Crawdaunt vs Sharpedo?

Question

I'm actually planning my Alpha Sapphire team WAY in advance XD so yeah. My top 2 contenders for he water-type Pokemon in my team go to Sharpedo and Crawdaunt. They're both water/dark and you can obtain them at generally the same time (after getting the Good Rod) so I need your opinions on which is the better option of the 2 and why. If you have any further questions, ask me! BTW judge these Pokemon as they are in gen 6, not in gen 3. Thanks!

HB

Comments

Also, random question; what non-water types in gen 3 can learn at least one of the water HMs?

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There are several that include Zigzagoon, Linoon, Masquerain, Exploud, Hariyama, Azurill, Aggron, and Rayquazza. This is all for the Hoeen region, but if you need to know more, tell me and I'll reply asap.

Answer 1

Sharpedo

Sharpedo is a faster and more frail Pokemon compared to Crawdaunt.
If you are using it in-game you are going to have the ability Rough skin(I assume you won't be breeding for the hidden ability).

The ability for in-game is decent, definitely usable. A big drawback is its bad movepool, the only water move it learns via leveling up is Aqu jet at level 34 and it learns few dark moves. It learns Crunch at level 28.

Crawdaunt

Crawdaunt is slower compared to Sharpedo, but can also take a hit or two more than it. The two abilities you can get are Hyper cutter and Shell armor, both being decent in-game.

Its movepool isn't a luxury either, but definitely better. It learns a few really good moves along the way. Moves like Swords dance(level 52), Knock off(level 26), Crabhammer(level 44) and Crunch(level 57).

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In the end, my suggestion would be: Go with Crawdaunt. But you decide for yourself.

Hope I helped!

Comments

Thanks!  Although I was honestly leaning more towards Sharpedo, your arguments made an excellent point.  My problem is that from what you digressed, the good moves Crawdaunt learns are learned at higher levels, except for Knock Off, which I am honestly not a fan of.  After all, not many in-game foes have held items.  Also, I'm not just going off of the level-up moves, but TMs and HMs as well.  If nobody else on my team can learn them, one of these will likely end up with 2 or 3 of the water HMs.  And since Sharpedo's Special Attack is a tad higher, it will make more use out of Surf.  Even with what I said, thank you for your answer, for it has given me lots of insight on both Pokemon.  Tell your friends that the question is still open, however; I can't just have one opinion!

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Alright, no problem. I can edit it and add HMs and TMs, too.
Forgot a bit about the facts that it learns them at higher levels because I haven't played the games in a while, more competitive.

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Sharpedo has Speed Boost Destiny Bond. This answer is invalid.