs a lot of the same functions, but with the options of going physical, special, or mixed, all with access to a held item.
It’s another Swift Swim sweeper, and you have tons of choices for attacks to teach it. STAB moves are Hydro Pump and Earth Power are staples, and coverage moves like Focus Blast and Sludge Bomb help out a lot.
13 Drednaw
One of the newer Pokemon on this list has one of the highest Attack stats among Pokemon with Swift Swim. It functions similarly to Kabutops and Omastar with the Water/Rock-typing.
It also has a wide array of attacking moves, such as Liquidation, Stone Edge, and its signature Jaw Lock. If you really want to make it dangerous, give it Swords Dance for setting up.
12 Scizor
In a similar fashion to Bronzong, Scizor actually benefits quite a bit from the rain, and is additionally great at offsetting the weaknesses of a mostly Water-type rain team.
Scizor, a Bug/Steel-type, is especially weak to Fire-type attacks. With those Fire-type attacks weakened in the rain, Scizor will be able to take at least two hits from a Fire-type attack without getting knocked out. Its Bug-type coverage can also be useful against the Grass-types that plague most rain sweepers.
11 Kabutops
As alluded to, Kabutops preceded Drednaw as the prototype Water/Rock-type Swift Swimmer. What puts it above the new blood is the marginally better utility it can provide.
It has access to Rapid Spin, which not only removes hazards on the user’s side on the field, but boosts the user’s Speed and is slightly stronger than before after the Generation Eight buff. It also has slightly better coverage moves, with Superpower being practically better than Jaw Lock as a check to Steel-types.
10 Zapdos
This Legendary bird is essentially Heliolisk on steroids, boasting a noticeably better 125 Special Attack and defensive stats on both sides. Plus, it takes advantage of the accuracy bypass — on not only Thunder, but STAB Hurricane, the best special Flying-type move on the market.
Otherwise, it plays a similar role to Heliolisk offensively. It doesn’t have an ability that improves its abilities in the rain on paper, but that’s trumped by its innate offensive abilities, that are great on their own — and even better with the raindrops falling.
9 Omastar
Lord Helix just edges out its fellow Kanto-native fossil as the better rain sweeper. Both have Swift Swim as an available ability, and Kabutops even has better offensive stats on paper, but Omastar arguably takes the cake thanks to its access to Shell Smash.
This fabled set-up move enhances both its below-average Speed and above-average Special Attack into dangerous levels. Pair that with its solid selection of STAB moves, and Omastar truly lives up to its honorary Lord title.
8 Kingdra
The quintessential special Swift Swim sweeper, Kingdra has a ton of tools in its bag to do work on the offensive end of a rain team.
It has some of the best STAB moves of its Water/Dragon-typing, such as Surf, Hydro Pump, and Draco Meteor. Other moves that really help this Pokemon shine are Hurricane, an excellent coverage move that never misses in the rain, and Flip Turn, which allows it to switch out when needed and keep momentum.
7 Mega Swampert
It was a huge deal for rain team aficionados to have a full-blown starter gain a Swift Swim Mega Evolution. Swampert can no longer access this form in Sword & Shield, but it was fun while it lasted.
While it didn’t have the access to Flip Turn it has access to now, Waterfall was an excellent STAB option, occasionally causing opponents to flinch. Earthquake was another standard STAB move, and Ice Punch helped deal with Grass-types.
6 Dracovish
By itself, Dracovish has already proven itself to be one of the most overpowered non-Legendary Pokemon out there. Part of the reason why is its signature move, Fishious Rend, which doubles in power when it goes first.
It’s arguably best used in the rain even though it doesn’t have Swift Swim, since it boosts Fishious Rend even further. It also has crazy good coverage, with access to Psychic Fangs, Crunch, and Earthquake, alongside STAB Dragon-type moves like Outrage and Dragon Rush.
5 Ferrothorn
Similarly to Bronzong and Scizor, the highly defensive Ferrothorn is even better on that end with the rain up, softening any Fire-type blow that comes its way.
Rather than providing offense as Scizor does, Ferrothorn is mainly there for utility; putting up hazards (Stealth Rock, Spikes) and Leech Seed, and dealing status effects (Thunder Wave, Toxic). Attacking moves such as Body Press, Gyro Ball, and Knock Off aren’t unwelcome, though.
4 Pelipper
Barring any banned Legendaries, Pelipper is easily the best rain setter out there. Not only will it set up the rain with its Drizzle ability, but it also comes with a bunch of extra offensive perks.
Being a Flying-type, it has access to Hurricane, which bypasses accuracy in the rain, as well as Hydro Pump or Scald. More importantly, it has access to U-Turn and Roost, both of which help keep it alive to go along with its sneaky-good Defense.
3 Palkia
The third Water/Dragon-type to make an appearance on this list, Palkia doesn’t really need to be on a rain team to be successful. It would absolutely dominate in the rain, though.
It can do most of what Dracovish can do, but dialed up to Legendary-level power. It has a learnset that includes not only Surf, Draco Meteor, and even Thunder, but a very good signature move in Spatial Rend.
2 Barraskewda
Barraskewda was an instant success in Sword & Shield’s metagame, swiftly taking over as the top dog (…or fish) among Swift Swim sweepers. It’s already super fast and super strong as-is, and the fact that Swift Swim boosts its already insane 136 Speed is unfair.
Not only that, but this pure Water-type has access to an incredibly wide pool of attacking moves. STAB standards like Flip Turn, Liquidation, Aqua Jet, and Waterfall are great, but to have moves like Psychic Fangs, Drill Run, Crunch, and Close Combat as well it makes it even better.
1 Kyogre
In terms of pure strength, Kyogre is easily the best Pokemon on this list with its 680 base stat total. However, that’s not the only reason why it tops this list.
Kyogre is the OG rain-setter, at one point being the only Pokemon with Drizzle as an ability. Even though it’s been banned to Ubers ever since its release, it could hypothetically be the leader of an incredible rain team there. Generation VIII also happens to be a great time to do so, with new Ubers-stalwart Dracovish working great alongside it.
NEXT: Scarlet & Violet Shows That Not Everything Should Copy Breath Of The Wild
