Every starter from the original Pokemon games has some sort of notoriety all the way through their evolution lines. And while the water type final evolution isn’t at the same popularity as a Pokemon like Charizard, Blastoise is still up there.
About Blastoise
| First appearance in anime | In the Original Series episode ‘The Ties That Bind’ |
| First appearance in game | Red, Green, and Blue |
| Region | Kanto |
| Evolution | Squirtle-->Wartortle --> Blastoise |
| 1st Evo level | 16 |
| 2nd Evo level | 36 |
| Pokedex Entry | It crushes its foe under its heavy body to cause fainting. In a pinch, it will withdraw inside its shell. The rocket cannons on its shell fire jets of water capable of punching holes through thick steel. |
Blastoise’s Base Stats
| HP | 79 |
| Attack | 83 |
| Defense | 100 |
| Sp. Attack | 85 |
| Ap. Defense | 105 |
| Speed | 78 |
Appearance of Blastoise
Blastoise, like its pre-evolutions, is a turtle but this Pokemon is far more massive than its predecessors. It still has the same blue and cream coloring as the rest of its evolution line but from its shell, two massive cannons sprout out.
Behavior of Blastoise
Blastoise is a powerful Pokemon, with the sheer strength of its water cannons being harped on in every opportunity. The water it shoots can blast through solid steel and the recoil is so immense that the Pokemon purposely makes itself as heavy as possible so it doesn’t topple over when firing.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Being a pure Water-type, Blastoise has some standard strengths and weaknesses. It’s strong against steel, fire, water, and ice-type moves, taking half damage from them. And like almost all water types, it's weak to grass and electric type moves and takes double damage from them.
Blastoise Evolution
Mega Blastoise
The three final evolutions of the Kanto starters all got Mega Evolutions so of course, we get to have a Mega Blastoise. In games that feature Mega Evolution, a Blastoise holding a Blastoisinite can Mega Evolve into Mega Blastoise. Mega Blastoise is very similar to normal Blastoise but it's covered in more shells and canons. The main feature of Mega Blastoise is the gigantic cannon mounted on its back but it also has two smaller cannons on its arms which are now covered in smaller shells as well. Mega Blastoise also has a more streamlined design for its ears and jaw which makes it look more angular.
Shiny Blastoise
Shiny Blastoise is the rare, differently colored variant of Blastoise. This new color scheme changes a lot about Shiny Blastoise. Shiny Blastoise has lighter blue skin which is little change from its normal form but its shell is where the real change is. The shell of a Shiny Blastoise is a seaweed green color, standing out strikingly beside its duller body colors.
Gmax Blastoise
Just as we get Mega Blastoise, we also get to have Gmax Blastoise. Gmax Blastoise is a towering, Torrent-powered terror with cannons not just pointing forward but in all directions from its shell. The cannons on the back of a Gmax Blastoise point outward and directly on its back are a large number of cannons circling one massive one making it look like some sort of industrial volcano. The color design of Gmax Blastoise also sees some changes, with its blue being darkened and the complimenting cream color being replaced with a dark, intimidating red.
Dark Blastoise
Dark Blastoise is a card from the Team Rocket set of the 1st Edition trading card game. Like many 1st Edition cards, Dark Blastoise is incredibly valuable and rare. Some Dark Blastoise cards can be valued at up to nearly $400. While it's called ‘dark,’ Dark Blastoise doesn’t feature the TCG’s Darkness typing anywhere as it was made before the dark type even existed in the games. Instead, Dark Blastoise has a unique move called Rocket Tackle, which references the set it comes from.
Holographic Blastoise
Also from the 1st Edition of the Pokemon Trading Card Game, the Holographic Blastoise card is another of the original cards which are highly valued. Holographic Blastoise is a relatively standard card mechanically, it's clearly powerful but features no unique moves like Dark Blastoise. But Holographic Blastoise isn’t known for its gameplay, it's known for its sheer value and rarity. A single Holographic Blastoise card can be valued in the thousands, up to nearly $10,000!
Best Movesets for Blastoise
Bulky Special Attacker: Blastoise is an incredibly tanky Pokemon, but it can dish out hits too. This set is all about keeping Blastoise on the field as long as possible in order to keep chipping away at the opponent's team with strong special attacks.
| Fake Out | Hydro Cannon |
| Rock Tomb/Ice Beam | Dragon Pulse/Aura Sphere |
Wallbreaker: This set takes the concept of Blastoise’s bulky attacking to the max. This set is designed to not just chip away at an opponent for a long time, but specifically to outlast and destroy the opponent's similarly bulky Pokemon with lots of special attacks with the Same Type of Attack Bonus.
| Water Pulse/Hydro Pump | Dark Pulse |
| Aura Sphere/Ice Beam | Ice Beam/Rapid Spin |
How to Catch Blastoise in Pokemon Go
Being a water type, Blastoise can be found very rarely in the wilds near water. Though it's far too rare to rely on, it may be better to capture enough Squirtle and Wartortle to evolve a Wartortle with 100 Squirtle candy.
Trivia
An early form of Blastoise was named Karabajio, where it did not yet have the concept of its signature water cannons.
Blastoise is the Shellfish Pokemon, which is the same category as Kabuto and Kabutops.
Mega Blastoise is the only Mega Evolution of a starter Pokemon to not receive a dual typing upon Mega Evolution.
FAQs
Q. Who is better Gyarados or Blastoise?
Casually, both are quite strong but Blastoise has a leg up on Gyarados with more bulk as well as better typing, being only 2x weak to electric type moves rather than Gyrados’ 4x weakness. Competitively, while neither are spectacular compared to other options, both do get used. Though Gyrados suffers from the same weakness of less bulk and more electric weakness than Blastoise, making Blastoise harder to counter than Gyarados.
Q. Who is stronger Blastoise or Venusaur?
In a direct matchup, Venasaur has the type advantage, giving it an easy win but when compared as being used competitively and not against each other, the winner is less clear cut. Even with that, Venasaur features more useful status moves as well as synergizing with more terrain modifiers than Blastoise does, making Venusaur a more common competitive choice.
Q. What is Blastoise’s Hidden Ability?
Blastoise’s Hidden Ability is Rain Dish, which heals the Pokemon by 1/16th of its health every turn while in rain.
Conclusion
While Blastoise may not be as popular as Pikachu or as heavy-hitting as Charizard, its sheer bulk and appeal make it a close match. From the moment it appeared it, like the other early Pokemon, captured our hearts for years and years to come.
