#434 - #435: Stunky & Skuntank

TCG art of Stunky.

Do British and American people have any idea how cool 'skunk' sounds? We Dutchies call this critter a stinkdier, which literally means 'stinking animal', and I have to say that's pretty unimaginative.

Aside from that, Game Freak went the obvious way with Stunky and Skuntank's poison/dark typing, because God knows skunks are noxious and evil little creatures. Their butt-like faces make their flavor even more ambiguous, even though Stunky's Pokédex entries explicitly state that the foul-smelling liquid it secretes to drive attackers away comes from its rear, which is exactly how a real-life skunk does it (although Stunky and Skuntank's cries do sound like wet farts). The stench can be smelled from over a mile away and lingers around for approximately 24 hours, so in other words, there's nothing overly special to say about Stunky here. There's its feline appearance, but that isn't all that suprising if you think about it: baby skunks are often called kits or kittens, and sometimes the Americans refer to skunks as 'polecats', even though skunks and actual polecats are only very distantly related.

Skuntank is nothing but a larger and nastier Stunky, with a more noxious and dreadful-smelling liquid for it to spray around over distances up to 160 feet; and the longer it allows this liquid to fester within its body, the more powerful the smell. The foul-smelling fermented substance comes from the tip of its tail rather than its rear, and as its tail is bent over its head, Skuntank's name makes a whole lot more sense to me now.

Some examples of Skuntank in TCG art.

Unfortunately, it isn't such a tank in the competitive scene. Sure, it has a good amount of HP and some decent attack and speed, but everything else is mediocre. Skuntank learns Flamethrower by level-up - which, by the way, should honestly say it all - but it can't make use of it effectively due to that mediocre special attack stat. While an in-game moveset can be filled up by Crunch, Play Rough, Iron Tail and Poison Jab (about the only good physical moves it gets, and two of them are egg moves), Sucker Punch and Pursuit are more viable competitively, while Taunt is used to prevent the foe from setting up with anything and Defog can be used to remove hazards like Sticky Web and Stealth Rock from the battlefield. Additionally, the move Haze resets the stat stages of all active Pokémon on the field, which could come in handy if the opponent decides to go full kamikaze on you. That isn't to say that Flamethrower and Fire Blast are unheard of in the competitive metagame, though, especially because they provide excellent type coverage. They're among the few good special-based moves Skuntank can learn as well, although Crunch and Poison Jab are preferred over Dark Pulse and Sludge Bomb due to Skuntank's superior attack stat. Should you decide to go special anyway, Modest is the preferred nature, but Skuntank is more of a physical attacker and I recommend a physical moveset backed by an Adamant nature and maybe something like the Black Glasses as a held item. Some item for utility might be worth your while, too: a Lum Berry heals any status condition whenever Skuntank gets one, while Black Sludge is exclusively for poison types and works exactly like the Leftovers for them. Just make sure Skuntank has the Aftermath ability at all times, as it does some damage to the opposing Pokémon whenever they knock out Skuntank and because the other two abilities just aren't very useful.

Skuntank reimagined as a 'real-life' skunk. This is amazing.

I have absolutely no idea why I put Skuntank on number 42 in my top 50 favorite Pokémon four years ago; if I were to make a top 100 now, it wouldn't even be in it. Conversely, the next Pokémon on my review list (Bronzong) made its way to my top from rock bottom. Funny how that goes sometimes, huh?

Anyway, my statements above don't mean I have come to hate Skuntank all of a sudden. On the contrary, I still think this Pokémon is worth at least 4 stars; I just don't think this Pokémon is anything special and I definitely don't understand how I could love Skuntank to such an extent that I put it on friggin' number 42 in my top 50 back then.

Rating: 4/5