Barboach is a Water / Ground Pokemon that was introduced along with the Hoenn Region (Generation III) and it is the base form of Whiscash. It is based on a loach and covering itself with hardened clay, this is one of the most difficult Pokemon to capture with your hands as opposable thumbs will do nothing to save you from its slippery body.
About Barboach
| First appearance in anime | Pokemon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire |
| First appearance in game | Ruby/Sapphire |
| Region | Hoenn |
| Evolution | Barboach → Whiscash |
| 1st Evo level | 30 |
| Pokedex Entry | Its slimy body is hard to grasp. In one region, it is said to have been born from hardened mud. |
Barboach Base stats
| HP | 50 |
| ATTACK | 48 |
| DEFENCE | 43 |
| SP. ATTACK | 46 |
| SP. DEFENCE | 41 |
| SPEED | 60 |
| TOTAL | 288 |
Appearance
Barboach is dominantly silver in color and is based on a loach. It is slimy and long with zigzag patterns in black on both sides of the pokemon. The dorsal fin is in an oval shape and is light blue in color with three dots on it. It has two pelvic fins at the bottom with the same color and one dot on each of them. The caudal fin is a semicircle attached to the fish with the same light blue color. It has two eyes on both sides at the front which look like dots and round mouths which have two whiskers from them also in light blue.
Behavior
If you ever have plans to catch a Barboach with bare hands, just forget about it. This Pokemon covers its entire body in slime that is made from hardened mud. If you try to grab it, it will definitely slither away and escape. It doesn’t matter if you’re a human or a bird, Barboach will eventually escape. It also has really strong whiskers for antennas with these so strong that they can detect anything in a radius. Because of this, Barboachs wait by hiding in mud, sticking its antennas out to detect prey for it to eat. The whiskers are so sensitive that they can also sense smells and flavours.
Strengths and Weaknesses
As a dual Ground and Water type Pokemon, Barboach is immune to electricity but it is weak to Grass type moves that deal four times the normal damage. It is, however, resistant to Poison, Rock, Fire and Steel due to its typings.
Best moveset
Barboach is pretty good in LC due to its wide movepool but it suffers from low base stats. Substitute, although it sacrifices a bit of your HP, will be a good cover for you and pairing this Pokemon with Leftovers will let you quickly recover what you lost from substitute. After using Substitute, start spamming Dragon Dance as it will not only increase your attack, but also speed. Earthquake and Waterfall are both powerful physical moves and with enough set-up, you can sweep the enemy team with these two moves.
| Dragon Dance | Earthquake |
| Waterfall | Substitute |
How to catch Barboach in Pokemon Go?
Barboach can be found near large water bodies along with Whiscash, the evolved form of Barboach. This Pokemon can be found near large water bodies like canals, riverbanks and streams, wetlands, ports, parks and basins. Alternatively, you can hatch it from a 2 KM egg and it requires 50 candy to evolve into a Whiscash.
Barboach appeared as a Tier 1 raid boss on October 9th of 2020. Whiscash appeared as a Tier 2 raid boss on March 10th and March 13th of 2020. It also appeared as a Tier 3 raid boss on November 24th and November 30th of 2020 along with March 1st, April 19th and April 26th of 2021.
Trivia
- Since the evolution of Barboach, Whiscash is based on catfish, barboach could be based on loach catfish.
- Barboach and Whiscash are the only Water/Ground pokemon that do not belong to the water egg 1 group.
- Barboach/Whiscash is the third ever pokemon to have the Water/Ground typing after Quagsire from Johto and Swampert, the starter from Hoenn.
FAQs
What kind of fish is Barboach?
Barboach is a Water/Ground type and is based on a loach catfish. The biology of this fish is less known.
What does Barboach evolve into?
Barboach evolves into Whiscash, who is also a Water/Ground pokemon at level 30.
What region is Barboach from?
The Barboach originated in the Hoenn Region, but can be found in all main series regions upto Galar.
Conclusion
Barboach, unlike Whiscash, is not a strong powerful pokemon in control of swamps. It instead lies dormant waiting for its prey to come to it. It relies a lot on its antenna like whiskers and its slimy skin. Competitively, Barboach or Whiscash are not strong pokemon. While they have good movesets, their base stats are way too weak to be relevant competitively.
