Highest Base Stats: The Strongest Pokémon on Paper

The base stat total, or BST, is the sum of a Pokémon’s six base stats: HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense and Speed. It is a quick way to compare raw power, with one big warning: a high total does not automatically mean a strong battler.

Leaving out Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, the highest total belongs to Slaking with 670. It is a good example of the warning, because its ability Truant makes it skip every other turn, so the number is much better on paper than in practice. Right behind it, with 600 each, come eleven Pokémon, among them Dragonite, Tyranitar, Salamence, Metagross, Garchomp, Hydreigon, Goodra, Kommo-o and Dragapult. Of the top ten by total, seven are Dragon-types.

Now the record holders of each single stat among non-legendary Pokémon. HP: Blissey (255), then Chansey (250) and Guzzlord (223). Attack: Kartana (181), Rampardos (165) and Slaking (160). Defense: Shuckle (230), Stakataka (211) and Steelix (200). Special Attack: Xurkitree (173), Blacephalon (151) and Chandelure, Vikavolt and Cursola (145 each). Special Defense: Shuckle again (230), then Florges (154) and Probopass and Carbink (150 each).

Shuckle is the most extreme case in the whole Pokédex: 230 in both defensive stats and only 20 HP. It shows how a very specialised stat line is the opposite of a high total. A Pokémon like Blissey does the same thing on the other side, with an enormous HP pool and weak attacks.

The lesson for team building is to look at how the stats are distributed, not only at the total. A Pokémon with fewer total points that spends them on the right stat can be more useful than a heavier but unfocused one. Open any of these Pokémon in the Pokédex to see its stat bars, and use the damage calculator to test how its numbers hold up in a real matchup.