Oshawott

**Oshawott** (Japanese: **ミジュマル** *Mijumaru*) is a Water-type Pokémon introduced in Generation V.

It evolves into Dewott starting at level 17, which evolves into Samurott starting at level 36.

Along with Snivy and Tepig, Oshawott is one of three starter Pokémon of Unova available at the beginning of Pokémon Black, White, Black 2, and White 2. It also acts as one of the three starters for the Hisui region in Legends: Arceus alongside Rowlet and Cyndaquil.

## Biology

Oshawott is a bipedal sea otter-like Pokémon. It has a spherical white head with small, triangular dark-blue ears on the sides. Oshawott's eyes are dark and its dark-orange nose is shaped like a horizontal oval. Several freckles cover its cheeks which may be premature whiskers, and two pointed teeth can be seen when it opens its mouth. The light blue fur on its body forms bubble shapes around its neck. Its arms are white and rounded, while its feet are dark blue with three toes each. It also possesses a rudder-like dark blue tail. It carries a pale yellow seashell called a "scalchop" on its belly. This shell is made of the same material as its claws, and is used for both battle and cracking hard berries. If heavily damaged or lost, Oshawott can grow new ones from its body, though it can take weeks.

## Game data

### Pokédex entry

This Pokémon from the Unova region uses the shell on its belly as a weapon to cut down its foes. Thus, I've conferred upon this shell the name "scalchop."

### Game locations

Starter Pokémon from Professor Laventon in Jubilife Village

Received from Professor Laventon in Jubilife Village (after beating the main story, if the player did not chose Oshawott)

Space-Time Distortions - Alabaster Icelands (after beating the main story)

### Stats

#### Base stats

55
55
45
63
45
45
308
* Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and (if applicable) a helpful nature.

## Trivia

* Oshawott and its fellow Unova starter Pokémon were first revealed as silhouettes on the May 9, 2010 episode of Pokémon Sunday. They were later revealed in full in the June 2010 issue of CoroCoro.
* Oshawott has the lowest base stat total of all Water-type starter Pokémon.
* Oshawott was designed by Yūsuke Ōmura. It was also the last Generation V starter Pokémon to be created, with the staff noting that they always have some difficulty coming up with concepts for the Water-type starters.
* In Pokémon Black and White, Oshawott, along with Snivy and Tepig, has the lowest experience yield of all Pokémon, with a base value of 28. This was done specifically for the first two battles of the games, so the player's starter wouldn't level up after defeating Bianca and thus have a level advantage over Cheren.
	+ From Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 onward, their base experience yield was raised to 62 to bring them in line with the other starter Pokémon in the series.

### Origin

Oshawott is based on a sea otter pup and samurai. Sea otters are known for using tools, including clam shells, with their forelimbs; the placement of Oshawott's scalchop is reminiscent of the way a sea otter looks when cracking open its prey against the tool on its stomach. This scalchop also holds similarities with Japanese war fans, which were often used by samurai for defensive purposes. Ken Sugimori said that Oshawott and its evolved forms were the hardest for the team to design during production, as conceptualizing its evolved forms were difficult. They eventually settled on a samurai theme, and a trip to an aquarium inspired them to incorporate elements of sea lions.

#### Name origin

Oshawott may be a combination of *ocean*, *shell*, *water*, *wash*, and *otter*.

Mijumaru may be a combination of 水 *mizu* (water) or 未熟 *mijuku* (naive or immature) and 丸 *maru* (round). *Maru* is also a common suffix in male Japanese names. *Miju* may also refer to an otter named *Mijbil*, the subject of an autobiographical novel and movie called *Ring of Bright Water*.