[Overview]
<p>Although the transition to BW brought many new Fighting-types to Little Cup, Croagunk remains both useful and unique due to a vast array of intricacies. Being the only Pokemon with the Poison/Fighting type combination apart from its evolution certainly has its advantages, including a handy resistance to other Fighting-type moves. It is also easily the most common grounded Poison-type in the metagame, which is beneficial to teams that fear Toxic Spikes. Perhaps these facets are overshadowed by its excellent movepool, which, despite lacking devastating moves such as Hi Jump Kick possessed by other Fighting-types, includes a variety of priority moves, Drain Punch, and plenty of other goodies. The priority moves, which include Fake Out, Sucker Punch, and Vacuum Wave, are notable for allowing Croagunk to exhibit its mastery over the mess of quick, frail Pokemon that threaten much of Little Cup.</p>
<p>Although its typing is in many ways a godsend, it does provide an undesirable 4x weakness to Psychic-type moves. Croagunk also has a very hard time breaking through the defensive monster Gligar, easily one of the most common Pokemon around. Nonetheless, Croagunk provides usefulness to the team by having the potential to check both Scraggy and Misdreavus, both of which are capable of destroying teams due to their combination of bulk and offensive prowess. Croagunk's ability, Dry Skin, also provides it with an immunity to Water-type attacks, allowing it to force out both Shell Smash users, such as Tirtouga and Omanyte, and bulky Water-types, such as Staryu and even Chinchou.</p>
[SET]
name: Mixed Defensive
move 1: Fake Out
move 2: Vacuum Wave
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Dark Pulse
item: Eviolite
ability: Dry Skin
nature: Quiet
evs: 212 HP / 28 Atk / 36 Def / 108 SpA / 116 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Priority is very useful in Little Cup, due to both the number of frail Pokemon and Leftovers being basically nonexistent. Fake Out, although on the weaker side, allows Croagunk to serve as a check against any weakened Pokemon, bar Ghost-types, in conjunction with its other priority moves. Although a mixed set on Croagunk may seem odd, it is very useful because it is not completely shut down by Will-O-Wisp from Misdreavus or Frillish. With Fake Out and Vacuum Wave, Croagunk is capable of beating both Shell Smash Tirtouga and Omanyte, something many other Pokemon cannot do. Croagunk is one of the best Scraggy checks around, as it resists all of its common moves except Ice Punch and the increasingly rare Zen Headbutt.</p>
<p>Sucker Punch ties with ExtremeSpeed as the strongest priority move in the game, and is actually stronger than a neutral Vacuum Wave. This is useful against the other Shell Smash user, Clamperl, but is also quite risky because Clamperl sometimes opts to use Substitute. On the other hand, it is useful against Ghost- and Psychic-types, who are immune to or resist all of Croagunk's other priority. This includes Drifloon and Abra, provided the latter has taken a hit. Sucker Punch also takes down all forms of Misdreavus in conjunction with Dark Pulse if Misdreavus has taken some prior damage. This means that even Will-O-Wisp Misdreavus will be hard pressed to do much, and the combination of Dark Pulse followed by a Sucker Punch will greatly cripple it for the rest of the match (even if it does use Will-O-Wisp on Croagunk), while Croagunk will usually be all right with the given Special Defense EVs. Dark Pulse is also this set's best bet against Bronzor, though it typically runs Earthquake or Psychic, both of which can easily eliminate Croagunk.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This variant of Croagunk lacks any form of reliable recovery due to the fact that it cannot run Drain Punch, as it is illegal with Dark Pulse. Even if Drain Punch was desirable, it would have a hard time fitting on to this set; the best option would be to replace Fake Out with Drain Punch and replace Dark Pulse with Shadow Ball to remove legality issues. Shadow Ball doesn't have the nifty flinch chance that Dark Pulse has, but Croagunk is typically too slow to make good use of that anyway. The EVs give Croagunk enough bulk with Eviolite to take repeated resisted hits when it needs to if it is played conservatively. Speed is not necessary on this set, as all moves have priority with the exception of Dark Pulse, which is only used in certain instances where Speed is not needed. Furthermore, this makes a Quiet nature optimal to boost the power of Vacuum Wave against Scraggy without sacrificing either defense and instead opting for lower Speed.</p>
