Donphan

The Armor Pokémon
#232 - Donphan
Pre-Evolve	Phanpy
Debut	Pokémon: Gold Version Pokémon: Silver Version
Species Info
Type	+
Height	1.1 m (3'07")
Weight	120.0 kg (264.6 lbs.)
Color	Gray
Gender Ratio	1♂ : 1♀
Ability	Sturdy
Hidden Ability	Sand Veil
Egg Group	Ground
Icon		Sprite
		File:232sprite.png
Footprint
30px
Base Statistics
Hit Points	90	Speed	50
Attack	120	Sp. Attack	60
Defense	120	Sp. Defense	60
Training Info
Catch Rate	060	Hatch Steps	5,120
Base Exp.	189	Effort Points	Att
Happiness	70		Def
To Lv.100	Normal

Kanto #	Johto #	Hoenn #	Sinnoh #
< 232 >	< 196 >	< 166 >
Unova #	Johto (IV) #
	< 201 >

Donphan is a powerful, armored rolling elephantine Pokémon that was introduced in the second generation games. It is the evolved form of Phanpy.

Information

Donphan evolves from Phanpy at Level 25. It has sharp, hard tusks and a rugged hide which is covered by armor with tire-like impressions. A Donphan tusk takes a long time to grow, but the longer and harder one is, the higher is its rank in the herd. Donphan's actual hide has been hardened to a rock hard state such that normal attacks will not phase it, and it can tackle with enough force to demolish a house. Donphan also use their massive strength to clear rock and mudslides that block mountain trails, and they are capable of hauling dump trucks.

Its favorite attack is to curl its body into a ball and roll at its foe at a high speed. Once a Donphan starts rolling, it becomes hard to stop it.

Appearances

Mainstream Games

In Pokémon: Silver (or Gold in Japan) and HeartGold Versions, they could be uncommonly found at Route 28, Victory Road and Mt. Silver Cave. In Crystal, it only appeared at Route 45 in the morning and daytime. In later games, they were not found in the wild and could only be obtained through evolving a Phanpy or trading with a second generation-based game.

Other Games

In Pokémon Stadium 2, Donphan was featured in the "Rampage Rollout" minigame in which the player controlled one of four Donphan rolling in a race around a racetrack. Donphan could only be obtained through evolution in Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire as well as Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red and Blue Rescue Teams. In Pokémon Trozei!, it was found at Secret Storage 18, Trozei Battle and Mr. Who's Den. In Pokémon Ranger, it appeared at Fiore Cave. In Explorers of Time and Darkness, Donphan could be recruited at the sixth through eleventh basement floors of Crystal Cave. Donphan was also found in Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs at Faldera Island and the Fire Temple.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, Donphan was first shown briefly in the beginning of the first movie belonging to an enemy trainer and acted as an early preview of the second generation Pokémon (although it was an unnamed appearance). Donphan's first full appearance was in an episode of the Johto series which featured a girl who used a Donphan to search for amberite. One episode of the Hoenn series also featured many Donphan falling in love with a Shiny female Donphan. During the Battle Frontier series, Ash's Phanpy evolved into a Donphan while fighting a Team Rocket mech. It was reliably strong yet somewhat childish fighter for the rest of the arc and was returned to Professor Oak before Ash left for Sinnoh. He did use Donphan again at the end of the Sinnoh series for the Lily of the Valley Conference. Other Donphan have also made minor appearances in various episodes.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Gold took down a swarm of Donphan that were under the command of thief in an early chapter of the Gold/Silver/Crystal arc. During the Ruby/Sapphire arc, a Donphan went on a rampage due to a magnetic field generated by New Mauville and wound up being trapped in New Mauville temporarily with Sapphire, Wattson and the Trick Master. Sapphire was able to reach out to the Donphan and eventually caught it after helping it to shut down the generator. It has been a regular part of her team since.

Trivia

• Its name is a combination of "don" (as in the leader of a group) with part of "elephant".