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POTW Pokémon of the Week #2: Scraggy & Scrafty

SirOni

Driving You Batty
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In the World of Pokémon, there lives a vast number and variety of amazing creatures to befriend and collect. Every week, we will be focusing on a single one of these Pokémon or evolutionary line and talking about what makes it special. This week's Pokémon of choice is the Scraggy line!

240px-559Scraggy.png

240px-560Scrafty.png

Debuting in Gen V Scraggy and Scrafty are a duo of scrappy little hoodlums with a lot of attitude. Being dual Dark/Fighting-type they make a great showing of this type combo. Their designs and mannerisms are heavily based on deviant youth subcultures such as punks, hip hop, and gangsters. They are dressed to the T with their sagging pants, put on demeanor, and Scrafty’s hoodie and mohawk. These traits and its type combo do a very good job of showing just what kind of Pokémon Scraggy and Scrafty are: tough Pokémon always looking to throw down, possessing the strength to back up their bravado and never hesitant to do whatever necessary to get the upper hand. They were a great compliment to their introductory region showing off just another interesting aspect of its real world inspiration of New York City and transplanting that to the also diverse Unova.

Here are some questions to consider to get conversation rolling. You don't have to answer all of them or any of them in your post as long as you're staying on topic and within global forum rules.
-Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
-How is this Pokémon in-game?
-How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
-Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
-How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
-If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
-What do you think about this Pokémon type combination?
-Do you feel that this line does a good job reflecting the Unova region?

If you have any suggestions for Pokémon you'd like to discuss in the future just leave your ideas at the bottom of your post. Make sure you give your thoughts about the current Pokémon first!

Previous Pokémon of the Week:
 
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This Pokémon... is really interesting. It saw a bit of use in the BW VGC, and though I don't remember its full set, I know that it was meant to take advantage of the ability Moxie.

As a Pokémon on its own, I really like its design. It's the true definition of a street thug at the Scrafty stage, and does something that not many Fighting and Dark types do - mix the two types together. They're typically seen as opposing concepts, with Fighting types representing traditional martial arts, honourable practices and heroism, and Dark types representing underhanded tactics and malice. You could say that, perhaps, he's a street fighter. RIP Balrog
 
I noticed that Gen V released a lot of Dark type Pokemon, such as the Scraggy line, the Sandile line, and the Pawniard line.
Until you mentioned that it drew parallels with actual New York, I hadn't really thought much of it, but it does make a certain amount of sense.

In any case, I'm a pretty big fan of this Pokemon in-game because it's pretty bulky for a Fighting type. I enjoy giving Scraggy an eviolite before it evolves.
Shed Skin and Moxie are both great abilities, and the usage of one or the other depends on the role you want Scrafty to have. If you want to use its bulk, Shed Skin is useful for getting rid of status and can possibly be used to great success with a move like Rest and/or Bulk Up
Moxie is great for an offensive move set and is great with Dragon Dance.
Dark and Fighting are an excellent type combination that, at least in Gen V, cover pretty much all types for neutral damage.
If I could change one thing about this Pokemon, I'd give it access to Close Combat via level up.
Not only is Close Combat a fantastic move that would be useful on offensive sets, it's also a move that fits Scrafty's "do anything to win" flavor.
Getting in close range of an opponent and fiercely attacking them is, while not a "dirty" strategy, a rather effective strategy.

I also feel like a Pokemon that "wears baggy pants" shouldn't be using Hi Jump Kick, since it might trip over its "pants."

That's all I've got for now.
 
I tried out Scrafty in in-game runs of Black and White and it did pretty well for me. Scraggy learning High Jump Kick at such a low level helps with the slow evolution rate it has. Though I ultimately found Conkeldurr more useful if you can get it since you get it earlier and Unova isn't in a shortage for Dark types. Design wise it's solid and Unova is the best region by far to put these in.

With Ash's Scraggy in the anime I was not happy with how it's dark type attributes were pretty much ignored with it not using a single dark type move in all its appearances, it was more or less a pure fighting type in the anime. They could have at least given it feint attack or payback.
 
Scraggy and Scrafty are awesome, I love them for not being fierce or vicious-looking like most Dark-types. Scraggy's animation in Gen V is hilarious! Their design inspiration and appearance is a great example of the more unique and creative Pokemon concepts we've been getting ever since Gen V. After all, I don't think any other franchise would come up with a hoodlum lizard wearing its shed skin as baggy pants.
 
From when I first saw its design I loved it, thug style was really cool and to me the typing fit it perfectly, even the abilities (except shed skin I guess) fit the theme of a street brawler.
I used him on my White playthrough ( can't remember how I nicknamed him) and well obviously it was OP against the Elite 4, but overall was a great adition to my team.
As of now I've tried the shed skin and DD sets, and even if I use both on online battles I am happier with the DD set. It has the bulk to get a chance to set up and drain punch is a STAB that keeps healing him while dealing damage. Add moxie and you can wreck unprepared teams. Speed can be a problem sometimes though.
Besides the speed I don't think I would change a thing about it, really like it as it is. I'd like it to get a mega though. Always felt it didn't get the spotlight it deserves.
 
