Krookodile, The Intimidation Pokémon. Very violent Pokémon, they try to clamp down on anything that moves in front of their eyes. They never allow prey to escape. Their jaws are so powerful, they can crush the body of an automobile. It can expand the focus of its eyes, enabling it to see objects in the far distance as if it were using binoculars.
Overview
Krookodile has always been one of my favourite Pokémon introduced in Unova. It's an awesome, intimidating, crocodile focused on Ground and Dark. It has a great movepool, a great Attack stat as well as some amazing abilities. While it isn't the most defensive Pokémon, it is a worthy addition to a variety of teams, but it isn't without its flaws. It will be outsped by most threats and is weak to so many of the most common types including Water, Ice, Fairy and Fighting which means it may have some issues holding its own beyond its first hit. Don't let that deter you, though, as Krookodile is a fairly usable Pokémon.
Positives
+Base 117 Attack is really good
+Its Speed is decent, and with the Choice Scarf will outspeed most threats.
+It has a fantastic movepool that supports its stats
+All of its abilities are really useful
Negatives
-Its defences leave something to be desired. 80 Defense and 70 Special Defense just don't quite cut it these days
-Its weaknesses are almost exclusively the most common used move types in the game.
-Its Speed, while decent, does mean a lot of its threats will outspeed it.
Abilities
Intimidate: Upon entering battle, the opponent’s Attack lowers one stage. In a Double Battle, both opponents’ Attack are lowered. Pokémon with the Clear Body, Hyper Cutter, or White Smoke ability are unaffected. In a link battle, if both sides switch on the same turn, and first player sends out a Pokémon with Intimidate, the opponent’s Attack will be lowered before the opponent’s Pokémon switches. - Always helpful to take down the plethora of physical attackers that exist in the game by one stage. It can screw many a strategy.
Moxie: Attack is raised by one stage when the Pokémon knocks out another Pokémon - Very handy. Krookodile is likely to take out a Pokémon before it collapses, and getting the Attack boost can just snowball on and on
Hidden Ability (Available):
Anger Point: Increases Attack to maximum level upon taking a critical hit. - Very situational. Let's face it, if a Pokémon gets a Critical Hit on Krookodile, Krookodile is knocked out. In times passed, it used to work through a substitute, but not anymore. Probably best to avoid using this ability, even though it can be brutal if properly set up.
Movesets
What A Krok!
-Knock Off/Crunch
-Earthquake
-Dragon Claw / Pursuit
-Iron Tail / Stone Edge
Item Attached: Choice Band / Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
Adamant or Jolly Nature
This is a pretty standard Krookodile set. Knock Off and Crunch provide Dark-type STAB. While Crunch is a common choice, Knock Off is a preferable option in the current metagame as when it hits most Pokémon, it will double its damage and knock their hold item off, ruining their strategies. Earthquake is always good, but being locked into it with a Choice item means the opponent can switch in a Flying-type. Dragon Claw is a decent option for coverage while Iron Tail and Stone Edge provide additional coverage. Pretty simple and basic, sure, but it works and with Moxie, Krookodile will just hit harder and harder. The item of choice is up to you. Choice Band will allow Krookodile to hit harder, but Choice Scarf allows for it to outspeed most threats
Help! Krook!
-Knock Off
-Earthquake
-Dragon Claw / Superpower / Stone Edge
- Taunt / Stealth Rock
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate or Moxie
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
Adamant Nature
Now, what do you want to do if you're not locked into the same move? Well that'd mostly be the same. Knock Off is still your best Dark-type move and it does ruin so many opponents. Earthquake, as always, gets great STAB and does decent damage. Then you have moves like Dragon Claw, Superpower or Stone Edge for additional coverage and damage. Finally, Taunt can stop opponents from unleashing the wrath of their Will-O-Wisp, which shuts Krookodile down, and Stealth Rock works as it always has and so that's always a fun option.
Other Options
The Elemental Fangs, Fire Fang & Thunder Fang, can provide some decent additional coverage with a chance of flinch and burn/paralysis. Always handy.
