#158-160: Totodile, Croconaw, Feraligatr

We've had the top and bottom of the base stat total starters of generation two, so we're now visiting the middle one, the water one. And it's like a crocodile...

Totodile is a rather sweet sounding name, but carries that edge of hostility when you connect it with the surviving dinosaurs that have been known to eat whole villages when their usual prey has gone. You get this as a mono-type water Pokemon with the standard ability (torrent boosts water moves by 1.5x when your HP is 1/3rd or less), and hidden ability-wise you get sheer force (ignores moves' secondary effects for a boost in power). Stats: 50HP, 65 attack, 64 defence, 44 special attack, 48 special defence and 43 speed. Physical wall? Maybe...

"Aww! Cute!"

For once, you don't start with tackle, but instead you have the base 40 scratch (still physical normal), accompanied by leer to lower the foe's defence by a stage again. Water gun (guess the type) is a base 40 special move. Rage is a base 20 normal physical move that, if used consecutively, can allow for a boost to the attack stat when damaged by the opponent. The next move is bite, a base 60 dark physical move that can cause flinching. You can evolve at level 18 (quite high), so the last move before that joyous occasion is scary face, which drops the target's speed. We may as well carry on here for the moment: ice fang is next, which is a base 65 physical move (ice-type of course) with 95 accuracy and the chance to freeze, which is rather nice. Flail is up next, which is a variable powered normal physical move, where the less HP you have, the harder you hit (1-4% HP remaining leads to base 200), so this is pretty handy I guess. The next move is crunch, a base 80 dark move that can drop the foe's defence, so a pretty nice move, which would have been awesome if you got secondary type dark.

Trundling along, you get chip away, which is a base 70 physical normal move which ignores stat modifiers (so lowered attack on your part or buffed defence on their's), which is followed by slash, another base 70 normal physical move which also boasts an increased critical hit ratio. Screech has 85 accuracy but lowers the target's defence by two stages, hitting any adjacent target you please (which could work well on a contrary teammate). Thrash is devastatingly powerful, base 120 physical normal, but after being locked in for a few turns of this, you become confused. Aqua tail is base 90 in power and 90 in accuracy as a water physical move, which could well be your primary STAB attack if you don't mind the accuracy drop, and superpower is a base 120 physical fighting move that drops both physical stats by one stage. Hydro pump is the last move on the learnset and is one not to be used here in all honestly: base 110 is good, 80 accuracy isn't, water-type is good, special focus isn't.

Not content with being like the other starters with the same type things appearing on the generic TM lists. Here, you also get the ice ones, so hail, blizzard and ice beam. Hone claws also pops up (attack and accuracy boosted by a stage each), with dragon claw (base 80 dragon physical move), shadow claw (base 70 ghost physical with increased critical hit ratio), scald (base 80 special water move with the chance to burn the foe), dig, brick break, rock slide, rock tomb, aerial ace, power-up punch, surf, dive, and arguably the best of the bunch in waterfall (base 80 water physical with 100 accuracy and a flinch chance).

Breeding time! Ancient power is maybe a bit wasted here, but aqua jet could be brilliant as your priority move (base 40 water physical with one stage boosted priority), dragon dance, ice punch (hits harder and more accurately than ice fang at base 75 power and 100 accuracy, still ice physical), mud sport nerfs electricity, and water pulse, but that again is wasted here. You get some other moves, but they either have come up before or are questionably useful. If you want to head to the tutor, you can nab water pulse, aqua tail, ice punch, icy wind, uproar, superpower, spite (remove PP of the last move that hit you), iron tail, low kick, focus punch and block. You also get, of course, water pledge, which can combine with the other pledges for double power again (base 80 special as the standard) and the making of a speed halving swamp (with grass) and a rainbow that increases added effect chance (which is messed up by sheer force) for four turns.

Croconaw only sticks about between levels 18 and 30. 15 point boosts to every stat other than defence, which gets 16 instead, so now HP is 65, physical stats are 80, 59 special attack, 63 special defence and 58 speed. Same abilities, same typing, same moves.

"Eurgh, horrible!"

After Croconaw's short stay you then get to Feraligatr. Stat boosts are now 20, except attack, which has got 25, so now 90 HP, 105 attack, 100 defence, 79 special attack, 83 special defence and 78 speed. Same type, same abilities, but a vastly different moveset: you can get agility by level, hyper beam, giga impact, earthquake, focus blast and dragon tail from TM, and focus punch and outrage by tutoring, so that's actually a lot of additions.

"AAAAH! Ryuk from DeathNote!!!!"

You may lack the speed and coolness of Typhlosion, but this actually has a really nice, fairly diverse moveset. You may not have great bulk, but it's good. This Pokemon isn't that bad, actually, but it still just lags behind Typhlosion.

(All artwork presented by Ken Sugimori, taken from the Bulbapedia image archives)