In commemoration of Nintendo’s 135ᵗʰ anniversary, September 20 to 30 is NIWA Cross-Wiki Week. Click here for event details and the possibility to win a $20/€20 Nintendo eShop gift card. Please remember to follow the manual of style and code of conduct at all times. Check the Bulbagarden home page for up-to-date Pokémon news and discuss it on the forums or in the Bulbagarden Discord server.
Tynamo is a short, white, eel-like Pokémon with dark, oval eyes and a red, four-point star-shaped mouth. A wavy, yellow stripe runs along its body, which has a long fin membrane, giving it a tapered shape.
Tynamo has an organ that generates electricity, which it discharges when in danger. A single Tynamo does not generate much power, so groups of Tynamo move in schools and create a shock that is comparable to lightning. The Pokémon Company merchandise artwork and several TCG illustrations depict Tynamo swimming in or leaping out of bodies of water.
A female Tynamo made her main series debut in Dazzling the Nimbasa Gym!. Elesa used her as her last Pokémon in her Gymbattle against Ash. She battled Pikachu, but lost after Pikachu used Thunderbolt on the entire battlefield and then attacked Tynamo with Iron Tail. Tynamo is, rather ironically, Elesa's strongest Pokémon, and Elesa refers to Tynamo as her "Electric Queen". She reappeared in a flashback in Curtain Up, Unova League!.
Tynamo and its evolved forms are based on eels,[1] perhaps specifically the electric eel (which is actually a type of knifefish, despite its name). They may also be based on lampreys and leeches or lancelets. The fact that it is an Electric type may be an allusion to bioelectrogenesis. Tynamo in particular was designed to resemble the larval stage of the eel (leptocephalus)[1] or presumably also a knifefish. The waving yellow mark running along its body combined with the physical appearance overall makes certain resemblance to Haikouichthys, or even a Crookes tube or a Geissler tube. Tynamo may also be based on a skyfish, which would explain its LevitateAbility.
Name origin
Tynamo may be a combination of tiny or tyke and dynamo.
Shibishirasu may be a combination of 痺れ shibire (numbness) or 痺鰻 shibire-unagi (electric eel) and 白子 shirasu (whitebait).
In other languages
Language
Title
Meaning
Japanese
シビシラス Shibishirasu
From 痺れ shibire or 痺鰻 shibire-unagi and 白子 shirasu
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.