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Forretress is a large, spherical Pokémon with no visible limbs. The upper and lower halves of its body are capped by bumpy steel plates. The outer plates have zigzagging ridges that open along its back and front, revealing its smooth, red inner shell. The inner shell is punctuated by four cylindrical spikes, each tapering to an open point. Between the spikes, the inner shell opens along a straight line to reveal Forretress's eyes, which are round with large pupils. Whatever else lies inside its shell is unknown.
Forretress can defend itself from enemies by shooting out pieces of its outer shell. It opens its shell to capture prey, but does so quickly that its interior body cannot be seen. It lives in forests, attaching itself immovably to tree trunks.
Brock's Pineco evolved into Forretress in Entei at Your Own Risk in order to save a bunch of Pokémon at a hot spring from Team Rocket. When Brock went to Hoenn, the only Pokémon he brought with him was his Forretress.
Minor appearances
A Forretress appeared in Win, Lose or Drew! as a Pokémon in the Contest.
Another Forretress was seen in Crossing Crobat, under the ownership of Janine. She used it to escape from the security guards with its Spikes after she tried to steal a Big Pearl from the Goldenrod Museum as a security test.
Carr has many Forretress, with which he often orders an Explosion attack to destroy the surroundings. Near the end of the FireRed & LeafGreen arc, he has 10 of them nearly detonate the Team Rocket airship after realizing that Giovanni had planned to use the Three Beasts as pawns to reunite with his son.
Forretress conceals itself inside its hardened steel shell. The shell is opened when the Pokémon is catching prey, but it does so at such a quick pace that the shell's inside cannot be seen.
Forretress conceals itself inside its hardened steel shell. The shell is opened when the Pokémon is catching prey, but it does so at such a quick pace that the shell's inside cannot be seen.
Forretress's Crystal still sprite is different from that of Gold and Silver, making it one of few Pokémon to have three distinctly different sprites in Generation II.
In Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs, its Poké Assist is shown to be Steel in the capture screen, but turns out to be Normal after the capture.
Origin
Forretress is based on a bagworm, possibly one inhabiting a discarded shell of a horse chestnut or a walnut. Because of its "shell", and the fact its spikes resemble cannons, it may have been based on a giant clam or other mussels and shellfish with functioning nozzles.
Name origin
Forretress and Foretos are a combination of forest and fortress. It may also contain turret, referring to the nozzles on its body that it uses to launch Spikes, and/or ferrous, from the Latin for iron/steel, referring to the steel quality of the shell.
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.