Best moveset for Toxicroak in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Toxicroak can be one of the more powerful attackers in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Trainers should be pretty familiar with this Pokemon since it seems like every other Team Galactic Grunt has one towards the endgame. Many fans might shy away from Toxicroak when they see that it takes 4x damage from Psychic moves, but this Pokemon actually has several other great matchups going for it.

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Which attack should this Poison-type and Fighting-type Pokemon be running?

Toxicroak usually isn’t too strong with its 106 base Attack stat, making it a great candidate for a Swords Dance set, as seen below:

• Swords Dance
• Poison Jab
• Sucker Punch
• Drain Punch

Under normal circumstances, Toxicroak’s attacks won’t be doing too much damage. It needs a Life Orb or a Choice Band to start really punishing opposing Pokemon. After a Swords Dance, though, it becomes a huge threat.

Poison Jab is simply a strong STAB move that can take advantage of a Swords Dance. Outside of Grass-type Pokemon and Fairies, Poison Jab doesn’t hit anything for super effective damage. Toxicroak wants to, instead, be using neutral Poison Jabs after getting to +2 Attack to start getting off considerable damage.

Toxicroak can use Sucker Punch to deal with its weakness to Psychic-types (Image via The Pokemon Company)

As the type matchup shows, no Toxicroak will want to be anywhere near a Psychic-type. With Sucker Punch, though, it won’t have to be as afraid.

Sucker Punch goes first if the opponent has clicked an attacking move. It can be really shocking when an Espeon or Alakazam clicks Psychic in front of Toxicroak only to get Sucker Punched to death.

Sometimes, it’s hard to afford a Swords Dance since it means taking a hit from an opponent without dishing any damage back. This is where Drain Punch comes into play.

Any damage Toxicroak takes while setting up it can just heal back with Drain Punch. Fortunately, this move is also easy to teach Toxicroack since the TM can be acquired right after beating Maylene’s Fighting-type Gym in Veilstone City.