Pokémon Of The Day

The Pokémon of July 18th, 2024 is…

#232 Donphan

“Donphan (Japanese: ドンファン Donfan) is a Ground-type Pokémon introduced in Generation II.

It evolves from Phanpy starting at level 25.

Donphan was officially revealed in the May 1997 issue of CoroCoro, along with Slowking and Ampharos.

The Paradox Pokémon Great Tusk and Iron Treads are said to be ancient and future relatives of Donphan, respectively.

Donphan is a gray, proboscid Pokémon with a thick, black band of hide running down the length of its back and extending to the tip of its long trunk. When this Pokémon curls up, the band resembles a car tire. This tough hide prevents regular attacks from inflicting even a scratch. A pair of white tusks, which are smaller on the female, extend from the corners of its mouth. It has thin, elongated ears held out almost perpendicular to its body. Its four short legs are each encircled with a broken, black band and have three toes.

Donphan has the ability to curl up into a ball and violently roll around like a wheel. These rolling tackles are strong enough to knock down a house. While normally calm, Donphan can become enraged and start a rampage. Once it starts its rampage, it will be almost unstoppable. Donphan will chase after anyone who angers it. The anime shows that this ability is further used as a form of courtship. The male Donphan have rolling competitions to demonstrate their toughness to the females. A Donphan’s tough hide is so strong, not even a car can scratch it. Despite this, the armor is extremely vulnerable to rain.

It has been demonstrated that Donphan has a keen sense of smell, capable of sniffing out a gem known as amberite (Agate in the Japanese version). Donphan travels in herds with a ranking system. The larger its tusks, the higher its rank in the herd. It lives in rough, mountainous terrain.

Both Great Tusk and Iron Treads share a resemblance to Donphan. Great Tusk is theorized to be Donphan’s ancient ancestor from the dinosaur era, while Iron Treads is believed to be a descendant of Donphan or a scientific weapon sent to the Pokémon world by aliens.“-Bulbapedia.