By Matt
Chikorita: One of the first Pokemon available as a starter in the Johto region. If it wasn’t for my favorite (Quilava), I would have chosen Chikorita, and never evolved it. Of course, I think Bayleef and Meganium are a sight to see too with their powerful stats in Defense and Special Defense. Maybe it’s just that I’ve seen enough fan drawings of Chikorita that I’ve been convinced that of its adorability. I’m not even sure it’s a word, but Microsoft Word didn’t underline it in red, so I guess adorability does exist! Chikorita is one of those few Pokemon whose name in Japanese stays the same. In fact, I don’t know of any other Pokemon’s name that stays the same, except Pikachu, where they add an extra “u” to the end. Like all other starters, Chikorita has Overgrow as its ability, which increases its Grass-type moves to 1.5x power.
Since all Pokemon have Same Type Attack Bonus, or STAB for short, its Grass-type moves will now be 2x. If you combine this with the Miracle Seed, which powers up Grass-type moves by 20%. If this is factored in last, you can do a maximum of 2.4x damage with Chikorita when you’re down to your last resort. Of course, there may be some other items I may have overlooked (like the Expert Belt) which will increase damage to even more record-high levels. The first move Chikorita will learn naturally is Razor Leaf, which has much more power than Water Gun or Ember (55 compared to 40).
Another one of its advantages is that the critical-hit ratio is higher, making it easier to deal more damage. Critical hits are 2x damage, which will become 3x because of STAB. This will become a total of 165 power in one hit. Remember that this is for elements that Grass will deal regular damage on; if Chikorita is battling a Pokemon it has the advantage over, it can do 330 with a critical hit, and 660 if the Pokemon has a double weakness to Grass (i.e. Swampert and Seismitoad, both of which are Water- and Ground-types).
Razor Leaf will hit multiple targets, too; in Triple Battles, if Chikorita is in the center, it can hit all 3 opponents. Chikorita is not ideal to battle with, though; its base stats are very low and comparable to another of my all-time favorites, Buizel. However, its stats in Defense and Special Defense (65 for both) make it a stalwart opponent, regardless of it evolving or not. Its Attack and Special Attack are the same (49), Chikorita has more versatility, since physical and special moves will do almost the same damage, provided they have identical power. Myself, I would EV train Chikorita on Special Attack and Special Defense, since most of its weaknesses’ moves (Ice, Fire, Flying, Poison, Bug) are special moves.
Chikorita also has an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube, a game I play frequently. If you throw out a Poké Ball, there is a chance you can have Chikorita out on the field. Chikorita will use Razor Leaf and send out leaves in front of it that will do damage. Since it will fire the leaves constantly, your opponent can take much damage if in the line of fire. Despite its weakness, Chikorita may be the starter in my second ideal team. For a nickname, I have no idea…
Tags: Chikorita, Nintendo DS