Pokemon Black and White spotlight: Basurao, Sandile, Darumakka and their evolutions

Darumakka
#061 Unova / #554 National
Type: Fire
Species classification: Daruma Pokemon
Ability: Hustle – Boosts user's physical attack power by 50%, but lowers physical attack accuracy by 20%
Dream World ability: Inner Focus – Prevents user from flinching
Location found (Black/White): Route 4, Resort Desert
Wild hold items: Rawst Berry
Egg groups: Ground
Capture rate: 120
Gender ratio: 50/50
Effort values: 1 Attack
Evolution family: Darumakka > Darmanitan at level 35

Darmanitan
#062 Unova / #555 National
Type: Fire (Normal form), Fire/Psychic (Daruma mode)
Species classification: Blazing Pokemon
Ability: Sheer Force – User's attacks that have a secondary effect on the opponent get a 1/3 boost in power, but the secondary effect is ignored
Dream World ability: Daruma Mode – Darmanitan changes forms when its HP is down to 50% or less
Location found (Black/White): Evolve Darumakka
Egg groups: Ground
Gender ratio: 50/50
Experience at lvl 100: 1,059,860
Base stats:
Normal form: 105 HP / 140 Atk / 55 Def / 30 SAtk / 55 SDef / 95 Spd / 480 Total
Daruma mode: 105 HP / 30 Atk / 105 Def / 140 SAtk / 105 SDef / 55 Spd / 540 Total
Effort values: 2 Attack
Evolution family: Darumakka > Darmanitan at level 35

Darmanitan could be the most unusual and intriguing Pokemon debuted in this generation. Pokemon that have alternate forms are far from unheard of, but we've never seen anything like Darmanitan's alternate Daruma form. Darmanitan only transforms into its alternate form if two conditions are met – it has to have the Daruma Mode ability and its health has to be at 50% or less. When that happens, Darmanitan's appearance transforms into a small Daruma statue that's almost reminiscent of a Substitute.

Above: You can obtain a Darmanitan with the Daruma Mode ability in the Resort Desert as shown here

It's not just his appearance that changes though – when in Daruma Mode, not only does Darmanitan gain a secondary Psychic type, but his stats change as well, shifting from physical to special attack, boosting his defenses by 50 points each, and lowering his speed. Either way, his attack is staggering – in his normal form it's the highest physical attack stat of any Fire-type Pokemon, and in Daruma mode it's the highest special attack of any non-legendary Psychic-type.

So how do you take advantage of this unique ability? We're not really sure ourselves yet, but it's definitely worth playing around with. It's tough because you can't utilize Daruma mode until Darmanitan's health is at 50%, and if he regains enough HP he reverts back to his normal form.

Factoid: Darumakka and Darmanitan's Daruma mode are both based on the JapaneseDaruma doll.

Previous Pokemon B&W spotlights:
The starters and their evolutions
Minezumi, Yorterii, Choroneko and their evolutions.
The monkey trio and their evolutions
Munna, Mamepato, Shimama and their evolutions
The ghosts of Isshu
Victini
Dangoro, Koromori and their evolutions
Tabunne, Moguryuu and and Doryuuzu
Otamaro, Dokkora and their evolutions
Nageki and Dageki
Kurumiru, Fushide and their evolutions
Monmen, Churine and their evolutions
The Ice-types

Jan 15, 2010