Pokemon Review: #041 Zubat, #042 Golbat, #169 Crobat - ubernoob's Blog

ubernoob's Blog

Pokemon Review: #041 Zubat, #042 Golbat, #169 Crobat

Posted on July 28, 2012 at 02:23 AM.

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Note: For these reviews, I am going by the National Pokedex entry number. The levels they learn moves at are from Black 2 and White 2.

#041 Zubat, #042 Golbat, & #169 Crobat

Ah yes, Zubat. Everyone's most hated life-leeching, cave dwelling, can't take a step without hitting him Pokemon. I know prior to actually exploring/using this evolution line I absolutely hated Zubat. He was weak and Golbat wasn't much better, so why waste my time with him? It was a catch and release purely for my Pokedex sake.

It went something like this

Let me start off with Zubat. He's still weak, there's no getting around that. In fact, with a base stat total of 245, it falls towards the very bottom of the list of every pokemon. For reference, the highest BST (base stat total) is Arceus with 720 (120 in all six stats.) The lowest is Sunkern with 180 (30 in all six stats.)

Well, why should you have to suffer just to get to a useful Pokemon? Partly because it is very, very fast to get through. Zubat starts off knowing Leech Life. At level 8, it learns Astonish - a ghost type move. Not long after at level 12, it learns the Dark type Bite followed by Wing Attack at 15. That should do more than well until level 22 when he evolves into Golbat.

Here's where the beauty lies. If you're willing to take a small amount of time out of your way to either pedal yourself around on the bike for 15-20 minutes or get your Golbat a massage, it evolves with happiness. You can go straight from Golbat at level 22, to Crobat at level 23 and you won't miss out on any attacks. Now to get into the review of Crobat.

Who would have thought I'd be praising this thing

#169 Crobat

Base Stats & Ranking
HP - 85 (34th)
Attack - 90 (36th)
Defense - 80 (41st)
Special Attack - 70 (50th)
Special Defense - 80 (34th)
Speed - 130 (6th)

What This All Means?
This means that Crobat is one of the fastest Pokemon in the entire game. Outside of Deoxys, there are only 3 Pokemon faster. That would be Ninjask (160), Accelgor (145), and Electrode (140). It shares its 130 base speed with Jolteon, Aerodactyl, and Mewtwo. That's some pretty lofty company for something that came from Zubat.

Crobat has 90 Attack and 70 Special Attack, so it's not as strong as Mewtwo (110/154 respectively) but in terms of Physical attacks it is not far behind. He only lags 10 points behind (80/80 in Defense and special defense) Mewtwo defensively (90/90) so it's not like he's going to get blown over by a gust of wind. Crobat should almost always grant you the first attack, which can be big in some trainer/gym battles.

Typing
Crobat is a dual-type Poison/Flying. It has 4 weaknesses (2x damage each) being Electric, Ice, Psychic, and Rock. You should know these weaknesses and should be able to see most of them coming, so it's nothing major here. We know what to avoid with flying types. As for resistances, it takes 50% damage from Poison. In addition, Crobat takes only 25% damage from Grass, Bug, and Fighting. It takes no damage from Ground-type Pokemon.

The Moves
The best stats in the world don't mean a thing if you can't use them properly. While Crobat is fairly balanced offensively, I would highly suggest sticking your biggest damage moves to be Physical-based. Here are some moves that I recommend:
Acrobatics - Learned by Crobat at level 33. This is a flying type move that doubles in power if there is no held item. It's not great for trying to level up quickly (seeing as how you can't hold a Lucky Egg if you want to do max damage) but for a fight... This is a hard hitting move. Due to Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) this move is a whopping 165 power with a base of 100% accuracy. This will hit like a truck for you without a hold item.

Fly - I always carry a Pokemon that knows Fly around with me as soon as I get the HM. It's a handy move, and while it takes 2 turns for 1 attack, it still hits hard. With Crobats STAB it hits for 135 Power. If you don't want to carry two flying type moves on Crobat you can replace Acrobatics with this for convenience.

Toxic - While this does no outright damage, it does poison the target. You will see why this is important next.

Venoshock - Although this is Special-based, it can still be a big help. Taught by TM09, this attack does double damage if the target is already poisoned. If used after a successful toxic, it will combine with Crobats STAB to do a whopping 195 power attack. Strong.

Poison Fang - Learned at level 42. This is more of a risky move, but if you always like doing damage you can take it. A Special-based attack that when used by Crobat has a base of 75 Power with STAB. It also has a 30% chance of leaving the opponent badly poisoned, doing more damage than regular poison every turn.

Air Slash - Another STAB attack (Special-based) that hits for 112.5 power. Leaves a 30% chance of the foe flinching, so this one is also for risk takers.

Supersonic - Possible for some fights. Deals no damage, just leaves the target confused. When used on first turn, possibility to confuse an opponent before they can launch an attack almost every single fight.

Giga Drain - Either an egg move or taught by a tutor. With Crobat's speed, you can use a Giga drain on those pesky rock types to try and knock them out before they kill you. It is special based with a power of 70 (no boost because Crobat doesn't get a STAB with this move.

What I would use
I'd be willing to take a couple risks with my Crobat. If I had to suggest any moves, I'd say the 4 I choose would be Acrobatics, Giga Drain, Poison Fang, and Venoshock.

Nature
I wouldn't say that Crobat needs any speed boost from it's nature. You can either go for a neutral-type natue (Bashful, Docile, Hardy, Quirky, or Serious) or determine which stat you want more of. I have 2 Special-Based and 2 Physical-Based attacks on my Crobat, but for mine I am getting a Rash nature. I don't mind substituting a little bit of Special Defense to bring my Crobats Special Attack up a bit more.

EV Training
It's all personal choice. Crobat really doesn't need more speed (though you can always add some there if you want.) I'm using him as a hard hitter, so I am going 252/252/4 in Attack/Special Attack/Speed.

The Final Word
Crobat is a speed demon, with the opportunity to hit some types real, real hard. It's hard to find a better Flying type, and with the added bonus of poison I highly suggest getting this guy for your team. This isn't your childhood Zubat.

4.5/5