Poliwhirl can evolve into two different final evolutions – Poliwrath and Politoed – in Pokemon GO, but which one is better?
It’s always difficult to decide how to evolve any Pokemon which has multiple evolutions, and this is especially the case with Poliwhirl. After all, Poliwrath and Politoed are so similar.
That’s why we’ve broken down all of the differences between these two Pokemon – to make this branching evolution a much easier choice!
Is Poliwrath or Politoed Better in Pokemon GO?
Poliwrath is slightly better than Politoed, and the better Poliwhirl evolution, in Pokemon GO. However, both are good options.
Poliwrath has slightly higher attack and defense stats and is a Water/Fighting-type. This means it can learn some powerful Fighting-type attacks that Politoed cannot.
Meanwhile, Politoed still has some good uses. As it is a pure Water-type Pokemon, it has fewer weaknesses and is harder to counter in battle.
Plus, Politoed is a better Water-type battler as it can learn Weather Ball, which is a stronger Water-type charged attack than any of the ones that Poliwrath can learn.
Poliwrath vs Politoed Differences in Pokemon GO
Poliwrath and Politoed have a number of key differences, including their stats, type, and attacks that they can learn.
We’ve got a full breakdown of all of the differences between these two Pokemon below if you want to see the information before you decide which one to evolve your Poliwhirl into.
Stats
| Poliwrath | Politoed | |
| Attack | 182 | 174 |
| Defense | 184 | 179 |
| HP | 207 | 207 |
Type
Poliwrath is a Water/Fighting-type Pokemon. Meanwhile, Politoed is just a pure Water-type.
This means that they have drastically different resistances and weaknesses when battling other Pokemon.
Weaknesses & Resistances
Poliwrath has five weaknesses and six resistances. Meanwhile, Politoed has two weaknesses and four resistances.
| Poliwrath | Politoed | |
| Weaknesses | Electric Fairy Flying Grass Psychic | Electric Grass |
| Resistances | Bug Dark Fire Ice Rock Steel Water | Fire Ice Steel Water |
Attacks
Poliwrath can learn some powerful Fighting-type attacks in Pokemon GO, but Politoed doesn’t have access to any Fighting moves. However, Politoed can learn the Ground-type charged attack, Earthquake, which Poliwrath can’t.
Other than that, the attacks for these Pokemon are very similar.
| Poliwrath | Politoed | |
| Fast Attacks | Bubble (Water) Mud Shot (Ground) Rock Smash (Fighting) Counter* (Fighting) | Bubble (Water) Mud Shot (Ground) |
| Charged Attacks | Dynamic Punch (Fighting) Hydro Pump (Water) Power-Up Punch (Fighting) Submission (Fighting) Scald (Water) Ice Punch (Ice) | Weather Ball (Water) Surf (Water) Hydro Pump (Water) Blizzard (Ice) Earthquake (Ground) Ice Beam* (Ice) |
Evolution Methods
Evolving Poliwhirl into Poliwrath or Politoed in Pokemon GO requires 100 Poliwag Candy. However, there is an additional requirement of a King’s Rock to evolve it into Politoed.
This makes it harder to evolve Poliwhirl into Politoed, as King’s Rocks are quite hard to find. Usually, the only way to get one is an extremely rare drop from spinning a PokeStop.
The difficulty of evolution should only be a consideration if you don’t already have a King’s Rock in your item bag, though!
Now that you know all of the important information about both of Poliwhirl’s evolutions, it’s time to decide whether to go for Poliwrath or Politoed!
