Bill I need help with a female Croagunk I got from my dad. He wont say how he got it but it was shady I’m sure. Nature Adamant. She’s a bit distant but she seems to accept me ok, but she seems to bully my cleffa, and standoffish with any other females on my team. But will go nuts on anything she sees has bullying or abusive. Which has helped me with my father problems but that’s something else. I’m concerned for her and scared for the team. Is she showing dominance or something? Help me please!!

Hmm. This is a bit complicated, I’m afraid, and I think the biggest question I have before answering this is whether or not your croagunk displays this aggressive behavior towards just your father or towards bullying or abusive behavior in general.

If the former, then what you’re seeing may actually be anger towards her own treatment. She may see the fact that she now belongs to you instead of your father as protection; she doesn’t have to face your father’s treatment if she acts out towards him, as you’ll pull her away before your father can punish her.

On the other hand, if it’s the latter and it’s a general response, then it may be tied into her bullying tendencies. There is always a reason why anyone—human or pokémon—treat others the way they do. The simplest and most common explanation, though, is that bullies have faced abuse of some sort themselves from a very young age. In many cases, bullies seek out weaker targets than themselves in order to either release their own frustrations or treat them terribly out of the idea that this is just normal interaction. It’s possible, given that you’re not entirely sure what your croagunk’s past was like, that she was on the receiving end of a heavy amount of abuse, perhaps since she was a hatchling.

However, bullying can be corrected. It starts with establishing that your croagunk’s in a safe environment. Provide for her and give her affection whenever you can until she understands that you’re there for her and will care for her. Of course, pay attention to her body language at all times and give her space if it seems like she’s distressed or about to become aggressive. This will also help her understand that you know her boundaries, which will make it easier to reason with her and win her over.

Once she begins to feel safe, you can work on training the more aggressive behaviors out of her. Pokémon are far more malleable in this regard. (That is to say, don’t attempt to shower a human with affection if they’re abusive towards you, and certainly don’t try to “fix” a human’s aggressive behavior. If you find yourself in an abusive relationship, please use whatever resources you have to get out of it.)

With pokémon, meanwhile, respond well to simple Pavlovian training. That is, when your croagunk shows good behavior you wish to reinforce, reward her. When she shows aggressive behavior, don’t use aggression yourself to correct it; rather, tell her that this behavior is not proper. When she realizes she can be rewarded for certain types of behavior, she will begin to learn that following similar behaviors will result in more rewards. You can even use this technique to teach your croagunk the difference between aggressive and peaceful resolutions. Whenever she does something gently, reward her. Whenever she interacts with one of your pokémon in a positive manner, reward her then too. If she doesn’t, then simply scold her verbally (with a calm but firm tone).

Additionally, yes, some of her bullying behavior is dominance-based, as of course, your croagunk likely sees the rest of your team as weaker and therefore acceptable targets. You may need to establish her order in your “pack” as it were through establishing that she isn’t the dominant pokémon. For example, dominant pokémon in a wild herd are fed first, so by feeding your croagunk slightly behind the other members of your team (that is, giving your other pokémon their bowls first and then giving your croagunk hers), this will help her understand that, if anything, you are the herd (or army, in her case) leader. This will also help you train that aggressive behavior out of her, as it will also establish that she needs to follow you to be rewarded and to move within her team.

Finally, you may need to reintroduce your croagunk to the rest of your pokémon after her behavior reaches an acceptable level. This doesn’t mean separate her from the others as you’re training her (in fact, she should be allowed to freely interact, although yes, you should separate her from the others if she’s bullying them again); rather, it means gradually introducing her to individual members of her team and helping her establish healthy relationships with each member. In other words, serve as a mediator between your croagunk and your other pokémon. Have them work together on tasks. Encourage your croagunk to interact with your team in a positive manner.

Best of luck!

So I caught a croagunk who is missing an eye due to an accident with some poachers, and was wondering if she would get it back after evolving

I’m afraid not, anonymous. Missing limbs or other body parts, as well as major scars, generally don’t repair themselves as a pokémon evolves. Scientists are admittedly not sure why this is so for scars, especially as an evolution quite literally transforms the body into something new and stronger, but for limbs and body parts, it’s a pretty simple explanation: you can’t transform a body part into something new and stronger if it doesn’t exist.

Don’t worry, though—nowadays, there is a lot more acceptance of pokémon with disabilities such as those, and there are plenty of resources to help you and your croagunk train without being hindered by her lack of an eye. The biggest piece of advice I can give you at the moment is always support your croagunk (or toxicroak) and reassure her that she’s just as strong and capable as fully able-bodied croagunk and toxicroak.

Best of luck!

Any tips for raising pokemon that have lost an eye? I recently caught a croagunk that’s missing an eye and need some tips.

First off, is it safe to assume that the croagunk is already used to living without one of its eyes? If no, I’ll cover that in a moment, but first, allow me to answer this as if your croagunk is already adjusted.

The biggest thing you need to know when dealing with a pokémon that’s disabled in some way is understanding what that disability actually means. In this example, you’ll need to know how the eyes work together in order to understand how best to work with your croagunk.