<p>If Misdreavus is not a concern, Icy Wind could be used in the last slot to surprise Gligar that think they can safely switch in. Bullet Punch is a cool priority move, but doesn't provide enough in the way of coverage to merit a whole moveslot. Unless you do use Icy Wind, Gligar is going to be a serious problem. Bronzor is thus one of the best possible teammates, as it can set up Stealth Rock while taking hits from Gligar with ease. Croagunk also disposes of Scraggy, who loves to try to set up on Bronzor. Snover and Shellder can revenge kill Gligar while also handling other Flying-types, such as Guts Taillow, that may think of Croagunk as merely bait. Because Croagunk lacks recovery, it needs to make good use of Dry Skin to stay healthy. Something that lures in Water-type moves, such as Gligar or Larvesta, is thus a good teammate. Both can also use U-turn to deal damage while bringing Croagunk in safely.</p>
<p>Defensive Croagunk is notable on bulkier offensive teams, but also merits a spot on defensive teams as well. Primarily, most defensive teams lack a foolproof counter to Shell Smash users, as this boosting move makes the user an unstoppable offensive force against stall teams. Croagunk, through its use of priority, gives the team an answer to this without resorting to a Choice Scarf user. It also absorbs Toxic Spikes, which plague all defensive teams that lack Tentacool. Misdreavus with Nasty Plot is also a pretty big threat to defensive teams, as it can resort to a number of toys, including Will-O-Wisp, to stop an otherwise useful counter, such as Munchlax, from being able to reliably check it. Conversely, Croagunk needs some support from its team to work properly. It struggles to break through Wynaut, despite having Dark Pulse and Sucker Punch, and Wynaut is a common partner to many Shell Smash users. Croagunk also has a hard time handling Slowpoke. Misdreavus is a good choice to handle both, provided you do not get Encored into something useless by Wynaut. This set also has trouble breaking through Murkrow. Bronzor again shows usefulness here, as it is only 2HKOed at best by a Life Orb Heat Wave, but a Shell Smash user of your own, such as Tirtouga, also merits use as a partner.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulky Offensive
move 1: Drain Punch
move 2: Vacuum Wave
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Fake Out / Taunt
item: Eviolite
ability: Dry Skin
nature: Naive
evs: 212 HP / 28 Atk / 36 Def / 28 SpA / 196 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Although this set looks similar to the previous one, it's played rather differently. The first notable difference is running maximum Speed, which allows Croagunk to fulfill a variety of different roles. Primarily, it makes good use of Drain Punch, which complements Croagunk's natural bulk and is just powerful enough to keep it healthy. This allows Croagunk to repeatedly check Scraggy, Staryu, offensive Misdreavus, and Chinchou. Vacuum Wave allows Croagunk to smash Shell Smash users whilst picking off weakened Scraggy and Snover. Sucker Punch complements the first two moves nicely, as it attains near perfect coverage while allowing Croagunk to get the jump on the multitude of offensive Pokemon it needs to check.</p>
<p>The last slot is up to personal preference. Fake Out is very nice in Little Cup, as every bit of damage is useful in the bigger picture. However, if your team has another Fake Out user already, such as Mienfoo or Meowth, it's probably too weak to be noteworthy and is thus superfluous. In these cases (or on more defensive teams), Taunt can see some use for stopping defensive Pokemon while synergizing nicely with Sucker Punch. It also stops Bronzor from setting Stealth Rock, and can keep lead Dwebble from getting down more than one layer.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs in this set prioritize HP, which is useful with Eviolite, while still hitting maximum Speed. If one does not really want to hit such a high Speed stat, the EVs are best placed in Special Defense to make Croagunk an even better answer to Chinchou and offensive Misdreavus. Naive does lower Special Defense, but one point lower does not make as much of a difference as one might expect. Unfortunately, when backed up by only 12 Special Attack, Vacuum Wave is rather wimpy and should only be used when Drain Punch does not make sense.</p>
