Best Team Guide

Last verified: September 11, 2026

Xenoverse doesn't use the classic Grass/Fire/Water starter trio, and it adds one type — Sound — that doesn't exist in mainline Pokémon games. Both of those change how you should think about team-building here compared to a mainline game.

Your Starter Sets the Tone

StarterTypeTeam-building notes
ShyleonGrass / FairyFairy typing gives you a built-in answer to Dragon- and Dark-type threats from turn one, which mainline Grass starters never get — lean into that rather than treating it as a pure Grass attacker.
TrishoutFire / SoundFire covers the usual Grass/Bug/Ice/Steel targets. The Sound half is Xenoverse-original — its full matchup chart isn't independently confirmed yet on this site (we don't publish type-effectiveness data we can't verify), so plan around the Fire half and treat Sound as a bonus rather than your primary offensive plan until more is documented.
ShulongWater / DragonA strong, mainline-familiar offensive combination — Water/Dragon has excellent neutral coverage and few common weaknesses (watch out for Fairy- and other Dragon-types).

Why we don't list Sound-type matchups yet

We only publish game mechanics data once we can verify it against a reliable source. Sound is confirmed to exist as a type, but we haven't yet confirmed its full effectiveness chart against a source reliable enough to publish as fact. Check back — we update this page as verified data comes in.

General Team-Building Principles for Xenoverse

  • Cover your starter's weaknesses early. Whichever starter you pick, prioritize catching something that resists its two weakest matchups within your first couple of routes rather than waiting.
  • Use Porygon Center to experiment. Since it gives you Storage System access away from towns, you can freely swap team members mid-dungeon to test matchups instead of committing to one lineup for an entire route.
  • Don't undervalue PokéWES utility Pokémon. Because field-traversal no longer eats a permanent move slot via HMs, you have more freedom to build a team purely around battling strength rather than reserving a slot for a "Cut"/"Surf" user.
  • Watch for Vintage and X Species Pokémon. These special categories are worth detours when you encounter them — see the Pokédex for documented specifics as we verify them.

This page focuses on what we can verify and will expand with specific mid- and late-game team recommendations as we confirm more of the Xenoverse Pokémon roster — see the full Pokédex for current coverage.