In Generation V, Sawsbuck changes its appearance depending on the current season. However, this change in form does not occur after capture, unless it is present in the player's party at the time of a season change. This applies to Eggs as well.
When the month is January, May, or September, the season is Spring, and it becomes Spring Form.
When the month is February, June, or October, the season is Summer, and it becomes Summer Form.
When the month is March, July, or November, the season is Autumn, and it becomes Autumn Form.
When the month is April, August, or December, the season is Winter, and it becomes Winter Form.
From Generation VI onwards, seasons are no longer a mechanic in the game, and only the Spring Form has been obtainable in the wild. However, its other forms are retained upon transferring from Generation V and can be passed down via breeding.
Sawsbuck is a brown and cream, deer-like Pokémon with rhomboid ears and darker ear insides. Its eyes have light-orange markings that curve down to the sides of its face. It has a dark-brown nose, and it sports cream fur on its chin and sides of its face. Light-orange stripes rim its underbelly, and its back is decorated with spots corresponding to the season: pink in spring, green in summer, orange in fall, and white in winter. Its limbs are slender and tipped with hooves. Unless it's summer, its brown tail points down. Sawsbuck lives in herds led by the Sawsbuck with the most splendid antlers. It can live almost anywhere as they adapt to the season but prefer to live away from humans. It is herbivorous. In Generation V, Horn Leech was its signature move.
Its appearance changes depending on the season. During the spring, a tuft of cream fur appears on its chest, and its antlers are adorned with pink flowers. During the summer, its tail points up, it grows tufts of fur on the back of its head, and its antlers sport green leaves. During the fall, it sports a cream tuft of fur on its chest, and the leaves on its antlers are red and brown. During the winter, the cream fur turns white, tufts of white fur appear on its chest and lower limbs, and its antlers are coated in white. Sawsbuck have been referred to as the "harbingers of spring".
All four forms of Sawsbuck appeared in The Four Seasons of Sawsbuck!, with Sawsbuck's Winter Form making its debut, and Sawsbuck's Summer and Autumn Forms making their main series debut. They resided at a secret lake that allowed the Sawsbuck to take on all four forms at the same time. Robert's aim was to photograph all four forms together, which he was able to do.
Minor appearances
Multiple Summer Form Sawsbuck appeared in the opening sequences and ending credits of both White—Victini and Zekrom and Black—Victini and Reshiram, while Autumn Form Sawsbuck exclusively appeared in the opening sequence of Black—Victini and Reshiram. This also marked the debuts of both the Summer Form and Autumn Form Sawsbuck.
Sawsbuck, the Season Pokémon, and the evolved form of Deerling. The plants on Sawsbuck's horns change depending on the time of year, and people often use them to measure the passing of the seasons.
This Pokémon’s appearance changes with the passing of the seasons. Normally, you could never see all four forms of Sawsbuck at the same time, but Elsewhere Forest seems to be the exception!
This Pokémon’s appearance changes with the passing of the seasons. Normally, you could never see all four forms of Sawsbuck at the same time, but Elsewhere Forest seems to be the exception!
This Pokémon’s appearance changes with the passing of the seasons. Normally, you could never see all four forms of Sawsbuck at the same time, but Elsewhere Forest seems to be the exception!
This Pokémon’s appearance changes with the passing of the seasons. Normally, you could never see all four forms of Sawsbuck at the same time, but Elsewhere Forest seems to be the exception!
Sawsbuck may be based on a Père David's deer, which is a species of deer that decorates its antlers with foliage during the breeding season. Its antlers may also be based on a deciduous tree. It may also be based on one of the stories of Baron Munchausen, in which he tries to shoot a stag using cherry pits in his musket. The stag survives and escapes, and the next year he discovers a stag with a cherry tree growing out of its head.
Name origin
Sawsbuck may be a play on sawbuck (framework for holding wood to be sawn), which contains the word buck (male deer). SAWS may also be an acronym for the names of the seasons (summer, autumn, winter, and spring).
Mebukijika may be a combination of 芽吹き mebuki (to bud) and 鹿 shika (deer).