It’s time to head into the ocean as we check out the best Squid Pokemon!
Water type Pokemon are among my favourites, having chosen Squirtle as my first ever Starter Pokemon, way back in the early days of Pokemon Blue.
Also, cephalopods – covering creatures such as octopus and squid – happen to be among the most fascinating real world creatures, so of course there’s lots of appeal in seeing the Pokemon team bring their own fantastical spin to tentacled monsters!
As it’s debatable whether or not some of these are squid, octopus, jellyfish or hybrids of those types of creatures, we’ve opted to cover all types of Pokemon that appear to be based on cephalopods (with those borderline, jellyfish-esque monsters that could just about qualify too!) for our best squid Pokemon list.
Which are the best though?
Let’s find out, as we check out the best squid Pokemon!
Table of Contents
10. Inkay
First appearing in generation six titles Pokemon X and Y, you can’t exactly accuse Inkay – known as the ‘Revolving Pokemon’ – of being a powerhouse.
Yet Inkay certainly is cute – just look at how adorable it is!
It’s underwhelming in almost every area in terms of its stats, but it does have a few interesting abilities.
Contrary allows this Dark and Psychic Pokemon to make stat change moves have the opposite effect – and Suction Cups stop all moves that force Pokemon to switch out.
Interestingly, Inkay has an impressively low number of weaknesses against certain types; it does fare badly against Fairy types and it’s twice as weak when being attacked by Bug types too, but it holds strong against all other types.
Psychic type moves have no effect at all on cute little Inkay!
If you delay your Inkay’s evolution – which occurs at level 30 – and allow it to get to level 39, it learns Fighting type move Superpower, which is incredibly strong.
So it may not impress at first glance, but there’s a lot more going on with Inkay than may first meet the eye!
9. Clobbopus
Though Clobbopus is kind of adorable, it also looks like it means business (you wouldn’t want to challenge it to a boxing match, would you?) it’s not exactly brimming with useful stats.
It’s particularly slow when it comes to Speed, for example.
Yet it does have the Limber ability, which protects it from Paralysis.
Also, its hidden ability is Technician – which powers up the weaker moves in those available to Clobbopus at any given time!
Introduced in Pokemon Sword and Shield, Clobbopus is another Pokemon whose talents reveal themselves quite late in their lifespan.
That’s because, at level 45, it’ll learn Superpower – just like Inkay!
Also, once it learns Taunt (at level 35), it evolves into the much more fearsome Grapploct – who you’ll meet a little later down this list!
8. Tentacool
OK, we admit – this is really stretching the definition of ‘squid’ Pokemon.
Tentacool does – as of course, its name indicates – have tentacles, but it’s a jellyfish.
Yes, we know that doesn’t even fit the wider definition we’re applying here of a cephalopod (the definition of which does include squid, octopus, cuttlefish and shell-enclosed nautiluses).
Yet its evolved form, Tentacruel, does more closely resemble a more squid-like creature.
So it felt a little mean to leave out poor little Tentacool – who’s one of the original Pokemon from the very first mid-90s Game Boy titles Pokemon Red and Blue!
Especially as, in terms of stats and abilities, the Water and Poison type Tentacool isn’t actually that bad overall!
For starters, it does have reasonable Speed – though its Sp. Def stat is definitely above average.
It also has Clear Body, which prevents other Pokemon from lowering Tentacool’s stats – and its second ability, Liquid Ooze, will damage any attackers who try using any form of draining move on Tentacool!
Though Tentacool evolves into Tentecruel at level 30, if you can hold it back from evolving until it reaches level 40, it’ll learn the excellent Surf – then at level 44, it’ll gain access to devastating, Poison type move Sludge Wave.
Keep your Tentacool from evolving even longer and at level 48, it becomes possible to teach it the superb Hydro Pump too!
So yes, this may be a bit of a stretch – but we feel this tentacled Pokemon more than earns a place on the best Squid Pokemon list!
7. Omanyte
Moving on from Tentacool, we need no such justification to include Omanyte, who’s clearly based on the real world Nautilus – which itself definitely fits the definition of a cephalopod!
Another first generation Pokemon who debuted in Pokemon Red and Blue, Omanyte has a shell – which of course means that its Defense stat is particularly strong.
Perhaps unexpectedly, this cute little critter also has pretty impressive Sp. Atk too!
Though it’ll evolve into the absolute monster Omastar at level 40, this is another Pokemon who really benefits from being held back and levelling up in its original form.
That’s because it’ll learn moves such as Surf at level 50 and Hydro Pump at level 60 – if you can be that patient!
So yes, Omanyte may be small – but it packs a lot into that little shell and definitely earns its place on the best squid Pokemon list!
6. Octillery
There’s no getting around it – Octillery is, of course, an octopus.
When it comes to cephalopods though, octopus and squid are, as you can tell, fairly closely related!
Making its introductory appearance way back in the second generation games – Pokemon Gold and Silver – Octillery has been around a very long time.
Weirdly, Octillery evolves from the definitely non-cephalopod fish, Remoraid.
Don’t let that put you off though, because Octillery has superb offensive capabilities – with great Attack and Sp. Atk stats.
Stick with Octillery and it’ll reward you with some seriously good moves too.
At level 30, it’ll gain access to Ice Beam; level 42 brings the powerful Hydro Pump into play too.
