Totodile, Croconaw and Feraligatr (HGSS)

Totodile is a cute crocodile Pokémon that evolves into an intimidating foe.

Location: New Bark Town

Stats and evolution
Totodile's evolutionary line has great physical stats, as well nice bulk.

It evolves into Croconaw at Level 18, and then Feraligatr at Level 30. It has the earliest evolution of the starters.

Moves, abilities and typing
Totodile gets Water Gun at Level 6. At Level 13, it gets Bite, whose has great power and good chances to flinch the foe. At Level 15, it gets Scary Face, whose sharply lowers the foe's Speed, great for its low Speed.

In the Croconaw stage, it gets Ice Fang at Level 21, great for Grass and Flying-type Pokémon. At Level 30 (before evolving), it gets Crunch, a better version of Bite.

Immediately after reaching its final stage, it gets Agility, whose sharply raises Speed. Great for its low Speed. At Level 45, it gets Screech. Since the best level range for Elite Four is between 40 and 45, it will probably learn it at the very beginning of Kanto adventure. At Level 58, it gets Agility. At Level 63, it gets Superpower, whose is extremely powerful, but lowers both physical stats. Since the best level range for challenging Red is 60-65, you'll probably only has opportunity to use in this battle.

It can get a lot of good TMs. Rock Tomb lowers the foe's Speed, and is nice for the 2nd Gym. Headbutt is quite powerful for the point of the game that is obtained, and has decent chances to flinch the foe. Dig is a nice coverage option. Surf is a great STAB move, but is Special. Strength is useful for covering several secret areas in the game. Near 8th Gym, can get Waterfall and Avalanche. Waterfall is its best STAB move, while Avalanche is a nice option for 8th Gym and Champion Lance. Can be used perfectly since it has good bulk. After 8th Gym, it can get Aerial Ace, whose is quite mediocre, but is a good coverage option. In the Elite Four way, can get Dragon Claw and Earthquake.

In Kanto, there are also a few good moves that it can get. Brick Break can be obtained with 40 Battle Points. Ice Punch can be obtained with 64 Battle Points. Low Kick (great for heavy Pokémon, common late-game) can be obtained with 32 Battle Points. Outrage can be obtained with 40 Battle Points. Also can get Rock Climb in the very end of the game to cover some secret areas.

Torrent raises the power of Water-type moves by 50% with less than 1/3 of HP. This is mainly useless in-game since we can easily heal your Pokémon with Potion.

Water is a quite good type. Grass and Electric, the only weaknesses, are uncommon in-game.

Important batttles
Has decent matchup against most of the Gyms of the game, as well Elite Four, rival and Team Rocket. Unlike the other two starters, can work perfectly against Lance.

In Kanto, has advantage against Pewter and Cinnabar Gyms (5th and 6th respectively), but struggles against Vermilion and Celadon Gyms (1st and 2nd respectively). In Viridian Gym, it's great against Rhydon and Arcanine. Against Red, the only worthwile matchup is against Charizard.

Learning Dark-type moves, it can be useful in the 4th Gym, as well Will in Elite Four, Saffron Gym, and rival's Gengar and Alakazam. Ice Fang is great against 8th Gym and Champion Lance.

Conclusion
Totodile is probably the best starter Pokémon of these games. Choose it, and you'll have a perfect ride through the game.

Rating: 90%