#551 - #553: Sandile, Krokorok & Krookodile

I've always wondered why Basculin comes before the desert Pokémon in the Pokédex, but today I realized there is a patch of water to be found on Route 4 where I thought you could find the goddamn things. After a bit of reasearch I found out you can't find them there. Like, at all. So, confusion ensued and now I still don't know what Basculin is doing so early on in the Pokédex. Oh well, at least we're kicking off the new year with two amazing and generally beloved Pokémon.

Up: Sunglasses Sandile. Down: The same Pokémon as a
Krokorok, who is eventually 'caught' by Ash.

First up on the list are Sandile and its evolutions Krokorok and Krookodile. Sandile is a funny-looking crocodile, but it doesn't possess any powers related to water (aside from Aqua Tail) because Game Freak have made it a ground/dark dual type. It's not the first time they turned animals that are usually aquatic into desert creatures; the whole thing was done with Hippopotas and Hippowdon before, but I have to say they did a far better job with Sandile and its kin. The little croc looks like it's permanently wearing a pair of shaded binoculars, which actually isn't all that far from the truth, as the black area around its eyes is a membrane that prevents sand from getting into its eyes and shield them from the glare of the harsh desert sun. Sandile usually burrows under the surface of the desert like a sandfish (a type of skink), with only its nose and eyes sticking out from the sand, which has a purpose: it allows the heat from the sand to regulate its body temperature, and it allows Sandile to freely move around in the desert while seeing where the fuck it's going and staying hidden from its enemies at the same time. The reason why Sandile is such a beloved Pokémon nowadays, however, is what the Pokémon community affectionately refers to as Sunglasses Sandile. This Sandile wearing sunglasses was first seen as the leader of a group of wild Sandile causing trouble at a spa resort, but it was revealed that they were merely trying to save the Pokémon there as a result of a geyser about to erupt. Of course, Ash and his friends save the day and, as such, Sunglasses Sandile gains the utmost respect for Ash and starts following him around the Unova region. It took a couple of episodes, in which one was revealed that Sandile loses its confidence when its sunglasses go missing and becomes quite timid and cowardly, but in the end Ash invites a then Krokorok to join its team, which it happily accepts. 

An especially vile 'dile, if I may say so.

Aside from having a prominent anime arc, Krokorok has interesting origins as well. Like Sandile, it is based on a couple of crocodilians, more specifically the spectacled caiman, whose species' common name comes from a bony ridge between the eyes that gives it the appearance of wearing a pair of spectacles, and the slender-snouted crocodile. Given the fact that Krokorok looks like it's wearing a pair of shades (aside from Ash's Krokorok actually wearing sunglasses), this is kind of an obvious reference. It also draws inspiration from baryonyx, a slender-snouted and bipedal dinosaur that heavily resembled a crocodilian and is not seldomly depicted as having a reddish skin with stripes on its back, just like Krokorok and especially its evolution Krookodile - the latter of which has a snout that resembles the long, thin snout of a gharial. The main aspects of the entire evolutionary line's design, however, lie in the mask-like eyes and the stripes; Sandile and its evolutions are all based on criminals, as supported by their dark typing, and the stripes may even be a reference to convicts back in the day - you know, when many prison uniforms were black-and-white striped (I believe most US prison uniforms nowadays are either orange, khaki or yellow). Krookodile may also be based on a gang leader, as the markings around its eyes bear great resemblance to triangular sunglasses, which are often associated with manga and anime criminals. Additionally, it could also be a reference to Sobek, an ancient half-crocodile deity from ancient Egyptian mythology who is often associated with violence and even robbery.

Krookodile being a true crook.

When it comes to Krokorok and Krookodile's Pokédex entries, the only interesting part lies in the development of the eyes as the evolution line progresses. Krokorok's membrane not only protects its eyes against sand and heat, it also acts as a thermal detector and allows Krokorok to see the heat of the objects around it, which gives it excellent night vision. Krookodile can adjust the focus of its eyes over an incredible range, enabling it to view objects and prey in the far distance as if it were using binoculars, even in the midst of a sandstorm. Although I'm not sure if I should believe Sun and Ultra Sun when they say that Krookodile can detect small prey more than 30 miles away and swims through the desert as if it were water, only to jump out and chomp them. Ultra Moon even contradicts that, saying that this Pokémon waits patiently in a sandstorm for prey to appear.

Krookodile jumping out from beneath the sand. 

Krookodile is undoubtedly a very violent Pokémon that tries to clamp down on anything that moves with its powerful jaws and never allows its prey to escape, which really shows in competitive, the area in which this Pokémon really shines - at least it's in the UU tier, which is by no means a tier with Pokémon to be taken lightly. You'd wish Krookodile was a bit faster, but it isn't slow by any sense of the word, and aside from its physical strength it has some suprising bulk behind it. I mean, with an excellent HP stat, decent physical defense and access to the Intimidate ability, Krookodile could seriously serve as some kind of physical tank. Supported by a Jolly nature and the Rocky Helmet as a held item, this Pokémon is an excellent Stealth Rock setter and a complete and utter annoyance to your opponent when it's trying to get rid of their Pokémon's held items with Knock Off, which is also a quite powerful STAB dark-type move. Taunt makes it even worse, as it forces opposing Pokémon to use directly offensive moves and prevents them from using support or set-up moves, while a STAB Earthquake is always a thing to be wary of.

You could always go all-out offensive with a Choice Scarf set, which also makes Krookodile instantly faster but locks in into using only one move at a time until it's switched out. A moveset consisting of Knock Off, Stone Edge, Earthquake and Superpower has proved to be as effective as ever, although they're not the only moves that Krookodile learns: its vast movepool consists of STAB moves like Pursuit, Crunch, Throat Chop (only if you're worrying about sound-based moves), Bulldoze and Stomping Tantrum, but it also has access to nifty coverage moves like Aqua Tail, Iron Tail, Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, Rock Slide, Brick Break and even a good amount of dragon-type moves - considering Krookodile's alleged baryonyx origins, this is not surprising in the slightest. You could always stick with the Intimidate ability when taking the offensive approach, although Moxie boosts Krokodile's attack stat by one stage every time it kills something, which allows it to build momentum. Pair this ability with a Life Orb or Choice Band, and Krookodile really hits like a truck.

Krookodile being a sheer badass.

I absolutely love this Pokémon. Its design is original, its origins are fascinating and its pose is badass; and aside from that, it isn't half bad as a competitive Pokémon, nor as an asset to your in-game team. To top it off, Krookodile is much better and more badass as a crocodile - be it design- or flavor-wise - than Feraligatr, who is actually an honest-to-goodness water type rather than a ground type (I know Feraligatr is based on an alligator, but that's also a crocodilian, amirite?). I've used Krookodile on multiple occasions and it has honestly never let me down, because it's such a good Pokémon to use - although I have to say that I often chose Excadrill over Krookodile when I wanted to use a ground type on my Gen. V teams. Still, Krookodile is worth every star I'm giving it.

Oh man, I can't wait until I get to review Darmanitan!

Rating: 5/5