Introduced in generation four, with the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl games, Gastrodon is a dual type water and ground Pokemon. It is the final evolution of Shellos and will evolve once it reaches its level threshold. Gastrodon is classified by the Pokedex as the “Sea Slug Pokemon”, an apt description for the appearance of Gastrodon. This guide will showcase the appearances of Gastrodon in the anime, its capabilities in battle, as well as other general facts about Gastrodon.
About Gastrodon
Gastrodon is fairly unique for a few reasons. Firstly, it will have a different appearance depending on whether you caught it on the west or east side of Sinnoh’s mountain range. Secondly, it is one of the few Pokemon to have four different sprite variations depending on whether it is shiny or not. Gastrodon first appeared in the Diamond and Pearl season of the anime with the episode Last Call - First Round!. It evolves from Shellos once it reaches level 30 and there is no special condition to fulfill with evolving Shellos. The Pokedex mentions its regenerative qualities as any part of its body that is torn off will grow back.
| First appearance in anime | Pokemon the Series: Diamond and Pearl Last Call - First Round! |
| First appearance in game | Pokemon Diamond and Pearl |
| Region | Sinnoh |
| Evolution | Final evolution of Shellos |
| 1st Evo level | 30 |
| 2nd Evo level | N/A |
| Pokedex Entry | It has a pliable body without any bones. If any part of its body is torn off, it grows right back. |
Gastrodon Base Stats
| HP | 111 |
| ATTACK | 83 |
| DEFENCE | 68 |
| SP. ATTACK | 92 |
| SP. DEFENCE | 82 |
| SPEED | 39 |
| TOTAL | 475 |
Appearance
In the anime, Cynthia the Pokemon League Champion, had a Gastrodon that appears multiple times throughout the anime. This Gastrodon was caught in the west sea as depicted by its pink interior and brown exterior. Gastrodon can have two different variations depending on which sea it was caught in. It will either be pink and brown or green and blue. Contrary to popular belief, this distinction is not unique to their gender and instead which sea they were caught in.
Behavior
As we did not see too much of Gastrodon’s behavior other than its capabilities in battle from the anime, a lot of what we understand about Gastrodon’s behavior comes from the Pokedex. It does not appear to have many distinct differences in personality depending on which sea it was caught in. Gastrodon is a confident Pokemon that is happy to battle for its trainer. The Pokedex states that it has some natural mechanisms to protect itself by oozing purple fluid or by regenerating any lost parts of its body.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Gastrodon’s time in the spotlight is fairly short-lived in competitive battles as it was only near the top of brackets during generation five. Its access to the ability Storm Drain makes it a viable water type counter, but it’s slow speed coupled with its rather mediocre bulk stats make it difficult to pull off. As a water and ground type Pokemon, it is only weak to grass type moves, albeit with a 4x weakness. Gastrodon will also resist poison, rock, steel, and fire types while being completely immune to electric types. If it has the Storm Drain ability it is also completely immune to water type moves.
Best Moveset
Gastrodon’s short time as a top tier Pokemon was thanks to the popularity of rain-based teams in generation five. Since then, it has become a rather niche pick to counter teams that do not exist anymore. However, its move set does not change much throughout the generations. The ability Storm Drain is now commonplace and the held item Leftovers keeps it healthy throughout battle. Consider running Scald, Earth Power/Earthquake, Toxic, and Recover to see the most success. Scald will function as Gastrodon’s main source of damage while also benefiting from STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus), Earth Power/Earthquake are interchangeable as your ground type move, Recover can help Gastrodon stay on the field while the move Toxic begins to tick away at your opponents.
| Scald | Earth Power/Earthquake |
| Recover | Toxic |
How to Catch Gastrodon in Pokemon Go
If you would like to obtain a Gastrodon in Pokemon Go, the easiest way to go about it would be to obtain a Shellos and eventually evolve it into Gastrodon. Like most final evolutions, they are much rarer to encounter in the wild. The west and east sea variants are also present in Pokemon Go, so you will need to decide which appearance you like more. In order to evolve either sea variant of Shellos, you will need 50 Shellos candies to evolve into Gastrodon. To find a different variant of Shellos/Gastrodon, you will need to come into contact with a trainer on the other side of the meridian border. Unfortunately, it does not seem as if Gastrodon has appeared in a raid battle in the past, you will need to obtain the candies through capture or walking with Shellos as your buddy.
Video
Trivia
- Gastrodon was originally supposed to be released with the generation three games, but Ken Sugimori revealed that due to time constraints it was released in the next generation.
- Despite trainers on the east side of Sinnoh having easier access to east sea Gastrodon, no trainer in Diamond and Pearl uses the east sea variant of Gastrodon.
- The name Gastrodon comes from a combination of the words gastropod and don, the Spanish word for lord.
FAQ
Is Gastrodon a good Pokemon?
Gastrodon is a good Pokemon to counter rain based teams. If rain focused teams are prevalent in the competitive meta, then Gastrodon becomes a powerful pick for defeating this strategy. However, most teams do not focus on rain in the recent generations, thus it makes Gastrodon’s viability a lot lower than it used to be.
How do I evolve my Gastrodon?
Gastrodon is the final evolution and there is no Pokemon that Gastrodon can evolve into. In order to evolve Shellos into Gastrodon, you just need to reach the level threshold of 30. There is no unique condition to be fulfilled in order to evolve Shellos into Gastrodon but once you have reached Gastrodon, you cannot evolve it again.
Is Gastrodon good in Singles?
Gastrodon is good against rain based teams. If the meta in singles reflects this strategy, then Gastrodon will become much more powerful than normal. Since singles does not have much to do with supporting Pokemon or comboing moves together, Gastrodon’s use is a bit more limited. You can run Gastrodon in teams that are weak to water types and use it as a way to negate water type moves by switching.
Conclusion
Congratulations, you now know just about everything there is to know about this “Sea Slug Pokemon”. While Gastrodon’s involvement in competitive play is fairly limited, having a Pokemon that can completely negate water type moves is a powerful ally to have. While it is not particularly viable at the moment, Gastrodon’s existence provides some unique counterplay to opponent’s strategies. On top of its unique qualities with two different variants, Gastrodon is likely going to remain relevant throughout the franchise’s history.
