The Origins of 6 Tree Pokemon & Why None of Them Is Plain Grass

There aren't many tree Pokemon. Plenty of Pokemon live in forests, but few look like the trees themselves, and the ones that do tend to be up to something. One pretends to be a tree and fails to fool even children, while another is a stump with a child's voice that lures adults deep into the forest.

See all 6 tree Pokemon in one list.

Here's every tree Pokemon:

All 6 Tree Pokemon

#185

Sudowoodo

Sudowoodo is the Imitation Pokemon, and its design is a small tree crossed with petrified wood, wood that fossilized over time and had its organic material replaced by minerals. That would explain its pure Rock type. It also borrows from mimicry, the way stick insects evolved to look like twigs and leaves, and its forked horn resembles an insect's antennae.

Its body feels more like rock than tree bark to the touch, and it has an extreme aversion to water. (We have met trees that were more convincing.) It stands 1.2 m tall and weighs 38 kg. Its Sturdy ability stops it from being knocked out in one hit from full HP and leaves it with 1 HP instead. HP is a Pokemon's health, and a knockout means it has none left.

#438

Bonsly

Bonsly is the Bonsai Pokemon and the pre-evolution of Sudowoodo. It is based on a bonsai tree, a miniature tree grown inside a small pot, and on petrified wood. Its flowerpot resembles a diaper and it cries a lot, which makes it reminiscent of a toddler.

Do not be deceived by its tears, which are only a physiological mechanism for keeping itself in good health. Everyone falls for it anyway. It is 0.5 m tall and weighs 15 kg.

#459

Snover

Snover is the Frost Tree Pokemon. It was made to resemble a snow-covered fir tree and a yeti, and its hat resembles a snowy mountain and the kanji for mountain (山), which began as a pictogram of three mountain peaks.

One is likely to meet it while out in the snow, and there are stories of it appearing in human settlements and bonding with children. It stands 1 m tall and weighs 50.5 kg. Its Snow Warning ability summons hail as soon as it enters battle. Hail is a weather condition that fills the battlefield with falling ice.

#708

Phantump

Phantump is the Stump Pokemon, and it is probably based on the stump of a kodama, one of the tree spirits that sometimes live in very old trees. It is also similar to other tree and nature spirits such as dryads.

It has a voice like a human child's and cries out to lure adults deep into the forest, where they get lost among the trees. It is 0.4 m tall and weighs 7 kg, which is a lot lighter than the forest it hides in. Its Natural Cure ability cures any major status problem when it switches out.

#709

Trevenant

Trevenant is the Elder Tree Pokemon, and like Phantump it is possibly based on a kodama. The stripe around its body is similar to a shimenawa, the rope used to mark a place where a spirit lives, which is often tied around kodama trees. It may also come from the treelike Ents of Tolkien's fiction.

Small roots extending from the tips of its feet can tie into the trees of the forest and give it control over them. That may reference Pando, a single aspen tree that forms a grove of 47,000 stems all joined by one root system. It stands 1.5 m tall and weighs 71 kg.

#930

Arboliva

Arboliva is the Olive Pokemon. It may be based on an olive tree, likely a reference to Spain, the region Paldea is based on, being the biggest producer of olives in the world. Its calm temperament may come from the olive branch, a traditional symbol of peace, and it sometimes makes a pose resembling an olive wreath in battle.

It drives back enemies by launching its rich, aromatic oil at them with enough force to smash a boulder, which makes it the only tree here that fights with cooking oil. Its Seed Sower ability turns the ground into Grassy Terrain when an attack hits it.

None of the Six Trees Is a Plain Grass Type

Only four of the six tree Pokemon are Grass types, and none of them is a pure Grass type. Each type beyond Grass has a reason in the tree's story. Sudowoodo and Bonsly are Rock because petrified wood is a plant whose organic material was replaced with minerals. Phantump and Trevenant are Ghost because a kodama is a tree spirit, and Snover is Ice because the fir it resembles is covered in snow.

Even Arboliva, the olive tree, is Grass and Normal rather than pure Grass.