Croconaw

Gold and Silver debuted a new region, so it was time to renew the three starters. The Water one was settled without metaphors: a crocodile. The middle stage of that line arrived in 1999 as number 159, with the official category Big Jaw Pokémon, which is no decoration here. The Pokédex entries talk almost exclusively about its mouth. Forty-eight fangs, not one more or one fewer, and a new one each time one falls out. The tips point inwards, like hooks, so prey it bites cannot wriggle free by pulling away: the official text says outright that there is no escape and that the bite will not let go until the teeth give way.

The rest of the design supports that idea without overdoing it. One metre and ten centimetres, twenty-five kilograms, standing upright on two legs, with a yellow jaw and three groups of red spikes spread across its back and tail. This is the point where Totodile's round body stretches out, its oversized head becomes more proportionate and it starts to look like a predator, though it still lacks Feraligatr's bulk.

Its habitat is the waterside. In the wild, it has been found carrying a Mystic Water.

405 base stat points spread out so that no figure stands out. The best part is the double 80 in Attack and Defense; 65 HP, 63 Special Defense and 59 Special Attack fall short, while 58 Speed is the real problem, because almost everything it comes across is going to hit first.

Torrent, the standard Ability, powers up Water-type moves when its health drops below a third: a boost that arrives late and that you have to survive to cash in. Sheer Force, its Hidden Ability, is much more useful. It raises power and removes the secondary effect, which fits half its physical movepool — Crunch at level 30 gives up lowering Defense, Ice Fang at level 21 gives up freezing, Psychic Fangs and Rock Slide lose their effects, and all four hit harder. With Eviolite equipped, that 80 Defense becomes awkward to break through.

Being pure Water leaves it with only two weaknesses, Grass and Electric, as well as resistances to Fire, Water, Ice and Steel. On the attacking side, things narrow down: a single offensive type and borrowed coverage that relies on Ice Fang, Superpower at level 50 or Dragon Claw from a TM.

It is not competitive, and the reason is simple: it is a middle stage with a total of 405 whose evolution does the same thing with better numbers and without relying on an item. Where it does work is in a normal playthrough, across the twelve levels from 18 to 30, covering Johto's middle stretch with Bite and Ice Fang while the team finishes taking shape.

It belongs to the Monster and Water 1 Egg Groups, the usual pairing for Water starters, opening up breeding with both land reptiles and a large part of the aquatic fauna. Its gender ratio is the same as that of almost every starter: 12.5% female, seven males for every one female, so building your own line means finding that female or relying on Ditto.

Twenty incubation cycles, about 5355 steps. The egg produces five moves unavailable by any other method: Aqua Jet, Counter, Ancient Power, Swagger and Block. The first is the one worth the effort — 40 power is nothing impressive, but priority covers the exact hole left by 58 Speed. Block, combined with Swagger, has its uses for trapping wild Pokémon.

Its evolution requires nothing unusual: it appears when Totodile reaches level 18, then levels up at level 30 to become Feraligatr. No stones, no items, no time of day. It grows at a medium-slow rate, so the early levels drag and the later ones pay off.

Its catch rate is 45, the sort of figure associated with a difficult Pokémon, though in practice it hardly matters: you normally reach it through evolution rather than with a Poké Ball.