Introduced in generation six with Pokemon X and Y, Braixen is a monotype fire Pokemon. It is the middle evolution of the fire starter evolution line, evolving from Fennekin and evolving into Delphox. Braixen is a popular Pokemon among fans, an interesting anomaly for the middle evolution of a starter Pokemon. Braixen also saw a lot of screen time as one of Serena’s Pokemon. This guide will showcase Braixen’s capabilities in battle, its appearances in the anime, as well as other general facts about Braixen.
About Braixen
Braixen is the middle evolution for the fire starter line in Pokemon X and Y. It evolves from Fennekin and will evolve into Delphox once it reaches level 36. The generation six starters were designed to fit the RPG trinity, where Chesnaught is the fighter, Greninja is the rogue, and Delphox is the mage. In the anime, Braixen was raised by Serena as a Fennekin and served as a powerful Pokemon in battle as well as a performer in the Master Class Tournament. The twig on its tail can be set alight from the friction of its fur. The Pokedex states that this fire is used to signal its allies.
| First appearance in anime | Pokemon the Series: X and Y Day Three Blockbusters! |
| First appearance in game | Pokemon X and Y |
| Region | Kalos |
| Evolution | Evolves from Fennekin, evolves into Delphox |
| 1st Evo level | 16 |
| 2nd Evo level | 36 |
| Pokedex Entry | When the twig is plucked from its tail, friction sets the twig alight. The flame is used to send signals to its allies. |
Braixen Base Stats
| HP | 59 |
| ATTACK | 59 |
| DEFENCE | 58 |
| SP. ATTACK | 90 |
| SP. DEFENCE | 70 |
| SPEED | 73 |
| TOTAL | 409 |
Appearance
Braixen is a fox-like Pokemon that stands on two legs. The majority of its body is colored white or yellow, but its legs are black. It also has tufts of fur sticking out of its ears that are red. There is a twig stuck in Braixen’s tail that can be set ablaze. The yellow fur on its body ruffles upwards to mimic a dress. In its mouth, Braixen has two pointed teeth lined along its upper jaw. Braixen is 3 feet and 3 inches, or 1 meter, tall.
Behavior
Much of Braixen’s behavior can be seen through Serena’s Braixen in the anime. Even as a Fennekin it hated getting dirty and it is depicted avoiding filth as well as thanking those who cleaned or groomed it. As a fire type representative, Braixen is quite hot headed and is shown to have a short temper. Braixen is also prone to jealousy and will attack without thinking. However, it is also known to be friendly towards its trainer and is shown to feel bad for misdirecting an attack after a tantrum.
Strengths and Weaknesses
As the middle evolution, Braixen’s base stats are not all that impressive. Since it is a monotype fire Pokemon, Braixen is weak to ground, rock, and water type moves. It is also resistant to bug, steel, fire, grass, ice, and fairy type moves. In competitive Pokemon, there is a bracket for NFE (Not Fully Evolved) so Braixen has its place in competitive battling. However, with even its final evolution not seeing much competitive play, there are not too many reasons to run Braixen over other fire types.
Shiny Braixen
A Shiny Braixen trades its yellow and red colors for a light purple and pink color respectively. Nothing else changes between regular Braixen and Shiny Braixen as the white colors remain the same for both and the black legs are still present in Shiny Braixen. Like all shiny Pokemon, Shiny Braixen gains a starry animation upon entering battle and as Braixen is a favorite among fans, a Shiny Braixen is very desirable among the playerbase.
Credit to KrocF4 on Deviantart for the below picture.
Charizard and Braixen GX
Charizard and Braixen GX is a Pokemon TCG card released from the Cosmic Eclipse set. Like many cards with Charizard on the art, it experienced a high demand simply for being a Charizard, even without considering the tag team. Charizard and Braixen GX was a pre-release promotional card, and at the beginning of its release was valuable at around 200 USD. However, as time has passed, the card has dropped in value and is now priced around 70-80 USD for a PSA 10 secret rare. This is surprising given the Charizard effect, but luckily the rare variant of Charizard and Braixen can still fetch a pretty penny.
Best Moveset
As mentioned above, Braixen is best used in the NFE (Not Fully Evolved) bracket of competitive play. However, it is unfortunately not particularly strong even in this special bracket. Instead, you ought to evolve your Braixen into a Delphox and consider running it for competitive battling. Delphox performs well within its bracket of NU (Never Used) or RU (Rarely Used). For a moveset, you should consider running Fire Blast, Psychic, Calm Mind, and Grass Knot/Substitute. Fire Blast makes use of Delphox’s good special attack stat while also benefiting from STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus), Psychic is much of the same story, Calm Mind gives Delphox a strong setup tool, and Grass Knot will function as type coverage while Substitute can give Delphox some sustainability. To make your Delphox even more threatening consider adding a Life Orb or a Salac Berry as its held item.
| Fire Blast | Psychic |
| Calm Mind | Grass Knot/Substitute |
How to Catch Braixen in Pokemon Go
Your best bet at obtaining a Braixen in Pokemon Go is to locate a Fennekin in the wild. Fennekin will spawn in the wild like all the other starter Pokemon, and they are more common in sunny weather. You can also hatch a Fennekin in 5 km eggs. At this point in time, Fennekin, Braixen, and Delphox have not appeared as a raid boss in Pokemon Gyms. You will have to locate a Fennekin in the wild or by hatching one in order to evolve it into a Braixen. It will cost 25 Fennekin candies to evolve into Braixen and another 100 to evolve it into Delphox.
Trivia
- The inspiration for Braixen’s evolution line is likely based on fennec foxes in real life. There are also some arguments that its design is based on kitsune, intelligent foxes that have the capability to shapeshift into human form, from Japanese folklore.
- The name Braixen is a portmanteau of the words braise (French for hot coal), and vixen.
- Out of all the Pokemon in the game, Braixen is the only Pokemon with a 409 total base stat.
FAQ
How much is Braixen worth?
Braixen is not a very valuable card on its own. It is considered to be bulk and you can buy a copy of Braixen for a couple quarters. The card Charizard and Braixen GX is worth much more as it was a promotional card, has a secret rare variant and also experiences the Charizard effect, where the card is valued higher simply because of Charizard’s presence on the art. Charizard and Braixen GX can be worth upwards of 70-80 USD.
What is Braixen’s Weakness?
As a monotype fire Pokemon, you will want to avoid ground, rock, or water moves. Conversely, Braixen will resist bug, steel, fire, grass, ice, and fairy type moves. While normal, fighting, flying, poison, ghost, electric, psychic, dragon, and dark type moves will deal regular damage.
Is Braixen better than Delphox?
There is almost no reason, in terms of battle capability, to consider running Braixen instead of Delphox. They both have access to the same abilities and Delphox has over 100 more base stats distributed throughout its totals. The only argument to keep a Braixen instead of evolving into Delphox is that Delphox becomes weak to ghost and dark type moves in addition to the other types that Braixen is already weak to.
Conclusion
Congratulations, you now know just about everything there is to know about this fox Pokemon. Braixen has become a fan favorite, which is unusual for the middle evolution of any Pokemon. Its design and roles it plays in the anime has struck a chord in the hearts of fans. In terms of battle, there is not much reason to consider Braixen or Delphox over the other powerful fire types that are available. While it is not the most powerful Pokemon to ever be introduced, it has become a welcome addition to fans of the franchise.
