Day 3: Crobat

(BGM: Goldenrod City from Heart Gold/Soul Silver)

Generation 2 did something very interesting when introducing its Pokemon roster, and that was the idea of taking some of the Pokemon from Generation 1, and giving them either pre-evolved forms in the form of baby Pokemon like Pichu, Cleffa, or Igglybuff. But more important than that, they took other Pokemon from the first generation and gave them evolved forms or alternate evolutions. That is probably one of the best ideas the Pokemon series ever had.

Not only did it make Pokemon that used to suck, like Onix, more usable, but it also shed some light on more underappreciated Pokemon like the Horsea line (Who got Kingdra in this generation), the Slowpoke line (Who got Slowking in this generation), and the Oddish line (Who got Bellossom in this generation). Hell, this idea was so good that future generations, 4, 8, and 9 in particular, would do the same thing and do an even better job than Gen 2.

But, that's enough gushing about this new idea, it's time to talk about one of my favorite Pokemon that received an evolution in Generation 2…

Crobat!

(Insert Crobat cry here)

(BGM: Battle! Team Rocket from Heart Gold/Soul Silver)

Who knew that, all the Generation 1 Pokemon to receive an evolution, it would be the annoying, eyeless bat that seemed to reside in every cave in Kanto?

Let me tell you, Crobat was the evolution that Zubat and Golbat needed, not that Golbat was a terrible Pokemon back in the day, but Crobat made this evolutionary line so…so…SO much better.

First, that design. It's a simple one, but a very intimidating one; with Crobat's four wings, his toothy mouth always in a scowl, and starring down opponents with his yellow eyes. He had yellow eyes! So help me God, yellow eyes!

Lyra: It's almost Valentine's Day and you're choosing to quote a Christmas movie?

Me: I'd have to be an idiot not to make a reference to that, Lyra.

And finally, there's something about that shade of purple on Crobat that I just love. It's just such an awesome design, especially those four wings…which I know might make a certain phantomzombie think of a certain fighter ship from a certain sci-fi franchise that he loves to pieces.

Anyway, let's move on to Crobat's type, which is obviously Poison and Flying. This is a genius type combination. As many Pokemon fans may know, Poison is especially weak to the ground type, while Flying types are immune to ground type moves. Guess who gets immunity to ground type moves for being part flying? You guessed it, Crobat!

Sure Crobat might still be weak to Psychic, Electric, Ice, and Rock, but honestly, Crobat is so fast he might be able to finish opponents before enemies even lay a finger on him!

While Crobat's other stats are decent enough, speed is the name of his game. Crobat is one of the fastest Pokemon across the entire franchise. And while it might be slower than some of the Mega Evolutions and legendaries like Deoxys and Pheromosa, an overall speed stat of 130 is still nothing to sneeze at.

With its great speed stat, Crobat is almost always guaranteed to get the first move in a Pokemon battle, meaning he basically has a free turn to do whatever he wants.

Do you want to cause a status ailment to your opponent with moves like Confuse Ray or Toxic? Go for it!

Are you up against a Pokemon you don't feel confident in taking out? Use U-Turn on that bitch!

Is your Crobat low on health and you need to get some of that health back? Giga Drain and Leech Life exist. Use it!

On that note let's talk about some of Crobat's moves.

On top of those moves that I just mentioned, Crobat learns some good Poison and Flying type moves naturally. Air Cutter for high critical hit chance as well as Air Slash for a chance to flinch, and Poison Fang and Cross Poison; two Poison type moves that not a lot of Pokemon can learn, giving Crobat two more reasons to love it.

Other moves that might make Crobat worth using would be Aerial Ace, Sludge Bomb, Steel Wing, X-Scissor, Dark Pulse, Payback, and for one his egg moves he can learn Zen Headbutt! With some of these moves, Crobat has something to answer for two of his weaknesses, those being Rock and Psychic types.

Like I said at the start, Crobat was the evolution that the Zubat line needed and made it become more than just 'that annoying bat Pokemon from Generation 1'.

If you're looking for a good speedster Pokemon that can deal out decent damage while also inflicting status ailments like confusion and poison (especially badly poison), Crobat just might be the Pokemon for you.

(As I wrap this chapter up, Lyra appears behind me wearing a purple and blue version of Batman's costume)

Lyra: I'm Crobatman!

(She gets up on top of a table and tries to do a somersault, but crashes into a bookshelf injuring herself, leaving her laying on the floor groaning and yelling in pain)

Me: I'm not going to call the hospital, because you won't learn anything if I do.