Scraggy

Using Scraggy in a Playthrough

Scraggy evolves into Scrafty at level 39, giving the player a Dark/Fighting Pokemon with low base 58 Speed but excellent 115 Defense and 115 Special Defense. Drain Punch, High Jump Kick, Crunch or Knock Off, Ice Punch, Rock Slide, Poison Jab, Dragon Dance, and Bulk Up give Scrafty several viable physical routes. Shed Skin gives a 33 percent chance each turn to cure major status, Moxie raises Attack after every knockout, and the Hidden Ability Intimidate lowers opposing Attack on entry, making all three abilities useful in different ways. Dragon Dance compensates for Scrafty's low Speed, while Bulk Up and Drain Punch emphasize its natural bulk and longevity. From Generation VI onward, Fairy attacks are a severe problem because Dark/Fighting is quadruple weak to Fairy, while Flying and Fighting are also super effective. Adamant works well for immediate damage, Jolly can help Dragon Dance sets, and Careful is excellent for a slower Bulk Up approach.

Scraggy in Competitive Pokémon

Scrafty has enjoyed a durable lower-tier and doubles career because its 65/115/115 bulk, unusual Dark/Fighting typing, and three excellent abilities support several different roles. In singles it has used Dragon Dance with Moxie for sweeping and Bulk Up with Shed Skin plus Rest or Drain Punch for slow win conditions; by SM NU, Smogon still described it as a major setup threat capable of breaking common defensive cores. Intimidate gave it an even stronger identity in doubles and VGC, where Fake Out, Knock Off, Fighting STAB, and low Speed made it an effective support Pokemon on Trick Room teams; Smogon characterized it as one of the bulkiest Fake Out users in VGC 2018. Fairy typing dramatically worsened its defensive matchups from Generation VI onward by creating a quadruple weakness, but it did not erase Scrafty's utility. Mega Scrafty is a much newer form and should be evaluated separately: current data gives it 130 Attack, 135 Defense, 135 Special Defense, 68 Speed, and Intimidate, substantially improving the exact bulky-support profile that standard Scrafty has used for years without yet giving the Mega a long historical tier résumé.

Scraggy in Nuzlockes

Scrafty is very safe in many Nuzlocke matchups because both defenses are base 115 and it has a complete Psychic immunity. Intimidate is the most immediately reliable ability for reducing physical damage, Shed Skin can unexpectedly cure burns, poison, paralysis, or sleep, and Moxie rewards clean knockouts without requiring a setup turn. Drain Punch is particularly valuable because it combines accurate Fighting STAB with healing, whereas High Jump Kick can inflict devastating crash damage if it misses or fails and is much less attractive under permadeath rules. Fairy attacks from Generation VI onward are the critical danger because they deal quadruple damage, and strong Flying or Fighting attacks also need respect. Mega Scrafty improves both defenses to 135 and Attack to 130, making it even harder to break, but its Fairy weakness remains just as severe.

Scraggy carries loose, rubbery skin around its legs and can pull that skin upward to reduce damage from attacks. It is highly confrontational and may headbutt anyone who meets its gaze, relying on an unusually hard skull despite the fact that the skull's weight makes balancing difficult. Scraggy travel in small groups and take pride in the looseness of their hanging skin, with baggier individuals receiving more respect. Evolution is associated with that skin becoming fully stretched.