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, it does have 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. However, red-striped Basculin have jagged fins that resemble tridents, whereas blue-striped Basculin have smooth fins all around. Red-striped Basculin have circular, red eyes, while blue-striped Basculin 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 are also consumed by humans and are considered very delicious.
In the anime
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; however, a wild Frillish released it. A few other Basculin appeared during the episode. 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.
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 sppeared 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!.
Multiple red-striped Basculin and one Blue-Striped appeared in Going for the Gold!, where they were among the Pokémon seen in the Ambrette Aquarium.
Pokédex entries
Episode
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Pokémon
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Source
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Entry
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BW037
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Basculin
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Ash's Pokédex
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Basculin, the Hostile Pokémon. Basculin can be very violent and red and blue Basculin do not get along well, frequently resulting in battles.
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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 Pokémon Adventures manga
A red-striped Basculin was first seen in Underground Showdown. One appeared at Route 6, jumping out of the water as Black and Clay traveled to Chargestone Cave. Another one 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.
A blue and red-striped Basculin appeared in PS541.
In the TCG
- Main article: Basculin (TCG)
Game data
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation V.
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Generation V
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Black
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Red and blue Basculin get along so poorly, they'll start fighting instantly. These Pokémon are very hostile.
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White
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Red and blue Basculin usually do not get along, but sometimes members of one school mingle with the other's school.
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Black 2
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Red- and blue-striped Basculin are very violent and always fighting. They are also remarkably tasty.
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White 2
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Generation VI
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X
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Red- and blue-striped Basculin are very violent and always fighting. They are also remarkably tasty.
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Y
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Red and blue Basculin usually do not get along, but sometimes members of one school mingle with the other's school.
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Omega Ruby
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Red- and blue-striped Basculin are very violent and always fighting. They are also remarkably tasty.
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Alpha Sapphire
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Red and blue Basculin usually do not get along, but sometimes members of one school mingle with the other's school.
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Red-Striped Form
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation V.
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Generation VII
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Ultra Sun
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Savage, violent Pokémon, red and blue Basculin are always fighting each other over territory.
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Ultra Moon
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When a school of Basculin appears in a lake, everything else disappears, except for Corphish and Crawdaunt. That's how violent Basculin are.
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Blue-Striped Form
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation V.
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Generation VII
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Ultra Sun
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Even Basculin, which devours everything it can with its huge jaws, is nothing more than food to organisms stronger than itself.
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Ultra Moon
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Some people call it “the thug of the lake.” Whether the differences in color are meaningful is not yet known.
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Game locations
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation V.
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Generation V
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Black
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Routes 1, 3, 6, 11, 14, Striaton City, Wellspring Cave, Pinwheel Forest, Dragonspiral Tower, Challenger's Cave, Victory Road, Village Bridge, Giant Chasm, Abundant Shrine, Lostlorn Forest (Surfing or fishing; Red-Striped Form) (Rippling water; Blue-Striped Form) Trade Minccino in Driftveil City (Red-Striped Form)
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White
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Routes 1, 3, 6, 11, 14, Striaton City, Wellspring Cave, Pinwheel Forest, Dragonspiral Tower, Challenger's Cave, Victory Road, Village Bridge, Giant Chasm, Abundant Shrine, Lostlorn Forest (Surfing or fishing; Blue-Striped Form) (Rippling water; Red-Striped Form) Trade Minccino in Driftveil City (Blue-Striped Form)
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Black 2
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Routes 1, 3, 6, 11, 13, 14, 19, 20, 22, 23, Aspertia City, Floccesy Ranch, Relic Passage, Clay Tunnel, Dragonspiral Tower, Striaton City, Wellspring Cave, Pinwheel Forest, Undella Town, Humilau City, Victory Road, Village Bridge, Giant Chasm, Abundant Shrine, Nature Preserve, Lostlorn Forest (Surfing or fishing; Red-Striped Form) (Rippling water; Blue-Striped Form)
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White 2
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Routes 1, 3, 6, 11, 13, 14, 19, 20, 22, 23, Aspertia City, Floccesy Ranch, Relic Passage, Clay Tunnel, Dragonspiral Tower, Striaton City, Wellspring Cave, Pinwheel Forest, Undella Town, Humilau City, Victory Road, Village Bridge, Giant Chasm, Abundant Shrine, Nature Preserve, Lostlorn Forest (Surfing or fishing; Blue-Striped Form) (Rippling water; Red-Striped Form)
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Dream World
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Generation VI
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X
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Routes 15 and 16, Laverre City, Couriway Town, Frost Cavern, Pokémon Village, Victory Road (Good Rod; Blue-Striped Form) Routes 15 and 16, Laverre City, Couriway Town, Frost Cavern, Pokémon Village, Victory Road (Super Rod; Red-Striped Form) Route 21 (Good Rod or Super Rod; Red-Striped Form only)
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Y
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Routes 15 and 16, Laverre City, Couriway Town, Frost Cavern, Pokémon Village, Victory Road (Good Rod; Red-Striped Form) Routes 15 and 16, Laverre City, Couriway Town, Frost Cavern, Pokémon Village, Victory Road (Super Rod; Blue-Striped Form) Route 21 (Good Rod or Super Rod; Red-Striped Form only)
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Omega Ruby
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Alpha Sapphire
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In side games
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation V.
