#0072 · Kanto · Generation 1

Tentacool

Jellyfish Pokémon · Water/Poison-type

Tentacool is a Water/Poison-type Pokémon, the Jellyfish Pokémon, number 72 (#0072) in the National Pokédex. It was introduced in Generation 1 and comes from the Kanto region. It is 0.9 m tall and weighs 45.5 kg.

Tentacool is the Jellyfish Pokémon, a drifting blob that is 99% water and almost impossible to spot in the sea until it stings. Fishermen who hook one by accident know about it quickly.

How to pronounce Tentacool

Tentacool is pronounced TEN-tuh-kool. The capital letters show the stressed syllable.

Listen to Tentacool said out loud:

In Japanese it is メノクラゲ (Menokurage).

Hear every other name on the Pokémon pronunciation guide.

Lore

Biology

Tentacool is 0.9 m tall and weighs 45.5 kg. Its clear blue body carries large red crystal-like orbs, and two long tentacles trail beneath it. The Pokédex says 99% of it is water and the other 1% holds the organ that makes its poison. It soaks up sunlight, bends it through the water inside its body and fires it as a beam.

Behaviour

Tentacool is a weak swimmer, so it simply drifts on the surface of shallow seas and rides the currents. Its tentacles can break off and later grow back. Sometimes it washes up on a beach, dried out and shrivelled, but the Pokédex says it revives if you throw it back into the sea.

Habitat

It lives in the open ocean and drifts in shallow seas near beaches.

Diet

It hunts prey while drifting, ensnaring it with its two long tentacles and stabbing it with the poison stingers at their tips.

Powers

Its Abilities are Clear Body, which stops other Pokémon lowering its stats, and Liquid Ooze, which hurts opponents that drain its HP; Rain Dish, which heals it in rain, is hidden. It stings with Poison Sting and Acid, ties prey up with Wrap and attacks with Bubble Beam and Water Pulse. Its base Special Defense of 100 is far higher than its other stats.

Name origin

Tentacool may combine 'tentacle' and 'cool', and may also involve Tentaculata, the class of comb jellies. The Japanese name is Menokurage (メノクラゲ): menō ('agate', probably the red crystal eyes) plus kurage ('jellyfish').

Design inspiration

Ken Sugimori designed Tentacool. It looks like a jellyfish, perhaps a box jellyfish species like Chironex fleckeri or Carukia barnesi, while its two long tentacles may come from comb jellies. Its beam-firing gems also resemble the bug-eyed alien invaders of 1950s B-movies. These are fan readings.

Evolution notes

Tentacool evolves into Tentacruel at level 30.

In the games

Tentacool first appeared in Red and Green (Red and Blue outside Japan), where it is a Surf encounter on Kanto's Routes 19 to 21. In Scarlet and Violet it can be traded in, and The Indigo Disk adds it to the Coastal Biome in Blueberry Academy's Terarium. Bulbapedia lists it as unobtainable in Legends: Z-A.

In the anime

Goh went after one Tentacool in a whole horde in 'The Sinnoh Iceberg Race!', but it dodged the Poké Ball and he ended up with a different one. In Pokémon Origins, Red catches a Tentacool in File 4: Charizard.

Fun facts

• In the Red and Green beta, its English name was Jilly.
• Toedscool has the same base stats as Tentacool, point for point, though Bulbapedia stresses that the two Pokémon are unrelated.
• In a flashback in 'A Cacturne for the Worse', May's mother once mistook her for a Tentacool and tried to catch her.

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

Base stats

• HP: 40
• Attack: 40
• Defense: 35
• Sp. Atk: 50
• Sp. Def: 100
• Speed: 70

Tentacool’s base stat total is 335. Its highest stat is Sp. Def.

Type matchups

What is Tentacool weak to?

Tentacool takes extra damage from Electric (2×), Ground (2×), Psychic (2×) moves.

