Fire-type Pokémon—they’re universally loved. The concept of fire itself bursts with coolness and badassery, and that’s what a lot of the Fire-type Pokémon are about in the Pokémon franchise.
The Paldean region has introduced a couple of new amazing Fire-types along with bringing back a slew of the older generation Fire-type Pokémon, giving Generation IX an amazing variety of bodacious blazing beasts.
In this list, we will be ranking the 10 best Fire-type Pokémon currently available in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, based on a mix of criteria such as their design, competitive viability, and lore.
10 best Fire-type Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
10) Scovillain
There have been a ton of Grass/Fire-type Pokémon fanart over the years, simply because the typing did not exist prior to Generation IX, and the possibility for creativity was high. I mean, logically, how does one combine the ideas of Grass and Fire types into one Pokémon?
One common idea among fanart were chili pepper Pokémon, creatively fusing Grass-type themes by being a chili pepper and mixing in Fire-type themes since chili peppers are incredibly hot. Gamefreak took that concept and ran with it, creating Scovillain. Did it live up to the bar set by the numerous ideas and fanart before it though? Unfortunately not.
While Scovillain isn’t a bad concept, the execution could’ve been better. It’s a green chili pepper with legs and arms and an extra red chili pepper head. We’ve seen better, and this could have definitely been executed better; the reason it takes the No. 10 spot is simply because it’s the first Pokémon with this elusive and demanded dual typing.
9) Talonflame
It’s Talonflame—what’s not to like about it? And now it’s returned in Generation IX. It has a sick design and an amazing cry; seriously, listen to it.
Apart from that, it has a great ability in Gale Wings that lets it shine in battle. When Talonflame is at full health, all its Flying moves will gain +1 priority, which means that it will go first if it’s using a Flying-type move regardless of Speed tiers. This makes it a great Tailwind setter in competitive Pokémon battles to help support the rest of its team.
Gale Wings took a big nerf in Generation VII, prior to which Talonflame was broken. But now it’s a good ol’ balanced flaming bird.
8) Armarouge
We all watched the trailers leading up to the eventual release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and the one that introduced the two flaming warrior Pokémon—Armarouge and Ceruledge—stands out in particular.
It was unfortunate that Armarouge was introduced alongside its much cooler counterpart—Ceruledge, since it got outshined by the latter, which is agreed upon by the large majority of the fanbase.
But that doesn’t mean that Armarouge isn’t a cool Fire-type; it is. It may be beaten in terms of coolness factor by its counterpart, but where it really shines is in the competitive scene, getting access to Trick Room which enables it to be run on a variety of team archetypes. Armarouge can also hit hard with Expanding Force, which gets even stronger in Psychic Terrain, and its signature move Armor Cannon, an amazing tool to nuke anything that doesn’t resist Fire.
4) Paldean Tauros: Blaze
Tauros is just one of those classic Generation I Pokémon designs that you can’t not like. It’s a cool bull with multiple tails, and Generation IX made it charcoal black with different Paldean forms indicated by the specks of color on its body. A clear upgrade, the Fire version of Paldean Tauros in particular.
Paldean Tauros also gets its signature move Raging Bull, which not only turns into a strong 90 Base Power Fire-type move for the Blaze Breed of Paldean Tauros, but also breaks Light Screen, Reflect, and Aurora Veil that is present on the opponent’s side of the field. Apart from that, it gets access to Intimidate and a solid stat distribution all around.
6) Ceruledge
We can’t not add this badass son-of-a-gun to this list if we’re going to say that it’s straight-up cooler than its counterpart; which it is. I mean come on, it’s got blades for hands.
Ceruledge is actually not as good as Armarouge in terms of competitive battling, but who really cares when it looks like what every little boy’s dream was to be when they grow up: an undisputedly cool flaming ghost warrior. Or something along those lines.
While its Fire/Ghost typing gives it a couple of extra weaknesses that it would rather not have, it also gives it useful resistances and an amazing immunity to Fighting, and Normal in particular, which means that it can’t be affected by the move Fake Out, which is very popular in competitive Pokémon.
