Surskit

Hoenn was designed as a region of water, and Ruby and Sapphire needed small creatures that would appear as soon as you started surfing. Surskit is one of them, and its model is the pond skater, the insect that stays on the surface of ponds without sinking. The Pokédex describes it without metaphors: it secretes oil from the tips of its legs that lets it walk on water as if it were skating, and it feeds on microorganisms in ponds and lakes.

The rest comes from its head. A thick, sweet nectar grows there, which it uses to attract prey; if it feels threatened, it releases it all at once, and some Pokémon love drinking it while Flying-types find it unpleasant. The same scent explains why wild specimens carry Honey. The official category, Pond Skater Pokémon, does not need any extra decoration.

It is 50 centimetres tall and weighs 1.7 kilograms. It lives in ponds, although storms push it into the puddles that form in cities, which is the elegant way of saying that it appears when it rains. It occupies the first half of a two-stage line: at level 22 it leaves the water's surface and evolves into Masquerain, which flies.

269 base stat points are among the poorest spreads around, and the distribution does not help either: 40 HP, 30 Attack, 32 Defense, 50 Special Attack and 52 Special Defense. The only stat that stands out is Speed, at 65, and that is where its one idea comes from. Swift Swim doubles that number while it is raining, and it learns Rain Dance by TM so it can set up the rain itself, with the obvious problem that spending the first turn on rain leaves a 50 Special Attack attacker firing Bubble Beam, which it learns at level 17. Hydro Pump comes by TM and breeding, but 110 power on 50 Special Attack still does not hurt.

Its hidden ability, Rain Dish, restores HP gradually in the same rain. With 40 HP, that amounts to crumbs.

Bug and Water defend better than they seem to: only three weaknesses — Flying, Rock and Electric — and five resistances, including Fighting, Water, Ice and Steel. The problem is that with 32 Defense, any neutral hit is enough.

Where it does have something of its own is support. Sticky Web, at level 38, lowers the Speed of everything the opponent sends in, and Baton Pass, at 35, lets it pass an accumulated Agility to a teammate. Both moves come above level 22, so only trainers who manually cancel the evolution ever see them. In a normal Hoenn playthrough, it works as fast water transport for half a dozen levels and little more.

It belongs to the Water 1 and Bug Egg Groups, a broad combination that puts it in contact with both aquatic Pokémon and insects, and its gender ratio is 50% female, so breeding your own line does not depend on luck. Its 15 incubation cycles equal roughly 4080 steps, on the shorter side.

Breeding produces eight moves, and two are worth mentioning above the rest: Aqua Jet, which gives it Water-type priority, and Fell Stinger, which with 30 Attack is more of a curiosity than a threat. Power Split is also inherited, and it serves to equalise HP with the opponent, which starting from 40 HP is usually a gift to the other side. Hydro Pump and Psybeam can be inherited without waiting for the TMs.

The evolution has no conditions: reach level 22 and that is it, with no items, time requirements or friendship. It grows at a medium rate, so it reaches that 22 without delays.

Its habitat is the waterside, and its catch rate, 200, places it near the trivial end of the scale: a basic Poké Ball and a little damage are enough. Defeating it gives 1 Speed EV, with 54 base experience.