Rock Slide is a different alternative to Stone Edge, including a chance of Flinch but with less power.
Aqua Tail can provide additional coverage
Foul Play can be used by Krookodile, but really its own Attack with other attacks should be sufficient to do decent damage
Low Kick has had increased use lately and can work very well on the more heavy opponents that Krookodile faces
Outrage can work on a decent Krookodile set, but not so much now as in past gens due to the inclusion of the Fairy-type with its Dragon immunity.
Double & Triple Battle Options
Krookodile is on the lower end of usage when it comes to intimidate users. Kind of hard to believe when it has STAB Earthquake coming off a high attack stat with access to Rock Slide, throw a choice scarf in the mix and high power meets high speed... wait, this seems a bit familiar, almost like I'm describing Landorus-Therian. A quick glance at base stats will explain the popularity difference
Krookodile
95/117/80/65/70/92
Landorus-Therian
89/145/90/105/80/91
They are largely similar except for the massive 28 point difference in base attack, their speed is 1 off of each other too. Their movepools are similar in the popular moves you'd want to use on them, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Super Power. Truly, the main difference is their typing, with stats coming in a close second.
Being part Dark means Krookodile can switch into Ghost, Dark, and Psychic moves, despite those attacking types being uncommon, so are those resistances.
Being part Flying means Landorus can switch into Ground, Fighting and Bug moves, think Close Combat, U-Turn and Earthquake, all very common, so these are very useful things to be resistant/immune to.
Fairies existing also puts a strain on Krookodile. In VGC 2014, where Landorus wasn't allowed, Krookodile would show up every now and again, but the main Pokemon was Garchomp. Currently in VGC 2015, Garchomp shows up every now and again with Krookodile nowhere to be found. There's usually a stronger Ground Type to use in each format than Krookodile.
Doublesdile
Earthquake
Rock Slide
Crunch / Knock Off / Assurance
Low Kick / Super Power
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate / Moxie
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Def
Adamant Nature
Krookodile's one leg up over Landorus is that it has decent moves for both STABs, where Landorus has Fly (it's worked before, Mega Venusaur users do a double take EVERY time). Krookodile's Dark move will depend on your team's build, if you've a feint user or priority Pokemon, then Assurance will pretty much KO which ever Pokemon was Double Targeted that turn, Knock Off is disruptive, especially at high speeds, but if it's consistent power you need then Crunch is the way to go.
Krookodile's best partners resist Fairy, but are immune to Earthquake too. Rotom-Heat comes to mind, but that leaves quite the Water Weakness, so to patch that duo up, one could try the various Storm Drain, Dry Skin or Water Absorb users, or give Gyarados a shot.
Krookodile finds itself in a spot where it will probably never be the "go to" Intimidator/Earthquaker. Even in 2011's Unova only Pokedex, Landorus was around, had better resistances and a monstrously higher attack. I'm not saying Krookodile won't work, it's just very niche considering Landorus is usually in the Top 3 of Pokemon usage this year. One may find they need a Rock type resist with Intimidate that has strong hitting Dark moves. That's where Krookodile will come in.
Countering Krookodile
This isn't too hard. Various fast counters exist. As Krookodile is weak to Water, Grass, Ice, Bug, Fairy and Fighting, you just have to go in with all these Pokémon. Suicune, Rotom-W, Gardevoir, Machamp, Hariyama etc. can all hit Krookodile with significant damage that can usually at worst 2HKO it. Going for the Special Attacks is the best option as the Special Defense is Krookodile's weakest defence stat. Alternatively, if you go in and shut Krookodile down with various Intimidates and the Burn status, then Krookodile will no longer be a threat to anyone allowing for you to chip it down with ease. Rotom-W with its Will-O-Wisp and Hydro Pump is perfect for this, especially as it resists Earthquake.
Locations in Games
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game
Colosseum/XD:
Not in game
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in game
Black/White:
Evolve Krokorok
Black 2/White 2:
Evolve Krokorok
X/Y:
Evolve Krokorok
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Evolve Krokorok
Animé Appearences
