Kricketune

   Kricketune; the Cricket Pokemon and a Pokemon that can create a melodic sound.  Scientists study these.  Not only that, but there's a village that hosts a contest that is based on the astonishingly variable cries of this Pokemon.

   My first game with Pokemon was Pearl Version.  So obviously, I've sort of "grown up" with this guy.  I'm not saying he's my favorite.  However, for some reason, he looks a little bit cute.  If you look at his face for a minute or so, then you may see what I'm talking about.  When we take a look at Kricketune's stats, we see that he isn't the best Pokemon out there.  He's only the 84th strongest Pokemon with its stat total, and for those who thing 84 isn't so bad, it just cripples in comparison to other strong Bug-Types.  The highest base stat number on Kricketune is 85.  Here's how it goes.  Kricketune has an HP stat of 77, an Attack stat of 85, a Defense stat of 51, a Sp. Attack stat of 55, a Sp. Defense stat of 51, and a Speed stat of 65.  Kricketune's HP and Attack stats are okay, but low Defensive Stats and a low Speed stat can almost guarantee that Kricketune is dead if it doesn't go first.  On the bright side, Kricketune does enough useful Physical moves to support the higher Attack stat and the low-down Sp. Attack stat.

  The strongest Physical STAB move Kricketune can learn is  X-Scissor, which I guess is okay for an Under-Used Pokemon.  Kricketune has some good moves like Bug Bite, Night Slash, Perish Song, Slash, Strength, Brick Break, Aerial Ace, Facade, X-Scissor, & Giga Impact are probably the best moves you can find off of this guy.  Other than that, Kricketune's moves are either poorly matched with its high Attack stat, or are just low on base power numbers.

  Kricketune's ability is Swarm.  Swarm increases the power of Kricketune's Bug-Type-Attacks when your HP is low.  It's a good ability for a Bug-Type, but it isn't as good as Technician.  Technician increases the power of any moves with a base power of 60 or less.  It's my first recommendation, because Kricketune needs all the help a weak Pokemon can get.  However, this ability is Kricketune's hidden ability, which means you need to find a Kricketot or Kricketune in the Pokemon Dream World.  Otherwise, you're stuck Swarm.

So the final verdict would most likely be that without any EV Training for Speed or Defensive stats, Kricketune will be garbage wasted along with other Pokemon, like Watchog, Chatot, & especially Farfetch'd.  But with that aside, unless you don't use this Pokemon with professional game training, this Pokemon doesn't really do much.  And even for the professionals, this is most likely at the bottom of Bug-Types they'd want to use.  I still like the Cricket- I wish he was a bit more useful at times...