Lastly, if you stick with Octillery until it reaches level 54, you’ll get your hands – or Octillery’s tentacles – on Hyper Beam, a fantastic Normal type move that has 90% accuracy, but does some serious damage when it hits its target!
5. Grapploct
The evolved form of previous list entrant, Clobbopus, eighth generation Pokemon Grapploct is a much more impressive Pokemon than its devolved form.
Though somewhat slow, it does have excellent Attack and Defense stats – as well as reasonable HP, Sp. Atk and Sp. Def too.
It leans heavily on Fighting type moves, with the aforementioned and fairly common (at least among cephalopods, it seems!) Superpower, which unlocks at level 45.
Despite being weak against Flying, Psychic and Fairy type moves, it’s resistant to Bug, Rock and Dark type moves – with no other weaknesses either, making this a solid choice for the octo-philes out there.
Grapploct also just has a flat out cool visual design and colour scheme too. It totally looks like a luchadore wrestler in cephalopod form – and what could be cooler than that?
4. Malamar
Though it debuted in Pokemon X and Y – way back in the sixth generation of games – Malamar doesn’t seem to get the love and attention it deserves.
Partially, that’s likely to be because of its stats, which are – Attack aside – not particularly strong individually.
Overall, however, they are consistent – and Malamar does have abilities such as Contrary, as well as Suction Cups, to give it a bit of a boost.
This Dark and Psychic Pokemon looks pretty intimidating too; certainly a lot more so than Inkay, the Pokemon it evolves from.
It’s got a very unusual method of evolution too – you can evolve Inkay into Malamar by holding your 3DS console upside down!
Malamar is also yet another squid Pokemon that can learn Superpower; in this instance, it’s level 47 that you need to reach in order to learn this strong and 100% accurate attack.
In case you still doubt Malamar, this Pokemon even made it onto our list of the best psychic Pokemon!
So what cephalopods are we left with as we head into the top three of our best squid Pokemon list? Let’s find out!
3. Omastar
You’ve already seen Omanyte on this list – and we promised that we’d get to Omastar.
So here we are, with this eldritch horror of a Pokemon, looking as if it’s stepped straight out of the Cthulhu Mythos!
So what makes Omastar so special?
Well, this Rock and Water Pokemon has – just like Omanyte – superb Defense, backing that up with an excellent Sp. Atk stat too.
Like many of the Pokemon we’ve featured on the best squid Pokemon list, it’s not blessed with very good Speed – but perhaps we should just accept that we’re not talking about the swiftest aquatic creatures here.
You’ll get an Omastar if you manage to grow your Omanyte to level 40 – and its moves start to really impress by level 56, when it learns Surf.
Hydrop Pump is the last move it learns at level 70 and – though it isn’t always successful (with 80% accuracy), it does the majority of the time; plus, it’s most definitely a hard hitter when it does connect!
2. Tentacruel
Though Tentacool was a controversial entry on the best squid Pokemon list, we here at Retro Dodo feel much more comfortable about including Tentacruel.
That’s because this original Pokemon – yep, it was in Pokemon Red and Blue – looks much more like a cephalopod than its devolved form.
It’s still known as a Jellyfish Pokemon, but just look at it: Tentacruel is much more squid-like and tangible!
Alongside generally higher stats, what really stands out for Tentacruel is its massive Sp. Def.
Lots of move types are only half effective against Tentacruel too: Fire, Water, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Bug, Steel and Fairy – which is incredibly impressive!
Tentacruel – with both Water and Poison types – has access to some stunning moves too, with Poison Jab (at level 40), Surf (learned at level 46), Sludge Wave (at level 52) and Hydro Pump at level 56 giving it a great deal of offensive options.
Despite being one of the very first 151 Pokemon, Tentacruel is still one of the best, particularly if you’re looking for a great squid Pokemon!
1. Nihilego
OK, we know – Nihilego is kind of jellyfish-esque, right?
As one of the Pokemon we ranked highly on our best Poison Pokemon list though – and one that we think just about fits the description of a squid Pokemon – we couldn’t resist including it.
Especially as it is such a great choice for the very top of the best squid Pokemon list.
An Ultra Beast introduced in seventh generation titles Pokemon Sun and Moon, Nihilego has surprisingly weak Attack and Defense stats, but really excels in every other area – especially Sp. Atk and Sp. Def.
It also has the ability Beast Boost, which raises its most proficient stat each time it knocks out an opposing Pokemon!
Rock and Poison type Nihilego – known as the Parasitic Pokemon – also has great protection against Poison, with the move type only being one quarter effective against it!
Rock type move Power Gem – learned at level 50 – is arguably its best offensive move, given its 100% accuracy.
However, its most powerful move is another Rock type – Head Smash, which Nihillego learns at level 70. It does phenomenal damage, but it’s a slightly risky move, as it only has 80% accuracy.
Nevertheless, Nihilego’s overall power – along with its weirdly spectral, definitely aquatic aesthetic – makes it our choice for the best squid Pokemon!
Pokemon Lists To Check Out Next
Now that you’ve checked out this very specific subset of aquatic Pokemon, why not take a look at our choices for the best Water type Pokemon overall?
Despite being very strong overall, as you can see if you check out another list, the Water type also lays claim to one of the weakest Pokemon ever! No prizes for guessing who the infamous culprit is.
If you’re looking to put together an unstoppable team in the latest Pokemon game, you can give our guide to the best team in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet a read!
