Paras

The two orange mushrooms on its back have a name of their own: tochukaso. They are not decorations stuck to the bug’s back, but another organism that grows alongside it and at its expense. The Pokédex entries never soften the matter: no matter how much it eats, the parasitic mushrooms steal most of its nutrients. To get them, it digs underground and gnaws on tree roots, so much of what it extracts ends up above ground.

It is 0.3 metres tall and weighs 5.4 kilograms, so the whole thing—the segmented orange body, two front claws and six legs—fits in a shoebox. Its official category is Mushroom Pokémon, which already makes it clear who is in charge of the two.

The mushrooms have a market. Dried and ground up, they produce an elixir that, according to the Pokédex itself, extends life, turning the animal into the container for something more expensive than it is. In Alola, they grow smaller than in other regions, either because of a lack of humidity or nutrients.

At level 24, it evolves into Parasect, and the living arrangement is finally settled: the mushroom covers its entire back and the bug stops having a say.

285 base stat points distributed without a hint of ambition: 70 Attack, 55 Defense, 55 Special Defense, 45 Special Attack, 35 HP and 25 Speed. Attack is the only useful stat, and it is mounted on a body that moves last and cannot take a hit.

The typing is the serious problem. Bug and Grass add up to six weaknesses, including two quadruple ones—Fire and Flying—plus Ice, Poison, Rock and Bug. On offense, both types point at almost the same list of opponents, so having two options does not cover much.

Of its abilities, Effect Spore can put to sleep, poison or paralyze anything that hits it with contact, but since Generation VI it does not affect Grass types or anyone holding Safety Goggles. Dry Skin is the interesting one: immunity to Water attacks and healing from them, in exchange for taking even more damage from Fire, which was already dealing quadruple damage.

What justifies its existence is Spore, learned at level 29. It puts the target to sleep without fail, and there is no way to treat that as a minor detail. In Little Cup, that move, together with Dry Skin’s Water immunity, gives it a small niche; what holds it back there are the same 25 Speed, 35 HP and Rock weakness, which charges it for entering the field.

In a normal playthrough, its role is different: Spore is the best catching tool you can carry when something rare with low HP shows up. For attacking, it gets Slash at 21, X-Scissor at 37 and Energy Ball at 47, numbers that fall short of any Bug type from the same era.

It belongs to the Bug and Grass Egg Groups, with a 50% gender split, so any two specimens can breed without relying on Ditto. The 20 incubation cycles work out at roughly 5355 steps, making it one of the quicker eggs.

There is no trick to its evolution. At level 24 it becomes Parasect, with no stones, friendship, time of day or location conditions involved. Since the level-up move list is identical for both forms, evolving as soon as possible does not delay Spore or any other attack.

The habitat assigned to it by the game is Forest, and its 190 catch rate puts it among the easy ones: a regular Poké Ball and a little damage are almost always enough. Wild specimens commonly hold a Tiny Mushroom, Big Mushroom or Balm Mushroom, so a team with Thief can clear a route of sellable items in no time. It grows at the Medium Slow rate, starts with 70 friendship and yields 1 Attack effort point, with 57 base experience: defeating it barely moves the bar.