From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.

Basculin (Japanese: バスラオ Bassrao) is a Water-type Pokémon introduced in Generation V.

While it is not known to evolve into or from any other Pokémon, Basculin has two different appearances: Red-Striped Form, which has a red stripe and irises, with a round eye and spiky fins; and Blue-Striped Form, which has a blue stripe and irises, with a slit eye and smooth fins.

Biology

The bodies of both the Red- and Blue-Striped Forms are the same. They have a green, ovoid body, tapering off in the rear to a trapezoidal tail fin. A thick black stripe covers the top of their body from mouth to tail and a white, dorsal fin with four protrusions resembling spikes. Their lower jaw juts ahead of their upper jaw, with a small indent near the edges of their mouth. Both forms have three black dots on both sides of their body, behind their pectoral fins.

The main difference between the two forms of Basculin is the color of the stripe that separates the black and green on their body. Both forms of Basculin have fins in the same places, with one on top of their body ahead of the tail fin, one below the body ahead of the tail fin, and two side fins. The Red-Striped Form has jagged fins that resemble tridents, whereas the Blue-Striped Form has smooth fins all around. The Red-Striped Form have circular, red eyes, while the Blue-Striped Form have narrower, blue eyes.

Both forms of Basculin are extremely hostile, especially towards their opposite form. Red- and Blue-Striped Basculin generally start fighting each other on sight for territory. However, on rare occasions, one form may swim with the other's school. When a school of Basculin appears in a lake, Pokémon other than Corphish and Crawdaunt flee. Basculin has often been referred to as "the thug of the lake". Basculin uses its jaws to devour everything in its way. However, despite their fierce reputation, they become prey to stronger organisms. Basculin are also consumed by humans and considered very delicious. The Blue-Striped Form is a common food source with an inoffensive, light flavor. The Red-Striped Form was often placed on dinner plates in the past, and it is more popular with the youth. The meat of the Red-Striped Form is said to be fatty. Basculin is a popular Pokémon that anglers enjoy fighting while fishing, and they often release it back into the lake illegally due to how abundant the Basculin are. It competes with Carvanha for food.

In the anime

In the main series

A blue-striped Basculin in the anime

A red-striped Basculin in the anime

Major appearances

Both forms of Basculin debuted in A Fishing Connoisseur in a Fishy Competition!. Cilan managed to capture a Blue-Striped one during a fishing competition, but a wild Frillish released it. A Red-Striped and a Blue-Striped one were seen being reeled in by two Trainers. Iris managed to fish another Blue-Striped one with her bare hands but was penalized for it.

A Red-Striped Basculin appeared in PK22, where it played a major role.

Minor appearances

Both forms of Basculin appeared in White—Victini and Zekrom and Black—Victini and Reshiram; the Blue-Striped form was exclusive to the former movie and the Red-Striped form was exclusive to the latter.

Multiple Basculin appeared in Stopping the Rage of Legends! Part 1 and Part 2.

Multiple Blue-Striped Basculin appeared in Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice.

Multiple Red-Striped Basculin appeared in The Mystery of the Missing Cubchoo!.

In Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice, a Blue-Striped Basculin was living at Pokémon Hills. It tried to attack Ash and Pikachu while they were riding the Douse Drive Genesect over a pond.

In Going for the Gold!, multiple Red-Striped Basculin and one Blue-Striped Basculin were seen in the Ambrette Aquarium.

Pokédex entries

Episode Pokémon Source Entry BW037 Basculin Ash's Pokédex Basculin, the Hostile Pokémon. Basculin can be very violent, and red and blue Basculin do not get along well, frequently resulting in battles.

In Pokémon: Twilight Wings

In Early-Evening Waves, multiple Red-Striped and Blue-Striped Basculin were living in a lake where Nessa was doing a photo shoot.

In the manga

In the Be the Best! Pokémon B+W manga

In The Key to Triple Battles, Cheren uses a Red-Striped Basculin against Monta in a Triple Battle.



In the Pocket Monsters BW: Good Partners manga

Two Basculin, each of a different form, appeared in BWGP04.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

A Red-Striped Basculin was first seen in Underground Showdown at Route 6, jumping out of the water as Black and Clay traveled to Chargestone Cave.

A Red-Striped Basculin appeared in Dream a Little Dream.

A Blue-Striped Basculin is owned by one of the Shadow Triad. It was used to attack Lenora at Nacrene City. It first appeared in The Battle Within.

Two Basculin, each of a different form, appeared in PS541.



