Ekans and Arbok

#023 Ekans

Ekans: It sneaks through the grass without making a sound and strikes unsuspecting prey from behind.

Type: Poison

Stats:
HP          Attack     Defense
35              60           44              

Speed   Spec Atk   Spec Def
55              40           54                  

Growth Rate: Medium Fast

Hatch Steps: 5,000

Evolution: Level 22

Weaknesses: Ground; Psychic

Strengths: Fighting; Poison; Grass; Bug

Ekans is a very popular pokémon with team rocket and short-wearing youngsters. As cool as Ekans may look, I can't stand him. I have tried time and time again to raise an Ekans so I could get an Arbok, but have never been able to. Raising an Ekans is very difficult, since his defense is so low and poison-type moves are not very strong and often use special attack, which Ekans greatly lacks. When he eventually learns moves like Bite you can kind of start to get somewhere, but not very quickly. Only his attack stat is decent, and compared to pokémon we've seen up to this point it isn't very good. If a pokémon is used by team rocket, then you know it probably isn't a great one to have in one's own team. Personally, I've never been able to keep him long enough to evolve him. I find Ekans to be insufferable and not worthy of a team spot. He's simply too weak.

#024 Arbok

Arbok: The pattern on its belly is for intimidation. It constricts foes while they are frozen in fear.

Stats:
HP          Attack     Defense
60              85            69                

Speed   Spec Atk   Spec Def
60              65              79          

Growth Rate: Medium Fast

Hatch Steps: 5,000

Evolution: Final Stage

Weaknesses: Ground; Psychic

Strengths: Fighting; Poison; Grass; Bug

I can't give an honest opinion of raising an Arbok, since I've never raised one, but if Ekans is anything to go by he may not be as awesome as I've always hoped. Looking at his stats, his attack is pretty good, but his speed and defense aren't enough to keep him going for long. With a slower speed, he's likely to strike second, and with a low defense, he won't be able to take a hit too well. On top of that, his HP is poor, so it really wouldn't take much to get this guy out of the way.

In summary, both of these pokémon are used by team rocket, and therefore a good indicator that they probably aren't any good to have in your own team. As cool as these pokémon look, the only good stat they have is attack, and that's not enough to keep them going for long.