Basculin has three forms: Red-Striped Form, Blue-Striped Form, and White-Striped Form, the final of which is sometimes considered a Hisuian form. Red-Striped and Blue-Striped Basculin were both introduced in Pokémon Black and White, while White-Striped Basculin was introduced in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
Red- and Blue-Striped Basculin are not known to evolve into or from any other Pokémon. White-Striped Basculin evolves into Basculegion when leveled up after losing at least 294 HP from recoil damage without fainting.
Basculin is a green aquatic Pokémon that comes in three forms, all of which share the same basic body structure: an ovoid body that tapers toward the rear into a trapezoidal tail fin. A thick black stripe runs along the top of the body from mouth to tail above a green underside, and it has a white dorsal fin with four spike-like protrusions. Its lower jaw juts ahead of the upper jaw, with a small indent near the edges of the mouth, and it has three black dots on both sides of the body behind the pectoral fins. All forms also share the same fin placement, with one fin on top of the body ahead of the tail fin, one below the body ahead of the tail fin, and two pectoral fins.
Basculin has an extremely violent, hostile, and vicious temperament. Even its two forms are aggressive towards each other, and they generally start fighting on sight for territory, though they may occasionally swim with the other's school. It is unclear if there is any significant difference between Red-Striped and Blue-Striped Basculin. It was consumed by humans in the past, and was considered very delicious. The meat of Blue-Striped Basculin has an inoffensive, light flavor, while the meat of Red-Striped Basculin is fattier and was more popular with young people. It competes with Carvanha for food.
Forms
Basculin has three forms: Red-Striped Form, Blue-Striped Form, and White-Striped Form, the last of which is sometimes considered a regional form.
Red-Striped Form
Blue-Striped Form
White-Striped Form
Red-Striped Form
Red-Striped Basculin is distinguished by a red stripe separating the black and green portions of its body. It has jagged fins resembling tridents and circular, red eyes.
Red-Striped Basculin is so violent that when a school of them appears in a lake, Pokémon other than Corphish and Crawdaunt flee, leading it to be referred to as the "Thug of the River". It is sought by anglers for the resistance it puts up on hooks, with many people illegally releasing them into lakes and causing its population to grow more abundant. Red-Striped Basculin is full of vitality and reproduces quickly. Its predators include Bombirdier and Dondozo.
Blue-Striped Form
The Blue-Striped Form is distinguished by a blue stripe in the same position. Its fins are smooth and rounded, and it has narrower, blue eyes.
Blue-Striped Basculin is sometimes called the "thug of the lake", but it still becomes prey to stronger organisms despite its fierce reputation. It forms schools with other Basculin of the same color, and its greatest foe is its Red-Striped counterpart. It uses its jaws, which are strong enough to leave bite marks in iron sheets, to devour everything in its way.
White-Striped Form
In Hisui, White-Striped Basculin has a similar appearance to the other two forms of Basculin. Despite its descriptor, the stripes above its eyes are actually a very pale shade of light blue, as are its irises. Its pectoral fins are smooth like Blue-Striped Basculin, but larger. Its dorsal fins are spiky and it has wide eyes, like Red-Striped Basculin. Its lower jaw is smaller than the jaws of the two other Basculin variants, and both its lower and upper jaws have beak-like protrusions at the front.
In stark contrast to Red-Striped and Blue-Striped Basculin, White-Striped Basculin have a gentle demeanor. Though it is classified as a regional form, its ecology is different enough from other Basculin to spawn recent theories of it being a separate species. White-Striped Basculin form schools in cold seas and share food with each other, and when the time is right, they return to the river in which they were born. However, the journey upstream is often perilous for them, and they sometimes don't survive. As a result, the souls of those who die are often left behind in the waters of Hisui. However, when an injured White-Striped Basculin survives, it can unite with the ghosts of its fallen comrades to evolve into Basculegion.[1] In the present day, it is only known to be found in Kitakami's Timeless Woods along with its evolved form.
Evolution
White-Striped Basculin evolves into Basculegion. Neither Red-Striped Basculin nor Blue-Striped Basculin can evolve.
Though it differs from other Basculin in several respects, including demeanor—this one is gentle—I have categorized it as a regional form given the vast array of shared qualities.
Basculin has three non-interchangeable forms: Red-Striped Form, Blue-Striped Form, and White-Striped Form. White-Striped Basculin is also considered to be a Hisuian form in some contexts (such as Pokémon HOME and its Pokémon Legends: ArceusPokédex entry).
Generally, Red-Striped Form and Blue-Striped Form are either available in opposite games, or one can be found commonly while the other is rarer or only found through specific methods. For example, in Pokémon Black, Red-Striped Basculin can frequently be encountered while surfing or fishing, but Blue-Striped Basculin can only be found in rippling water; and in Pokémon White, the opposite is true. By contrast, in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Red-Striped Basculin is exclusive to Ultra Sun and Blue-Striped Basculin is exclusive to Ultra Moon. White-Striped Form is only available in Hisui (Pokémon Legends: Arceus) and Kitakami (Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Teal Mask).
