Ash's Donphan
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Ash's Donphan (Japanese: サトシのドンファン Satoshi's Donfan) was the seventh Pokémon that Ash caught in the Johto region, and his twenty-first overall.
In the anime
History
Original series
Ash received a Phanpy Egg from Mr. Shellby and Kimie in Extreme Pokémon! after he and Bayleef stopped Team Rocket from stealing baskets of Eggs from their ranch.
The Egg hatched in Hatching a Plan. From the start, Phanpy was a very playful and energetic Pokémon, refusing to be returned to its Poké Ball, only to be snatched by Team Rocket. Pikachu rescued Phanpy, but the electricity scared the baby Pokémon away. It ran into the clutches of Team Rocket again, who used Meowth to deceive Phanpy and hatch a plot to capture Pikachu. After this plan succeeded, Team Rocket double-crossed Phanpy and put it in a cage. However, Pikachu hatched an escape plan. Ash later came to the rescue, diving into the river to rescue Phanpy. It then used Rollout to knock back Team Rocket's Pokémon before Pikachu sent them blasting off. However, Phanpy was unable to replicate this success in the next episode, where Team Rocket used Delibird's Blizzard to knock it out in a single blow.
In As Cold as Pryce, Phanpy battled Pryce's Dewgong and lost easily.
In Wish Upon a Star Shape, when a Cleffa was sent out of a gray spaceship, Phanpy jumped out to save it. After Cleffa lands on Phanpy's head, the two became friends, and Phanpy along with the rest of the gang agreed to help Cleffa get back to its group of Clefairy. Just then, the Pokémon Mystery Club comes in and analyzes Cleffa, which makes Phanpy angry. Phanpy and Cleffa ran away as the Pokémon Mystery Club and Team Rocket try to catch it. They are chased down by the Mystery Club but escape when Phanpy knocks down a tree. The two then find the spaceship and Clefairy but the Mystery Club returns to catch all of them. Team Rocket comes back with their balloon now upgraded and defeats Phanpy. Phanpy wakes up after the Clefairy defeat the Mystery Club and Team Rocket, so it takes Cleffa to the Clefairy's spaceship, where other Clefairy are working on last-minute repairs. The Mystery Club and Team Rocket team up to capture all the Pokémon, but Pikachu and Phanpy send all of them blasting off. Phanpy and Cleffa say goodbye, but the Clefairy start to leave without Cleffa. Cleffa then evolves into Clefairy and flies into the spaceship. However Phanpy is crying over the loss of its new friend, but Ash cheers Phanpy up by saying that they'll see the Clefairy again.
In Entei at Your Own Risk, Phanpy had a battle with Nelson's Misdreavus, managing to use Defense Curl to block a Swift, but was hit and confused by Psybeam. Team Rocket interrupted the battle and left it without conclusion.
In Pop Goes The Sneasel, Phanpy joined Harrison's Houndoom in taking down a rogue Machop with Rollout while recovering the stolen Sacred Fire for the Johto League opening ceremony. It also helped him get through the screening phases of the Silver Conference in A Claim to Flame.
Phanpy played a role in Ash's battle against Macy in the Silver Conference in Love, Pokémon Style. It was used in counter to her Electabuzz at Brock's suggestion, and this succeeded, as Electabuzz's Thunderbolt had no effect on Phanpy. However, Macy pulled Electabuzz and Phanpy ended up battling against her Slugma. Phanpy managed to dodge Slugma's Body Slam and stun Slugma with Earthquake, before knocking it out with Take Down. However, it was defeated by her Quilava's powerful Flame Wheel, which overpowered Phanpy's Rollout and left Ash's Squirtle and Totodile to handle Electabuzz.
Ash left Phanpy at Professor Oak's lab before traveling to Hoenn.
Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire
Hoenn
Phanpy appeared in a flashback in Date Expectations.
Kanto Battle Frontier
In The Right Place and the Right Mime, Phanpy happily greeted Ash's Pikachu and the two spent most of the episode together. As Ash made to leave at the end of the episode to take on the Battle Frontier challenge, Pikachu rode up on Phanpy's back. Ash offered to let Phanpy come with them, which Phanpy delightedly agreed to. It also showed signs that it had grown up beyond the young Pokémon seen in Johto.
In Reversing the Charges, as Pikachu was about to be hit by a Thunder Punch from an Elekid, Phanpy jumped in between them to protect Pikachu. Phanpy was then used to battle this Elekid, but it escaped by attacking Ash and his friends with a powerful Thunderbolt. Phanpy and the others then searched for May's Egg that got stuck in Elekid's head when it ran away. They later find the Elekid and have Phanphy and Pikachu battle it. However, Elekid gets away with another powerful Thunderbolt. Phanpy then battled a Team Rocket mecha and evolved into a Donphan, learning Hyper Beam and taking down the mecha easily.
In Queen of the Serpentine!, Ash used Donphan as his first Pokémon in his Battle Pike challenge against Lucy, Donphan went up against her Seviper, since it had the type advantage and would be good on the swamp terrain. Donphan used Take Down while Seviper used Poison Tail and they were shown to be evenly matched. Seviper used Bite but was blocked with Defense Curl before being hit by a Rollout attack. However, a second hit from Rollout was dodged and Donphan was hit with Poison Tail, but Ash used Donphan's rolling power to jump and use a powerful Take Down attack. Seviper countered with Flamethrower and Donphan used Hyper Beam. Seviper was quicker and used Poison Tail, though Donphan withstood the attack and used Hyper Beam. Seviper was able to dodge the attack though by using Poison Tail on the water to create a splash, blocking the attack and creating smoke. Despite the smoke, Seviper was able to get off a Flamethrower, but Donphan dodged and used Rollout, only to be hit by a different Flamethrower. Ash had Donphan roll into the flames, setting it on fire, and then jump from the rock to hit Seviper, knocking it out. Donphan then went up against Milotic, which had the type advantage. Donphan used Take Down, but Milotic countered with Hydro Pump, stopping Take Down and knocking out Donphan.