You see, when you lose an eye, the biggest thing is that your depth perception is affected. This in turn means your ability to judge distances will be affected, which, for a frog-like fighting-type pokémon, is a pretty big deal. While your croagunk may have had time to learn how to work around this and adjust accordingly, it’s a good idea to keep this in mind when giving orders. Get to know your croagunk’s battle style. Observe the exact things it does to prepare for a strike, and incorporate your observations into the orders you give it, even in the heat of the moment.

Then, of course, there’s also the fairly obvious point that your croagunk will have a blind spot. Again, this may be something it’s figured out how to compensate for, but be prepared to warn your croagunk if an opponent or other obstacle comes in from its blind side. Be particularly alert and train yourself to give orders quickly—perhaps even instinctually.

If, however, your croagunk has only recently lost its eye, you’ll first want to take it to a Nurse Joy to have it examined. Of course, you’ll want to do this either way, but a recent loss may need to be checked and monitored for potential infection.

After that, you’ll need to begin training. It may be slow going, especially given that your croagunk isn’t used to you, but have patience and be gentle. If you live in a town or city, you may also have access to therapists at your local pokémon center who may be able to work with you and croagunk. It certainly doesn’t hurt to ask. If not, consider asking Nurse Joy herself if she can offer therapy.

Outside of the pokémon center, don’t be overbearing when helping your croagunk. The last thing you want to do is rob it of its independence. Instead, teach it (how to punch, grasp, or leap) only until it starts to get the idea, then let it do it on its own. Be there, of course, if your croagunk is really struggling to adjust its movements to its eyesight, but wait until it signals for you to help. This can take different forms, depending on your croagunk’s disposition. If it looks like it’s getting angry, reassure it first that it’s doing the best that it can, then nudge its target a little closer to it until it can reach for it itself.

This, of course, isn’t the only possible signal. It might also grasp at the target, then look at you. If it does this, guide its hand to the target and then encourage it to follow through itself. Reward it every time it successfully reaches for its target on its own so it begins to learn how to calibrate itself in space without your cues, so to speak.

Also, concerning the blind spot, avoid approaching your croagunk from the side where it’s lost its eye. This is true even if it’s used to seeing with only one eye, but if it’s new to partial blindness, you don’t want to startle it. If you must, verbally let your croagunk know that you’re approaching so it can turn if it needs to. If it seems upset that it can’t see out of one eye, I would recommend a training session tailored towards helping it develop its spacial perception, as noted above, in a battle scenario. Don’t have it spar, of course, but rather have it train against stationary objects. The battling will hopefully boost its confidence enough that it will regrow its sense of self and inner strength. Alternatively, you can achieve the same effect with basic training exercises for day-to-day life or even for whatever its interests are. For example, if it’s not much of a battler and more of an artistic croagunk, consider setting up an art station in your home and having it create its own art. Any activity that relies on visual skills can be used for retraining, so pay attention to what catches your croagunk’s attention.

Best of luck!

Would a Croagunk be good for a brand new trainer? (I’m a brand new trainer)

For the most part, yes! Croagunk are some of the more laid back fighting-types one can obtain, and thus, they’re also often some of the easiest fighting-types to teach and gain the trust of. Furthermore, many registered leagues start off with a rock-type gym, which can easily be conquered by a croagunk’s Mud-Slap (which it learns naturally) or arsenal of fighting-type moves (which it may learn early by inheriting the technique from a parent).

The only real challenge in caring for a croagunk is really in, well, caring for a croagunk. It’s not exactly challenging to do so, as croagunk have very simple needs, but they do generally need moisture 24/7. As in, their skin must be moist at all times, as they face an increased risk of infection or even heat exhaustion if they’re allowed to dry. Especially if the croagunk in question has the ability Dry Skin.

However, even this is easy to resolve. Simply carry around a spray bottle full of water and lightly spritz your croagunk whenever it looks dry or lethargic (well, more so than usual), and you will be fine.

Best of luck, @ronnoc32122!

Croagunk and Toxicroak

Croagunk
The Toxic Mouth Pokémon
Type: Poison/Fighting
Official Registration #: 453
Entry: This frog-like pokémon may be recognizable to sports fans, as it’s highly popular as a mascot for various teams. Of course, this is perfect, as the author can think of no pokémon more appropriate to serve as a representation for good sportsmanship than one known for fighting dirty and stabbing opponents with its strong, poison-tipped fingers whenever they least expect it.

Toxicroak
The Toxic Mouth Pokémon
Type: Poison/Fighting
Official Registration #: 454
Entry: The evolved form of croagunk, by battle experience. Many parts of toxicroak’s body are actually highly dangerous and are either containers for or coated with an extremely potent venom. Its claws, for example, are tipped with a venom that can kill an adult human being with the lightest scratch, its skin can induce paralysis seconds after contact, and its mouth—for which its species was named—is capable of spewing toxic gas and sludge. In fact, toxicroak’s distinctive croaking is actually part of its battle tactics by serving it two advantages. First, the act of croaking vibrates the poison sac on its throat and shakes the venom inside to increase its potency. Second, as noted earlier, toxicroak’s croak is highly distinctive and recognizable, so the croak itself brings toxicroak’s attention onto individuals who may be ideal choices of prey … by chasing away anything intelligent enough to fight back.