Sandshrew

The official Pokédex calls it the Mouse Pokémon, and there is no mouse anywhere to be seen. What you get is a pangolin: overlapping plates forming a dry shell, long digging claws and the habit of curling up until it becomes a sealed ball. Pokédex entries keep coming back to that gesture — it curls up to defend itself, turns into a ball instantly and rolls through the desert at high speed.

The second contradiction is water. It hates water, says the entry from the first generation, which is why it digs very deep burrows in arid areas. Another entry explains that it absorbs water without losing a drop and survives in the desert thanks to that. Hating it and storing it are not contradictory: it is managing a scarce resource.

It spends the day underground. At night, it burrows through the sand, goes to sleep inside the hole or opens one while looking for Bug Pokémon. At 0.6 metres and 12 kilograms, that dry, hard skin the entries talk about is its main defence.

It is the first half of a two-stage line: it evolves into Sandslash, which swaps the plates for spines and can no longer hide.

Its 300 base stat total is poorly distributed even for what it is asked to do. 85 Defense and 75 Attack support its physical side; 20 Special Attack and 30 Special Defense are filler numbers, and with only 50 HP that 85 holds up for less than it promises. Its Speed, 40, leaves it behind almost anything that moves.

Sand Rush, its hidden ability, is the only thing that has opened a door for it. It doubles its Speed while a sandstorm is active, so that 40 stops being the problem. On top of that, it sets up Swords Dance, which it learns at level 39 and also via TM, followed by Earthquake at 45. Rapid Spin, at level 15, gives it a second job: clearing Spikes and Stealth Rock from its own side of the field, both also on its TM list. In Smogon's Little Cup, that mix of physical bulk and sand-supported utility gave it a niche against Drilbur, which hits harder and falls apart sooner.

Outside that, there is not much. Its single Ground typing punishes Steel, Rock, Fire, Electric and Poison, cannot touch Flying and gives it an immunity to Electric, but leaves it with three common weaknesses: Water, Grass and Ice. And that 20 Special Attack turns Earth Power, Scorching Sands and Mud Shot, three of the best Ground moves in its TM repertoire, into wet paper. In a normal playthrough, it does what it did in 1996: dig and shut down the Electric trainer of the day.

It belongs to the Field Egg Group, the most crowded in the Pokédex, so pairing it up is effortless. The gender split is 50% female, without the scarcity that complicates other lines. Its 20 incubation cycles come out to roughly 5355 steps, a mid-range egg.

The offspring get six moves. The two that matter are Hone Claws, which raises Attack and Accuracy at once, and Night Slash, a 70-power Dark attack that covers the Ghost type. Counter fits its 85 Defense, sending back twice the physical damage received. Flail, Mud-Slap and Metal Claw round out the list without adding much; the last two also come via TM.

The evolution depends on the form. The Kantonian form becomes Sandslash upon reaching level 22, with no items or conditions. The Alolan form needs an Ice Stone.

Its habitat is rugged terrain and its catch rate is 255, the top of the scale: an ordinary Poké Ball will usually do the job without wearing it down first. It grows at a medium rate, gives one Defense effort point when it faints and wild specimens may be carrying a Quick Claw or Grip Claw.