In the TCG

Game data

Pokédex entries

Game locations

In side games

Held items

In-game trades

Stats

Base stats

Type effectiveness

Under normal battle conditions in Generation VIII, this Pokémon is: Damaged

normally by: Normal 1× Fighting 1× Flying 1× Poison 1× Ground 1× Rock 1× Bug 1× Ghost 1× Steel ½× Fire ½× Water ½× Grass 2× Electric 2× Psychic 1× Ice ½× Dragon 1× Dark 1× Fairy 1× None Weak to: Normal 1× Fighting 1× Flying 1× Poison 1× Ground 1× Rock 1× Bug 1× Ghost 1× Steel ½× Fire ½× Water ½× Grass 2× Electric 2× Psychic 1× Ice ½× Dragon 1× Dark 1× Fairy 1× None Immune to: Normal 1× Fighting 1× Flying 1× Poison 1× Ground 1× Rock 1× Bug 1× Ghost 1× Steel ½× Fire ½× Water ½× Grass 2× Electric 2× Psychic 1× Ice ½× Dragon 1× Dark 1× Fairy 1× None Resistant to: Normal 1× Fighting 1× Flying 1× Poison 1× Ground 1× Rock 1× Bug 1× Ghost 1× Steel ½× Fire ½× Water ½× Grass 2× Electric 2× Psychic 1× Ice ½× Dragon 1× Dark 1× Fairy 1× None

Learnset

Generation VIII Other generations: V - VI - VII Parent Move Type Cat. Pwr. Acc. PP Bubble Beam Water Special 65 100% 20 Endeavor Normal Physical — 100% 5 Moves marked with an asterisk (*) must be chain bred onto Basculin in Generation VIII

onto Basculin in Generation VIII Moves marked with a double dagger (‡) can only be bred from a Pokémon who learned the move in an earlier generation.

Moves marked with a superscript game abbreviation can only be bred onto Basculin in that game.

Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Basculin

indicates a move that gets when used by Basculin Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Basculin

indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Basculin Click on the generation numbers at the top to see Egg moves from other generations

Generation VIII Other generations: V - VI - VII Game Move Type Cat. Pwr. Acc. PP Sw Sh IoA Flip Turn Water Physical 60 100% 20 Sw Sh IoA Scale Shot Dragon Physical 25 90% 20 Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Basculin

indicates a move that gets when used by Basculin Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Basculin

indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Basculin Click on the generation numbers at the top to see Move Tutor moves from other generations

Side game data

Red-Striped Form

Blue-Striped Form

Evolution

Red-Striped

Red-Striped Does not evolve Basculin

Water

Blue-Striped

Blue-Striped Does not evolve Basculin

Water

Sprites

Trivia

Origin

Basculin were most likely inspired by a bass or piranha, the latter of which has historically been viewed as violent.

According to interviews with Ken Sugimori in Nintendo Dream, Basculin was created late in development when they realized there were few new 'standard' fish-like Pokémon in Unova, the only others being Alomomola, Stunfisk, Frillish, and Jellicent. It was given two forms to make up for the small amount of fish in the region, and it was also based on a bass since there are wild bass in New York.

Name origin

Basculin is a combination of bass and masculine.

Bassrao may be a combination of bass and 丈夫 masurao (warrior, referring to its bold, violent nature) or バカラオ bakarao (bacalhau).

In other languages

Language Title Meaning Japanese バスラオ Bassrao From bass and 丈夫 masurao or バカラオ bakarao French Bargantua From bar and Gargantua, a powerful giant in French literature Spanish Basculin Same as English name German Barschuft From Barsch and Schuft Italian Basculin Same as English name Korean 배쓰나이 Bessnai From bass and 사나이 sana'i Cantonese Chinese 野蠻鱸魚 Yéhmàahnlòuhyú *

勇士鱸魚 Yúhngsihlòuhyú * From 野蠻 yéhmàahn and 鱸魚 lòuhyú

From 勇士 yúhngsih and 鱸魚 lòuhyú Mandarin Chinese 野蠻鱸魚 / 野蛮鲈鱼 Yěmánlúyú *

勇士鱸魚 / 勇士鲈鱼 Yǒngshìlúyú * From 野蠻 yěmán and 鱸魚 lúyú

From 勇士 yǒngshì and 鱸魚 lúyú More languages Russian Баскулин Baskulin Transcription of English name Thai บาสราโอ Bassrao Transcription of trademarked Japanese name





Red-Striped Form Language Title Japanese あかすじのすがた Red-Striped Form Chinese Cantonese 紅條紋的樣子 Hùhngtìuhmàhn-dīk Yeuhngjí Mandarin 紅條紋的樣子 / 红条纹的样子 Hóngtiáowén-de Yàngzi *

紅線 Hóngxiàn * French Motif Rouge German Rotlinige Form Italian Forma Linearossa Korean 적색근의 모습 Red-Striped Form Polish Forma Czerwono Paskowana Spanish Forma Raya Roja Thai ร่างแถบสีแดง

Blue-Striped Form Language Title Japanese あおすじのすがた Blue-Striped Form Chinese Cantonese 藍條紋的樣子 Làahmtìuhmàhn-dīk Yeuhngjí Mandarin 藍條紋的樣子 / 蓝条纹的样子 Lántiáowén-de Yàngzi *

藍線 Lánxiàn * French Motif Bleu German Blaulinige Form Italian Forma Lineablu Korean 청색근의 모습 Blue-Striped Form Polish Forma Niebiesko Paskowana Spanish Forma Raya Azul Thai ร่างแถบสีฟ้า



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