#0086 · Kanto · Generation 1

Seel

Sea Lion Pokémon · Water-type

Seel is a Water-type Pokémon, the Sea Lion Pokémon, number 86 (#0086) in the National Pokédex. It was introduced in Generation 1 and comes from the Kanto region. It is 1.1 m tall and weighs 90 kg.

Seel is the Sea Lion Pokémon, a cheerful swimmer that loves water so cold it is full of floating ice. It bashes breathing holes through the ice with the hard horn on its head.

How to pronounce Seel

Seel is pronounced SEEL. The capital letters show the stressed syllable.

Listen to Seel said out loud:

In Japanese it is パウワウ (Pawou).

Hear every other name on the Pokémon pronunciation guide.

Lore

Biology

Seel is a seal-like Pokémon with thick, tough skin under bluish-white fur, a tan muzzle with a big red tongue, two tusks on the lower jaw and unusually bold black eyebrows. A hard horn grows on its forehead. It is 1.1 m long and weighs 90 kg. When it is swimming its nostrils close, and its raised tail resembles a waterspout.

Behaviour

The colder it gets, the happier Seel is, and the Pokédex says it stays active at -40 degrees (the same in Celsius and Fahrenheit). It is a graceful swimmer but awkward on land, and tires easily in warm water. By day it often sleeps in shallow water on the seabed, then it hunts under the ice.

Habitat

The Pokédex habitat list puts Seel in the sea, and Bulbapedia says it lives on icebergs. Ultra Sun's entry calls its presence in tropical Alola a mystery. In Scarlet and Violet it is not wild in Paldea or Kitakami, but The Indigo Disk's Polar Biome has it.

Powers

Its Abilities are Thick Fat and Hydration, with Ice Body hidden. Seel fires Aurora Beam, rushes in with Aqua Jet, throws Ice Shard and Icy Wind, and learns Ice Beam. Its stats are low across the board, with 65 HP and 70 Special Defense its best.

Name origin

Seel is a respelling of 'seal'. The Japanese name is Pawou (パウワウ), which may imitate a seal's bark.

Design inspiration

Bulbapedia says Seel may be modelled on an earless seal, perhaps a harp seal pup given its white fur and icy home, with a horn like a narwhal's and tusks like a walrus's. These are fan readings.

Evolution notes

Seel evolves into Dewgong at level 34.

In the games

A Seel pops up in a bonus stage of the original Pokémon Pinball, where the goal is to hit it as it pokes its head out of the water. Seel debuted in Red and Green (Red and Blue outside Japan), where it lives in the Seafoam Islands, and is not available in Legends: Z-A.

In the anime

Misty and her sisters keep several Seel at the Cerulean Gym, and one becomes Dewgong in 'The Misty Mermaid'. In 'Nice Pryce Baby', Gym Leader Pryce owns several Seel at the Mahogany Gym.

Fun facts

• The Spaceworld '97 demo seems to show a scrapped split evolution of Seel called Bomushikā (ボムシカー), a sea lion playing with a ball of fire.
• Bulbapedia says Seel is the one Pokémon outside the Ice type that can have Ice Body as an Ability.
• An early design of Seel, shown in a 2018 educational manga about Satoshi Tajiri, looks nothing like the final one, yet is labelled with the same Japanese name.
• Seel shares its Sea Lion Pokémon category with Dewgong and Popplio.

Sources: Bulbapedia: Seel (Pokémon) · Serebii: Seel (Scarlet/Violet Pokédex)

Base stats

• HP: 65
• Attack: 45
• Defense: 55
• Sp. Atk: 45
• Sp. Def: 70
• Speed: 45

Seel’s base stat total is 325. Its highest stat is Sp. Def.

Type matchups

What is Seel weak to?

Seel takes extra damage from Electric (2×), Grass (2×) moves.

It resists Fire (½×), Water (½×), Ice (½×), Steel (½×).

Evolution

How does Seel evolve?

Seel evolves into Dewgong at level 34.

The whole family: Seel, Dewgong.

Abilities

• Thick Fat: Halves damage from Fire and Ice moves.
• Hydration: Cures any major status ailment after each turn during rain.
• Ice Body (hidden ability): Heals for 1/16 max HP after each turn during snow or hail. Protects against hail damage.

Moves

Moves Seel learns by level up in Scarlet / Violet

TM moves (38)

Seel can learn 38 moves from TMs in Scarlet / Violet: Take Down, Charm, Protect, Water Pulse, Thief, Chilling Water, Facade, Icy Wind, Fling, Avalanche, Endure, Rain Dance, Snowscape, Smart Strike, Body Slam, Sleep Talk, Waterfall, Rest, Substitute, Drill Run, Encore, Surf, Ice Spinner, Helping Hand, Ice Beam, Hydro Pump, Blizzard, Tera Blast, Haze, Icicle Spear, Uproar, Weather Ball, Flip Turn, Double-Edge, Whirlpool, Muddy Water, Triple Axel, Curse.

Egg moves (10):Belch, Disable, Entrainment, Fake Out, Horn Drill, Lick, Perish Song, Spit Up, Stockpile, Swallow.

Breeding & training

• Gender: 50% male, 50% female.
• Egg groups: Water 1, Field.
• Egg cycles: 20 (steps to hatch, Scarlet/Violet: 2,560).
• Catch rate: 190 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 Sp. Def effort value.
• Base experience yield: 65.

Pokédex entries

Loves freezing-cold conditions. Relishes swimming in a frigid climate of around 14 degrees Fahrenheit. (Let’s Go, Pikachu!, Let’s Go, Eevee!)

Thanks to its thick fat, cold seas don't bother it at all, but it gets tired pretty easily in warm waters. (Ultra Moon)

It has always been supposed that Seel live only in cold seas. Their having shown up in Alola is a mystery. (Ultra Sun)

Seel hunts for prey in the frigid sea underneath sheets of ice. When it needs to breathe, it punches a hole through the ice with the sharply protruding section of its head. (Ruby, Sapphire, Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire)

Covered with light blue fur, its hide is thick and tough. It is active in bitter cold of -40 degrees Fahrenheit. (Y)

A Pokémon that lives on icebergs. It swims in the sea using the point on its head to break up ice. (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Black, White, X)

Names around the world

Trivia

• Taller than 54% of all Pokémon (1.1 m).
• Heavier than 80% of all Pokémon (90 kg).
• Base stat total 325, ranked #761 of 1,025.
• One of 154 Water-type Pokémon (counting dual types).
• One of 88 white Pokémon.
• Number 86 of 151 Pokémon introduced in Generation 1 (Kanto).
• Part of an evolution family of 2 Pokémon.
• Can learn 58 different moves in Scarlet / Violet.
• Catch rate 190: about 24.8% per Poké Ball at full health.
• Appears in 15 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: Seel (Pokémon), Serebii: Seel (Scarlet/Violet Pokédex).
• Pronunciation (SEEL): it follows how the English anime, games or official videos say it.

Last checked: 19 October 2026. Every sentence of the lore was checked against Bulbapedia, Serebii and the game data.

Explore

Water-type Pokémon · Kanto region guide · Thick Fat ability · Hydration ability · Ice Body ability · Compare Seel · Full Pokédex · Type chart · All moves

Browse similar Pokémon

Gen 1 Water-type Pokémon · Gen 1 Pokémon list · White Pokémon list · Water 1 egg group · Field egg group · Pokémon that start with S · Seal and Sea Lion Pokémon

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