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Rhydon's drill-horn is capable of crushing uncut diamonds and it can knock down a building with one strike of its tail. Rhydon's rocky hide is strong enough to withstand direct cannonball fire.
Behavior
Rhydon is apparently much smarter than its pre-evolution due to being able to stand on its hind-legs.
Rhydon's first major role was in Riddle Me This, being one of Blaine's Pokémon. Blaine used a Rhydon against Ash during the first battle for Ash's Volcano Badge. While normally tough against electric attacks, Rhydon was defeated when Ash's Pikachu struck Rhydon's horn, which acted like a lightning rod.
Brock's dad, Flint, has a Rhydon, but was just mentioned. Flint mostly used his Rhydon for helping him decorate the Pewter Gym's battlefield with rocks from mountaintops.
Rhydon debuts in the Red, Green & Blue chapter in its own round, Raging Rhydon, as a Koga's Pokémon that is forced to evolve by its trainer with a mysterious injection, being the first evolution showed in the manga.
Rhydon is later seen as one of Giovanni's Pokémon.
In Volume 9, Green captures a Rhydon outside the Viridian Gym. He uses it to defeat Chuck in Volume 13, as well as Oca in Volume 23. Near the end of the FireRed and LeafGreen saga, Green remarks on a footnote Giovanni included in his handbook: Rhydon possibly possessed a stronger form. This is a reference to Rhydon's new evolution, Rhyperior.
Earlier in the same volume, Gold encounters a wild Rhydon during his race with Whitney. The Rhydon in question was hunting down a Sudowoodo hiding from it, and kidnapped Whitney when she interfered with her Miltank. Gold tells Sudowoodo to stand up for itself and, with assistance from his billiard cue, helps Sudowoodo defeat the Rhydon.
Game data
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation I.
Rhydon's horn can crush even uncut diamonds. One sweeping blow of its tail can topple a building. This Pokémon's hide is extremely tough. Even direct cannon hits don't leave a scratch.
Rhydon has a horn that serves as a drill. It is used for destroying rocks and boulders. This Pokémon occasionally rams into streams of magma, but the armor-like hide prevents it from feeling the heat.
Rhydon's name may be a reference to rhinoceros. The don may have been inteded to mean lord, however it's also used as a suffix in various dinosaur names, so it could be an reference to those prehistoric creatures as well. Its Japanese name is a combination of 犀 sai, rhinoceros, and the aforementioned don.
It appears to draw much of its inspiration from a rhinoceros and some aspects of various dinosaurs, such as the triceratops.
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.