How to unlock Chikorita
Chikorita is one of the free starters: pick it from the starter selector at the start of a run and it costs no tickets. Later copies come from the Johto banner, where it sits in the 1★ pool. The 1★ band takes 45% of all pulls and holds 233 partners, so one specific Chikorita works out to about 0.1931% per draw. The 70-pull pity counter only applies to 5★ results, so Chikorita has no floor of its own and no targeted pull. A duplicate Chikorita refunds 15 coins at the 1★ rate.
Chikorita stats and rank
Chikorita carries 90 HP, 97 speed, a ×0.97 attack multiplier, ×0.97 physical, ×0.97 special, 65 defense and 65 special defense, 318 in total. On the three-stat percentile this is 15.2 out of 100, which puts Chikorita at rank 891 of 966 and in tier C. What separates it from its neighbours is shape, not size: its strongest slot is special defense (45th percentile) and its weakest is attack multiplier (9th percentile), so every one of its stats sits below the roster median, so its case rests on move pool and availability rather than raw numbers.
Best moves in Chikorita's pool
At move level 5 the pool is led by Petal Blizzard at 33.6 damage per 0.26s (125.5 effective DPS, ×0.97 multiplier), then Body Slam at 75.6 damage per 0.71s (102.9 effective DPS, ×0.97 multiplier), then Tackle at 33.6 damage per 0.38s (86.9 effective DPS, ×0.97 multiplier). 8 of its 14 damaging moves scale with the physical multiplier and 6 with the special one, alongside 4 support moves. Its physical and special multipliers are identical at ×0.97, so the pool decides the build. The top option beats the second by 22.6 DPS, which decides slot one and leaves slot two as a judgement call.
Evolution cards for Chikorita
Its starting move, Vine Whip, evolves into Power Whip once the move is at level 5 and you hold the Power card, which boosts attack for that run. If Power never appears in that run's level-up offers, the move stays at level 5 and unevolved. 14 of its 18 moves carry an evolution card, across 6 distinct cards (Vigor, Sprint, Power, Reflexes, Armor and Synthesis). The strongest of them is Petal Blizzard at 125.5 effective DPS, so that is the one worth holding a card for first.
Chikorita compared to similar partners
The two closest stat lines in the roster are Squirtle (+0 HP, -1 speed, same attack multiplier, -4 total) and Clauncher (+2 HP, -1 speed, +0.05 attack, +12 total). Against Squirtle, Chikorita is 1 speed faster and the two carry an identical ×0.97 attack multiplier, and the rank gap is 14 places. Those differences are what you actually trade when swapping partners, not a straight upgrade path, so neither side is a strict upgrade and the move pools have to break the tie.