Highlights

  • Latias is a popular Gen III Legendary, but it doesn't measure up to other legendaries in terms of ability. Its speed, special attack, and defense stats are its strongest attributes.
  • Latios, the other member of the Eon duo, also ranks low compared to other legendaries. Its attack and special attack are slightly better than Latias, but its high speed and strong defensive stats make up for its lackluster attack.
  • Registeel stands out as the best of the three titans due to its type effectiveness and defense and special defense stats. Its average attack stats can be overlooked as it serves as a tank in battles. Rayquaza, despite having high stats, ranks last due to weaknesses to Fairy, Dragon, and Ice types.

The Gen III Legendary Pokémon are some of the most popular and recognizable in the series. One thing to note about these Pokémon is that each of them is pretty tricky to catch. With the exception of the two cover legendaries, Gen III legendary Pokémon aren’t gifted to you – though there are some instances where they are.

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That’s fine though, when you look at just how strong they are. They obviously pack more of a punch than most Gen III Pokémon – and most Pokémon in general – but one thing to note is that these Pokémon aren’t all made equal. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, and looking at each we can determine which one of the Gen III legendaries truly stands out on top. Here’s every Gen III Legendary Pokémon, ranked.

8 Latias

Attack

80

SP Attack

110

Defense

90

SP Defense

130

HP

80

Speed

110

Total

600

We kick things off with a member of the Eon duo, Latias. Latias is probably one of the most popular Gen III legendaries but that popularity doesn’t necessarily translate to ability. Though let’s be clear, Latias is still a very good Pokémon, just not when measured up against other Gen III legendaries – Mega Evolution aside.

Latias has incredible speed to pair up with its superb special attack and defense stats. Its HP, attack and defense stats are all solid, but nothing special there. Though in the case of its attack stat, that doesn’t matter all that much, seeing as most of its learnset benefits its high special stats anyways.

7 Latios

Attack

90

SP Attack

130

Defense

80

SP Defense

110

HP

80

Speed

110

Total

600

The other member of the Eon duo, Latios also ends up pretty low on these rankings. Again this isn’t to say that it isn’t a good or great Pokémon. It’s just that when compared to other legendaries of its generation – again, without taking its mega evolved form into account – Latios isn’t the best you can generally do.

Its stats are pretty similar to its sisters, with it having a slight edge in attack and special attack. Latias gets the nod with defensive stats, but with the amount of speed both possess and just how high their defensive stats are, you would much rather have the increased attack to work with.

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6 Regirock

Regirock

Attack

100

SP Attack

50

Defense

200

SP Defense

100

HP

80

Speed

50

Total

580

The first of the Legendary titans of Hoenn we’ll see on this list, Regirock cuts an imposing figure. It may not be the best of the three, but it can certainly get the job done against most opponents. Just be mindful of a few things before strutting it out into battle.

Regirock has the most type-weaknesses of the three titans at 5, with no immunities but a handful of resistances to even things out a bit. It has very high defense (200) as well as special defense (100), so that won’t be as much of a problem as you’d first expect. Still, with it lacking in speed it will most certainly always be second to attack, save for a few rare exceptions.

5 Regice

Attack

50

SP Attack

100

Defense

100

SP Defense

200

HP

80

Speed

50

Total

580

The second of the three titans on our list, Regice gets the one-up over Regirce due to its stats being spread out a little more favorably. Though there are still some areas where you’d want to see it improve, Regice offers you a better alternative in the end.

With Regice you’re looking at four type-weaknesses, which isn’t all that bad though still not all that optimal. While it has less attack than Regirock, Regice makes up for it in high special attack to go along with high defense and special defense. The speed is still an issue, but overall Regice serves as a better-balanced Pokémon to put out in battle.

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4 Registeel

pokemon go legendary raid boss steel

Attack

75

SP Attack

75

Defense

150

SP Defense

150

HP

80

Speed

50

Total

580

The last of the three titans, Registeel seems to be the best of the bunch, though the reasons why may not be what you think. If you look at its stags, Registeel is actually lacking in areas we noted as strengths for the other two titans. But it makes up for that in one important category; type effectiveness.

Registeel only has three type-weaknesses, while it’s immune to poison-type moves and resistant to a whopping 10 different types, including Dragon, Fairy, and Psychic-type moves. What sticks out most is its defense and Special defense stats. While it may have some fairly average attacks stats, you can more often than not just use it as a tank and gradually lower your opponents' HP over time.

3 Rayquaza

animal crossing new horizons battle frontier

Attack

150

SP Attack

150

Defense

90

SP Defense

90

HP

105

Speed

95

Total

680

Well, you had to see it coming. When you talk about Gen III legendaries, the Weather trio always comes up, and for good reason. These are all some pretty strong Pokémon. But out of the three, Rayquaza comes in last, despite it having an ever so slight advantage in its total base stats.

It’s weak to both Fairy and Dragon types, with the former being a pretty tough weakness to overcome. Add in a quadruple weakness to Ice-type moves and you can see somehow it can be a pretty disadvantageous Pokémon despite it being a legendary. Still, it has great stats and will most definitely make short work of most Pokémon it comes across.

2 Kyogre

Attack

100

SP Attack

150

Defense

90

SP Defense

140

HP

100

Speed

90

Total

670

The game mascot for Sapphire, Kyogre certainly is one of the most imposing Pokémon on this list. But as you can see, it doesn’t make the cut as the best legendary of its generation. It does, however, cut it pretty close.

Weak to only Grass and Electric-type moves, Kyogre is going to have the advantage in most battles you put it in. Every one of its stats is well above average, with its attack and special stats being incredibly impressive. With how its learnset is composed, it can do plenty of damage any way you want it to.

1 Groudon

Attack

150

SP Attack

100

Defense

140

SP Defense

90

HP

100

Speed

90

Total

670

At first, Groudon might not seem like the better of the trio when you look at how versatile Kyogre’s learnset is when paired up with its stat distribution. It’s true that Groudon’s learnset isn’t entirely complimentary to its greatest strength, its 150 base attack stat. Groudon only learns a handful of physical attacks normally – with the rest being special attacks. While it does benefit from 100 base special attack, you’d much rather see some of those slots allotted to physical moves.

But the physical moves Groudon does learn; Earthquake, Fissure, Hammer Arm & Precipice Blades, are all incredibly strong. Even if you substitute one or two of those out with some of the great special moves it learns, you’re looking at a tough Pokémon to take down because its special attack is so high.

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