To evolve Basculin into Basculegion in The Teal Mask you have to hurt your own Pokémon on purpose, which is not something you’d normally want to do in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Basculegion made its debut in Pokémon Legends: Arceus and, alongside Bloodmoon Ursaluna and Hisuian Growlithe, is one of the Pokémon hailing from the Hisui region who makes an appearance in The Teal Mask DLC for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Below we explore how to evolve Basculin into Basculegion in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, including where to catch a White Stripe Basculin, so you can add both to your Kitakami Pokédex.

Basculin locationHow to evolve Basculin into BasculegionTo see this content please enable targeting cookies.Manage cookie settings

If you’d like to learn more about your Paldea adventure, visit our Pokémon Scarlet and Violet walkthrough or our The Teal Mask walkthrough.

Basculin location in The Teal Mask for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Basculin can be found in the pond within the western part of the Timeless Woods of the Kitakami region in The Teal Mask.

Where to find White Stripe Basculin in Kitakami. | Image credit: Nintendo/Eurogamer

It’s important that you catch a Basculin here, because only the White Stripe Basculin of the Timeless Woods has the ability to evolve into a Basculegion. A Basculin with a stripe of any other colour won't evolve into a Basculegion no matter what you do.

How to evolve Basculin into Basculegion in The Teal Mask for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

To evolve Basculin into Basculegion you need to have Basculin take 294 damage in recoil damage from attacks without fainting before levelling it up. Remember - you can only evolve a White Stripe Basculin into a Bascuelgion.

Image credit: Nintendo/Eurogamer

You can heal your Basculin while doing this, but, if this little fish faints, then the counter will reset and it will have to start taking recoil damage all over again. For this reason, we highly recommend stocking up on Potions or doing this process near a Pokémon Center so you can regularly heal Basculin.

Moves which Basculin can use that will deal recoil damage include:

Double-EdgeHead SmashTake DownWave Crash Image credit: Nintendo/Eurogamer

When evolving a Basculin into a Basculegion, you have two choices: you can either keeping battling Pokémon, taking recoil damage and healing as you go, until it levels up and evolves or you can keep a note of how much recoil damage the Basculin has taken before either using a Rare Candy, other XP Candy or switching it out for another Pokémon.

Image credit: Nintendo/Eurogamer

Either way, you’ll want to keep an eye on your Basculin’s health so it doesn’t accidentally faint. This means making a note of which moves deal more recoil damage; when I used Double-Edge, for example, it knocked my Basculin’s health down from 198 to 153, but Head Smash caused 60 recoil damage. Keeping track of how much recoil damage each move causes will not only help prevent Basculin from fainting, but will let you know how close you are to that all important 294 damage.

Good luck evolving Basculin into Basculegion!

To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Manage cookie settings