#0588 · Unova · Generation 5

Karrablast

Clamping Pokémon · Bug-type

Karrablast is a Bug-type Pokémon, the Clamping Pokémon, number 588 (#0588) in the National Pokédex. It was introduced in Generation 5 and comes from the Unova region. It is 0.5 m tall and weighs 5.9 kg.

Karrablast is the Clamping Pokémon, a horned blue beetle that melts through Shelmet's shell with acid and eats whatever is inside. The Pokédex treats Shelmet as both its favourite prey and the mysterious key to its evolution.

How to pronounce Karrablast

Karrablast is pronounced KAIR-uh-blast. The capital letters show the stressed syllable.

Listen to Karrablast said out loud:

In Japanese it is カブルモ (Kaburumo).

Hear every other name on the Pokémon pronunciation guide.

Lore

Biology

Karrablast is a round, bipedal beetle, 0.5 m tall and 5.9 kg, with a blue carapace tipped by a horn. Its black face has a teal forehead patch and a fanged mouth, with orange pupils in yellow eyes, and its ridged underbelly is yellow. When it senses danger it spits acid to scare attackers off.

Behaviour

Karrablast treats Shelmet as both a rival and a target, and goes out of its way to attack one. When threatened, Bulbapedia says, it tends to hide in trees or grass.

Habitat

Bulbapedia says it lives in forests and fields. In the newest games it is not available in Scarlet and Violet or in Legends: Z-A.

Diet

It eats only the soft insides of a Shelmet, melting through the shell with acid and leaving the shell itself uneaten.

Powers

Karrablast has Swarm or Shed Skin, with No Guard hidden, which makes every move used by and against it hit. It learns Acid Spray at level 16, then X-Scissor, Swords Dance and Bug Buzz. Its base Attack of 75 is its best stat, but base Defense and Special Defense of 45 leave it fragile.

Name origin

Karrablast may blend Carabus blaptoides, a snail-eating ground beetle, with 'blast' for its acid. The Japanese name is Kaburumo (カブルモ), possibly from maimaikaburi (a snail-eating beetle) and kabutomushi (beetle).

Design inspiration

Ken Sugimori said in an interview that Atsuko Nishida first proposed a snail-eating beetle modelled on Carabus smaragdinus. Bulbapedia also reads its acid and its attacks on Shelmet as ground-beetle traits, and the horn as like an escargot fork.

Evolution notes

Karrablast evolves into Escavalier when it is traded for a Shelmet, and Shelmet becomes Accelgor in the same swap. Bulbapedia says they are the only Pokémon that must be traded for one specific Pokémon, each for the other.

In the games

Wild Karrablast first appeared on Routes 6 and 11 in Black and White. It returns in Sword and Shield, in the Wild Area and in both expansions.

In the anime

Karrablast physically debuted in 'Evolution Exchange Excitement!', where Professor Juniper traded one to Bianca for her Shelmet and it evolved into Escavalier.

Fun facts

• Its Pokédex entries credit electrical energy for its evolution, but the in-game method is a trade for a Shelmet with no electricity involved.
• From 10 October to 28 November 2010 a Japanese Black and White event handed out a level 30 Karrablast titled 'Trade for Evolution! Karrablast'.
• Bulbapedia's Sword and Shield breeding list shows Heracross as the only parent species that can pass down the egg move Counter.

Sources: Bulbapedia: Karrablast (Pokémon) · Serebii: Karrablast (Sword/Shield Pokédex)

Base stats

• HP: 50
• Attack: 75
• Defense: 45
• Sp. Atk: 40
• Sp. Def: 45
• Speed: 60

Karrablast’s base stat total is 315. Its highest stat is Attack.

Type matchups

What is Karrablast weak to?

Karrablast takes extra damage from Fire (2×), Flying (2×), Rock (2×) moves.

It resists Grass (½×), Fighting (½×), Ground (½×).

Evolution

How does Karrablast evolve?

Karrablast evolves into Escavalier (Trade for Shelmet).

The whole family: Karrablast, Escavalier.

Abilities

• Swarm: Strengthens Bug moves to inflict 1.5× damage at 1/3 max HP or less.
• Shed Skin: Has a 33% chance of curing any major status ailment after each turn.
• No Guard (hidden ability): Ensures all moves used by and against the Pokémon hit.

Moves

Moves Karrablast learns by level up in Sword / Shield

TM moves (23)

Karrablast can learn 23 moves from TMs in Sword / Shield: Screech, Rest, Snore, Protect, Scary Face, Giga Drain, Attract, Rain Dance, Facade, Round, False Swipe, Swords Dance, Substitute, Endure, Sleep Talk, Megahorn, Encore, Iron Defense, Poison Jab, X-Scissor, Bug Buzz, Energy Ball, Drill Run.

Egg moves (5):Bug Bite, Counter, Knock Off, Night Slash, Slash.

Breeding & training

• Gender: 50% male, 50% female.
• Egg groups: Bug.
• Egg cycles: 15 (steps to hatch, Scarlet/Violet: 1,920).
• Catch rate: 200 out of 255.
• Base friendship (Gen 8 onward): 50.
• Growth rate: Medium (1,000,000 experience points to reach level 100).
• Defeating it gives 1 Attack effort value.
• Base experience yield: 63.

Pokédex entries

It spits a liquid from its mouth to melt through Shelmet's shell. Karrablast doesn't eat the shell— it eats only the contents. (Shield)

Its strange physiology reacts to electrical energy in interesting ways. The presence of a Shelmet will cause this Pokémon to evolve. (Sword)

For some reason they evolve when they receive electrical energy while they are attacking Shelmet. (Black 2, White 2, Y, Alpha Sapphire)

These mysterious Pokémon evolve when they receive electrical stimulation while they are in the same place as Shelmet. (Black, X, Omega Ruby)

When they feel threatened, they spit an acidic liquid to drive attackers away. This Pokémon targets Shelmet. (White)

Names around the world

Trivia

• Taller than 19% of all Pokémon (0.5 m).
• Heavier than 18% of all Pokémon (5.9 kg).
• Base stat total 315, ranked #793 of 1,025.
• One of 92 Bug-type Pokémon (counting dual types).
• One of 170 blue Pokémon.
• Number 95 of 156 Pokémon introduced in Generation 5 (Unova).
• Part of an evolution family of 2 Pokémon.
• Can learn 36 different moves in Sword / Shield.
• Catch rate 200: about 26.1% per Poké Ball at full health.
• Appears in 5 distinct Pokédex entries.

Sources and fact-checking

• Stats, types, abilities, moves, evolutions, forms and Pokédex entries: PokéAPI open game data.
• Lore: written by pokee.si in our own words, researched from Bulbapedia: Karrablast (Pokémon), Serebii: Karrablast (Sword/Shield Pokédex).
• Pronunciation (KAIR-uh-blast): it follows how the English anime, games or official videos say it.

Last checked: 20 October 2026. Every sentence of the lore was checked against Bulbapedia, Serebii and the game data.

Explore

Bug-type Pokémon · Unova region guide · Swarm ability · Shed Skin ability · No Guard ability · Compare Karrablast · Full Pokédex · Type chart · All moves

Browse similar Pokémon

Gen 5 Bug-type Pokémon · Gen 5 Pokémon list · Blue Pokémon list · Bug egg group · Pokémon that start with K · Bug Pokémon · Beetle and Ladybird Pokémon

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