I've never used Scrafty myself, but I can't deny how effective it was in the last generation with its Dark/Fighting type combo. The introduction of the Fairy type truly has boned Scrafty much harder than the Dragon type itself though.

As a predominant user of Ghost types, I'm actually thankful that it doesn't get Sucker Punch even though that would have been a very fitting move for it. It would have really aided Scrafty's speed issues and allowed the Moxie set to clean up more effectively.

Back on Dark/Fighting. Just like Dark/Dragon and the hypothetical Dragon/Fighting combo, it was a very good pair... until Fairy types hit the scene. I usually include a Pokémon of that type due to the numerous benefits so I really don't see what else Scrafty gains from its types outside of a Psychic immunity and double Dark resistance...

Ash's Scraggy? Not much to say. I greatly preferred his Krookodile. At least Scraggy's growth could be seen as realistic *coughnoiverncough*.
 
I love Scraggy, it's one of the cooler pre-evolutions imo. It's also pretty cute. Not so sold on Scrafty purely because its hairdo reminds me of a rooster's comb a bit too much and it feels out of place with the rest of the design - maybe if it was a different colour I wouldn't find it awkward? I did really like it in the anime when it had the hood up over its head though.

I haven't really ever used Scrafty. I have an EV trained one in XY but honestly think I've used it like once. Maybe I'll get around to properly trying one out in the future. Its stats are strange too since it's more defensive than I would have expected, since it has a feel to it like it would have more Attack than Def. Cool typing too, but I prefer Pangoro there.

It seems to be a pretty huge hit (relatively speaking) within the fanbase and one of the more beloved lines from Unova so can't really badmouth much even if I wanted to since it's done well for itself.
 
I haven't really ever used Scrafty. I have an EV trained one in XY but honestly think I've used it like once. Maybe I'll get around to properly trying one out in the future. Its stats are strange too since it's more defensive than I would have expected, since it has a feel to it like it would have more Attack than Def. Cool typing too, but I prefer Pangoro there.
I think they were really trying to make a more defensive Fighting type since the vast majority of them are physical sweepers. In the anime they showed that the loose skin could be used defensively, so I think it works pretty well.
 
I've used a Scrafty once in a White 2 play-through and it faired really well! It had good moves to pick from, and with its decent stats all around I really enjoyed using it.

As far as design goes, I'm more of a fan of Scraggy than Scrafty. Something about the latter just feels like it could have been done a little better to me, honestly.
 
-Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
-How is this Pokémon in-game?
-How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
-Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
-How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
-If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
-What do you think about this Pokémon type combination?
-Do you feel that this line does a good job reflecting the Unova region?

- It's one of the few Pokémon I loved from Gen V, I love it's overall design.
- In-game I used one for my first Black playthrough and enjoyed it. It has a nice diverse move pool.
- Competitively, I have and do still use it, but the only thing I wish it got more of was HP... At 65 it's meh, and only average for supporting it's awesome defences... even a 10 points boost in HP would make it more viable for me, I'm hoping Sun/Moon gives it just that, like how XY updated older Pokémon's stats (and don't see it as too much of a problem now as we've seen Zygarde 10% go to Complete in-battle and restore/change it's HP total, so no reason why we can't update the HP stat in general for some).
- I really liked Ash's Scraggy in the anime, and the episode based on Scrafty too. It had real personality and it brought out the best in it's design.
- I'd imagine in the real world, Scraggy/Scrafty would be owned by a lot of teenagers, people relating to it's overall concept.
- Come to think of it I wouldn't really change anything as I like it how it is, however, I'd LOVE to actually see it gain a mega evolution at some point. Would be really interesting.
- It's type combination is I think what attracted me to use it first over it's design, as it was the first line of Fighting/Dark types before Pangoro I believe? Fighting/Dark is a nice typing.
- I do think it reflects the Unova region well, you can tell it's a Unova Pokémon, just has that feel.
 
Scraggy is kind of cute, but Scrafty is one of few Dark-type Pokemon I never liked. It just looks ugly, and on top of this can't hit hard without Bulk Up/Dragon Dance boost. The introduction of Fairies didn't do it any favours, either. Its movepool is actually vast, with moves like High Jump Kick, Knock Off, the elemental punches, Poison Jab, and even Head Smash, but it is still tricky to use. I remember catching a shiny Scraggy back when playing through White for the first time, but I've never felt like raising the critter, not even after beating the game. I like the new Pokedex entry for Scrafty, since despite its appearance, it is actually very caring and protective of its family and home turf. I also like the fact it finally gets Acid Spray(not that it's useful on it, though), since another Dex entry states they can spit acidic liqiud.
I liked Ash's Scraggy in the anime, especially his interaction with Iris' Axew. Shame their friendship never got conclusion when their Trainers parted ways.
 
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