Krookodile

August 22nd, 2014

by Richard

Krookodile

Overview

Krookodile is an awesome beast from Gen 5. Having used one in Pokemon White, I know how he can wreck teams. His good stats and great abilities make him a true force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, but beware of his new weakness to fairy types, which can stop him dead in his tracks.

Abilities

Intimidate: Upon entering a battle, the opponent’s Attack is lowered by one stage. This is a good ability, as it can help Krookodile take an extra hit if it has to, but it’s next ability is far better.

Moxie: Boosts Attack one stage after knocking out an opponent. This is Krookodile’s selling point and what puts him into UU. Send him in for an easy revenge kill and begin the sweep.

Anger Point: If Krookodile is hit with a critical hit, it maxes out his Attack (6 stages or 4x). Very situational and unlikely to happen. The croc probably won’t survive a crit in the first place.

Base Stats

HP: 95

Attack: 117

Defense: 80

Special Attack: 65

Special Defense: 70

Speed: 92

Movesets

Moxweep

• Earthquake
• Crunch
• Stone Edge
• Superpower/Outrage/Pursuit
• Ability: Moxie
• Item: Choice Scarf
• Nature and EV’s: Jolly (+Spd -SpD), 252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 HP

Krookodile’s good base 92 speed boosted by a Choice Scarf makes him very fast, infact faster than all Pokemon in UU without a boost to speed. Earthquake and Crunch are you two reliable STAB moves. Stone Edge provides coverage against Flying, Ice, and Bug types, the latter two of which can be a threat to Krookodile. Superpower hits other Dark types along with Normal and Ice types, and if it kills it’s attack drop is negated thanks to Moxie.  Outrage is powerful and hits Dragons hard, but locks you in and confuses you. The lock in can turn into a free switch for any opposing Fairies. Pursuit is also an option for hitting any Pokemon that might switch out.

Support/Tank/Troll/Something?

• Stealth Rock
• Earthquake
• Roar/Dragon Tail/Crunch/Foul Play/Bulk Up/Taunt/Toxic/Protect
• Roar/Dragon Tail/Crunch/Foul Play/Bulk Up/Taunt/Toxic/Protect
• Ability: Intimidate/Moxie
• Item: Leftovers/Focus Sash
• Nature and EV’s: Careful (+SpD -SpA) OR Impish (+Def -SpA), 252 SpD 252 HP 4 Def OR 252 Def 252 HP 4 SpD

I made this up in about ten minutes, so this is pretty gimmicky, but feel free to try this out! Krookodile has good HP and decent Defense so you could try to pull off a defensive set starting with Stealth Rock, a crazy entrance hazard that will drive your opponent bananas. Earthquake is always a good move and has decent coverage as well. The next part is going to be a bit crazy. Roar and Dragon Tail both switch out your opponent so that they take Stealth Rock damage and lose momentum. Roar may be preferred as Dragon Tail cannot hit Fairies.  Crunch is a good STAB Dark move, but Foul Play may be better if you are up against a physical opponent because it uses your opponent’s Attack stat against them. Bulk Up can be used to increase bulk and hitting power. Taunt breaks down walls and Toxic is a great status as always. Use it in conjunction with Protect and leftovers for free healing and damage. Intimidate is viable here to possibly take another hit you choose to use it. If you feel the need to change the Nature/EV spread, make sure to take into account that Roar and Dragon Tail have negative priority, meaning that they will go last, so a +Speed nature or Speed EV’s will not help in this case.

Other Options

• Brick Break is an alternative to Superpower that doesn’t lower stats, but it is quite a bit weaker.
• Aerial Ace hits Grass types, but only has 60 base power.
• Rock Slide is weaker than Stone Edge, but is more accurate and has a decent chance to flinch.
• Power-Up Punch is cool and can make you a beast, but Moxie kind off already does that.
• Iron Tail can be great against Fairies (if it hits, that is)
• Low Kick can hit heavy things like Snorlax, but is more situational than Superpower or Brick Break
• Krookodile can learn Spite via move tutor in B2W2 for some reason, which could be cool I guess.

Follow-Up

Krookodile can beast if he gets even one kill and sweep through a team, but his 6 weaknesses and predictability make him rather easy to counter, so be sure to use him carefully. He’s really cool looking and a great Pokemon to use in a playthrough if you haven’t used him before.