Squirtle

Tucks its neck inside its shell and then fires. Pokédex entries describe the water coming out “at incredible pressure”, making it clear that the shell isn’t just armour: it’s the chamber that compresses the stream. The routine is almost the same in every description — it hides when it feels threatened, stays in there and counterattacks by firing water as soon as it gets the chance.

The shell’s other function is hydrodynamic. Its rounded shape and the grooves on its surface reduce drag in the water, which is why it can swim at high speed despite measuring 50 centimetres and weighing 9 kilos. It hunts from another position in much the same way: it floats and spits streams at its prey without needing to get close.

Its official category is the Tiny Turtle Pokémon. It’s blue, walks upright on two legs — something no real turtle does — and its habitat is the water’s edge, that strip between water and land where neither one is entirely in charge.

It starts a three-stage line. At level 16 it evolves into Wartortle, and at 36 into Blastoise, where the shell finally becomes artillery, with cannons sticking out of its back. The idea of pressurised water is there from day one. The only thing that changes with the levels is the calibre.

Its two defensive stats are the only things that stand out, and only just: 65 Defense and 64 Special Defense out of a total of 314. Its 44 HP leave it somewhere in the middle, because taking hits depends on both figures at once. Attacking isn’t its thing, with 48 Attack and 50 Special Attack, and its 43 Speed puts it behind almost any opponent its size. It gives 1 Defense EV when defeated.

Torrent, its regular Ability, multiplies the power of its Water-type moves by 1.5 when it has a third of its HP or less remaining. It’s the Ability all starters have, and forces the same old plan: to make it hit hard, you have to play it while it’s weakened. Rain Dish, its Hidden Ability, restores one-sixteenth of its HP each turn while it’s raining, and theoretically pairs with Rain Dance at level 21, although setting up rain costs a turn it almost never has.

The thing that gives it a plan in Little Cup arrived late: Shell Smash at level 27, which doubles Attack, Special Attack and Speed at the cost of lowering both defenses by one stage. Hydro Pump follows at 33, and Aqua Jet is an Egg Move for finishing opponents without relying on Speed. Offensively, Water hits Fire, Ground and Rock and is resisted only by Grass, Water and Dragon; defensively, it resists Fire, Water, Ice and Steel.

The drawback is twofold. With 44 HP, any priority hit after Shell Smash takes it out, and its two weaknesses, Grass and Electric, are among the most widely distributed in the format. Ice Beam and Ice Punch via TM only partly cover the first one.

It belongs to the Monster and Water 1 Egg Groups, two of the most populated, so finding a breeding partner isn’t the problem. The sex ratio is: only 12.5% are female, seven males for every one female, and without a female or a Ditto, breeding won’t get started. Its 20 Egg cycles work out at roughly 5355 steps.

Three of its Egg Moves are worth considering. Aqua Jet provides priority, which is exactly what it lacks. Yawn forces switches or puts anything that stays in to sleep. And Water Spout, with 150 power, is the strangest of the three, because its power drops as its HP falls: it only does serious damage while it’s intact, exactly the opposite of Torrent, which requires reaching the final third. The two can’t fit into the same turn.

It evolves by levelling up to level 16, with no stones, items or time of day involved. Nothing to prepare.

Its habitat is the water’s edge, although in practice you don’t look for it there: it’s one of Kanto’s three starters and comes from the laboratory. Its catch rate, 45, is that of a difficult Pokémon to catch, a figure you notice with a wild Pokémon but that makes no difference when it’s a professor’s gift. It grows at a medium-slow rate and gives 63 base experience when it faints.