Pokémon Unbound starters: Larvitar, Beldum, or Gible?

The three starters at a glance

Take Gible. If you want to know why, read on.

I stood in front of that crate for a long time, because all three are the ‘mon I’d normally wait half a game for.

You get a crate in Frozen Heights with three level 10 pseudo-legendaries: Larvitar, Beldum and Gible. No Grass, Fire and Water, and no Kanto starter. Your pick sets which starter your rival takes, which Mega Stone sits in Shadow Base 1F, and which Gem you get from mission #041 “Neighbourly Assistance” in Frozen Heights.

Starter	Line	Types	Rival takes	Your Shadow Base Mega Stone	Mission #041 Gem
Larvitar	Larvitar, Pupitar, Tyranitar	Rock/Ground, then Rock/Dark	Beldum	Tyranitarite	Ground Gem
Beldum	Beldum, Metang, Metagross	Steel/Psychic	Gible	Metagrossite	Psychic Gem
Gible	Gible, Gabite, Garchomp	Dragon/Ground	Larvitar	Garchompite	Dragon Gem

All three end up as 600 base stat Pokémon with a Mega. So you’re really picking how long you wait to get there, and how your rival’s pick lines up against yours.

Gible evolves at 24 and 48. Larvitar evolves at 30, and Pupitar at 48 instead of the usual 55. Beldum evolves at 20 and Metang at 45. If you picked Larvitar, that early Tyranitar is a big deal.

Gible: the fastest to pay off

Gible is my pick on every difficulty, and the one I’d give a first-timer, because it evolves first. Gabite hits at 24, between the first and second badge caps on Difficult and above (26 and 32). Garchomp hits at 48, right around the fifth badge cap of 52. You spend most of the story with a fully evolved Dragon/Ground that outspeeds almost every gym leader’s team. Watching Gabite turn into Garchomp is still my favorite moment of the whole run.

Dragon/Ground carries the early game alone. Ground handles Electric and Steel, and Dragon is only resisted by Steel and blocked by Fairy. Watch out for Ice, which is a 4x weakness and will cost you on harder modes. Have a Steel or Fire type by the mid-game.

Take Gible and the rival takes Larvitar. That’s the easiest rival matchup of the three. Garchomp’s Ground STAB hits Tyranitar for double, and Sandstorm does nothing to a Ground type.

Garchompite is in Shadow Base 1F, so it’s ready as soon as Mega Evolution unlocks after Successor Maxima in Tarmigan Mansion. Garchomp is already fast and strong, so you might never bother with the stone. Tyranitar and Metagross get more out of theirs.

Larvitar: slower start, biggest payoff in the mid-game

Take Larvitar if you like a wall. Tyranitar is the bulkiest of the three, and Sand Stream chips the other side on every switch. That adds up on Difficult and above, where bosses bring full teams with held items.

The early game hurts. Larvitar and Pupitar are slow, and until Tyranitar you’re on a Rock/Ground that takes 4x from Water and Grass. The Polder Town gym runs heavy rain on Expert and Insane, so bench Pupitar for that one. On Vanilla the caps are low and it barely matters. On Expert and Insane, Larvitar spends a lot of the story as your second-best Pokémon.

Take Larvitar and the rival takes Beldum. Respect that fight. Metagross resists Rock, hits Tyranitar for double with Steel moves, and for 4x with a Fighting move. Bring a Fire or Ground answer for rival fights instead of leaning on your starter. That rival fight is the one I’d lose sleep over with a Larvitar team.

Tyranitarite is in Shadow Base 1F. Mega Tyranitar is a real upgrade, and it’s the one Mega of the three I’d actually use. Your mission #041 reward is a Ground Gem, which you’ll put on Earthquake later.

Beldum: strongest late, weakest early, and the Insane quirk

Beldum is the hardest start, and it’s the one I’d pick on a second run just to feel the payoff. A level 10 Beldum can’t do much in any game, and Metang is bulky but slow. Metagross is great, though. Steel/Psychic resists nine types and is only weak to Fire, Ground, Ghost and Dark.

On Vanilla and Difficult you can live with it. The Exp. Share is party-wide by default, so you can shield Beldum until it evolves. On Expert and Insane, trainers sit 5 to 7 or 2 levels under your best and Aces have full EVs. A Beldum that can’t win alone drags you down for the first two badges. Véga’s Dark gym in Crater Town is a bad matchup for the whole line.

On Insane, Beldum’s Metagrossite in Shadow Base 1F becomes a Focus Sash. You still get the stone, but from Ace after you beat Marlon in the Crystal Peak multi battle, near the end of the story. On every other mode it’s in the base like normal.

Take Beldum and the rival takes Gible. Garchomp’s Ground STAB hits Metagross for double, so late rival fights are where Beldum players lose their starter first. Bring a Fairy or Ice type, or a faster Ground type of your own.

My pick per difficulty

Mode	Pick	Why
Vanilla	Gible	Caps are low and the Elite Four is the only scaled fight. Gible evolves fastest and the story never gets hard enough to need Tyranitar’s bulk.
Difficult	Gible, Larvitar second	Bosses scale to your top level, so you want a starter that is fully evolved by badge five. Garchomp at 48 beats a cap of 52. Larvitar if you prefer a tank and will build a Water and Grass answer early.
Expert	Larvitar or Gible	Full-EV trainers and gym gimmicks punish frail Pokémon. Tyranitar’s bulk and Sand Stream chip earn their keep; Garchomp’s speed does the same. Avoid Beldum unless you enjoy a slow first two badges.
Insane	Gible	The Focus Sash swap delays Metagrossite until Crystal Peak, Larvitar’s early double weaknesses hurt with a 2-level trainer scale, and Garchomp is the one of the three that does not need its Mega to be good.

No pick locks you out of anything. I second-guessed mine for three badges for nothing. Your starter’s Mega Stone is the only starter-specific item in the main game, and you get the other two in the post-game.

How to get the other two Mega Stones (Portal Purge)

Do mission #050 “Portal Purge”. Professor Log gives it to you at his lab after you’re Champion. You catch all 25 Portal Pokémon, the legendaries that show up through portals around Borrius. That includes the Johto beasts and birds at the Ruins of Void, Reshiram and Zekrom at Crystal Peak, Xerneas and Yveltal, the four Tapus, the Ultra Beasts, Necrozma, and Eternal Flower Floette. You get a Master Ball and the two starter Mega Stones you didn’t pick.

1. Finish mission #065 “The Daily Grind” first for the Time Turner. It shifts the clock 12 hours so you don’t wait on day-only and night-only portals.
2. Stock up on Beast Balls. Ultra Beasts are a third of the list.
3. Go catch all 25, then turn it in to Professor Log.

Every portal spot, with time and requirements, is in the legendary locations reference.

Other starter gifts in Borrius

You’re not stuck with the crate. Collecting the other starters was my favorite side quest in Borrius. Here’s where the rest are:

• Unova starter: a woman in the westernmost house on Route 5. More choices open up as you earn badges.
• Sinnoh starter: a house south-east of the Rift Cave entrance in Dehara City.
• Alola starter: a house west of the KBT Expressway entrance in Seaport City.
• Bulbasaur: the Egg Lady at Magnolia Café.

Café trainers hold the Kanto starter Mega Stones on a weekly schedule:

• Blastoisinite: Monday, 2 to 4:59 PM
• Charizardite Y: Tuesday, 5 to 7:59 PM
• Venusaurite: Thursday, 2 to 4:59 PM
• Charizardite X: behind a tablet puzzle in Cinder Volcano 2F West

The Hoenn starter stones get made at Cube Corp. in the post-game. You trade Gems for them.