Poliwhirl is a Water-type Pokémon that first appeared in Generation I and evolves from Poliwag starting at level 25. When exposed to a Water Stone, it evolves into Poliwrath or into Politoed, when traded while holding a King's Rock. Poliwhirl debuted in Primeape Goes Bananas! and Misty also had a Poliwhirl in The Totodile Duel! that she caught as a Poliwag, which eventually evolved into a Politoed during Outrageous Fortunes!
About
| First appearance in anime | Original Series: Primeape Goes Bananas! |
| First appearance in a game | Red and Blue |
| Region | Kanto |
| Evolution | 🡪 Poliwrath |
| 1st Evolution Stage | Exposed to a Water Stone |
| Pokedex Entry | 061 |
Base stats
| HP | 65 |
| ATTACK | 65 |
| DEFENCE | 65 |
| SP. ATTACK | 50 |
| SP. DEFENCE | 50 |
| SPEED | 90 |
| TOTAL | 385 |
Appearance
Poliwhirl is a bipedal Pokémon with a spherical body that is mostly blue with bulbous eyeballs that emerge from the top of the creature's head. Its mid-riff, from where its innards are visible because of its thin skin, is covered with a black and white swirl. It looks to be wearing white gloves and has spherical, digit-free feet.
It sweats to keep its skin wet and healthy while it is out of water, which coats it in an oily substance that helps it to sneak past adversaries. Except for the swirl, which is incredibly smooth, the rest of its skin feels this with the swirl on its belly gently undulates, and looking at it makes you sleepy.
Behavior
Despite its ability to go on land, Poliwhirl likes to stay in freshwater ponds and lakes where it has fewer natural adversaries. It eats Pokémon that are both bugs and fish and will leave the water to capture insect Pokémon, but will afterward return to devour them safely underwater. Poliwhirl's perspiration is thick and slimy with mucus and thus when an enemy captures it, it either slithers away or uses its swirl to put the enemy to sleep. Its swirl is also intended to lull kids to sleep.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Since Poliwhirl is a water type, it is resistant against Steel, Fire, Water, and Ice-type moves and takes only half the normal damage. However, it is weak against Grass and Electric-type moves and thus takes double the normal damage against them.
Best Moveset
Double-Edge is a damage-dealing Normal-type move introduced in Generation I which tends to be a useful STAB move except that If the target loses HP, the user takes recoil damage equal to 33% the HP lost by the target, rounded half up, but not less than 1 HP. So its usage has a trade off which can be worth it if the scenario calls for it. Bubble Beam allows Poliwhirl to spray bubbles at the target with an added advantage of lowering the target's Speed by 1 stage. Then comes Hydro Pump where the target is blasted by a huge volume of water launched under great pressure. It inflicts mediocre damage and has no secondary effect, but it generates energy for later usage. Similarly, Water Gun blasts the target with a forceful shot of water inflicting damage without any secondary effect.
| Double Edge | Hydro Pump |
| Bubble Beam | Water Gun |
How to catch Poliwhirl in Pokémon Go?
Water Pokemon such as Poliwag can predictably be found in places near a Canal, Dock, Harbors, Lake, Ocean, Beach, River, and similar locations. Once you obtain Poliwag, you’ll need 25 candies to evolve it into a Poliwhirl which in turn can evolve into Poliwrath upon being fed 100 candies.
Explainer Video
Trivia
- Poliwhirl's sprites and artwork are inconsistent concerning its gloves. Sometimes, they are depicted as mittens, while other times, they have separate fingers.
- Poliwhirl shares its category with Poliwag, Poliwrath, and Tympole. They are all known as the Tadpole Pokémon.
- The spiral on its belly changes direction after evolving from Poliwag.
FAQs
How does Poliwhirl evolve?
Poliwhirl evolves from Poliwag starting at level 25 and evolves into Poliwrath when exposed to a Water Stone.
Is Poliwhirl male or female?
Poliwhirl can be either with a 50% chance of being a male or female.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You now know everything about this frog-like Pokemon with a spiral stomach pattern referencing how some tadpoles have transparent underbellies which stay in freshwater ponds. Poliwhirl is capable of living in or out of water but to live out of the water, it must sweat to keep itself slimy. It prefers to live underwater in ponds where there is less danger.
