With the resurgence of Generation 4, the comedic Croagunk has been brought back into the spotlight. This poison/fighting type was known for its appearance in the Pokemon anime and as a slapstick comic relief alongside its equally comical trainer, Brock.
About Croagunk
| First appearance in anime | In the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl series episode ‘Gymbaliar!’ |
| First appearance in game | Diamond and Pearl |
| Region | Unova |
| Evolution | Croagunk-->Toxicroak |
| 1st Evo level | 37 |
| Pokedex Entry | It makes frightening noises with its poison-filled cheek sacs. When opponents flinch, Croagunk hits them with a poison jab. Once diluted, its poison becomes medicinal. This Pokémon came into popularity after a pharmaceutical company chose it as a mascot. |
Croagunk’s Base Stats
| HP | 48 |
| Attack | 61 |
| Defense | 40 |
| Sp. Attack | 61 |
| Sp. Defense | 40 |
| Speed | 50 |
Appearance
Croagunk is a blue, frog-like Pokemon that stands upright on two black feet. It’s head resembles a poison dart frog with brightly colored orange cheeks and somewhat tired looking, yellow eyes. Its body and arms have black and white stripes around the midriff and its hands are black like its feet, although one finger on each hand is an orange colour.
Behavior
Croagunk is notorious for the poison it creates in its cheek pouches and while this poison can be painful, when diluted it has the opposite effect and can be used medicinally. Croagunk doesn’t tend to fight unless it has to and these traits make it an attractive choice to be mascots for hospitals in the Sinnoh region.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Craogunk’s poison/fighting typing does give it a variety of moves but it doesn’t create interesting type matchups like other dual types do. It is strong against and takes half damage from fighting, poison, rock, grass, and dark type moves as well as taking quarter damage from bug type moves. It is weak to flying, ground and psychic type moves with the first two dealing double damage and the last one dealing quadruple damage.
Best Moveset for Croagunk
Offensive: Croagunk has well rounded stats as well as an interesting move pool which allows it to fill many roles. The easiest role for it to fall into is an offensive one, taking advantage of its special attack stat and its ability to learn Nasty Plot.
| Nasty Plot | Focus Blast |
| Sludge Bomb | Vacuum Wave |
Utility: Croagunk’s ability, Dry Skin, allows it to heal from some interesting places, which when combined with Drain Punch and a boosted defense from Evolite, makes Croagunk an effective defensive Pokemon based around denying item use and applying poison.
| Knock Off | Vacuum Wave |
| Sludge Bomb | Drain Punch/Sucker Punch |
How to Catch Croagunk in Pokemon Go
In Pokemon Go, Croagunk appears where other poison and fighting types appear. It is found most commonly during cloudy weather and near lakes and sports fields. Its evolution, Toxicroak, can also be found in the same places.
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Trivia
- In the Sinnoh region, Croagunk is the mascot of an entire city, Pastoria city.
- While its typing seems unspectacular, Croagunk and its evolution are the only Pokemon with a poison/fighting dual type.
- Upon its initial reveal, Croagunk’s english name was misread as ‘Croalurk.’
FAQs
Is Croagunk a good Pokemon?
Croagunk and its evolution are rather good at dishing out damage and when given some strong moves, they can take out some opponents easily with their wide type coverage.
Can Croagunk swim?2
Croagunk actually thrives in the water, and can swim in lore but cannot learn the move Surf in the games.
Conclusion
Croagunk was pushed as both a friendly Pokemon and an entertaining one upon its release and it certainly captured the hearts of some. And its evolution even saw lots of use in competitive play but things have changed now. It is unfortunately overlooked despite still being around in the newest games but perhaps the new Sinnoh remakes will change that.
