Swampert

Eighty-one kilos and nine hundred grams packed into a metre and a half of height. The proportions explain the rest of the animal: a broad torso, four thick limbs and arms that Pokédex entries describe smashing gigantic boulders with a single blow. Another entry says it can drag a stone weighing more than a tonne without trouble; another, that it can swim while towing a large ship.

The official category, Mud Fish Pokémon, tells you where it lives before it tells you how it fights. The fins on its cheeks are not decoration: with them, it detects subtle changes in waves and currents, which is why it senses a storm before it breaks. When it detects one, it starts piling up rocks for shelter. It can also see in muddy water, where the rest of the waterside wildlife is left blind.

It closes the line started by Mudkip and continues Marshtomp. The change in form is spread neatly across the three stages: the first is a pond creature that can barely support itself outside the water, the second already walks on two legs, and the third keeps that upright stance and adds bulk. Its registered habitat is the waterside, and it is listed with 241 base experience, among the high figures for a Pokémon that is not legendary.

535 points distributed with no attempt to hide what they are for: 110 Attack, 100 HP, 90 and 90 in the two defences, 85 Special Attack and 60 Speed. It is a slow physical attacker with staying power, and the correct reading of that sheet is to hit with its arm, no matter that it learns Hydro Pump at level 63 and Muddy Water at 42.

Water and Ground leave it with a single weakness, Grass, and leave it multiplied by four. In return, they completely nullify Electric and reduce damage from Fire, Rock, Steel and Poison. On the attacking side, the combination covers itself: Earthquake and Waterfall from TMs are enough for everyday work, Ice Punch comes in for Grass types that would otherwise flatten it, and Flip Turn lets it hit and leave in the same turn. Stealth Rock is on its TM list and fits its low Speed.

Torrent only activates below one third of its HP and powers up Water-type attacks, which means the special half of its repertoire, exactly the worse of the two. Damp, its hidden ability, prevents a Pokémon from self-destructing: a niche effect that almost never changes a battle.

What holds it back is the combination of those 60 Speed and the ×4 weakness to Grass. Sceptile and any reasonably fast Grass type take it down before it gets to move. Outside Rest, it has no recovery, and Amnesia, which it learns at level 35, fixes the special side but costs the turn it cannot spare. In games with Mega Evolution, Swift Swim replaces Torrent and doubles its Speed in rain.

It is in two Egg Groups, Monster and Water 1, which opens up breeding with half the starters as well as a good part of the aquatic wildlife. The gender ratio is seven males for every female: 12.5%, so setting up your own breeding project means finding the female or relying on Ditto.

The 20 Egg Cycles amount to about 5355 steps, a slow-to-hatch egg. From its Egg Move catalogue, the ones worth having are Yawn, which forces the opposing Pokémon to switch, Wide Guard against priority attacks, Counter to return double the physical damage received, and Hammer Arm as a Fighting-type move with 100 power. It also inherits Mirror Coat, Curse and Ancient Power.

Evolution has no trick to it: Marshtomp reaches level 36, with no items, time requirements or friendship involved, and Mudkip had evolved at 16. Its growth rate is Medium Slow, so the third stage takes longer to arrive than in Medium-growth lines. When defeated, it awards 3 Attack EVs.

Its catch rate is 45, the figure for a Pokémon that is difficult to keep in a Poké Ball, although the detail matters little when the usual way to obtain it is to breed or evolve the starter given by the professor. In the wild, its habitat is the waterside.