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Donphan

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Donphan
File:Donphan.png
National Pokédex
Phanpy - Donphan (#232) - Porygon2
Johto Pokédex
Phanpy - Donphan (#196) - Mantine
Hoenn Pokédex
Phanpy - Donphan (#166) - Pinsir
Japanese nameドンファン (Donfan)
Evolves fromPhanpy
Evolves intoNone
GenerationSecond
SpeciesArmor Pokémon
TypeGround
Height3 ft 7 in (1.10 m)
Weight265.0 pounds (120.2 kg)
AbilitySturdy

Donphan, (Donfan ドンファン in Japanese), is a fictional character from the Pokémon franchise.

Donphan's name is a portmanteau of "don" and "elephant". "Don" may refer the Japanese word for "lord", or possibly the word "mastodon". It may even refer to a root word for "teeth", as in "hyperdontia" or "mastodon".

Biology

Donphan looks very much like an elephant. Its armored hide has an unscratchable structure similar to a tire, supporting its ability to use its "Rollout" attack to battle its opponents. Male Donphan also use their "Rollout" attack to impress female Donphan; in fact, many Donphan compete for females by battling each other with "Rollout". This Pokémon possesses the tackling strength to knock over a large building just by ramming it, and it possesses the supportive strength to haul a dump truck. In any given herd of Donphan, the rank of an individual is measured by the size and length of its tusks, so one can identify the leader of that herd by looking at its tusks. When travelling among mountains, Donphan uses its massive strength to clear away rock and mudslides that may block mountain trails.

In the video games

Donphan is a Ground-type Pokémon, evolving from Phanpy at level 25. Donphan is available in Pokémon Gold, Silver, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald.

The easiest way to obtain a Donphan is by evolving a Phanpy from Pokémon Silver; it cannot, however, be found in Pokémon Gold, so the only way to get it in that version is by making a trade via the link cable. They can also be obtained in Victory Road, but evolving a Phanpy can prevent the player from having two of the same Pokémon. It can be found in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and Pokemon Emerald in the Safari Zone, And in Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green, it is found on Seven Island.

Donphan, like all other Ground Pokémon, are invulnerable to electric-type moves, while, as with all Ground Pokémon, they are weak against water, grass, and ice moves. Other moves such as Normal, Psychic, and Fire should have no particular advantage or disadvanatge against Donphan, but its special defense is quite low.

Donphan may be considered an underused Pokémon. It is used enough that many people do not classify it as underused, however, due to its exceptional value in standard metagame. Donphan is usually used as a "phazer;" that is, it negates all status conditions or returns all Pokémon to their original condition. Donphan, however, has good defense and attack, which is very useful, considering that it doesn't really need it's low Special stats. It's HP, however, is below average. It is also somewhat useful for getting rid of Spikes. But it's move pool leaves somethings to be desired like the move flame wheel to help with grass and ice weaknesses and water gun to dispatch other ground type foes. The former and latter moves coupled with rollout and gyro ball would make donphan a formidable opponent seeing as how all but one would be physical moves.

In the animé

Donphan holds a place in Pokémon culture for being one of the "preview" Pokémon of the Gold and Silver generation. Its first official appearance in America was in Pokémon: The First Movie, where it was used by a trainer in a Pokémon battle with Ash Ketchum and his Bulbasaur in the movie's opening theme. In this appearance, Donphan's name was not revealed, so it was unidentified to American moviegoers until the release of the Gold and Silver versions of the game.

Later, in the Johto episode Roll On, Pokémon, Ash encounters a trainer with several Donphan. Later, in the episode Date Expectations, Ash and his friends visit an island filled with Donphan during the mating season. One of these Donphan is shiny. And in the episode Reversing the Charge, Ash's Phanpy evolved into a Donphan, and Ash has used it in many battles since then; and even though Ash's Donphan is really young and still has a playful, childlike personality, it is still a tough opponent to defeat.

Even further on, when the group were travelling in the Hoenn region, they came across an entire island of Donphan in the episode Date Expectations. Ash, Brock, May and Max were travelling to Pacifidlog Island so May can take part in a contest to get her final ribbon in order to enter the grand festival. The engine of the ship suddenly went bust and the ship was moving slower than ever. May was almost complaining because she didn't want to miss her contest, which resulted in the group going through an island to get to the port at the other side. May was very upset when they reached the island because it looked like they were miles away from the island, when suddenly a bunch of male Donphan jumped in to attract the female Donphan for their breeding season. The group ran everywhere, but could never find a single place where there were no Donphan around, and after a while, May tried her hardest not to freak out. Ash and Brock commanded their Pokémon to go on Donphan duty, this means that they attack any Donphan they find, but this resulted on them attacking a friendly Donphan, and made the group get out a first aid kit to heal it. This was the only Donphan the group actually liked, so they cheered on it when it attempted to attract a brown Donphan. May, however, couldn't help freaking out, and realised there was hardly any chance of them getting to the contest on time. When another Donphan jumped in, it managed to split the group up in different directions. Ash and May, however, had managed to reach the last ferry, but May wouldn't leave without Max, and sacrificed the contest just for him. Both sides eventually managed to catch up to each other after the two Donphan led them there, and the friendly one finally managed to attract the brown one, but then suddenly a net came out from nowhere and above them was Team Rocket. Team Rocket didn't get away so easily, because May managed to get so angry that she just shouted and commanded her Pokémon to attack, Team Rocket blasted off again, and the Donphan were saved. Back at the port, the ship they were previously riding in came back, and May managed to get to her contest after all.

In other media

File:Donphan TCG.jpg
Donphan as featured in the Pokémon Trading Card Game

In the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Donphan has made five Stage-1 Fighting-type appearances in the following sets:

In addition, a Japanese-only Donphan card named "Chuck's Donphan" resides within the untranslated expansion set known commonly as "VS". It, like all the other cards in the set, is a Basic Pokémon, meaning that while it can be played right away, it is generally weaker than its Stage-1 counterparts. Donphan has two tusks and uses rollout attack.

References

Notes
Publications
  • Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-439-15404-9.
  • Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-930206-15-1.
  • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed & Pokémon LeafGreen Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 1-930206-50-X
  • Mylonas, Eric. Pokémon Pokédex Collector’s Edition: Prima’s Official Pokémon Guide. Prima Games, September 21 2004. ISBN 0-7615-4761-4
  • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1-930206-58-5
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