Bastiodon, The Shield Pokémon. When attacked, they form a wall. Their rock-hard faces serve to protect them from the attacks. When they lined up side by side, no foe could break through. They shielded their young in that way. It is a docile Pokémon that feeds on grass and berries.

Overview

Bastiodon is so ugly. I don't really understand the appeal of it. Anyway, what it does have is stupidly huge Defence and Special Defence. Its HP is lackluster and its offences are pathetic, whereas its Speed is a joke. Bastiodon is meant to be a wall, barely offensive at all. You can tell this from its stats, its movepool, but mostly from its face which is distinctively wall shaped.

Ability

Sturdy: completely useless considering OHKO moves are banned. Oh well, it could be worse.

Move Sets

Another brick in the wall - Curse
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Taunt / Rest / Metal Burst / Iron Head
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)

Make Bastiodon even more wall like. Curse makes your Defence stat ridiculous, and your Attack... less pathetic. The Speed? Who cares, everyone is beating Bastiodon anyway. Earthquake and Stone Edge are awesome physical attacks, and Bastiodon gets STAB on Stone Edge, which is all good. Taunt stops phazers, Rest heals you, Metal Burst could work well with Curse as you could take stronger hits.

Supportodon

- Iron Head
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt / Roar
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 248 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)

Support Bastiodon is pretty effective. It takes hits and can deal out some poison or some rocks. Iron Head saves you from being Taunt bait, and is the most reliable attack Bastiodon has. Toxic messes with everything, especially strong defensive Pokémon. Stealth Rock is the best entry hazard possible, and Bastiodon can set it up easily. Taunt stops anything being set up, but Roar can be cool to get rid of any boosts.

Metal Burst

- Metal Burst
- Taunt
- Iron Head / Stone Edge / Earthquake
- Toxic / Roar / Stealth Rock / Earthquake
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)

Metal Burst is perfect for a slow bulky Pokémon with no offence like Bastiodon. It is basically Counter and Mirror Coat in one move. Taunt forces the opponent to attack you, which is what you want. Iron Head, Stone Edge or Earthquake depends on what you want Personally, I like Bastiodon with Iron Head as it is its most reliable move, and you only want an attacking move to stop Taunt. However, Stone Edge is stronger and Earthquake is more useful. Toxic hits defensive Pokémon that won't be dealing much damage to you for Metal Burst, and Roar phazes. Stealth Rock is still good here, and there is Earthquake for a second attacking move.

EVs and Nature:

Another brick in the wall
You are raising your Attack and Defence. It's be pointless not throwing everything into HP and Special Defence. I guess more Attack is an option, but eh... I like being as much of a tank as possible. Supportodon
Huge and almost equal defensive stats mean you are a great all round wall, and can set up what you need to whilst taking hits from both sides of the spectrum. Max HP because HP is the most important stat for a wall.
Metal Burst
Minimum Speed and Max HP are required. If you have low HP, you'll deal low damage back with Metal Burst. Throw the rest in Special Defence, as most physical attacks aimed at Bastiodon will be Fighting and Ground, which it won't survive anyway.

Other Options

Block, Magic Coat, Magnet Rise, Metal Sound, Protect, Rock Slide, Torment
Block stops the opponent from switching. Sadly, it isn't really worth the slot.
Magic Coat is cool and could be used on a lead set, but I prefer Taunt.
Magnet Rise takes away one of Bastiodon's huge weaknesses; Ground. However, this is only for three turns, so it isn't really worth it.
Metal Sound is cool and could be used for a surprise special set. You have Earth Power, Fire Blast, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Flash Cannon, which can all work.
Protect stalls for Leftovers healing and Toxic damage, as well as scouts well.
Rock Slide is a more accurate but weaker Stone Edge
Torment is a cool move. Thanks to Bastiodon's resistances,s it can stall with Torment and Protect, which is always annoying.

Countering Bastiodon

Bastiodon can do nothing really. It has weak offence and bad weaknesses. Throw a Fighting or Ground type at it and watch it flee. Either of the Hitmons, Donphan, anything like that. Bulky Waters are also great, just watch out for Toxic. They don't do as much damage as you'd probably expect, but they can easily beat Bastiodon, especially with recovery. Bastiodon isn't a threat at all really, just remember that it has Metal Burst. If you don't beat it in one hit or play smart, you will likely take a massive hit.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald Not in Game Colosseum/XD Not in Game Fire Red/Leaf Green Not in Game Diamond/Pearl/Platinum Evolve Shieldon (PPt) Trade from PPt(Diamond) HeartGold/SoulSilver Trade from PPt

Animé Appearences

Bastiodon has had a few Animé Appearences. In all of its appearances, it was under the control of Byron, the Canalave City Gym Leader in his battles against Roark & Ash Episode 575: Ancient Family Matter! Episode 576: Dealing with Defensive Types Episode 622: Mastering Current Events! Episode 651: League Unleashed!