<p>This set struggles to break through defensive Misdreavus, as it absolutely hates Will-O-Wisp. For this reason, a cleric such as Chinchou or Lickitung can be a useful partner so Croagunk does not become dead weight. It also makes Munchlax with Rest a good candidate for a partner, as Munchlax can switch in on a Shadow Ball while dealing massive damage to Misdreavus with Pursuit. Scraggy, Misdreavus, and Gligar are also good teammates, being immune to some of Croagunk's weaknesses. Scraggy appreciates a partner such as Croagunk that can switch into opposing Fighting-types. Likewise, Gligar hates fast Water-type Pokemon, such as Staryu and Chinchou, which this set repeatedly and reliably checks. There are others in this category, such as Ponyta or even the rare Numel, that can't hope to accomplish anything when those swift Water-types are still alive; unfortunately, these two Pokemon and Croagunk share a weakness to Ground-type moves.</p>
<p>Croagunk can't crack Bronzor or Slowpoke at full health. Scraggy is again a good teammate to reliably check these Pokemon. Mienfoo can also do so, and can form a Fake Out duo with Croagunk. This set is even better than the previous one at beating Scraggy.The removal of Scraggy is especially beneficial to Bronzor, Slowpoke, Ferroseed, Dwebble, and Lileep; most of these can set up entry hazards to support Croagunk. Vullaby and Murkrow are problematic as this set lacks a way to hurt them, so Magnemite and Chinchou can be good teammates that hit quickly and powerfully; both also have access to Volt Switch to maintain momentum. Houndour is immune to Will-O-Wisp and Psychic-type moves, and can use Pursuit on fleeing Misdreavus. It has the added bonus of luring in Water-type moves for Croagunk.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Gunk Shot and Poison Jab are both strong moves, but don't attain much in the way of coverage. ThunderPunch is good against Flying-types such as Mantyke, but Icy Wind or Ice Punch is the generally superior option to pound Gligar (but these moves are difficult to fit on any set). Substitute can ease prediction for Croagunk, but Croagunk generally can't waste any moveslots. Payback is another option, but Dark Pulse is better most of the time since Payback no longer deals double damage on a faster Pokemons switching in. Cross Chop is one of Croagunk's strongest moves, but is rather inaccurate. Low Sweep could be used to slow down Pokemon that try to come in on Croagunk, but Croagunk typically abuses priority moves anyways.</p>
<p>Pursuit is attractive, but not a very good option because it doesn't hit the Pokemon Croagunk scares out for big damage. Croagunk also has access to a mess of gimmicky moves that could be situationally handy, including X-Scissor and Thief. A Nasty Plot set with Vacuum Wave and Dark Pulse is tempting, but means Croagunk has to sacrifice its longevity to get enough power to back it up. Bulk Up or Substitute and Focus Punch are both sets Croagunk could run, but Timburr does these better. Speaking of Timburr, a purely physically defensive EV spread could be used by Croagunk to check both it and Mienfoo even better than it already does.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Gligar is one of the biggest problems here, mainly because it can easily OHKO Croagunk with most of its moves. Diglett must watch out for certain priority moves, but will easily OHKO Croagunk as well. Bronzor doesn't mind taking a hit here and there and can use Psychic or Earthquake to cripple Croagunk. Murkrow doesn't take that much from whatever Croagunk packs, and can use Drill Peck, Brave Bird, or even FeatherDance to force Croagunk into submission. Houndour and Ponyta prey on the damage boost they achieve courtesy of Dry Skin, but the first must be wary of Vacuum Wave and Drain Punch. Choice Scarf Flying-types that can take a hit, such as Doduo, Vullaby, or, again, Murkrow, easily take out Croagunk. Frillish is bulky, won't typically allow Croagunk to use Sucker Punch, and can take out every set with a combination of Cursed Body, Recover, and Will-O-Wisp.</p>
<p>Tentacool resists all of Croagunk's primary moves, but can't do much else because of Dry Skin. Exeggcute causes problems for all variants without Dark Pulse, and, if it uses Sleep Powder, can sidestep both that move and Sucker Punch. Abra with Focus Sash and Protect will be brought down to 1 HP by Sucker Punch, but will be able to take Croagunk out with Psychic. If Wynaut predicts well with Encore and uses an Oran Berry, it has no problem trapping and removing Croagunk so a Shell Smash user can successfully sweep. Slowpoke has massive Defense and commonly uses Psychic; with Regenerator, it can also negate any damage Croagunk may have done. Misdreavus, Gastly, and Staryu with Psychic can all be nasty surprises for Croagunk. If Croagunk does not use Drain Punch and only goes with Vacuum Wave, Lickitung or Munchlax can abuse their high Special Defense and start setting up.</p>