5) Torkoal
Torkoal may not be the most popular Pokémon in the anime or to casual players, but every competitive VGC player knows the importance of Torkoal in every metagame since Generation VII, due to it getting the Hidden Ability Drought.
Being one of the only three Drought setters, Torkoal is incredibly valued as it the most reliable Sun weather setter in the game, since Groudon is only allowed in Restricted formats, and Ninetails is frail and lacks offensive presence.
Torkoal is incredibly slow, but this can be argued to be an advantage rather than a disadvantage. Due to its terrible Speed, Torkoal will most likely always go first in Trick Room, which enables it to be a very potent sweeper, especially with Terrastalization in Generation IX. Apart from that, Torkoal’s Drought also enables every one of the past Paradox forms from Pokémon Scarlet, boosting their highest stat by one stage, courtesy of their ability, Protosynthesis.
You can be sure to see Torkoal making serious waves in the early competitive metagame of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
4) Arcanine
There’s no way you can dislike the OG fire doggo. Just like Tauros, Arcanine has a classic design that you simply can’t go wrong with, and incredibly well-rounded stats to go along with.
This Pokémon is also classified as the “Legendary Pokémon,” and while that term isn’t meant to be taken literally, it was said that before the final version of the first generation games were launched, Arcanine was meant to be released as an actual Legendary Pokémon, hence the classification.
Arcanine gets access to an incredible ability in Intimidate, lowering all opponents’ Attack stats by one stage. It also can take advantage of its amazing supportive movepool with moves such as Snarl, Will-O-Wisp, and Helping Hand, with powerful offensive options like Flare Blitz, Close Combat, and Extreme Speed.
3) Iron Moth
Okay, think about Volcarona. Cool, right? Now think about Volcarona, but cooler. What, that can’t be possible? Well, Iron Moth probably just accomplished that.
It’s Volcarona that has lost its Bug status, and now gains the Poison secondary typing, and a Fire and Poison dual typing just screams nasty and evil, which it apparently is.
According to the paranormal magazine “Occulture,” in the game, Iron Moth is believed to be sent by aliens to earth and it has been seen to attack random people for no apparent reason. This is Volcarona in its villain arc, and we are living for it.
Also, its wings shift in a super awesome way during its idle animation, which may have been a large reason why it’s so high up on this list. It just oozes cool.
2) Chi-Yu
One of the four members that comprise the Treasures of Ruin quartet, Chi-Yu is dubbed as the ‘Beads of Ruin’ due to it coming into existence because of the beads that now act as its eyes. These beads were apparently highly sought after in ancient times, and Chi-Yu is the manifestation of the envy that surrounded these beads, coming into existence as scorching dark flames. Now that’s a kickass backstory.
Chi-Yu is also the smallest and lightest of the four Treasures of Ruin, measuring at 0.4m and being just shy of 11 pounds, which makes this Legendary all the more epic since it is such a powerhouse. It’s fast with a solid base Speed of 100 and hits like a truck with a Special Attack stat of 135. Apart from that, its Ability, Beads of Ruin, lowers the Special Defense stat of every Pokémon on the field by 25 percent, not only enabling it to hit even harder but also its partner Pokémon as well.
Have we mentioned that Chi-Yu is also a goldfish? Now that’s adorable.
1) Fuecoco
Listen, you can get the coolest Fire-type Pokémon out there, the strongest, most competitively viable one out there, but none of that matters when you see the absolutely derpy face of this baby crocodile that you cannot help but adore.
Right when you begin your adventure in the Paldea region, you’re introduced to this lovable little goof that looks up at you with its wide eyes—not a thought behind them—just innocent admiration and love.
If we weren’t going on an adventure where we required strong Pokémon to progress, we would just keep it as it is in its base form, like doting parents who don’t want to see their little babies grow up, and can you blame us? Fuecoco is precious and needs to be protected at all costs.
What doesn’t need to be protected, however, is Fuecoco’s undisputed spot on our list as the No. 1 Fire-type Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
