Skuntank, The Skunk Pokémon. It sprays a vile-smelling fluid from the tip of its tail to attack. Its range is over 160 feet.It sprays a stinky fluid from its tail. The fluid smells worse the longer it is allowed to fester.It attacks by spraying a horribly smelly fluid from the tip of its tail. Attacks from above confound it. The stench dulls after a few squirts.
Overview
Skuntank is a really cool Pokemon. It isn't a top tier threat and you will probably never face on in standard play, but it has just enough qualities to make it actually somewhat usable. Like pretty much all Dark types it is capable of Pursuit trapping and checking faster threats with STAB Sucker Punch. This is all well and good but Skuntank sets itself apart from Spiritomb, Absol and others with its fantastic Poison secondary typing. Aside from letting it absorb Toxic Spikes this also gives Skuntank the ability to survive some Fighting and Fairy moves. STAB Poison moves even allows Skuntank to terrorize the Fairy types that give its fellow Dark types trouble. If that wasn't enough Skuntank gets Fire Blast to incinerate Steel types like Skarmory and Forretress that would otherwise shrug off your hits. Even better it retains the use of Defog, and move that has buffed into what is effectively a double edged unblockable Rapid Spin. It isn't all good news though. Skuntank has sub par stats everywhere besides HP. It can't handle strong hits due to low defenses and it isn't actually threatening to anything not weak to Dark. Besides Pursuit trapping Skuntank doesn't actually accomplish much, unlike Tyranitar or Scizor who can fulfill multiple roles. Skuntank will never be a top tier threat and it will almost certainly end up in the lowest tiers available, but it has enough tricks and uses to be at least somewhat usable in competitive play.
Positives
- Dark / Poison is probably the best possible typing for a Pursuit trapper.
- Defog has been buffed and Skuntank is one of the rare users that isn't Stealth Rock or Pursuit weak.
- While not spectacular its Attack is certainly usable enough to cut down fleeing Ghosts and Psychics with Pursuit.
Negatives
- Defenses are very bad. The high HP is nice but it does little to balance out Defense stats that make Weavile look bulky.
- It doesn't learn Knock Off. A shame because the move would be incredible on it.
- While it can Pursuit trap well enough it doesn't do much else. It is easily walled and set up on by pretty much every Pokemon in the game that isn't hit super effective by its few weak attacks.
- Absolute dead weight if it must face a team that doesn't contain a frail Ghost or Psychic.
Abilities
Stench: If the Pokémon make physical contact with the opponent, there is a 10% chance the opponent flinches. Pretty useless. Getting a random flinch with Sucker Punch is cool but more often than not it will do nothing and you will just die.
Aftermath: The foe that dealt the final hit loses 1/4 of its maximum HP if the move made physical contact. This is a fairly cool ability that really adds to Skuntank's ability to help the team. Pursuit the opposing Ghost / Psychic, then faint and do a little more damage.
Hidden Ability (Available):
Keen Eye: Opponent cannot lower this Pokémon’s accuracy. The Pokémon ignores evasion boosts of the opponent. Evasion is banned in most standard tournaments, simulators, and some Wifi battles. This may have some use where Evasion is allowed but those places are pretty rare.
Movesets
Have you heard the joke about the skunk? Nevermind, it stinks
- Pursuit
- Defog
- Protect / Sucker Punch
- Poison Jab
Item Attached: Black Sludge
Ability: Aftermath
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
Skuntank is a decent Special tank. Please bear in mind that Skuntank has pretty bad defensive stats. It won't survive many boosted neutral hits so try to switch it in on resisted hits. Luckily its typing gives it several opportunities to come in on Psychic, Dark, Ghost, Grass, and Poison moves without much fear. Pursuit takes a chunk out of any fleeing Psychic or Ghost such as Alakazam or Gengar. Defog is awesome because it gives Skuntank some use after its Pursuiting duties are finished. Protect is a solid way to slightly boost your durability by stalling for Black Sludge healing but Sucker Punch is absolutely usable to screw over something that refuses to switch out. Poison Jab is good to wreck the Fairies that would give most other Pursuiting Dark types trouble. It also has a nice 30% Poison chance to cripple most non Steel or Poison types. Using Skuntank is kind of a contradiction. It has low defenses and can't really take a hit while its Attack isn't exactly spectacular enough to scare many things with raw force. Skuntank gets by almost exclusively with its typing. Resistances and STAB Super Effective hits are the force multiplier you must use to actually get some mileage out of this weak skunk.