<p>Although the transition to BW brought many new Fighting-types to Little Cup, Croagunk remains both useful and unique due to a vast array of intricacies. Being the only Pokemon with the Poison/Fighting type combination apart from its evolution certainly has its advantages, including a handy resistance to other Fighting-type moves. It is also easily the most common grounded Poison-type in the metagame, which is beneficial to teams that fear Toxic Spikes. Perhaps these facets are overshadowed by its excellent movepool, which, despite lacking devastating moves such as Hi Jump Kick possessed by other Fighting-types, includes a variety of priority moves, Drain Punch, and plenty of other goodies. The priority moves, which include Fake Out, Sucker Punch, and Vacuum Wave, are notable for allowing Croagunk to exhibit its mastery over the mess of quick, frail Pokemon that threaten much of Little Cup.</p>
<p>Although its typing is in many ways a godsend, it does provide an undesirable 4x weakness to Psychic-type moves. Croagunk also has a very hard time breaking through the defensive monster Gligar, easily one of the most common Pokemon around. Nonetheless, Croagunk provides usefulness to the team by having the potential to check both Scraggy and Misdreavus, both of which are capable of destroying teams due to their combination of bulk and offensive prowess. Croagunk's ability, Dry Skin, also provides it with an immunity to Water-type attacks, allowing it to force out both Shell Smash users, such as Tirtouga and Omanyte, and bulky Water-types, such as Staryu and even Chinchou.</p>
[SET]
name: Mixed Defensive
move 1: Fake Out
move 2: Vacuum Wave
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Dark Pulse
item: Eviolite
ability: Dry Skin
nature: Quiet
evs: 212 HP / 28 Atk / 36 Def / 108 SpA / 116 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Priority is very useful in Little Cup, due to both the number of frail Pokemon and Leftovers being basically nonexistent. Fake Out, although on the weaker side, allows Croagunk to serve as a check against any weakened Pokemon, bar Ghost-types, in conjunction with its other priority moves. Although a mixed set on Croagunk may seem odd, it is very useful because it is not completely shut down by Will-O-Wisp from Misdreavus or Frillish. With Fake Out and Vacuum Wave, Croagunk is capable of beating both Shell Smash Tirtouga and Omanyte, something many other Pokemon cannot do. Croagunk is one of the best Scraggy checks around, as it resists all of its common moves except Ice Punch and the increasingly rare Zen Headbutt.</p>
<p>Sucker Punch ties with ExtremeSpeed as the strongest priority move in the game, and is actually stronger than a neutral Vacuum Wave. This is useful against the other Shell Smash user, Clamperl, but is also quite risky because Clamperl sometimes opts to use Substitute. On the other hand, it is useful against Ghost- and Psychic-types, who are immune to or resist all of Croagunk's other priority. This includes Drifloon and Abra, provided the latter has taken a hit. Sucker Punch also takes down all forms of Misdreavus in conjunction with Dark Pulse if Misdreavus has taken some prior damage. This means that even Will-O-Wisp Misdreavus will be hard pressed to do much, and the combination of Dark Pulse followed by a Sucker Punch will greatly cripple it for the rest of the match (even if it does use Will-O-Wisp on Croagunk), while Croagunk will usually be all right with the given Special Defense EVs. Dark Pulse is also this set's best bet against Bronzor, though it typically runs Earthquake or Psychic, both of which can easily eliminate Croagunk.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This variant of Croagunk lacks any form of reliable recovery due to the fact that it cannot run Drain Punch, as it is illegal with Dark Pulse. Even if Drain Punch was desirable, it would have a hard time fitting on to this set; the best option would be to replace Fake Out with Drain Punch and replace Dark Pulse with Shadow Ball to remove legality issues. Shadow Ball doesn't have the nifty flinch chance that Dark Pulse has, but Croagunk is typically too slow to make good use of that anyway. The EVs give Croagunk enough bulk with Eviolite to take repeated resisted hits when it needs to if it is played conservatively. Speed is not necessary on this set, as all moves have priority with the exception of Dark Pulse, which is only used in certain instances where Speed is not needed. Furthermore, this makes a Quiet nature optimal to boost the power of Vacuum Wave against Scraggy without sacrificing either defense and instead opting for lower Speed.</p>
