Unova first partner Pokémon
The Unova first partner Pokémon are the trio of Pokémon—Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott[1]—chosen by Trainers at the start of their journey in Unova. These are traditionally given out by Professor Juniper or Assistant Pokémon Professor Bianca and are to be used to battle the first wild Pokémon that the Trainer encounters.
In official contexts, the group is referred to descriptively in several ways, including "Unova's first partner Pokémon"[2], "first partner Pokémon of the Unova region"[1], and more.
In the Unova-based core series games, the player can choose a Fire-, Water-, or Grass-type first partner Pokémon at level 5.
List of Unova first partner Pokémon and their Evolutions
Forms
Samurott has a Hisuian form. For details on Hisuian Samurott as a first partner Pokémon, see Hisui first partner Pokémon.
In the core series games
Availability
As first partner
| Game(s) | First partner | Location/Acquisition | Other effects |
|---|---|---|---|
| BW | 
|
Nuvema Town: player's bedroom at start of game | Cheren chooses:  Bianca chooses:  A girl at the Dreamyard will gift:  At Striaton Gym, the player faces: Chili and 
|
|
|
Cheren chooses: Bianca chooses: A girl at the Dreamyard will gift:  At Striaton Gym, the player faces: Cress and
| ||
|
|
Cheren chooses: Bianca chooses: A girl at the Dreamyard will gift: At Striaton Gym, the player faces: Cilan and
| ||
| B2W2 |
|
Aspertia City: from Bianca | Hugh has: Nate/Rosa eventually has: 
|
|
|
Hugh has: Nate/Rosa eventually has: 
| ||
|
|
Hugh has: Nate/Rosa eventually has: 
|
Other methods
In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Oshawott is one of the Hisui first partner Pokémon.
In The Indigo Disk DLC, the Unova first partners can be caught in the wild at the Terarium. They are unlocked after upgrading the biomes through the League Club Room.
| Game(s) | Pokémon | Location/Acquisition |
|---|---|---|
| ORAS |
|
Route 101: from Professor Birch, after the Delta Episode is completed (choose one) |
| SM |   
|
Poni Island: Island Scan |
| SV (ID) |
|
Terarium: Savanna Biome |
|
|
Terarium: Canyon Biome | |
|
|
Terarium: Polar Biome |
Base stat comparison
| Pokémon | HP | Attack | Defense | Sp. Attack | Sp. Defense | Speed | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
45
|
45
|
55
|
45
|
55
|
63
|
308 |
 |
60
|
60
|
75
|
60
|
75
|
83
|
413 |
 |
75
|
75
|
95
|
75
|
95
|
113
|
528 |
 |
65
|
63
|
45
|
45
|
45
|
45
|
308 |
 |
90
|
93
|
55
|
70
|
55
|
55
|
418 |
 |
110
|
123
|
65
|
100
|
65
|
65
|
528 |
 |
55
|
55
|
45
|
63
|
45
|
45
|
308 |
 |
75
|
75
|
60
|
83
|
60
|
60
|
413 |
 |
95
|
100
|
85
|
108
|
70
|
70
|
528 |
 |
90
|
108
|
80
|
100
|
65
|
85
|
528 |
In the spin-off games
Pokémon GO
In Pokémon GO, all three Unova first partner Pokémon can be caught and encountered along with their Evolutions.
Pokémon Masters EX
In Pokémon Masters EX, Rosa joins the player by clearing Chapter 1 of the PML Arc.
Several other characters form sync pairs with the Unova first partner Pokémon or their evolutions. These sync pairs can be obtained through various sync pair scouts.
| Dex | Trainer | NDex | Pokémon | Type | Weakness | Role | EX role | Base potential | Availability | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #039 | 
|
Rosa | #0497 | 
|
Snivy → Servine → Serperior♀ |
Grass
|
Flying
|
|
★★★★★☆EX | Story Chapter 01 | |
| #067 | 
|
Hilbert | #0503 | 
|
Oshawott → Dewott → Samurott♂ |
Water
|
Electric
|
|
★★★★★☆EX | Sync Pair Scout | |
| #068 | 
|
Hilda | #0500 | 
|
Tepig → Pignite → Emboar♀ |
Fire
|
Water
|
|
★★★★★☆EX | Sync Pair Scout | |
| #039 |
|
Rosa | #0502 | 
|
Dewott♂ |
Water
|
Electric
|
|
★★★★☆☆EX | Trainer Lodge Friendship Level 100 | |
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series
In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity and Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, the Unova first partner Pokémon can be selected as the hero and their partner. The trio's evolved forms can also be recruited in the games out of the main character roles.
