Pokémon Sword & Shield: The Best And Worst Member Of Each Rival’s Team

Hop, Marnie, and Bede. Three great rivals, but how do their Pokémon stack up? Which is their best, and their worst?

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The toughest challenge that you’ll ever come across in a Pokémon game, besides the champion, of course, is from your rival. They’re a part of your journey from day one, always there challenging you to be better, to fight harder. Sometimes they’re nice, sometimes they’re awful, and sometimes they’re a young boy who looks like an elderly woman, but no matter what, they always push you to your limit. Except for your little X&Y posse, but nevermind that for now.

In Pokémon Sword & Shield your main rival is Hop, but you also have two side rivals in the form of Marnie and Bede. All three are great in their own way, and today, we’re going to be taking a look at their teams, and determining which of their Pokémon is the best, and which is the worst. Let’s get right into it.

6 Hop’s Worst: Dubwool

Hop has a great arc in Pokémon Sword & Shield, and that is partially tied into his Dubwool, switching it out for a “stronger” Pokémon at one point in the story before bringing it back and never letting go again. Along with that, their Twilight Wings episode is literally the cutest thing that has ever existed on the planet, period, That doesn’t mean that Dubwool isn’t bad though, because Dubwool is bad.

In the final fight with Hop, which is a very difficult fight, by the way, Dubwool provides virtually no challenge. The AI doesn’t really even have it attack very often. It almost allows you to set up with another one of your Pokémon, if you’d really like to. It’s a shame that a Pokémon that directly contributes to Hop’s arc is such a slouch when it comes to team composition.

5 Hop’s Best: Zacian Or Zamazenta

Depending on the version of Sword & Shield that you bought, Hop’s best team member will be either Zacian or Zamazenta. No matter which creature Hop has, it is incredibly powerful.

Both of them have strong defenses, hit incredibly hard, and move quickly. They’re virtually impossible to beat with a regular old story Pokémon if you aren’t carefully EV training. If you’re just playing through normally, you basically have to use the opposite legendary, Eternatus, or both. Hop certainly puts up a challenge in his final fight.

4 Marnie’s Worst: Liepard

Marnie’s team can put up quite a fight, but… eh, Liepard really doesn’t. There’s nothing specifically wrong with Liepard, it just doesn’t have all that great of a moveset, and beyond that, it isn’t particularly a stat beast. Marnie can give you trouble in a few different situations, but it isn’t going to be with her Liepard. That’s the easy part. Instead, it will be with another one of her Pokémon.

3 Marnie’s Best: Grimmsnarl

The rest of Marnie’s team can actually be pretty threatening, Toxicroak can even surprise you with its incredibly solid moveset, but Marnie’s best Pokémon is going to be her Grimmsnarl, even if it is a bit close.

For one, it can Gigantamax when inside a stadium, and that is never going to be a good time. It’s also got a great base stat total. Combine that with a solid movepool, and you’ve got a dangerous creature on your hands. Gigantamax or not, Grimmsnarl is one that you absolutely need to watch out for. It could surprise you if you aren’t careful.

2 Bede’s Worst: Galarian Rapidash

Onto the elderly woman we discussed earlier, Bede. He is one of the first rivals that we’ve gotten in some time who is literally just horrible in every sense. Fantastic. One of his Pokémon is Galarian Rapidash, and… well you know where this is going. Galarian Rapidash is a beautifully designed Pokémon, no one will fight you there. However, when it comes to actually battling, it kind of has all the cards stacked against it. Galarian Rapidash did not get even a slight bump to its base stat total compared to Kantonian Rapidash, and it’s a physical Fairy- and Psychic-type, its got its work cut out for it.

Adding on to all of that, The only STAB physical move that Bede’s Galarian Rapidash has is Zen Headbutt. A good move, but that’s it. Game Freak did Galarian Rapidash dirty with its stats and typings, but Bede also did his dirty with that moveset. This poor thing really just can’t win, can it?

1 Bede’s Best: Hatterene

Hat woman over here is going to be Bede’s best Pokémon, and that is, of course, because it’s his Gigantamaxer. That’s not the only reason though, it’s generally a good Pokémon with a solid movepool. It even has Calm Mind for if it wants to set up on its opponent. Bede has a pretty strong team all around, but his Hatterene is quite the tough opponent, so make sure you have a strategy for taking this one on, or else it will be lights out for you.

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