Brock's Marshtomp

**Brock's Marshtomp** (Japanese: **タケシのヌマクロー** *Takeshi's Numacraw*) was the second Pokémon that Brock caught in the Hoenn region, and his seventh overall.

## History

### Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire

#### Hoenn

Brock obtained Marshtomp as a Mudkip in *A Mudkip Mission*. Mudkip was a wild Pokémon, though it frequented Old Man Swamp's property on Dewford Island, where he raised Mudkip for the Pokémon League. It tended to act as a guardian to the young Mudkip and was noticeably larger. Old Man Swamp feared that Mudkip would eventually become lonely once all of the hatchlings were sent out to the new Trainers. Brock eventually befriended it after a few failed attempts. Later, Mudkip, Brock, and Brock's other Pokémon, Forretress and Lotad, had to rescue a baby Mudkip from falling over a waterfall. They managed to save it, but right after the ordeal they were attacked by Team Rocket. Mudkip and Brock's Lotad used Water Gun on the ground around the mecha to make it sink into the ground, and Ash's Pikachu finished the job with Thunderbolt. Old Man Swamp later suggested that Mudkip go with Brock, to which it happily agreed.

During the group's journey through Hoenn, Mudkip was usually seen alongside Brock's Lombre. The two were often called out to use a dual-Water Gun attack.

In *Turning Over a Nuzleaf!*, Mudkip, along with Pikachu, Treecko, Corphish, Torchic, Silcoon, and Lotad, were separated from the group after a Loudred attacked them. Mudkip and Pikachu attempted to lead the group of Pokémon as they searched for their Trainers. However, a group of Nuzleaf began to capture the Pokémon one by one after Corphish damaged the leaf on one of the Nuzleaf's heads. Mudkip and Pikachu were not captured and worked to save the others until Ash and the group arrived.

In *The Princess and the Togepi*, Mudkip teamed up with Pikachu to face Colonel Hansen's Ninjask in order to give Misty time to run away. Unfortunately, the speedy Pokémon were able to escape due to creating a smokescreen with Shadow Ball and tunneling away with Dig.

In *Candid Camerupt!*, Mudkip battled Victor's Zigzagoon. Mudkip opened by using Water Gun, which Zigzagoon dodged. Zigzagoon then shockingly responded with a Thunderbolt, ending the battle with just the one move.

In *Judgment Day!*, Mudkip was used in a mock battle alongside Lombre against Ash's Swellow and Corphish to help Jimmy train as a referee. Lombre was quickly pushed into a tough position and Brock had it play dead to give Jimmy an easy judgment. As Jimmy wondered what to do, Ash commanded Swellow to attack Lombre, who retaliated with Razor Leaf. The attack failed to knock out Swellow and it and Mudkip attacked with dual Water Guns, which Corphish blocked. Jimmy declared Corphish unable to battle, though it sprung back up immediately after. His teacher scolded him for the rash judgment and the battle was put to an end.

#### Kanto Battle Frontier

Brock decided to bring Mudkip with him across the Kanto region during Ash's Battle Frontier challenge.

In *A Chip Off the Old Brock*, Mudkip evolved into a Marshtomp when it was having a practice battle against Ash's Grovyle. It automatically learned Mud Shot upon evolution due to it becoming part Ground type. In the same episode, it became smitten with a Flaaffy, much like the way Brock was smitten by its Trainer.

In *What I Did For Love!*, Brock decided to enter the Gardenia Town Pokémon Contest in attempt to win the affections of a Pokémon Breeder named Yuma. Marshtomp was motivated to help its Trainer, so Brock decided to use it in the Battle Round of the Contest. It performed rather well, taking out Mollie's Absol. In the finals, it fought against May's Eevee and was able to use its fins to sense Eevee's underground movements and detect exactly where it would come up after using Dig. Despite this, Eevee eventually won.

Brock left Marshtomp at the Pewter Gym when he decided to join Ash in the Sinnoh region.

### Pokémon Journeys: The Series

In *Ride, Lapras, Ride!*, Marshtomp was shown to have rejoined Brock's team. During the episode, it helped in freeing a trapped Wailmer. Despite Wailmer evolving into a Wailord and getting stuck again, they were able to free the Float Whale Pokémon.

## Personality and characteristics

Initially, Mudkip was distrustful of strangers and was very protective of those it cared for, similar to Ash's Bulbasaur. This is shown in its debut appearance, where it viewed Brock and the others as intruders of its land. Once Brock gained its trust, it turned into an extremely loyal Pokémon and felt safer around strangers. During its travels with Brock, it was shown to be more of a sensible type and it was seen assisting Pikachu in breaking up and resolving arguments between the other Pokémon. It is also friendly with younger Pokémon. It was particularly useful when it came to locating objects and missing people or Pokémon thanks to the fin on its head, which was hypersensitive to any vibration.

When Mudkip evolved into Marshtomp, it retained the same personality but also developed somewhat of a flirtatious side, like its Trainer, as seen in *A Chip Off the Old Brock* when it fell madly in love with Mariah's Flaaffy.

## Moves used

 A **†** shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.

## Trivia

* Out of the main characters' Hoenn starter Pokémon, Marshtomp is the only one that:
	+ Did not fully evolve.
	+ Did not have its Ability confirmed.
	+ Did not evolve in Hoenn.
	+ Did not learn its signature move.
	+ Was not voiced by Darren Dunstan in its middle evolution followed by Bill Rogers.
* Marshtomp is the only starter Pokémon to be owned by Brock.
	+ It is also his only Pokémon that is mid-way through its evolutionary family.
* Marshtomp is the first starter Pokémon owned by a main character to evolve outside of its home region.
* Marshtomp is the first Water-type starter Pokémon owned by a main character besides Ash.
	+ Marshtomp is also the first Water-type starter Pokémon owned by a main character to evolve.
* Out of all the Pokémon that were obtained and evolved during the course of *Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire*, Mudkip took the longest to evolve, at 123 episodes.

1. ↑ He fell in love with Mariah's Flaaffy.