In Grating Spaces!, Ash used Donphan in a Double Battle with Brock and his Steelix against Jessie, James, and their newly obtained Charizard and Aggron. The two Pokémon worked well together, with Donphan rescuing Steelix from Charizard's Flamethrower by attacking Charizard recklessly. However, Aggron fought back with Mega Punch and Hyper Beam, knocking Donphan back. Donphan recovered and kept attacking Charizard, but Aggron's Water Pulse took it down. Steelix propelled Donphan over the subsequent wave of water and allowed it to hit Aggron. At this point, the battle ended when Forrest confronted Team Rocket's objectives.
Donphan returned to Professor Oak's lab when Ash left for Sinnoh in Home is Where the Start Is!.
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl
In An Old Family Blend!, Donphan reunited with Ash and spent some time training.
In Working on a Right Move!, Ash used Donphan as his second Pokémon in his battle against Conway in the third round of the Lily of the Valley Conference. Shuckle used Sludge Bomb but Donphan used Rollout, making Sludge Bomb useless. Shuckle then used Gyro Ball, which was powered up by Power Trick, halving the attack power of Rollout as well as causing Donphan to crash into a hill. It was then recalled. It later went up against Dusknoir. Due to the effect of Trick Room Dusknoir was easily able to out-speed Donphan. Donphan jumped up to use Rollout but Dusknoir used Shadow Punch, knocking Donphan to the ground. Ash tried to recall it, but Dusknoir used Mean Look to prevent it from being returned and then knocked it out with another Shadow Punch.
Pokémon the Series: Black & White
Donphan reunited with Ash in The Dream Continues!, in which it and the rest of Ash's Pokémon posed in a group photo with him.
Pokémon Journeys: The Series
In Advice to Goh!, Donphan reunited with Ash during his visit to Professor Oak's Laboratory with Goh.
Donphan, along with the rest of Ash's Pokémon at the lab, reunited with Ash in Friends, Rivals, Lend Me Your Spirit!. During the visit, it watched the battle between Ash and Paul. Before Ash left, it posed with the rest of Ash's Pokémon in a group photo with him.
From Battling as Hard as Stone! onwards, Donphan watched Ash's Masters Eight Tournament matches against Steven, Cynthia, and Leon. In JN132, Donphan appeared as a vision to Pikachu during his battle against Leon's Charizard.
In JN135, Donphan, along with the rest of the Pokémon at the lab, welcomed Ash back to Pallet Town after his victory over Leon.
In JN137, Donphan was shown to have rejoined Ash's team. Donphan was used to help free Pikachu after Team Rocket captured him.
Personality and characteristics
As a Phanpy, it had many traits of a child, being extremely playful, friendly, and energetic. It at first thought everyone around it was playing, even in a serious situation. It was also easily frightened from not knowing how to handle damage. However, it matured somewhat after evolving into Donphan. In some episodes, such as Odd Pokémon Out!, Donphan was shown to have fully retained its friendly and playful personality upon evolution, though its enthusiasm and appearance can scare off some more timid Pokémon now. As a Phanpy, Donphan was initially one of Ash's weaker Pokémon, but it would gradually become stronger battle after battle. Donphan is generally loyal to Ash and always tries its best for him in battles.
Appearance
| As an Egg | As a Phanpy |
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Moves used
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| A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves. | |||||||
Moves improvised
| Picture | First Used In | Moves Involved | Partnered With |
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Queen of the Serpentine! | Rollout and Flamethrower | Lucy's Seviper |
| Description: A combination of Flamethrower and Rollout. During Ash's Battle Pike match against Lucy, Donphan used Rollout, while Lucy's Seviper hit it with a Flamethrower, turning the Armor Pokémon into something akin to a giant fireball. With the flames providing extra damage for its Rollout attack, Donphan was able to defeat Seviper. | |||
Artwork
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| Poster for the Japanese version of Pokémon: Aim to Be a Pokémon Master |
In the games
In the spin-off games
Pokémon: Catch the Numbers!
Phanpy appears in Pokémon: Catch the Numbers! as one of the Pokémon the player needs to get back from Team Rocket.
Pokémon: Wobbuffet Fell Down!
Phanpy appears in Pokémon: Wobbuffet Fell Down!.
In the TCG
Ash's Donphan was featured in the Pokémon Trading Card Game as a Phanpy. The following is a list of related cards.
| Ash's Phanpy Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats. | |||||||
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| Card | Type | English Expansion |
Rarity | # | Japanese Expansion |
Rarity | # |
| Ash's Phanpy | 
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Movie Commemoration VS Pack: Aura's Lucario | 004/020 | ||||
Trivia
- Donphan is the first Ground-type Pokémon owned by Ash.
- Donphan is also currently Ash's only pure Ground-type Pokémon.
- Of all the Pokémon that have left Ash's team and returned, Donphan returned for the longest unbroken streak of episodes, at 59.
- Donphan is Ash's first Pokémon to have hatched from an Egg.
- Donphan was Ash's first Pokémon to evolve outside the series it was obtained in, as well as his first Pokémon to evolve outside its native region.
Related articles
| Ash's Pokémon | ||||||
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| For a list of Pokémon Ash has temporarily owned, used, or commanded, see here | ||||||
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime. |