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Held items
In-game trades
Stats
Base stats
Stat
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Range
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At Lv. 50
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At Lv. 100
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70
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130 - 177
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250 - 344
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92
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87 - 158
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170 - 311
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65
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63 - 128
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121 - 251
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80
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76 - 145
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148 - 284
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55
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54 - 117
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103 - 229
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98
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92 - 165
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180 - 324
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Total: 460
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Other Pokémon with this total
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- Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and (if applicable) a hindering nature.
- Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and (if applicable) a helpful nature.
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Type effectiveness
Under normal battle conditions in Generation IX, this Pokémon is:
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Learnset
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- Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Basculin
- Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an Evolution of Basculin
- Click on the generation numbers at the top to see level-up moves from other generations
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- Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Basculin
- Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an Evolution of Basculin
- Click on the generation numbers at the top to see TM moves from other generations
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- Moves marked with an asterisk (*) must be chain bred onto Basculin in Generation VII
- 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
- Italic 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
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- A black or white abbreviation in a colored box indicates that Basculin can be tutored the move in that game
- A colored abbreviation in a white box indicates that Basculin cannot be tutored the move in that game
- Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Basculin
- Italic 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
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Side game data
Evolution
Red-Striped
Blue-Striped
Sprites
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation V.
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Trivia
- In Pokémon Black and White, blue-striped Basculin have the same two standard possible Abilities as red-striped Basculin—Reckless and Adaptability (and is listed as such in Pokédex 3D); however, the blue-striped Basculin that can be obtained via in-game trade in White has the Ability Rock Head. In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, wild blue-striped Basculin's two standard possible Abilities are Rock Head and Adaptability, while red-striped Basculin's stay the same (and are listed as such in Pokédex 3D Pro). However, blue-striped Basculin bred in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 have Reckless and Adaptability as their two standard Abilities. When a blue-striped Basculin with Reckless is transferred from Generation V to Generation VI, its Ability is changed to Rock Head.
- Basculin shares its category with Zweilous. They are both known as the Hostile Pokémon.
- Basculin's Pokédex entries in Pokémon Black 2, White 2, X, and Omega Ruby describe the species as being very tasty, one of the rare instances that hint at Pokémon being used for food.
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 based on a bass since there are wild bass in New York state.
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
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Title
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Meaning
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Japanese
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バスラオ Bassrao
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From bass and 丈夫 masurao or バカラオ bakarao
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French
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Bargantua
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From bar and Gargantua, a powerful giant in French literature
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Spanish
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Basculin
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Same as English name
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German
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Barschuft
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From Barsch and Schuft
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Italian
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Basculin
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Same as English name
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Korean
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배쓰나이 Bessnai
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From bass and 사나이 sana'i; may also be based on 사나이다움 sana'ida'um or 사나이다운 sana'ida'un.
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Mandarin Chinese
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野蠻鱸魚 / 野蛮鲈鱼 Yěmánlúyú* 勇士鱸魚 / 勇士鲈鱼 Yǒngshìlúyú*
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From 野蠻 yěmán and 鱸魚 lúyú From 勇士 yǒngshì and 鱸魚 lúyú
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Cantonese Chinese
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野蠻鱸魚 Yéhmàahnlòuhyú* 勇士鱸魚 Yúhngsihlòuhyú*
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From 野蠻 yéhmàahn and 鱸魚 lòuhyú From 勇士 yúhngsih and 鱸魚 lòuhyú
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More languages
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Russian
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Баскулин Baskulin
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Transcription of English name
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External links
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This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.
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