Granbull

Its lower jaw has grown so large that it has to tilt its head back to compensate for the weight. The Pokédex itself says so, and it explains the crooked posture seen in every illustration: the fangs sticking out over its lip are enormous and heavy, and on a body measuring 1.4 metres and weighing 48.7 kilograms, they are the first thing you notice.

The rest of the animal contradicts the jaw. Almost every entry insists on the same point: it is very timid, even more of a scaredy-cat than Snubbull, and simply showing its jaws is enough to scare off practically any Pokémon it comes across. It does not bite much. Only when it is frightened or when someone really manages to make it angry. One other description points out that this contrast is precisely why it is popular with young people: a tough-looking appearance, a gentle temperament.

Its official category is the Fairy Pokémon, and since Generation VI that has also been its type; before then, it was Normal. It is the final stage of a two-step evolutionary line, with nothing after it. Snubbull reaches level 23, and that is where the journey ends.

The 120 Attack is the figure holding the whole entry together, and there is not much else. Its 450 total points are split between 90 HP, 75 Defense, and a flat 60 in both Special Attack and Special Defense, with 45 Speed bringing up the rear. That 45 condemns it to move last against almost everything it comes up against.

Intimidate is what makes it useful. It lowers the opponent's Attack as soon as it comes in, so a well-timed switch can turn a physical hit that was going to hurt into one it can take. Charm, which it already knows at level 1, lowers that same Attack by two more stages, and between the two effects it can leave a physical attacker toothless if it does not carry a special move as backup. Its other two Abilities, Quick Feet and Rattled, depend on something bad happening to it before they do anything useful.

The Fairy type gives it immunity to Dragon and resistance to Fighting, Bug and Dark, but opens up two awkward weaknesses: Poison and Steel. A Steelix in front of it has nothing to fear. Its own signature move is Play Rough, with 90 power, and for what resists it, it falls back on Earthquake, Focus Punch or the three elemental fangs it learns at level 1.

It is not a metagame Pokémon. Where it works is in the campaign: switch it in to absorb a physical hit, lower the opponent's Attack twice and land a Play Rough. Against other physical Fairies such as Azumarill, it loses out on Speed and recovery — all it has is Rest.

It belongs to the Field and Fairy Egg Groups, two of the most populated in the Pokédex, so finding it a partner is no trouble at all. The sex ratio is the opposite of the usual pattern: 75% are female, three out of four, so the female you need to start a breeding line will usually turn up on her own without having to look for one.

The 20 incubation cycles work out at about 5355 steps, an average figure that does not force you to run around the map for half an hour. Of its five Egg Moves, two deserve attention for opposite reasons: Counter returns twice the physical damage received, which fits a Pokémon built to take hits, while Present is the old lottery that can either heal the opponent or blow it away. Mimic, Snore and Revenge complete the list.

The evolution has no trick to it: Snubbull reaches level 23 and that is it. No items, no friendship, no time of day. It grows on the Fast experience curve, one of the curves that reaches the higher levels sooner, and its base friendship is 70.

Its registered habitat is urban, consistent with a domestic dog breed. Its catch rate is 75: neither the 45 of difficult species nor the 255 of trivial ones, but an intermediate value that a regular Poké Ball can handle with patience.