“Gotta Catch ‘Em All,” a phrase widely known by Millennial and Generation Z. The world of Pokémon took the world by storm during the Pokémon Go phenomenon. For the die-hard fans, the journey began in 1996 when the first generation Pokémon games were released with 151 species. We now have 7 generations of Pokémon totaling to 807 species. This shows you how vast the Pokémon universe is.
This time around, we would like to discuss Croagunk, the non-huggable Pokémon. Why non-huggable? Poor Pokémon, you might think, so sweet of you! But Croagunk is non-huggable; any contact with Croagunk leaves other Pokémon’s with a 30% chance of poisoning. A simple touch or even brush from Croagunk’s fingers and the poisonous sacks inside the fingers will unleash that poison. The poison is also present in Croagunk’s cheeks and can be fatal.
Description
Imagine a dark blue bipedal frog with yellow eyes and black markings around the eyes. Its teeth are wide and flat. You will notice some white stripes around a Croagunk’s chest, where the strips of a female Croagunk are somewhat higher up than those of a male. A Croagunk also has orange cheeks with expandable pouches.
This generation IV Pokémon is 2 feet 4 inches tall, weighs about 23 kilograms, and its common uses are as a poison or fighting type Pokémon.
Croagunk is a mild Pokémon and seldom attacks. But that does not mean underestimating this Pokémon character. It can easily distract its opponents using its cheek pouches, which creates an unnerving sound and then stabs them with its toxic fingers. Quite harsh, if you think about it. No wonder a Croagunk in Mandarin Chinese is called Bù Liáng Wā, meaning a “bad frog.”
Habitat
Like all amphibians, Croagunk prefers moist places, preferably swamps and forests.
Strengths
One of the cool abilities of Croagunk is anticipation. It can sense the foe’s dangerous moves. How cool is that?
The poison in its fingers and cheeks is another strength of Croagunk. Case in point, outside the supermarket in Gymbaliar, where Team Rocket was stealing Pokémon from innocent trainers through a fake gym. Team Rocket was not having any success with this stunt since Jessie was not winning. Lucky for her, a Croagunk was around, and she decided to use it. She went on to win many battles with it.
Croagunk can take hits all day from the majority of the Pokémon types, such as bug, poison, rock, fighting, dark, and grass types. Most of the attacks by these Pokémon will deal half the damage. Now that’s assuring!
Weakness:
Like any Pokémon, Croagunk has weaknesses. Even though it can handle most Pokémon, it should never come face to face with psychic, flying, and ground type foes.
According to Pokedex, psychic attacks deal 4x the damage while flying and ground attacks deal double the damage. That means that the Croagunk has little to no chance of surviving against such Pokémon characters. So, whenever you are playing and have a Croagunk, keep it away from these Pokémon types lest it will be the end of you.
Popularity
As stated earlier, a Croagunk’s touch is dangerous. However, there is an upside to its poisonous fluid. A Croagunk’s poison is an excellent remedy for lower back pain. No wonder pharmaceuticals use Croagunk’s as mascots!
Evolution
Once Croagunk reaches level 37, it will evolve to Toxicroak. During this evolution, it gains 1 foot in height, double the weight, a horn, and a single blade in each hand.
Try picturing a dark blue bipedal rhino with a single knuckle claw in each arm—a scary sight for any future foe. A tiny scratch from its knuckle claw can prove fatal, no percentage or recovery with this one, I am afraid.