Jokes that stink are quite pun-gent
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Blast
- Poison Jab
Item Attached: Assault Vest
Ability: Aftermath
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature
Skuntank makes decent usage out of Assault Vest. Due to the Special Defense boost Skuntank now gains the ability to switch in on moderately powerful Special Attacks such as Latias Life Orb Draco Meteor, Gengar Focus Blast, and Starmie Hydro Pump to some reasonable degree. It isn't immortal but it packs enough bulk to tank STAB neutral hits and retaliate. The downside to Assault Vest besides the loss of Black Sludge is the annoying auto-Taunt it inflicts on yourself. So that means no Defog or Protect healing. This set plays similarly to the first set, but it trades some long term durability for much more effective short term Psychic and Ghost hunting ability. You will kill the resident Ghost / Psychic, then attempt to do as much damage as possible. Fire Blast replaces Defog on this set so you can roast Skarmory and the many metal bugs that may switch in. To give you an idea of the passable Special tanking ability of this set here are some calculations...
252 SpA Life Orb Latias Draco Meteor vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ SpD Skuntank: 173-204 (42.19 - 49.75%)
252 SpA Life Orb Starmie Hydro Pump vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ SpD Skuntank: 138-164 (33.65 - 40%)
252 SpA Gengar Focus Blast vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ SpD Skuntank: 85-101 (20.73 - 24.63%)
252 SpA Alakazam Focus Blast vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ SpD Skuntank: 88-104 (21.46 - 25.36%)
252 SpA Delphox Fire Blast vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ SpD Skuntank: 117-138 (28.53 - 33.65%)
0 SpA Celebi Giga Drain vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ SpD Skuntank: 26-31 (6.34 - 7.56%)
I smell a bad pun coming. Who nose what it will be.
- Pursuit / Crunch
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Blast
- Poison Jab / Explosion
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Aftermath
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Lonely Nature
Last but not least is offensive Life Orb. While this thing has the durability of a wet blanket it is far more capable of doing passable damage with Sucker Punch. This set is actually less about Pursuit trapping and more about a powerful Sucker Punch. If you can get Skuntank in safely it can eliminate a Ghost or Psychic with Pursuit but be careful, it is very frail. If you don't find much use for Pursuit you can also try Crunch. However Pursuit is the main reason to use Skuntank and if you aren't Pursuiting you might as well use a different Pokemon. Fire Blast backed by Life Orb hits all Steels not named Heatran hard. Poison Jab utterly devastates Fairies. However you can also try Explosion. Often just using Pursuit followed by Explosion could net you two knock outs which is pretty solid for a low tier Pokemon like Skuntank.
Other Options
Memento, Roar, Foul Play, Haze, Play Rough, Taunt and Iron Tail.
If you are having trouble making use of Skuntank after it Pursuits something you can try Memento to guarantee a safe setup for another sweeper.
Roar is usable on all defensive sets. It works extremely well with entry hazards.
Skuntank has just enough Attack to get the job done itself but Foul Play can be used to crush things like SD Aegislash and Talonflame.
Haze screws with Aegislash but not much else.
Play Rough has great coverage with Dark moves but doesn't actually hit much that would switch in on Skuntank.
Taunt is very usable, but sort of gets cut out due to Skuntank's other 4 moves being slightly more viable.
Last is Iron Tail which pretty much only hits Tyranitar (and Fairies).
Double & Triple Battle Options
Nothing really to note here. Skuntank is slow, frail, and pretty weak. You could pick pretty much any other Dark type and find more doubles / triples use than Skuntank has.
Countering Skuntank
First off let's just say that literally everything not weak to Dark / Poison / Fire will probably beat Skuntank. It has awful stats and absolutely relies on its coverage and typing to succeed. Anything with a strong Earthquake should bring Skuntank down in one shot. Landorus T in particular takes around 45% from a Life Orb Explosion and basically nothing from anything else. Tyranitar smashes Skuntank apart, resisting every move it learns. Lucario has to be wary of Fire Blast but it will survive one and easily OHKO with Close Combat. Terrakion fares even better, resisting everything Skuntank commonly carries.
I could go on and on and list pretty much everything that counters Skuntank but that would be a waste of time. Skuntank is very easy to KO. However its job of Pursuiting stuff is harder to work around. If you run a frail Pursuit weak Pokemon like Latios, Latias, Alakazam, Starmie, or Gengar simply play safe. Don't spam your easily resisted STAB moves if you see a Skuntank in team preview.
But seriously, no one runs Skuntank. Don't waste your time worrying about it.
Locations in Games
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game
Colosseum/XD:
Not in game
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Routes 222 & 229 (Diamond)
Trade from Diamond (Pearl/Platinum)
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Trade from Diamond
Black/White:
Transfer from Generation IV, Trade from Black 2, Evolve Stunky from Dream World
Black 2/White 2:
Evolve Stunky
Trade from Black 2, Evolve Stunky from Dream World (White 2)
X/Y:
Evolve Stunky
Animé Appearences