<p>If Misdreavus is not a concern, Icy Wind could be used in the last slot to surprise Gligar that think they can safely switch in. Bullet Punch is a cool priority move, but doesn't provide enough in the way of coverage to merit a whole moveslot. Unless you do use Icy Wind, Gligar is going to be a serious problem. Bronzor is thus one of the best possible teammates, as it can set up Stealth Rock while taking hits from Gligar with ease. Croagunk also disposes of Scraggy, who loves to try to set up on Bronzor. Snover and Shellder can revenge kill Gligar while also handling other Flying-types, such as Guts Taillow, that may think of Croagunk as merely bait. Because Croagunk lacks recovery, it needs to make good use of Dry Skin to stay healthy. Something that lures in Water-type moves, such as Gligar or Larvesta, is thus a good teammate. Both can also use U-turn to deal damage while bringing Croagunk in safely.</p>
<p>Defensive Croagunk is notable on bulkier offensive teams, but also merits a spot on defensive teams as well. Primarily, most defensive teams lack a foolproof counter to Shell Smash users, as this boosting move makes the user an unstoppable offensive force against stall teams. Croagunk, through its use of priority, gives the team an answer to this without resorting to a Choice Scarf user. It also absorbs Toxic Spikes, which plague all defensive teams that lack Tentacool. Misdreavus with Nasty Plot is also a pretty big threat to defensive teams, as it can resort to a number of toys, including Will-O-Wisp, to stop an otherwise useful counter, such as Munchlax, from being able to reliably check it. Conversely, Croagunk needs some support from its team to work properly. It struggles to break through Wynaut, despite having Dark Pulse and Sucker Punch, and Wynaut is a common partner to many Shell Smash users. Croagunk also has a hard time handling Slowpoke. Misdreavus is a good choice to handle both, provided you do not get Encored into something useless by Wynaut. This set also has trouble breaking through Murkrow. Bronzor again shows usefulness here, as it is only 2HKOed at best by a Life Orb Heat Wave, but a Shell Smash user of your own, such as Tirtouga, also merits use as a partner.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulky Offensive
move 1: Drain Punch
move 2: Vacuum Wave
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Fake Out / Taunt
item: Eviolite
ability: Dry Skin
nature: Naive
evs: 212 HP / 28 Atk / 36 Def / 28 SpA / 196 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Although this set looks similar to the previous one, it's played rather differently. The first notable difference is running maximum Speed, which allows Croagunk to fulfill a variety of different roles. Primarily, it makes good use of Drain Punch, which complements Croagunk's natural bulk and is just powerful enough to keep it healthy. This allows Croagunk to repeatedly check Scraggy, Staryu, offensive Misdreavus, and Chinchou. Vacuum Wave allows Croagunk to smash Shell Smash users whilst picking off weakened Scraggy and Snover. Sucker Punch complements the first two moves nicely, as it attains near perfect coverage while allowing Croagunk to get the jump on the multitude of offensive Pokemon it needs to check.</p>
<p>The last slot is up to personal preference. Fake Out is very nice in Little Cup, as every bit of damage is useful in the bigger picture. However, if your team has another Fake Out user already, such as Mienfoo or Meowth, it's probably too weak to be noteworthy and is thus superfluous. In these cases (or on more defensive teams), Taunt can see some use for stopping defensive Pokemon while synergizing nicely with Sucker Punch. It also stops Bronzor from setting Stealth Rock, and can keep lead Dwebble from getting down more than one layer.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs in this set prioritize HP, which is useful with Eviolite, while still hitting maximum Speed. If one does not really want to hit such a high Speed stat, the EVs are best placed in Special Defense to make Croagunk an even better answer to Chinchou and offensive Misdreavus. Naive does lower Special Defense, but one point lower does not make as much of a difference as one might expect. Unfortunately, when backed up by only 12 Special Attack, Vacuum Wave is rather wimpy and should only be used when Drain Punch does not make sense.</p>
