The best rental Pokémon to take in Dynamax Adventures

One unique aspect of Pokémon Sword and Shield‘s Dynamax Adventures in the Crown Tundra is that you don’t get to use your own Pokémon. Instead, you get to choose a rental Pokémon: to take with you.

Before your adventure begins, you will get to choose from a pool of random rentals, and then you can either choose to keep it or trade it out for the Pokémon you defeat after each battle. Some of these rental Pokémon are great, while others are awful.

While each Dynamax Adventure run is different and you should always consider type advantages, here are some of the best rental Pokémon to take if you get the chance.

Nidoking

Nidoking gets High Horsepower, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch. All four of these moves are physical attacks with different types. This goes well with its solid physical attack stat and gives it good coverage for different opponents. While its Rivalry ability can hinder it, it can also help it out and it won’t have any impact on the final battle.

Tsareena

Tsareena knows Aromatherapy, Trop Kick, Acrobatics, and Swagger. Aromatherapy helps the party by getting rid of harmful status conditions. Trop Kick is a great grass-type attack that will drop the opposing Pokémon’s attack. Acrobatics works well because Tsareena won’t be holding an item, and you shouldn’t give it one even if you encounter a backpacker.

Alcremie

The rental Alcremie will have its Gigantamax form, which is always a bonus, but its real benefit comes from its coverage. It knows Dazzling Gleam, Mystical Fire, Magical Leaf, and Decorate. The first three moves all offer coverage, while Decorate can help an ally out if it has a good matchup against your opponent.

Blaziken

Blaziken knows Blaze Kick, Close Combat, and Coaching. This gives it two great physical STAB options for attacking and a good option for helping out an ally with coaching. It also has Speed Boost, which will ensure it moves first by increasing its Speed each turn.

Pangoro

Pangoro knows Bullet Punch, Hammer Arm, Darkest Lariat, and Coaching. It has a high physical attack stat, so these moves hit hard. Like Blaziken, it has Coaching that it can use to help out an ally if it doesn’t have a great matchup against the opposing Pokémon.

Relicanth

Relicanth is a surprisingly good Water/Rock-type option. It knows Liquidation, Head Smash, Flail, and Scale Shot. Since it knows Rock Head, it won’t take recoil damage from Head Smash either. These moves give it good coverage and good natural bulk to help it take hits and survive.

While the picks above are optimal, there are other good options too. Notable mentions go out to Alolan Marowak, Sceptile, Vikavolt, and Bisharp. Always keep in mind what the final Pokémon is as well when picking, as you want a good type matchup for that battle.