Pokémon Rumble series
In the Pokémon Rumble series, all three Unova first partner Pokémon can be caught and encountered along with their Evolutions.
Pokémon Shuffle
In Pokémon Shuffle, all three Unova first partner Pokémon can be caught and encountered along with their Evolutions.
| Dex# | NDex | Icon | Pokémon | Type | Attack Power | Max RML
|
Initial Skill |
 AlternateSkill(s) |
 Ameliaicons | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lv 1 | Max | |||||||||
| #258 | #0495 | 
|
Snivy | Grass | 50 | 120 | 15 | Absorb | N/A | 1 |
| #258 | #0495 | 
|
Snivy Winking |
Grass | 50 | 100 | 5 | Flash Mob | Hammering Streak | 1 |
| #259 | #0496 | 
|
Servine | Grass | 60 | 105 | 5 | Counterattack+ | N/A | 2 |
| #260 | #0497 | 
|
Serperior | Grass | 70 | 130 | 15 | Relentless | N/A | 1 |
| #261 | #0498 | 
|
Tepig | Fire | 50 | 120 | 15 | Rock Break | Daunt | 0 |
| #261 | #0498 | 
|
Tepig Winking |
Fire | 50 | 100 | 5 | Flash Mob | Hammering Streak | 1 |
| #262 | #0499 | 
|
Pignite | Fire | 60 | 105 | 5 | Heavy Hitter | N/A | 0 |
| #263 | #0500 | 
|
Emboar | Fire | 70 | 110 | 5 | Barrier Bash | Risk-Taker | 1 |
| #264 | #0501 | 
|
Oshawott | Water | 50 | 120 | 15 | Whirlpool | Final Effort | 1 |
| #264 | #0501 | 
|
Oshawott Winking |
Water | 50 | 100 | 5 | Flash Mob | Hammering Streak | 1 |
| #265 | #0502 | 
|
Dewott | Water | 60 | 105 | 5 | Shock Attack | N/A | 2 |
| #266 | #0503 | 
|
Samurott | Water | 70 | 130 | 15 | Quake | N/A | 1 |
PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond
In PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond, all three Unova first partner Pokémon are playable alongside Pikachu.
In animation
Pokémon the Series
In Pokémon the Series: Black & White, Professor Juniper is in charge of distributing the Unova first partner Pokémon to new Trainers. The first Pokémon she is seen giving to a new Trainer is Snivy who she gives to Ash's rival for the series Trip. The Oshawott that was under her care at the time took an interest in Ash and followed him from the laboratory on the start of his journey through Unova, thinking it was a Wild, Ash tried to capture it and it failed as it was already owned by Professor Juniper. After getting her permission she allowed Ash to become Oshawott's new Trainer. Further on in the series it was revealed that Bianca had taken Pignite as her first partner, and as Ash was concluding his journey through Unova, Professor Juniper gave another Tepig to a trainer named Nanette.
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
In Pokémon Adventures, there are two sets of Unova first partner Pokémon featured. The first distributed by Professor Juniper, she sends their Poké Balls to Black who selects Tepig and his friends Bianca selects Oshawott, while Cheren selects Snivy. Profesor Juniper's father, Cedric Juniper, also hands out partner Pokémon to new Trainer's however prior to the story N broke into the lab and released them from their Pokéballs intending to liberate them. This plan only partially worked though as Oshawott chose to stay with the professor, Snivy stayed with N, and Tepig ran away only to be found by White.
Pokémon Pocket Monsters
In Pokémon Pocket Monsters, Professor Juniper appears to hand out the Unova first partner Pokémon. Black, Cheren and Bianca show up to select their new partners, however their choices aren't shown.
Trivia
- The Oshawott line has unique distinctions:
- Oshawott has the lowest base stat total of all Water-type first partner Pokémon.
- Oshawott's evolutionary line is the only Water-type first partner Pokémon evolutionary line that is not included in the Water 1 Egg Group.
- Oshawott is the only first partner Pokémon in Legends: Arceus to not have its evolution levels changed.
- Oshawott and its evolutions are the only Pokémon in Legends: Arceus to have not been available in previous Generation VIII games before.
- Samurott is the only fully evolved Unova first partner Pokémon to have a regional form.
- Ken Sugimori described the Unova first partner Pokémon as fulfilling different roles in their personalities, characterizing Tepig as funny, Snivy as cool, and Oshawott as serious.[3]
- The Snivy line has unique distinctions:
- Snivy is the only Grass-type first partner Pokémon that is not listed as the first Pokémon in its regional Pokédex.
- It is also the only Grass-type first partner Pokémon that is not the first Pokémon of its generation in National Pokédex order.
- Snivy has the lowest base stat total of all Grass-type first partner Pokémon.