<p>This set struggles to break through defensive Misdreavus, as it absolutely hates Will-O-Wisp. For this reason, a cleric such as Chinchou or Lickitung can be a useful partner so Croagunk does not become dead weight. It also makes Munchlax with Rest a good candidate for a partner, as Munchlax can switch in on a Shadow Ball while dealing massive damage to Misdreavus with Pursuit. Scraggy, Misdreavus, and Gligar are also good teammates, being immune to some of Croagunk's weaknesses. Scraggy appreciates a partner such as Croagunk that can switch into opposing Fighting-types. Likewise, Gligar hates fast Water-type Pokemon, such as Staryu and Chinchou, which this set repeatedly and reliably checks. There are others in this category, such as Ponyta or even the rare Numel, that can't hope to accomplish anything when those swift Water-types are still alive; unfortunately, these two Pokemon and Croagunk share a weakness to Ground-type moves.</p>
<p>Croagunk can't crack Bronzor or Slowpoke at full health. Scraggy is again a good teammate to reliably check these Pokemon. Mienfoo can also do so, and can form a Fake Out duo with Croagunk. This set is even better than the previous one at beating Scraggy.The removal of Scraggy is especially beneficial to Bronzor, Slowpoke, Ferroseed, Dwebble, and Lileep; most of these can set up entry hazards to support Croagunk. Vullaby and Murkrow are problematic as this set lacks a way to hurt them, so Magnemite and Chinchou can be good teammates that hit quickly and powerfully; both also have access to Volt Switch to maintain momentum. Houndour is immune to Will-O-Wisp and Psychic-type moves, and can use Pursuit on fleeing Misdreavus. It has the added bonus of luring in Water-type moves for Croagunk.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Gunk Shot and Poison Jab are both strong moves, but don't attain much in the way of coverage. ThunderPunch is good against Flying-types such as Mantyke, but Icy Wind or Ice Punch is the generally superior option to pound Gligar (but these moves are difficult to fit on any set). Substitute can ease prediction for Croagunk, but Croagunk generally can't waste any moveslots. Payback is another option, but Dark Pulse is better most of the time since Payback no longer deals double damage on a faster Pokemons switching in. Cross Chop is one of Croagunk's strongest moves, but is rather inaccurate. Low Sweep could be used to slow down Pokemon that try to come in on Croagunk, but Croagunk typically abuses priority moves anyways.</p>
<p>Pursuit is attractive, but not a very good option because it doesn't hit the Pokemon Croagunk scares out for big damage. Croagunk also has access to a mess of gimmicky moves that could be situationally handy, including X-Scissor and Thief. A Nasty Plot set with Vacuum Wave and Dark Pulse is tempting, but means Croagunk has to sacrifice its longevity to get enough power to back it up. Bulk Up or Substitute and Focus Punch are both sets Croagunk could run, but Timburr does these better. Speaking of Timburr, a purely physically defensive EV spread could be used by Croagunk to check both it and Mienfoo even better than it already does.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Gligar is one of the biggest problems here, mainly because it can easily OHKO Croagunk with most of its moves. Diglett must watch out for certain priority moves, but will easily OHKO Croagunk as well. Bronzor doesn't mind taking a hit here and there and can use Psychic or Earthquake to cripple Croagunk. Murkrow doesn't take that much from whatever Croagunk packs, and can use Drill Peck, Brave Bird, or even FeatherDance to force Croagunk into submission. Houndour and Ponyta prey on the damage boost they achieve courtesy of Dry Skin, but the first must be wary of Vacuum Wave and Drain Punch. Choice Scarf Flying-types that can take a hit, such as Doduo, Vullaby, or, again, Murkrow, easily take out Croagunk. Frillish is bulky, won't typically allow Croagunk to use Sucker Punch, and can take out every set with a combination of Cursed Body, Recover, and Will-O-Wisp.</p>
<p>Tentacool resists all of Croagunk's primary moves, but can't do much else because of Dry Skin. Exeggcute causes problems for all variants without Dark Pulse, and, if it uses Sleep Powder, can sidestep both that move and Sucker Punch. Abra with Focus Sash and Protect will be brought down to 1 HP by Sucker Punch, but will be able to take Croagunk out with Psychic. If Wynaut predicts well with Encore and uses an Oran Berry, it has no problem trapping and removing Croagunk so a Shell Smash user can successfully sweep. Slowpoke has massive Defense and commonly uses Psychic; with Regenerator, it can also negate any damage Croagunk may have done. Misdreavus, Gastly, and Staryu with Psychic can all be nasty surprises for Croagunk. If Croagunk does not use Drain Punch and only goes with Vacuum Wave, Lickitung or Munchlax can abuse their high Special Defense and start setting up.</p>
