Sawsbuck has four forms: Spring Form, Summer Form, Autumn Form, and Winter Form. Sawsbuck changes forms depending on the location the game was loaded in. In Paldea, Spring Form corresponds to South Province, Summer Form to East Province, Autumn Form to West Province, and Winter Form to North Province.
When it debuted, Sawsbuck's form changed based on the season. From Generation VI to VIII, its form could not be changed at all, and only the Spring Form could be found in the wild, with the other forms being obtainable exclusively via transfer from a Generation V game or from Pokémon GO.
Sawsbuck is a brown and cream, deer-like Pokémon with rhomboid ears and darker ear insides. Its eyes have light-orange markings that curve down to the sides of its face. It has a dark-brown nose, and it sports cream fur on its chin and sides of its face. Light-orange stripes rim its underbelly, and its back is decorated with spots.
Its appearance changes depending on the season. During the spring, a tuft of cream fur appears on its chest, its antlers are adorned with pink flowers, and the spots on its back are pink. During the summer, its tail points up, it grows tufts of fur on the back of its head, its antlers sport green leaves, and its spots are green. During the fall, it sports a cream tuft of fur on its chest, the leaves on its antlers are red and brown, and its spots are orange. During the winter, the cream fur turns white, tufts of white fur appear on its chest and lower limbs, its antlers are coated in white, and its spots are white.
Sawsbuck has four forms: Spring Form, Summer Form, Autumn Form, and Winter Form.
Sawsbuck can live almost anywhere as they adapt to the season but prefer to live away from humans. It is herbivorous. Sawsbuck have been referred to as the harbingers of spring. There are many enthusiasts out there who love the different forms of Sawsbuck. However, the Winter Form is the least popular of them all.
The flowers on Spring Form's antlers grow slower due to absorbing nutrients. The paler the Spring Form's flower is, the more beautiful Sawsbuck apparently becomes. The thicker and larger the broach leaves are, the more majestic Summer Form Sawsbuck becomes. Summer Form's leaves can be used to make black tea, which has a different taste depending on the region. In Paldea, the tea has a more aromatic taste. The darker the Autumn Form's red foliage is, the more stylish it is considered. Autumn Form Sawsbuck have short tempers, and the males notably fight each other incessantly. Winter Form Sawsbuck are calmer and easier to tame during the winter. Hence, it is considered the perfect time to obtain Winter Form Sawsbuck as a partner.
This Pokémon’s appearance changes with the passing of the seasons. Normally, you could never see all four forms of Sawsbuck at the same time, but Elsewhere Forest seems to be the exception!
This Pokémon’s appearance changes with the passing of the seasons. Normally, you could never see all four forms of Sawsbuck at the same time, but Elsewhere Forest seems to be the exception!
This Pokémon’s appearance changes with the passing of the seasons. Normally, you could never see all four forms of Sawsbuck at the same time, but Elsewhere Forest seems to be the exception!
This Pokémon’s appearance changes with the passing of the seasons. Normally, you could never see all four forms of Sawsbuck at the same time, but Elsewhere Forest seems to be the exception!
Form data
This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Needs more Gen 9 details (if/how form changes in Kitakami, etc.)
Sawsbuck has four different forms based on the four seasons. These forms are interchangeable in Generation V and Generation IX but not in other games. They are purely cosmetic.
When the month is January, May, or September, the season is spring, and it becomes Spring Form.
When the month is February, June, or October, the season is summer, and it becomes Summer Form.
When the month is March, July, or November, the season is autumn, and it becomes Autumn Form.
When the month is April, August, or December, the season is winter, and it becomes Winter Form.
Generations VI to VIII
From Generation VI to VIII, with the abandonment of seasons as a mechanic, Sawsbuck is unable to change forms. All wild and NPC Trainer-owned Sawsbuck are Spring Form. Bred Deerling are in the same form as their mother, or the same form as the Deerling or Sawsbuck parent if bred with Ditto. The Summer, Autumn, and Winter forms are only obtainable via transfer from a Generation V game or from Pokémon GO.
Wild Sawsbuck vary in form based on location. In general, Spring Form Sawsbuck can be found in South Province (Area Six) and in 4★ Tera Raid Battles, Autumn Form in West Province (Area Three) and North Province (Socarrat Trail), Winter Form in North Province (Area One, Dalizapa Passage, and Glaseado Mountain). Summer Form Sawsbuck cannot be found in the wild in Paldea.
Bred Deerling are born in the same form as their female parent, or in the same form as the Deerling or Sawsbuck parent if bred with Ditto. Bred Deerling still change form when the game is loaded.
All four forms of Sawsbuck appeared in The Four Seasons of Sawsbuck!, with Sawsbuck's Winter Form making its debut, and Sawsbuck's Summer and Autumn Forms making their animated series debut. They resided at a secret lake that allowed the Sawsbuck to take on all four forms at the same time. Robert's aim was to photograph all four forms together, which he was able to do.
Minor appearances
Multiple Summer Form Sawsbuck appeared in the opening sequences and ending credits of both White—Victini and Zekrom and Black—Victini and Reshiram, while Autumn Form Sawsbuck exclusively appeared in the opening sequence of Black—Victini and Reshiram. This also marked the debuts of both the Summer Form and Autumn Form Sawsbuck.
Sawsbuck, the Season Pokémon, and the evolved form of Deerling. The plants on Sawsbuck's horns change depending on the time of year, and people often use them to measure the passing of the seasons.
The design for Sawsbuck was created before the concept of seasons was added to Pokémon Black and White.[1]
Origin
Sawsbuck may be based on a Père David's deer, a species of deer that decorates its antlers with foliage during the breeding season. Each of its forms appears to visually represent one of the four seasons. The progression of the foliage in Sawsbuck's antlers throughout the seasons may be based on a deciduous tree.
Sawsbuck may also be based on the Four Stags of Yggdrasill, which eat among the branches of the world tree Yggdrasil in Norse mythology and are sometimes associated with seasons. Alternatively, it may also be based on Baron Munchausen's tall tale Reflections on Saint Hubert's stag— in the story, Munchausen shoots a stag using cherry pits in his musket; the stag survives and escapes, and in the following year reappears with a cherry tree growing out of its head.
Name origin
Sawsbuck may be a play on sawbuck (framework for holding wood to be sawn), which contains the word buck (male deer). SAWS may also be an acronym for the names of the seasons (summer, autumn, winter, and spring).
Mebukijika may be a combination of 芽吹き mebuki (to bud) and 鹿 shika (deer).
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.