It resists Fire (½×), Water (½×), Ice (½×), Fighting (½×), Poison (½×), Bug (½×), Steel (½×), Fairy (½×).

Evolution

How does Tentacool evolve?

Tentacool evolves into Tentacruel at level 30.

The whole family: Tentacool, Tentacruel.

Abilities

• Clear Body: Prevents stats from being lowered by other Pokémon.
• Liquid Ooze: Damages opponents using leeching moves for as much as they would heal.
• Rain Dish (hidden ability): Heals for 1/16 max HP after each turn during rain.

Moves

Moves Tentacool learns by level up in Scarlet / Violet

TM moves (39)

Tentacool can learn 39 moves from TMs in Scarlet / Violet: Protect, Water Pulse, Acid Spray, Confuse Ray, Thief, Pounce, Chilling Water, Facade, Hex, Swift, Icy Wind, Mud Shot, Venoshock, Endure, Rain Dance, Sleep Talk, Dazzling Gleam, Poison Jab, Rest, Swords Dance, Toxic Spikes, Gunk Shot, Substitute, Liquidation, Giga Drain, Surf, Ice Beam, Hydro Pump, Blizzard, Sludge Bomb, Tera Blast, Haze, Toxic, Knock Off, Flip Turn, Whirlpool, Muddy Water, Sludge Wave, Throat Chop.

Egg moves (9):Acupressure, Aqua Ring, Aurora Beam, Confuse Ray, Haze, Knock Off, Mirror Coat, Rapid Spin, Tickle.

Breeding & training

• Gender: 50% male, 50% female.
• Egg groups: Water 3.
• Egg cycles: 20 (steps to hatch, Scarlet/Violet: 2,560).
• Catch rate: 190 out of 255.
• Base friendship (Gen 8 onward): 50.
• Growth rate: Slow (1,250,000 experience points to reach level 100).
• Defeating it gives 1 Sp. Def effort value.
• Base experience yield: 67.

Pokédex entries

They fire beams from the glassy, magenta orbs that resemble eyes atop their heads, and they drift in shallow seas. During low tide, they can sometimes be found on beaches, desiccated. (Legends: Arceus)

This Pokémon is mostly made of water. A Tentacool out in the ocean is very hard to spot, because its body blends in with the sea. (Shield)

Tentacool is not a particularly strong swimmer. It drifts across the surface of shallow seas as it searches for prey. (Sword)

It can sometimes be found all dry and shriveled up on a beach. Toss it back into the sea to revive it. (Yellow, Let’s Go, Pikachu!, Let’s Go, Eevee!)

Its body is 99% water. The remaining 1% contains the organ that makes its poison. (Ultra Moon)

It drifts through the sea searching for prey. Its poisonous tentacles break off sometimes, but after a while, they grow back. (Ultra Sun)

Names around the world

Trivia

• Taller than 43% of all Pokémon (0.9 m).
• Heavier than 65% of all Pokémon (45.5 kg).
• Base stat total 335, ranked #731 of 1,025.
• One of 6 Pokémon that are both Water and Poison.
• One of 170 blue Pokémon.
• Number 72 of 151 Pokémon introduced in Generation 1 (Kanto).
• Part of an evolution family of 2 Pokémon.
• Can learn 53 different moves in Scarlet / Violet.
• Catch rate 190: about 24.8% per Poké Ball at full health.
• Appears in 21 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: Tentacool (Pokémon), Serebii: Tentacool (Scarlet/Violet Pokédex).
• Pronunciation (TEN-tuh-kool): 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 · Poison-type Pokémon · Water/Poison weaknesses and matchups · Kanto region guide · Clear Body ability · Liquid Ooze ability · Rain Dish ability · Compare Tentacool · Full Pokédex · Type chart · All moves

Browse similar Pokémon

Gen 1 Water-type Pokémon · Gen 1 Poison-type Pokémon · Gen 1 Pokémon list · Blue Pokémon list · Water 3 egg group · Pokémon that start with T · Jellyfish Pokémon

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