Bred Basculin are the same form as their mother, or the same form as the Basculin parent if bred with Ditto. This includes White-Striped Basculin (who is not treated as a regional form for breeding, which would require it to hold an Everstone to pass down its form). If Basculegion is the mother or is bred with Ditto, the offspring will be White-Striped Basculin.
Blue-Striped Basculin initially had access to another set of Abilities in Pokémon Black and White, which is the same as Red-Striped Basculin's (having Reckless instead of Rock Head). However, a Blue-Striped Basculin available in an in-game trade in Pokémon White has the Ability Rock Head.
Starting with Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, Blue-Striped Basculin's first Ability was changed to Rock Head. (The Black and White-contemporary Pokédex 3D also shows Blue-Striped Basculin as having access to Reckless, while the subsequent Pokédex 3D Pro shows it as having access to Rock Head.) If a Blue-Striped Basculin with Reckless is transferred from Generation V to Pokémon Bank, its Ability is changed to Rock Head.
White-Striped Form
Only White-Striped Basculin can have the Ability Rattled. They also learn Uproar at level 40 instead of Final Gambit like the other forms and can evolve into Basculegion.
White-Striped Basculin evolves into Basculegion when leveled up after losing at least 294 HP from recoil damage. This can be spread across multiple battles and is not affected by the use of recovery items. Fainting will reset progress.
In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, White-Striped Basculin does not need to level up after losing at least 294 HP from recoil damage in order to evolve.
In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, having Red- or Blue-Striped Basculin registered in the Paldea Pokédex will not register the White-Striped form in the Kitakami Pokédex and vice versa.
Prior to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet v2.0.1, Basculin had a catch rate of 25.
Basculin is the first Pokémon whose catch rate was adjusted via a patch to the game.
White-Striped Basculin is the only regional form of a Pokémon (if it is counted as one) to have exactly the same type as its original form.
Regional form status
The status of Basculin's White-Striped Form as a regional form is inconsistent between various Pokémon media.
In the video "One Thousand Pokémon!", which was made to commemorate the number of Pokémon in the National Pokédex surpassing 1000, the segment showcasing the Pokémon of Hisui shows White-Striped Basculin alongside Hisuian forms.[2]
Evidence against
White-Striped Basculin is not referred to as "Hisuian Basculin" or "Hisuian form" in the games, instead being referred to as "White-Striped Form".
White-Striped Basculin is not treated as a regional form when breeding, as a White-Striped Basculin or Basculegion parent is not required to hold an Everstone for the offspring to hatch into White-Striped Basculin.
In the Pokémon Guidebook in the mobile version of Pokémon HOME, regional forms (and Bloodmoon Ursaluna) are listed separately from their original forms, but White-Striped Basculin is not listed separately from Basculin. It also does not appear when filtering for Hisuian forms, despite appearing when doing so in the Pokédex.
In Pokémon GO, White-Striped Basculin do not appear when searching "Hisui", unlike other Hisuian forms.
White-Striped Basculin and its evolved form, Basculegion, are found in the wild in Kitakami; conversely, all other regional forms and regional Evolutions are only naturally present in their home region (excluding Blueberry Academy's artificial Terarium).
Origin
Basculin is based on a bass,[3] most likely the largemouth bass or the peacock bass due to their greenish color, pattern of horizontal splotches, and vigorous resistance when being fished. It is likely also inspired by the piranha, which has historically been viewed as violent. Its Red-Striped and Blue-Striped variations that are hostile to each other are similar to Siamese fighting fish, which come in a variety of colors (including red and blue) and are extremely aggressive and territorial to others. It could also be compared to street gangs, where groups of affiliated people often fight rival groups over their own territory.
According to interviews with Ken Sugimori in Nintendo Dream Vol. 205, Basculin was created late in development when it was realized that there were few new fish-like Pokémon in Unova. It was given two forms to make up for this, and it was also based on a bass since there are wild bass in New York, which Unova is based on.[3]
While Basculin's White-Striped Form may likewise be inspired by a bass, its design is also reminiscent of the salmon or the related itou (Sakhalin taimen), due to its behavior and the shape of its mouth resembling the kypes that develop in male salmon. Its Pokémon Violet Pokédex entry suggesting that it may be a different species to Red- and Blue-Striped Basculin may be a reference to this.
The selection of colored forms being red, white, and blue may reference the national flag of the United States, as Unova, the region Basculin was first introduced in, is based on New York.
Name origin
Basculin may be 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).
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.
DeepSeaTooth (Red-Striped Basculin only, 5%)
DeepSeaScale (Blue-Striped Basculin only, 5%)
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For other sprites and images, please see Basculin images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
